Chapter 57: Success

After a thorough introduction, Song Chi felt a bit nervous—not because of the gazes around him, but because he was fixated on the one-armed alien behind the stall, awaiting its response.

These few items were painstakingly gathered; if the other party refused the trade, he truly had no other suitable goods to meet the conditions.

It wasn’t that these items were particularly precious. Once back in Jiangyuan City, as long as he had the Floating Land Essence and credit points, he could buy as many as he wanted. They were incomparable to the purple-quality stellar sea marvels. The key was that Song Chi only had these few suitable items on hand.

He had prepared these cautiously before the last alien domain exploration; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to produce even these few.

If he could temporarily exit the Multiverse Market, everything would be much simpler. He could easily get a second-hand military-grade personal energy shield, for example, solving all problems at once. Once equipped, such a shield could withstand multiple attacks from even second-tier energy level foes, let alone first-tier creatures.

But the problem was he couldn’t leave now. If chaos broke out in the market, not to mention purple marvels, even the profits already secured would likely be mostly swept away.

As for why he didn’t have the Firequill Soldier Figurine accompany him for protection—it wasn’t unwillingness, but impossibility.

First, as mentioned before, the Firequill Soldier Figurine couldn’t stray far from its summoner.

Second, even if it could, it couldn’t pass through the market’s illusory portal at the entrance. Only those aliens entering through these portals could return the same way. Others couldn’t pass, and with the figurine’s first-tier strength, it exceeded the portal’s current limit of allowing only zero-tier beings to pass.

The one-armed alien’s expression was hesitant, somewhat tempted, yet still feeling uncertain.

The three items alone couldn’t guarantee it would escape unscathed from the first-tier Morra aliens outside.

Seeing this, Song Chi took out two blue-capped vials.

“These are advanced genetic enhancement and advanced body forging potions. If your strength reaches the peak of zero-tier, taking both will increase your chance of breaking through to first-tier.”

Noticing doubt flicker in the alien’s eyes, he continued, “I bought these recently from the genetic potion shop. Their effects are guaranteed.”

At that moment, the illusory golden dragon in the sky let out a long, resonant cry, as if affirming his words.

Still not enough, Song Chi added one last sentence—this sealed the decision of the one-armed alien standing before him.

“If you still refuse, then forget it. This is all I can offer for now.”

After this, the one-armed alien finally nodded in agreement but added one condition:

“Alright, but you must supply enough dedicated batteries for the combat robot and advanced exoskeleton.”

Snap!

Song Chi snapped his fingers.

“No problem. I have plenty of intermediate energy batteries in my bag.”

Saying so, he pulled out dozens of matching intermediate energy batteries from his backpack.

...

Having successfully acquired the purple marvel, the “Brain-Eating Tribe’s Superwave Main Brain,” the subsequent transaction returned to normal, with no new marvels appearing. Half an hour before the market closed, Song Chi resumed his previous operation.

He set up a separate stall, exchanging zero-tier Floating Land Essence for first-tier Floating Land Essence.

This time, luck was not on his side. He ended up with only 210 strands of first-tier Floating Land Essence, nearly a hundred fewer than last time.

Song Chi could only comfort himself that things would improve after this.

After this round, the Multiverse Market would advance from zero-tier to first-tier. In the future, first-tier alien civilization beings would enter the market, and first-tier Floating Land Essence circulation should gradually increase.

Besides the first-tier Floating Land Essence, zero-tier essence plus some arbitrage resources he bought totaled over 9,000 strands of zero-tier Floating Land Essence.

In fact, the gains from zero-tier essence this time exceeded the last, suggesting the previous alien domain exploration’s empty-handed outcome did not affect this market transaction.

...

But actually, that wasn’t the case. Last time, the roughly 8,000 strands of zero-tier essence counted excluded over 1,000 strands converted into first-tier essence and also omitted six deepwater clam pearls and a drop of mermaid’s tear handed to his mother yesterday.

Moreover, this “Brain-Eating Tribe’s Superwave Main Brain” marvel was exchanged for an advanced exoskeleton, a first-tier combat robot, energy grenades, and two intermediate body forging potions—none of which were goods for sale or prepared funds, so they were not counted as earnings.

Adding and subtracting these, it’s clear this transaction earned several thousand fewer strands of zero-tier essence than last time. This was the final result of the empty-handed alien domain exploration.

Song Chi felt a bit regretful but didn’t dwell on it. Once all alien creatures exited and the market transaction officially ended, he quickly opened the Multiverse Market’s attribute panel.

With this trade concluded, all conditions for the market’s advancement were met. He was eager to elevate the Multiverse Market to first-tier.

[Conditions met. Spend 200 strands of zero-tier Floating Land Essence to upgrade market level to lv10?]

“Confirm!”

As the word “confirm” left his lips, 200 strands of zero-tier Floating Land Essence floating before him dissipated sharply, merging into the market space. Immediately, the entire Multiverse Market trembled violently.

If someone were watching from the external void, they would see the market transform into a dazzling radiance, glaring vividly in the pitch-black void.

...

Far, far away from the Multiverse Market, in the nearly eternal silence of the void, beings with dark blue-black bodies, spiral twin horns atop their heads, and black wings on their backs wandered through terrifying void storms.

To these unknown creatures, barely two meters tall, the terrifying void gale that chilled Song Chi’s eyes seemed nonexistent. They moved through the storms with ease, unaffected in the slightest.

At that moment, the red-eyed, violently aura-emitting creatures abruptly turned, their gazes converging to the side, where a faint flash of light had just flickered and vanished.

Though fleeting, this light stood out remarkably in the silent void space.