https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-150-The-Harvest-from-Four-Market-Tokens/12833682/
Chapter 149: The Orange Fireseed Curio [Red Plain Celestial Fire]
Chapter 149: The Orange Fireseed Curio [Red Plain Celestial Fire]
Inside the Celestial Dome, at the main control panel, Song Chi was intently operating the starship. If someone familiar with him were present, they would notice a subtle difference about him.
Perched on his shoulder was a small black snake, no more than a few centimeters long. Though it was in its miniature form, a closer look would reveal its exceptionally smooth and slightly luminescent scales, which were far from ordinary.
Its elegant yet subtly robust appearance gave the impression of extraordinary defensive capabilities.
Indeed, this tiny black snake was none other than the second-stage Komorei Giant Snake (previously Komoyin), reduced to its smallest form. Song Chi had used his mental control to shrink it to just ten meters in front of Song Xiao, to avoid arousing suspicion.
After all, the ability to alter the size of a controlled creature was a feature of a purple-quality control component. Revealing that the [Enslavement Badge] could shrink it by a hundred or even a thousand times would certainly raise unnecessary questions.
Song Chi was not about to make such a rookie mistake.
He gently stroked the little creature’s head, his mind free of other thoughts.
Yes, this second-stage Komorei Giant Snake was destined to be a temporary enslaved creature, to be replaced in the future. Therefore, investing too much emotion was unnecessary.
Racing through the star seas, Song Chi waited for several hours in the Celestial Dome.
Unfortunately, the Purple River Teleportation Device was only a blue component, and its current reinforcement level was only LV20, requiring a significant cooldown period after each use.
Only after the device had fully cooled down did he activate it again to return to the Azure Moon Manor.
In his personal courtyard, he retracted the Celestial Dome into the Ember Ancestor Acupoint. Once inside his room, Song Chi’s figure vanished.
In the Ruins Secret Realm, he quickly summoned the Celestial Dome again, installed the newly acquired [Spatial Beacon Emitter] component, and rapidly reinforced it to LV20.
At LV20, the component still had only one beacon mark, but the duration of the mark increased from two months to seven months, and the cooldown time decreased from three years to two years.
After reinforcing the [Spatial Beacon Emitter] component, Song Chi glanced at the Celestial Dome’s attributes, specifically the [Special Components] section.
With the installation of the [Enslavement Badge] and the [Spatial Beacon Emitter], only two of the Celestial Dome’s 14 special slots remained.
[Additional Components: Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Tree (White) LV20, Brainwave Remote Control System (Purple) LV23, Abnormal State Purifier (Blue) LV20, Purple River Teleportation Device (Blue) LV20, Healing Fruit (White) LV29, Target Deployment Platform (Blue) LV20, Phantom Propulsion System (Purple) LV20, Blood Soul Mark (Blue) LV20, Enslavement Badge (Red) LV20, Spatial Beacon Emitter (Blue) LV20 (12/14)]
Thinking about it, he reinforced the Celestial Dome’s Ember Ship Body from LV10 to LV15. This increased the number of special slots from 14 to 20, leaving 8 empty slots.
After completing this, he stepped out and walked along the central street of the Ruins to the commercial area.
After a moment’s thought, Song Chi cleared out one of the shops and changed the text on the projection screen at the center counter.
[Exchange Rates]
13 strands of Zero-stage Floating Land Essence for 1 strand of First-stage Floating Land Essence
14 strands of First-stage Floating Land Essence for 1 strand of Second-stage Floating Land Essence
15 strands of Second-stage Floating Land Essence for 1 strand of Third-stage Floating Land Essence
20 strands of Third-stage Floating Land Essence for 1 strand of Fourth-stage Floating Land Essence
...
50 strands of Eighth-stage Floating Land Essence for 1 strand of Ninth-stage Floating Land Essence
Yes, this shop was specifically for exchanging lower-stage Floating Land Essence for higher-stage Floating Land Essence, with the exchange ratio significantly increased. He believed that many alien creatures entering the Ruins would be willing to make these exchanges.
His main focus was on the first three stages of Floating Land Essence. The higher stages were listed primarily to enhance the prestige of the Ruins, though it was highly unlikely that a first-stage alien creature would possess Fourth-stage Floating Land Essence.
He carefully inspected the other shops to ensure all the acquisition information for Titanium Crystals, Energy Crystals, Ten-Thousand-Year Volcanic Lava Iron, and Purple-Quality and Above Fireseed Curios was accurate.
Finally, he entered the specialized acquisition shop, confirmed that all the acquisition information for Titanium Crystals, Energy Crystals, Ten-Thousand-Year Volcanic Lava Iron, and Purple-Quality and Above Fireseed Curios was correct, and then headed toward the Ultra-Long-Range Spatial Gate Random Deployment Platform.
It had been nearly two months since the last market opening, and Song Chi was eager for the next one. Soon, the ultra-long-range teleportation platform was activated.
After upgrading to Level 16, the number of teleportation gates he could deploy had increased to 43. Song Chi watched the 43 spatial vortexes appear at the market entrance, waiting quietly.
Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, half an hour had gone by. This time, his luck didn't seem to be any better. Most of the deployed gates hadn't been discovered by intelligent beings. After half an hour, only a hundred or so alien beings had gathered in the market.
Fortunately, Zhou Ping arrived as usual, bringing 50 titanium crystals, 1000 portions of Body Tempering Liquid, and 100 portions of Body Tempering Ointment.
Eight hours later, the number of alien beings in the market had increased, but it was still far fewer than usual, only reaching a little over 400.
Song Chi had adjusted his mindset and accepted the poor luck with the deployed gates. Upon reflection, it made sense. The vast, fragmented star seas were immense, and although there were many floating lands, they were insignificant compared to the vastness of the star seas. Moreover, not all floating lands were inhabited by intelligent beings, and the proportion of life-bearing lands was low.
However, the market's shop district brought some good news. Especially the new floating land essence exchange shop he had set up. Compared to the previous acquisition stalls placed at the end of the market, this exchange shop was much more popular. Even though fewer alien beings had entered this time, and the market trading time was only halfway through, the shop had already exchanged more floating land essence than the last time.
Song Chi did a quick calculation. So far, he had exchanged over ten thousand strands of Zero-grade floating land essence, acquired over a thousand strands of First-grade floating land essence, exchanged nearly 900 strands of First-grade floating land essence, and acquired 65 strands of Second-grade floating land essence.
Although no alien beings had brought in Third-grade floating land essence, Song Chi was extremely satisfied. He currently needed Second-grade floating land essence and titanium crystals the most. He already had 150 strands of Third-grade floating land essence, so he wasn't in a hurry for more.
Just as Song Chi thought this market session would end in a rather mundane way, an unexpected event occurred.
"Hmm?"
In the free market area, Song Chi, who was wandering between stalls, raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze toward the second-floor inn. Just then, he felt a new market guest pass application request.
It wasn't Zhou Ping's, but the first one he had issued.
"Could the centaur tribe have finally obtained the so-called 'Red Plains Skyfire'?"
Song Chi's heart raced. The first market guest pass he had issued was to a centaur who claimed he could obtain an orange-quality fire seed, the "Red Plains Skyfire." He had made it clear that the centaur could only activate the guest pass once before obtaining the Red Plains Skyfire. If he failed, Song Chi would reclaim the guest pass.
So, after more than half a year, the centaur's sudden activation of the guest pass likely meant he had obtained the Red Plains Skyfire.
The thought of an orange-quality fire seed was exhilarating. Even if it couldn't serve as a Flame Seed to upgrade fire sources, its value was undoubtedly immense.
With excitement, Song Chi approved the application request. Soon, a familiar centaur with a human head and horse body descended from the second floor of the inn. To Song Chi's surprise, he indeed held a strand of extremely fierce, scorching flame.
If everything went as expected, this was the orange-quality Red Plains Skyfire.
Under Song Chi's watchful eye, the centaur excitedly made his way to the acquisition shop, clearly thrilled to be back in the market.
In the acquisition shop, the centaur carefully scanned the new acquisition information that had been added since the last market session, looking for resources that his tribe might have.
He soon reached the central holographic screen.
Raising his right hand, he presented the scorching fire seed, which was held on a special jade plate, to the holographic screen.
"I have not let you down, Honorable Leader. The Eastern Blue Tribe has successfully obtained this Red Plains Celestial Fire. Please inspect it, Honorable Leader!"
As soon as he spoke, Song Chi, who had been eagerly waiting, swiftly used the power of the mystical realm to scoop up the blazing fire seed.
However, as the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
After examining the specific attributes of the fire seed, Song Chi sighed deeply.
As the centaur from the Eastern Blue Tribe had mentioned, this Red Plains Celestial Fire was indeed an orange-quality fire seed, but it could not be used to upgrade the Ember Seed. This greatly reduced its value, at least for Song Chi and all the Ember Fleet Captains of the Ember Human Civilization.
Rare Item: Red Plains Celestial Fire
Quality: Orange
Evolution: None
Notes: This supreme fire seed was formed over thirty thousand years deep within the Red Plains Volcano of the Pegasus Floating Land. It was later obtained by the large Red Plains Tribe. After thousands of years of cultivation, it officially entered the orange-quality fire seed category. It is an extremely rare fire seed in the fragmented star sea.
Suppressing his deep disappointment, Song Chi shifted his thoughts and responded on the central projection screen of the trading shop.
"Agreed. I will fulfill the previous promise and grant you ten more opportunities to enter the market."
With a wave of his hand, the laws of the market were once again activated, and soon the guest token in the centaur's hand was refreshed.
When the first-stage centaur raised its hand to check the guest token, it found that the usage count, which had been zero, was now 10/10.
Overjoyed, it bowed deeply to the projection screen and then turned to leave the trading shop, excitedly browsing other shops.
It was well aware of the importance of the various items sold in the market for the "Eastern Blue Tribe" it represented. Just half a year ago, a major purchase had significantly boosted the tribe's strength. Now, entrusted by the entire tribe, it had a very tight schedule and many items to buy.
The only drawback was that the guest token was different from the spatial gates provided by the market. It could not be used to enter and exit the market indefinitely. Once activated, it could only leave after the market transactions ended. If it left midway, it couldn't re-enter until the next month's market.
This meant that creatures using the guest token could only carry one trip's worth of purchases, making it impossible to buy large, high-quality items.
"If only I had a Spatial Storage Device!"
With that thought, the peak first-stage centaur rushed to the Gene Serum Shop.
Song Chi, naturally, paid no more attention to it.
With another wave of his hand, the orange-quality Red Plains Celestial Fire disappeared from his hand and reappeared in the rare item trading shop, hanging prominently alongside the orange-quality Terra Crystal.
Beneath the display platform of the Red Plains Celestial Fire, he added a note:
"This fire seed is prioritized for exchange with other orange-quality fire seeds."
There was no helping it; compared to other orange-quality rare items, Song Chi naturally preferred higher-value, same-quality fire seeds for the Ember Human Civilization.
Time passed quickly. As the transaction was about to end in just one hour, and seeing that the number of alien creatures in the market had reached nearly seven hundred, Song Chi's eyes narrowed. He decided to act on a plan he had been considering for nearly two months.
Above the sky of the market mystical realm, the laws of the realm began to rapidly gather.
This sudden movement immediately caught the attention of all the aliens below. As they puzzled over what was happening, the laws of the realm formed rows of text in the sky.
Since the text was formed by the laws of the realm, all the aliens instantly understood its meaning.
When they read the text, all the aliens reacted similarly, their pupils dilating with intense excitement.
Looking at the sky, the top row of text read:
"Market Guest Token"
Below these five words were the detailed attributes of the Market Guest Token, which was why all the aliens were so excited.
Author's Note:
PS: I originally planned to introduce a key race during this market transaction, but I felt the pace was a bit too fast. After some thought, I decided to push it back. How do you feel about the current pace?
(End of Chapter)
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