Chapter 20: The Discovery in the Market District
As time passed, the number of creatures in the marketplace steadily grew, soon reaching into the hundreds. Under the intimidating presence of ten first-rank Fire Sunflower Soldier Statues, these diverse beings behaved exceptionally well. After several hours, not a single disturbance had occurred, much to Song Chi’s surprise.
In a short span, all the goods he had wholesale-purchased yesterday were sold out, at prices marked up at least threefold, resulting in a substantial profit.
Yet, amid his joy, Song Chi sighed inwardly.
His initial capital had been somewhat limited. Even with several times the price margin, the profit from this batch barely amounted to less than a thousand strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence. Though not insignificant, it was hardly a fortune.
Fortunately, transactions in the free stall area continued unabated, and the pure transaction tax helped Song Chi earn a decent sum.
Holding over a thousand strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence in capital, Song Chi, now quite confident, disguised himself as a trader and mingled among the stalls.
Of course, the claim of having over a thousand strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence was figurative. In truth, he mostly held Life Primordials, but according to the exchange rate within the Ember Human Civilization Domain, their total value exceeded a thousand strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence.
Floating Land Essence, as a resource, was typically used as currency only by mid-level or higher star-sea civilizations. For lower civilizations, Life Primordials were the hard currency.
...
The stall area was not large. With an area of 10 meters by 10 meters, it felt especially cramped for the hundreds of star-sea intelligent creatures present.
Seeing this, Song Chi spent 150 strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence to upgrade the marketplace from level 0 to level 5.
Amid the skepticism of the hundreds of intelligent beings, the Celestial Market began to rapidly expand, quickly growing from 100 meters by 100 meters to 300 meters by 300 meters.
Simultaneously, the stall area expanded from a meager 10 meters by 10 meters to 30 meters by 30 meters. Though still crowded, it was vastly improved.
[Name: Celestial Market]
[Market Owner: Song Chi]
[Level: 5]
[Dimensions: 300m x 300m]
[Basic Facilities: 24 vacant shops, one 30m x 30m stall area, one one-story inn with 30 guest rooms, one level 0 all-attribute cultivation chamber (doubles efficiency for spectral energy cultivation), one level 0 spectral energy protection array, one level 0 ultra-long-range spatial gate random deployment platform.]
[Additional Facilities: None (0/4)]
[Special Feature: Disaster Avoidance (allows free movement through the void, passively evading natural disasters)]
...
[Upgrade Requirements: 60 strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence, marketplace transaction volume reaching 600 strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence]
[Remarks: A modest market located on the dark side of the Broken Star Sea, seemingly only accessible to creatures below first rank, but with promising potential.]
Gazing at the attribute panel of the market visible only to himself, Song Chi furrowed his brow.
Even the additional facilities slot increased by two at level 5, yet the all-attribute cultivation chamber, ultra-long-range spatial gate deployment platform, and spectral energy protection array remained unchanged. Enhancing these would evidently require extra resources.
This realization dampened his spirits.
The only consolation was the marketplace’s monthly opening, which still generated substantial income. As long as the startup capital was sufficient and the spatial gate’s location was favorable, profits remained stable.
After upgrading the market, Song Chi began pacing among the various stalls, hoping to find a bargain.
Prices varied across the Broken Star Sea; perhaps some inexpensive items held by other alien races were extremely scarce resources within the Ember Human Civilization Domain.
Scanning each stall, Song Chi shook his head repeatedly.
“A ton of refined iron ore, priced at twenty zero-rank Life Primordials—that’s twice the market price outside. Even a dog would shake its head at that.”
“Two tons of mythril ore for eight first-rank Life Primordials—cheaper than the market, but without distribution channels. Smuggling it would cause a loss, so no.”
...
After over ten minutes, Song Chi’s steps halted in front of a small stall run by a bull-headed humanoid.
Though his gaze appeared unfocused, the corner of his eye was fixed on a palm-sized black sphere.
[Exotic Item: Refined Gold Ore]
[Grade: White]
[Can Evolve Into: 1 {Golden Moon Guan Dao}, 2 {Golden Rock Shield}, 3 {Golden Rock Hull Armor}]
[Remarks: A fine example among white-grade exotic items.]
This seemingly ordinary black spherical object was, in fact, a white-grade exotic item.
Upon discovery, Song Chi was thrilled. His earlier hope of finding bargains had not extended to exotic items; this was an unexpected delight.
...
Each star-sea exotic item was exceedingly precious, requiring long periods to form. Even the lowest-tier white-grade items were no exception.
Pretending to browse the other goods, Song Chi casually picked up the black sphere.
“What is this?” he asked.
The bull-headed stall owner scratched his head awkwardly. The item was obtained by slaying a warrior from a hostile tribe. He never understood what kind of ore it truly was, only that it was extraordinarily hard—so much so that the tribe’s best blacksmiths couldn’t smelt it.
“If you want it, it’s a hundred zero-rank Life Primordials. This ore is top quality—once forged into a weapon, its destructive power will be incredible.”
Song Chi frowned and bargained.
“No one knows what metal this ore comes from. A hundred zero-rank Life Primordials is too high. How about fifty, half price?”
Agreeing directly would arouse suspicion; haggling several times was necessary to avoid it.
In the end, Song Chi purchased the white-grade exotic item for seventy-five zero-rank Life Primordials.
Holding the refined gold ore, his face remained calm, but inside he was beaming.
As the name implies, refined gold ore and refined gold ore-stone were essentially the same mineral. However, refined gold ore was the concentrated essence of an entire large refined gold vein, making it far more valuable.
Its attribute panel showed that, as a metal exotic item, it could be transformed not only into hull armor for Ember flying ships but also into single-use weapons and shields.
Encouraged by this acquisition, Song Chi frequented the stalls more often, yet did not find a second star-sea exotic item.
Along the way, he purchased several batches of rare resources scarce within the Ember Civilization Domain. Even if he later sold them on the black market, he could still earn over a hundred strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence—better than nothing.
Time passed moment by moment. As more than half the marketplace’s open period elapsed, Song Chi’s expression darkened.
He clearly remembered designating a spatial gate’s drop point within a mechanical civilization domain recorded by the Ember Human Civilization, yet no mechanical beings had entered the market. This left him somewhat disappointed.