The only headache was the six hundred tons of purple copper. With such a massive quantity, it would require multiple trips to transport it all. Plus, figuring out how to sell it discreetly was another challenge.
*If he sold it through normal channels, it might be fine if no one paid attention. But if investigated later, it would undoubtedly raise significant suspicions.*
*How could a student who had awakened just two days ago harvest over six hundred tons of purple copper in their first Alien Star Domain exploration?*
To put things into perspective, a Spectral Shuttle's maximum capacity was just around one hundred tons.
Therefore, to avoid the scenario of possibly exposing Zhu Tian Ruins Market, Song Chi needed to come up with a plan.
The location remained the same: Dongjiang Torch Mall, not far from the Dongjiang Community. On the top floor of the mall sat the Eagle Mechanical Store.
"Ten tons of mithril, thirty-four tons of electrum, eleven tons of cold iron, fifteen tons of mercury crystals, forty-five tons of purple copper, all calculated at seventy percent of market value, totaling 177.8 points of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin. We'll round it up to 178 points."
The female clerk said this with a polite smile.
Song Chi disputed the matter with reasoning.
"Miss, seventy percent is way too low. Most other shops are purchasing at eighty percent..."
The clerk's smile stayed on her lips, but she didn't reply. The implication was clear—if he couldn't accept it, then he could go to those other shops offering eighty percent.
In short, there was no room for negotiation.
Seeing this, Song Chi chose to compromise.
"How about this: You purchase the goods at eighty percent, and I'll spend all the Floating Land Origin points in your store. Does that sound fair?"
This proposal eventually got the Eagle Mechanical Store to agree, and Song Chi honored the arrangement by spending all 203 Floating Land Origin points on store merchandise.
One thousand Tungsten Gold Combat Shields
One thousand Tungsten Gold Lances
One Starry Sea Universal Translator
One hundred units of Basic Gene Optimization Liquid
These were the items now added to the Cang Qiong upon Song Chi's departure from the Eagle Mechanical Store. For them, he also paid an additional 17 points of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
...
In the southern suburbs of Jiangyuan City, there was a particularly famous forest park known as Dongshan Forest Park. Every holiday, it teemed with people hiking the area. Yet what many didn't know was that behind the visible façade of this park lay Jiangyuan City's largest black market.
Of course, to the true elites of Jiangyuan City, the existence of this black market was an open secret. Jiangyuan City needed such a place—not just Jiangyuan City but even the White Tower Floating Land and the entire Torch Civilization's Star Domain. What Floating Land didn't have a black market?
It was akin to the shadow of a city—the brighter and more glamorous the location, the larger its shadow of a black market tended to be.
Song Chi knew of this place because he had once visited it years ago with his father, Song Chao.
*It was that experience that exposed Song Chi to this hidden dark side of Jiangyuan City. Since then, he had ventured here alone a few more times, making him quite adept by now.*
Disguising himself, hiding the Spectral Shuttle's visible identifiers, and selling over five hundred tons of purple copper to different shops across various sections of the black market—these tasks were executed seamlessly, almost effortlessly.
The black market's rates were harsh, offering just sixty-five percent of the regular market value for purchases. But there was no alternative. *As a rookie Torch Ship Captain without his own supply channels, if he wanted to keep himself concealed, he'd have to stomach the losses.*
Over 550 tons of purple copper, worth 110 points of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin at market rate, was reduced to merely 71 points in his hands—a loss of nearly half.
*Gritting his teeth, Song Chi returned to the Torch Mall. He immediately exchanged all 90 Floating Land Origin points for Zero Rank and First Rank Life Cores. Deep down, he swore fiercely to recover this loss in the Ruins Market.*
With 700 Zero Rank and 20 First Rank Life Cores—a total of 720 Life Cores—safely stored, Song Chi completed his preparations for entering the market. Without lingering outside, he quickly departed.
Upon arriving home, he briefly informed his parents of his mental exhaustion and the likelihood of needing one or two days of deep sleep. With their approval, he returned swiftly to his room.
Rather than rushing to enter Zhu Tian Ruins Market and begin his first transactions, Song Chi chose to enter deep sleep immediately.
*The mental toll of the limit-breaking state wasn't something to be brushed off. He had long passed the point of exhaustion. If not for completing all his arrangements, he likely would've collapsed sooner.*
Twenty hours later, Song Chi awoke from deep sleep. Though he wasn't completely recovered, he was notably better than the previous day.
...
Inside Zhu Tian Ruins Market, Song Chi spent half an hour arranging all the items he had purchased yesterday across ten shops. After confirming everything was in order, he walked toward the innermost area of the market—the "Ultra Long-Distance Space Gate Random Deployment Platform."
Behind him, ten Fire Peony Soldier Figurines glowing with red light followed closely in two neat rows. A full day had passed, and the Soldier Figurine Tree components had completed their buffering process.
Standing before the Ultra Long-Distance Space Gate Random Deployment Platform, Song Chi gently tapped it once, preparing to activate the platform. At that moment, a prompt sounded.
[Detected: As this is the first time the market has been activated within the past ten thousand years, you can manually designate a specific deployment area for one Space Gate.]
*Hearing this notification, Song Chi felt a spark in his heart.*
"Mechanical Race Civilization Star Domain," the words quickly rose from his subconscious, flooding his mind entirely.
*If this were before obtaining the First Rank Floating Land Origin Core Fusion Body, he might not have cared much. But things were different now. The core fusion body in his possession was akin to a divine artifact for members of the Mechanical Race—a treasure whose value was inestimable.*
Opening his communication bracelet, he navigated to the pre-downloaded database of Alien Star Domain civilizations and species—a resource accessible offline without any network connectivity. He located records of several Mechanical Civilizations and chose one of the listed coordinates before activating the Ultra Long-Distance Space Gate Random Deployment Platform in front of him.
Bzzzz!
The platform emitted a fierce vibration, and ten beams of light flashed brightly.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One after another, the beams of light shot out from the platform, piercing through Zhu Tian Ruins Market's outer protective dome before vanishing into the void of space as streaks of light.
Seconds later, ten vortex-like space entrances materialized quietly at the market's entry zone. Without hesitation, Song Chi commanded the ten Fire Peony Soldier Figurines to guard these portals and placed the "Starry Sea Universal Translator" at the market entrance.
*After all, the incoming beings were highly likely to belong to entirely different species. For those of lower intelligence who hadn't even mastered Starry Sea common language, this translator would be key to enabling seamless communication.*
With these arrangements in place, Song Chi finally leveraged his authority as the Ruins Market Master to conjure a screen at the market entrance. This screen displayed the foundational rules of Zhu Tian Ruins Market, inscribed with light.
The screen, formed by the laws of the Secret Realm Space housing the market, had a universal effect. *No matter the species or intelligence of the creatures who saw it, they would instinctively understand the meaning of the rules it outlined.*