It seemed something big was about to happen at the Black Market that day. Several more groups passed by, some from local prominent families and others from small, secluded sects.
Chen Xue singled out two of those groups for introductions.
The first was the Chen Family, led by a young girl whose gray-and-white training outfit somehow looked fashionable on her. Her cool gaze made people reluctant to meet her eyes.
"Chen Xiaoyu. Her talent rivals Zhao Sanlong's. Our Chen Family also has some ties to Maoshan, and we specialize in the Talismans Way. In a real fight, Zhao Sanlong might not be her match," Chen Xue explained, nodding in response to greetings from several young people in the Chen Family's group.
Jiang Chen noticed that neither the middle-aged man accompanying them nor Chen Xiaoyu looked their way.
Chen Xue added, "Among the Chen Family's younger generation, I'm only second or third tier. By blood, Chen Xiaoyu is my younger cousin, but we aren't close."
Jiang Chen understood.
Yang Ziyun, Zhao Sanlong, and Chen Xiaoyu were all around his age, perhaps even a little younger, yet they were already at the peak of D+.
Of everyone he had met, perhaps only Zhao Erhu's talent clearly surpassed theirs.
After all, he could handle a half-step vengeful ghost. He was already a pseudo-C-Class expert, and one of the best among them!
"That's the person joining us on our next mission-Qin Ze, from the Qin family." Chen Xue turned toward another group that had just arrived.
Jiang Chen looked over too.
The young man at the front wore casual clothes and a bright, sunny smile. From time to time, he greeted Unusual Persons he knew nearby. He seemed well-connected and popular.
Compared with him, the three young talents from prominent families who had arrived earlier looked like three troubled teenagers.
But after Qin Ze walked past, Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
He had never seen such a lively, cheerful Unusual Person before.
Unusual Persons faced the dark side of human nature, bloodshed, and horror every day. In Jiang Chen's eyes, the cold demeanor of Zhao Sanlong and the others was actually much more normal.
Something's wrong when things don't add up. I'd better be careful around this Young Master Qin.
Jiang Chen murmured inwardly.
Creak.
The sudden sound of a door opening rang out, and the crowd along the entire street immediately erupted into excitement.
"It's open! It's open!"
"It's Master Liu! She's actually opening today. She must have something good!"
"No wonder the young masters and young ladies from all these prominent families showed up at the same time."
"..."
Jiang Chen was surprised. What could get a crowd of Unusual Persons, people who stood above the mundane world, so excited?
"It's actually Master Liu!" Chen Xue's voice rose involuntarily. "Come on, let's take a look too. Master Liu is a disciple of the Spirit Treasure Sect and one of Jiangbei City's finest artifact refiners. Her shop rarely opens, but whenever it does, she has something sensational for sale!"
"The Spirit Treasure Sect..." Hearing that name piqued Jiang Chen's interest, and he headed forward.
It was one of the Dao Alliance's Six Giants, best known for producing magical artifacts.
Most Unusual Persons along the Black Market's street operated stalls. There were only ten storefronts on the entire street, and the rent for each was astronomical.
One shop, however, belonged to the same person long-term, yet she very rarely opened it. If her shop opened once for every ten Black Market sessions, that was already considered good.
Yet no one dared complain, because she was Master Liu, a leading figure in the trade who could craft upper-grade Mid-Grade magical artifacts!
In terms of status, she was equivalent to a B-Rank Grandmaster!
"She's here! Master Liu's coming out!"
"I wonder what she's got this time..."
Amid the crowd's calls, a woman emerged from the back of the shop. Her hair was disheveled, and the heavy bags under her eyes made it look as though she had stayed up for several nights straight.
But the moment she stepped out, everyone present caught their breath.
Master Liu wore no makeup, yet her features seemed to have a natural smoky-eye effect. With long lashes, willow-leaf eyebrows, and lightly pursed lips, she exuded an effortless, sultry allure.
She was probably thirty, but the only marks time had left on her face were sophistication and the charm of a mature woman.
For a moment, everyone stared, dumbstruck.
Liu Yunzhu cast a sidelong glance with her lovely eyes, seemingly long accustomed to the men's stares. Her fair, smooth fingers tapped the counter lightly, and she placed an object on it.
"This is my latest work. I've named it the Demon-Sound Drum, an upper-grade Mid-Grade magical artifact." She paused after speaking.
"However, the material used to make it is very unusual. I obtained it back when I was at the Spirit Treasure Sect. Just holding that hide beside your ear lets you hear a strange sound."
"After being made into a magical artifact, its ability became even more unusual. Please be careful. I'm going to demonstrate its effect."
The mention of an upper-grade Mid-Grade magical artifact had already stirred the crowd's excitement. Items of that caliber were rarely available for purchase.
After hearing Liu Yunzhu's explanation, their gazes grew even more eager.
"Master Liu, we're ready. Go ahead and try it!"
"Exactly! Once you're done, tell us the price so I can give up on it already..."
"..."
"All right. Please guard your minds, everyone. Those with weaker strength should step farther back." Liu Yunzhu swept her gaze over the crowd, picked up the Green-Skinned Little Drum from the counter, palm-sized and green-skinned, and flicked it with a finger, feeding in only a tiny trace of true qi.
An indescribably strange sound instantly swept through the area four or five meters ahead of her. Every Unusual Person there abruptly froze, their brains seemingly crashing as their bodies stood rooted to the spot.
Although it lasted only half a second, in a fight between Unusual Persons, even a tenth of a second was enough to accomplish a great deal!
"It felt like a demon was whispering in my ear..."
"Damn, it made my mind go blank in an instant. If an enemy had been right beside me, I'd have been finished."
"This magical artifact is absurdly powerful!"
Some people were wildly excited.
Others, however, held back their excitement and calmly assessed it.
Yang Ziyun, for instance, turned to the middle-aged man beside him. "Uncle Zhang, what do you think?"
"My mind also went hazy for an instant. That would be extremely dangerous in combat," the middle-aged man said gravely.
Yang Ziyun looked thoughtful.
The other scions of prominent families did the same, immediately asking the C-Class experts beside them for their opinions. If even those experts were affected, then this magical artifact truly was terrifying and worth a hefty price!
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen suddenly lowered his head amid the crowd and pulled out his phone, pretending to read a message.
In reality, he was hiding his brownish-green pupils!
In that instant, he had been the only person whose mind had not gone blank. Yet his reaction was even stranger. The moment he heard the drum, something inside his body seemed to stir, leaving him feeling as though he had been pumped full of stimulants.
It's Te Chu Shi's power. What's going on? Could that bull spirit have some connection to this drum?
Anyone else would probably have been utterly baffled.
But Jiang Chen was different. As a devoted enthusiast of ancient Nine Provinces mythology, his pupils suddenly widened slightly as a plausible explanation readily came to him.
Wait! She said holding the hide used to make this drum beside your ear lets you hear strange sounds. Several creatures in mythology have that trait. But if I add another condition-a connection to a bull spirit like Te Chu Shi...
Then the answer is obvious!
The Thunder Beast of the Mountains and Seas era-the Kui Ox!
A suspicion began forming in Jiang Chen's mind.
The drumhead was probably made from the hide of some beast with a trace of Kui Ox blood.
And Te Chu Shi likewise possessed a faint trace of that ferocious beast's bloodline.
The resonance between the two had caused this change in the bull spirit's demonic power within him.
In that case, this thing... is a real treasure! Jiang Chen's pupils returned to normal. He raised his head to look at the Green-Skinned Little Drum, his eyes eager.
The next moment, Liu Yunzhu announced, "According to Black Market rules, please submit your sealed bids. The minimum bid is 10,000 Underworld Points."
Fuck!
The minimum bid alone was ten thousand points.
The eagerness in Jiang Chen's eyes vanished instantly.
Chen Xue had explained "sealed bids" to him on the way there. When several people wanted the same item, they would each raise the price above the seller's minimum and write their bid on their palm. They would then show it to the seller, and the highest bidder won.
Everything was settled in one round, quickly and cleanly.
This also prevented repeated, small bidding increments from escalating into physical conflict.
Although the Black Market's people had the strength to suppress any conflict, the place could hardly operate in the open. If a disturbance grew big enough to attract the authorities, it would be troublesome.
That was why almost every Black Market followed the "sealed bid" rule.
Before you continue