Barter System

"Barter System?"

Xiao Se was slightly stunned, then quickly realized what this was. Wasn't this the same setup as those Soul Land fanfiction protagonists from his previous life, that someone from some clan?

Could it be that Xiao was also one of heaven's chosen sons?

Ding. System loading complete. Bind now?

"Bind." Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Se chose to bind it.

Ding. Barter System binding...

Ding. Barter System binding complete.

Hearing the System notifications in his mind, Xiao Se, well versed in novel tropes, immediately called out in his head, "System, can you explain your specific functions?"

Ding. This System is called the Barter System. As the name implies, it exchanges goods for goods. Acting as an intermediary, the System can exchange items submitted by the host for any item from all heavens and myriad worlds.

Ding. As this is the host's first time binding the System, you have been rewarded with five exchange attempts. Would the host like to make an exchange?

"Exchange? That someone stole things, while Xiao exchanges for them. Interesting. Forget it, I'll wait for now. There are too many people watching here."

After sweeping his gaze over the surrounding crowd and seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Xiao Se rose to his feet and leisurely headed for Xiao Family Back Mountain, pretending nothing had happened...

Xiao Family Back Mountain.

Beneath a massive waterfall lay a hidden cave, its entrance concealed by the waterfall. It looked remarkably like the Water Curtain Cave from Journey to the West on Blue Star in Xiao Se's previous life.

Xiao Se had stumbled upon this cave dwelling by accident. It had been left behind by someone from the past.

The cave dwelling led directly to a Stone Chamber. At its center stood a square stone platform, and directly above it was a ventilation opening. Sunlight streamed in through the opening, illuminating the entire Stone Chamber.

Unfortunately, this cave dwelling had already been visited before Xiao Se found it. All that remained were a few bottles of pills that had lost their medicinal effects, completely useless.

"System, exchange this twig in my hand." Xiao Se glanced around the empty Stone Chamber, removed the twig clenched between his teeth, and called out excitedly in his mind.

Ding. Exchanging item... Congratulations, host. You have obtained the Storage Soul Tool Twenty-Four Bridges on a Moonlit Night from Tang San, the protagonist of the Soul Land world.

Feeling the twig in his hand vanish in an instant and turn into a belt, Xiao Se could not help blurting out, "Holy shit..."

...Soul Land, Notting City.

Tang San had just collected his Soul Master subsidy from Spirit Hall with Xiao Wu. They found a decent restaurant to improve their meals for the month.

"Little San, we finally don't have to eat bran and swallow vegetables at the Academy Cafeteria anymore." Xiao Wu excitedly ordered an entire table of dishes and ate with great delight.

Tang San said, "Xiao Wu, slow down. No one's going to fight you for it."

"I don't care. I have to satisfy my cravings today. Little San, remember to accompany me to buy clothes after we finish eating." Xiao Wu spoke playfully.

"You..." Tang San shook his head with a bitter smile and began enjoying the food.

Suddenly, Tang San's expression changed drastically. He felt as though something had touched his waist.

He looked around, yet found no suspicious people. They were all diners without soul power.

"Little San, what's wrong?"

Seeing Tang San act so nervously, Xiao Wu asked in confusion.

"Nothing, Xiao Wu. Are you full? If you are, then let's leave."

Based on his years of experience cultivating the Tang Sect's ultimate arts, anyone capable of touching his waist without making a sound was definitely no ordinary person. This was not a place to linger.

"Mm-hm, I'm full already." Xiao Wu lifted her fair little chin slightly and smiled.

Tang San's gaze shifted toward the table, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He had not even started eating, yet the entire table of food had already been wiped clean.

"All right, then. I'll go pay the bill first." As he spoke, Tang San stood and reached for the Storage Soul Tool at his waist.

Wait... This did not feel right.

Looking down, holy shit, he had been robbed! Why had his "Twenty-Four Bridges on a Moonlit Night" turned into a twig?

At that moment, the restaurant owner also came over. With a dangerous look in his eyes, he asked with a smile, "Are you two paying the bill?"

"Twenty-Four Bridges on a Moonlit Night? Wasn't that the gift that scumbag Yu Xiaogang gave Tang San? Interesting."

Muttering softly, Xiao Se began examining the contents one by one.

There were more than five hundred Gold Soul Coins in total. After roughly comparing them with the Gold Coins of the Dou Qi Continent, Xiao Se found that aside from the different designs stamped on them, their shape, size, and weight were nearly identical. Xiao had made a small fortune.

Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record?

Perhaps Tang San believed no one on Soul Land could understand traditional Chinese characters, so he had not worried about it being lost and copied down the entire manual from memory.

Unfortunately, Xiao Se found it completely useless. Only the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track movement technique, the Crane Control Capturing Dragon technique, and the throwing methods from Hundred Solutions to Hidden Weapons were worth playing around with during the Dou Zhe stage.

After all, the Dou Qi Continent was not like Soul Land, where every skill relied entirely on soul rings and there was not even a decent cultivation manual.

Besides that, Xiao Se also found two Zhuge Divine Crossbows and a variety of miscellaneous hidden weapons. They seemed to have been newly made by Tang San. For the time being, they could be used against opponents at the Dou Zhe and Dou Shi levels.

After checking the twenty-four compartments and finding nothing particularly valuable, Xiao Se tied it around his waist. He did not have a Ring yet, so it would do nicely for storage.

"System, open my personal panel." Xiao Se called out in his mind.

Ding. Host personal panel opening automatically...

As the System's notification sounded in his mind, a display window appeared on the translucent light screen before Xiao Se.

Host: Xiao Se

Gender: Male

Age: Eleven

Cultivation: Ninth Stage Dou Qi

Cultivation Method: None

Dou Skill: Stone Crushing Palm, Yellow Middle Grade

Exchange Attempts: 4

"Hmm, what's this?" Xiao Se spotted an option in the lower-right corner of the translucent screen, similar to the user guide on the phones from his previous life.

Imitating how he used to tap a phone screen in his previous life, Xiao Se tried tapping it. A new pop-up window appeared.

System Description: This System is a functional System and possesses no self-awareness. Instructions are as follows...

After carefully reading through the System description, Xiao Se came to a sudden realization.

This was a half-finished System called the Barter System.

Main function: Exchange goods for goods. Acting as an intermediary, the System can exchange items submitted by the host for any item from all heavens and myriad worlds.

From the tedious notes in the System description, Xiao Se summarized the following important points:

First, there was a certain chance that an exchange would fail. Items would not be returned after a failed exchange.

Second, items of the same type had a chance to increase the exchange probability to a certain extent.

Third, binding the System for the first time granted five exchange attempts. Thereafter, one exchange attempt would be granted each calendar month. Exchange attempts refreshed once every calendar month and could not be accumulated.

Fourth, whenever the host's strength rose by one major rank, the System would automatically issue a patch for the host to improve the System.

Fifth, the host needed to discover all other functions on their own.

"Four exchange attempts left? I really need to make good use of them. And once midnight passes tonight, it'll be the next month." Xiao Se stroked his smooth, fair chin and muttered inwardly.

P.S. Please vote with your free recommendation tickets. There will be no world-hopping in the early stages.