Lin Ye lightly tapped the screen and set the grade filter on the self-service trading machine to Silver. Then he pressed Confirm.
The interface refreshed instantly.
[Small Silver Chest, Current Listed Stock: 23]
[Current Lowest Price: 3,350 Silver, 4,462 Copper]
[Current Average Price: 3,462 Silver, 1,174 Copper]
Lin Ye’s heart jolted.
What the hell? That expensive?
Iron and Silver were only one grade apart, yet the price difference was absolutely staggering!
A moment later, Lin Ye understood why.
Starting at the Silver grade, chests could produce items that allowed even ordinary people to come into contact with the supernatural.
Sun Jinhao’s ability to control fire had come from a Silver Chest.
Naturally, the price had multiplied by an unknown number of times.
With the mindset of “I can’t afford it anyway, so I might as well keep looking,” Lin Ye changed the filter again and set it to Gold.
[Gold Chest, Current Listed Stock: 3]
[Current Lowest Price: 9 Gold, 2,300 Silver]
[Current Average Price: Insufficient samples; no reference value]
Lin Ye immediately closed the search page.
He really had been shocked.
This price was already beyond the reach of ordinary professionals. In a small place like Wanghail City, the entire market had only three Gold Chests available. They were practically valuable only on paper, with no one willing to buy them at that price.
Lin Ye narrowed his eyes.
Something seemed off.
Nearly ten Gold sounded outrageously expensive, and ordinary professionals certainly couldn’t earn that kind of money with ease.
But for Wanghail City’s top wealthy families, it wasn’t an entirely unaffordable sum.
So why hadn’t someone simply bought all three chests and opened them, or saved them for their children?
Lin Ye guessed that there had to be something wrong with the remaining three chests. Otherwise, they would have been snapped up long ago.
Lin Ye returned to the Iron Chest page and bought five Iron Chests in one go.
Five heavy iron chests dropped from the machine below, and he put them directly into his backpack.
He could now use Mengmeng’s clone to carry out a cycle of multiplying his money a hundredfold.
Open chests, sell high-value items, then buy more chests.
Repeating this process a few times during this period shouldn’t cause any problems.
The people at the Fudong Trading House would most likely only think that he was mysterious, capable, and a major customer.
But if he sold too many valuable items every day, he would definitely attract attention.
A sudden flood of rare items appearing on the market would certainly trigger an official investigation as well.
He could carry out this cycle, but he had to take it slowly.
…
On the other side, Lin Ye’s main body finally stepped into the classroom of Class Seven, Senior Year Three.
The noisy classroom fell strangely silent for a second the moment he entered.
Lin Ye was puzzled.
What was going on?
Then he saw dozens of pairs of eyes fixed squarely on him.
Those gazes held awe, fear, and even envy.
Lin Ye walked to his seat and sat down, still not understanding what had happened.
Feng Yuanshan immediately came over from the side and pressed a hand against Lin Ye’s shoulder, looking him up and down.
“You okay? I heard you went into the Toxic Fog Forest yesterday. What happened in there?”
Lin Ye asked, “How did you know I went in?”
“That bastard Sun Jinhao has been shouting about it all over the class since early this morning!”
Feng Yuanshan lowered his voice. “He says you’re a monster—or that you awakened some terrifying hidden class. Apparently, you can lock onto a monster’s aggro with nothing but your eyes, and even control a monster horde!”
“He’s practically turned you into a god. He says those monsters would rather trample their own kind to death than touch you.”
Lin Ye let out a cold laugh. “You believe him?”
Feng Yuanshan stroked his chin and eyed Lin Ye suspiciously. “Hard to say. What if my buddy really was sent here as a spy by the abyssal monsters?”
As he spoke, Feng Yuanshan reached out and tugged hard on Lin Ye’s cheeks, pulling them in opposite directions.
“Could this be a skin suit? Let me see if you’ve got tentacles growing underneath!”
Lin Ye raised a hand and casually swatted.
Smack!
Feng Yuanshan’s hand was knocked away. The force even sent him staggering backward two steps, until he crashed into a desk.
“What the hell?”
Feng Yuanshan rubbed his tingling wrist and stared wide-eyed. “When did you get so strong?”
Lin Ye couldn’t be bothered to indulge his shock. He leaned back in his seat and looked at Feng Yuanshan.
“Did you see that Golden Crow phenomenon yesterday? And the huge explosion?”
Feng Yuanshan nodded repeatedly, still shaken. “It was terrifying! I was at home at the time, and it felt like the entire building was shaking! Three layers of our city’s protective barrier shattered. I thought we were all going to die!”
Lin Ye stared at him expressionlessly. “I did that.”
“And I have countless techniques as powerful as the Golden Crow crashing to earth.”
The air fell silent for two seconds.
Feng Yuanshan snorted and rolled his eyes.
“Why don’t you just say that every chest you open gives you a Mythic-grade item?”
“You think I’m some gullible foreigner?”
“What really happened yesterday? You can’t seriously keep it from even me, can you?”
Feng Yuanshan dragged over a chair and sat down, refusing to let the matter go.
Lin Ye calmly delivered the explanation he had prepared in advance.
“I did go to the outskirts of the Toxic Fog Forest, and I ran into a monster horde.”
“Luckily, that firebird in the sky crashed down and helped me deal with the horde. I crushed the Return Scroll you gave me and escaped by the skin of my teeth.”
“Believing something that brain-dead Sun Jinhao says would be less sensible than believing I’m Qin Shi Huang.”
Only then did Feng Yuanshan let out a long breath and nod, clearly convinced.
What he didn’t know was that he had just stated the correct answer. It was simply that the human brain automatically classified conclusions that were too absurd and outrageous as false.
Even when they were the truth.
…
Downtown Wanghail City.
At the top floor of the Wanghail branch of the Professionals’ Alliance, inside a massive conference room, the atmosphere was solemn to the extreme.
Qin Lie sat ramrod straight alongside four other core members of Wanghail City’s leadership. Even their breathing was deliberately restrained.
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
The conference room door swung open.
Qin Lie’s grandfather, Qin Wanshan—the only Tier Six barrier mage in Wanghail City—and Zheng Guangxi, the mayor of Wanghail City and leader of the branch alliance, were actually waiting on either side of the door.
Qin Lie’s heartbeat suddenly quickened.
Who could possibly command these two publicly recognized leaders of Wanghail City to personally bow and wait for them?
Then came the sound of high heels striking the floor, drawing closer with every step.
A woman walked through the conference room door.
She looked extremely young. She wore a tasteful, deep-black, high-collared suit jacket on her upper body and a fitted skirt below, accentuating her perfect figure.
The woman was breathtakingly beautiful. At first glance, her bearing seemed gentle, but a sharp, murderous edge shone from the depths of her eyes, making her difficult to look at directly.
After entering, she completely ignored Zheng Guangxi and walked straight to Qin Wanshan, inclining her head slightly.
“Elder Qin, I’m your junior. There’s no need to be so formal. Today’s meeting is simply to discuss the matter at hand.”
Qin Wanshan remained respectful. “Whatever instructions you have, and whatever assistance you require, Wanghail City will cooperate fully.”
Beside him, Zheng Guangxi’s outstretched hand froze in midair, leaving him visibly embarrassed.
He had been snubbed in front of so many subordinates, yet he didn’t dare show any anger. He could only withdraw his hand awkwardly.
The woman walked straight to the main podium of the conference room.
Qin Wanshan and Zheng Guangxi took their seats at the head of the first row.
Her gaze swept across the room, and her voice was cold and clear.
“Good morning, everyone. My name is Bai Muyu, Director of the Special Affairs Division of the Jiangnan Province Professional Alliance.”
“I’m here primarily to investigate the incidents that have occurred recently and to assign tasks to all of you.”
Bai Muyu raised her right hand. A parchment scroll radiating a dark-red glow appeared out of thin air in her palm.
“The contents of this meeting are classified at the highest level.”
“Everyone will sign a life-and-death contract first. Then we’ll continue.”
Qin Lie was stunned, his heart churning with shock.
A life-and-death contract!
Its power was terrifying. The moment anyone who had signed it leaked confidential information, the contract’s power would activate instantly.
Professionals below the sixth rank would have their souls annihilated on the spot. Even those above the sixth rank would be left severely crippled, if they survived at all!
Had the incident truly reached the point where such an extreme level of secrecy was necessary?
Several black-clad government officials hurried into the meeting room and distributed the contracts to everyone.
Not a single person dared to hesitate.
Qin Lie bit his fingertip and pressed a drop of blood onto the contract.
The blood instantly merged into the parchment, transforming into a tiny red rune that burrowed into his brow.
Qin Wanshan and Zheng Guangxi completed the contract binding in turn.
Once Bai Muyu had confirmed that everyone had signed, she spoke directly.
“We have received instructions from above.”
“We have determined that the recent Golden Crow Descent incident in and around Wanghai City is closely connected to the mysterious individual known as Pangu, who has repeatedly obtained Mythic-grade items on the global rankings.”
“There is even a very high probability that he was the one who caused it.”
“In other words, the person all the major powers across the world are frantically searching for is in Wanghai City.”
The moment those words were spoken, the meeting room fell utterly silent.
A sharp glint flashed through Qin Wanshan’s eyes. He had already made the same guess yesterday, and it had finally been confirmed.
Qin Lie, Zheng Guangxi, and the others, however, were left completely dumbfounded. Their minds had gone blank.
Zheng Guangxi swallowed nervously and raised his hand.
Only after Bai Muyu gave him permission did he venture to speak. “Director Bai, we also suspected yesterday that the Golden Crow Descent might be related to that Mythic-grade fire-elemental rune.”
“But we don’t have any conclusive evidence.”
“After all, the rankings don’t change based on whether an item has been used.”
“How did the authorities… reach this conclusion?”
Bai Muyu activated a holographic projection. The screen instantly filled with densely packed data and analysis.
“First, most of Pangu’s results have been consumable items.”
“That is consistent with the loot patterns of junk chests and Black Iron-tier chests.”
“Under normal circumstances, however, these two types of low-level chests could never produce Mythic-grade items. In fact, since the beginning of the Chest Era, there has never been a single precedent of this happening, whether in our country or abroad.”
“After analysis by our highest-level profiling experts, we have essentially determined that this Pangu is young—most likely still a student.”
“Furthermore, his financial circumstances are probably not very good. He can only obtain the lowest-tier chests.”
“And not even premium ones—just low-value chests that have already been picked over repeatedly before being put into circulation on the market.”
“Second, the energy fluctuations of the Golden Crow Descent phenomenon completely match the patterns we have observed in most Mythic-grade skills.”
Bai Muyu paused, and her expression grew extremely grave.
“Because this individual has consistently concealed his identity and appears unwilling to make contact with the upper echelons of Great Xia, the authorities asked Hengtian, the God of War, to personally divine his fate.”
At the mention of “Hengtian, the God of War,” Qin Wanshan abruptly straightened in his seat, shock flooding his eyes.
The others were already numb with astonishment.
A God of War!
Every Professional understood the weight those words carried.
They were the true pillars of Great Xia—the supreme experts who anchored the nation. Across the entire country, there were only seventeen of them!
“The result of the divination was extremely shocking.”
“Hengtian, the God of War, stated that this person’s destiny was something he had never encountered before. It was an utter chaos, impossible to read.”
“He might not even be from our world.”
“And yet, the violet aura surrounding his destiny soared straight into the stars, suppressing Great Xia’s national fortune—or rather, suppressing the collective fate of all humanity across the entire Blue Star!”
“In the end, Hengtian, the God of War, paid an extremely heavy price, sustaining severe injuries to produce only a few vague prophetic verses.”
“The prophecy read: He lies in the southeast, in the Year of the Dancer.”
“This child bears the fortune of the universe and possesses supreme authority.”
“Within three months… he may become a God of War!”