Chapter 134: Successful Bargain Hunting (Ninth Update, Requesting Everything)

The Market District spans several miles in radius and is one of the sources of profit for Yuanling Academy; the mere rental of storefronts and stalls, along with certain monopolistic trades, brings the academy countless benefits every year.

Furthermore, this is the only area of Yuanling Academy open to the outside world, and given the academy's reputation, it attracts a large number of visiting Monster Tamers every day.

Some of these Monster Tamers come from other academies, but most are outsiders; to maintain order, Yuanling Academy has organized a professional patrol team, so naturally, no one is mindless enough to fish in troubled waters or stir up trouble in the Market District.

Arriving at the Market District for the first time, Li Zhangsheng did not rush to execute his plan but instead wandered around.

On both sides of the street stand a large number of shops; these shops vary in size, but their styles and decorations are almost identical, with only the signs being different, clearly the product of unified management.

The shops on both sides are spaced several meters apart, and in the middle of the street are dazzling arrays of stalls; the rent varies slightly depending on the location of the stall—the higher the foot traffic, the more expensive the rent, and vice versa!

People come and go on the street, shoulder to shoulder, with shouts of hawking, noise, and bargaining rising one after another, just like a bustling market.

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng arrived in front of a stall.

The items on the stall were rather chaotic, with Spirit Herbs, Treasures, formulas, and raw materials placed there; Li Zhangsheng even discovered a few portions of Fairy Food.

Li Zhangsheng took a look and saw that these were all relatively common items, visible everywhere on the market, so he had no intention of purchasing them for the time being.

However, with so many shops and stalls in the Market District, it is inevitable that some treasures might be overlooked, so Li Zhangsheng began to project his Mental Power to sense energy fluctuations within range.

Unfortunately, there were no treasures with strong energy fluctuations within range.

Li Zhangsheng continued forward, his Mental Power constantly in an activated state, sensing items with energy fluctuations nearby, looking for opportunities to pick up a bargain.

Time passed slowly, and Li Zhangsheng examined a large number of stalls and shops; he occasionally encountered treasures with strong energy fluctuations, but to his disappointment, these shopkeepers and stall owners were well aware of the value of these treasures and had, without exception, priced them high, giving Li Zhangsheng no chance to pick up a bargain.

There is no helping it; if they encounter unfamiliar treasures, anyone would consult relevant classics, so unless it is some obscure or similar-looking treasure, it is almost impossible to pick up a bargain from them.

After finishing this round, Li Zhangsheng had no gains, but he was not disappointed, as this was a normal phenomenon.

"Huh!"

Just at this moment, Li Zhangsheng let out a sound of surprise; this time, he sensed a treasure with strong energy fluctuations again.

Compared to the treasures he had encountered before, this treasure's energy fluctuation was quite obscure, as if it were covered by something, causing the energy fluctuation to be intermittent.

Judging from the color of the energy fluctuation, this seemed to be a Wood Element treasure; soon, Li Zhangsheng locked onto a stall.

The owner of the stall was a young man; judging by his attire, he was an Instructor from a small academy nearby, and judging by his Mental Power fluctuations, he was only at the Second Rank level.

Compared to Yuanling Academy, the teaching staff of other academies had a significant gap; a Second Rank Instructor was one thing, but some micro-academies even had First Rank Instructors.

Seeing Li Zhangsheng standing in front of his stall, the young Instructor hurriedly stood up from his seat, his face full of smiles, without any thoughts of contempt.

Li Zhangsheng was not surprised by the young Instructor's actions; in the Academy District, Yuanling Academy is the sole dominant force, especially since this is a Market District run by Yuanling Academy.

Therefore, even if Li Zhangsheng's rank was not as high as his, the young Instructor had no thoughts of contempt; every student of Yuanling Academy is a proud child of heaven with immense talent—their strength might not be as good as his now, but it is hard to say about the future.

Li Zhangsheng ignored the young Instructor and began to observe the items on the stall.

There were not many items, only a dozen or so, and most of them were raw materials like ores and Spirit Herbs.

Li Zhangsheng picked up a piece of ore, observed it slightly, then put it down, and immediately picked up another; repeating this process, he soon observed most of the items on the stall.

Although his special ability is good, it can only lock onto a general range; the rest is just finding it slowly. As long as he moves the items within the range, he should be able to lock onto the treasure hidden among them.

The young Instructor was very well-mannered and kept a smile on his face; whenever Li Zhangsheng picked up an item, he would patiently explain its effects.

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng picked up a piece of emerald-green ore; the moment he picked it up, his heart stirred. From the feedback of his Mental Power, this ore was his target.

This ore was about the size of a human head, emerald green in color with a hidden luster, but its quality was not very good, and its surface was pitted like honeycomb coal.

"This is a Tree Fossil. When trees are buried underground for a long time, they gradually evolve into a type of ore. It contains a certain amount of Wood Energy and can be used to craft Wood-attribute Treasures, or it can be ground into powder to accelerate the growth speed of Wood Element Demon Pets!"

Li Zhangsheng nodded, pretending to be indifferent, and asked, "How much for this Tree Fossil?"

"Six Low-grade Soul Crystals!"

"A bit expensive, can it be cheaper?" To avoid being seen through by the other party, Li Zhangsheng remained calm on the surface and began to bargain.

"Then five Soul Crystals, just to make a friend!"

"Deal!"

Soon, Li Zhangsheng and the young Instructor completed the transaction.

The moment he turned to leave, a faint smile appeared in Li Zhangsheng's eyes as he continued to explore the Market District.

In the time that followed, Li Zhangsheng toured the entire Market District, but unfortunately, he did not 'pick up' any more precious treasures.

"It's not bad to have a gain; I hope it will be useful to Kailan!" Li Zhangsheng thought to himself as he arrived at the central area of the Market District.

The market center is the most prosperous area of the Market District; there are no stalls here, only a dozen large shops, and they have one thing in common: they have always been the property of Yuanling Academy and are not easily transferred.

Li Zhangsheng's target was a Fairy Egg shop, which is also the only Fairy Egg shop in the market, belonging to a monopolistic trade.

Whether they are students from Yuanling Academy or other academies, or visiting Monster Tamers, they often harvest Fairy Eggs when they go out for training; because hatching is troublesome, many Monster Tamers sell Fairy Eggs to Fairy Egg shops in exchange for certain cultivation resources.

As for the Fairy Egg shop, they earn the price difference through low buying and high selling.

Li Zhangsheng's goal was very clear: to use his special ability to sweep up all the Fairy Eggs with high cost-performance ratios.

It must be said that this is a business that can be called profiteering. Originally, with Li Zhangsheng's special ability, he could easily collect a large number of high-quality Fairy Eggs, but Fairy Eggs are fragile and must be taken care of at all times, otherwise, it is easy for mistakes to occur.

Most importantly, to launch this plan, one must have someone they can trust, and they cannot be a Monster Tamer, otherwise, if they were to steal or leak the news, the consequences would be very serious.

After obtaining Lin Wan's loyalty, Li Zhangsheng had the idea of launching this plan.

(End of chapter)