Black Iron Piece

Black Iron Piece

Xiao Ling held Xiao Xun'er's hand as the two moved through the shops. Before long, they reached the miscellaneous goods market. Most merchants here simply spread out a blanket and placed their wares on it. There were all kinds of items—perhaps rare treasures, but more often worthless junk.

Having arrived at the miscellaneous goods market, Xiao Ling decided to tease Xiao Xun'er. "Xun'er, this is Wutan City's famous bargain-hunting market. How about you try buying something today and see whether you lose money or make a profit?"

Xiao Xun'er first lowered her head and pondered for a moment. Then she opened her left hand, clenched her right into a fist, and smacked her fist into her palm, looking as though she had figured something out.

She flashed Xiao Ling a sly smile before saying, "Brother Xiao Ling, just watch."

She then pulled Xiao Ling over to a vendor, pointed at a wooden box on the stall, and asked, "What's the deal with this wooden box? How much is it?"

The owner was dressed in black robes. When Xiao Ling swept him with his Soul Power, it was like mud sinking into the sea—he could not sense the slightest fluctuation of Dou Qi. Xiao Ling frowned and secretly grew wary, preparing to make a quick escape if they needed to leave.

The black-robed man said, "Only one of these three wooden boxes contains a hundred gold coins. Each one costs fifty gold coins."

Xiao Xun'er's eyes lit up at those words. She paid fifty gold coins, immediately took the middle wooden box, and handed it to Xiao Ling, blinking at him expectantly.

Seeing this, Xiao Ling had no choice but to open it. When he saw the hundred gold coins inside, a flash of understanding crossed his eyes.

Seeing Xiao Xun'er's excited expression, Xiao Ling sighed inwardly. A casual joke from me was enough to make her invite a Dou Emperor expert to put on an act with her. This girl is truly warmhearted. I will never let you down in this life.

He patted Xiao Xun'er's head. "Then today, I'll borrow your luck to seek out some opportunities." With that, he took her hand and headed deeper into the miscellaneous goods market.

"Eh? Could this be..."

Xiao Ling's expression suddenly changed slightly. He glanced at a stall ahead and discovered an unusual Soul Power fluctuation from a Black Iron Piece. He immediately led Xiao Xun'er over to the stall.

The stall before them was not large, with a dozen or so items scattered across it.

The most valuable items among them were several magic cores. Their greenish color suggested they were first-tier magic cores.

On the Dou Qi Continent, magic cores were also known as Magic Energy Crystal Cores, Pill Prototypes, and so on.

As the name implied, they were energy crystal cores found within magical beasts, filled with extremely violent natural energy.

Under normal circumstances, only magical beasts could devour magic cores and directly absorb the natural energy contained within them.

If humans directly absorbed the natural energy inside a magic core, they would suffer cultivation deviation and ruptured meridians at best, or die on the spot at worst.

Although the energy within magic cores was violent and could not be directly used by cultivators, they could shine brightly in the hands of Alchemists. They were one of the main ingredients Alchemists commonly used when refining medicine.

After an Alchemist refined them with exquisite flame-control techniques and mixed them with other medicinal herbs to calm the violent Dou Qi within the magic core, they could be transformed into pills capable of increasing a cultivator's strength.

Moreover, magic cores could not only be used in pill refinement, but also in crafting weapons or accessories, adding attribute effects to weapons or granting ornaments functions beneficial to cultivation.

Thus, on the Dou Qi Continent, magic cores had always been one of the most sought-after primary materials, and their prices remained high.

Xiao Ling crouched down and pointed at the magic cores. He casually glanced at the ordinary Black Iron Piece, then asked the somewhat shifty-looking middle-aged mercenary seated beside the stall, "Boss, how much are those magic cores?"

"There are two Wood Attribute magic cores here, and one Water Attribute magic core."

The middle-aged mercenary spoke while glancing at Xiao Ling and Xiao Xun'er from the corner of his eye. Seeing that they were young but carried themselves with unusual poise, he figured they could afford magic cores. Only then did he smile. "Young Master, if you sincerely want them, I'll sell all three to you for fifteen hundred gold coins."

"Fifteen hundred gold coins for three? Isn't that too expensive?"

Xiao Ling frowned, looking somewhat angry. "First-tier magic cores at other stalls cost between four hundred and five hundred gold coins each. Why are yours so much more expensive?"

"How is that expensive? They've been this price for years. Young Master, these are all top-grade magic cores, and the magical beasts they came from were difficult to deal with."

The middle-aged mercenary shook his head. "Several brothers from our mercenary group were injured obtaining these magic cores, so they're a little more expensive than ordinary first-tier magic cores."

Xiao Ling pondered for a moment. "Four hundred and fifty gold coins each. If you sincerely want to sell them, I'll buy all three at once."

"Four hundred and eighty gold coins each at the lowest. Young Master, if I sell them any cheaper, how am I supposed to explain it to my brothers when I return?"

"Four hundred and sixty gold coins each!"

Xiao Ling stood and took Xiao Xun'er's hand, making as though he were about to leave. "Magic cores aren't exclusive to your stall. Maybe I just won't buy from you."

"Four hundred and seventy gold coins each, all right, Young Master?"

Seeing his customer about to leave, the middle-aged mercenary hurriedly called out, "Young Master, how about we both take a step back?"

"Fine! Four hundred and seventy gold coins each. Pack them up for me, and throw in a few small gifts as well." Xiao Ling casually grabbed several inconspicuous little trinkets from the blanket.

When the middle-aged mercenary saw that Xiao Ling had only taken a few worthless items worth a handful of gold coins at most, he immediately relaxed. Still, he put on an expression as though he had suffered a huge loss. "Fine, then. I went through great trouble to find these in magical beast caves. They're definitely treasures. I'm the one taking the loss here."

The excitement in Xiao Ling's eyes flashed away in an instant. He took out the gold coins and handed them over. Once the items had been packed, he led Xiao Xun'er away.

On the way, Xiao Xun'er saw Xiao Ling's excited expression and could not help asking, "Why does Brother Xiao Ling look so happy? The things Brother Xiao Ling wanted to buy just now should have been those little porcelain pieces, right?"

"Xun'er is so clever. You guessed it right. I was born with powerful Soul Power, and this Black Iron Piece gives me a strange feeling. I don't know what it does, but I'll take it back and study it to see whether I can uncover any secrets." Xiao Ling took out the Black Iron Piece as he spoke to Xiao Xun'er.

"Brother Xiao Ling is really smart. That merchant was obviously a dishonest trader." Xiao Xun'er smiled.

"They're all dishonest traders. The moment they see that you like something, they deliberately raise the price. I have no intention of being taken for a fool." Xiao Ling put away the Black Iron Piece and stopped thinking about it.

The two strolled between the shops, exchanging gifts with one another. Slowly, they left the marketplace and returned to the Xiao Family beneath the slowly rising sun.