Chapter 113 - 106: Black Market, Iron Cloth Shirt Advancement, Recommendation

Chapter 113: Chapter 106: Black Market, Iron Cloth Shirt Advancement, Recommendation

The Black Market was located in an abandoned village thirty miles north of the city. Its original name was unknown, but it was now called Black Stone Village.

Su Chen had changed his disguise. He was wrapped in a black robe, and his face was made up to look like he had "four eyebrows." This time, however, he didn’t pretend to have a severed arm; instead, he had a new steel broadsword strapped to his waist.

Many others were dressed similarly. Even before reaching the Black Market, Su Chen spotted several disguised individuals on the road heading in the same direction.

Before long, Su Chen arrived at the Black Market.

From a distance, it was a sea of people that stretched as far as the eye could see. Two guards in dark robes stood at the entrance.

"Entering the Black Market requires a fee of ten taels of silver."

Su Chen paid the exact amount of silver taels and followed the crowd inside. Stalls lined both sides of the street. The majority were run by individual Martial Artists selling their wares, though there were a few actual storefronts as well.

This scene inevitably reminded Su Chen of the wet markets from his previous life—the two shared a remarkably similar vibe.

As he strolled along, he saw all sorts of items for sale: rare antiques, meat from exotic beasts and birds, medicinal pills and herbs, secret manuals for Cultivation Techniques, and various weapons... However, it was difficult to distinguish the authentic goods from the fakes.

Su Chen searched for a long time before finally spotting a stall selling Qi Blood Pills. Several people were crowded around it, all eager to buy.

Listening to their chatter, Su Chen learned the going rate for Qi Blood Pills in the Black Market. A single pill cost 300 taels. Yet, despite the steep price, people were still gritting their teeth and making purchases.

"Customer, how many Qi Blood Pills do you need?" the man in gray asked in a hoarse voice when it was Su Chen’s turn.

"How many do you have?" Su Chen asked, glancing over the stall and seeing nothing but the sign advertising the pills.

Hearing this, the man in gray was clearly taken aback. He thought for a moment before replying, "I currently only have ten pills left. If you want them all, I can give you a discount of fifty taels. Two thousand nine hundred and fifty taels in total."

"There won’t be any issues with the quality, right?"

"You can buy one first to test it out."

"Give me one first."

Su Chen took out 300 taels and handed it to the man in gray. The vendor didn’t stand on ceremony; after accepting the silver, he produced a small bottle from nowhere and handed it over.

Su Chen took the bottle and opened it. Seeing that the color of the pill inside was identical to the Qi Blood Pill he had previously acquired, he took it out and swallowed it right in front of the man in gray.

Such an action naturally displeased the man, but he didn’t show it. He simply waited quietly. Fortunately, Su Chen didn’t keep him waiting long.

"A discount of fifty taels is too little. Make it one hundred taels. I might come back in the future, so consider it making a friend."

Hearing this, the man in gray pondered for a moment before nodding. "Deal!"

He paid with one hand and took the goods with the other.

After obtaining the ten Qi Blood Pills, Su Chen didn’t leave the Black Market. Instead, he headed to an unbranded shop.

"What information do you wish to buy?" a clerk asked, looking up. He handed over a pen and paper. "You can write it down."

Su Chen nodded, picked up the pen, and wrote a single line of text before handing the paper back.

The clerk glanced at the paper, turned, and left. Before long, he returned and said, "That will be fifty taels."

Su Chen pulled fifty taels from his robes. He took the note the clerk handed him, glanced at it, and then pocketed it before leaving.

Having accomplished his two main goals, Su Chen continued to wander around the Black Market. He had originally wanted to find a saber manual, but unfortunately, the secret manuals here were either incomplete, of dubious authenticity, or fell short of his expectations.

There were a few complete saber manuals, but they were rare. After browsing dozens of stalls, he only found one or two, and they didn’t meet his interface’s requirements. They were all saber techniques without an Entering the Realm Method, rendering them useless to him.

He wandered for nearly two hours. As people gradually began to leave the Black Market, Su Chen decided not to linger either. Aside from the Qi Blood Pills and the information on Qin Xue, he hadn’t gained anything else tonight. Still, the Qi Blood Pills alone were harvest enough.

Su Chen thought, "There are people ahead." On the way back, everyone deliberately quickened their pace, and Su Chen was no exception. However, he hadn’t gone far when he heard a commotion ahead. He stopped and peered into the distance, only to see a group of masked men in black clashing with another group of similarly dressed figures.

After a brief glance, Su Chen paid them no further mind. He guessed that someone had been targeted for a murderous robbery. Changing course to a smaller path, he hurried toward Dafeng City.

After entering the city, Su Chen found a secluded spot and changed his clothes. At this time, the streets and alleys of Dafeng City were still bustling with pedestrians; it seemed the nightlife was just beginning.

Upon returning home, Su Chen couldn’t wait to take out the Qi Blood Pills. He had inspected them during the transaction, confirming that there were no issues with their color and that their scent was fairly accurate. That was why he had dared to buy so many at once. However, he wouldn’t know their true efficacy until he tested them.

He randomly selected a rather poor-looking Qi Blood Pill and swallowed it. The medicinal effect was unexpectedly potent, instantly advancing his interface’s progress bar by one unit. He then took a better-looking Qi Blood Pill, but its effect was weaker, failing to provide a full unit of progress. However, it perfectly complemented the first one.

He consumed a total of three Qi Blood Pills, only stopping when he felt his body could no longer handle more. With three Qi Blood Pills in his stomach, his blood burned as if it were boiling in a cauldron. Fortunately, this condition didn’t last long.

The night passed. Su Chen slept for less than four hours before getting up, yet he was full of energy and didn’t feel the slightest bit fatigued. After washing up, he practiced his fist and foot Cultivation Techniques for an hour, finally suppressing the faint, lingering heat within his body.