He needed to use the spatial gate to travel from humans’ White Horse Constellation to Sunnis’s Goose Pagoda Constellation. Though the spatial compass could also send Xia Fei over, it was actually illegal for someone to gain entry to another species’ territory without permission. Xia Fei had no wish of causing such trouble, so taking the available public channel worked just as well.
Wolf Shunye accompanied Xia Fei to the city center’s spatial gate, only to find that a long queue had already formed. Compared to last time, this was already a lot less; after all, humans had been soundly defeated by the Sunnis during the Dragon Ascension tournament. Many of the major clans felt ashamed over their poor performance, so they decided to just forgo the trip to Goose Pagoda entirely.
Dozens of spatial gates were erected at the location, all in the exact same style, constantly sending people to their respective destinations. Aside from a handful of gates that indicated they were heading elsewhere, each and every one of their destinations was indicated to be Goose Pagoda.
“Alright. This is where I leave you. Take care of yourself when you get there as you are on your own. They just won against us in a contest, so those Sunnis are all teeming with pride,” Shunye said.
Xia Fei was a newly minted member of White Horse Constellation, so Wolf Shunye felt that he had a responsibility to help the former run errands, leading the way so as to show off his bold side.
Goose Pagoda was a major settlement of the Sunnis in the Law Realm. This constellation looked differently if viewed from a certain angle, sometimes appearing like a pagoda and at other times looking like a flock of geese flying past—hence, its name.
Xia Fei was dumbfounded after passing through the spatial gate, for the heads of the crowd before him were numerous. They came in all shapes and sizes, clearly made up of different sapient lifeforms that Xia Fei had never seen before.
As for the Sunnis, they were not too different from humans except for two traits: One, their heads were oval-shaped, slender and round at the end; two, their ears were like two spring rolls stuck to the sides of their heads. Aside from these two, every other aspect of their features looked completely similar to humans.
A group of Sunnis warriors impatiently ushered the guests forward. Each visitor took out their invitations or headed over to the office to apply for permits, subjecting themselves to layers of inspections.
Invitations were of course referring to the invitation cards the various major clans received, while permits were a little like visas, which would only be issued with the Sunnis’s approval. Furthermore, attempting to barge in without such credentials through the use of a spatial compass would be a clear violation of the rules.
Xia Fei had neither, so all he could do was pull out his Demonic Wing Token. Unexpectedly, the moment he revealed it, some eagle-eyed individual yelled, “Look over there! A Demonic Wing Token! Skywings are here!”
*Zing*
An embarrassing scene unfolded. All of a sudden, the crowd parted out a path, allowing Xia Fei to pass. Everyone looked on at him like he was a demon incarnate, and even the expression of the inspecting Sunni Warriors changed.
Xia Fei was helpless. The misunderstanding people had toward the Skywing Clan was too deep, especially after the incident with the Moonwards, which was painted in an even more sensational light by the commoners, and all sorts of rumors and hearsay were spread widely throughout the streets and alleys.
Xia Fei could not be bothered to explain this to everyone, though. He swaggered past the checkpoint as a fat Sunnis came forward with a wide smile, looking as if he was trying to stop Xia Fei, but he simply relied on his Crafty Approach and casually slipped past into the crowd, disappearing without a trace in just a few moments. The fatty was sweating profusely, but still failed to catch up.
至于地主逊尼人倒是和人类一族差不了许多,唯有两点区别,一点是脑袋,一个个呈椭圆形,瘦长而圆润,其次是耳朵,仿佛在脑袋上插了两只春卷,支愣着,除此以外无论是眼睛还是鼻梁,都和人类再无两样.
Speaking of which, Crafty Approach was an important skill to navigate in such crowded settings. Xia Fei looked as if he were moving unhurriedly, but it was only a matter of seconds before he left people in his dust.
The Sunnis had specifically widened the streets for this trade fair, so no matter what species these guests belonged to, as long as they could follow the signs, they would be able to find the location of the venue quickly.
Of course, individuals of different statuses would be treated differently as well. VIPs had designated ushers to receive them, while the commoners could only walk or spend significant fees to rent hover cars as transportation.
A distance of a dozen or so kilometers was a piece of cake to Xia Fei, and gradually, he began to see his surroundings appear more and more like a trade fair. Some who could not even wait to reach the venue had directly set up shop by the side of the street, displaying the goods that they were putting up for trade. Xia Fei casually browsed through the selections and saw that there was nothing worthwhile, which he did not think much of anyway.
The deeper into the fair he got, the more crowded it became. The old demon lord excitedly quipped, “Hehe! The trade fairs of the God Race aren’t too shabby. Looks like the people from the two races are quite similar, holding a free trade fair every once in a while. Too bad there’s little commerce between the two races, so the specialties of each side have to go through their respective black markets and the prices end up being jacked up for no reason.”
There were plenty to see, and even more people were around. Xia Fei imbued his eyes with a bit of Beast Spirit Codex’s Ocular Cognition to increase his range of vision. This way, he could tell if something was decent without even getting anywhere near it. Of course, the purpose of doing this was to search for Old Woods’ precious daughter, Ellen. Ultimately, the person behind Ellen could very well possess the Law of Time, and this was a law that Xia Fei was very intrigued by.
Xia Fei had memorized the list that Huo Yutong gave him, and Xia Fei would purchase them the moment he came across the suitable materials. Actually, the cost of creating the advanced grade Celestial Zerohammer was not too great to Xia Fei, for he still had quite a bit of savings in his bank account, enough to sustain these purchases.
The key was the nine Solid Gold Flying Cicada Pupae, with each one costing over ten thousand grade 5 Origin Crystals; moreover, that was the price a long time ago. There was no telling how much this would have increased by now.
In the course of an entire morning, Xia Fei bought several of the materials needed for the Celestial Zerohammer and had sold off some of the items useless to him. However, he had not seen Ellen or the other two mysterious men anywhere.
The trade fair would go on for an entire week, so Xia Fei was not feeling too anxious over this.
“Hmm… Today’s haul isn’t too bad. We’re only missing two items now: Flying Swan Coldsteel and the Solid Gold Flying Cicada Pupae,”Oro examined Xia Fei’s haul and solemnly stated. “The Flying Swan Coldsteel ought to be used for the fixed interface of the Celestial Zerohammer. You shouldn’t have too hard a time getting hold of that if you shop around a bit more this afternoon. The most troublesome for you to collect should be the Solid Gold Flying Cicada Pupae, which you haven’t encountered even a single one so far.”
Xia Fei lit a cigarette as he sat under a tree to rest before continuing his shopping.
There were plenty of people, and plenty of shops and stalls to visit. Xia Fei would have trouble shopping them all even if he used his fast movement speed.
As such, Xia Fei changed his approach and began strolling through the street.
Oro curiously wondered, “When would you be done with this place at this slow pace you’re going?”
Xia Fei smiled as he unhurriedly explained, “Given how big the venue is, you can’t go about it without a goal in mind. Look, the two individuals in front of us have superb eyes, and one is even wearing a Fig Corporation war armor. It’s apparent that they must be some descendant of a major clan of renowned status.”
“I’ve been observing these two for a very long time, and they barely spare even the slightest glance at these roadside stalls. The aloof and distant expression fixed on their faces tells me that they have quite the eyesight, and neither walks with the slightest hesitation in their steps. This goes to show that they know their way around such trade fairs, so I won’t fare any worse following them around.
Xia Fei’s tactic sounded very simple, as it was just following a connoisseur. The places a connoisseur would visit should be decent; otherwise, aimlessly wandering in such an endless trade fair would just be a waste of time. It was just that identifying who was the real connoisseur among this sea of people was a real test of someone’s observational skills.
The two in front of him were clearly not humans. The fact that half of their heads were meaty mounds of flesh made this apparent. Xia Fei decided to follow these two, who led him to a shop after taking various twists and turns through the streets.
This unfrequented shop went by the name of Galerain’s, the one with the least foot traffic in a street with many other shops. All he saw was the warriors yelling and cursing animatedly before storming off. “What a joke! This is clearly a scammer’s front! Asking for a million grade 4 Origin Crystal for a lousy forked sai?! The owner of this shop must’ve gone senile! Even a fool wouldn’t buy it!”
The two men with the fleshy mounds on their heads chuckled, their mouths curling into odd smiles, entering the shop without another word.
There must surely be something abnormal if things went wrong. Xia Fei swiftly followed the two and stepped into Galerain’s. He was curious to find out just how big a scam this shop really was!
The four walls of the shop had opened up, with only a little elderly servant manning the shop. He looked on, indifferent and absolutely standoffish. There were even prices placed next to the hundreds of strange trinkets and gadgets on display.
With a quick glance, Xia Fei realized that the one million Origin Crystal price was actually the starting price for everything in the shop! It was not even rare to find items that were priced in the tens of millions here!
On closer inspection, they were all clearly fake or imitation goods. Forget a million, even if they were tossed out on the streets, no one would care to pick them up. If this shop really only sold such goods, it was no wonder that it got called a scammer’s shop. In fact, it was the ultimate scammer’s paradise!
Frowning, Xia Fei was becoming even more skeptical. No wonder there was hardly anyone visiting this shop. Even a fool would not care to browse the items, given the prices and the quality of the goods here.
Half curtains hung on the left and right end of the shop. Those two connoisseurs did not even hang around outside and parted the curtain to the left before heading in. They appeared to be very familiar with the place, and just as Xia Fei was about to do the same, he got stopped by that little servant.
“What are you doing? Can’t you read the sign?” That servant arrogantly stepped in front of Xia Fei, swatting a plaque hanging on the side of the wall with his ponytail. “Members only. Nonmembers aren’t permitted beyond this point. Can’t you read?!”
Xia Fei had a belly of fire boiling inside him. He knew that there was something strange inside, but he had no way of just venting his frustration. As such, he could only coldly ask, “And how do I become a member?”
The servant rolled his eyes at Xia Fei as he loudly announced, “Just buy anything outside here. If you can’t afford it, you’d better—”
*Smack*
Before he could even finish his sentence, this little elderly servant realized that Xia Fei had picked him up. The servant tried to struggle, but a glance of Xia Fei’s murderous glare and he instantly lost all strength to resist. Xia Fei was someone who had taken countless lives, and the moment he got mad, an insignificant being like this servant would have no way of resisting him. All the old man felt was his legs turning jelly, and then he began shivering uncontrollably.
“Now that you’ve mentioned it, there’s indeed something I have my eye on that I wish to buy,” Xia Fei said sinisterly.
“Oh, distinguished guest, tell me what you want and this lowly one will get it for you, easy as pie.” The servant knew that he had provoked someone formidable, so he very quickly changed his tone of address.
“I’m buying your life!” Xia Fei enunciated each word carefully, scaring the servant pale, who was now breaking out in a cold sweat.
That was when someone came forward from behind the shop. This person did not look too old, and there was a craftiness to his gaze. With an odious smile, Xia Fei could tell from a glance that he was most likely the owner, if not the shopkeeper for this shop.
“His life you say? Perfect. As long as you dare to make a purchase, I’ll have no problem making the sale! Ten thousand grade 4 crystals. This cad—”
*Whoosh*
Sans waiting for him to say another word, Xia Fei directly sliced the servant into half with a quick swipe of his blade and caused fresh blood to splatter all over.
“Deal,” Xia Fei turned around and coldly stated. “Are you selling your life? Yours truly intends to buy out this place today!”
