Chapter 1261: Exchanging Spirit Stones

The underground black market was located beneath a manor on the outskirts of the city. Before they even arrived, Zhang Xuan and his companion had changed their attire, wearing casual clothes that made them look like wealthy young masters out for a stroll.

"The founder of the Qianchong Black Market is said to have been a落魄 scholar who never received fair treatment. After seeing through the fickleness of the world, he abandoned literature for martial arts and created this place to vent his inner dissatisfaction."

"Here, as long as you have money, you can buy whatever you want; as long as you have money, you can freely vent your discontent and anger. Of course... the consumption is also extremely high—it can be said to be the biggest money pit in all of Qianchong City!"

As they walked, Zhang Jiuxiao explained.

"Such a place exists so openly... Doesn't the Qianchong Empire's Master Teacher Academy or the royal family care?"

Zhang Xuan found it strange.

With lives as the stakes for various bets, even an outsider like Zhang Jiuxiao knew about it. How could the royal family and the Master Teacher Academy allow it to develop without intervening?

"It's not that they don't care, but for the sake of stability!" Zhang Jiuxiao shook his head.

"Stability?"

Zhang Xuan was puzzled.

Although he hadn't arrived yet, based on the other's words, this so-called black market was a place without law or order, inherently unstable. How could it be for stability?

"In a large city with many cultivators, resources are scarce. To improve their cultivation, people will fight, brawl, and even rob openly... Such incidents happen every day, and even the royal family or the Master Teacher Academy cannot completely eradicate them!"

Zhang Jiuxiao said.

"Hmm!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

Cultivators' demand for resources is like eating and drinking; if food is insufficient, it will inevitably cause unrest—there's no way around it.

Even if the Master Teacher Academy is powerful, it cannot eliminate the most basic needs of cultivators. To do so would be to go against human nature.

"The underground black market, though seemingly unsavory, provides an outlet for people to vent. Here, as long as you have money, you can buy what you want, and to make money, you need to train and fight harder! This creates a special cycle. Although the number of deaths increases, it makes the entire city more stable."

Zhang Jiuxiao shook his head.

Where there is light, there is shadow.

Even among master teachers, there are rotten apples. If cultivators do not cultivate their minds and have no place to vent, it's hard to avoid trouble.

Zhang Xuan understood.

Water that is too clear has no fish; a person who is too strict has no friends.

Back then, even Master Teacher Kong could tolerate the Poison Master.

Although the existence of the black market goes against the rules, if it can reduce crime, it indeed has a reason to exist.

It's like in his previous life: although certain special professions were strictly prohibited, many people knew their specific locations, yet the industry still existed... It wasn't that the crackdown was insufficient, but that it could meet demand and reduce crime.

If they were completely wiped out and none existed, social order would face great challenges.

The underground black market of the Qianchong Empire was exactly like this.

On the surface, it violated the rules, but in reality, it reduced many more troubles... Naturally, the royal family let it be.

As for the Master Teacher Academy... as long as it didn't destabilize the human race or do anything harmful to humanity... they naturally turned a blind eye.

It seemed that places like Hongyuan City and Qingyuan City, which he had visited before, probably had similar spots, but he had only skimmed through, not staying long in each city, and hadn't bothered to inquire carefully.

"We're here!"

Just as he was pondering, he heard Zhang Jiuxiao's voice. Looking up, a huge manor appeared before him.

"Pass!"

Before they even approached, two men in blue blocked their way.

Both were at the Primordial Spirit realm, exuding a murderous aura—clearly they had killed before and were formidable.

With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Jiuxiao handed over something.

After inspecting it, the man in blue nodded and handed them two strips of black cloth.

With a gesture, Zhang Jiuxiao blindfolded himself.

Following suit, Zhang Xuan blindfolded himself and realized that the black cloth not only blocked vision but also obstructed spiritual perception, making it impossible to sense the surroundings.

Led by the man in blue, they walked for over ten minutes to an unknown location before feeling the cloth loosen.

A huge marketplace appeared before them, bustling with people, stretching as far as the eye could see. Although underground, it was as bright as day under the illumination of night pearls.

"This..."

Blinking, Zhang Xuan looked around.

He had been to many markets and workshops and seen many large ones, but although this place wasn't particularly vast in scale, the items for sale were astonishing.

"Golden Crystal Mystic Stone? They can sell this?"

After a few steps, his pupils contracted.

Golden Crystal Mystic Stone was a treasure left by Wu Yangzi, extremely rare, and couldn't even be found in Qingyuan City. Yet here it was openly displayed for sale...

Even seeing it with his own eyes, he found it hard to believe.

"Although this item is rare, it's not impossible to obtain. Having it for sale here is nothing special!"

Seeing his expression, Zhang Jiuxiao smiled.

When he first entered this place, he had been similarly incredulous, but after seeing more, he got used to it.

"Cultivation techniques, mid-grade saint artifacts, personal secrets, various information... Truly a black market—everything is available!"

Walking along the passage for a while, Zhang Xuan shook his head with a wry smile.

It was indeed a black market. Almost everything that was illegal or against the rules on the surface was available here.

"Do you have cultivation techniques for the Half-Exit and Exit Realm?"

Stopping at a stall selling techniques, Zhang Xuan asked.

"Yes, different levels, different prices!"

An old man looked over lazily.

Since this was a black market, there was no fear of robbery.

"Levels? Prices? Tell me about them!" Zhang Xuan said.

"See for yourself!"

He pointed casually.

Zhang Xuan looked and saw clear prices marked on the wall before him.

For mid-grade Saint realm techniques and martial arts, each cost at least ten high-grade essence spirit stones; lower-level ones were cheaper.

Buying one might not cost much, but he needed over a thousand—a huge expense.

"How many types of Exit Realm cultivation techniques do you have here?"

He couldn't help asking.

"There are fifty-two types of Exit Realm cultivation techniques and three hundred and twenty-seven types of Half-Exit Realm techniques. They're all on the bookshelves ahead... sealed, so you can't probe them with spiritual sense. If you want to buy one, pay the fee, and I'll make a copy for you. Rest assured, the techniques here are very detailed, including the Qianlong Technique practiced by the Qianchong royal family and the Jilie Sword Technique practiced by Hall Master Yue. The prices are fair, no cheating!"

The old man waved his hand.

Hearing this, Zhang Xuan looked at the bookshelves before him. There were indeed many books, all covered with seals that prevented spiritual sense from probing.

But...

He didn't need spiritual sense to read!

His eyes swept lightly, and he mentally called out, "Flaws!"

Whoosh!

The entire bookshelf's contents were copied.

With a sweep of his mind, they were transformed into his own knowledge.

The quality of these manuals was not low, but the quantity was still insufficient to form a Heavenly Path technique, which made him regretful.

"So they really have the royal family's Qianlong Technique and Yue Yiquan's sword technique... This black market's reach is terrifying!"

After reviewing all the contents in his mind, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but marvel.

From the Tianxuan Kingdom onward, the techniques of royal families and empires were always top-secret, impossible for outsiders to even glimpse. Yet this black market had obtained them and was selling them directly—just thinking about it was frightening.

"Which one do you want to buy? I'll copy it for you now!"

Seeing his eyes sweep over, the old man said.

"No need..."

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He had already absorbed all the books into his mind, flaws and all. These copies were useless to him now. Besides, he was broke and couldn't buy them even if he wanted to.

Seeing he wasn't buying, the old man turned away, ignoring him.

He was used to penniless people who pretended to be rich and asked endless questions every day.

Leaving the book stall, they continued forward. The road was lined with all kinds of treasures, including even peak Grade 7 pills.

"Master Teacher Zhang, ahead is the place to exchange for high-grade essence spirit stones. If you have ordinary high-grade spirit stones or other treasures, you can exchange them here. Of course, the price will be heavily discounted—not a good deal!"

After walking a while, Zhang Jiuxiao pointed ahead.

Zhang Xuan looked and saw a narrow counter with only two attendants and few customers.

Approaching, he looked up at the exchange rate chart on the wall and twitched his mouth.

It was indeed quite black.

Normally, the exchange rate for high-grade spirit stones to high-grade essence spirit stones was 1,000 to 1, but here it was tripled to 3,000 to 1!

That meant 3,000 high-grade spirit stones could only buy one high-grade essence spirit stone.

For an ordinary person, exchanging just one would nearly drain their entire wealth.

A mid-grade saint artifact at the Primordial Spirit peak level normally cost about ten high-grade essence spirit stones, but here it was worth only three; for the Exit Realm level, the price was only doubled.

"The tripod is quite valuable; selling it could fetch about thirty..."

Calculating the price of the Jinyuan Tripod in his mind, Zhang Xuan stroked his chin.

Although selling Cloud Mist Flowers and looting the Ten Kings and Qingtian Emperor had earned him a lot, all together it was only about fifty to sixty thousand high-grade spirit stones. He had used quite a bit recently cultivating the巫魂, so he had no more than forty thousand on hand!

In other words, if he exchanged all of it, he would only get about ten stones.

But if he sold the Jinyuan Tripod, he could easily get over thirty, close to forty stones—a pretty good deal.

"Forget it, this guy is loyal and has helped me many times; I definitely can't sell him..."

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan dismissed the thought and looked at the attendant before him.

"I want to exchange spirit stones!"

"How many?"

The attendant looked over casually.

"How much can these things exchange for?"

Boom!

With a loud crash, a huge pile of high-grade spirit stones, weapons, herbs, and ores fell to the ground, raising dust.

"So much?"

The attendant stood up abruptly.