The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1604

Hao Xuan gave it a cursory glance but had no real interest in such trinkets.

"I would much rather prefer Cursed Gold than another item, it can be less than the actual value of whatever that thing is..."

The Curator sounded like he was about to blow his top off, "THAT THING?! That THING is a precious- forget it, you are not meant to find out yet," he muttered in defeat and ducked back down under the counter to look for something.

'Yet?'

Hao Xuan found his phrasing odd but forgot about it soon after when the Curator emerged with a jade token in hand.

"This should be enough..." he sounded done with everything.

Hao Xuan picked up the token to better inspect it. It had extremely small symbols etched across the back and the front sides, five on one and four on the other.

Each symbol belonged to one of the nine.

Since Hao Xuan was just staring it down Vlitgar decided to give him a little guidance, "Pour some soul power into it to create a bond. This token is able to carry all the Cursed Gold you want to bring along, keep the rest stored within your mark. Only a servant of the Nine is able to do this."

"Oh, that's convenient," Hao Xuan was pleased to hear it.

'So it's like a debit card then. And I didn't know the marks could store gold...although it makes sense."

As Hao Xuan sent a couple of spiritual threads into token the Blessing Screen popped up.

'Huh?'

There was a new number at the bottom right this time.

[187,000]

Hao Xuan rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing it right, "One, two, three...there are three zeros...??"

The Curator let out a heavy sigh, picked up a handful of trinkets from the jewelry box, and slid them over, "Here. This should cover it. I can offer no more!"

"No that's not what I meant-"

Hao Xuan tried to explain that he might have given him too much but the Curator clapped twice and the cloud of darkness teleported them outside before he could get all the words out.

"No returns!" he shouted from the inside as the door shut in their face.

"...."

Hao Xuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. On one hand, he suddenly became the owner of four unknown ornaments and nearly 200,000 Cursed Gold in one go, but on the other, he traded away an object that could have been potentially worth far more.

Vlitgar patted him on the back consolingly, "Don't let it bother you too much. It is better to give the Curator what he wants than risk becoming a victim to one of his curses."

"Right..."

He couldn't help but feel as if that unknown object might prove to be of vital importance to him at some point. It was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach but there was nothing that be done about it right now.

"Do you need anything else?" Vlitgar inquired as the time to take his leave drew close.

Hao Xuan nodded while putting away the trinkets, "Yes. Can you explain the entire process of moving objects between the physical and umbral planes? I want to practice and it is important that I get it right soon."

Vlitgar met his gaze and after a brief moment of deliberation chose to pass on the knowledge, even if it was too early for that in his eyes.

"The process is simple. Cover the object with your soul power and step into the Umbral Plane, the object will follow. But it takes decades of experience to do it properly without rupturing the veil in the process. My suggestion would be to find one of those desert spirit clans and conduct business with them. They can create anything you need and even transport objects between the planes if necessary."

Hao Xuan had already come across one such clan so that idea sounded better in his head.

"What do the spirits deal with? Do they accept Cursed Gold?"

Vlitgar chuckled, "Haha, only if they are part of the sanctum. But most desert clans will accept spirit stones as payment, more the merrier."

"Wait," Hao Xuan thought he had heard misheard him, "Can desert spirits be brought into the sanctum??"

"Of course!" he stated as a matter of factly, "In fact, they are more pious, devout, and just better servants than the majority of mortals since to survive within the Umbral Planes you NEED to have the protection of a powerful deity otherwise death is a certainty. You have been told that bringing others into the sanctum rewards you with favor?"

"Well, I found out by accident when I invited a...an acquaintance."

"Good good, the method is not unfamiliar to you. Use that as much as you need to, we need all the soldiers we can get for the upcoming war."

After exchanging a few other words of "wisdom" Vlitgar took his leave for the time being. Apparently he had an important meeting to get to which worked out in Hao Xuan's favor.

After exiting the Night Market Hao Xuan brought out the broken compass, "I need an anchor for Cerberus, take me to it!"