Xu Kun bowed, then solemnly lifted the white bones from the throne and gently stored them in his backpack!
Then he swung the Cheng Ying Sword in his hand!
With a few swishes, the throne before him was reduced to chunks of rubble.
"Senior Ling Feng said his bones were beneath the throne, so I still need to dig them out!"
Weighing the feather-light Cheng Ying Sword in his hand, Xu Kun shook his head and put away the divine artifact.
Then, with a wave of both hands, a large blade blazing with crimson flames landed in his grasp. He gave it a swing—the heavy feel was just right!
Rongjin Sunset Blade: (;??????`) Nooo! What sins had I committed?! I'm a divine artifact, not a shovel!
As though it foresaw what it was about to go through, the flames covering the sentient divine artifact trembled all over.
"Behave yourself, or I'll use you to chop firewood from now on!"
After that threat, perhaps because the Rongjin Sunset Blade believed Xu Kun was mad enough to do anything, it truly stopped resisting!
"Good. That's more like it!"
With that, Xu Kun gripped his shovel... no, divine artifact, and plunged it into the dirt.
"Hey, this works pretty well!" Xu Kun raised a brow, then spat into his palms a few times in a suitably dramatic fashion. After rubbing the saliva over his hands, he finally gripped the blade's hilt with both hands!
"Heave-ho, heave-ho!"
After some hard work, Xu Kun dug a massive pit beneath where the throne had stood. When he heard a crisp "ding" from the tip of the Rongjin Sunset Blade, he hurriedly stopped.
"Little thing, don't break someone else's bones. If you're this careless, don't blame me for using you as a woodcutter's axe to calm Senior Ling Feng's anger!"
The Rongjin Sunset Blade trembled nonstop.
(?﹏?) I think you just want to use me as a woodcutter's axe! Don't make excuses for your twisted hobby, hey!
Casually tossing the Rongjin Sunset Blade aside, Xu Kun crouched down and brushed away the soil with both hands. At last, he touched a grim skeleton. He checked the spot he had just touched—there wasn't the slightest damage!
"As expected, an extraordinary person leaves behind an extraordinary skeleton. Not even a divine artifact could scratch it!"
Xu Kun felt relieved. He did not bother looking for any tools. He was wearing the Minotaur Gauntlets anyway; they were low-grade equipment, so he would not feel bad even if they got filthy. He simply got to work with his hands, digging away the dirt bit by bit.
Rongjin Sunset Blade: (??w??) Little bro, at least I'm still for chopping wood. You've gone straight to scooping shit!
Minotaur Gauntlets: ?(????-?)~? As humble as I am, I dare not speak. As long as The Lord doesn't wear me while doing that kind of thing, it'll be fine!
Rongjin Sunset Blade: (??w??) What if The Lord insists on wearing you while doing it?
Minotaur Gauntlets: ?(????-?)~? I just hope The Lord washes me clean afterward!
Rongjin Sunset Blade: =????(???*)
He gradually dug Ling Feng's entire skeleton out of the soil. After cleaning off the sand and dirt, Xu Kun examined it carefully before finally shaking his head and sighing. "After death, no matter how illustrious someone was in life, they still end up as nothing but a pile of bones!"
Xu Kun solemnly bowed three times to Ling Feng's skeleton before storing it away. He even deliberately placed the two skeletons in adjacent inventory slots as a sign of respect!
"I've never heard of Yue Country, but although more than five hundred years have passed, there should still be records of that place in ancient books. If I really can't find it, I'll ask my history and geography teachers!"
Ling Feng's final wish was for his bones and A Qing's bones to be returned to their homeland for burial. Naturally, Xu Kun would not refuse such a reasonable request!
For Chinese people, returning to one's roots was the ultimate hope of every compatriot who died inside the Haotian Pagoda, as well as every martyr who fell on the battlefield.
Every year, China's higher-ups held events to bring home the remains of fallen heroes. To that end, they would not hesitate to pay a steep price even to hostile factions!
This was the faith and romance etched into the bones of Chinese people. Even among the Human Race, people from the other major war zones still could not understand this inheritance embedded in their very bones!
Taking out the golden pass, Xu Kun gave the Mist Island trial-takers from other races—the ones he had sent a grand gift to—another look before leaving!
"Not bad. In such a short time, one-third of you are already dead. Keep it up! If you don't work hard, how will you ever know just how hopeless your future can be?"
Laughing loudly, Xu Kun activated the pass!
As a reward for receiving an SSSS-tier newbie trial rating, Xu Kun's pass naturally came with permanent access. When he had studied this material during tutoring, he had also seen that temporary passes existed!
When he had first read that, he had been quite curious. What was the point of a temporary one-time pass?
Floor 0 of the Haotian Pagoda was not some tourist resort. More importantly, permanent passes like the one Xu Kun held had no market price, whereas temporary passes actually had a listed price!
A pass with a single-use authorization cost as much as five million Human Race Currency!
Naturally, something so expensive caught the attention of a money grubber like Xu Kun. Only after looking into it further did he understand why it cost so much!
That was because on Floor 0 of the Haotian Pagoda, a place known as the Myriad Races Trading Ground, you could buy all kinds of things you wanted!
Aside from common goods also produced by the Human Race, many items were unique to certain races!
If you wanted to buy things unique to those races, entering Floor 0 of the Haotian Pagoda was your only hope. Otherwise, on Blue Star, what kind of nerve would you need to dare trade with another race in their own territory?
If you really had that kind of ability, you probably would not need to trade at all. Wouldn't it be better to just rob them?
That was what Xu Kun had thought at the time!
There were countless specialties among the myriad races. To purchase things they needed—such as life-extending medicine, rare ores, vital materials lacking for forging equipment, or things needed by members of other races—yet did not dare trade elsewhere, the final destination for all such dealings was only Floor 0 of the Haotian Pagoda, where Xu Kun was about to set foot!
Ding, the teleportation array leading to Floor 0 of the Haotian Pagoda has been activated!
The golden book-token in Xu Kun's hand turned into a streak of light and opened a teleportation array before him. Xu Kun stepped into it, and his entire body vanished from the Desolate Shrine!
Only wooden Ling Feng remained, still tirelessly leaning on his sword and staring blankly into space!
"Huh? Why did it stop moving?"
He stood within a glittering golden environment, yet the scalp-ripping sensation of teleportation did not come.
The notification sounded by his ear once more.
Ding, as this is your first time entering Floor 0 of the Haotian Pagoda, Floor 0 is currently divided into areas for the major races. Please select the area you wish to visit!
A detailed map soon appeared before Xu Kun. The trading districts of the myriad races were packed together like blocks of tofu, pressed against one another in varying sizes!
He looked at several of the larger trading districts, all of which belonged to powerful races among the myriad races!
On Floor 0 of the Haotian Pagoda, it was not a race's overall strength that determined its territory. The main reason those major races occupied more space was that more of their people had obtained passes. Combined with the greater resources of major races, the trading districts they needed to establish were naturally much larger!
Among the countless trading districts, Xu Kun quickly found the one belonging to the Human Race!
"Oh? It's this big?"
Although the Human Race was not considered a high-ranking existence in the Myriad Races Sequence, its territory on Floor 0 was second only to those peak races!
"So the rumors were true. When it comes to infrastructure and business, the Human Race really has never bowed to anyone!"
Xu Kun praised them before continuing to zoom in on the map. Even the Human Race Trading District was divided into several sections!
At last, a red five-pointed star entered Xu Kun's sight.
"This is..."
Xu Kun tapped it open and found the words "China Trading District" displayed there!
Red was China red, and the star was the five-pointed star on the red flag passed down by China to this day!
"Does it have to be this competitive? Other races' trading districts are all crooked and irregular, but our great China's trading district was actually built in the shape of a red five-pointed star!"
"I'll choose this place!"
Ding, selection complete. "Kun" will land in the Human Race Trading District—China District!
The familiar dizzying sensation once again wrapped around Xu Kun's entire body.
With a splat, the teleportation ended, and Xu Kun landed hard on his backside.
"Ow... Could this crappy teleportation array not be a little gentler?" Xu Kun stood up while rubbing his butt.
He looked around, then frowned. "Why isn't anyone here?"
The streets on either side looked no different from those on Blue Star, yet every shop with a sign hanging outside was closed today.
Xu Kun found that difficult to understand.
Just as he was puzzled, a hand suddenly slapped his shoulder.
"Hey, bro!"
"Fuck, who was that?!"
Xu Kun turned around, but saw no one!
"Hey, I'm down here!"
Xu Kun thought he had run into a ghost. Only after hearing the voice coming from below did he lower his head and look.
Well, guess what?
A short, stout, fat man barely one and a half meters tall was glaring up at Xu Kun with an enraged expression. It was as if Xu Kun's earlier reaction had deeply insulted him. He was so angry that he had even stopped rolling the two golden walnuts in his hands!
Xu Kun scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry, uncle. I honestly didn't notice you just now!"
Who the hell would have known the person patting his shoulder would be this short?
Comparing their heights, Xu Kun could not help guessing inwardly, had this guy jumped up just to pat his shoulder?
It would have been fine if Xu Kun had stayed quiet, but the moment he spoke, the other man got even angrier. "Who are you calling uncle?! I'm only eighteen... uh, no, twenty-eight... that's not right either. Anyway, I'm still young. Call me big bro!"
"Ah, sure, Big Bro. Did you need something?"
Xu Kun felt that he was a newbie. The streets were empty, while the man before him clearly looked like an old hand. He needed to keep the right attitude and ask him for guidance properly.
Only then did the short, fat man snort in dissatisfaction and resume rolling the two golden walnuts in his palm. Combined with his exaggerated outfit and the finger-thick gold chain around his neck, two words naturally came to mind when describing him: nouveau riche!
"That's more like it. First time here?"
"Big Bro is absolutely right. This is indeed my first time here, but why is everything closed?"
The short, fat man casually glanced at the top of Xu Kun's head, then made a gesture with the hand behind his back. Xu Kun felt a gust of wind sweep across his body and shivered for no reason.
"You don't know?" the short, fat man asked impassively.
Xu Kun's face twitched. He had already said this was his first time here, so why should he know?
"Forget it. Looking at your dumb face, I'll just tell you. What do people come to this Myriad Races Trading Ground for?"
"This..." Xu Kun hesitated.
The short, fat man gave a cold laugh. "What else? People only come here for two things!"
As he spoke, the short, fat man held up two fingers as thick as carrots.
Xu Kun respectfully said, "Please enlighten me!"
The short, fat man nodded in satisfaction. "The first thing, naturally, is to buy what they need!"
Xu Kun nodded calmly. Why else would anyone come here to wander around?
"As for the second thing, if it's not buying, then it's selling. Some things that are hard to get rid of can be sold here at a good price without any worries!"
The short, fat man looked Xu Kun up and down. "Looking at how poor you are, you probably don't have anything good. Tell me what you want to buy. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll handle it for you!"
Who was he looking down on?!
Hearing the short, fat man's mocking words, Xu Kun nearly pulled out the Rongjin Sunset Blade and gave him a taste of its power!
Rongjin Sunset Blade: ?(*?O?)=3 Big Bro, calm down, Big Bro!
In the end, Xu Kun still did not take out the blade. He forced an awkward but polite smile onto his face. "Big Bro, you guessed wrong. I'm so poor, how could I afford anything good? I've just gotten some ordinary stuff lately and came here to sell it for a little potion money!"
"Oh? That makes sense. Someone like you probably just got lucky one day and picked up a few decent trinkets to sell!"
Xu Kun: (???_??) I'll endure!
"Big Bro is absolutely right!"
With an arrogant expression that said he had known it all along, the short, fat man played with his golden walnuts and held out his hand. "Hand it over!"
"What?" Xu Kun was stunned.
"The things you want to sell. I already told you, I'm in a good mood today. I'll take whatever you're selling, and I guarantee a fair price!"
Xu Kun's eyes widened, as though a red-eye effect had been applied to them!
He had awakened. It was hunting time!
The corners of Xu Kun's lips curled slightly upward. Pretending to remain calm, he said, "Alright, then take a good look, Big Bro!"
As he spoke, Xu Kun reached into his backpack, then clenched his fist and held it out before the short, fat man!
"Big Bro, take a look at this. How much do you think this thing is worth?"
Before you continue