Dawn had barely broken.
Ling Feng left the academy.
He needed to dispose of his haul from the Soul Hunting Forest.
The materials from that Thunderhorn Zheng.
Its hide, horn, and a few bones.
In a place like Nuoding City.
They counted as hard currency.
He knew his way around.
He found the largest general store in the city.
"Wang's General Store."
The owner was a fat old man.
With narrow eyes.
And exceedingly shrewd.
When he saw Ling Feng take out the Thunderhorn Zheng materials.
His eyes lit up.
"Fine stuff."
The owner rubbed his hands.
"An intact Thunderhorn Zheng hide."
"This horn... its energy is so well preserved."
He looked up and studied Ling Feng.
"Young fellow, did you get these in the Soul Hunting Forest?"
Ling Feng did not answer.
He only asked, "Buying or not?"
"Yes! Of course!"
The owner grinned.
Revealing yellow teeth.
He started driving the price down.
"But this hide is damaged in a few places."
"The horn isn't quite perfect, either."
"How about fifty Gold Soul Coins for the lot?"
Ling Feng sneered inwardly.
This old fox.
Thunderhorn Zheng materials fetched at least a hundred Gold Soul Coins on the market.
He could not be bothered to waste words.
He turned his hand over.
A phantom Clear Sky Hammer flashed across his palm.
A heavy, oppressive pressure instantly filled the little shop.
The owner's face went white.
His legs buckled.
He nearly collapsed onto the floor.
"A... a hundred! A hundred Gold Soul Coins!"
His voice shook.
He hastily changed his tune.
"I had eyes but couldn't see!"
"Please forgive me, my lord!"
Ling Feng put away the hammer.
The pressure vanished.
Cold sweat poured off the owner.
He dared not try any more tricks.
He dutifully counted out a hundred gleaming Gold Soul Coins.
And packed them into a thick cloth money pouch.
It was heavy.
He handed it to Ling Feng.
"Here you are, my lord..."
His manner was as obsequious as a grandson's.
Ling Feng took the pouch.
He weighed it in his hand.
Then turned and left.
Without any fuss.
The owner watched his retreating figure.
And wiped away his cold sweat.
"Damn... I kicked an iron plate."
"So young... where did this monster come from...?"
Ling Feng walked along the streets of Nuoding City.
He tucked the pouch inside his clothes.
A hundred Gold Soul Coins.
It was a fortune for an ordinary family.
To him.
It was merely starting capital.
He was in no hurry to return to the academy.
It was still early.
He planned to look around.
Nuoding City was not large.
But it was far more prosperous than Holy Soul Village.
Bluestone-paved streets.
Shops lined both sides.
Vendors called out incessantly.
Some sold weapons.
Some sold medicinal herbs.
Some sold everyday sundries.
People came and went.
It was quite lively.
Ling Feng wandered aimlessly.
Observing this little city on the Douluo Continent.
He reached a relatively quiet street.
An inconspicuous sign stood at its entrance.
"Treasure Gathering Pavilion."
Even the lettering had faded.
The storefront was small.
And looked rather old.
Few people went in or out.
But their attire made them look like Soul Masters of some standing.
Or merchants.
A thought stirred in Ling Feng's mind.
An auction house?
Nuoding City had a place like this too?
He stepped inside.
An attendant stood at the entrance.
Dozing off.
When he saw Ling Feng enter.
And saw that he was only a half-grown child.
Dressed plainly.
Not looking like someone with money.
He lazily raised his eyelids.
"Kid, this isn't a playground."
Ling Feng ignored him.
His gaze swept over the interior.
It was a hall.
Furnished with tables and chairs.
A platform stood at the front.
Apparently for displaying auction items.
The surroundings were nothing special.
But reasonably clean.
There were few people there at the moment.
Twenty or thirty sat scattered about.
On the platform.
An auctioneer in a gray robe.
Was listlessly introducing an auction item.
It was a short sword.
A Soul Tool.
But its energy fluctuations were weak.
Its quality was very low.
"A refined iron short sword, with a minor sharpness effect..."
"Starting bid: five Gold Soul Coins."
The people below showed little interest.
No one offered a bid for a long while.
The atmosphere was dull.
Ling Feng walked to a corner.
And found an empty seat.
Seeing that he had not left.
The attendant curled his lip.
But did not try to drive him out again.
One more person to fill the seats, anyway.
System.
Ling Feng called silently in his mind.
Check in.
[Ding! Host detected at a new location: Treasure Gathering Pavilion Auction House.] [Check-in successful!] [Reward: Elementary Treasure Appraisal Eye (temporary trial version).] [Effect: Provides a preliminary sense of an item's internal energy fluctuations, material composition, and age. Duration: 30 minutes.] [Notice: Only effective within this check-in location and a hundred meters around it.]
There it was.
A glimmer of understanding flashed through Ling Feng's eyes.
There really was a check-in reward.
And a temporary treasure appraisal ability, at that.
Interesting.
With a thought, he activated it.
His eyes grew slightly warm.
The world in his vision seemed to acquire a faint filter.
He looked toward the short sword on the platform.
The originally unremarkable shortsword.
In his eyes.
An extremely faint white light appeared on its surface.
Its fluctuations were like a candle guttering in the wind.
Its material was only ordinary refined iron, too.
Truly trash.
The auctioneer called three times.
No one answered.
Unsold.
He coughed awkwardly.
And brought out the next lot.
It was a pile of ore.
In all different sizes.
Dull gray.
Heaped inside a battered wooden crate.
"Next, a batch of black iron ore."
The auctioneer sounded listless.
"About three hundred jin in total."
"With quite a few impurities."
"Starting price, ten Gold Soul Coins."
"Any smiths who need it may wish to consider bidding."
The people below were even less interested.
Black iron ore was one of the most common metal ores on the continent.
It was worth little.
And this pile was poor quality.
Even ten Gold Soul Coins seemed expensive.
Just as it looked about to go unsold again.
Ling Feng's gaze swept over the pile of ore.
Under his Treasure Appraisal Eye.
Most of the ore gave off a dim gray light.
It really was ordinary black iron.
But!
Right in the corner of the pile.
A fist-sized piece.
With an especially rough surface.
And even quite a bit of dirt clinging to it.
An utterly inconspicuous piece of dark gray ore.
From within!
There shone a profound!
Ocean-whirlpool-like!
Deep blue luster!
This luster was extremely subdued.
Yet the Treasure Appraisal Eye caught it clearly!
Although its fluctuations were faint.
Their essence was of an extremely high order!
Far beyond the black iron beside it!
Its material structure was frighteningly dense.
And carried an ancient quality.
[Deep Sea Sunken Silver Mother Raw Ore!]
A name suddenly leaped into Ling Feng's mind!
A material for the Tang Sect's top-tier hidden weapons!
In the original story.
Tang San had gone through so much trouble searching for this stuff later on!
It was exceedingly rare!
It could only possibly form in the deepest reaches of the sea, ten thousand zhang below!
It had excellent conductivity for soul force!
And was incomparably tough!
It was a core material for making top-tier hidden weapons such as the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus and Torrential Rain Pear Blossom Needles!
Here, in this little auction house in Nuoding City.
It was actually being sold as ordinary black iron ore!
What a waste of heaven's treasures!
Ling Feng's heart sped up slightly.
But his expression betrayed nothing.
An opportunity!
He had to secure it!
"Ten Gold Soul Coins."
Ling Feng spoke.
His voice was not loud.
But it rang clearly through the dull hall.
Everyone looked over.
Seeing that it was a young boy.
They all froze for a moment.
The auctioneer froze, too.
Then delight came over him.
Someone had finally bid.
"This young gentleman has bid ten Gold Soul Coins!"
"Any higher bids?"
He called out hurriedly.
The people below whispered among themselves.
"Whose kid came here to throw bids around?"
"It's just black iron ore. Ten Gold Soul Coins? What a loss."
"Maybe his family has a smithy."
No one competed.
They all thought it was not worth it.
The auctioneer raised his hammer.
"Ten Gold Soul Coins, going once!"
"Ten Gold Soul Coins, going twice!"
Just then.
In a corner.
Dressed in fine clothes.
A fat man with a protruding beer belly.
Narrowed his little eyes.
And looked Ling Feng over a few times.
Then suddenly grinned.
With a hint of mockery.
"Eleven Gold Soul Coins."
He raised the bid.
Not because he needed black iron ore.
Purely because he saw how young Ling Feng was.
And wanted to drive the price up.
For a little amusement.
A few low chuckles sounded through the hall.
Everyone waited to watch the fun.
Ling Feng's gaze turned cold.
He looked at the fat man.
Under his Treasure Appraisal Eye.
There was nothing special about this fat man.
He was just an ordinary merchant.
With weak Soul Power.
Ling Feng did not want complications sprouting from the side.
But this thing.
He was determined to obtain.
"Fifteen."
Ling Feng raised the bid outright.
His voice remained calm.
The fat man froze for a moment.
He had not expected the boy to be so decisive.
His eyes shifted.
He found it even more entertaining.
"Sixteen!"
He followed at a leisurely pace.
"Twenty."
Ling Feng did not want to get tangled up in this.
He directly pushed the price up a notch.
The fat man's smile stiffened.
Twenty Gold Soul Coins for a pile of lousy black iron?
Was this kid an idiot?
He hesitated a little.
But under everyone's watchful eyes.
To be outdone by a child.
Would leave him losing face.
"Twenty-one!"
He steeled himself and added another coin.
Making up his mind.
If this kid raised the bid again.
He would pass.
And let him be the sucker.
Ling Feng glanced at the fat man.
That gaze.
Was icy.
With a trace of warning.
An inexplicable chill struck the fat man's heart.
"Twenty-five."
Ling Feng made his final bid.
His tone had already become unquestionable.
The auctioneer grew excited.
"Twenty-five Gold Soul Coins! This young gentleman has bid twenty-five!"
He shouted.
And looked toward the fat man.
The fat man drew in his neck.
Ling Feng's stare made his skin crawl.
He waved his hands.
"No, no, I don't want it."
He chickened out.
A few disappointed boos rose from the hall.
They hadn't gotten to watch a grand farce.
"Twenty-five Gold Soul Coins, going three times!"
"Sold!"
The hammer fell.
That pile of "black iron ore" belonged to Ling Feng now.
Ling Feng stood up.
He went backstage to settle the transaction.
He took out twenty-five Gold Soul Coins.
His money pouch immediately grew considerably flatter.
But he didn't care in the slightest.
His gaze fell on the true treasure-that piece of Deep Sea Sunken Silver Mother Raw Ore.
He forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart.
Together with the pile of genuine black iron ore,
he packed it into a cloth sack he had prepared.
It was heavy.
He was just about to leave.
"Please wait, young master."
A voice came from behind him.
Ling Feng turned around.
It was a respectably dressed,
middle-aged man with a small, two-part mustache.
His eyes were shrewd.
A professional smile rested on his face.
He was the manager of this auction house.
He had watched the whole thing from below the stage.
"My surname is Qian. I'm the steward of this Treasure Gathering Pavilion."
Manager Qian cupped his hands.
His manner was polite.
"You look quite unfamiliar, young master."
"This must be your first visit here?"
Ling Feng looked at him.
He said nothing.
Manager Qian wasn't embarrassed either.
He said with a chuckle:
"You showed a keen eye just now, young master."
"That pile of black iron ore... hehe, perhaps there's more to it than meets the eye?"
He was probing.
Ling Feng had been far too decisive when bidding for the ore.
His target had been clear.
Especially the look in his eyes as he gazed at that piece of Deep Sea Sunken Silver Mother Raw Ore.
Although he had concealed it well,
a shrewd old fox like Manager Qian
had still detected a hint of something unusual.
Ling Feng grew wary.
His expression remained unchanged.
"Just getting some practice."
His tone was bland.
A sharp gleam flashed through Manager Qian's eyes.
Practice?
Twenty-five Gold Soul Coins for practice?
This youth was no ordinary person.
His smile broadened.
He took a gold-stamped business card from inside his robe.
He offered it with both hands.
"One look tells me you're no ordinary person, young master."
"This is our establishment's business card."
"If you ever have anything good to sell,"
"or want to hunt for some treasures,"
"just come straight to me."
"I'll be sure to give you the best price."
He was extending goodwill.
It was also an investment.
Ling Feng accepted the business card.
He glanced at it.
"Treasure Gathering Pavilion, Qian Gui."
The name was certainly straightforward.
"Mm."
He gave a word of acknowledgment.
He put the business card away.
He said nothing more.
With the cloth sack on his back,
he turned and left.
Clean and decisive.
Manager Qian watched his figure disappear through the doorway.
The smile slowly faded from his face.
A thoughtful expression emerged.
"Interesting..."
"That stone... could I really have misjudged it?"
He shook his head.
"In any case, this youth... is worth keeping an eye on."
Ling Feng walked out of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
The sunlight was dazzling.
He felt the Deep Sea Sunken Silver Mother Raw Ore tucked against his chest.
It was hard.
Cold to the touch.
His heart settled.
This trip to the auction house
had netted him a huge profit.
Twenty-five Gold Soul Coins
in exchange for a core material for making top-tier hidden weapons in the future.
Snatching up this overlooked bargain felt great.
And besides,
the Treasure Appraisal Eye's effect hadn't worn off yet.
He looked toward the shops lining both sides of the street.
Perhaps...
he could make another unexpected find?