Chapter 89

Xu Jintang put down the soup bowl and turned on the communicator's light screen.

A message suddenly appeared in the ten-person group chat that Yu Wanyao and the others were in:

Yu Wanyao forwarded a post related to the Mask Squad.

[Have the five of you become this famous already?]

Xu Jintang clicked on the post.

The page immediately popped up with the most popular team in the public vote, with the Mask Squad firmly in first place with 530,000 votes.

Xu Jintang was taken aback.

She remembered that the election was conducted under real names, and each person could only cast one vote. Their team getting 530,000 votes was indeed quite exaggerated.

Soon, the others also saw the message in the group chat, Yan Yuting exclaimed in surprise.

"Are all five of us this popular now?"

Song Tianqi tossed his hair smugly, "And this is without even showing off my handsome face."

Xue Zhongqi, who was drinking soup, choked and glanced at Song Tianqi with a mocking look, "You really have the nerve to say that."

Xu Jintang glanced at Song Tianqi silently.

Since Song Tianqi began to cultivate diligently, he has indeed lost a lot of weight and grown taller, looking quite presentable and clean-cut.

But compared to Xue Zhongqi's dashing and handsome image, it's a bit lacking.

Yan Yuting stroked his chin, looked Song Tianqi and Xue Zhongqi up and down, and revealed a somewhat subtle expression. "You two... neither of you should say anything to the other."

Perhaps because she'd seen them for so long, she always felt that Song Tianqi and Xue Zhongqi were no different; they were both equally annoying.

The group of people kept making a racket until almost noon.

Seeing that time was running out, Yan Yuting hurriedly urged, "Hurry up, stop dawdling, we need to get to the underground black market. There's a gate there. Once the number of people exceeds the limit, they won't let us in."

Xu Jintang and the others quickly got ready and went out.

Half an hour later, a hover train slowly pulled up to the central square of the Federation Star Region. The doors opened, and Xu Jintang and the other four got off one after another.

"This is the underground black market?" Song Tianqi looked around in surprise, only to see an empty square without a single person in sight.

Yan Yuting gave a mysterious smile. "Of course not. I already said it's an underground black market, so of course it's underground."

After waiting for about two minutes, the group saw a man dressed in black trousers and a shirt walking towards them.

He was wearing a mask and a hat, and asked in a low voice, "Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one?"

Yan Yuting immediately replied, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven."

The man sized up Yan Yuting, nodded, and beckoned, "Come with me."

"This code is too simple," Song Tianqi remarked with a look of astonishment.

Xu Jintang didn't speak, and followed the man in black to the back of the stone statue in the square.

The man crossed his arms in a mysterious gesture, and then the stone statue slowly moved outward, revealing an entrance leading underground.

"Come in." The man stopped gesturing and stepped down the stairs first.

Xu Jintang pursed her lips and followed the man into the passageway.

It was very dark inside, but after walking for a while, the bright streetlights appeared ahead.

After exiting the passage, a bustling, neon-lit underground city came into view.

High-tech, automated mechanical vehicles, colorful metal buildings, and crowds of people moving through the streets.

Looking around, the entire underground city seemed to stretch on and on.

It's like another parallel world.

"There's a game event being held at the black market tonight. If you're interested, you can join in at the neon street corner. That's all. Have fun here!"

After giving his instructions, the man in black turned and left through the same passage he had just entered, presumably to pick up other people.

Yan Yuting took a deep breath and excitedly opened his arms, "So this is the underground black market, just like what was said online."

Song Tianqi and the others also looked around curiously, unable to resist the urge to explore everywhere.

Xu Jintang didn't stop him. "Go wherever you want, just be mindful of the time. We have to be back before midnight."

"Understood!" Song Tianqi and Xue Zhongqi replied in unison and immediately ran off.

Yan Yuting excitedly rushed into the market street ahead.

Only Jiang Shiyi remained where she was, glancing at Xu Jintang, "Shall we go together?"

Xu Jintang nodded, "Let's go."

They hadn't walked far when they arrived at the secondhand goods stall area.

The stalls on both sides displayed all sorts of strange and unusual items, including even baby monsters.

Xu Jintang squatted down in front of a cage containing a Fire Spirit Rabbit. "Is this rabbit for sale too?"

The stall owner glanced at her casually. "This is First Tier Fire Spirit Rabbit cub, it hasn't been bound to an owner yet, 150,000 Star Coins, no bargaining."

Jiang Shiyi also squatted down, reached through the cage, and touched the rabbit.

The rabbit hanging in the cage was clearly still very timid; it trembled all over as soon as it saw a stranger.

"It's so small, it has no attack power at all." Jiang Shiyi pursed her lips, looked up at the stall owner, and said, "Sell me this Fire Spirit Rabbit."

The stall owner, who had been absent-minded, immediately stood up as if he had seen a wealthy patron. "150,000 star coins, no bargaining. Are you sure you want to buy it?"

Jiang Shiyi nodded, "Mm."

Xu Jintang glanced at Jiang Shiyi, "You want to raise it?"

After paying the stall owner, Jiang Shiyi replied, "Hmm, it looks quite pitiful."

Xu Jintang sighed inwardly.

It's good to be rich.

After finishing their shopping, the two strolled around for a while longer. Xu Jintang's attention was drawn to a black stone at a stall.

She bent down, picked up the black stone, and weighed it in her hand. "How much for this stone?"

The stall owner enthusiastically introduced, "This is a stone I found in the lair of Sixth Tier monster's cave. It's very precious, a fixed price of 10,000 star coins."

Xu Jintang stroked the surface of the black stone.

For some reason, she was able to sense the aura of the Living Spirit Alloy within the stone.

She pursed her lips and activated the Domain Detection effect.

The interior of the black stone immediately became clear in my mind.

Beneath the thick, black charcoal shell, the stone actually contained a fist-sized mass of Living Spirit Alloy, which would weigh at least by the kilogram.

Last time she only bought five grams, but it cost her 20,000 five-star coins.

Such a large piece of Living Spirit Alloy is only selling for 10,000 star coins.

Xu Jintang pondered for a moment.

The shop owner probably didn't even know what the stone was, which is why he was selling it for 10,000 star coins as a gamble.

"Five thousand star coins, I think this stone is quite special, I'll buy it and keep it as a collectible." Xu Jintang directly cut the price in half.

The stall owner hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "Alright, seeing as your sincerity, five thousand it is."

Xu Jintang slightly curved her lips, and when she looked up, all that remained was an innocent and carefree smile. "Okay, thank you, boss."

After saying that, she quickly got up to pay and put the black stone into her bracelet's storage space.

I got 5,000 Star Coins! That's a huge profit!

After each having made their own purchases, Xu Jintang and Jiang Shiyi continued walking into the market.

A short while later, I saw a crossroads with a neon sign.

At this moment, a crowd of people had gathered around, completely blocking the intersection.

Jiang Shiyi said, "The man who brought us in said there seems to be an event going on here. Would you like to take a look?"

Xu Jintang stood on tiptoe to look inside, "Sure, let's join in the fun."

"Everyone, please stand still! Don't push! I'm the host for this event, and I'll briefly explain the rules."

A man in a long black trench coat stood on a high platform, holding a round bamboo tube and several arrows. "Everyone has played the game of pitch-pot, right? You throw arrows into the bamboo tube, and the more times you hit the target, the more points you score."

Someone immediately asked, "Is it that simple? What's the reward?"

The man in the black trench coat revealed a mysterious smile. "This time, the reward is a special magical artifact, the Soul-Seizing Bell. This artifact has no level because it's a growth-type artifact; it will continuously grow stronger as its master's power increases."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room began to breathe rapidly.

Growth-related magical artifacts are priceless treasures.

If the owner reaches the Ninth Tier in the future, this magic weapon will also be upgraded, making its value immeasurable.

Xu Jintang and Jiang Shiyi exchanged a surprised glance.

"The prize for playing a simple game like pitch-pot on the black market is this big?" Xu Jintang asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

Jiang Shiyi nodded, "I looked up some information online yesterday. Apparently, the owner of this black market is very wealthy and organizes these kinds of mini-games every now and then, offering rare items as rewards that can't be found elsewhere."

Xu Jintang stroked his chin, beginning to wonder about the identity of the black market owner.

Building such a large underground city beneath the Federation Star Region couldn't have been done with money alone.

The owner of this black market is probably no ordinary person.

"Come on, everyone who wants to participate in the pitch-pot game, line up here. Just one more thing, there are no restrictions on using supernatural abilities this time. How you get the most points is entirely up to you." The man in the black trench coat gave the crowd a subtle smile.

Chapter 89

As soon as he finished speaking, the people gathered at the intersection immediately lined up in an orderly fashion in front of the man in the black trench coat.

Xu Jintang and Jiang Shiyi also joined the queue.

"Squad leader, you're here too." Yan Yuting ran over from not far away, followed by Song Tianqi and Xue Zhongqi.

Taking advantage of the moment when no one was around, Yan Yuting quickly lined up behind Xu Jintang, smiling as she greeted Jiang Shiyi, "Sister Shiyi."

Xu Jintang turned around and looked at the three of them. "How was your shopping?"

Yan Yuting nodded immediately, "I found a lot of trinkets, cheap and affordable."

Song Tianqi and Xue Zhongqi were also in good spirits, seemingly having gained a lot.