Profit Summary (Tuesday, Please Read On)

As time passed and more and more alien races entered the Market Ruins, the goods Song Chi had purchased with over two thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence gradually sold out.

He sold Basic Genetic Optimization Drugs, which cost one strand of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence each, for five strands apiece.

He sold Tungsten Spears and Tungsten Battle Shields, which cost one strand of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence for twenty, at five for the same price.

He sold Basic Civilian Exoskeletons, which cost 200,000 credits—or twenty strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence—per set, for one hundred strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence.

With prices inflated several times over, Song Chi's funds quickly surpassed eight thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence. He had made a killing.

What pleased him even more was that among the supplies worth over eight thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence were more than one hundred strands of First-Rank Floating Continent Essence. Added to the thirty-two strands he already possessed, it was enough for him to continue upgrading the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator several more times.

And this was not yet the end. Trading in the free stall area continued, and every minute, he could collect several transaction taxes of varying amounts.

Song Chi estimated that once this trade fair was completely over, the funds in his hands should exceed ten thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence.

Besides that, he continued purchasing goods with enormous price differences. Once he sold them through the black market later, he could make another small profit.

The only regret was that, despite keeping an eye on every stall in the market area at all times, he had not discovered another Star Sea Marvel.

Still, he did not dwell on it too much. After all, the Market Ruins was only lv9 at present. Only Zero Rank Star Sea alien races could enter through the deployed space gates, and the chances of Zero Rank creatures obtaining Star Sea Marvels were minuscule to begin with.

Having figured that out, he no longer deliberately sought Star Sea Marvels. Once the Market Ruins rose in rank later, the odds of marvels appearing would increase substantially.

Several more hours passed. Half an hour before this Market Ruins trade fair was about to end, Song Chi experimentally set up a stall of his own and placed more than two thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence on it.

Such a sizable display quickly drew the attention of many nearby alien races. Within minutes, more than a hundred aliens had gathered around his stall.

Just as the alien creatures wondered what Song Chi intended to trade for with all that Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence, the sign he took out, written in Star Sea Common Tongue, immediately drew a wave of derisive murmurs.

"Exchanging for First-Rank Floating Continent Essence. Eleven strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence for one strand of First-Rank Floating Continent Essence."

Once they learned that he wanted to exchange for First-Rank Floating Continent Essence, more than half of the surrounding aliens promptly dispersed.

First-Rank Floating Continent Essence was already far rarer than Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence. Most of the aliens present did not even possess any themselves, so how could they possibly exchange it?

Song Chi was naturally not surprised. Instead, when he saw that several dozen figures had yet to leave, a trace of delight flashed through his eyes.

Although the exchange rate between First-Rank and Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence in the Market Ruins had always been 1:10, and his offered rate of 1:11 was somewhat unfavorable, compared to the 1:14 or 1:15 rates in the Morning Star Duchy, it was still acceptable. So long as an alien was willing to trade, he would definitely not lose out.

Soon, an unknown alien stepped forward to ask.

"1:11 is still a little low. If you can offer twelve strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence for one strand of First-Rank Floating Continent Essence, I can exchange ten strands with you."

Hearing that, Song Chi firmly shook his head.

At 1:12, he would not exactly lose money, but after all the running around he had done, he had to earn something, didn't he? Was he supposed to work for nothing?

The price of First-Rank Floating Continent Essence on the black market was far from stable. 1:14 might be the average exchange rate, but who could guarantee that, when he sold his goods, the price would not happen to be pushed down to 1:12?

Seeing that he refused to budge, some more aliens chose to leave. In the end, fewer than twenty remained before the stall, but Song Chi was already satisfied. Surely, it would not end with none of these nearly twenty aliens successfully trading with him.

Besides, this had only been a spur-of-the-moment attempt, one that cost him nothing. Even if not a single one traded with him, it would not be a big deal.

The final result was much better than Song Chi had expected. Of the eighteen aliens, twelve successfully traded with him, and one of them exchanged a hundred strands in a single transaction.

By the time this trade fair officially ended, Song Chi's total funds had exceeded eleven thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence. Of that amount, he possessed as many as three hundred and two strands of First-Rank Floating Continent Essence.

As for the remaining supplies, aside from six Deepwater Mussel Pearls, that Mermaid's Tear, and upgrade resources he would need soon such as Mercury Crystal, Adamantine, and Life Cores, the total value of the other usable goods also exceeded five thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence.

Of these supplies, Song Chi intended to keep only around two thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence. Based on the current number of space gates deployed by the Myriad Heavens Market, the number of alien races that could enter for each Market Ruins trade was limited. He estimated that keeping two thousand strands for purchasing stock would be about enough. Keeping more would be pointless; after all, the market was only so large each time, and buying too much stock meant it would most likely not all sell.

As for the remaining goods worth over three thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence, he planned to use all of them to upgrade the Cangqiong.

During the two days after the Market Ruins trade, Song Chi made several more trips to the black market, exchanging the batch of goods worth over three thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence for Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence, Mercury Crystal, Adamantine, and other starship upgrade resources. Then he withdrew into the Market Ruins.

Myriad Heavens Market, free stall area.

The Cangqiong had long since been summoned. After preparing for two days, Song Chi did not hesitate and directly began a new round of starship upgrades.

The first thing he upgraded was naturally the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator, currently the highest-quality component aboard the Cangqiong. This orange Glory-quality energy shield had performed exceptionally well in the previous battle against the First-Rank peak Metal-Eating Vine, further strengthening Song Chi's resolve to continue upgrading it.

The Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator was currently lv10. Upgrading it further required twenty strands of First-Rank Floating Continent Essence and twenty tons of Mercury Crystal. In addition, five thousand Dark Energy Points had to be provided at once.

First-Rank Floating Continent Essence and Mercury Crystal were no problem; Song Chi had prepared them long ago. Yet Dark Energy Points, the simplest requirement, had now become a problem.

The standard Psionic Engine aboard the Cangqiong had currently been upgraded to lv14, but its accompanying Psionic Pool capacity was only barely five thousand points. Upgrading the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator to lv11 would not be an issue, but further upgrades would no longer have enough Dark Energy Points.

Left with no choice, Song Chi spent additional resources to upgrade the Psionic Engine directly to lv19.

Fortunately, the Psionic Engine was only a standard colorless component. Its First-Rank upgrades required only Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence and Zero-Rank Life Cores.

Psionic Engine lv19

Quality: Colorless

Consumption: 10/s (Dark Energy Points)

Power Output: 118/s (Dark Energy Points)

Post-Overload Cooldown: 20 minutes

Psionic Pool: 9000 points (can store 9000 Dark Energy Points)

Upgrade Requirements: Component upgrade limit reached; cannot be upgraded further