Chapter Eighteen: The Market Opens

The only headache was over the more than six hundred tons of purple copper. With such a vast quantity, it would take multiple trips to transport it all, and figuring out how to sell it without leaving any trace posed an even greater challenge.

If sold through normal channels and unnoticed, it might be fine, but if investigated later, it would undoubtedly become a major point of suspicion.

A student who had only awakened two days ago, on his first exploration of the alien domain, had acquired over six hundred tons of purple copper?

It was worth noting that the maximum carrying capacity of a single spectral energy shuttle was just around one hundred tons.

Therefore, to avoid any risk of exposing the Celestial Market, Song Chi had to come up with a plan.

He returned to the Eagle Mechanical Shop on the top floor of the Dongjiang Hearthfire Mall, located not far from Dongjiang Residential Area.

“10 tons of mythril, 34 tons of electrum, 11 tons of cold iron, 15 tons of mercurial crystals, 45 tons of purple copper. At 70% of the market price, that totals 177.8 strands of zero-grade floating land essence. I’ll round it up to 178 strands,” the shop assistant said with a polite smile.

Song Chi argued firmly, “Miss, 70% is really too low. Most other stores offer 80% buyback…”

The assistant smiled but said nothing more, clearly implying that if he wasn’t satisfied, he was free to go elsewhere for 80%.

In short, there was no room for negotiation.

Seeing this, Song Chi tried a different approach.

“How about this: you buy at 80%, and I spend all the floating land essence I get from this deal right here in your store?”

The Eagle Mechanical Shop eventually agreed to this proposal. Song Chi then used all 203 strands of floating land essence to purchase goods from the store.

One thousand tungsten battle shields.

One thousand tungsten spears.

A Starsea universal translator.

One hundred vials of basic gene optimization fluid.

These were the additional items Song Chi left the Eagle Mechanical Shop with aboard the Sky Vault. He even paid an extra 17 strands of zero-grade floating land essence for the transaction.

...

In the southern outskirts of Jiangyuan City stood the renowned Dongshan Forest Park. During holidays, it drew countless visitors for hiking. What most didn’t know was that hidden behind this forest park, out of sight, was Jiangyuan City’s largest black market.

Of course, among the true elites of Jiangyuan, the existence of this black market was an unspoken secret. The city needed such a place—not just Jiangyuan, but across the White Tower Floating Land and throughout the Hearthfire Civilization’s territories, every life floating land harbored its own black market.

Like the shadow side of a city, the brighter the surface, the larger the black market behind it.

Song Chi knew of this place because he had visited it years ago with his father, Song Chao.

That experience was what revealed the hidden darkness beneath Jiangyuan City, and since then, Song Chi had visited alone several times. This time, he moved with practiced ease.

Disguised, with the spectral energy shuttle’s name set to invisible, he sold over five hundred tons of purple copper in multiple transactions to several shops scattered across different sections of the black market.

The entire operation flowed seamlessly, without the slightest hesitation.

Prices in the black market were grim: only 65% of the market value. But there was no other way. As a rookie newly appointed as a Hearthfire captain with no established sales channel, Song Chi had to swallow this loss to avoid exposure.

Over 550 tons of purple copper had a market value of 110 strands of zero-grade floating land essence, yet Song Chi only received 71 strands—almost half vanished.

Gritting his teeth, he returned to the Hearthfire Mall, exchanging all 90 strands of floating land essence in his possession for zero-grade and first-grade life cores.

Inwardly, he vowed fiercely to reclaim these losses in the market.

After securing 700 zero-grade and 20 first-grade life cores—a total of 720—his preparations for entering the market were complete. Song Chi did not linger outside.

Back home, he briefly explained to his parents that he was mentally exhausted and might need a day or two of deep sleep. With their consent, he swiftly retreated to his room.

He did not rush to initiate his first market transaction but instead plunged into deep sleep.

The mental fatigue following his breakthrough state was no trivial matter; he was utterly drained. Had he not arranged all matters beforehand, he might not have lasted.

Twenty hours later, Song Chi awoke from deep sleep. Though not fully recovered, he felt vastly better than the day before.

...

At the Celestial Market, after half an hour of busy work, Song Chi had neatly arranged all the items he had purchased the day before across ten shops. Satisfied that everything was in order, he strode toward the market’s innermost “Ultra-Long-Distance Spatial Gate Random Deployment Platform.”

Behind him, ten fiery sunflower soldier figurines glowed with a red aura, arranged in two rows. The buffering of their tree components was now complete after a full day.

Before the deployment platform, Song Chi tapped lightly to activate it. Just as he was about to proceed, a prompt sounded:

【Detected first-time activation of this market within ten thousand years. You may designate the precise deployment area of one spatial gate yourself.】

Upon hearing this, Song Chi’s heart stirred.

The words “Mechanical Civilization Territory” swiftly surfaced from his heart and filled his mind.

Had this been before he obtained the first-grade floating land essence core fusion, he might not have reacted strongly.

But now was different. The first-grade core fusion in his hand was, for any mechanical being, akin to a powerful energy artifact—its value incalculable.

He opened his communication wristband, accessed the pre-downloaded alien domain civilizations and creatures compendium—available offline—and found records of several mechanical civilizations.

Selecting one coordinate, he clicked to activate the ultra-long-distance spatial gate deployment platform before him.

A low hum vibrated through the platform as ten beams of light flared.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The ten beams shot out from the platform in succession, piercing the semi-circular outer shield of the Celestial Market and dissolving into the silent void beyond.

Several tens of seconds later, ten vortex-shaped spatial gateways quietly appeared near the market’s entrance.

Song Chi immediately stationed the ten fiery sunflower soldier figurines as guards around the gates and placed the Starsea universal translator at the market entrance.

After all, those arriving next would likely be from entirely different species. For the lowest-level beings unfamiliar even with the Starsea common tongue, this universal translator was crucial for seamless communication.

Having completed these preparations, Song Chi finally invoked the authority of the market’s owner to project a luminous screen at the entrance, inscribed with the Celestial Market’s trading rules.

This light screen, formed by the laws governing the secret realm of the Celestial Market, conveyed the listed rules in an instant comprehension to any creature who saw it.