As Redding approached the crowd, a black-haired Midgod and a scar-faced Midgod were arguing, their faces flushed.
The Midgod was clearly interested in the wonder, but the price of a Midgod Spark made him hesitate.
Unwilling to give up, the long-haired Midgod tried to bargain, gritting his teeth. "Five Lowgod Sparks and a Midgod Artifact."
"Heh!" The scar-faced Midgod waved a hand. "If you're not buying, get lost. Don't even think about bargaining."
With that, the scar-faced Midgod held up the wonder.
Only then did Redding get a clear look at it.
It was a nearly transparent membrane, as thin as a cicada's wing, seemingly fashioned in the shape of a human face.
As he spoke, the scar-faced Midgod placed it over his face.
The light veil instantly fitted itself to his face. The thin membrane melted into his cheeks and vanished.
Then the people around him noticed that the scar-faced man's soul signature had changed.
He was still the same man, and he still had the presence of a Midgod.
But his soul signature had become utterly unfamiliar, completely different from his original one.
The God Level experts around him cried out in surprise!
After all, God Level experts identified one another by their soul signatures, not their faces.
Once a God Level expert's soul signature fused with a Divine Spark, it could not be changed. As for their faces, they could use a little Divine Power to reshape them however they wanted.
That was why the people around him cried out when they sensed the change in the scar-faced man's soul signature.
In the crowd, Redding folded his arms and looked at the scar-faced man, whose soul signature had changed. "This is perfect for killing and robbing, pillaging and-no, for being kind to others!"
With this thing, Redding could take on an alternate identity and venture into the other Overgod Planes.
After all, Orloff, the future Fate Sovereign, had used his race's innate characteristics, which gave him different souls, to create two Sovereign-level accounts, one in the Fate Element and the other in the Light Element.
With the scar-faced man's wonder, Redding could follow Orloff's example and use an alternate identity. With one identity in the open and the other hidden, the two could support each other, giving him a backup plan and making it harder for other Sovereign-level experts to target him.
For a moment, Redding stared fixedly at the scar-faced Midgod and thought, I have to get my hands on that wonder!
Determined to obtain the scar-faced Midgod's wonder, Redding said to him, "One Midgod Spark. I'll take it."
Hearing Redding's offer, the scar-faced man removed the wonder from his face and grinned at him. "Brother, I'll just..."
"Wait!"
Before the scar-faced man could finish, a shrill voice interrupted him. "I offer one Midgod Spark and one Midgod Artifact."
A competing bid!
Hearing the voice, the scar-faced Midgod stopped what he was doing.
Since someone was bidding more, naturally the highest bidder would get it!
The God Level experts who had been watching and were about to leave stopped in their tracks, while some browsing the market farther away also headed toward the scar-faced God Level expert's stall.
They could buy things whenever they wanted, but once the spectacle was over, it would be gone.
They had to hurry!
Redding glanced at the God Level expert bidding against him. He was a Midgod, and the fluctuations of his Wind Divine Power were very unstable. Redding concluded that he had comprehended at most three Profound Mysteries of the Laws. With his current strength, Redding could kill him with a single slap without even using his full strength or a Divine Artifact.
The Wind Element Midgod pushed out of the crowd, and Redding got a clear look at him. His cheeks were gaunt, his eyes narrow and sharp, and his nose high-bridged but extremely narrow. His brown skin looked even darker beneath his white robe.
If not for his long hair, he would have looked from a distance like a skinny monkey that had stolen human clothes.
The skinny-monkey Midgod raised an eyebrow and shot Redding a provocative look. "I offer one Midgod Spark and one Midgod Artifact."
"Two Midgod Sparks." Redding wasted no words and raised the bid.
Hearing Redding raise the price, the scar-faced Midgod's face nearly split into a grin. The ugly scar on his face twitched with his cheek, wriggling up and down like a crawling centipede.
Redding's bid did not make the skinny-monkey Midgod back down. He continued to look at Redding provocatively. "Two Midgod Sparks, plus one Midgod Artifact!"
"Three Midgod Sparks!" Redding's voice was steady, without a trace of emotion.
The God Level experts around them were surprised by Redding's offer.
Though the scar-faced Midgod's Heaven and Earth Wonder was unusual, it ultimately did little to improve one's strength. Three Midgod Sparks could buy quite a few items that would improve one's strength in the market.
The Infernal Realm had yet to reach the point it would in later years, when Highgods were everywhere and Midgods and Lowgods were worth less than dogs.
Someone like Redding, who could spend three Midgod Sparks on a support wonder that did nothing to improve his strength, was exceedingly rare.
Hearing Redding's bid, the skinny-monkey Midgod glanced unobtrusively toward the scar-faced stall owner and sent him a Soul Transmission. "Boss, this one's tough! Three Midgod Sparks..."
Immediately afterward, the scar-faced stall owner's voice rang out in the skinny-monkey Midgod's head. "Tough? He's a fat sheep. Raise the bid. I want to see how much we can squeeze out of him."
The scar-faced stall owner's eyes gleamed green as he looked at Redding, his dark gaze like that of a wolf eyeing a piece of fatty meat.
"Three Midgod Sparks and one Midgod Artifact!"
The skinny-monkey Midgod raised the bid again. This time, his voice trembled slightly, and his breathing gradually quickened.
Frowning slightly, Redding raised the bid again. "Five Midgod Sparks!"
As Redding made his offer, the voices of the surrounding God Level experts grew louder.
"Five Midgod Sparks. Tsk, tsk, he's really rich. I heard that three hundred years ago, a Midgod from outside the island paid the island lord only fifteen Midgod Sparks to forge a Highgod Artifact."
Five Midgod Sparks was already a third of the price of a Highgod Artifact.
After Redding's bid, the skinny-monkey Midgod's voice rang out again. "Five Midgod Sparks and one Midgod Artifact."
Holding the wonder in his hand, the scar-faced stall owner looked at Redding expectantly.
A smile curved Redding's lips. He waved a hand and said to the scar-faced stall owner, "In that case, I don't want it."
"Huh?"
Redding's words left the scar-faced stall owner speechless for a moment. "Brother, this Heaven and Earth Wonder that changes your soul signature is extremely rare. If you add two more Midgod Artifacts, you'll definitely get it."
When Redding gave up bidding, the scar-faced Midgod immediately grew anxious.
Five Midgod Sparks-if a prize already in his grasp slipped away, he would lose sleep for years.
Redding put on a regretful expression. "If only I had enough money!"
The skinny-monkey Midgod also tried to persuade him. "Brother, how about I stop competing with you? You can have it for five Midgod Sparks."
When Redding gave up, the skinny-monkey Midgod began to panic. He had worked with the scar-faced stall owner to cheat Redding out of a few more Midgod Sparks. If they let Redding slip through their fingers, Scarface could string him up and whip him.
"Brother, you bid so high that I think you must like this wonder quite a bit too. You should take it. When all's said and done, it's only a wonder that can't improve your strength. I've thought it through, and it isn't worth five Midgod Sparks to me."
With that, Redding turned and walked toward the market's exit. No matter how the scar-faced stall owner called after him, he did not stop.