Chapter 283: Procurement

While theft was common and raids occasionally occurred in Rainmist City, it was generally stable and safe.

“First, let's sell the low-level Chaos Being corpses,” Di Qing said, experienced as he piloted the black flying vessel towards the inner city. “Large-scale transactions for low-level Chaos Being corpses almost always happen at the Chaos Hall.”

“The first floor of Chaos Hall is for trading low-level Chaos Being corpses. On the second floor, you can exchange battle merits,” Di Qing explained. “Battle merits?” Luo Feng asked, looking at Di Qing.

“Killing low-level Chaos Beings earns you battle merits,” Di Qing smiled. “If you accumulate enough battle merits, you can exchange them for incredibly valuable treasures, even some of the rare items found in the Infinite Space Vault.”

Luo Feng understood and quickly asked, “How many battle merits will our spoils yield this time?” Di Qing shook his head. “Low-level God-Emperor Chaos Beings are the weakest tier. Six corpses mean six battle merits. We accumulate battle merits too slowly this way, so we usually sell the corpses and the battle merits together. After all, it's impossible to determine who killed them just from the corpses. You simply need to bring a new corpse to the second floor for verification to register the merits under your name.” Di Qing chuckled, “Generally, only Hall Masters and Elders are interested in collecting battle merits on a large scale.”

Luo Feng nodded. As they conversed, a towering, massive palace appeared before them. The palace was a deep azure, its profound color subtly hinting at the immense malevolence concealed within. Over countless ages, this palace had collected an unknown number of low-level Chaos Being corpses. Of course, many cultivators also perished during hunts. Hunting inherently carried both risks and rewards: success brought great profit, but failure could mean death. “We’ve arrived at Chaos Hall,” Di Qing said, gazing at the palace ahead.

Soon, Di Qing retracted the black flying vessel and led Luo Feng to the main entrance of Chaos Hall’s first floor. The first floor was quite vast, divided into thirteen independent areas, each designated for trading low-level Chaos Being corpses.

“The thirteen establishments here offer different prices for low-level Chaos Being corpses,” Di Qing said with a smile. “It’s best to inquire at a few places and sell to whoever offers the highest price.” “Brother Di Qing!” A chubby old man greeted them warmly. “Been hunting again? Looks like a good haul!”

“Just risking our lives, that’s all,” Di Qing replied, walking over with a smile. “You Origin World powerhouses have avatars, which makes you much stronger than us.” The chubby old man chuckled. Though he was more powerful and could afford life-saving items, he rarely went hunting anymore.

Powerhouses from the Myriad Worlds generally hunted far less frequently than those from the Origin World. “We’ve hunted six low-level Chaos Beings this time. Could you give us an estimate of what price you’d offer for each?” Di Qing asked, sitting down with Luo Feng. Attendants had already prepared food and wine nearby.

“And who is this?” the chubby old man asked, looking at Luo Feng.

“This is my brother, Luo Feng,” Di Qing replied. “I’m Bu You, and I’m responsible for Stall Number Three on the first floor of Chaos Hall,” the chubby old man said warmly. “Brother Luo Feng, please consider my business in the future.”

Although he was in charge of this stall, he wasn’t its owner. After all, there were only thirteen stalls on the first floor of Chaos Hall, and even weaker Elders didn’t qualify to control one.

Luo Feng nodded. “Alright!” After some negotiation, Di Qing stood up. “I’ll go ask a few other places.”

After inquiring at the three most familiar establishments, Di Qing finally sold the low-level Chaos Being corpses to these three. The corpses themselves sold for a total of 6.08 million Chaos Crystals, and the six battle merits sold for 600,000 Chaos Crystals, bringing the grand total to 6.68 million Chaos Crystals.

“There aren’t many people coming to sell low-level Chaos Being corpses,” Luo Feng observed during the transaction, noticing no other cultivators had come to sell spoils during that time.

“Rainmist City has at most a few hundred thousand hunting teams, and they usually hunt only once every few centuries or even longer. How much trade volume could Chaos Hall possibly see in a single season?” Di Qing remarked with a smile. Luo Feng calculated briefly and nodded. “Let’s divide the spoils.”

“You contributed significantly by covering our rear this time. So, I’ll first give you 500,000 Chaos Crystals from the total spoils, and we’ll split the rest evenly,” Di Qing allocated the funds right there in Chaos Hall. “That’s 3.59 million Chaos Crystals for you, and 3.09 million for me.”

“I owe you 100,000 Chaos Crystals, which I can pay back today,” Luo Feng said. Di Qing nodded and took out an item. It was a radiant, multi-faceted object shimmering with various strange colors. “Brother Luo Feng, how about I sell this treasure to you for 90,000 Chaos Crystals?”

“A Fantasm Labyrinth?” Luo Feng recognized it instantly.

This was a storage secret treasure, universally priced at 100,000 Chaos Crystals in Rainmist City. It was carried for storing valuables, and few in the entire Nine Rivers Sacred Realm could steal from it; almost every God-Emperor owned one. Luo Feng had been too poor to buy it before, but now, after his first hunt, he had over three million Chaos Crystals. If it were stolen, he would regret it immensely. “Buy, buy, buy! Of course, I’m willing to buy it,” Luo Feng laughed. “Brother Di Qing, where did you get an extra secret treasure?” Di Qing grinned. “Fantasm Labyrinths are often targeted in robberies outside, which also leads to counter-robberies. That’s how I’ve acquired a few.” He added, “Those shops sell them for a uniform 100,000 Chaos Crystals, but if I were to sell to them, they’d only offer 80,000.”

Luo Feng understood.

“I knew you’d want to buy one after this hunt, so I prepared it for you in advance,” Di Qing said. “Alright, let’s part ways here. I also plan to do some serious shopping.” “Okay.” Luo Feng easily refined the Fantasm Labyrinth. It was an extremely high-level spatial secret treasure; its craftsmanship probably reached the semi-Chaos level, but its simple materials and single function allowed its price to drop so low.

“After buying the Fantasm Labyrinth, I still have 3.4 million Chaos Crystals!” Luo Feng felt a surge of newfound wealth. “This time, I’m going on a real shopping spree.”

Previously, he had mostly bought the cheapest materials in Rainmist City, hesitant to purchase many items he desired. “Intelligence on all God-Emperors in Rainmist City, 10,000 Chaos Crystals per copy? I’ll take one first.” Luo Feng no longer felt any reluctance, casually buying a copy of the intelligence. This intelligence was stored in a black jade, concealing a new mantra technique.

“To read the intelligence, I first need to actively perform this New Mantra technique and imbue myself with a layer of ‘New Cosmos’ using my spiritual power?” Luo Feng quickly understood the instructions. He immediately used the black jade to activate the New Mantra.

Once the New Mantra was complete, the black jade dissolved, and a stream of information merged into Luo Feng’s mind—the detailed information of numerous God-Emperors in Rainmist City. “Rainmist City’s 10,377th God-Emperor Intelligence Update. Currently, there are approximately 3.47 million God-Emperors in Rainmist City. We have collected intelligence on 3,397,320 God-Emperors.”

“Rainmist City’s First God-Emperor: Hall Master Wei Yang! A semi-Chaos level Dao Seeker, an Origin World powerhouse, suspected to be the strongest being in Rainmist City. He has displayed a powerful physique, once killing a perfect-level God-Emperor Chaos Being in a one-on-one battle using only his physical might. He has also demonstrated terrifying formations, using them to encircle and annihilate an entire tribe of low-level Chaos Beings, with very few escaping. The intelligence also includes a faction associated with Hall Master Wei Yang’s actions, and some speculation about detailed combat scenarios.”

It was confirmed that nearly a hundred Elders in Rainmist City fully supported Hall Master Wei Yang, forming the largest faction in Rainmist City. They controlled fifty percent of the city’s trade. The three forces long known for theft and raiding within the city—Insect Hive, Wan Ying, and Ghost Fang—had all pledged allegiance to Hall Master Wei Yang. Luo Feng read carefully.

So, the three forces bold enough to commit theft and robbery within the city were actually backed by Hall Master Wei Yang and his faction of nearly a hundred Elders? And they controlled half of the city’s trade share. Truly terrifying.

“Rainmist City’s Second God-Emperor: Hall Master Yuan Xiang, a semi-Chaos level Dao Seeker, an Origin World powerhouse. He made immense contributions to the construction of Rainmist City, leading numerous Elders in many battles against low-level Chaos Being tribes during its establishment. In terms of combat burst power, he is even stronger than Hall Master Wei Yang. However, his physical body is relatively ordinary, and he has always carried injuries, possibly due to contamination by a high-level Chaos Being. As an Origin World powerhouse, he possesses multiple avatars, but each avatar is also afflicted by these injuries.”

The intelligence listed several instances where Hall Master Yuan Xiang acted. Due to his weaker physique, he always engaged in long-range attacks, seemingly capable of world-shattering destruction. Yet, merely seeing his image conveyed his frailty; his life force appeared to be struggling to sustain itself.

“He’s the city builder?” Luo Feng felt a flicker of respect for Hall Master Yuan Xiang at that moment. Establishing the city in the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm was incredibly difficult, and Hall Master Yuan Xiang’s contribution as the builder was immense. Nearly a hundred Elders also stood with him, but because Hall Master Yuan Xiang himself was weak and rarely acted, the faction he led seemed slightly less dominant.

“Rainmist City’s Third God-Emperor: God-Emperor Gai!”

“God-Emperor Gai, a semi-Chaos level Dao Seeker, an Origin World powerhouse. In the entire Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, he ranks among the top three in artifact refinement. He disdains conflict, focusing instead on artifact refinement with over thirty Elders who share his interest.”

“The various weapons and secret treasures he refines are sold in multiple cities across the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm. Through the power of his weapons and secret treasures, God-Emperor Gai’s strength is unfathomable, perhaps no less than Hall Master Wei Yang, but he acts so rarely that it’s difficult to accurately assess his true power.”

The intelligence included three casual combat scenarios: in one, he released a giant spherical abyss that directly swallowed a perfect-level God-Emperor Chaos Being. In another, he simply extended a hand, and a massive palm directly crushed an Elder who dared to offend him. Other Hall Masters said nothing about it; that Elder, though an Origin World powerhouse with avatars, never returned to Rainmist City thereafter.

In yet another instance, consumed by rage, he killed a disciple who followed him, directly devouring him in one gulp. It was clear that the disciple’s body was also like a secret treasure!

Of the 3,397,320 God-Emperors for whom intelligence was collected, there were three semi-Chaos level Dao Seekers (the three mentioned above). There were 723 late-stage God-Emperor Dao Seekers or those of similar strength. There were 52,092 mid-stage God-Emperor Dao Seekers or those of similar strength. The remaining were all early-stage God-Emperor Dao Seekers. Those like Di Ming, who barely reached the God-Emperor level through bloodline power, were not recognized by Rainmist City.

Only "early-stage God-Emperor Dao Seeker strength" was acknowledged as the minimum threshold for a God-Emperor. “We have also identified 53,321 suspected early-stage God-Emperor Dao Seekers.” The intelligence on suspected early-stage God-Emperor Dao Seekers was much briefer.

The 51,029th entry read: Luo Feng, recently arrived in Rainmist City, resides in the same cave dwelling as Di Qing, suspected early-stage God-Emperor Dao Seeker, suspected Origin World powerhouse. That was the extent of the information on Luo Feng.

“I’m actually in the intelligence report, even if it’s at the very end,” Luo Feng chuckled.