Chapter 1069: The Strange Black Feather Merchant Guild
The vast divine realm had forty thousand star realms, with lower star realms accounting for thirty thousand—more than seventy percent.
Although, in terms of overall strength, heritage, resources, and foundation, they could not compare to middle star realms and upper star realms, in terms of quantity, they were the main body of the divine realm.
Among the many lower star realms, Heiya Realm was an extremely special existence, especially in the Eastern Divine Region. Although Heiya Realm's strength was not among the top tier, its fame was no less than that of any other.
Its number of merchant guilds ranked highest among all lower star realms in the Eastern Divine Region.
If a profounder from the divine realm lacked some rare or exotic treasure, a trip to Heiya Realm would surely not leave them empty-handed... provided they brought enough purple stones and purple crystals.
Heiya City was located at the center of Heiya Realm. The entire city was a thousand miles in size, housing a large number of merchant guilds famous throughout the divine realm, not to mention countless small and medium ones. There were not many sect forces within the city, and the realm king's forces were not among them either, yet it could be named after the star realm's "Heiya," which showed Heiya City's status in Heiya Realm.
Yun Che appeared in the sky above Heiya City, gazing down for a very long time at this unfamiliar main city of an unfamiliar star realm.
His knowledge of the divine realm was basically limited to Yin Xue Realm. And Yin Xue Realm, due to its perpetual cold and sparse life, was a rather special existence. But the Heiya Realm before him was bustling with endless crowds of people, lively and extraordinary, giving Yun Che the illusion for a few moments upon his arrival of having returned to a bustling city in the lower realms.
"Heiya Realm... Heiya City." Yun Che murmured to himself. Scenes from Yin Xue Realm flashed through his mind, filling him with endless melancholy.
He put away the Ice Phoenix Inscribed Jade, changed into a plain set of clothes, then slowly descended, stepping onto land that was completely unfamiliar and utterly not his own.
On Lan Ji Star, he was the master.
In Yin Xue Realm, he had a great realm king as his backing and was a personal disciple envied by all... Even when he first arrived in Yin Xue Realm, he still had Mu Bingyun to rely on.
But now, he was all alone. In this vast star realm, amidst this vast sea of people, there was not a single place he knew, not a single person he recognized.
Perhaps for someone else, the heavy weight of loneliness and anxiety would have already crushed them.
"Master..." Yun Che whispered softly.
After a long period of melancholy, Yun Che's eyes and thoughts cleared. Things had come to this; he had to face it alone. What he needed to do now was to do his utmost to find a Wood Spirit Pearl... and a high-quality one at that.
Purple Mysterious Stones, Purple Mysterious Crystals, and Purple Mysterious Jades were the universal currency of the divine realm. One thousand purple stones equaled one purple crystal, and one thousand purple crystals equaled one purple jade.
When he followed Mu Bingyun into the Ice Phoenix Thirty-Six Palaces, he could still receive a monthly salary of five thousand purple stones. But after becoming Mu Xuanyin's disciple, he got nothing at all.
However, after that, he went to the Cangfeng Empire and made a substantial harvest from its treasure vault. He hadn't expected to use it so soon.
Although he had only taken the portion near the Qilin horn for fear of triggering traps, it was still the storage of a vast empire's treasure vault, undoubtedly a huge number. Yun Che counted again...
There were three hundred thousand Purple Mysterious Crystals and two hundred Purple Mysterious Jades.
Converted, that was a full five billion Purple Mysterious Stones!
"The wealth plundered from a large country in a middle star realm should be enough to squander freely in a lower star realm, right?" Yun Che muttered to himself.
But where should he go?
Yun Che took out the black jade Huo Rulie had given him, and suddenly his gaze froze.
When he received it from Huo Rulie, it was a lifeless black jade. But now, the center of the black jade had lit up, revealing a feather that was as dark as night.
"A black feather?" Yun Che focused slightly, sensing the faint fluctuation emanating from it. Soon, his gaze turned forward, and he walked straight ahead... The profound energy fluctuation emanating from this black jade was clearly pointing the way.
Although he was new to Heiya Realm, the gap between a lower star realm and a middle star realm was obvious at a glance. The density and purity of spiritual energy here were far inferior to Yin Xue Realm and Yan Shen Realm... though still far beyond what Lan Ji Star could compare to.
Heiya City had a huge flow of people, and everywhere he went was bustling with activity. It was clear that profound ships or mounts were prohibited here; figures were constantly flying through the air, but no profound ships or profound beasts were seen.
Most of these profounders had a cultivation of the early Divine Dao stage. City guards were visible everywhere, and their profound strength was basically at the Divine Origin Realm or Divine Soul Realm.
In Heiya Realm... and in almost all lower star realms, reaching the Divine Origin Realm and entering the Divine Dao was already enough to attract attention. Entering the Divine Soul Realm put one above others. Reaching the Divine Tribulation Realm allowed one to establish a sect. If one could cross the heavenly tribulation and reach the Divine Spirit Realm, they could become a local hegemon.
Reaching the Divine King Realm would make one the master of a realm!
And if a lower star realm produced one or more Divine Sovereigns, it was very possible that the entire star realm would be elevated and become a middle star realm.
Thus, after Yun Che had crossed over to the Divine Soul Realm in one step, his profound strength among his peers could be considered genius-level even in Yin Xue Realm, qualifying him for direct entry into the Ice Phoenix Thirty-Six Palaces. In a lower star realm, his current cultivation was more than enough to draw attention among the younger generation.
Following the faint guidance of the black jade's profound energy, Yun Chen walked all the way, sensing the atmosphere of Heiya City and the profounders passing by, heading toward the central area of Heiya City.
No wonder it was a famous trading star realm among the thirty thousand lower star realms, and even middle star realms. Everywhere Yun Che went, the most common sight was various merchant guilds of all sizes. Beyond the guilds, there were countless small shops and stalls, and the items sold were all sorts of strange and exotic things.
Yun Che walked at a leisurely pace for several hours, and it was all the same.
The entire Heiya City was like a huge marketplace.
Finally, Yun Che stopped at a place. The sensing from the black jade also disappeared completely at that moment.
Before Yun Che’s eyes was a majestic, ancient building that soared into the clouds. In Heiya City, it was an absolutely conspicuous behemoth.
This was a large merchant guild. At a glance, there were dozens of hall entrances, with all kinds of people coming and going in an endless stream.
Yun Che looked up high at the several large characters reaching into the clouds and murmured, "Black Feather Merchant Guild."
The black feather shape that had appeared on the black jade was exactly the same as the insignia of this huge merchant guild before him.
Throughout his walk, the Black Feather Merchant Guild before him was the largest he had seen. From its ancient and magnificent architecture, it must have quite a deep foundation and a long history.
Yun Che stood still, deeply puzzled: Why would such a huge merchant guild also engage in underground business? Especially... involving Wood Spirit Pearls, which had been explicitly forbidden by the Zhou Tian God Realm?
If they were slightly careless, perhaps countless generations of reputation and foundation would be destroyed in an instant. This Black Feather Merchant Guild was already of such a scale, towering above the clouds, perhaps with few rivals in all of Heiya City. Why would they still take such a huge risk?
He had originally thought it would be a small-scale guild or gang engaging in such an underground black market for the sake of massive profits, but he had never imagined it would be such a large-scale, long-established giant guild.
Could it be that underground transactions that couldn't see the light of day were really this outrageously profitable?
Yun Che stopped overthinking and walked toward the outermost hall entrance of the Black Feather Merchant Guild. Inside the hall entrance, a young girl was greeting there, bowing and smiling to every guest.
"Welcome to the Black Feather Merchant Guild. Honored guest, please enter. If you need anything, please feel free to ask." Seeing Yun Che walk in, the girl gave a slight bow.
This woman had a cultivation at the King Xuan Realm. On Lan Ji Star, she could be a grandmaster, but here, she could only be a greeter. Yun Che did not walk in but stopped in front of the girl, silently taking out the black jade.
As soon as the girl saw the black jade in Yun Che's hand, her expression shifted slightly, then she bowed deeply and said in an even more respectful voice, "So you are an honored guest. Please follow me."
Yun Che put away the black jade and followed the girl in silence... He had been full of doubts before, but now it was clear: this huge merchant guild, the largest he had ever seen in his life, was indeed engaged in underground transactions like Wood Spirit Pearls.
How strange!
Just how profitable could dark dealings be?
I have five billion Purple Mysterious Stones on me... It can't be that I can't even afford a single Wood Spirit Pearl, can it?
Five billion—an absolutely huge fortune, an astronomical number. He had been confident before. But, for such a massive guild to secretly sell Wood Spirit Pearls... if there wasn't a huge enough profit, how could they dare to take such a risk and defy the ban of the Zhou Tian God Realm!
So now, Yun Che was starting to feel a bit uneasy.
Yun Che followed the girl, walking a considerable distance. After going down a long flight of stairs, the surroundings became completely quiet, and no sound could be heard anymore.
The girl stopped in front of a closed hall door. Yun Che recognized at a glance that this hall was sealed with several large profound formations, enough to completely block sound, sight, and even aura. However, it was a one-way block; those inside could clearly see and perceive everything outside.
Yun Che frowned deeply... but thinking that Huo Rulie would never harm him, his brow relaxed somewhat, but he did not let down his guard one bit.
"Mr. Ji, an honored guest has arrived." The girl stood in front of the hall door and said respectfully.
After a brief silence, the hall door slowly opened.
"Honored guest, please enter. Mr. Ji is waiting for you inside."
The girl gave a light bow and turned to leave.
Yun Che did not hesitate and took a few big strides. The moment he stepped inside, the hall door behind him closed tightly.
The hall was quite spacious. An old man sat at a wooden table. He should be the "Mr. Ji" the girl had mentioned. Seeing Yun Che, he stood up to welcome him, gave a faint smile, and said, "This honored guest looks quite unfamiliar. May I ask what you are looking for at our Black Feather Merchant Guild?"
"I want a Wood Spirit Pearl. The purer its spiritual energy, the better!" Yun Che stated directly.
Yun Che's words made the old man's smile disappear instantly, and a hint of anger appeared on his face: "What does the honored guest mean by this? Hunting Wood Spirits is an act that enrages both gods and men, a defiance of the heavenly way! Our Black Feather Merchant Guild has been passed down for tens of thousands of years, always conducting legitimate business. How could we engage in such vile acts? If the honored guest is seeking a Wood Spirit Pearl, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place."
"..." Yun Che frowned inwardly. The old man's anger did not seem feigned, especially when he mentioned the words "hunting Wood Spirits"—he clearly felt a strong sense of righteous indignation and resentment.
What the hell? Had he come to the wrong place?
After thinking it over, Yun Che stepped forward and silently slapped the black jade Huo Rulie had given him onto the table.
The old man also picked up the black jade without a word, scanned it with his profound energy, and said calmly, "Do you have any proof?"
Yun Che extended his arm again, also taking out the token Huo Rulie had given him, and said expressionlessly, "If you know who the original owner is, you should know that with his strength, there's no way I could have stolen or robbed it."
The old man's gaze swept over the Golden Crow token, his expression softened, and he chuckled, "So it turns out you were recommended by Sect Master Huo of Yan Shen Realm. I was rude just now. Sect Master Huo is one of the most important guests of our guild, and anyone he recommends is naturally a guest among guests. Please, have a seat."
"No need to sit." Yun Che cut straight to the point: "I need to buy a Wood Spirit Pearl."
The old man looked him straight in the eye: "May I ask the honored guest's esteemed name?"
"Ling Yun," Yun Che said calmly. Of course, he wouldn't use his real name.
"Hehehe," the old man laughed. "I have been managing this guild all my life and have seen far too many people. I have also developed a keen eye for reading people. I can tell at a glance whether a person is telling the truth, whether they have come to trade sincerely, or whether they have ulterior motives."
"For example, your desire to buy a Wood Spirit Pearl is real, but the name 'Ling Yun' is fake."
Yun Che: "..."
"But that's fine. Names aren't important; they're just titles. It's fine as long as you have no other agenda. After all, in transactions with honored guests, mutual confidentiality and trustworthiness are the most important principles. Take Sect Master Huo, for instance. Besides me in Heiya City, no one has ever known that he has been to Heiya City. So, Young Master Ling, rest assured, and please be sure to abide by this as well." The old man said with a faint smile.
Yun Che believed what he said; otherwise, Huo Rulie wouldn't have personally come to Heiya Realm every time.
"Don't worry. I'm not shameless enough to go around talking about this kind of thing," Yun Che said.
"Hehe."
The old man chuckled. Whether intentionally or not, he glanced at Yun Che a little longer. When his gaze turned back, a flash of indescribable complexity flickered in his eyes. Then he said, "Regarding the Wood Spirit Pearl, you have come at both a fortunate and an unfortunate time."
"What do you mean?" Yun Che asked.
"Fortunately, our guild recently acquired a 'Wood Spirit Pearl' and plan to sell it tomorrow. Unfortunately... this 'Wood Spirit Pearl' is very special—no, extremely special! It is the most special Wood Spirit Pearl our guild has obtained in recent years. So, it will be sold at a very high price. So high that you might go bankrupt and still not be able to afford it."
Yun Che's brow darkened: "Special in what way? Is its spiritual energy extremely high?"
"Hehe, I am not authorized to disclose that. What can be said has already been said." The old man said with a faint smile. "If you have enough confidence in the wealth you carry, then leave your sound transmission imprint. Tomorrow at Hai hour, you will be informed of the transaction location."
"Fine." Yun Che nodded slowly. "Then I'll wait for tomorrow!"
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[A new map, a bit tricky to draw...]