Marketplace Trial

The West Market of Wutan City was a cacophony of human voices.

It was the most chaotic yet vibrant place in the entire city.

Mercenaries from the Magical Beast Mountain Range, carrying the stench of blood and murderous intent, peddled the magic cores and medicinal herbs they had traded their lives to obtain.

Shrewd merchants sold weapons, armor, and pills brought from afar at high prices to these men who lived only for today, never knowing if they would see tomorrow.

The cries of hawkers, the haggling of customers, and the clanging of weapons, all mixed with the odors of sweat, blood, and cheap ale, formed a raw and vivid tapestry.

Su Chen stood at the edge of this tapestry.

He wore a set of old, washed-out clothes, his thin frame appearing like a withered blade of grass in the surging crowd, ready to snap at any moment.

There was none of the ruggedness or numbness typical of this place on his face, only a calmness that felt entirely out of place.

His gaze swept rapidly across the various stalls.

On those stalls, all sorts of miscellaneous beast fires were displayed haphazardly, mostly contained in crude clay pots. The flames were a murky dark red, emitting black smoke and an unstable, violent aura.

These were his competitors.

A pile of rubble.

Su Chen withdrew his gaze, carrying his unremarkable wooden box toward a relatively secluded corner of the market.

The foot traffic here was not the densest, but it was a mandatory passage for several main thoroughfares.

He did not scream his lungs out like the other peddlers.

He simply found a clean patch of ground, spread a gray cloth over it, and then carefully took the ten identical cyan jade bottles from his wooden box, arranging them neatly.

Finally, he picked up one of the jade bottles and pulled out the stopper.

Puff.

A wisp of flame rose up.

There was no black smoke, no violent aura, and certainly no pungent smell of sulfur.

It was a flame the size of a fist, glowing with a warm, orange-red hue throughout.

It burned quietly, as stable as a piece of ignited amber, radiating a pure and gentle heat. Against the backdrop of the smoky, inferior beast fires nearby, it stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens.

Instantly, several passing mercenaries paused instinctively.

Their gazes were drawn to this extraordinary flame.

Su Chen's heartbeat accelerated slightly.

He remained expressionless, but a voice inside him whispered.

Good goods do not fear a deep alley.

An hour passed.

The space in front of his stall remained empty.

Those who cast curious glances mostly shook their heads and walked away after a brief pause.

The flame certainly looked good—pure and stable, far beyond the quality of that trash.

But this was the West Market.

Most who came here were mercenaries licking blood off their blades or low-level rogue cultivators.

They needed things that were cheap, plentiful, and functional, not these "boutique" items that looked expensive.

Su Chen's confidence began to erode bit by bit as time slipped away.

He still sat there straight-backed, but the fists hidden within his sleeves had tightened involuntarily.

Could I have been wrong?

Just then, a burly man with a hideous scar across his face strode over with the gait of a dragon and the steps of a tiger.

The thick scent of blood on his body caused surrounding pedestrians to instinctively step aside.

The man's footsteps stopped in front of Su Chen's stall.

His gaze fell upon the quietly burning orange-red flame, a flicker of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"How much... for this fire?"

His raspy voice sounded like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

Su Chen's heart leaped into his throat.

The first customer!

He looked up, meeting the man's eyes—filled with scrutiny and pressure—and stated the price he had calculated countless times in his heart, his voice as steady as he could manage.

"Twenty gold coins per bottle."

This price was double that of the common Fire Rock Lizard beast fire on the market.

But for this refined Rock Fire Seed, Su Chen felt it was practically a giveaway.

The scarred, burly man raised an eyebrow at these words.

He did not immediately counter-offer, instead reaching out with a hand as large as a palm-leaf fan to snatch the sample bottle of Rock Fire Seed.

A gentle, pure heat radiated from the bottle.

He could feel that the fire-attribute energy contained within this flame was far purer than any Tier 1 beast fire he had ever seen.

A flicker of greed flashed in his eyes.

"Twenty gold coins?"

He grinned, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow by tobacco, his smile appearing somewhat sinister.

"Kid, which Tier 2 magical beast did you get this fire from?"

In his view, only the innate beast fire of a Tier 2 magical beast could possibly possess such quality.

Su Chen's heart skipped a beat.

He had not expected the other party to be so knowledgeable.

He did not answer, merely watching the man calmly.

Seeing that he wouldn't speak, the scarred man didn't mind, simply tossing the jade bottle in his hand.

"Twenty gold coins is too expensive."

He stared at Su Chen, his voice dropping with an unquestionable sense of oppression.

"I'll offer five gold coins, and I'll take all ten bottles."

Five gold coins per bottle.

This was no longer price-gouging; it was daylight robbery.

Su Chen's expression darkened instantly.

Looking at the man's face, which was written over with arrogance and greed, a surge of anger flared up within him.

But he knew very well that he possessed not a shred of Dou Qi; the man could crush him to death with a single finger.

This was the rule of the West District.

Without strength, no matter how good your goods are, you are merely a piece of fat in the eyes of others.

Su Chen remained silent for a moment.

Then, he shook his head.

"Not for sale."

Two words, clear and firm.

The scarred man's face turned gloomy in an instant.

A fierce, murderous aura began to permeate from his body, enveloping Su Chen like tangible pressure.

"Kid, you'd better think clearly."

His voice now carried a hint of undisguised threat.

"In this West District, sometimes being able to keep money in your pocket while staying alive is more important than how much you earn."

Nearby, some peddlers and passersby who noticed the commotion wore expressions of anticipation, as if watching a show.

They all recognized this scarred man.

He was Wang Tu, the vice-captain of the Blood Wolf mercenary group.

A powerhouse at the Dou Shi level, notorious for his ruthlessness.

In their eyes, this ignorant, reckless kid was likely going to lose everything today.

A layer of cold sweat had already seeped out on Su Chen's back.

The aura of the Dou Shi powerhouse made it difficult for him to even breathe.

But he did not retreat.

This was his first business deal, and it was the bottom line of his dignity.

Once he backed down, he would never be able to stand tall again.

He raised his head, staring directly into Wang Tu's fierce, vicious eyes, and repeated, word for word.

"I said, not for sale."

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

The muscles on Wang Tu's face twitched.

He had not expected this frail-looking kid to dare refuse him again and again.

A surge of anger at being offended rushed straight to his head.

"You're courting death!"

He let out a low shout, his hand gripping the jade bottle tightening violently; between his five fingers, pale cyan Dou Qi surged instantly, intending to crush the jade bottle and the flame inside into powder!

Just at this critical juncture.

A voice, slightly languid yet carrying a hint of majesty, drifted over from not far away.

"Wang Tu, with such a fiery temper, bullying a child—aren't you afraid of losing the dignity of a Fighter?"

Hearing this voice, the Dou Qi that was about to erupt from Wang Tu suddenly stalled.

The rage on his face instantly transformed into shock and wariness.

He turned his head stiffly.

He saw a middle-aged man dressed in a moon-white Alchemist robe walking slowly toward them with his hands behind his back.

On his chest was pinned an exquisite badge.

On the badge, a silver medicine cauldron shimmered brilliantly.

Above the cauldron, two golden stars were even more dazzling and eye-catching.

A Second-Grade Alchemist!

"Gu... Master Gu Ni!"

The flesh on Wang Tu's face twitched, and he hurriedly retracted his Dou Qi, forcing a fawning smile that looked worse than crying onto his previously ferocious face.

He hurried forward, nodding and bowing as he spoke.

"Master, what brings you to a place like this? It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! I was just joking with this little brother!"

The middle-aged man known as Master Gu Ni did not even glance at him.

His gaze had been locked firmly onto the bottle of Rock Fire Seed in Wang Tu's hand from the very beginning.

As a Second-Grade Alchemist, his perception of flames was far beyond that of an ordinary person.

With just one look, he could tell that this flame was extraordinary.

Pure, stable, and condensed.

This... this was simply a perfect fire seed born for alchemy!

He walked up to the stall and took the jade bottle directly from the stunned Wang Tu's hand.

He brought the jade bottle up to his eyes to examine it carefully, and a brilliant light, the likes of which had never been seen before, erupted in his cloudy eyes.

"Good fire, truly good fire..."

He couldn't help but exclaim, his voice filled with surprise.

"A flame of this quality—even from the bodies of some Third-Order fire-attribute Magical Beasts, it might not be found!"

He raised his head to look at Su Chen, who was still sitting on the ground, his previously languid eyes becoming unprecedentedly solemn.

"Little one, where did you obtain this flame?"

Wang Tu, standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded upon hearing Master Gu Ni's assessment.

A Third-Order Magical Beast?

He swallowed hard, and when he looked at that flame again, his eyes had completely changed.

That wasn't a flame.

That was a pile of glittering gold coins!

He had actually tried to buy a treasure comparable to a Third-Order beast fire for five gold coins?

A chill of lingering fear shot straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He knew that today, he had nearly committed a catastrophic blunder.

Su Chen looked at the Second-Grade Alchemist before him, and the stone that had been hanging in his heart finally dropped.

He knew he had bet correctly.

He did not answer Gu Ni's question, but instead pointed to the remaining nine jade bottles on the stall and said calmly.

"Master, would you like to see the others?"

Gu Ni was stunned, then his gaze swept over the nine identical jade bottles, and his breathing suddenly hitched.

He stepped forward quickly, picked up another jade bottle, and pulled out the stopper.

An identical, flawless orange-red flame rose up.

The third bottle.

The fourth bottle.

When all ten jade bottles were opened and ten identical, purely perfect flames were burning quietly on the small stall.

A corner of the entire West District fell into an eerie silence.

Everyone's eyes were locked firmly on this scene, which looked like a miracle, their minds blank.

Master Gu Ni's hands had already begun to tremble slightly.

He looked at the youth before him, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

"These... are all of them?"

Su Chen stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and met everyone's gaze as he gave a slow nod.

"Twenty gold coins per bottle."

His voice was not loud, yet it reached the ears of every person present with perfect clarity.

"No haggling."