Chapter 1070 - Black Feather Underground Trade Fair
In the dead of night, Darkya City.
Yun Che spent a total of two days and one night exploring Darkya City after leaving the Black Feather Merchant Guild. He also inquired about the Black Feather Merchant Guild during this time. To his surprise, he learned that the Black Feather Merchant Guild was actually the number one merchant guild of the Darkya Realm!
The Black Feather Merchant Guild had existed for over fifty thousand years and their roots were deep and vast. Not only were they known to all the people in this lower star realm, they were very famous among some middle star realms too. The merchant guild in Darkya City was also the heart of the entire Black Feather Merchant Guild and they had not only spread their control throughout the entire Darkya Realm, they were even reaching beyond it.
Its vast source of customers and incredible reputation were literally rivaled by no one in a total of thirty thousand lower star realms. The wealth they possessed was practically beyond a normal person’s imagination.
It was rumored that the Black Feather Merchant Guild was supported by the ruling sect of Darkya Realm, the Black Soul Divine Sect. The sect master of the Black Soul Divine Sect was also the Great Realm King of the Darkya Realm!
The more he learned about the Black Feather Merchant Guild, the more puzzled he grew. Why did a large and prosperous merchant guild like this—one that wasn’t lacking in wealth—risk annihilation to conduct an underground trade like this? What on earth were they aiming for?
While carrying such heavy doubts in mind, Yun Che finally waited until the time mentioned by Mister Ji had arrived. A short and simple message was sent to him the moment it was time and following its instructions he arrived at an unfamiliar city area about one hundred kilometers to the north of the Black Feather Merchant Guild and entered a ruined stone tower.
After going through four checkpoints in total, he finally reached the bottommost level of the stone tower. Here, it was so dark that one couldn’t even see their own fingers. He had to wait there for a very, very long time before the wall in front of him suddenly opened to reveal a beautiful girl. The girl walked over to him and bowed slightly. “I apologize for the wait, esteemed guest. Please, come with me.”
He followed the girl through the secret door before he abruptly fell through the darkness. He estimated that he had fallen at least a couple hundred meters before he finally reached the bottom. A flash of profound light later, yet another secret door opened before his eyes.
“If you will, esteemed guest.”
Yun Che walked through the door slowly.
The world beyond the door was a large stone chamber. Although several lamps were lit inside the chamber, the lights were purposely adjusted to create an incredibly dim environment. At a glance, there were hundreds of tables and chairs placed tidily inside the stone chamber. A lot of people had filled in the seats already.
These people’s reactions towards Yun Che’s arrival were pretty much non-existent. At best, they threw him a single, careless glance. Although he was a completely unfamiliar face, no one paid attention to him because pretty much everyone who came here was hidden behind a different identity. It was all too normal for people to wear false names like Yun Che and a large number of them had even disguised their appearances.
However, the Black Feather Merchant Guild knew who they really were. Although Mister Ji hadn’t dug to the bottom of Yun Che’s identity, he knew that the person behind Yun Che was Huo Rulie. That, was enough.
Silence filled the stone chamber. Yun Che swept a glance across the chamber and counted less than two hundred people inside. It wasn’t many. More than half of the participants had disguised their faces with profound energy but every one of them were carrying themselves with an air of extreme arrogance or nobility. They were obvious extremely highly placed characters in Darkya Realm and no one here was ordinary.
These people were basically all youths and more than eighty percent of them were at the Divine Soul Realm. The strongest among them had already neared the peak of the Divine Soul Realm and considering that they were all youths of lower star realms, it was an impressive lineup.
Although these young masters were obviously extraordinary people, none of them appeared to be guarded by an elder. It was obvious that this was a rule set by the Black Feather Merchant Guild too. The message he received today had also mentioned that he was to attend this trade fair alone.
Yun Che randomly chose a seat, sat down, and spread out his spiritual perception. After scanning around once, he was surprised to find that there were no experts spying on this trade fair at all. He immediately felt a lot safer after this revelation.
While everyone was waiting in silence, a stone platform slowly rose about one and a half meters from the ground at the far end of the stone chamber. Then, a secret door above the stone platform opened to reveal two people walking out one after another. They were followed by six beautiful girls.
The pair was a man and a woman. The woman had a pretty countenance and well developed body. Her walking form was beautiful and graceful and her black dress added to the air of mystery and charm around her.
The man behind her was a middle aged man clad in black clothing. His head was bowed slightly and his face looked stiff. His entire person was giving off an uncomfortable feeling and the profound energy aura he kept withdrawn was extremely thick. He was at the Divine Tribulation Realm.
The arrival of the beautiful girl caused the atmosphere inside the quiet stone chamber to change instantly. Wanton gazes immediately roamed up and down the woman’s shapely body.
“Hahaha! I didn’t realize that Miss Ruyan was the one who would be hosting this event. Forget the pleasant surprise inside the ‘invitation letter’, your presence alone brings massive joy to me, Miss Ruyan!” The young man sitting at the foremost of the group laughed brashly.
Invitation letter? Yun Che’s eyebrows moved… did this mean that they were all invited here and he alone happened upon this so-called trade fair?
“The last time your great merchant guild sent an invitation letter of their own accord was three years ago. I’m sure that you won’t disappoint us this time either. This noble one grows impatient, Miss Ruyan,” said another guy slowly.
“Hahaha,” the woman chuckled. Her laughter sounded unusually soft and mind-numbing, “You are all important guests of the Darkya Realm. We wouldn’t dare invite you all over without a good enough surprise, would we?”
“Alright, tonight’s trade fair officially begins now. My name is Ji Ruyan and this servant shall be in your care, oh noble ones. The rules are the same as last time, alright?”
Yun Che: “...” (What rules?)
Clap! Clap!
Ji Ruyan clapped her hands together softly before a maid walked forwards fingerly while holding a long, wooden box.
Ji Ruyan pushed away the cover gently and an immeasurably powerful sword energy spilled out of the box. It immediately started a hurricane of sword energy in the stone chamber that persisted for a long time.
“That is a good sword!” Dozens of people immediately cried out in shock. In fact, some of those cultivators who belonged to sects of sword were already standing on their feet.
Ji Ruyan said leisurely with a smile, “Do you all still remember the terrible massacre of Wind End Villa from three years ago?”
The atmosphere inside the stone chamber frozen for an instant. Then, a person cried out in surprise, “Are you saying that this sword once belonged to Wind End Villa?”
“That is exactly right,” said Ji Ruyan, “There is no one in the Darkya Realm who is unaware that any sword forged by Wind End Villa is worth a fortune and there is no profound practitioner of the sword way who doesn’t wish to obtain a sword that is forged by Wind End Villa. However, everyone in Wind End Villa was slaughtered to the last in a single night three years ago and the entire villa itself was turned into a lifeless ruin. To this day, we still have no idea who the culprit was that destroyed Wind End Villa. It is such a sad tale.
“This sword was found in the ruins of Wind End Villa and it was forged with the Stone of Stars. You have all sensed for yourselves how powerful its sword energy is, so I won’t waste everyone’s time by explaining it. After Wind End Villa was annihilated in one night, every sword it forged also became unparalleled in rarity. Again, I don’t need to describe how priceless they are.”
“You’re right… this sword energy contains the power of a wind handle. It truly is a sword from Wind End Valley. Please give us a price already, Miss Ruyan!” A young man clad in blue clothing said with eyes blazing with excitement.
“I know Sir Zhuo is a man who loves swords beyond all things. It will no doubt be a fine thing if the sword ends up in your hands,” said Ji Ruyan with a blooming smile. “This sword hasn’t been named yet, so it is waiting for its true master to grant it a formidable title. Its asking price is only two million eight hundred thousand purple profound stones, so don’t miss it!”
The price of the sword cause Yun Che to let out a long sigh of relief.
This sword was absolutely extraordinary, so the fact that it started at an asking price of less than three million profound stones meant that the value of profound stones wasn’t as poor as he initially imagined… In fact, he should say the value of five hundred million purple profound stones had absolutely exceeded his expectations. It was an absolutely astronomical number.
“Three million!” the young man known as Sir Zhuo yelled.
“A limited sword like this should be worthy of my collection, three million three hundred thousand purple profound stones!”
“Haha, it’d be a shame to keep this sword in a collection instead of putting its powers to good use! Why don’t you surrender the sword to me, brother… three million five hundred thousand!”
“Three million eight hundred thousand!”
It was obvious that Wind End Villa was extremely famous in the Darkya Realm. Yun Che didn’t move from his seat but the bidding cries around him never stopped coming, causing its price to shoot upwards like a rocket.
“Eight million purple profound stones!”
One final dark and fierce roar later, the sword ultimately fell into the possession of the man known as Sir Zhuo at the astronomical price of eight million purple profound stones.
The limited sword forged by an annihilated villa was worth eight million purple profound stones but Wood Spirit Orbs were far from being extinct. Therefore, it couldn’t possibly be more expensive than this price. Even if he supposed the Wood Spirit Orb’s price was on par with that limited sword and since Mister Ji mentioned that the Wood Spirit Orb this time was very special and very expensive, he multiplied his base estimate by ten times, then the wood spirit orb would only cost eighty million purple profound stones!
This means that the five hundred million purple profound stones he carried with him were absolutely enough to cover for the cost!
Yun Che immediately felt completely at ease… After all, he had seized these purple profound stones from the Ice Wind Empire’s treasury in passing. He felt no pain even if it turned out that he spent eighty million to buy a Wood Spirit Orb.
Still, if that sword really was found in the ruins of that Wind End Villa… it should’ve been sold at somewhere more public, shouldn’t it? Unless he was sorely mistaken, he was sure that the sword was acquired from dubious hands.
“The next ‘item’ also came from Wind End Valley. However…” Ju Ruyan put on a rather mysterious smile, “It is a lot more interesting than the sword.”
She clapped her hands again after she said this.
The middle aged man behind her continued to stand completely still without saying a word, moving a muscle or rolling his eyeballs even once, like a dead man. He was so obscure that one might forget that he existed before they realized it.
Rrrrm...
To the left of Ji Ruyan, a stone platform suddenly rose from the ground before coming to a stop.
There was a sealing profound formation brimming with white light above the platform. No one could see clearly what was sealed behind the light.
Ji Ruyan smiled slightly before pointing a finger at the formation. The profound light immediately faded quickly, until a single layer was all that was left. A thin and weak woman was crouched inside the half-translucent sealing profound formation!
The girl’s long hair was disheveled and it covered of more than half of her face. Her clothes looked recently changed since they were both very white and new. However, it was torn in many places and the dry skin beneath the clothes appeared to be covered in red marks.
The woman couldn’t stop shaking when everyone’s gazes became trained on her. However, she kept utterly quiet and hid her face deeper behind her hair.
Yun Che’s eyes bulged before they abruptly became clouded… a human!
They’re involved in human trafficking too!?
The incredibly pitiful woman also looked to have been tortured for a prolonged period of time.
Yun Che sucked in a deep breath… even if this was an underground black market, this was a little too despicable, wasn’t it!
The people beneath the stage were rather silent. If this woman was peerlessly beautiful, then they might have bought her home as a plaything. However, not only did the woman look average, she looked like a filthy toy who was used and discarded… they had no interest in a woman like this.
Ji Ruyan cast a glance at the woman but she immediately moved her gaze away right after. She said, “This woman is no ordinary woman. I may surprise you all when I reveal her identity.”
“I am sure everyone present has heard of her father’s reputation. He was… the villa master of the Wind End Villa that was exterminated three years ago!”
“What?” As expected, her words shocked all of the people present.
“The Black Feather Merchant Guild doesn’t spout any lies,” said Ji Ruyan smilingly. “This woman is none other than the first miss and final descendant of Wind End Villa. Therefore, she may have inherited the Wind End Villa’s sword forging techniques… of course, this isn’t all. Besides that, she also possesses a Wind Yin Body.”
“Wind Yin Body?” The dozens of gazes trained onto the woman’s body immediately grew heated.
“All young masters who cultivate a wind type profound art, I am sure that your cultivation speed will grow up twice as fast if you have a Wind Yin Body woman to use as a dual cultivation incubator, am I right?” Ji Ruyan’s gaze slowly moved across the crowd, “My father once told me that there are a lot of noble ones here who are searching for a woman with a Wind Yin Body all this time and today, we are finally able to fulfill that demand. Unfortunately, this woman can only belong to one young master, so you will have to give it your all.”
As expected, thirty or so men had already jumped to their feet before Ji Ruyan could even finish her sentence. They all looked very excited and determined to win.
“If there is one downside to this woman, it is that she has lost her vital yin already, so I can’t set the asking price too high. So, let it be… eight million purple profound stones.”
“Ten million!!” Ji Ruyan had just finished speaking when a shout cut right through the air. The price was immediately raised by two million purple profound stones!