Chapter 70: Dragon Gazing Tower
Chapter 70: Dragon Gazing Tower
Under the starry night sky, Ji Xinghuo followed Ren Mian as they walked out of the villa's front gates.
Ren Mian donned a straw hat and a scarf, obscuring her features, and led Ji Xinghuo to the back of a bus. They rode for only a few stops before disembarking early.
"Xinghuo, go rent a couple of mounts."
"Okay."
Ji Xinghuo walked into a nearby stable, intending to rent a couple of horned horses. However, upon seeing a tall and majestic Wind-Taming Elk in the stable, with its antlers branching out like sturdy tree branches and its back large enough to accommodate two riders, he changed his mind.
Soon, he led the elk, which stood almost as tall as him, out of the stable.
"Sister Ren, this was the only mount left at the stable," Ji Xinghuo said with a smile, gallantly offering his hand to help her mount the elk.
"Then let's ride it," Ren Mian said, seeing through his little scheme but choosing not to call him out.
She stepped on his hand to hoist herself into the front saddle.
Ji Xinghuo happily jumped onto the saddle behind her, inhaling a whiff of a unique, delicate peach blossom fragrance. Even though he intentionally maintained a fist's distance, this still counted as an intimate moment.
The Wind-Taming Elk began to run, its movements light and agile.
A few strands of crystalline hair escaped from beneath Ren Mian's hat, floating in front of Ji Xinghuo's eyes and causing his heart to stir. As the elk ran faster, the swaying of the elk's back became more pronounced, prompting Ji Xinghuo to muster his courage and place his hand on Ren Mian's waist as he asked, "Sister Ren, it's too bumpy. Can we slow down a little?"
Ren Mian, who was controlling the elk, shook her body slightly and turned to give Ji Xinghuo a displeased look.
"Keep your hands to yourself, or I'll kick you off," she said.
Ji Xinghuo laughed and said, "At this speed, I'll fall off even without you kicking me."
Reluctantly, Ren Mian slowed down the elk, but Ji Xinghuo's hand remained on her waist, still but not quite idle.
Changing the subject, he asked, "Where are we going?"
"You'll know when we get there," she replied.
Ren Mian ignored Ji Xinghuo and, seeing that he wasn't taking advantage of the situation by leaning against her back, urged the elk to run faster.
Moments later, the Wind-Taming Elk had crossed half of the Eastern Xia District and came to a stop outside a stable near the Star Gate Plaza.
"We're already here?" Ji Xinghuo thought to himself. "I wish this ride could've lasted longer. It's not every day that I get to ride with Sister Ren, and it's already been almost twenty minutes."
"Get down," Ren Mian said as she hopped off the elk and waited by the roadside.
Ji Xinghuo returned the mount to the stable and came out to find Ren Mian already walking ahead. He quickly caught up and was about to apologize when he noticed a hint of amusement in her eyes, indicating that she wasn't truly angry.
Suddenly, Ren Mian asked, "How long before you reach the intermediate level?"
"Er..."
Ji Xinghuo scratched his head and discreetly checked his Myriad Star Pupils interface. The super grandmaster he had shot down a few days ago had granted him 22 points of spiritual source energy, and he had also hunted a few monsters on his way back to Olympia, investing all the spiritual source energy he obtained into ether affinity.
Currently, his ether affinity progress was (Level 3: 166/1439), with a cultivation speed nearly half as fast as before his hunting trip.
His current starlight power was 218, and he needed about 40 more points to evolve again.
"If I focus on cultivating, it should take about two star months," Ji Xinghuo estimated conservatively.
Ren Mian's eyes widened in surprise, and she nodded, "That's much faster than I expected."
"Why did you ask, Sister Ren?"
"I have an important hunting plan that I've been preparing for since last year, and you're a crucial part of it. If you can reach the intermediate level and further improve your strength, our chances of success will be much higher," Ren Mian replied softly.
Ji Xinghuo nodded, "Then I'll have to work even harder."
"Mhm."
Ren Mian fell silent as they arrived in front of a shop.
This street was close to the Star Gate Plaza and bustled with people. The shops along the street sold various weapons, equipment, exotic items, and had exchange stores. It was a lively place.
Ji Xinghuo glanced at the shop. From the outside, it looked ordinary—a three-story building with a sizable floor area, likely with an even larger space in the back. A modest sign hung by the door, adorned with three words in flowing cursive script.
"Dragon Gazing Tower," he whispered, reading the sign.
What a bold name!
Ji Xinghuo had never heard of this place before, but he knew that dragons truly existed in the Star World, and they were incredibly powerful, ruling as one of the dominant races.
Out of the over forty profession templates on Earth, two were related to dragons.
One was the Dragon Warrior, and the other was the Dragon Master.
Both of these professions were ridiculously strong. Dragon Warriors specialized in fusing with dragon-related exotics, harnessing the power of dragons, and even transforming into dragons themselves. On the other hand, Dragon Masters were similar to grandmasters, but they focused on taming dragons and were thus also known as Dragon Tamers.
In terms of cool factor, Dragon Masters were hardly any less impressive than Superconducting Sorcerers.
However, while anyone could strive to become a Superconducting Sorcerer, becoming a Dragon Master was mostly a matter of luck.
It was something most people wouldn't even dare to dream of.
"The Dragon Gazing Tower does all sorts of businesses. They sell weapons and equipment, and they also deal with items of unknown origins," Ren Mian said in a low voice. "Exotics, curiosities, treasures—as long as something is valuable enough, you can sell it at the Dragon Gazing Tower. They even trade confidential information."
Ji Xinghuo's heart skipped a beat. The fact that they dealt in information and had the guts to fence stolen goods meant that they surely had a formidable backer.
"Who founded the Dragon Gazing Tower?" he asked.
"Not a single person, but a group," Ren Mian replied. "The Dragon Gazing Tower is a trading platform established by over a dozen non-official legendary exotics. A legendary Dragon Master is the leading figure behind it."
Sister Ren was only a high-level exotic, so how did she join such an elite organization?
"I was brought in by an elder," Ren Mian said, noticing Ji Xinghuo's suspicion. "Now, quite a few exotic beings know about the Dragon Gazing Tower, and even the official sector has planted their people here. The upper echelons of the Dragon Gazing Tower turn a blind eye as long as the transactions aren't affected."
"Let's go in."
Ji Xinghuo followed her into the Dragon Gazing Tower. The front hall resembled a typical store, displaying various weapons, equipment, and exotics. Several salespeople were attending to customers.
Ren Mian walked straight through the front hall into a corridor. At the end of the corridor was a room with a 'Customers Only' sign hanging on the door.
She knocked on the door, and it opened a crack, allowing a glimpse of the inside.
"I'm a member," Ren Mian said, holding up a metal plaque shaped like a dragon as proof of her identity.
The door opened from the inside.
"Please come in."
The two of them entered the room, and Ji Xinghuo noticed that the doorman was a super exotic—a man in his thirties. As he approached, the humidity in the air noticeably increased, indicating that his profession was likely "Water Master."
"Is Selena in?" Ren Mian asked.
The man nodded silently.
"I'll go find her." Ren Mian was familiar with the place and exited through the other side of the room into a quiet indoor mall with only a few dozen customers.
The enclosed mall was divided into two levels, further sectioned into hundreds of rooms.
Ji Xinghuo's magnetic field sensing was already activated, and he realized that these rooms were used for categorized transactions, with very specific divisions. Weapons, for example, were divided into long spears, swords, knives, daggers, and oddly shaped weapons. Bows and arrows were categorized separately, and exotics were also classified by their grades. There were also various treasures, all of which were invaluable.
Some of the rooms were empty, but they had guests who were clearly not staff, as they displayed their goods for others to inspect.
Occasionally, people would walk by and ask a few questions if they were interested.
"A stall?"
Ji Xinghuo was quite curious. Having grown up in the internet age, he rarely encountered such simple forms of transaction.
From what he could gather, it seemed like anyone could set up a stall, and the Dragon Gazing Tower provided the space.
Ren Mian and Ji Xinghuo went upstairs and entered one of the rooms. Inside was a woman in her forties with red hair, high cheekbones, and a dignified air. Judging by her magnetic field strength and ether fluctuations, she was a super exotic.
"Ms. Ren," the woman said, standing up and speaking in the standard language of the Asian Union. A respectful smile graced her face as she continued, "It's been a while since you last visited the Dragon Gazing Tower. Welcome."
Ren Mian nodded slightly. "Mrs. Selena."
"What wonderful items have you brought us today, Ms. Ren? Or have you come to browse our selection?" Selena asked enthusiastically.
"Both."
"Then I'm excited to see what you have in store." Selena invited them to sit down.
Ji Xinghuo placed the bag containing the exotics on the table, and Ren Mian said, "Please appraise these exotics and give me a quote."
"Please give me a moment."
Selena had a sharp eye for exotics. She picked up the first one, a Xuanwu Rock Body, and exclaimed, "It's been a while since I've seen a Xuanwu Rock Body. Judging from its form, it should be a Stone Sickle Giant Devil from the Absolute Peak Valley, and it hasn't been long since it evolved into a super-class monster."
Ji Xinghuo was impressed. With just a glance, she had deduced so much information.
"The Xuanwu Rock Body has strong defense but compromises speed and agility, limiting its market. To sell it at a good price, we'd need to find an Earth Walker. It might take some time to find a buyer," Selena explained.
"The Dragon Gazing Tower can acquire it."
Selena thought for a moment before offering, "We can set the price at 1.4 million for the Xuanwu Rock Body. What do you think, Ms. Ren?" As she spoke, her eyes glanced intentionally or unintentionally at Ji Xinghuo.
Before they had come, Ren Mian had already told him that she would be making all the decisions.
"That's fine," Ren Mian agreed immediately. "A very fair price."
Selena then appraised the rest of the exotics and quoted acquisition prices based on their quality. There were too many Rockhide beasts, so the average price was lower than expected, but with the addition of several high-quality and excellent exotics, the final total still amounted to over four million.
Selena had someone take away the exotics and asked, "Ms. Ren, would you like to settle the payment now, or are you interested in purchasing something?"
"Please give me 30 days' worth of Blood Marrow Solution, the highest-quality Grade A type," Ren Mian requested.
Selena's face showed a hint of difficulty. "The production of Grade A Blood Marrow Solution has always been limited. The Dragon Gazing Tower only sells it to our long-term customers, and the demand exceeds the supply. I can only provide you with 20 days' worth at most."
"Then 20 days will do," Ren Mian said, not pressing further. "Additionally, supplement it with 10 days' worth of Grade B."
Ji Xinghuo didn't know what this Blood Marrow Solution was, but from the serious tone of their transaction, he could guess that it must be incredibly valuable.
Soon, Selena handed a box to Ren Mian.
Ren Mian opened it and saw glass vials filled with a blood-red liquid, each containing only about two milliliters. Twenty of the vials had a darker color, while the remaining ten were lighter, showing a clear distinction.
Ren Mian handed the Blood Marrow Solution to Ji Xinghuo for safekeeping.
"Selena, have there been any symbiotic exotics recently?" Ren Mian asked, and as she did, Ji Xinghuo's spirits lifted.
(End of Chapter)
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