The Black Wood Tower

The first thing that Xueming thought of was clothing. Not having to pay any rent for almost a month, Xueming thus had some savings on hand. If he had to engage in the trade of high-value items, clothing must be decorous. If one got dressed like a beggar, it would be difficult to profit from the trade.

Secondly, in order to avoid being stalked, he needed a slight makeover, causing him to think of the opera house that he had just passed by while shopping for clothes. Moreover, having lived in the Golden Bird City, he had various work experiences, including being a general staff in an opera house, thus knowing how to apply makeup, more or less.

Thirdly, to escape the stalking with his current skills, it would be difficult. Therefore, he needed others to help out. Realizing this, Xueming chose to go straight to the same pharmacy which previously introduced him to the big auction called the Black Wood Tower.

After talking with the pharmacy owner who had prior knowledge that Xueming had connections with the Governor’s Mansion, he agreed to help Xueming to disguise himself as an herb transporter to use the back door of the shop. Then, Xueming looked for a dark corner of the city to modify his appearance again.

Xueming carefully put a beard onto his face to make him look older and added fake skin a little to cover up his bright skin, as well as a line of scar to make himself look sharp and stern. Then, he rubbed the colored powder all over the body in order to make the skin color darker than the original. After that, he put on new clothes that were not luxurious but enough to notice that he was either a fighter or bodyguard of a large martial arts school. Plus, an aged-looking face with a scar made him look like an experienced man having traveled the world.

When Xueming came out of a dark corner and returned to the street, he had transformed into a middle-aged cultivator named Yi Fei. He now intended to have a new status as a product escort from the south who was on vacation.

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The Black Wood Tower ... was a large semicircular dome located next to the commercial zone of the Purple Jade City, about ten li north--the turf of the merchant association which consisted of many large merchant families The group leader’s name was Fei Yi Yin.

Although most people from the merchant clans did not possess high levels of cultivation compared to those from other large families, there were other secret skills that had been passed down in the clans, as well as a wide variety of weapons, armors, and life-saving magic items, not to mention their wealth. Therefore, no one dared to belittle the merchant association. Moreover, if realistically estimated, their influence was as high as that of the Governor’s Mansion. But the merchants tended to be tricky and did not reveal tricks or the death card to people. Moreover, they were soft on the outside, hard inside. Their outward expression to people was thus often humble, but when they undertook debt collection, they could only be defined as ... fast, aggressive, swift, untraceable.

Although the Black Wood Tower auction was reputed as an auction, before entering the great dome, one must pay five gold coins as admission fee. For typical wealthy families, five gold coins did not matter much. But for a local commoner, five gold coins were enough to feed his family for one whole month.

Xueming, who now disguised himself as a new person called Yi Fei, walked to stop in front of the great dome. Looking at the gold coins in his purse, he sighed quietly as there were only thirty gold coins left. Besides, the closer the exam date, the higher the rental fee of the motel. But when thinking of that medicine—the price of which the pharmacist couldn't estimate--Xueming felt some encouragement, thus taking out his gold coins and walking toward the entrance with confidence.

"Comrade, do you want to join the auction or to bring products to sell?" The admission fee collector was a beautiful young lady. Her elegant figure in a sparkly dress attracted attention from the crowd even more. But since Xueming’s heart was broken by Mu Jinlan, his thinking about women diminished as he prioritized his cultivation practice. Become a great fighter first and fantasize about love later. Although there were times when his mind got carried away, it was simply because the woman he met was too beautiful for most men to resist.

Xueming handed her the gold coin and spoke solemnly without even a glance at the young lady, "I want to both sell products and watch the auction."

The fee collector smiled again. "If that's the case, please proceed to the door on the left side. There will be staff of the Black Wood Tower guiding you to the warehouse first." Xueming nodded.

At a high corner further away, there was a group of people keeping an eye on the visitors passing by, observing, and jotting down what they saw as information. "A male stranger, never seen before, was not interested in women and also bringing items to the auction. Fei Sha, order your people to keep an eye on him. If his item is precious, order someone to watch over it. If he comes back again next time, the merchant association will give him proper hospitality."

After passing through the doorway, Xueming walked toward the left door as instructed. Inside the door, there were about 10 circular wooden tables, each of which was supervised by an assessor. Seeing Xueming walk in, a female employee pointed toward an empty table for Xueming. Xueming bowed his head slightly to thank her before walking to the fourth table.

"Comrade, please show me the items you want to bring to the auction." The voice of the assessor was all polite and pleasant to hear. Plus, his gesture was extremely humble.

"Well ..." Xueming had never had such a trading experience before, so he was somewhat nervous. But the staff did not show an insulting reaction. Instead, he said, “don't be in a hurry” and turned to order his people to bring tea to Xueming as well.

Xueming felt even more convinced that this chamber of commerce understood the hearts of people very well. For this reason, as time went by, their trading business kept flourishing.

"I need your help to evaluate the medicine in this bottle. Well ... I want to bring it to the auction this time.” Xueming placed an old medicine bottle on the table before nervously pushing it toward the assessor.

"Hmm ... Judging from the leaked fragrance, this is probably a Fire Elemental Medicine.” Just a few words before opening the cork and inhaling it made Xueming respect the assessor’s ability. “Well, now I need to ask for permission to open it up and check it first.” Xueming nodded. The cork of the bottle was gradually pulled open. A hot and spicy air burst out, and the assessor's eyes widened slightly before using the tong to get the pill out and watch it closely. He closed his two eyes and opened his palm to fan the scent toward his nose, hoping to use his smell-distinguishing ability to identify the type of Xueming's medicine. “This medicine is not common. May I ask if you’re an alchemist?"

Momentarily absent-minded, Xueming did not hear the word clearly and said yes by accident. From the moment he stepped into this door, his mind was restless, ceaselessly worrying about what the results of the assessment would be. Meanwhile, his eyes looked around at the other assessment tables and saw the many treasures that the people had brought into the house until a great misunderstanding happened.

"Well ... all the assessors have been taught to scrutinize the people who brought all kinds of precious medicine in the auction, for the alchemists are like a merchant's golden goose. Therefore, it was necessary to build a good relationship with alchemists and even more wonderful to make a contract with them as an affiliate alchemist. In this regard, I would like to invite you Sir to the lounge in the back."