After Yagyu Chihaya sent Xia Li the weapon list, she sat right beside him with a beaming smile, watching him.

  Xia Li immediately began browsing. Since he'd promised Lin Ye the good stuff, he absolutely wouldn't deliver inferior goods.

  Setting aside everything else, Yagyu Chihaya's inventory was indeed better than the black market shops he'd visited before—just with fewer varieties. Of course, prices were higher too.

  "Do you have Enhanced Base Fluid here?"

  "Yes, but not other manufacturers' formulations—only Yagyu Arms' formulation."

  "Give me one portion of Phase Base Fluid and one portion of All-Purpose Enhancement Agent."

  "One Fire Serpent pistol, one Mountain Hammer shotgun, one Python Dragon sniper rifle, one C-class phase blade, one C-class G-force field shield."

  As Xia Li listed items, Yagyu Chihaya nodded enthusiastically, her body almost completely pressing against him.

  "Big brother, you're so amazing! So many spirit stones!"

  "Ugh... don't talk in that squeaky voice. Disgusting!"

  Xia Li pushed Yagyu Chihaya away. If she couldn't sell properly, then don't try. Who was she trying to gross out?

  "You're so rough—I love it..."

  "Keep this up and I'm not buying!"

  "No! My fault. I won't gross you out anymore."

  Yagyu Chihaya immediately sat up straight.

  "For the above weapons, choose customizations that let lower-realm cultivators achieve maximum power."

  "You mean energy accumulation customizations?"

  "Yes."

  "Accessories plus original weapon prices, minus my discount to you, plus Yagyu Arms' discount for you..."

  "Total of forty-eight thousand two hundred thirty-six spirit stones. Rounded down to forty-eight thousand."

  Yagyu Chihaya's rounding was genuine rounding down. If it were Ke Xiao rounding, she'd probably round it up to fifty thousand.

  Xia Li's standard of strength for these purchases was C-class armament—corresponding to Golden Core. But with Earth weapons' quality, Lin Ye could use them up to Nascent Soul and still achieve decent effects.

  "Then there's the Imperial Steel blade... can you give me a discount?"

  Xia Li was feeling flush now. He kind of wanted to get himself an Imperial Steel tachi from Yagyu Arms—a supreme weapon that could directly block a Void Refinement cultivator's full-force strike without a scratch.

  In other words...

  Just grip it and slash away.

  "Can't discount even a little. Imperial Grade Steel has a global minimum price of one million spirit stones. But why do you need Imperial Grade Steel? Star Grade Steel is enough for you. If you want top quality, King Grade Steel is about right."

  King Grade Steel's strength standard corresponded to Nascent Soul, while Xia Li was only at Foundation Establishment. Taking up a Grade Steel weapon that offered minimal augmentation and relied entirely on personal technique—he couldn't leverage much combat power.

  To use it as a shield...

  Honestly, it wasn't as useful as a force field shield.

  Grade Steel's characteristics meant it was a weapon requiring genuine personal skill to master.

  Plain, but reliable.

  "Fine, give me one King Grade Steel blade."

  King Grade Steel weapons started at one hundred thousand spirit stones—not cheap either—but extremely durable, impervious to water and fire, resistant to poison and corrosion.

  Come to think of it...

  His cheekbone and several teeth on the right side of his face were King Grade Steel prosthetics. No special functions—just durable.

  From now on, whoever hit his right cheek might shatter their own hand bones.

  "Which style? For antique replicas, there's Dōji-kiri, Nagafune, Mikazuki, Juzumaru, and others. Though they're replicas, these blades' originals all have great histories. Let me tell you..."

  "Don't understand. Not interested. Don't explain."

  Xia Li immediately shook his head. If Yagyu Arms made swords instead of blades, he'd really want to buy a King Steel sword rather than a blade.

  "I'll take this one—Night Cutter."

  Xia Li selected an all-black blade, gleaming with cold luster in the weapon list image.

  Moreover, Night Cutter wasn't pure Grade Steel—it incorporated some demon materials. Both a demonic blade and a steel blade, effective against both humans and monsters.

  "Good eye. This one starts at one hundred fifty thousand—one of the most expensive King Grade Steels. But this blade goes to extremes."

  "Using the anti-spirit-energy properties of nightmare demons, it can treat spirit energy as nothing and slice through spirit barriers like paper. But you also can't use any techniques involving external spirit energy release."

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  "And... it can't self-repair. More accurately, it can't absorb spirit energy to self-repair. But as long as it draws blood, it repairs faster than any other King Steel weapon and even feeds spirit energy back to the wielder."

  In other words, close-combat only, unable to channel spirit energy into the blade, worse than other King Steel weapons without bloodshed.

  But once blood was drawn, it grew stronger as the battle continued.

  "This is a demonic blade, right?"

  "Exactly—Demonic Blade Night Cutter."

  "I'll take it. How much with full upgrades?"

  "Top specs add thirty thousand."

  "Done."

  Xia Li nodded directly. He could now use telekinesis to strengthen himself—perfect for this anti-spirit-energy weapon.

  "Thanks for your patronage! Darling, what else would you like?"

  "That's about enough."

  "I think you need a composite firearm."

  "Composite?"

  "Meaning a spirit-energy gun combining multiple firearm types' advantages into one."

  "There's such a gun?"

  "Of course. Though each spec falls short of dedicated gun types, it excels in versatility."

  Yagyu Chihaya snapped her fingers. The holographic screen in the reception room immediately began playing a video.

  It showed a person with a gun in left hand and blade in right.

  His moves were extremely fluid and versatile, fully leveraging both gun and blade advantages. That left-gun-right-blade combat style was unlike anything Xia Li had seen.

  "By the way, composite firearms... can also perform iai draws."

  "What the hell—iai with a gun? Seriously shameless."

  "You gonna buy or not!"

  Yagyu Chihaya was confident this pitch would succeed, because she'd already seen the interest on Xia Li's face.

  "Why wasn't it on the weapon list before?"

  "Because you hadn't spent enough!"

  "Damn!"

  "Real damn or fake damn?"

  "I'm checking the weapon list—don't bother me!"

  Xia Li immediately browsed Yagyu Chihaya's arms market again. Composite guns also had three basic categories, though all were pistol-shaped.

  One emphasized convenience—full-automatic type.

  Combining submachine gun and machine gun firepower advantages. Despite being a pistol, its fire rate rivaled submachine guns with almost no recoil.

  Another was more balanced—all-situation coverage type. Similar to assault rifles, switchable between single shots and bursts, could mount grenades, with the most accessory options.

  Then there was the power-focused type.

  Basically all revolver-style, non-automatic, not even semi-automatic. Each shot required manually cocking the hammer.

  But maximum power.

  Close-range like a shotgun, long-range like a sniper rifle. Though the most inconvenient to use, it possessed a beauty of raw strength.

  "This one—Sirius!"

  Xia Li chose a revolver called Sirius, priced at one hundred thousand spirit stones. Just the listing image showed it was an exquisite work of art—truly the pinnacle of firearms.

  This gun's description was unlike other flashy guns.

  Just four lines.

  Close like a hammer blow, far like a falling star. Oversized caliber, shattering swarms.

  "Bold! You're the man!"

  Yagyu Chihaya gave a thumbs up. Only someone like Xia Li who'd made the wealth rankings would impulse-buy like this—only the best, never the most cost-effective.

  "So... as this shop's VIP customer, Mr. Xia Li, you may now select two bonus services."

  "First, tonight I'll help you empty your magazine..."

  She was making dirty jokes again, her gaze intentionally drifting toward below Xia Li's waist. But that magazine really shouldn't be emptied!

  "Two! Two! I pick two!"

  Xia Li chose two without thinking.

  "Second is three complimentary large-caliber anti-matter bullets."

  "Yes! That's what I'm talking about!"

  Xia Li nodded with satisfaction. He'd witnessed anti-matter bullets' power firsthand—something even higher-dimensional beings had to avoid. Theoretically, one shot could take down a Void Refinement cultivator.

  Both Demonic Blade Night Cutter and Sirius revolver were Xia Li buying ahead for his Golden Core stage weapons.