A month had passed, and just as Fang Xing began to feel the Qi he’d accumulated from his lone Spirit Stone start to dissipate, Yu Sanliang sent him good news about the Black Market: the time and date of the next market had been set by a dozen interested outer court disciples. Excited for the upcoming event, Fang Xing yelled for Yu Sanliang to bring a meal that was particularly lavish.
All of the money still came from Yu Sanliang’s pocket, of course.
On the day of the market, Fang Xing prepared a few things to take along with him before using his Mask of Wanluo. As soon as he activated the mask with Qi and placed it on his face, his body and facial features shifted so rapidly it was even visible to the naked eye. His bones cracked as he grew a few inches taller into the size of a grown adult, although his slight frame—even with this more mature appearance—was still paper-thin.
His appearance as a twenty-something-year-old man was so ordinary he could easily be forgotten after being seen, and clearing his throat revealed a deeper, huskier voice like that of a grown man as well. Fang Xing put on the robes he’d borrowed from Yu Sanliang before swaggering towards where the Black Market was to be held.
No one paid any attention to such an ordinary disciple.
—
The Black Market was located in a valley a few miles away from the outer court, and by the time Fang Xing—or, rather, an ordinary young man—arrived, the moon had already appeared in the sky.
Two masked men stood at the valley’s entrance and looked towards Fang Xing. "What brings Shixiong here today?"
Although slightly surprised by the men’s caution, Fang Xing snickered, "What brings me here? Why would I be here if I didn’t have something? You know what I’m talking about; it better not disappoint me today!"
"Of course. But please, Shixiong, we can’t let the sect know about this. After all, it is…" one of the men replied nearly in a whisper while exchanging looks.
"Hah! You really think the sect doesn’t know about this? If they truly didn’t allow for it, do you really think it would be possible? They’re just pretending not to know," Fang Xing laughed. "Why so serious?"
In fact, Fang Xing had made sure to get every bit of information Yu Sanliang had on these markets. Although the sect had its rules, they weren’t going to stop low-level disciples from exchanging goods as long as it wasn’t turned into a spectacle. Even then, the sect would only need to send an elder to address the issue for it to stop for a few years.
The market today was really only for the new disciples who’d joined four or so months ago. Most of their cultivation levels were between tiers one and two, and it really served no interest to anybody that had been in the sect longer than that. No one recognized anyone else in a market like this, and identities couldn’t be checked in advance, either; Fang Xing didn’t even have to break a sweat to smuggle himself in as an ordinary-looking man masked just like everyone else.
The initial estimate had said only a dozen or so interested disciples would be at the market, yet it seemed over twenty had arrived. Everyone who arrived earlier had already chosen a quiet and concealing corner to cautiously observe everyone else around them.
One man wearing a black mask couldn’t contain himself any longer and decided to break the silence. "Esteemed shixiongs and shidis, I don’t want to waste any more of your time. If anyone wants to exchange anything, please speak now so we can get this done and over with."
"That’s right. Let me start first, then." A scrawny man placed six shiny red stones on the large limestone in front of him. "We’re all new in the sect, so these Spirit Stones are what we need the most right now. The sect asks for one hundred gold taels for each Spirit Stone, but today I’ll trade for eighty gold taels each."
It was a full twenty gold taels cheaper than exchanging with the sect, and a few were visibly moved by this offer. One chubby man—also masked—soon stepped up and spoke, "I… I need t’ examine them stones first."
"Go ahead! Why would I sell fake ones, anyway!" The scrawny man laughed at the idea and waved the man to check as much as he pleased.
Fang Xing felt a sense of familiarity when he heard the scrawny man’s voice, as though he’d heard it somewhere once before. After activating his Book of Revelation, Fang Xing began to smirk; it was none other than the mustached man from the Pavilion of Spirit Tools. But of course, who else would have so many Spirit Stones to exchange?
Since he already had his Book of Revelation activated, Fang Xing decided to check on the rest of the people here. Most had only reached tier one, there were a few in tier two, and only this mustached man was at tier three.
"Them Spirit Stones! I’ll take two of ‘em!" The chubby man excitedly threw a small bag of gold leaves. "Check ‘em an’ make sure it’s correct, ay!"
"No need; I believe you." The mustached man grabbed the bag and smiled, knowing the amount was exact just by weighing it with his hands. "Only four left…."
"I’ll take three!"
"Leave two for me!"
Soon enough, all six Spirit Stones were completely sold out.
Seeing how smooth the transaction was, a few others also took out their Spirit Stones to sell. Most of these people had probably been in the sect for a few years by now and had saved up a few Spirit Stones to try exchanging for something more useful from the new disciples.
"It’s my turn now! I’ve got something here that I’d also like to exchange for some Spirit Stones, but let me be honest, not everyone is able to handle it." It was another masked young man, and—with a flourish of his hand—a red sword appeared in his grasp. There was a hint of gold within its red luster, but what caught most of the people’s attention wasn’t the sword, but how he’d taken the sword out. The sword had just instantly appeared, and if someone were to look carefully, they’d see this man was wearing an antique-styled ring from where the sword had come from.
"Isn’t that… a storage ring? A new outer court disciple with a storage ring…."
"That sword isn’t an ordinary sword, either! By the looks of it, it must be mid-tiered…" the small crowd whispered among themselves, all of them surprised by how wealthy this man was.
As though already used to such a reaction, the man scanned across everyone before saying, "Before coming here, I used up all of my savings on this mid-tier spirit weapon, the Nine Snakes’ Sword, but who would have imagined that I bought it way too early? With my current level of cultivation, I can’t use it to its full potential just yet. I need a lot of Spirit Stones to improve my cultivation, but my clan is quite far away, and the extra silvers and golds they’ve prepared for me won’t arrive here for another two months’ time…. It will be too long for me to wait, so I’m here now to sell this sword."
Everyone stood still in shock. It was a mid-tier spirit weapon as expected, but no one spoke up since it obviously wouldn’t come without a heavy price.
The man noticed the silence of the crowd and continued, "I bought this sword with ten thousand gold taels, and if I were to do the exchange today, it would be a minimum of a hundred Spirit Stones. But is there anyone who just so happens to have this much today?" After a slight pause, he nodded in an expectant manner. "Of course, it’s not a problem even if no one has this much on them right now, as I will be bringing this along with me to the next Black Market for anyone who might be interested. If you know any shixiongs who are not here today who might also be interested, please do let them know as well."
It seemed the man had been expecting this. He knew it wouldn’t be sold in one go and was only here to see if there were any potential buyers. The sword, though, was definitely quite something, and it was guaranteed that people in the third tier would be interested. Perhaps it’d draw in even those in the fourth tier.
"Very interesting, but you needn’t be concerned. I wasn’t expecting something so fascinating to appear at the Black Market and so didn’t prepare enough for something like this, but I am quite fond of this sword. As soon as I get back, I’ll have the stones prepared for you, so just hold on to it for me until then!" It was none other than the mustached man, his eyes sparkling with greed. After working at the Pavilion of Spirit Tools, he knew quite a bit about spirit tools and weapons!