In Maple Leaf Valley.
There was a platform paved with bluestone slabs, spanning a hundred zhang in every direction, dry fallen leaves scattered across it.
On either side of the platform sat martial artists in all manner of clothing, wearing masks of tigers, goats, oxen, and more. Their auras were formidable. A piece of cloth was spread before each of them, displaying pills, manuals, secret arts, medicinal herbs, divine weapons, sharp tools, and ingenious trinkets.
At that moment, there were seventy or eighty martial artists in the valley.
More martial artists carrying bundles continued to enter Maple Leaf Valley. Quite a few set up stalls, while most wanted to buy something useful.
"Want Qi and Blood Pills? Ten for twenty-nine taels of silver!"
"All kinds of martial arts manuals, twenty taels each!"
"Dragon Saliva Grass and Red Sun Grass for sale!"
"Great Cang maps, faction distribution maps!"
Following the example of the other martial artists, Qin Wang passed stall after stall in search of the Mysterious Fragment. The vendors eagerly introduced the treasures on display.
Everyone knew it.
The black market.
It held all sorts of treasures inconvenient to sell through ordinary channels, as well as stolen goods of unknown origin, gained through murder and robbery.
Qin Wang knew that although these vendors appeared enthusiastic, every one of them was a ruthless killer with blood on their hands. He did not ask prices, focusing only on finding the Mysterious Fragment.
Two quarters of an hour later.
More than a hundred martial artists had gathered in Maple Leaf Valley, all haggling in low voices. Qin Wang still had not found the Mysterious Fragment, and his brows furrowed slightly. The intelligence could not be wrong. Could that person simply not have arrived yet?
Thinking this, Qin Wang came before the stall of