Chapter 4869 Unexpected Discovery
Long Chen and Mo Nian ignored those divine senses. Although Xing Wujiang had told them to run rampant, it wasn’t as if they could beat people up just for looking at them.
Moreover, Mo Nian had something important to do, so he didn’t have that much time to waste. After leaving the Feather Spirit race’s territory, they used transportation formations to get to the western city.
The western city was the domain of the Iron Blood Gate, but Mo Nian wasn’t trying to pick a fight yet. The western city’s marketplace had something he wanted.
In essence, Devil Fall City’s east, west, south, and north regions had an open s.p.a.ce for a marketplace. These areas were typically vast, empty lands where even birds didn"t linger for long. To put it frankly, they were wastelands.
However, when Heaven Screen Mountain was about to open, one of those s.p.a.ces would become exceptionally lively. During this period, the marketplace would be packed with people coming and going. Vendors would set up booths for just a few days, yet the rental fees were exorbitantly high. Despite this, countless people vied for those spots, with many forced to set up their stalls outside the city.
While setting up stalls outside the city didn"t require any fees, there was no guarantee regarding the authenticity of the goods. If someone bought a fake, they could only blame themselves. Any money lost to scams was considered a lesson learned, and if someone got robbed, it was up to them to handle it.
That was why not many people chose to do business outside of the city. Mostly, businesses happened inside the city, and those vendors paid the fees to the n.o.ble family in charge of the region.
According to Devil Fall City’s laws, the n.o.ble family in charge would take seventy percent of the marketplace fees, while the remaining thirty percent would be divided among the other three families. There was no need to pay a tax to the city lord.
Thus, whoever’s turn it was to control the marketplace would profit immensely. Each n.o.ble family also had designated areas reserved for their own booths, which were always the prime spots. If they chose not to use these exclusive spots, they could rent them out, earning additional rental income.
No matter how grand or mysterious the cultivation world was said to be, in the end, fundamental things never changed. Money was an inescapable subject, whether in the mortal world or the realm of immortals and devils.
The stronger the faction, the more money it needed. If Long Chen didn’t have the primal chaos s.p.a.ce and the ability to refine pills himself, there was no way he could afford the upkeep of the Dragonblood Legion.
Although Xia Chen and Guo Ran’s professions were both very lucrative, they couldn’t delay their own cultivation to make money. As the Dragonblood Legion’s power increased, the two of them mostly only produced enough for themselves rather than for sale.
When Long Chen’s group of four arrived at the marketplace, they found that the number of people here had dropped compared to the previous two days. Since tomorrow was the day that Heaven Screen Mountain opened, many people had already finished buying what they needed.
The people arriving now were mostly stragglers strolling around, looking for anything they might need or any opportunities to make a profit.
As soon as the four of them walked in, a nearby merchant shouted at them, “You four, are you going to Heaven Screen Mountain? Yes, you really came at the right time! I have many secret tomes here! They are divine arts that have been translated, guaranteed to be quickly mastered. Train in them today and use them tomorrow in Heaven Screen Mountain!”
Even Yu Tong and Yu Fei were speechless, let alone Long Chen and Mo Nian. Could something that could be mastered so quickly be called a divine art? Was this merchant trying to con idiots?
However, since he was hawking his wares so energetically, some people were bound to fall for it. Otherwise, his species would have long since gone extinct.
The four of them didn’t waste time in the outer region and headed straight for the center, where the best booths were located. The rental fees for those spots were the highest, and the merchants, no fools, pa.s.sed those costs down to the buyers.
Those capable of setting up a booth in the central region of the market were all powerful people. Their treasures were of a higher tier, and they had greater variety.
Mo Nian went to one booth in particular. Long Chen noticed quite a few odd ores and strange bottles. Every bottle had a drop of blood flowing on top of it.
Long Chen asked, “Do you know how to inscribe runes?”
Long Chen was no talisman master, but he had seen Xia Chen use materials like this. Hence, Long Chen knew that they were used for inscribing runes.
Those bottles, in particular, were giving off astonis.h.i.+ng fluctuations that suffocated Long Chen a bit. It had to be the essence blood of Heaven Saints.
Xing Wujiang was entirely correct when he said that every time Heaven Screen Mountain opened, it presented a significant opportunity. The marketplace was filled with countless rare and valuable items, a true feast for the eyes.
“Hehe, in my profession, you have to know a little bit about everything,” Mo Nian chuckled and started picking out certain items.
Mo Nian didn’t even bother asking for the price; instead, he asked very specific questions, using some terminology that Long Chen had never heard before. At first, when the attendant saw Mo Nian pick things out without asking for the price, he thought that Mo Nian was just an extremely rich guy.
However, when Mo Nian started asking these questions, the attendant realized that he was a professional. In the end, after Mo Nian had picked out dozens of items, they haggled over the price, and Mo Nian tossed out thirty million primal chaos spirit stones.
Indeed, Mo Nian had deep pockets. Those were thirty million top-grade primal chaos spirit stones, but they were gone in the blink of an eye.
Their group then continued onward. Upon seeing an accessory stand, Mo Nian tossed out another hundred thousand primal chaos spirit stones to buy two bracelets for Yu Tong and Yu Fei.
They were Spirit items that could transform into weapons or armor at will—a bit similar to Bai Xiaole’s Spirit weapon, but in terms of quality, it wasn’t even close.
According to the shopkeeper, the better Spirit items had been bought by other experts, and only the two bracelets remained. Moreover, he refused to haggle with Mo Nian, so he was clearly in no rush to sell them.
Yu Tong and Yu Fei had never seen a Spirit weapon before and didn’t have much understanding of money. However, seeing that the bracelets could constantly transform, they were so delighted that they forgot to thank Mo Nian.
Mo Nian didn’t mind though. In all his time in the immortal world, only the Feather Spirit race’s people had made him feel such warmth. In his heart, he had long since started viewing Yu Tong and Yu Fei as his little sisters.
Mo Nian continued on, occasionally picking out more strange objects to buy. He even bought some odd curios—like shrouds used for wrapping corpses or basins for was.h.i.+ng feet. Some items were so peculiar that Long Chen couldn’t tell what was so special about them.
Eventually, Long Chen walked by a booth and stopped, looking at a strange rock. All of a sudden, his heart shook.
“This is... astral energy!”