As the party crossed the village gates, the grandness of the village entered the sights of Lou Ben.
When he first saw the village gate it seemed as if there was only a white fog, but after being allowed entry, the sight changed into something rather different. Lou Ben was holding his breath as to not be caught off guard as to what might be inside.
What Lou Ben saw was the exchange of goods and floating crystals at each corner of merchant stall. Although that was not wonderous enough, the floor in which he stepped onto was not regular land of the plains, but instead decorated with sparkling jade, diamonds, and gold surrounding stones that were as smooth as laser cut rocks.
"Just a few more steps to go. Let me take care of matters with the sect and Cai Niu, you can go get rid of this mortal."
Shi Cheng took off in the direction of the center, where there was more commotion of merchants bartering.
Cai Niu grabbed onto Lou Ben's arm and went in another direction, where less people walked the streets.
Inside a normal looking building, a sign that read "slave auctions" hung.
A man in white and blue loose clothing, resembling that of the village guards was standing behind a counter. The room was small and all that was available was shelves of crystals in all dark blue color.
"How might I be able to help gentlemen?" The man with sleek features that resembled a stillness of water spoke.
Cai Niu paid him no mind and seemed as if this was rather normal to him "I have some merchandise I'd like appraised and sold."
"Is this the product that is behind you?" the man behind the counter spoke to Cai Niu.
Cai Niu was remembering what Shi Cheng told him about Lou Ben and how he is somewhat peculiar "yes, he is a young combat mortal with a white aura."
The man at the counter displayed a slight smile as he heard these words, what interested him was every single word.
"He is so young to be a combat mortal, my goodness these mortals these days are truly out of hand." The man behind the counter was quite interested in Lou Ben.
Cai Niu had little thought of Lou Ben and only came to settle this matter because of Shi Cheng "yes, he is strange. How much are you going to give for him?"
"Well in all honesty we have many combat mortals to sell at the price of ten stones. The mortal being so young we can add five more on top. You spoke about how he has a white aura, well I don't recall anything about auras, but I do see that underneath all that blood and grime is a pretty face." The man behind the counter was staring at Cai Niu as he spoke.
The man finally finished speaking and came with a final price of twenty aura stones.
Cai Niu was slightly in disbelief as that was twice the price of average combat mortals who were sold for only ten aura stones. This not only covered the cost of entry but also covered the cost of his loss of blue and green crystals. Not to mention the red crystal that caused the explosion, this red crystal was worth more than five entry tokens.
In the mind of Cai Niu what really mattered was making up for not only the cost of entry, crystals used to enter the village but also the additional profit.
"So, what the margin of profit is small, this is still more than being at a loss originally. If I would have known this kid had some sort of uniqueness, I probably would have held off on eating and saved a few more aura stones." Cai Niu was thinking about the mistake of using a blue and green crystal on Lou Ben.
Cai Niu was straight to the point and only cared about profit and loss, he didn't think too much, that was the job for the team leader. Cai Niu was only here to help complete the sect mission and earn rewards for his hard work. Making the profit of a few stones and getting into the village was already more than what he expected.
"Alright, we will do business." As Cai Niu said this, the man behind the put down a sack of twenty aura stones and in his other hand he pulled out a dark blue crystal.
The dark blue crystal started to shine and in a flash of light Lou Ben was engulfed. He seemed to have been transported into the crystal as what he saw now was the two people he was standing beside now larger and behind a dark blue screen.
"They cant be serious. It's not like I would have imagined to be surprised again and again, but I thought that maybe being sold into slavery I would maybe at least be imprisoned with other slaves and learn more about this damn world."
Lou Ben was sure that he could not outrun the figures that brought him into the village so by the time he was told he was going to be sold into slavery he had already accepted this fact.
There was nothing he could do.
"If I was like these dao masters maybe then I could run or fight back, but I don't even know much else about this world."
One thing in Lou Ben's mind was for sure, that the strong will be able to handle matters in their own hands. Unlike the world he lived in before, there was nothing like dao masters and laws that can intertwine and be used in such an explosive manner.
"Alright good sir, please come again if you have any need for slaves to purchase or to sell." The man behind the counter spoke.
Cai Niu nodded his head and gave one more look at the crystal that Lou ben was encased in.
Lou Ben saw his figure step out through door and never looked back.
"It seems this is all too normal for people like them. Are people like me really treated like nothing else but a commodity?" Lou Ben was powerless and truly in the hands of others.
The man behind the counter waved his sleeve and on top of the counter laid a display where he placed Lou Ben.
"Young man, you will be sold to a great person. Those twenty stones are nothing to the people that live in this village. I might even get fifty just because you are so young, who knows!"
The man was laughing as he swept his sleeve and disappeared.
The store was now empty and all that remained was countless dark crystals with mortal slaves placed on the shelf with Lou Ben being the only one to be displayed on the counter.
Lou Ben had many things on his mind and many worries, what took precedence was the nature of himself. He was learning as things go and tried his best to swim through the waves of uncertainty. This is much different than who he was in his past life.
Although he learned much having to see his life repeatedly, it is very different to put these things into practice.
It was as if you had learned how to play chess from a dream and have yet to move a chess piece yourself, there is a difference between knowing and wisdom that comes from action and experience.
This subtle difference was something Lou Ben figured out; he was now willing to be put into action to discover the uniqueness of being in action.
Unfortunately, his current situation put him in the backseat and these powerful figures were directing his life. He was simply a commodity to these sorts of people.
Inside this empty and spacious store, Lou Ben sat inside the dark blue crystal. He kept his gaze at the doorway, crossing his arms and wondering.
"From being a helpless soul to being a helpless mortal in the world of the strong. Things have changed."
"To be traded for a couple of rocks. My life is meager and only worth those twenty smooth pebbles."
"huhh…"
"Maybe as a slave I can learn more things about this world. Maybe its not too bad after all. I mean I could be dead and forced to relive my past life again."
"It's certainly better than being helpless as a soul. Here I can experience many things and feel the rush of blood once more."
Lou Ben was thinking as this was all he could do at this moment. There was nothing or anyone coming through the door to purchase any slaves.
"There are too many uncertainties. I need to think about what I already know."
Inside Lou Ben's mind he was recollecting the information he already experienced.
To begin with it seems this world is drastically different than the world he once knew.
"There are powers at work, vicious people at play, and better than anything else…"
"I still have the memories of my past life."