Smuggling Heavy Armor

Su Yuan instantly understood the man's background.

This man was Chong Heihu's son and Chong Houhu's nephew.

His father, Chong Heihu, had risen to prominence during the War of the Gods.

Chong Heihu had originally come from the Interception Sect and mastered formidable skills, only to turn around and defect to Western Zhou.

He bound his own elder brother, the Northern Marquis Chong Houhu, and presented him to Jiang Ziya as his pledge of allegiance.

After Western Zhou was founded, not only did Chong Yingluan smoothly inherit his elder brother's Northern Marquis title, but Chong Heihu himself was ultimately granted the title of Heavenly Emperor Zhaosheng of Mount Heng, Southern Peak, standing high among the righteous gods of the Three Mountains and Five Sacred Peaks. His methods were truly formidable.

Chong Yingluan was even more adept at opportunism. He had judged that the black market crowd forming an alliance to manipulate prices was inevitable, so he simply took the lead and offered up a weighty pledge of allegiance, seizing the initiative.

Seeing this, Ink Qilin broke into a pleased smile and praised him.

"Little Chong, not bad. You've got your father's courage from back then!"

With Chong Yingluan taking the lead in removing his black robe, the tense atmosphere in the secret chamber gradually melted away.

The others followed suit, each pulling off their disguises.

A burly, bearded man was the first to cup his fists. His voice boomed like a bell.

"My surname is Lei. I serve under Heavenly King of Vast Vision as a deputy general of celestial patrols!"

Another young Daoist holding a whisk gave a formal salute.

"This humble Daoist is Qingxu, serving at Zhang Tianshi's residence."

"This servant serves under Dipper Mother as the Star-Patrolling Envoy, Ziying."

"I am a clerk serving before Star Lord of Salary at Emperor Wenchang's residence."

"I am Cao Bao. Lord Su, we're old acquaintances."

"I tend the fire in Lord Lao's alchemy chamber. Just call me Jin Ling."

Su Yuan clicked his tongue inwardly. Good heavens, no wonder the black market had grown so large and lasted so long.

This was what it meant to converse with learned men and never associate with common fools.

Everyone chimed in, and the conversation grew more and more animated.

At this point, the Expounding Sect and Interception Sect were no longer at odds, nor did civil and military officials look down on one another.

There was no more scheming in officialdom, and no one cared about the rank of an immortal.

Once the topic turned to making money, everyone talked themselves into delight, into frenzy, into abandon, as if their lives depended on it.

All that remained was the excitement of finding kindred spirits and their shared thirst for spirit stones.

Amid the lively chatter, someone silently sidled up to Su Yuan.

"Lord Su,"

the newcomer cupped his fists and lowered his voice.

"My surname is Wu. I serve as an inspection deputy general in the Milky Way Navy."

Su Yuan assumed it was merely an ordinary greeting, so he returned the salute.

"General Wu, I hope you'll look after me in the future."

General Wu hurriedly said,

"I have a batch of old goods that have been sitting around for years. They're too hot to handle in Heavenly Court, and even the black market has trouble moving them."

He stepped closer, his tone probing.

"I heard Lord Su will soon be descending to the lower realm on official business with the Pacification Recruitment Team. Could you perhaps help me move some of it?"

Su Yuan immediately grew curious.

"Oh? There are goods that can't even be sold in Heavenly Court? But if they're hard to move in Heavenly Court, then wouldn't the lower realm, with its weaker purchasing power..."

Before Su Yuan could finish, a trace of urgency appeared on General Wu's face.

"This batch is rather special. Naturally, no one in Heavenly Court dares buy it, and it has little use here. But I guarantee that once it finds a way to the lower realm, it will be incredibly sought-after! Lord Su will understand once you see it."

As he spoke, he casually guided Su Yuan to a secluded side chamber.

After confirming that no one was nearby, General Wu slapped his storage pouch.

Clatter!

A set of heavy black Milky Way Navy armor, covered in fine scratches, fell to the floor.

The place on the breastplate where its serial number had originally been engraved had been completely ground away with magical power, the marks still fresh.

"Hiss..."

Su Yuan drew in a sharp breath. They could even get their hands on something like this.

This was the current-issue heavy armor model of the Milky Way Navy. Once spirit stones were embedded to power its formations, it could withstand the full-force attacks of a Heavenly Immortal.

No wonder it could not be sold. Who in Heavenly Court would dare privately possess or trade standard military equipment? That would be courting death.

Besides, it could only withstand Heavenly Immortals. Against attacks from Origin Immortals or above, it was no better than scrap paper, so the immortals of Heavenly Court had little use for it.

He looked up at General Wu and asked,

"How many?"

Seeing that Su Yuan had not rejected him outright, General Wu perked up and hurriedly replied.

"A full three thousand sets! Every one is intact heavy armor like this! The formation cores are still there, and each set comes with one standard mo saber and two horse lances! They've all been cleaned up the same way!"

He had thought there would only be three or five sets and had not wanted to take the deal.

But there were a full three thousand sets of heavy armor! Su Yuan's heart jolted.

If these were sold as a package to some powerful demon king in the lower realm or an ambitious human cultivator living in seclusion,

they would be enough to equip an elite personal guard army and alter the balance of power in an entire region!

Good stuff, truly good stuff. Greed surged within Su Yuan, and he decided to take on this business.

His original plan had been to empty the flying boats, then find some cheap immortal pills, spirit soil, spirit wood, and immortal wine that took up space but were worth little, and use them to refill the boats as Heavenly Court's rewards for pacification.

Rather than rack his brains trying to fill the flying boats, he might as well act as a personal shopper while he was at it.

After all, in order to strictly control the number and quality of lower-realm ascenders, Heavenly Court had long blocked the circulation of key resources such as Infant-Transforming Pills, Dao-Harmonizing Pills, and specific magical treasures used to withstand heavenly tribulations.

Yet these items were produced in enormous quantities in Heavenly Court, and many of their raw materials were practically overflowing.

For example, the core ingredient of Infant-Transforming Pills, the Spirit-Nourishing Leaf, was merely the leaves of the vines used to grow Vermilion Fruit. They were as common as dirt in Heavenly Court, and cost about the same as fodder for heavenly horses.

But in the lower realm, even five hundred spirit stones for a complete Spirit-Nourishing Leaf would be considered cheap!

Meanwhile, the lightning-protection grounding systems forcibly installed in Heavenly Court palaces could withstand the Nine Heavens Tribulation Lightning that occasionally emerged from beyond the heavens and the primordial chaos. They cost only seven thousand spirit stones per set, but selling them to lower-realm cultivators undergoing tribulation could multiply the price tenfold or even a hundredfold.

The devastating wind that countless wandering immortals could not survive among the Three Calamities and Five Tribulations was only so deadly because Heavenly Court strictly controlled the external sale of Wind-Calming Pearls, leaving lower-realm wandering immortals with no way to acquire them.

Yet Heavenly Court had so many Wind-Calming Pearls that they could be installed on shared auspicious clouds and regularly replaced, all to make immortals sit a little more comfortably.

With his thoughts settled, a sharp glint flashed through Su Yuan's eyes.

He turned and returned to the noisy main chamber, informing everyone of his purchasing plan.

The people who had just been bragging about themselves had their eyes light up at his words.

Whose residence did not have contraband like Spirit-Nourishing Leaves, things that were commonplace in Heavenly Court?

Before long, the twelve Unfixed Flying Boats originally meant to carry the "pacification rewards" were stuffed to the brim.

Besides the three thousand sets of heavy armor and mo sabers from the Milky Way Navy, there were tons of Spirit-Nourishing Leaves from the Imperial Horse Bureau, used as feed for heavenly horses.

There were also twenty million ghosts under Judge Cui of the Underworld whose names had been erased from the Book of Life and Death, yet who could not be reincarnated for various reasons.

There were several thousand Wind-Calming Pearls from the Heavenly Court Transportation Management Hub's warehouse, each discarded after traveling more than two hundred thousand kilometers.

There were Moon Laurel branches and leaves from the Moon Palace, used as bedding for Jade Rabbit. They were excellent materials for cultivating yin-attributed techniques, refining extremely yin pills, and growing yin-attributed spirit herbs. Female cultivators and ghost cultivators in the lower realm were especially obsessed with them.

There were too many other items to list, amounting to a complete catalog of goods Heavenly Court forbade from being sold externally.