Chapter 631: Goldmen Guest
Tang Longfei wasn't originally invited by the goldmen, but when Xiang Shaoyun turned his head back and called out to him, he followed. And since Edoli did not say anything about that, the other goldmen kept silent as well. Just like that, the group entered the goldmen's territory.
The goldmen’s headquarters was located somewhere opposite the human territory. There, numerous massive buildings constructed with gold stones dotted the landscape. The architecture was crude, yet it had a unique flavor of a different culture to it.
A large number of goldmen resided there. As they looked almost the same as humans, it was easy to determine their genders, as the only differences between them and humans were skin color and height.
Everyone was wearing the same thing: golden battle armor. That was because they were born with the armor on them, and the armor was both a defensive item and an item with inconceivable powers.
Their weaponry was more varied, but all the weapons were forged from goldsteel stones. The goldmen revealed unfriendly expressions when they saw Xiang Shaoyun and Tang Longfei.
Although a large-scale war had not happened between the goldmen and the academy, there were still many grudges between the two. More importantly, the academy had occupied a large part of the goldmen's original territory. Therefore, none of them had a good opinion toward humans.
If Xiang Shaoyun and Tang Longfei had intruded upon this place by themselves, they would have likely gotten themselves killed. Fortunately, they were here with Edoli, saving them from any sort of trouble.
Edoli brought Xiang Shaoyun and Tang Longfei straight to a massive building built from gold stone. The building was shiny and dazzling, with odd symbols carved on the walls. Golden pearls acted as the building’s light source, and a massive jade chair stood facing the entrance. The entire building was crude yet luxurious.
"This is my imperial residence. Take a seat," said Edoli as he sat down on the jade chair before having the servants serve his guests some fruits.
Even the fruits they served were gold and shiny. Each fruit was the size of a watermelon, exuding an intoxicating fragrance that made it clear they were no regular fruits. These were actually primegold fruits, and they were king medicines.
For Xiang Shaoyun and Tang Longfei, the fruits were amazing for increasing their strength. The mere sight of the fruits caused Tang Longfei to start salivating. But since Xiang Shaoyun had not taken any of the fruits, he was too embarrassed to start eating first.
"Go ahead and enjoy the fruits. Make yourself at home," said Edoli.
With the invitation, Xiang Shaoyun picked up one of the fruits and started eating it one large bite at a time. Tang Longfei did the same. Xiang Shaoyun was aware that when facing a goldman, one ought to be sincere and straightforward instead of being all jumpy and hesitant, which would be viewed as disrespectful.
He had learned that from the books he had read in the Book Pavilion. One could never have too much knowledge. One shouldn't look down on those books just because they weren't battle techniques or cultivation methods. They had taught him a lot of things that others might not know. When Edoli saw the straightforward manner in which Xiang Shaoyun was behaving, he laughed cheerily.
After eating the fruit, Xiang Shaoyun could feel an energy of high purity coursing through his body. The energy filled his gold star, cramming it full. His star could no longer take in more energy, so he guided the excess energy from the fruit to his astral cosmos sea.
Xiang Shaoyun could feel that not only had his cultivation base grown, but his flesh had also grown considerably as well. It was a pity the primegold fruits were only king grade. If they were emperor-grade fruits, they would have an even more amazing effect.
After eating, Xiang Shaoyun said, "Thank you for the meal, Prince Edoli. From now onward, you are my friend! We humans place particular importance on return gifts. Since you have gifted me these primegold fruits, let me give you a gold lotus in return!"
As he said that, Xiang Shaoyun took out a gold lotus and handed it over. Edoli's eyes lit up when he saw the lotus. The goldmen barely had any chance to leave the independent space. Thus, it was very hard for them to get the resources of the outside world. This gold lotus was one of the plants with an elemental affinity matching theirs that they greatly desired.
"Savior, your gift is much more precious than what I have given you," said Edoli in excitement.
"The gift does not matter; it's the gesture. For you to invite me here, you are already showing me a lot of respect," said Xiang Shaoyun.
Edoli stood up and solemnly said, "That is a fine saying. Savior, from now on, you are the respected guest of the goldmen."
Xiang Shaoyun's generosity had earned the respect of this prince.
With a smile, Xiang Shaoyun replied, "I am honored. If you don't mind, you don't have to keep calling me savior, Prince. That's too polite. You should just call me Xiang Shaoyun."
"Haha, sure, sure, I won't be overly courteous anymore, then," said Edoli. "Let me get someone to show you around. I need to further recover from my injuries. I will throw a feast for you tonight!"
He then called a female servant over to take Xiang Shaoyun and Tang Longfei on a stroll around their territory.
Tang Longfei whispered, "Shaoyun, will it be dangerous for us to walk around here so openly?"
"Don't worry," said Xiang Shaoyun. "Also, pay attention and see if there is anything you want here. If there is, you can consider trading with the goldmen. You might be pleasantly surprised."
At the goldmen's territory, there were numerous trade districts. Although the stalls and shops looked crude, a lot of gold elemental items were sold, with many of them high-level items. As a gold cultivator, Tang Longfei's eyes lit up when he saw them.
"That's a golden banana leaf, a great material to forge a golden fan!"
"That's an excellent-quality goldsteel stone! Look at the size of it! It's big enough to forge about 10 weapons."
"Wow, that's a primegold fruit at the emperor grade! It's so big!"
...
Tang Longfei felt like he had arrived at a paradise of gold. Everything here seemed capable of benefiting him. He wished he could have all of it for himself.
"If you are interested, you may trade for them with items of equivalent value. Our race requires some rare items of you humans. If you have anything we are in need of, the trade will be even easier," said their guide.
"I see. Let me take a look at what I have in stock," said Tang Longfei.
While he was rummaging through his storage ring, Xiang Shaoyun took out a bottle of golden liquid and said, "Are you interested in this gold lunar liquid?"
The moment he spoke, numerous gazes concentrated on him, causing him to feel uneasy.