Xiao Ling held Xiao Xun’er’s hand as the two walked through the shops.
Before long, they reached the miscellaneous goods market.
The vendors here basically laid out a mat and placed items on it.
There were all sorts of things—they could be rare treasures, but most were worthless items.
Arriving at the miscellaneous market, Xiao Ling wanted to tease Xiao Xun’er, so he said, “Xun’er, this is the famous ‘treasure leak’ market in Wu Tan City.
Why don’t you try buying something here today and see if you lose money or make a profit?”
Xiao Xun’er first lowered her head, thought for a moment, then opened her left hand and made a fist with her right, suddenly smashing her right fist into her left hand, looking as if she had thought of something.
Then, giving Xiao Ling a crafty smile, she said, “Brother Xiao Ling, just you wait and see.”
She then pulled Xiao Ling’s hand to a stall owner, pointed at a wooden box on the stall, and asked, “What’s the situation with this wooden box?
What’s the price?”
The boss was a black-robed person.
Xiao Ling scanned with his soul power and felt as if his power had entered a mud sea; he couldn’t sense any Battle Qi fluctuations at all.
This made Xiao Ling frown and secretly become alert, planning an easy retreat if needed.
The black-robed person said, “Among these three wooden boxes, only one contains a hundred gold coins.
Each is sold for fifty gold coins.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xun’er’s eyes lit up.
She paid fifty gold coins and immediately took the middle wooden box, handing it to Xiao Ling with expectant blinks.
Seeing this, Xiao Ling could only open it.
Seeing the hundred gold coins inside, a flash of understanding appeared in his eyes.
Looking at Xiao Xun’er’s excited look, Xiao Ling sighed in his heart.
“Just a casual joke of mine could make her invite a Battle King expert to cooperate in a performance.
This girl is truly heartwarming; I will not fail you in this life.”
He rubbed Xiao Xun’er’s head.
“Then today I will use your luck to find an opportunity.” After saying that, he held Xiao Xun’er’s hand and walked deeper into the miscellaneous market.
“Huh?
Is this…”
Xiao Ling’s expression changed slightly as he glanced at a stall ahead.
He discovered unusual soul fluctuations on a black iron piece, so he led Xiao Xun’er to the stall.
This stall wasn’t large, with about a dozen items scattered on it.
The most valuable among them were a few Monster Cores, greenish in color, likely Tier 1 Monster Cores.
On the Battle Qi Continent, Monster Cores were also known as magic energy crystals, or the prototypes of pills, and so on.
As the name suggests, this is an energy core within a monster, filled with extremely violent heaven and earth energy.
Under normal circumstances, only monsters could devour Monster Cores to directly absorb the heaven and earth energy within.
If a human directly absorbed the energy from a Monster Core, at best their meridians would shatter, and at worst they would die on the spot.
Although the energy was violent and couldn’t be used directly by practitioners, it could shine in the hands of an alchemist.
It was the primary material often used by alchemists when refining medicine.
After being refined by an alchemist with exquisite fire-control skills and mixed with other medicinal materials to calm the violent Battle Qi in the core, it could be transformed into a pill that could increase a practitioner’s strength.
Furthermore, Monster Cores could be used not only for medicine but also for making weapons or jewelry, adding attribute effects to weapons or providing functions beneficial to cultivation to decorations.
So, on the Battle Qi Continent, Monster Coes had always been one of the highly sought-after primary materials, and the price remained high.
Xiao Ling crouched down, pointed his finger at those Monster Cores, and casually glanced at that ordinary black iron piece.
He spoke nonchalantly to the cunning-looking middle-aged mercenary sitting by the stall, “Boss, what’s the price for those Monster Cores?”
“Two wood-attribute cores here, and one water-attribute core.”
The middle-aged mercenary glanced at Xiao Ling and Xiao Xun’er with the corner of his eye.
Seeing that although they were young, their temperament was extraordinary, they looked like people who could afford Monster Cores.
He then showed a smile and said, “Young master, if you sincerely want to buy them, I’ll sell them to you for one thousand five hundred gold coins.”
“One thousand five hundred for three?
Isn’t that too expensive!”
Xiao Ling’s eyebrows furrowed as he spoke somewhat angrily, “Other people sell Tier 1 Monster Cores for between four hundred and five hundred each.
How come yours are so much more expensive?”
“How is it expensive?
The price has been this way for years.
Young master, these Monster Cores of mine are top-quality cores, and the types of monsters were also quite difficult to deal with.”
The mercenary shook his head and said, “Several brothers in our mercenary group were injured because of this to get these cores, so they are a bit more expensive than ordinary Tier 1 cores.”
Xiao Ling pondered for a moment and said, “Four hundred and fifty per core.
If you sincerely want to sell, I’ll buy all three at once.”
“Minimum four hundred and eighty per core.
Young master, if I sell too cheaply, how can I face my brothers back home?”
“Four hundred and sixty per core!”
Xiao Ling stood up and pulled Xiao Xun’er’s hand as if to leave, then said, “Monster Cores aren’t unique to your stall.
Maybe I just won’t buy from you.”
“Four hundred and seventy per core, how about it, young sir?”
Seeing the customer was about to leave, the mercenary hurriedly called out, “Young master, let’s each take a step back, okay?”
“Fine!
Four hundred and seventy per core.
Pack them up for me, and then throw in a few small gifts.” Xiao Ling reached onto the mat and took a few inconspicuous trinkets.
Seeing that the things Xiao Ling took were just worthless items worth only a few gold coins, the mercenary suddenly relaxed.
However, he showed an expression of having suffered a huge loss and said, “Alright then.
These are treasures I found with great difficulty in a monster cave; I’m taking the loss myself.”
A flash of excitement passed through Xiao Ling’s eyes.
He handed over the gold coins, and after packing the items, he led Xiao Xun’er away.
On the way, seeing Xiao Ling’s excited look, Xiao Xun’er couldn’t help but ask, “Why does Brother Xiao Ling look so happy?
What you really wanted to buy just now should be those small porcelain pieces, right?”
“Xun’er is so smart; you guessed it.
I was born with strong soul power, and this black iron piece gives me a strange feeling.
Although I don’t know what it’s for, I’ll take it back and study it to see if I can find any secrets.” Xiao Ling took out the black iron piece and said to Xiao Xun’er.
“Brother Xiao Ling is so clever; that merchant was clearly a swindler,” Xiao Xun’er said with a laugh.
“Those guys are all swindlers.
As soon as they see you show any sign of liking something, they’ll deliberately raise the price.
I don’t want to be a sucker.” Xiao Ling tucked away the black iron piece, no longer thinking about these things.
The two strolled between the shops, gave each other some gifts, and slowly walked out of the marketplace.
Facing the slowly rising sun, they returned to the Xiao family.