Chapter 67: Hidden Quest II

Phosphor Trading Market.

Xia Ling walked slowly toward the medium-sized transport vehicle, her eyes sizing up Lin Qi, whom she hadn't seen in a few days. A trace of surprise flickered within her golden pupils.

She hadn't expected that in just a few days, Lin Qi's vital blood energy would have strengthened so noticeably.

Although it was impossible to gauge the exact extent of his improvement, judging purely by his blood energy, he had definitely reached the apprentice level. In any wilderness gang, he would be considered an expert.

According to Xia Ling's memory, Lin Qi had certainly not reached the apprentice level during his last visit; even her butler had remarked that it would take him several more years of painstaking effort.

"Miss Xia, I've come to make another trade. I hope I'm not disturbing you," Lin Qi said with a smile as he stepped forward to greet her.

Xia Ling held a position of no small influence within the Phosphor Trading Market, and conducting transactions through her carried far fewer risks.

Previously, he had been genuinely worried that after their last encounter, Xia Ling might have seen through his background, realized that the Crocodile-Toothed Rhino meat had simply been scavenged, and decided not to bother with him anymore. Fortunately, however, Xia Ling had still come out to meet him.

"Mr. Lin, you jest. Our Phosphor Trading Market keeps its doors open for business; how could we ever turn guests away?" Xia Ling said with a smile, no longer probing Lin Qi's blood energy. "I wonder what Mr. Lin wishes to trade this time?"

In the Phosphor Trading Market, neither apprentices nor quasi-martial artists were ever paid much heed or concern. Any ordinary guard in the Phosphor Trading Market could easily suppress a quasi-martial artist, making apprentices mere ants by comparison.

"Miss Xia, you'll see once you take a look inside the cargo container," Lin Qi said, gesturing toward the medium-sized transport vehicle behind him.

"Mr. Lin certainly likes to play the mystery man," Xia Ling chuckled, thinking that Lin Qi was making a mountain out of a molehill. Even if he were trading another ton of Crocodile-Toothed Rhino meat this time, there was really no need to be so secretive.

Yet, being an easygoing and approachable person, Xia Ling didn't mind Lin Qi's penchant for secrecy. She walked straight over, unlatched the side door of the transport vehicle's cargo container, and stepped inside alone.

As for safety, Xia Ling had zero concerns. Putting aside the fact that this was the Phosphor Trading Market, she herself was an extreme apprentice, just half a step away from becoming a quasi-martial artist. Unless she were facing a full martial artist expert, Xia Ling was confident she could hold her own for a long time.

Inside the compact cargo container, apart from a large metal crate, there lay a carcass measuring over three meters in length. It resembled a giant grizzly bear, yet possessed a long tail, resting quietly on the floor.

"A-grade Golden-Biting Horned Rat!"

Upon laying eyes on the carcass, Xia Ling froze in place, her pupils filled with astonishment and bewilderment.

Although the Golden-Biting Horned Rat was considered the weakest of monsters, slaying one was exceptionally difficult. While a normal quasi-martial artist could fight one head-on for a short duration, they would still struggle to inflict serious wounds on it.

Unless the quasi-martial artist possessed B-series weaponry, the Golden-Biting Horned Rat was notoriously cunning; the moment it realized it could not win, it would flee. Furthermore, Golden-Biting Horned Rats generally lived in groups. When encountered in packs of three or five, even full martial artists would find them a major headache.

Of course, if a massive amount of manpower was mobilized—such as a group of extreme apprentices or quasi-martial artists all wielding B-series weapons—slaying a Golden-Biting Horned Rat wasn't entirely impossible. Some large wilderness gangs and suburban factions relied on such methods to acquire monster meat, but the sacrifices involved were considerable, and very few crazy gangs would resort to such measures.

More often than not, people simply purchased meat directly from established martial artists, steadily building up their gang's strength as the true path to power.

It was hard to imagine that a newly emerged wilderness gang could successfully hunt a Golden-Biting Horned Rat.

"Miss Xia, what kind of price are you offering for this Golden-Biting Horned Rat?" Lin Qi asked in a low voice as he stepped up and pulled the cargo container's side door shut.

"The market price for Golden-Biting Horned Rat meat is 580 bits per kilogram. I can offer you 600 bits," Xia Ling stated with almost zero hesitation. "Of course, if Mr. Lin can guarantee a long-term supply, I can raise the price to 620 bits."

"Miss Xia is truly straightforward," Lin Qi nodded. Xia Ling's price was indeed quite a bit higher than the market rate. "Very well, I can provide a long-term supply of Golden-Biting Horned Rats, though I cannot make guarantees regarding the exact timing."

As the weakest monster, the price per kilogram of a Golden-Biting Horned Rat naturally could not compare to the more energy-dense Crocodile-Toothed Rhino meat. Still, 620 bits was a price that left Lin Qi thoroughly satisfied.

"As long as a long-term supply can be guaranteed, that's fine." Looking at Lin Qi, who promised steady provisions, Xia Ling's estimation of the forces backing him rose a notch in her heart. Her gaze then drifted toward the large metal crate nearby. "And I wonder what might be inside that metal crate?"

"Five hundred kilograms of Blood Essence Rice, with a market price of 400 bits per kilogram. Is Miss Xia interested?" Lin Qi directly quoted his terms.

Blood Essence Rice had always been a hard currency in the City of Light-Chasing, boasting an extremely high demand. However, acquisition prices were inevitably lower than retail rates. Now that he had a stable income stream from the Golden-Biting Horned Rats, Lin Qi felt he could completely afford to keep this batch of mature Blood Essence Rice for his own consumption.

"No problem, I'll take all of it." Xia Ling didn't haggle either. With a slight upward curve of her lips, she looked at Lin Qi and even stepped a fraction closer, her lovely eyes no longer treating him as an insignificant nobody. "I wonder what Mr. Lin intends to purchase from Phosphor this time?"

"I'd like ten sets of secondhand A5-grade protective gear and one set of secondhand A6-grade protective gear." After some thought, Lin Qi decided to purchase the protective gear through Xia Ling, picking up a set for himself in the process.

Although he could theoretically buy them from the Crys-Crystal Weapon Store, doing so would draw too much unnecessary attention. Purchasing them through Xia Ling was a different matter entirely, and secondhand gear was even cheaper to boot.

"No problem. A set of A5-grade protective gear is 60,000 bits, and a set of A6-grade protective gear is 150,000 bits." Hearing what Lin Qi wanted, Xia Ling was slightly surprised, failing to see the point of buying such low-end equipment. Still, since Lin Qi wanted them, there was no reason to turn down a profitable sale.

Shortly after, Lin Qi and Xia Ling concluded the transaction.

The Golden-Biting Horned Rat weighed 2,315.5 kilograms, bringing its total value to 1,435,610 bits. The Blood Essence Rice was worth 200,000 bits. Subtracting the cost of the ten sets of A5-grade protective gear and one set of A6-grade gear left Lin Qi with a net gain of 885,610 bits. His cash reserves instantly became abundant, making it more than sufficient to purchase materials for repairing the entire martial arts gym.

While waiting for Xia Ling's subordinates to fetch the goods, Lin Qi noticed that a considerable number of apprentice-level wanderers from various races had arrived at the Phosphor Trading Market seeking patronage.

"Miss Xia, why are there so many apprentices coming to join us today? Is your gang expanding its recruitment recently?" Lin Qi asked, looking quite astonished at the long line of apprentice-level wanderers queuing up for the Phosphor Gang's entrance examination.

Although the Semi-Scaly race had gained significantly greater influence in the City of Light-Chasing due to the emergence of a few genius martial artists, it was still impossible for them to reach a point where hundreds of apprentice-level experts would flock to pledge allegiance.

"Not quite." Xia Ling glanced casually at the snaking queue and explained, "Hasn't it been all over the news that the White Feather Gang's wilderness cultivation base was attacked recently? The White Feather Gang has started cracking down on several wilderness gangs they suspect of involvement, and those factions are frankly quite out of luck."

"The White Feather Gang had long coveted the resources of those ordinary wilderness gangs, but previously they lacked a proper pretext, fearing the ordinary gangs might band together to resist. Now that their cultivation base is gone, the White Feather Gang has found their excuse. Those gangs either refused the White Feather Gang's harsh conditions and were completely wiped out, or had parts of their members absorb into the White Feather Gang."

"Among the crowd outside are many members from those targeted gangs. To avoid being hounded by the White Feather Gang, they've rushed over here hoping to pass our assessment and join."

"Is the White Feather Gang really that strong? They can wipe out several gangs in one go?" Lin Qi asked, somewhat surprised.

The White Feather Gang was merely a mid-tier faction among the top hundred wilderness gangs. That they could put up a fight against several ordinary wilderness gangs was believable, but eradicating multiple ordinary wilderness gangs in a single sweep seemed rather astonishing.

"The White Feather Gang has indeed added a few experts recently, growing quite a bit stronger," Xia Ling said dismissively. "Especially their leader and three deputy leaders, who have secretly broken through to the level of quasi-martial artists. With that kind of strength, such a feat is quite normal."

"A quasi-martial artist and an extreme apprentice might not seem all that different in terms of raw physical strength, but there is an essential qualitative distinction between the two."

"Once someone becomes a quasi-martial artist, it means their blood energy has fully saturated their body, beginning to influence their internal organs. Although this influence is subtle, that slight enhancement of the internal organs provides the brain with a greater supply of vital nutrients."

"Because of this, even if a quasi-martial artist's physical strength and speed are only marginally superior to an extreme apprentice's, their sensory perception and reaction nerves vastly outclass an extreme apprentice by a wide margin."

"This allows a single quasi-martial artist to easily fight off three to five extreme apprentices simultaneously. Under normal circumstances, apprentices can only suppress and counter quasi-martial artists by relying on the auxiliary combat effects provided by advanced battle armor."

"I see," Lin Qi murmured, gaining a whole new understanding of quasi-martial artists.

He hadn't expected that upon advancing to a quasi-martial artist, one's brain would undergo growth. This was far more formidable than mere muscle development, especially since expert duels were often decided in the span of a single split second.

With superior neural reaction times, the scale of victory naturally tipped decisively.

System: Detected that a player has independently created a martial-artist-grade martial technique, [Rolling Waves Blade].

System: Congratulations to the Host for completing the hidden quest 'Genius Among Us'. The upper limit for summoned quotas has been increased by 40.

System: Congratulations to the Host for triggering the second hidden quest 'Genius Is Never Lonely'. Have players independently create martial-artist-grade martial techniques or cultivation methods. Current count: 3. Reward: Quota limit increased by 100. Reward: Technique Fusion—allows the fusion of three player-created martial techniques of the same type into a brand-new technique, which the Host can instantly master to the Realm of Perfection.

"Technique Fusion?" Lin Qi stared at the new hidden quest notifications floating in his field of vision, thoroughly awed by the system's generosity.

Extra quotas were one thing, but he hadn't expected a reward involving martial technique fusion. The baseline for player-created techniques was martial-artist-grade; fusing three techniques of the same type into one would result in something truly unfathomable.

Furthermore, jumping straight to the Realm of Perfection was a reward so incredible that it would be a sin not to drive the players to invent techniques to the death.

Following that, Lin Qi purchased forty alloy shovels from Xia Ling, along with a month's supply of synthesized food and water for forty people.

Once the transaction was finalized, Lin Qi wasted no time, immediately boarding his medium-sized transport vehicle and driving back toward the Obsidian Martial Arts Gym without lingering for even a single extra second.

Forty slots meant a massive wave of fresh players, and he needed to make proper arrangements for them right away.

Meanwhile, as Lin Qi drove the transport vehicle away, a one-armed Feather-race youth hopped onto a small electric motorcycle and followed closely behind, quickly vanishing from the Phosphor Trading Market.

"Miss, it looks like there are people from the White Feather Gang tailing them," a Semi-Scaly guard carrying a battle saber reported in a low voice, stepping quickly into the room. "Do you need me to go handle them?"

"No need, it's just the White Feather Gang," Xia Ling chuckled, flicking her tail lazily. "If they can't even handle a petty faction like the White Feather Gang, then they aren't qualified for any further cooperation with us anyway."

"Understood!" The saber-carrying Semi-Scaly guard bowed and withdrew, leaving Xia Ling undisturbed in her cultivation.

As the sun sank toward the horizon, Lin Qi finally returned to the Obsidian Martial Arts Gym just before nightfall. Almost the moment he stepped back inside, he instructed the system to open the forty new slots.

"Captain Mans, I've located the stronghold of this gang." The one-armed Feather-race youth stared at the majestic martial arts gym in the distance, convinced that this magnificent building must be the stronghold of Lin Qi and his associates. After all, most wilderness gang strongholds were merely dilapidated buildings; possessing such a fully equipped martial arts facility meant it simply had to be their primary base.

"Good! Send me the coordinates. I'll report to the gang leader right away. Once we confirm it's them, your reward won't be lacking," the man named Mans nodded. Seeing the coordinates sent by the youth, he hung up the communicator.

"The Obsidian Martial Arts Gym in the human wanderer settlement?"

Reviewing the exact location, Mans left his room, walked slowly upstairs, and headed straight to the top floor—the residence of the White Feather Gang leader.