Artisan Pavilion! Dismantling Black Iron Equipment!

The forty-two basic-grade pieces of equipment had cost him 1,700, but the materials dismantled from them were worth at least 5,500.

A net profit of 3,800!

Jiang Chuan put the materials into his backpack, rose to his feet, and prepared to sell them.

Recoup the funds.

Then buy the next batch of scrap equipment.

It was a snowballing process. Equipment became materials, materials became money, and money bought more equipment. The snowball would grow bigger and faster until, before he knew it, he would be invincible!

The entire day.

Jiang Chuan moved through the trading market like a diligent worker ant, hauling between scrap equipment and materials. He had no idea how many trips he made back and forth.

He also got in touch with the two scavengers Shen Erbiao had introduced to him.

He bought several batches of equipment from them.

By the afternoon, the hand he used to count money in the corner was already trembling slightly.

75,000!

He had earned that much just from flipping basic-grade equipment!

And the gains to his attributes made him even more excited.

[Constitution: 3.2]

[Intelligence: 0.5]

[Strength: 3.4]

[Agility: 3.1]

Aside from Intelligence, which remained firmly stuck at 0.5 without budging, all three other attributes had broken past the 3-point mark!

What did that mean?

The baseline standard for a D-rank combat class was only 3.0!

In other words, as an F-rank Dismantler, his physical fitness was already nearly on par with that of a D-rank warrior!

Jiang Chuan clenched his fist, feeling a solid surge of strength in his palm.

Now that he had money.

His purchase targets were no longer limited to basic-grade equipment.

Black Iron, Bronze, even Silver scrap equipment—he could try them all! They might cost more, but the returns from recycling them would be higher too!

However, after making a round through the market, Jiang Chuan was left somewhat bewildered.

In the entire market.

There was not a single stall selling Black Iron-grade scrap equipment!

"Brother Wang, don't you have anything Black Iron-grade?"

After wandering around all afternoon, Jiang Chuan had become familiar with many stall owners. He went straight to a general merchant's stall and asked.

Brother Wang looked at him strangely. "Who would put Black Iron-grade scrap equipment out at a stall? The senior Dismantlers from the major battle groups reserve it all in advance. Aren't you running errands for the Blazing Fire Battle Group? How do you not know this?"

Jiang Chuan explained, "I only started work today. There's a lot I don't understand yet."

After chatting for a while.

He finally learned.

The greatest difference between Black Iron equipment and basic-grade equipment was that Black Iron equipment all contained magical materials, and those materials had extremely high recycling value.

A single portion of material could even be worth more than the finished equipment made from it.

Therefore.

To make up for their losses.

Sellers usually chose to sell to major battle groups.

Because those groups had senior Dismantlers who could turn scrap into treasure to the greatest extent, and they were willing to pay higher prices for it.

What was more,

Some scrap equipment made with excellent materials could even sell for the price of fully intact equipment!

"Hm?"

Jiang Chuan immediately changed his line of thinking. "So the cost of buying a piece of Black Iron scrap equipment is actually about the same as buying a complete piece of Black Iron equipment!"

Brother Wang thought about it. "That's not wrong."

It really was not wrong!

Jiang Chuan felt that his thinking had been too small-minded. Attribute growth was clearly the priority, yet he had kept thinking about making money through reselling!

Besides, he had a 100% recovery rate. Dismantling Black Iron equipment would let him extract complete magical materials.

Then he could sell them off.

He would not lose much on the price, either.

He should have done this long ago! Jiang Chuan perked up and quickly asked, "Brother Wang, where can I buy a large amount of Black Iron equipment?"

Brother Wang pointed north. "If you want to buy Black Iron equipment, go to Artisan Pavilion."

"Artisan Pavilion?"

"Tianyuan City's largest equipment trading house. They have equipment of every grade."

As Brother Wang organized his stall, he said, "But the prices are much higher than at our street stalls. If you're looking for Black Iron equipment, they have plenty over there."

Jiang Chuan's eyes lit up.

Right, how had he forgotten about a proper equipment trading house like that?

"Thanks, Brother Wang!"

After asking for the location, Jiang Chuan took off running toward the north side of the city.

Artisan Pavilion stood in the center of Tianyuan City's busiest Vermilion Bird Avenue, an imposing five-story building.

Jiang Chuan stood at the entrance, glanced up at it, then looked down at his own clothes.

They were a little shabby.

But he immediately straightened his back. "It's fine. I'm a man with ten thousand now. I'm qualified to spend money in a place like this!"

After giving himself a pep talk, he strode inside.

The moment he entered.

A faint scent of sandalwood washed over him.

The hall was spacious and brightly lit. Display cases lined the surroundings, filled with all kinds of equipment—swords, sabers, bows, axes, armor, and bracers—each gleaming in different colors beneath the lights.

Several young women in high-slit qipaos that revealed their snow-white thighs were introducing goods to customers.

Jiang Chuan glanced at the price tag beside one of the display cases.

His eyes instantly widened.

[Steel-Cleaving Sword: Bronze, Attack 23–48, Attack Speed +17%, Shield Break +12%, Price: 18,880]

A single Bronze weapon could sell for 18,800? After working himself to the bone all day, he had earned 75,000. Even if he emptied his wallet, he could only afford four!

Jiang Chuan secretly clicked his tongue.

"Sir, may I ask what you need?"

A young woman in a qipao approached him. Her smile was sweet and her gaze gentle; she showed no sign of looking down on him because of his clothes.

Jiang Chuan appreciated her service attitude. "I'd like to buy some Black Iron-grade equipment."

"Some?"

The qipao-clad woman caught the key word and asked attentively, "How many pieces are you specifically planning to buy?"

Jiang Chuan asked directly, "What's the cheapest Black Iron equipment available?"

"You're a Dismantler buying equipment to practice with, aren't you?"

The saleswoman was experienced and immediately understood. She gestured for him to follow. "Please come this way."

She led Jiang Chuan along one side of the hall, where the shelves were filled with Black Iron equipment priced anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000.

The qipao-clad woman pointed at one shelf. "If you're a beginner, I recommend the equipment over here. These Black Iron items are the cheapest, averaging only around 1,000 each."

"If you're already an experienced hand, then I would recommend these instead."

She pointed respectively at the shelves holding 1,000 and 3,000 equipment.

Jiang Chuan looked over.

"Eh?"

He suddenly found it rather strange. "These pieces of equipment have roughly the same attributes. Why is there nearly a threefold difference in value?"

The qipao-clad woman smiled. "Because these were made by senior blacksmiths."

"?"

"Did you point to the wrong shelf?"

Jiang Chuan stared blankly at the shelf filled with 1,000 equipment.

The qipao-clad woman's smile deepened, but it was not mocking.

She explained, "Senior blacksmiths have methods that can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Even with lower-grade materials, they can forge better equipment."

"But for Dismantlers, since these pieces of equipment use cheap materials, their recycling value is not especially high."

"But they provide the same amount of proficiency after dismantling."

"So if you want to level up, buying these cheaper pieces of equipment is more cost-effective."

"If you are already confident that you can guarantee a high recovery rate, the more expensive equipment can yield materials that will help you recover some of your investment."