Treasure Hunting in the Trading Zone

Today's first update! Let me see how much energy everyone has—let's push higher, and I'll post another update! I'm going all out for my first recommendation week!

The announcement repeated itself three times. The Reincarnators around Gao Xu immediately erupted into a hubbub, their voices rising in discussion.

The trading zone he had been sent to was one of the busiest places in the space. It was packed with people and deafeningly noisy: some asked about goods, some haggled, some appealed to personal ties, and others cursed when negotiations fell through. It was many times livelier than a street market on Earth.

That made it a decent place to shop, but nearly impossible to ask around for information. As soon as the shocking announcement went out, the crowd surged toward the nearest teleportation point.

The trading zone was square, with teleportation points at the midpoint of each side and at all four corners, connecting to other areas. Gao Xu had just come out of one of them. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and stepped aside in time. Otherwise, with so many people rushing past, he could have been bowled over by some unreasonable Reincarnator and had no choice but to take the blame.

In the space, private fights were strictly forbidden everywhere except designated places such as fighting pits and arenas. In practice, throwing a punch caused no damage, but Reincarnators couldn't walk through one another, so shoving and jostling were unavoidable when things got crowded.

Gao Xu watched as the trading zone, which had held at least several hundred people, became almost deserted. Even many vendors hurriedly packed up their stalls and followed the crowd. He couldn't help smiling.

This was just what he wanted. You couldn't find a better time to shop even if you went looking with a lantern!

"Number 27384? That should be Mr. Yi. I can't believe they really defeated the Red Ghost King. Looks like my small favor came in pretty handy..." As he strolled past the stalls overflowing with goods, Gao Xu pondered the announcement. He knew exactly why the other Reincarnators had been so excited: since the Great Purge, the first-difficulty boss had been replaced twice already. That meant no one had cleared the stage for at least six months!

This wasn't surprising. The Great Purge was the most terrifying event in the Main God Space. Gao Xu hadn't experienced it himself, but he had heard enough secondhand accounts to know quite a bit about it.

They said that when the Great Purge began, every Reincarnator in the space was forcibly sent into a story world to face an extraordinarily difficult mission. The most outrageous part was that the mission's difficulty varied enormously depending on each Reincarnator's strength.

Put simply, the stronger the Reincarnator, the higher the chance of dying!

That was why the fourth- and fifth-difficulty Reincarnators had been wiped out, while some weaker Reincarnators at the first, second, and third difficulties had been lucky enough to survive.

However, ninety-nine percent of those survivors had been bottom-tier Reincarnators to begin with. Even after several months of growth, they still weren't strong enough to take on the stage-guarding boss, which was why no one had advanced for so long. If number 27384 really was Mr. Yi, then he'd made quite a splash this time. With the Worker Alliance established, great things could be in store!

Gao Xu was still thinking about it when a call request came through his Emblem. One glance at the caller's number told him who it was. He answered with a smile. "Mr. Yi, congratulations!"

"Haha, young friend Gao, congratulations to you too!" Mr. Yi's hearty laughter came through. After exchanging a few cheerful congratulations, his tone turned serious. "We absolutely couldn't have succeeded without your advice and help, young friend Gao. Great kindness needn't be repaid in words, but I still have to show my appreciation. Once you're back in your private space, check your incoming mail. I can't shortchange you for the information, or break the rules. As for why Abbot Zhixiu appeared, you'll have to explain it when we meet!"

Gao Xu had already received a notification about a new email, though he didn't know what it contained yet. He didn't make a show of refusing the payment. After thanking Mr. Yi, they chatted for a while, set a time to meet, and ended the call.

From Mr. Yi, Gao Xu learned that at the most critical moment, Abbot Zhixiu of Jade Buddha Temple had appeared at the blood pool and dealt the Red Ghost King a fatal blow. Mr. Yi clearly understood that this story character's appearance had a great deal to do with Gao Xu.

With that matter settled, Gao Xu focused on browsing. He was looking for unusual items like the Monster-Eating Insect. Such items didn't list a point value in their descriptions, making them difficult to price. Reincarnators with a good eye could often get an excellent deal.

Of course, unusual items were hard to come by. Most Reincarnators were shrewd and understood the value of holding onto rare goods. They would rather keep an item than sell it cheaply.

It wasn't necessarily that the price was cheap; it simply didn't match what they had in mind, so they wouldn't sell. They only let go of such items when they were in dire straits and urgently needed points.

That meant the buyer's luck came into play. In his previous life, Gao Xu had once been extraordinarily lucky: he'd bought an unusual item from the Trails in the Sky series, an Orbment, for just 2,000 points. It was badly damaged and could only hold one quartz circuit.

Who would have guessed that during a battle in the Doll Workshop, Gao Xu would happen to save a story character? After maxing out their affinity, he got the Orbment repaired, only to discover it was a rare five-slot Orbment. He'd relied on it to make a name for himself for a time, and it had eventually led him to acquire the Seven Kill True Interpretation.

But such things were rare strokes of luck. Even if Gao Xu bought a nearly useless Orbment now, there was no guarantee that repairing it would give him one with five slots—or even six or seven. It all depended on luck.

Gao Xu made a full circuit and stopped at a stall. Pointing to a round bead, he asked, "How much for the Thunder Fire Bead?"

The stall owner's body was shrouded in white mist, making it impossible to make out their height or other features, though their limbs moved freely. In the trading zone, Reincarnators could pay a certain number of points to conceal their appearance and avoid the disputes that might follow a deal. More than ninety percent of them were wrapped in mist, and Gao Xu was no exception.

The item Gao Xu had asked about was the Thunder Fire Bead Tang Mei'er had used against him in Hidden Dragon Cave. It came from the Heavenly Tolerance Sect in the Jian Xia Qing Yuan world and was their signature hidden weapon.

The reply came in a stiff, genderless voice, clearly altered as well. "Six hundred points each. No haggling."

"That's a bit expensive," Gao Xu muttered, pointing at another item, a dry-looking woody vine. "What about this Thousand Gold Vine?"

"One thousand points. Since you recognize it, you should know it's a combat recovery medicine that can also cure poison. That's not expensive!" The stall owner sounded surprised, clearly impressed by Gao Xu's knowledge.

Most Reincarnators had to touch an item to obtain its information and judge its value. It was quite unusual for someone like Gao Xu to identify an item just by looking at it—unless he, too, spent all his time in the Jian Xia Qing Yuan world...

At the thought, the stall owner's voice grew warmer. They began actively introducing their wares and tried, in roundabout ways, to probe Gao Xu about where he came from.

Gao Xu handled the stall owner with practiced ease. When he brought up the dangers and opportunities on the Song-Jin Battlefield, the stall owner nodded along, clearly relating to him. The two of them quickly grew closer.

Once Gao Xu felt the time was right, he pointed to an inconspicuous mask in the corner and asked, "Friend, how much for this thing?"

The stall owner glanced at the mask and waved a hand in annoyance. They looked ready to say something, but swallowed it instead and held up three fingers. "Three hundred points."

Gao Xu looked intrigued. He crouched down and touched the mask, and its information appeared at once.

Disguise Mask (Scholar): Blue item, inferior quality, unusual item from the Jian Xia Qing Yuan series. A mask used for disguises. When worn, it changes the wearer's appearance and clothing into those of an utterly ordinary scholar. However, as the saying goes, scholars are useless, so this mask provides no bonuses. Maximum duration: 60 minutes. After removing it, the wearer must wait at least 2 hours before using it again. Uses remaining: 2020.

"This thing... is it for a Bal Masqué?" Gao Xu's face twisted into a helpless smile. The stall owner couldn't see it, but his tone made it obvious enough.

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you!" The stall owner's head drooped as they sighed. "It took me a ton of effort to get this damned thing. I don't know why it's so useless—it's good for absolutely nothing. What a damn rip-off! Fine, buy anything else from my stall and I'll throw this lousy mask in for free. I'm sick of looking at it!"

"Great! That's the spirit! A friend in need is a friend indeed, and I've always been glad to take a friend's troubles off their hands!" Gao Xu gave a thumbs-up as he praised the stall owner. He took the Disguise Mask and a Thunder Fire Bead, paid 800 points, and exchanged numbers with the stall owner. Then the two of them waved goodbye, reluctant to part ways...