Bountiful Spoils

Ji Xun chose to return to the Silver Star Mysterious Materials Shop and trade for that Golden Breathing Method. Though it had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, it was also the best choice after careful consideration.

He had gained some spoils from killing the diviner, and suddenly had the means to buy the Breathing Technique he could not afford earlier.

Besides, there would be no better opportunity than now.

After this commotion, his identity had already been exposed.

Before long, everyone in the Dark Rain Street Black Market would probably know that he was the person connected to the disappearance of Anomaly 407 Containment Facility.

Anyone knew what the disappearance of a highly productive Alternate Dimension meant.

If he came back another time to buy that incomplete Golden Breathing Method, the shopkeeper would definitely guess it was him.

With such a valuable treasure on him, even if Cao Yu had not explained what it was, someone might still harbor ill intentions.

While Dong Qi's name still carried weight, Ji Xun planned to settle the matter once and for all.

Just as he had expected, the shopkeeper was remarkably bold.

And most likely because the man suspected Ji Xun had some connection to Dong Qi, the deal to trade his spoils for the Breathing Technique went through without any twists or turns.

As for accidents?

Ji Xun had considered them too.

But he trusted his instincts and judgment even more.

That blazing, firelike confidence transcended all conscious thought.

It made him fearless!

Ji Xun did not dare linger. With the Breathing Technique in hand, he decisively vanished into the darkness.

Dark Rain Street was already in chaos.

Upon hearing that the target they had spent days searching for had appeared in the Black Market, members of the Blackwater Mercenary Group rushed in from several nearby districts.

It was not just the mercenaries. The Cao Family's various undercover operatives in the Lower City also sprang into action.

Such a huge disturbance naturally could not be hidden from well-informed Information Brokers.

The various forces in the city had no idea what was happening and assumed some major conflict was about to erupt in the Black Market, so they sent people to investigate as well.

For a time, undercurrents surged through Sinless City. Armed groups gathered in the dark alleys, while motorcycles roared through the streets.

Seeing this, the various factions became even more convinced that something earth-shattering was about to happen.

More and more forces began mobilizing.

Almost no one fully understood what was going on, yet everyone was gathering people.

Because everyone else was gathering people.

Then, when the old woman was shot dead in the street, everyone finally realized that the Card Master Apprentice had not only escaped capture, but had become even more brazen and returned to silence her!

The Blackwater Mercenary Group and the Cao Family's undercover operatives went mad, searching everywhere.

Now everyone knew this was no small matter.

But the Cao Family Governor's status held little deterrence in the Lower City. Their large-scale operation not only received no help, but met obstacles at every turn.

Most people still did not know what had happened, but the people of Sinless City were unanimously hostile toward outsiders: whatever the Governor wanted to do, they would stop it.

The more anxious they were, the more they had to be stopped.

For a time, all of Sinless City was thrown into an uproar.

The various forces of Sinless City seemed determined to uproot the Governor's Mansion's undercover operatives in the Lower City. Now that those agents had exposed themselves, they naturally showed no mercy.

What began as minor friction escalated into large-scale fighting.

It grew more intense by the moment.

Yet Ji Xun, the instigator of it all, had long since left the scene.

Not long after, at a crossroads in the Red Fan District several kilometers from Dark Rain Street.

At the rail station, Ji Xun blended in with a group of mechanics getting off work as he waited for the intercity train.

He had just downed a bottle of the potion he had acquired. A cool sensation shot straight to his head, and the entire world instantly seemed clearer.

"Whew, this potion really is good stuff. That old woman was seriously rich. She actually carried these things around in rows."

Ji Xun savored the strange mental pleasure as the potion took effect. Watching the Mental Power he had expended wearing the Clown Mask steadily recover, he could not help feeling impressed.

A silver nameplate hung from the empty vial in his hand, bearing the words, "Produced by Heidre First Alchemical Factory."

The nameplate alone was worth over a hundred bucks. The potion was clearly valuable.

High-Efficiency Mental Power Recovery Potion

Details: Restores 0.1 Mental Power per minute after consumption, keeps the mind clear, and lasts for three hours.

This was part of the spoils from the old woman he had killed.

Ji Xun still had an entire row of them, nearly twenty such potions.

These were good things that could not be bought even with money.

They had also solved his urgent problem.

Ji Xun had actually considered this before. He had taken every physical counter-tracking measure he could, but Mystic Type spells were impossible to guard against.

Although he had the Clown Mask, which could exempt him from a great many mystic spells.

But that created another problem.

Wearing the mask continuously consumed Mental Power, making it impossible for him to keep it on at all times.

That was why he had been discovered in the Black Market earlier.

So Ji Xun had considered buying potions to see if they could make up for the Mental Power drain.

But he had previously asked at every potion shop, and potions related to Mental Power were extremely scarce.

First, they were difficult to make and required rare materials, so small workshops could barely produce them. Second, demand was low, and potions had limited shelf lives, so only major alchemical factories would make such unprofitable products.

So although Sinless City sold every kind of contraband, no one did business at a loss.

Not only were they scarce, they were also outrageously expensive.

Yet now, he had obtained an entire row of them.

What Ji Xun did not know was that not every Mystic Type professional was this wealthy.

Rather, Fourth Young Master Cao had emptied the Governor's Mansion's stockpiles to provide sufficient potion support to the Mystic Type trackers, all so he could find that Epic Source Card from Anomaly 407 as soon as possible.

Ji Xun had benefited from it instead.

The facts proved that hard work could make one rich.

But if you wanted to get filthy rich, you still had to take shortcuts.

Now that he had these High-Efficiency Mental Power Recovery Potions, Ji Xun had gained another layer of protection.

After taking one, it could almost offset the continuous Mental Power loss from wearing the Clown Mask.

In other words, while the potion was active, it would be extremely difficult to locate him using mystic methods.

There was another point as well.

Although Ji Xun still did not know much about this world, he knew that Spell Card Masters proficient in divination were exceedingly rare.

And the price of divination was also high.

Like the old woman Ji Xun had seen before—her aged appearance had clearly been anything but normal.

Ji Xun did not believe the Cao Family Governor had many such talents.

Kill one, and there would be one less.

That was the most important reason he had wanted to return and silence her, even at the risk of exposing himself.

Besides, Relics with divination effects were probably not easy to find either.

Ji Xun had also discovered a treasure among the spoils.

Relic: Golden Fortune-Telling Poker

Details: A Level II Mystic Type Relic. Consumes lifespan to divine targets within a certain range; the user must understand prophecy-related abilities. The more vague the clues pointing to the target, the greater the backlash.

Seeing the gleaming golden poker card, Ji Xun immediately realized that it was the treasure the old woman had used to divine his location.

They were called Ancient Relics because such items could scarcely be replicated in modern times.

All Relics came from Ancient Relics and Alternate Dimensions.

And a Level II Relic of the Mystic Type was even rarer.

It was something one could only encounter by chance.

Even the wealthy Cao Family might not possess more than a few.

These were all valuable treasures that could not be bought on the market.

Of course, the final great surprise was the pitch-black ring currently in Ji Xun's hand.

This was the legendary Spatial Storage Ring.

Unlike a Containment Card, a Storage Ring was a pocket-like subspace that could hold various miscellaneous items. A Containment Card, meanwhile, was a spatial ability akin to dimensional reduction that people still did not understand, with considerable restrictions.

Ji Xun had previously heard hunters boast about these miraculous spatial rings that could store items.

Storage Rings were standard equipment for nobles and Spell Card Masters. A ring with space no larger than a fist could sell for over a hundred thousand, and this one was worth far more.

When he focused his consciousness, it felt as though he had reached into a hidden pocket containing roughly one-third of a cubic meter of space.

With this ring, carrying all kinds of equipment would be more discreet and convenient in the future.

Aside from the Mental Power potions and the Relic: Golden Fortune-Telling Poker, the ring had also been stuffed with stacks of green banknotes worth roughly a hundred thousand, some gold and silver coins, scrolls, first-aid potions, and other miscellaneous items.

But most of it had been traded for that Golden Breathing Method.

Ji Xun had not carefully calculated whether it was really worth three million, nor did he feel he had lost out.

Those things were too hot to handle. The sooner he got rid of them, the better.

All in all, this trip to the Black Market had yielded an enormous harvest.

He had not only found a suitable Breathing Technique and resolved a major hidden danger, but had also struck it rich.

Not long after, the steam train pulled into the station with a "whooo-whoo."

Ji Xun gathered his thoughts and squeezed onto the train with the crowd.

Over an hour later, reeking of alcohol, Ji Xun returned to the Corpse Collector dormitory at 117 East City Street.

Their entire fifth team was off today. Captain Dong Jiu and two other veteran members had gone to Downing Street and had yet to return.

Corpse Collectors not only earned high salaries, but also had decent living conditions. Since there were few of them and the building was large, each of them had his own private dorm room.

But before Ji Xun even went upstairs, he immediately sensed something unusual.

A stranger had been in the dormitory.

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