The only headache was the more than six hundred tons of purple copper. With such a huge quantity, it would take several trips to move it all, and disposing of it without leaving a trace was also a difficult problem.
Selling it normally would be fine if no one paid attention, but if he were investigated in the future, it would definitely become a major point of suspicion.
A student who had only awakened two days ago had obtained over six hundred tons of purple copper on his first Alien Starfield Exploration?
One had to know that a Psionic Shuttle could carry only around a hundred tons at most.
Therefore, to avoid a situation that might expose the Myriad Heavens Market, Song Chi had to come up with a solution.
It was still Eagle Machinery Store on the top floor of East River Spark Mall, not far from East River District.
"Ten tons of mithril, thirty-four tons of adamantine, eleven tons of cold iron, fifteen tons of Mercury Crystal, and forty-five tons of purple copper. Calculated at seventy percent of market price, that comes to 177.8 strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence. I'll round it up to 178 strands."
The young female clerk spoke with a polite smile.
Song Chi argued his case.
"Miss, seventy percent is really too low. Most other stores buy at eighty percent..."
The clerk still smiled, but she did not respond. Her meaning was obvious: if he could not accept it, he could go wherever offered eighty percent.
In short, there was no room for negotiation.
Seeing this, Song Chi settled for the next best thing.
"How about this? You buy them at eighty percent, and I spend all of that Floating Continent Essence in your store. How about it?"
Eagle Machinery Store ultimately agreed to the proposal, and Song Chi used all 203 strands of Floating Continent Essence to purchase goods from the store as agreed.
1,000 Tungsten Battle Shields
1,000 Tungsten Spears
One Starsea Universal Translator
100 Basic Gene Optimization Potions
Those were the items added to the Cangqiong when Song Chi left Eagle Machinery Store. For them, he also paid an additional 17 strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence.
In the southern outskirts of Jiangyuan City stood one of its most famous forest parks, East Mountain Forest Park. Every holiday, countless people came here to hike. Yet many did not know that behind the forest park, hidden beyond their sight, lay Jiangyuan City's largest black market.
Of course, Jiangyuan's true upper echelon all tacitly acknowledged the existence of this black market. Jiangyuan City needed such a place. Not just Jiangyuan City—across the White Tower Floating Continent, even throughout the Kindling Civilization's territory, what life-bearing floating continent did not have a black market?
It was like the dark side of a city. The more glamorous a place appeared, the larger the black market behind it often was.
Song Chi knew about this place because he had come here once with his father, Song Chao, several years ago.
That experience had allowed Song Chi to learn of this place hidden in Jiangyuan City's darkness. After that, he had come alone several times, so this time, he was very familiar with the process.
Disguising himself, setting the Psionic Shuttle's name to be invisible to outsiders, and selling over five hundred tons of purple copper in batches to several shops in different areas of the black market.
The entire sequence of actions flowed almost seamlessly, without the slightest hesitation.
Prices in the black market were harsh. The purchase price was only sixty-five percent of the market rate, but there was nothing he could do. He was ultimately a rookie Kindling Captain who had only just begun. Without his own sales channels, if he wanted to avoid exposing himself, he had to swallow the loss.
More than 550 tons of purple copper had a market value of 110 strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence, but Song Chi received only 71 strands, nearly half gone.
Gritting his teeth, he returned to Kindling Mall. He exchanged all 90 strands of Floating Continent Essence in his possession for Zero Rank and First Rank Life Cores, while viciously swearing to himself that he would earn this loss back at the Market Ruins.
After putting away the exchanged 700 Zero-Rank Life Cores and 20 First-Rank Life Cores, for a total of 720 Life Cores, the preparations before opening the Market Ruins were basically complete. Song Chi did not linger outside any longer.
After returning home, he briefly told his father and mother that his mental energy had been overdrawn and that he might need to enter deep sleep for a day or two. Once he had their agreement, he quickly returned to his bedroom.
He did not hurry into the Myriad Heavens Market to begin his first market transaction. Instead, he swiftly entered deep sleep.
Mental exhaustion after using Limit Break was no joke. He had already been exhausted beyond measure. If he had not needed to finish arranging everything, he likely would have been unable to hold on long ago.
Twenty hours later, Song Chi woke from deep sleep. Though he had not fully recovered, he felt vastly better than he had yesterday.
At the Myriad Heavens Market, after half an hour of busy work, Song Chi arranged all the items he had purchased yesterday among the ten shops. Once he confirmed that everything was properly set up, he strode toward the Ultra-Long Range Random Space Gate Deployment Platform at the very back of the Market Ruins.
Behind him, ten Fire Sunflower Soldiers glowing red all over followed closely in two rows. After an entire day, the Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree component had completed its cooldown.
Before the Ultra-Long Range Random Space Gate Deployment Platform, Song Chi lightly tapped it. Just as he was about to activate the platform, a notification sounded.
This is the first time this Market Ruins has been opened in ten thousand years. You may personally designate the specific deployment area for one space gate.
After hearing the notification, Song Chi's heart stirred.
Mechanical Clan civilization territory quickly surfaced in his mind, soon filling his entire thoughts.
If this had happened before he obtained that First-Rank Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body, he might not have reacted much.
But things were different now. The First-Rank Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body in his possession was equivalent to a divine power-supplying artifact for members of the Mechanical Clan. Its value was naturally incomparable.
He opened his communication wristband and accessed the Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Civilizations and Lifeforms that he had downloaded long ago and could view without a network connection. Song Chi found several recorded mechanical civilizations within it. After selecting one set of coordinates, he activated the Ultra-Long Range Random Space Gate Deployment Platform before him.
Bzzzz!
As the deployment platform emitted a powerful tremor, ten streams of light lit up above it.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The ten streams of light shot out from the platform one after another, passing through the semicircular protective barrier around the outer layer of the Myriad Heavens Market before turning into ten streaks that vanished into the silent void.
Dozens of seconds later, ten vortex-shaped spatial entrances quietly appeared in the entrance area of the Myriad Heavens Market. Song Chi immediately had the ten Fire Sunflower Soldiers guard the ten space gates, while placing the Starsea Universal Translator at the entrance to the Market Ruins.
After all, those who came in afterward would very likely belong to entirely different races. If they were particularly primitive creatures that had not even mastered Star Sea Common Tongue, this Starsea Universal Translator would be key to ensuring they could communicate without obstruction.
After doing all this, Song Chi finally used his authority as the master of the Market Ruins to conjure a light screen at the entrance, inscribed with the various trading rules of the Myriad Heavens Market.
This light screen was formed from the laws of the secret realm that was the Myriad Heavens Market. No matter what kind of creature saw it, they would instinctively understand the meaning of every rule listed upon it.
Before you continue