The Portal of Wonderland - Chapter 269

Chapter 269: Underground Trade Fair
Hou Sai Lei reappeared at the door after some time, and nodded to Shi Mu .




Shi Mu understood his signal . Then, his body moved and followed Hou Sai Lei .
Shi Mu soon found himself in a room with relatively simple decoration .
A white-faced middle-aged man was seated on a sandalwood chair . He was clad in a grey robe . His eyes swept over Shi Mu . Then, his gaze returned to Hou Sai Lei who stood beside Shi Mu .
"Deacon Quan, this person is the Senior Mu I just mentioned about . He's one of the subordinates in Qian City's sub-altar . There exists a very strong bond of friendship between us . We two were indulged in a general discussion while passing through Pi City when he inquired about the matters related to the sea-trip . But, the matter of going to the sea always falls in the jurisdiction of the Main Altar . This reminded me of Deacon Quan since he has direct access to the highest authorities . Honorable Quan also has a friendly relationship with many people in the cult's Main Altar . So, Honorable Quan could introduce us to someone," Hou Sai Lei cupped his hands toward the white-faced middle-aged man, and said in a flattering manner .
Shi Mu also wore a smile as he cupped his hands in obeisance while facing the white-faced middle-aged man . After that, he took out the Dark Moon Order and passed it to him .
Shi Mu had concealed his martial warrior's aura this entire time, but he hadn't masked his magician's cultivation . So, his whole body was faintly emanating the magic power waves of a Star-Ranked magician at this time .
"Oh… So, this is our honorable friend Shi Mu! It's nice to meet you . Your Excellency is planning to set out on a sea trip for hunting sea beasts, right?" The white-faced middle-aged man glanced at the Dark Moon Order in Shi Mu's hand . But, he didn't hold out his hand to receive it .
"Honorable Quan sees through the matters as if they are covered with glass . He has indeed made a correct guess," Shi Mu put away the token, and replied .
"The fact is that there was no difficulty in going to the sea for hunting sea beasts in the past . In fact, a person could go to the sea by the cult's canoe once every two months as long as he was registered to the Quyang City . However, the situation has changed these days . I would advise Your Excellency to drop this plan in order to avoid running a fruitless trip," the white-faced man said .
"How can you say this?" Shi Mu was dumbfounded .
"This matter is related to the Main Altar's matters that haven't been announced yet . So, it will be inappropriate to speak more about it," The white-faced man shook his head, and revealed an expression of helplessness .
"Honorable Quan, this matter is very important to me . I'll be deeply grateful to you if you can give us some light in this direction," Shi Mu drew out ten low-grade spirit stones from his Vast Earth Ring, and placed them on the middle-aged man's table in a gentle manner .
"Fine! After all, neither is this matter considered a secret… nor were you an outsider to begin with…" The white-faced middle-aged brushed his sleeve in a gentle manner, and received the spirit stones therein . Then, he thought for a moment and spoke in a lowered voice .
Shi Mu and Hou Sai Lei leaned a bit closer to him as they assessed the situation . Then, they revealed a serious look, and it seemed as if they were listening to him with keen attention .
The two people listened to the middle-aged man's narration for some time . Then, they finally understood the crux of the matter .
The fact was that the Dark Moon Cult's high-ranked authorities had planned to select a group of people . This group would be assigned to go and explore the Western Continent which was situated on the other side of the Yellow Sea . It was reported that the place was blessed with a plentiful amount of practice resources . In fact, they were far greater than the Eastern Continent's resources . Moreover, a large number of evil demon-beasts resided there, and they were obviously great for offering sacrifices .




However, the selection quota for this operation was very limited . The higher authorities of the Cult had eventually arrived at a decision after a round of discussions . And, they would only select 200 elite disciples through competitive matches . In addition, they had decided to suspend their sea-trips in order to focus on coordinating this operation .
The selection process would take place in Quyang City — the Capital City of ancient Xixia country after six months .
However, they had also planned to hold preliminary selection competitions in a dozen or more cities' sub-altars prior to the main selection process . And, Pi City was also one of those primary selection sites .
The preliminary selection competition that was to take place in Pi City was scheduled to be conducted one month later . After that, the winners would proceed to the Quyang City .
Shi Mu got up, and expressed gratitude to the white-faced man after he had listened to this explanation . Then, they exchanged a few words . After that, Shi Mu left the room along with Hou Sai Lei .
The two people reemerged in a certain street in Pi City . There weren't many pedestrians on this street at this time .
"What's your view on this selection process?" Shi Mu glanced at Hou Sai Lei and asked .
"Senior Mu, can it be that you are interested in participating in this selection?" Hou Sai Lei asked .
"Yes . " Shi Mu nodded .
"Forgive me for being blunt, but the cult will verify the identity token of each disciple for such an important selection competition . So, merely possessing a Dark Moon Order token won't be sufficient this time . Wouldn't it be better if Senior Mu were to become a disciple of the Dark Moon Cult instead?" Hou Sai Lei moved two steps forward, and whispered in a suggestive manner .
"It won't be so simple to join the Dark Moon Cult, right?" Shi Mu asked .
"You only need to attend a ceremony to worship the Dark Lord, and your spirit will be baptized at that ceremony," Hou Sai Lei replied .
"I don't have any intention to join the Dark Moon Cult . So, you consider this matter once again . Is there no other means to participate?" Shi Mu shook his head and asked .
"Oh, that's right! Based on previous years' competitions… the competition for preliminary selection is set up in various sub-altars . However, special envoys are dispatched by the Main Altar . And, these special envoys are responsible for supervising these matches as well as deciding the number of people who can participate . So, we could request Deacon to help us in making contact with that special envoy at a designated time . We will have to spend some spirit stones to buy a spot in the competition . In fact, this doesn't seem to be a difficult matter . Moreover, your identity won't be inspected again before the main selection process after you have gone through the preliminary selection process," Hou Sai Lei pondered over this matter for a moment . Then, he explained .
Shi Mu nodded after a momentary consideration .
Thereafter, the two men started to look for a temporary accommodation in this city .
Shi Mu rented two ordinary rooms in a family inn after half an hour or so; it was situated on the eastern side of the city .




The rooms didn't look very large . However, each room could isolate and protect the guest's spirit sense from outside interference . Therefore, the price that they were charging was very alarming . In fact, the rent of two rooms reached up to 12,000 silver per day .
Such an alarming price gave a powerful jolt to Hou Sai Lei .
This seemed to be related to the approaching competition for the sea trip .

The Dark Moon Cult's Main Altar hadn't formally announced this matter yet . However, many people seemed to have gotten this information from the rumors that were circulating in various channels . Therefore, the influx of people who aspired to participate in this competition had already begun .
The majority of these people were the disciples of the Dark Moon Cult . However, there were many others who had converged here to seize this opportunity in order to make a huge fortune .
The Pi City wasn't a big city . Therefore, the rooms in the inns were suddenly in great demand due to the emergence of an increasing number of people in the city these days . Naturally, the prices of these rooms soared .
However, Shi Mu still had more than ten-thousand spirit stones in his bag at the moment . So, he didn't care about the expenditure .
Five days later… in the evening…
In a certain remote alley in Pi City…
Shi Mu was clad in a black gown . He stood in front of the entrance to a dilapidated residential courtyard . Hou Sai Lei was dressed similarly, and stood behind Shi Mu .
The fact was that Hou Sai Lei had obtained information from one of the cult's members two days back .
A large number of people had rushed towards Pi City from all directions . They were either cult members or outsiders . In fact, all kinds of people had converged here . Some were good, while some were bad . Therefore, some of the influential people of the city had planned to take advantage of this situation, and had decided to hold an underground trade fair in the city . It was said that there would be plenty of rare things in this fair . This news had also piqued Shi Mu's curiosity as soon as he had heard about it . So, he had planned a trip to explore this fair .
Hou Sai Lei stepped forward and knocked on the door . Shi Mu followed him at a moderate pace .
"Dong… Dong… Dong Dong Dong . " Altogether five knocks on the door were heard; two long and three short .
"Squeak" the sound of the door opening was heard a moment later .
The courtyard's door opened up, and two young men appeared before their eyes . They wore green trousers, while the upper part of their bodies was bare . They stood behind the door with a vigilant look on their faces as they sized up Shi Mu and Hou Sai Lei in a cautious manner .




Shi Mu used his spirit sense, and swept over these two men . He found that both of them were Hou Tian consummate stage martial warriors .
Hou Sai Lei didn't wait for them to speak anything, and took out a jade token . It was faintly emitting waves of magic power . He held the token in front of the two men . The two green-dressed men's countenance relaxed . Then, they moved sideways to give them the way .
Shi Mu and Hou Sai Lei appeared in an underground space below that residential courtyard after some time . They were dressed in a long black gown; this gown also had a head covering on the top . So, only their eyes could be seen at the moment .
Shi Mu's eyes moved as he examined his surroundings .
This underground place was very expansive . It was approximately a thousand feet in size . A stone table was set-up in the middle of the large circular open space . It was nearly ten-feet long .
Three or four hundred people had assembled in this room . Moreover, most of the people had a formidable aura around them . They were either Xian Tian warriors or Star-Ranked magicians .
Everyone was dressed a long black robe that was wider than them . Therefore, they were obstructing the effectiveness of people's spirit sense to a certain extent . Hence, everyone in the room looked almost the same apart from the height difference .
Shi Mu seemed very satisfied with this arrangement .
This fair couldn't be compared with the scale of Heavenly Yu City's Ascension to Immortality Auction . However, the presence of many powerful people could still be felt here . In fact, this trade fair had a pack of interesting things that made Shi Mu's heart beat fast for a while .
He looked for a place in the back row along with Hou Sai Lei . Then, he sat down and waited patiently .
Around a hundred more people entered the room in succession within half-an-hour . After that, the underground trade fair began .
"Ke ke, the time has come . I hope all friends have arrived here by now . The trade fair starts now," an aged voice rang from behind the stone table .
It couldn't be said when a man's silhouette had appeared behind that long table . He was attired in a long and green gown .
The voices of the people in this underground room gradually stopped . Simultaneously, an inquisitive look gleamed in everyone's eyes as they gazed toward the stone table .
"There is no limitation in this trade fair . Rare and precious stuff, pills, magic tools, and all other important things related to martial and magic arts can be traded here . However, everything will be price-marked by spirit stones only . And, a person can come to the table only once during the fair . In addition, both parties concerned have to pay a commission of 3% of the transaction price once the deal is done," the green-robed man once again opened his mouth to say .
The man's voice had barely faded when a droning sound of discussion erupted in the secret underground room .
Shi Mu nodded inwardly .
It was no wonder that the influential people of the city had held such an underground trade fair . Nearly five-hundred people were present at the scene right now . The transactions could only be done through spirit stones, and each completed transaction would be charged at 6% commission . So, the fair's organizers could probably reap a huge profit over the night .
Moreover, the organizers could collect a lot of rare resources in these kinds of underground trade fairs .
The privacy and security of buyers and sellers seemed to be taken care of in this trade fair . Therefore, everyone was ready to pay such a big commission for their transactions .
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm a slightly-impatient type of a person . So, I'll take the lead to offer a humble remark so that others may offer their valuable ideas," A thin and short black-robed man couldn't wait for the humming sound to subside . His stature rose and fell a few times before he arrived beside the long table .
Five or six people had also decided to step up . But, they were a step behind . So, they could only retrace their steps in resentment .
. . .
Shi Mu returned to the inn after two hours .
There was no stuff in this underground trade fair that seemed particularly valuable to him except for a "Charm Book on the Heaven-Trigram" . This book had been passed down from the Dark Moon Cult .
The former owner's introduction had stated that dozens of high-level magic charms' secret techniques were recorded in this ancient book .
The fact was that Shi Mu also wanted to try some high-ranked magic charms since he could practice Star-Ranked formula arts now . In addition, he had a pair of spirit eyes to draw support from .
Consequently, Shi Mu had spent nearly one-thousand-five-hundred spirit stones, and had bought this book in one fell swoop .
This act had aroused a lot of attention as well as laughter at the scene .
After all, everyone knew that charm magician was a very expensive career to pursue . So, a person must belong to an influential family to maintain a steady flow of resources that could support their practice . Even a primary-level charm magician might fail to perfect his skill and gain accomplishment if he relied solely on his own strength . Therefore, this kind of ancient book that had been passed down from the Dark Moon Cult had appeared tasteless to many people gathered here .
However, there had been a few high-ranked charm magicians in Shi Mu's sect who had the ability to draw some high-level magic charms . And, they certainly had such kinds of ancient books on magic charms .
Of course, there was no shortage of people who would like seeing others do what they had loved to do once . But, there were also a group of people who had a hobby of collecting things .
And, Shi Mu had been evidently surrounded by the latter category of people at the trade fair .
But, such things obviously didn't matter to Shi Mu .
Shi Mu carefully removed Cai from his bosom, and placed him to the side . Cai was still in that sleeping state . After that, he sat down on a wooden bed, and stuck the grey jade of the "Charm Book on the Heaven-Trigram" on his forehead . Then, he started to read it in a careful manner .

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