"One moment, Shixiong. For what reason have you come to the Black Market?" one of the guards asked while stepping out in front of Fang Xing.
"Have you been to a Black Market before? I’m here to exchange for things I need; why else would I be here?" Fang Xing casually replied.
The guard wasn’t expecting such a flippant response and hesitantly smiled. "What Shixiong said is correct, but the Black Market isn’t the same as it was before. There was a thief last time who stole many things, and a Black Market wasn’t held for a full three months afterwards. We have to be extremely careful this time around thanks to him, so please tell me exactly what it is you are looking for or what item you plan to exchange, or I can’t let you in."
It seemed as though this truly was to prevent a repeat of last time. Fang Xing was relieved that he actually brought something of value with him today; if he’d come empty-handed with only the snuff bottle like before, he’d have been immediately exposed.
Fortunately, although Fang Xing was young, he understood how to deal with people quite well. When the guard started asking questions, he pretended to be annoyed and answered, "The Black Market seems to have more and more rules. I may as well exchange things with the sect at this rate! Well, since I’m already here, I’ll just go along with it for now. I’m here to exchange Spirit Stones for a Flying Sword. Here, have a look for yourself!" As Fang Xing spoke, he brought out a handful of bright red Spirit Stones and held it right in front of the guard.
"Since you brought plenty of Spirit Stones, it’s likely you intend to actually exchange and you’re not the thief." The guard smiled and gestured inside. "Thank you for your understanding, Shixiong, and please come in!"
Fang Xing waved his hand and smiled. "No, I completely understand. It’s all the fault of that despicable thief; you’re just doing your job!"
Fang Xing’s words moved the guard. He was supposed to stay here and check everyone who intended to enter in order to ensure the Black Market’s safety, but not everyone was so understanding. Most either showed no reaction or were just downright rude and uncooperative, so coming across someone who seemed to understand the difficulties of the job really stirred the heart.
If only they knew that the sole person who understood them happened to be the very thief from last time who’d caused this whole mess!
—
This Black Market was noticeably larger in size than the last one, with many more disciples to go along with it. Even the average cultivation tier was slightly higher, with most of the disciples in their second tier and quite a few others in their third. It also seemed as though the people here were experienced with these events—they said only what was necessary and their transactions were carried out with a calm shrewdness.
‘Looks like the newbies were all scared off after what happened last time and all the old foxes came out instead.’ After giving it some thought, Fang Xing decided it was a bit too risky. ‘Oh well, fair enough. Just a normal transaction today!’ With that, he slipped himself in with the rest of the crowd.
There was an interesting sight this time around: some of the people had sat down cross-legged and placed what they were exchanging in front of them for others to see. If a passerby saw something they liked, they’d start discussing the details of the deal.
Some of the trades were direct barter—items for items—but if an agreement couldn’t be reached, it came down to Spirit Stones or gold and silver. Most of the items that appeared in the Black Market were intended for cultivation, and the amount of gold and silver someone would need to exchange for them was excessive. For that reason, Spirit Stones—a universal resource for cultivation—was what was used most often.
After completing a full circuit around the market, Fang Xing realized that this Black Market’s size wasn’t the only difference compared to the previous one. The last one primarily featured Spirit Stones for common gold, but now there was a huge variety. Flying Swords, skill manuals, spells, medicinal pellets, elixirs—it was all incredibly dazzling. While some of the people had only one or two items placed in front of them, there were others who had so many items it was practically a stall.
"Hey, Shixiong, how about taking a look at this? There are some good things here, but mine are the best!"
As Fang Xing walked to and fro, some of the people would whisper their greetings. It was fortunate nobody yelled or shouted, or else it would have been as loud as an actual flea market.
"Maybe after looking around!" Fang Xing responded before turning his attention elsewhere. Fang Xing had originally come here to buy a decent Flying Sword, but there were so many available that there wasn’t any rush. He decided to look at the other different and interesting things for now instead.
"You really think of this as a flea market, huh?" the man mumbled, but didn’t cause any trouble.
Fang Xing smiled, but he suddenly let out an "eh?" sound as his gaze swept across the man’s items.
The man was suddenly all smiles and whispered, "Has something caught Shixiong’s eye?"
Fang Xing didn’t say anything and simply crouched down to have a closer look.
"Heh, Shixiong’s eyes are quite good. Not only do I have more items than anyone else, but they’re all of excellent quality and thirty percent lower in price!" Although the man was quite boastful, he wasn’t wrong—his stall really did have a lot of items on sale.
Fang Xing still didn’t say a word and slowly picked up a Flying Sword for a careful look. Seeing this, the man started to gush about how great the sword was, as though such a low-grade sword was an extremely rare find.
"How many Spirit Stones for this?" Fang Xing asked, seemingly moved by the man’s words.
The man signed a figure with his hands hidden from the sight of others. "This price. Not too bad, huh?"
"Seven Spirit Stones? It really is thirty percent cheaper…" Fang Xing muttered under his breath. If he didn’t have access to the Book of Revelation, it was likely he would’ve been moved by such a price.
"So how about it? Does Shixiong want to trade?" the man asked, smiling at the chance to do business.
"You know, Shixiong, you’ve got some real craftsmanship…." Fang Xing studied the sword for a few more moments before lightly tossing the Flying Sword back to the stall. His lips curled up into a smile and his eyes narrowed as he looked to the man and whispered, "If I happened to start spreading the news that most of the items you have on sale here are counterfeits, what would your customers think? And the people who organized this Black Market and are trying to restore its reputation, what would they think?"
The man’s face suddenly darkened. He lowered his voice even further, his eyes flashing coldly as he said, "Don’t speak nonsense. If Shixiong wants to buy, then buy; if you don’t, then don’t!" However, such a harsh expression also gave away his guilty conscience, and he couldn’t help but to look to the side.
"Nonsense?" Fang Xing sneered. He suddenly began to pick up several items and—with only a glance—split them neatly into two piles. There didn’t seem to be any particular order or pattern for what items went where, and the two piles were quite mixed with a little bit of everything. "Then what does Shixiong think of these two piles?" Fang Xing grinned as he gently placed a bottle of medicinal pellets on the left pile and dusted off his hands.
Cold sweat began to ooze down the man’s back from his guilt, and an awkward smile formed on his face. "Shixiong… is clearly someone with excellent eyes. I should have noticed earlier. Would Shixiong perhaps accept this gift?" As the man spoke, he pulled out a Flying Sword from the pile on the right and respectfully held it up in front of Fang Xing with both hands.
As it so happened, Fang Xing had very quickly managed to appraise everything here and split it into two parts. The genuine items were on the right, and those with problems were on the left. The man had been thoroughly shocked by such an event, and he’d hurriedly tried to bribe Fang Xing using genuine goods. The underlying message was clear: take this Flying Sword and quietly go somewhere else!
The Black Market was different compared to stores selling antiques in the realm of mortals. If somebody were to purchase a fake antique, the blame would usually fall on either their poor luck or faulty judgment. In markets like this specifically for cultivators, however, no one had the time for such senseless decepton. Resources were scarce, and losing even a small amount was incredibly painful.
There were always exceptions, of course, and the mustached man and his two sidekicks at the Pavilion of Spirit Tools were a good example. The reason they could get away with cheating and extorting others was because the sect rules protected them, and they primarily preyed on new disciples without any background or support. If someone were to dare try to cheat someone else in the Black Market, however, it was likely everyone would band together once the swindler was exposed.
Fang Xing looked at the man and good-humoredly smiled. He accepted the sword, but he casually tossed it to the side and laughed, "What would a piece of junk like this be worth?"
The man became visibly annoyed, his gaze growing cold as he whispered, "Shixiong, don’t do this. We can still be on good terms if we meet each other in the future if you don’t go too far. I really don’t like to be pushed around…." So saying, the man flared up his Qi, revealing himself to be in the third tier.
Fang Xing didn’t seem to care about the man’s threat and mockingly continued, "This is the Black Market and nobody knows who anybody else is. What ‘meet in the future’ when you don’t even know who I am? And your third tier isn’t bad—there’s probably less than a dozen here stronger than you—but if I let everyone know what’s going on here and they band together, your tier won’t be worth sh*t!"
The man suddenly grew nervous, and his fists clenched tightly together as cold sweat drenched his palms.