Chapter 161 - The Transaction of a Hundred Spirit Stones (1/2)
After entering the capital city of the Shenguang empire and finding an inn, Zhou Donghuang left the Yuntai inn with Su Mo.
He had only one objective in coming to the Shenguang empire: to obtain some spirit stones.
Or at least to obtain enough to allow him to attain the Primal Core stage in the shortest time possible.
“The spirit stones of Ziyun are all from the five lodes of spirit stones on Ziyun: five lodes of spirit stones, controlled by the five great elite sects, including the Shenguang and Xuanyin sects.’
“Out of the five lodes of spirit stones, the one that has the highest output produces about two thousand spirit stones every year, and the one with the smallest output produces about one thousand three hundred spirit stones every year.”
“Because of this, the punishment agreed on by the five great sects for meddling in the black market, four thousand spirit stones, is a considerable sum to any one of the sects.”
…
After arriving in the capital city of the Shenguang empire, Zhou Donghuang had gained a better understanding of the availability of spirit stones on Ziyun.
The planet of Ziyun had only five lodes of spirit stones.
Moreover, they were all very small lodes.
The annual output of the five lodes of spirit stones combined did not exceed ten thousand spirit stones.
Because of this, spirit stones were extremely rare objects on the planet of Ziyun.
For any planet, the practicing environment created from the qi saturating the atmosphere also determines that planet’s endowment of spirit stones.
Zhou Donghuang thought to himself, “Although the practicing environment on the planet of Ziyun far exceeds at of Earth in its age without practice, compared to those planets with accomplished practitioners, it can only be considered average.
“Five small lodes of inferior quality spirit stones cannot produce intermediate quality spirit stones.”
“The five spirit stone lodes controlled by the Shenguang sect, Xuanyin sect, and the rest of the five great sects are also lodes of inferior-quality spirit stones and could not possibly produce intermediate-quality spirit stones.
“On some of the planets in the universe where there are greater resources of spirit stones, some of the medium- or large-sized lodes of inferior-quality spirit stones can sometimes produce some intermediate-quality spirit stones.
“The higher the quality of spirit stones, the more qi is accumulated in them. Moreover, the purity is also higher and is even more effective in aiding practice.
Of course, I cannot expect to find intermediate-quality spirit stones on Ziyun. But as long as I have enough inferior-quality spirit stones, I will be able to attain the Primal Core stage within nine months!”
Zhou Donghuang’s eyes gleamed with self-confidence, and he allowed Su Mo to show him the way to the meeting point of the black market of the Shenguang empire.
The black market of the Shenguang empire was in a large single-story building in the northwest corner of the capital city. It looked ordinary from the outside, and it was impossible to tell that it housed a business run jointly by the five great sects.
At one of the main entrances of the black market stood several stern-faced middle-aged men dressed in black, and they blocked Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo as one of them spoke.
“The entry fee for two people is two hundred liang of gold.”
When Su Mo heard this, he handed over a two-hundred liang gold note.
They were immediately allowed in.
“This black market is indeed black. Even entry is charged at a hundred liang of gold per person.”
Su Mo commented sarcastically as he followed Zhou Donghuang into the black market.
“Those people who come to the black market to do business will not miss that hundred liang of gold.”
Zhou Donghuang completely understood this principle. “Creating such a barrier avoids the problem of people entering to window shop. Only those people with real needs will be willing to pay the hundred liang of gold to enter.”
“That’s true, “Su Mo nodded.
After entering the main gate of the black market, they came into a long and narrow alley.
At the end of the alley, there were four prettily made-up girls standing on both sides.
They all carried a pile of black robes. “Sirs, you must put on these identical black hoods and robes to conceal your identities if you are entering the black market complex.”
When Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo heard this, they took a set of black outfits each and wrapped them so tightly around themselves that if they did not look closely, they would not even recognize each other.
As they passed through the alley, it suddenly opened up, and they found themselves in a plaza thronged with people.
There were many people gathered, and there were numerous constructs and decorations that blocked their view. If one stared at any of the people passing through, the next moment, he would lose them from view unless he followed his target closely.
It was apparent that even those who came together to the black market would need to separate once they entered and could not move around together.
In fact, when Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo had exited the alley, they had seen an attention-grabbing notice written in red ink on a prominent wall: “None may move together upon entering the black market complex. Offenders will be killed without mercy!”
Inside the black market complex, besides the people in identical black hoods and robes bustling around, were also some people dressed in normal clothes walking to and fro, keeping a sharp eye on the surroundings. These were the people who maintained order in the black market.
Some of these people were middle-aged men; others were old men.
“Master, I’ve heard that these people maintaining order in the black market of the Shenguang empire are without exception Primal Core adepts of the Shenguang sect. Of course, they are all early Primal Core adepts.”
Su Mo said to Zhou Donghuang before they split up, “The person in charge of the black market is apparently a Silver Core adept of the Shenguang sect!”
Silver Core adepts were also late Primal Core stage adepts.