Chapter 111
From inside out, Ji City was divided into seventeen districts . Naturally, the heart of it was the Imperial City, where the Imperial Palace was located at . Outside of Imperial City were six layers of inner districts, from Inner District One to Six, and they were resided by all the nobles and important officials of Great Yan Dynasty . Beyond the six layers of inner districts came Middle District, from one to six as well, where the residents were all the wealthy merchants and clans, clans with status and honor . And at last, stacking outside of middle districts were Outer Districts, the area where ordinary civilians and merchants lived .
There was a market in Ji City, where countless rare products of specialty, procured locally and from over one hundred vassal kingdoms, and even unique products from overseas, were being traded . It was the largest market in Ji City: the 'Market of Four Seas' . It was located on the west of Middle District One, and occupied full fifty streets, comprising of more than tens of thousands of stores that came in all sizes . The area was adjoined to Inner District, a very convenient location for those princes and nobles to come purchase all kinds of rare and special treasures . At the same time, the short travel distance between it and all six Middle Districts had allowed the merchants who lived there to take good care of their business . In addition to that, as it was located deep within Ji City, the safety was well taken care of, as no one dared to create trouble here .
After Lu Chengfeng inherited the Arts of Heaven Patching Formation, the group was served with some Spirit Fruits and fine wine that was produced in the Immortal's Cave of Sword Stems From The Mind . At last, they left and returned to Ji City . It was late in the afternoon when they arrived at the city . Lu Chengfeng brought his men and went straight back to Duke Yan Le's Mansion, while Wu Qi and a few other burly men from Meng Village, including Meng Xiaobai, took a turn and came to the Market of Four Seas . He was planning to purchase some useful items .
As Princess Zhang Le had just formed her Gold Core, it hadn't completely stabilized . During daytime, she could visit everywhere she liked accompanied by her private guards, but at night, she would have to do her homework of meditating, so she could further temper her Gold Core and stabilize her cultivation . Therefore, although she wasn't willing to part with Wu Qi, she had no choice but to curl up her lips and return to Imperial City with her guards .
The Market of Four Seas was the only market that wasn’t bound by the curfew in Ji City . No matter it was day or night, this place was packed with people, and trading of a variety of products of different value happened every single second . As a matter of fact, this was designed on purpose . Many products traded in Market of Four Seas were rare treasures that were worth several cities . Sometimes, when businesses of such value were carried out in the middle of the night, it would bring sufficient privacy and secrecy to both parties of the trade .
Wu Qi carried with him the Token of Seven Swallows that Princess Zhang Le gave him . Hence, he had no worries that he couldn't enter the inner city later . Even if all the city gates were closed at nightfall, as long as Wu Qi showed the Token of Seven Swallows, he could always have the gate opened for him . That was the reason why he brought Meng Xiaobai and a few other men to purchase something in Market of Four Seas at this hour .
The streets in the market were wide and clean, paved with stone slabs and measured about one hundred feet from edge to edge . Incessant stream of coaches and people was flowing through it . The prosperous and bustling atmosphere simply made one's jaw dropped in awe . The fashion of the buildings in here was much bolder and novel than all other districts of Ji City . Tall and lofty buildings that stood seven, eight, or even ten floors high filled every corner . Many of them were built using varieties of expensive woods and fashioned with precious stone materials . Some merchants of greater stature had decorated their buildings with numerous jade and gemstone, glinting splendidly under the light of the bright sun .
Right when Wu Qi stepped into the market with Meng Xiaobai and a few other men, a group of people was seen dashing out from a three floored wooden building on the side of the street . A middle-aged man clad in a green shirt had the quickest pace, as he became the first man who came before Wu Qi . He bowed and said, "Young mister, is this the first time you are paying a visit to the market? Are you in need of purchasing some rare marine or mountain products? My name is Hai Yuntian, and I'm not trying to be boastful here, but there are over fifty-seven thousand merchants and stores here in the Market of Four Seas, and none that I am not familiar with . "
Following closely behind him were a few other men clad in the same green shirt . When they saw Hai Yuntian had engaged in a conversation with Wu Qi, they shook their head and smiled, spun and returned to the same wooden building . Wu Qi gave Hai Yuntian a look . He was clad in a green shirt, a black wooden token hanging down on the side of his waist, and had a witty look on his face . Wu Qi nodded his head and said, "Are you the official agent for the Market of Four Seas?"
Hai Yuntian kept nodding his head, brought up the black wooden token from his waist and showed it to Wu Qi . Proudly, he pointed his finger at a symbol of five dark-green eyes engraved on it, smiled and said, "You have a keen eye, young mister . You're right, I'm one of the few Five Eyes agents in the Market of Four Seas . There is one thing young mister ought to know… The official agents are classified into tiers . For every tier we move up, one extra eye of swallow will be engraved on our token . The highest tier is seven eyes of swallow, but that is the tier only given to the store manager and old sinecures of supreme merchants . For those of us, whose profession is guiding the clients in dealing with businesses, five eyes is the highest tier we could be given . "
While nodding his head, Wu Qi said with an indifferent voice, "I don't care you are an agent with how many eyes, as long as you can help me in finding the things I need . . . 'Soul of Broken Worm', 'Dust Repelling Shield ', 'Thread from thousand years old Spider of Purple-Gold Stripe', 'Oil from Merman of Deep Ocean' . . . " Wu Qi mentioned a couple dozens of rare materials in a row, then again told Hai Yuntian, "Can you find me all these things? If you can't get them all, I would need at least the first four of them . "
Hai Yuntian was seen murmuring under his breath, his fingers moving as if he were counting something . After the time it took for a few breaths, a bright gleam flickered from his eyes . Then, he nodded his head and bowed smilingly while saying, "Young mister, you've asked the right person . The Soul of Broken Worm is a strange wood that can kill all kinds of bugs with poison, the Dust Repelling Shield is a peculiar grass that can calm and soothe one's mind and spirit . The Thread from Spider of Purple-Gold Stripe is the best material one could find in crafting variety of soft armors, and the Oil from Merman can be used to produce the lamp of prayer that is placed in a tomb, which will never go off even after ten thousand years . . . "
After saying all that, Hai Yuntian smiled again and said, "Except for the last few items, which I have never heard of before, young mister can trust me on other things . I can find them all in the market . "
A joyful feeling leaped into Wu Qi's mind . As long as half of these items could be found, or at least, the first four of them, he would be able to pass off the sham as the genuine, make himself a new counterfeit Dustless Lamp and steal all the Innate Spirit Objects . Actually, he never expected that he could find over ninety percent of the items in this Market of Four Seas . It was indeed a surprise for him . With that, Wu Qi would have a firm confidence that even after he took away all three Innate Spirit Objects from the Dustless Lamp, no one would discover anything wrong from it . The Dustless Lamp would still be the same Dustless Lamp, with the exact effect .
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login