Chapter 472: The Black Market in Five Pillar City |
Azure Deity Metamorphosis?
Su Chen's heart stirred slightly. He had heard Jiang Ce discussing this matter with someone in front of the Martial Proof Hall last time. It seemed to be a method used in the Abyssal Domain to evolve the Azure Deity Talent, and the danger involved didn't seem small.
He couldn't help but think of the Unsullied, which was still under research.
"If I learn the process of this Azure Deity Metamorphosis, I wonder if it will provide any inspiration for the Unsullied. At least don't give me requirements like Radiant Sun bones..."
Su Chen muttered inwardly, but outwardly he remained noncommittal, merely asking, "I heard that Star Seed Zhong Yue is also undergoing Azure Deity Metamorphosis?"
"Mhm, after his battle with Du Yunfei last time, this is no longer a secret." Jiang Ce glanced at the nonchalant Su Chen. His speculation wasn't born out of a sudden impulse.
It was truly because this Star Seed's behavior was just too strange. If one were to say he had strong curiosity about the Guixu world, Jiang Ce couldn't quite see it. But to say he didn't care... it seemed he had indeed formed some ideas.
Based on their contact when selling the Dragon-Transforming Celestial Serpent last time, this person was no ordinary thief. He definitely had his sights set on this Guixu.
He thought about it repeatedly, and the only thing he could think of was related to the Azure Deity Metamorphosis.
Su Chen casually asked, "This Azure Deity Metamorphosis seems quite difficult?"
As expected, he wants to undergo Azure Deity Metamorphosis, which is why he wanted to check out the situation in the Guixu along the way. Talent evolution could bring enhancements in many aspects; anyone would want it.
Jiang Ce wasn't surprised by Su Chen's thoughts. He just smiled bitterly and said, "It's more than just difficult. It is said that every step involves narrowly surviving, taking massive risks."
"Is that so..." Su Chen was thoughtful. The solutions previously provided for the Unsullied hadn't involved any risks. Even for evolving into an Azure God, it should be about the same.
"It seems to require many precious materials?" Su Chen looked at the flight vehicles shuttling back and forth outside the window. Individual practitioners weren't allowed to fly here; they had to take vehicles.
"That's right..." Jiang Ce nodded. "Some of those things are considered rare even for our Eternal Dragon Heaven. The High Three Heavens might have some stock."
Speaking up to here, he glanced at Su Chen again and whispered, "However, the method for the Azure Deity Metamorphosis, whether it's the process or the required materials, is a secret even within our High Firmament."
"However, your Master is a Heavenly Lord. It shouldn't be difficult for you to learn the specific process."
Su Chen naturally understood Jiang Ce's tactful attitude. It was nothing more than saying that he himself was just a minor character, and it was useless for Su Chen to ask him about these great secrets; what he knew was all just hearsay.
"Thank you for the reminder." Su Chen nodded. He planned to have Old Yuan ask around for the specifics when he returned.
"I don't know if this Azure Deity Metamorphosis involves a Radiant Sun. If it's just that it consumes a massive amount of things, then it doesn't matter; it can serve as a reference for the Unsullied to see if I can find the most effortless and safest method. But if I really have to go get things from a Radiant Sun, I won't be able to handle it..."
"However..." Thinking up to here, Su Chen suddenly realized, "If the Azure Deity Metamorphosis also requires things from a Radiant Sun, that's actually not a bad thing. It would give me a legitimate reason to seek them out. Either way, it's not a loss."
Seeing Su Chen looking thoughtful, Jiang Ce glanced outside the flight vehicle's window and tentatively asked, "Then shall we head back?"
"Head back?" Su Chen snapped back to his senses and gave Jiang Ce a half-smile. "Is Brother Jiang that unwilling to stay with me?"
"That's not what I meant..." Jiang Ce hurriedly shook his head, offering a dry laugh. "There's actually not much to see in this Five Pillar City. For instance, the Exploration Nodes leading to the Nether Realm, we have them in High Firmament too. This place just has a more mixed bag of dragons and fish."
"A mixed bag of dragons and fish, that's good..." Su Chen seemed to have caught onto a keyword again. After muttering twice, he suddenly lowered his voice: "Brother Jiang, does this place sell things related to Evil Gods?"
"Evil!" Jiang Ce was startled. Just hearing that word made his scalp tingle, and he subconsciously cried out in alarm, before hastily lowering his voice: "Evil... Gods?"
"Why are you inquiring about them?" His Adam's apple bobbed, silently cursing himself for talking too much. What 'mixed bag of dragons and fish'?
"Are the words 'Evil Gods' forbidden to even be mentioned in the Abyssal Void?" Su Chen was quite astonished by Jiang Ce's reaction.
"It's not that they can't be mentioned," Jiang Ce said helplessly. "It's just that, aside from the people of Great Heaven, no one is willing to deal with Evil Gods. They are extremely wicked and uncanny."
Seeing Su Chen's nonchalant expression, Jiang Ce couldn't help but say, "Star Seed Su, you mustn't take this lightly. These things are extremely treacherous. If you get tainted with even a bit of their aura, they might find you while you're dreaming..."
Su Chen interrupted, "Brother Jiang, it's not that I'm taking it lightly. It's just that, when I was this big..."
He stretched out a hand and gestured at his knee level, "...I was already dealing with the believers of Evil Gods."
His origins weren't a secret in the Dust Star Sea, so naturally, the people of High Firmament could know as well. There was no need to hide it.
"Uh..." Jiang Ce froze, finally remembering that the other party came from the Outer Realms, and the Outer Realms actually came into contact with Evil Gods more frequently.
In contrast, the vast majority of people in High Firmament, because of the extremely high level of safety, actually rarely encountered true Evil Gods and the like, excluding Nether Realm Creatures.
"I had forgotten about that..." Jiang Ce said sheepishly.
Su Chen shook his head, returning to the previous question: "There should be places selling Evil God-related items here, right?"
"This..." Jiang Ce remained hesitant. It was the same old saying: he was a member of Eternal Dragon Heaven, and Su Chen was from Bronze Heaven. If something went wrong, it would be very difficult to clarify.
Seeing this, Su Chen didn't continue to press the issue, merely saying, "Since that's the case, I won't make things difficult for you. How about this: you head back first, and I'll stroll around on my own."
"Stroll around on your own..." Jiang Ce's mouth twitched. They came out together, but he was going back alone? If something happened to Su Chen...
"You have to promise me, you absolutely cannot tell anyone I told you." Jiang Ce had no other choice.
So this guy really does know... Su Chen naturally promised: "Rest assured, I just want to take a look, it's not like I have to buy something."
Jiang Ce sighed and said, "This Five Pillar City is indeed a mixed bag of dragons and fish, with all sorts of businesses. Things like Evil God-related items, even Great Heaven won't sell them openly; they can only be purchased through secret channels..."
"I know of a few such places." He adjusted the flight vehicle's course. "I just don't know if they've closed down by now."
Since the topic was out in the open, Su Chen simply asked directly, "Are there many methods involving Evil God items in this Abyssal Domain?"
"Are you referring to Eldritch Divine Blood, Divine Power, and the like?" Jiang Ce asked. Seeing Su Chen nod, he continued, "That's right. As far as I know, there are indeed many application methods. This is mainly because these things can bypass 'resistance' and act repeatedly to assist with professional Job Entries."
Just as he finished speaking, his expression changed slightly, afraid that his words might give Su Chen any further ideas, so he hastily added, "But it's very dangerous. Moreover, some Evil Gods might very well be bait dropped by the Final Ruin."
"Even if one is within High Firmament, they might not necessarily be able to block the methods of those entities."
The Final Ruin... Su Chen was thoughtful. Because of the existence of the Final Ruin, dealing with Evil Gods in the Abyssal Domain was much more dangerous.
"We're here. This Black Market hasn't closed down yet, but it seems to have changed owners and was absorbed by 'Top Hat'. Top Hat has been developing very rapidly these past few years."
Jiang Ce suddenly spoke up, and Su Chen also looked through the window. It was a small floating island, with quite a number of flight vehicles coming and going.
"How do you identify it? Are there any emblems or something?" Su Chen observed for a moment and couldn't help asking.
"You need to Job Entry a Specialized Class." Jiang Ce explained. Seeing Su Chen staring blankly at him, he sighed inwardly and said helplessly, "This profession is called Black Market Seer. The Job Entry requirements are..."
[Discovered Specialized Class: Black Market Seer. Complete the profession requirements to Job Entry.]
[Profession Requirement One: Have a Black Market Guide bring you into the Black Market.]
[Profession Requirement Two: Complete at least one Black Market transaction.]
[The Black Market Seer looked around warily, suddenly noticing terrifying gazes staring at him. He was panic-stricken and horrified, unexpectedly fainting dead away. All Job Entry requirements erased.]
"Once we go in later and you randomly buy something, you'll be able to Job Entry," Jiang Ce said, only to see Su Chen's expression turn somewhat strange.
"It actually fainted from fright..." Su Chen was truly speechless.
True, in that space whose location was unknown, there were Heavenly Sovereigns and Holy Sovereigns. To an ordinary Specialized Class, it was indeed terrifying.
He completed the Job Entry directly. Naturally, there were no physical changes to his body, but when he looked at the floating island again, he saw a black-purple top hat logo on the side wall.
Being so blatant, it seemed the existence of this Black Market was probably tacitly permitted by Five Pillar City.
Where water is too clear there are no fish. This kind of place would inevitably emerge no matter what. Rather than letting them grow wantonly in the dark, it was better to keep them under watch.
"Forget it, let's not go in." Su Chen shook his head. "I don't have anything I particularly want to buy right now either."
"Not going in?" Jiang Ce was delighted inwardly.
"There's indeed nothing worth seeing in this place. Brother Jiang, let's head back," Su Chen added.
"Head back?" Jiang Ce immediately beamed with joy, his gaunt cheeks twitching. "Alright, let's head back, head back."
Su Chen was speechless, watching Jiang Ce hurriedly adjust the course.
It wasn't until they passed through the Abyssal Rift and set foot in High Firmament again that Jiang Ce's expression truly eased.
As long as he brought Su Chen back, even if the other party turned around and went back again, it wouldn't have much to do with him.
As the two walked out of the Abyssal Zone, Su Chen said, "I've troubled Brother Jiang this time. A modest token, I hope you won't refuse."
What? Jiang Ce was taken aback. His heart stirred, and a holographic screen appeared, his expression becoming quite colorful. "Fifty portions of Faith Essence?"
On the private page, Su Chen had unexpectedly just transferred fifty portions of Faith Essence to him.
"So much?" His heart pounded, and he repeatedly said, "This is too precious. I merely took you for a stroll around."
Fifty portions didn't sound like much, but in reality, this was the highest standard currency in the Abyssal Domain. Even with his years of savings, when he bought the Dragon-Transforming Celestial Serpent last time, he struggled to come up with three or four hundred portions all at once.
These fifty portions were no small sum to him.
"Haha..." Su Chen chuckled lightly. "Involving Brother Jiang in my affairs and making you anxious, consider this mental compensation. Don't decline it. There are so many people coming and going; pushing back and forth here wouldn't look good."
"This..." Jiang Ce was somewhat embarrassed. Actually, thinking back carefully now, Su Chen hadn't made any drastic moves; it was just him overthinking things.
"You truly make me ashamed." Jiang Ce put away the holographic screen and stopped being overly polite, saying seriously, "If there's anything else you don't quite understand, feel free to ask me."
"There is indeed one thing," Su Chen said casually, almost causing Jiang Ce's expression to crumble.
"Haha..." Su Chen laughed. "I just want to purchase a property here and wanted to ask if Brother Jiang has any recommendations?"
"Purchase a property?" Jiang Ce let out a long sigh of relief, inwardly cursing himself for having such a poor mindset, and hurriedly said, "I haven't purchased one here myself, but I do know a bit about it."
Speaking up to here, he couldn't help but feel envious. To buy the Dragon-Transforming Celestial Serpent with his life savings, he even had to sell off some things, let alone buy any property in this Lingxiao Underworld Domain.
Su Chen had arrived less than half a year ago, yet he spent money so lavishly. It was said that the day he climbed to the top of the Stealth Rankings, he harvested several thousands of Faith Essence.
This is what it means to be influential!
While lamenting inwardly, his mouth didn't stop. "The properties in our area range from good to bad. The worse ones are just used as warehouses by those Abyss Explorers..."
"And the better ones are quite diverse."
"Then are there any properties like in the reality world, equipped with devices to assist in profession development progress..."
"Those naturally exist, but the price..."
"Including transaction fees, three hundred and forty-two portions of Faith Essence." Jiang Ce licked his dry lips, looking at the three-story detached villa before him. The silver-white metal exterior reflected the light, and it was surrounded by similar villa structures.
This was already considered a high-end residential area in the Nether Realm. It was exorbitant in value, and very few people would buy one, unless they were truly so rich that they had nowhere else to spend their Faith Essence.
He muttered, "Equipped with an Environmental Stabilization Array, stable elements, acceleration devices, an additionally gifted Service Automaton, and Office of Law guards on patrol, although I don't know what the point of that is..."
Although there was no Nether Mist here, creating an environment identical to the reality world still required a considerable price.
"It really is expensive..." Su Chen also lamented from the side. It was enough to buy two Morning Star Embers.
And this wasn't even the most expensive residence. There was also the kind that could casually mimic environments in the Nether Realm, but they cost over a thousand essence, and he wasn't that rich yet.
You complain it's expensive, yet you still bought it... Jiang Ce grumbled inwardly, only to see Su Chen already looking at him. "Brother Jiang, how about coming inside with me to take a look?"
"No need. Calculating the time, Xiao Fan's supplementary tutoring for today should be finishing up," Jiang Ce shook his head.
"Then I won't see you off," Su Chen nodded. "Next time you bring the little guy to the Bronze Core, I'll give you a ten percent discount."
"Thank you," Jiang Ce expressed his sincere gratitude before disappearing from the spot.
"The Bronze Core is quite attractive to Old Jiang... err, practitioners like them..." Su Chen looked up at the villa before him and walked straight in.
The most unexpected use of the Bronze Core lay in cultivating the next generation. Being young and not fully developed, they couldn't complete many profession requirements. It was the perfect time to use the Bronze Core to fulfill environmental-type profession requirements.
It was high quality and reasonably priced, and it wouldn't generate resistance or affect other resources they might use in the future. It was truly quite good.
Jiang Ce planned to bring Jiang Fan over shortly to complete a certain profession requirement.
However, to Su Chen, this was just a minor interlude.