Chapter 13 Cloud Catcher City
After a short while of walking, Xuan arrived at the halfway point between Cloud Peak's summit and the city below. This place was called Cloudpeak Village. The single most creative, meaningful name in Xianxia Online. The village was about as classic as a village could get—it was the literal spitting image of what one would imagine when given the word 'village'.
Perhaps normal people would've spent the remainder of the night here to rest up, but Xuan had gone many nights without sleep before. He could endure it.
Without even entering the village itself, he strolled right on past it and continued down the mountain. Since it was about two in the morning and the moon was full, the lunar light still shone brightly on the mountainous road, illuminating his path downwards.
He did, however, notice there were a few other players staying here at the village as he passed, who had probably been woken from their sleep by the announcement about Xuan earlier. Presumably, they were going to enter the Public Event as well—that is, if they were smart enough to check their System Director.
About an hour of hiking later, Xuan finally reached the foot of the mountain, feet screaming in agony. Despite being three in the morning, Cloud Catcher City was as bustling with people as ever due to the announcement from before, but Xuan knew from experience that, even without it, this city would still be quite alive in the dead of night. In fact, the majority of stores and buildings here were open at all times, regardless of the time of day.
As he approached the east gates of the city, the two guards standing there saw his sect uniform and sent a brief nod his way. Xuan replied the courtesy with a similar gesture of his own, and he entered through the double doors without a word. Cloud Catcher City was very familiar with Sky Cloud Sect, so naturally sect disciples were allowed into the city without so much as an interrogation.
As the large metal doors clanked shut behind him, he sighed in relief amidst the bustling of the crowd.
'Alright,' he thought to himself as he organized his plan in his head. 'First, let's find something to eat, then find an inn to stay at for the night. As for tomorrow… obtaining a weapon is top priority for the Public Event happening in a few days. Though…'
In this world, one's skill in alchemy was directly proportional to their overall Soul Strength. As a Ninth-Layer Body Tempering stage cultivator, Xuan's current Soul stats should logically have been equal to his physical stats at 2,700, but the fact that they were listed as '???' instead on his Profile made him wonder if that was really the case after all.
'… Perhaps I can also pay this city's alchemist's guild a visit, huh?'
*****
With his goal clear, Xuan proceeded with the first step of his plan here in Cloud Catcher City: finding a place to eat.
Even at this ungodly hour, many restaurants in this city were still open. After some reconnaissance, Xuan eventually found what was apparently the most luxurious, high-class restaurant in the city. He ordered some of the few dishes he recognized, and...
… Well, it was high-class only by the standards of Cloud Catcher City, it would seem. To Xuan, the food tasted like garbage, mainly because in the past, all his meals were served directly by Immortal Fairy Huo Fei herself. Her cooking was unparalleled in this world, so after eating her homemade food for so long, everything else tasted like shit.
Still, food was food. Xuan choked down as much as he could, and then called a waiter over. He intended to tip only a small amount, if only to recognize their failed attempt to serve something even remotely edible. 'Perhaps a few hundred or so Spirit Crystals would suffice,' he thought.
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"Yes, sir? How may I help you?"
"I'd like to pay now, please."
"Right away! Your total is…" She paused for a moment, scanning over her notepad. "… 126 Spirit Crystals."
'Only 126? How cheap,' Xuan thought in his head, surprised by how low the price tag was. 'Huo Fei charges her customers over 100,000 per dish… and that's just the basic ones.'
Xuan reached into his pocket, used to the feeling of pulling out his Space Wallet, which contained—on average—a few billion Spirit Crystals. Taking his hand out of his pocket, he presented the waiter with...
… Nothing but thin air.
'… Oh.'
That's right. He had no money.
"… Ahem. Will you excuse me for a moment, madame? I need to use the bathroom."
"H-Huh? Oh, yes, for sure! The bathroom is that way."
The waitress, confused, pointed in the direction of the washrooms, and the strange man stepped out of his seat before quickly disappearing from view into the stalls. The waitress remained beside the table, waiting for him to come back, but even after several minutes, he did not return.
She shrugged. 'Probably a number two.'
With a sigh, the waitress began picking up the empty plates on the table, but as she was doing so, she suddenly heard the sound of something glass-like breaking coming from the bathroom.
She paused.
"… That's a big number two."
*****
Shaking off the glass pieces from his sect uniform, Xuan stopped and glanced one last time at the bathroom window he'd just crashed through. He muttered a quick word of apology to whoever was going to fix it.
Then, he bolted and never looked back.
His plans now had a new stop in them, them—accrue wealth. He'd been so used to having nigh infinite Spirit Crystals that he'd completely forgotten he'd now been reset and had nothing in his inventory. That being said, he did have some Credits, which he could trade for Spirit Crystals—that is, if he could first find someone who would be willing to trade.
It was sort of a stupid system how one couldn't directly purchase Spirit Crystals using Credits, but Nirvana's response to this at the time of the game's release had been that they wanted players to truly immerse themselves into this world. They didn't want Credits to be a free pass through everything, so players had to come up with ways to earn this world's currency as well in order to maintain a sustainable life. Xuan thought this reason was somewhat fair, but it sure was inconvenient.
After thinking about where would be the best place to find a player to trade with, Xuan settled on a shady little bar near the border of the city. The point was, cultivators or not, people still loved alcohol. A bar in a city like this was about the busiest, most crowded place one could be in—perfect for finding someone to bargain with.
Xuan walked in and sat down at an isolated corner of the counter, brushing past various people chatting, laughing, and clinking their wooden beer mugs together. Due to the height advantage and centralized location, this was a good vantage point to be at.
"Welcome, pal," the bartender, a man who seemed to be in his fifties, greeted with a flash of his crooked yellow teeth as he pulled out an empty wooden mug from under the table. "What can I get for ya today?"
"Oh, nothing yet," Xuan replied absentmindedly. "I'm waiting for someone."
"Huh… is that so?"
The bartender seemed a bit dubious, but he didn't want to pry, so he backed off and went back to talking with the other guests sitting at the counter. Likewise, Xuan felt the same—since entering a place like this without ordering anything was disrespectful, Xuan could only use this excuse to get the bartender off his back.
Meanwhile, Xuan took this opportunity to truly examine the crowd inside the bar—though the building wasn't very big, it sure was packed. Trying to identify a player by appearance alone was near impossible due to how lifelike NPCs were—especially with the new updates. But thankfully, there was a special trick players could use to find other players: the Chat feature.
He didn't use the Global channel, however. Instead, he used the Proximity Chat, which was a chat channel open only to those within a certain range of his location—perfect for finding nearby players. As for NPCs, they were still oblivious about the fact that they even had access to a chat, so they were out of the equation—for now, at least.
In addition to this, there was also another reason why Xuan was using the Chat instead of outright going around and asking for players. It was to find a certain lost artifact that he was unable to obtain in his past life—an artifact of which was rumored to be in the parts near this very city. Naturally, he couldn't just stand up and shout about it, otherwise those who didn't know about it before would now be trying to get their hands on it.
To those who didn't have the temperament to use the artifact, however, it was just a piece of trash that allowed them to identify whether someone was a player or an NPC—an ability completely unworthy of belonging to a Divine-Grade artifact. Hell, many low-grade artifacts had the same power. But to those who were, in fact, worthy… it contained unfathomable power.
There was a high chance a player had found this artifact by now, given how the first few batches of humanity's invacuation had entered the game hours before he had (the equivalent of days in-game). Xuan was setting all this up precisely to find this special item, due to just how much it meant to him.
After sending out a message in Proximity Chat, there would be a very good chance that many players would be interested and come for the trade. After all, it was Credits for the most basic of currencies—Spirit Crystals. By attracting this many people here, there was a good chance Xuan would be able to sense the powerful aura high-grade artifacts gave off coming from one of them.
And so, while everyone else was busy engaged in their own conversations or simply drunk, Xuan wrote a message in his Proximity Chat after toggling the 'Anonymous' identity, then hit <Send>.
[Anonymous: Messenger's Bar. Sitting at counter. Trade: Credits for Spirit Crystals.]
Xuan had been prepared to wait a few minutes, maybe even an hour or two. But almost immediately after he sent the message, he received a reply.
[Anonymous: On my way.]
Xuan blinked. 'Oh…? Interesting. Someone responded that quickly? Guess they are quite in need of Credits then, huh…'
[Zheng Bai: Credits for Spirit Crystals? Bet! Count me in!]
[Hu Bao: I'd like to trade as well.]
[Kong Yijun: I am just in need of some Credits for a technique I want to buy from the System Shop, actually. I'll be there in 5.]
[Jiang Zemin: … This isn't a scam, is it? Who would trade Credits for Spirit Crystals? Just do some Commission Quests…]
'… I would, if I had the time,' Xuan thought in his head with a sigh, then typed out a reply to them all.
[Anonymous: I will see you one at a time for privacy reasons on a first come, first serve basis. The first Anonymous user, I will speak with you first. When I am done negotiating, I will call the next person in this chat channel. The person who offers the best price will get the deal. If anyone comes before I call them, I won't trade with them—and if multiple come at the same time, I won't trade with any.]
Not bothering to wait for their replies, Xuan exited out of his System and waited patiently for the first trader to arrive. He knew they had no choice but to accept his terms if they wanted to take part in this excellent deal. As for why he was doing this… it was precisely because of the artifact he was looking for. If everyone came at once, it would be difficult to find it, and the others might also want to get their hands on it.
And so, while Xuan sat back and waited, he listened in on the various conversations going on around the tavern, between both drunkards and drunkards-to-be.
"Hey, Brother Gong, did you hear the news about the Ninth-Order Magic Beast?"
"What, the one the city lord's crying over?"
"Yeah! Heheh, don't tell anyone, but… I heard some rumors that it's actually a Wyvern!"
"Huh? A Wyvern?" The man named Brother Gong took a swig of his beer. "Guh… aren't those things the descendants of the Dragon Clan? What's one doing here?"
"I dunno either, but someone apparently saw the shadow of a massive dragon-like creature donning upon them with immense pressure while walking through Hefeng Forest the other day, strong enough that he didn't even dare to look up. It couldn't be a real dragon cuz' those guys never leave their Dragon Island, so it's gotta be a Wyvern!"
"Haha! Wyvern or not, this Gong can take them all! Drink, drink!"
"Yes, Brother Gong is the strongest!"
'Hm… a Wyvern?' Xuan chuckled to himself as the two men clinked their mugs together and downed another cup of beer. 'These idiots are so oblivious, not even knowing what the true role of Wyverns are in the Dragon Clan. Speaking of… those fools have already rebuilt their island so soon after I ravaged it? Huh… it seems quite some time has passed in the short duration I spent outside of the game.'
Perhaps time in-game had been fast-forward by a few years or something like that to accommodate for humanity's invacuation, Xuan mused.
But if what these drunkards say is true and this Ninth-Order Magic Beast threat is truly a Wyvern, then… Xuan's profit this time around may be even more than expected, with his experience. He chuckled at the thought.
Several minutes later, the fellow anonymous user opened the door to the bar. His System was open in front of him as if sending a message. Without a doubt, this was the guy. His whole character practically radiated 'incognito', from the hoodie that covered pretty much his entire face to the mossy cloak that made him look like some humanoid hairball.
Xuan sighed. No powerful artifact aura this time around. Well, at the very least, he could say he hadn't lying when he told the bartender he had been waiting for someone.
But then, without even looking anywhere else, the person walked directly towards Xuan, which caught him a little off-guard.
'Oh…? Interesting.'
Was it just because he'd looked at him for a brief moment just now? No, that can't be it. Everyone in the bar had turned to look at him when he entered, thanks to his odd attire that made it hard not to stand out. It wasn't just Xuan. And yet… this guy had walked directly towards him, as if they knew he was the one offering the trade.
'Could it be…?'
It was unlikely, but this actually could be the artifact Xuan was looking for. Chances were this was just some random Earth-Grade artifact at work, but he'd seen artifacts that hide their true grades before. It never hurt to try. If this really was the Divine Asura Eye he was looking for, then…
The anonymous player cut through the crowd with ease, ignoring all the stares on him, and sat down next to Xuan at the counter.
"Name your price."
Xuan liked this young man already. Efficient and straight to the point. After some thought, he responded.
"100,000 Spirit Crystals for 1,000 Credits. Deal?"
"Impossible," the other party cut in almost immediately. "Do you think I'm a novice at this? Don't take me for a fool."
"I don't, and I'm not," Xuan replied calmly, recalling how this person had responded near immediately to his message. "But if my guess is not wrong… you're in urgent need of these Credits, aren't you?"
"…" The other young man did not respond, signaling that Xuan had hit the mark with his words.
"Make your choice," he continued, his expression nonchalant. "I have many more customers waiting in line."
"I don't know what you're talking about," the young man replied coolly. "I don't have 100,000 Spirit Crystals. Name something lower."
"Hm… in that case…"
Xuan smiled, lowering his tone.
"… Give me your eye."
A test. And one that worked at that, given how the young man froze up.
"… What?"
"You know what I'm talking about. There's no need to play dumb, I won't try to take it from you by force. But…" Xuan let out a soft chuckle. "… You really don't have much of a choice here, do you? Most other players would never be willing to sell Credits for something as lowly as Spirit Crystals. Saint and Origin Crystals, maybe, but definitely not Spirit. Since you're not a 'novice' and all, you must be aware of this, yes?"
The other party was left in stunned silence for a few moments as he tried to figure out what to do next. After a short while, however, he spoke once more.
"… How did you discover it?"
Xuan shrugged. "It's simple, really. In my message, I didn't specify anything about my looks, yet when you entered this place, you came to me directly despite all the other people sitting at this very counter. Why is that? It's obvious—you could tell from one glance that I'm also a player. The artifact that enabled you to do that… I want it."
"… 10,000 Credits, then. Give me 10,000 Credits, and I'll give you this artifact."
Xuan laughed. "I don't think you understand your position, fellow cultivator. You're the one pinned to a corner right now. I can do without that artifact. It'll be regrettable, sure, but not necessary. You, on the other hand? Can you live without these Credits?"
The other man clenched his fists, knowing he was at a disadvantage. "The artifact plus 24,000 Spirit Crystals. Final line."
"30,000," Xuan continued bargaining nonchalantly.
"26,000…"
"28,000. Lowest I'll go."
"Tch… fine."
"Perfect," Xuan smiled, opening up his System. "What's your ID?"
The man stopped, tapping on his System a few times. "294038923," he said.
Xuan inputted the number into the Social tab, and pressed on 'Search'. Immediately, a single profile appeared, and he sent it a trade request. The other man accepted on his end, and without even a moment of delay, Xuan initiated the process.
[Your Offer]
[ 1,000 C | _ | _ | _ | _ ]
———
[Their Offer]
[ 28,000 Spirit Crystals | Divine Asura Eye | _ | _ | _ ]
'Divine Asura Eye… it's the real thing,' Xuan thought, not letting his surprise show on his face. 'But… why does it not have an aura?'
"… What's the meaning of this?" The other man frowned upon seeing Xuan's offer in the trade menu. "1,000? We agreed on 10,0-"
"We didn't agree on anything," Xuan cut in with a wry smile. "Think harder. When did I ever say I'll give you 10,000 Credits in return? My initial offer was 1,000. I never changed it. And besides… I don't even have 10,000 Credits anyway. I just got these thousand from completing a quest. This is all I have."
A lie, of course, but Xuan was correct in the first part. He never changed his deal at all.
[Your Offer]
[ 1,000 C | _ | _ | _ | _ ] ✓
———
[Their Offer]
[ 28,000 Spirit Crystals | Divine Asura Eye | _ | _ | _ ]
"Go on. Confirm it."
The other party, clearly struggling with this decision, hovered his finger over the 'Confirm' button beneath the trade menu. This was without a doubt a losing deal for him, but he needed these Credits to buy 'that' item from the System shop. It wasn't sold anywhere in Cloud Catcher City, so this was his only choice if he wanted to save his friend.
Taking a deep breath, he steeled his resolve, and pressed on the 'Confirm' button. The screen loaded a bit, then the transaction completed and the man stood up from his seat, turning around and preparing to leave.
"… That Divine Asura Eye is only an Earth-Grade artifact, by the way," He said quietly, not turning around. "It may sound cool, but all it does is show me whether someone's a player or an NPC. I'm not sure why you want it this much when you have Credits to spare—it's useless."
"Oh, it's useful, alright," Xuan replied. "Just to the right person. And besides…"
Standing up, he brushed past the other man, stopping to pat his shoulder as he did so.
"… If you really did scam me, do you think you would be able to pay the price?"
With that, he walked off, laughing, into the night. As the man watched Xuan leave, he felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down his neck at how easily he'd been outplayed and manipulated with no room at all to even fight back.
'Just who... was that man?'
Perhaps normal people would've spent the remainder of the night here to rest up, but Xuan had gone many nights without sleep before. He could endure it.
Without even entering the village itself, he strolled right on past it and continued down the mountain. Since it was about two in the morning and the moon was full, the lunar light still shone brightly on the mountainous road, illuminating his path downwards.
He did, however, notice there were a few other players staying here at the village as he passed, who had probably been woken from their sleep by the announcement about Xuan earlier. Presumably, they were going to enter the Public Event as well—that is, if they were smart enough to check their System Director.
About an hour of hiking later, Xuan finally reached the foot of the mountain, feet screaming in agony. Despite being three in the morning, Cloud Catcher City was as bustling with people as ever due to the announcement from before, but Xuan knew from experience that, even without it, this city would still be quite alive in the dead of night. In fact, the majority of stores and buildings here were open at all times, regardless of the time of day.
As he approached the east gates of the city, the two guards standing there saw his sect uniform and sent a brief nod his way. Xuan replied the courtesy with a similar gesture of his own, and he entered through the double doors without a word. Cloud Catcher City was very familiar with Sky Cloud Sect, so naturally sect disciples were allowed into the city without so much as an interrogation.
As the large metal doors clanked shut behind him, he sighed in relief amidst the bustling of the crowd.
'Alright,' he thought to himself as he organized his plan in his head. 'First, let's find something to eat, then find an inn to stay at for the night. As for tomorrow… obtaining a weapon is top priority for the Public Event happening in a few days. Though…'
In this world, one's skill in alchemy was directly proportional to their overall Soul Strength. As a Ninth-Layer Body Tempering stage cultivator, Xuan's current Soul stats should logically have been equal to his physical stats at 2,700, but the fact that they were listed as '???' instead on his Profile made him wonder if that was really the case after all.
'… Perhaps I can also pay this city's alchemist's guild a visit, huh?'
*****
With his goal clear, Xuan proceeded with the first step of his plan here in Cloud Catcher City: finding a place to eat.
Even at this ungodly hour, many restaurants in this city were still open. After some reconnaissance, Xuan eventually found what was apparently the most luxurious, high-class restaurant in the city. He ordered some of the few dishes he recognized, and...
… Well, it was high-class only by the standards of Cloud Catcher City, it would seem. To Xuan, the food tasted like garbage, mainly because in the past, all his meals were served directly by Immortal Fairy Huo Fei herself. Her cooking was unparalleled in this world, so after eating her homemade food for so long, everything else tasted like shit.
Still, food was food. Xuan choked down as much as he could, and then called a waiter over. He intended to tip only a small amount, if only to recognize their failed attempt to serve something even remotely edible. 'Perhaps a few hundred or so Spirit Crystals would suffice,' he thought.
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"Yes, sir? How may I help you?"
"I'd like to pay now, please."
"Right away! Your total is…" She paused for a moment, scanning over her notepad. "… 126 Spirit Crystals."
'Only 126? How cheap,' Xuan thought in his head, surprised by how low the price tag was. 'Huo Fei charges her customers over 100,000 per dish… and that's just the basic ones.'
Xuan reached into his pocket, used to the feeling of pulling out his Space Wallet, which contained—on average—a few billion Spirit Crystals. Taking his hand out of his pocket, he presented the waiter with...
… Nothing but thin air.
'… Oh.'
That's right. He had no money.
"… Ahem. Will you excuse me for a moment, madame? I need to use the bathroom."
"H-Huh? Oh, yes, for sure! The bathroom is that way."
The waitress, confused, pointed in the direction of the washrooms, and the strange man stepped out of his seat before quickly disappearing from view into the stalls. The waitress remained beside the table, waiting for him to come back, but even after several minutes, he did not return.
She shrugged. 'Probably a number two.'
With a sigh, the waitress began picking up the empty plates on the table, but as she was doing so, she suddenly heard the sound of something glass-like breaking coming from the bathroom.
She paused.
"… That's a big number two."
*****
Shaking off the glass pieces from his sect uniform, Xuan stopped and glanced one last time at the bathroom window he'd just crashed through. He muttered a quick word of apology to whoever was going to fix it.
Then, he bolted and never looked back.
His plans now had a new stop in them, them—accrue wealth. He'd been so used to having nigh infinite Spirit Crystals that he'd completely forgotten he'd now been reset and had nothing in his inventory. That being said, he did have some Credits, which he could trade for Spirit Crystals—that is, if he could first find someone who would be willing to trade.
It was sort of a stupid system how one couldn't directly purchase Spirit Crystals using Credits, but Nirvana's response to this at the time of the game's release had been that they wanted players to truly immerse themselves into this world. They didn't want Credits to be a free pass through everything, so players had to come up with ways to earn this world's currency as well in order to maintain a sustainable life. Xuan thought this reason was somewhat fair, but it sure was inconvenient.
After thinking about where would be the best place to find a player to trade with, Xuan settled on a shady little bar near the border of the city. The point was, cultivators or not, people still loved alcohol. A bar in a city like this was about the busiest, most crowded place one could be in—perfect for finding someone to bargain with.
Xuan walked in and sat down at an isolated corner of the counter, brushing past various people chatting, laughing, and clinking their wooden beer mugs together. Due to the height advantage and centralized location, this was a good vantage point to be at.
"Welcome, pal," the bartender, a man who seemed to be in his fifties, greeted with a flash of his crooked yellow teeth as he pulled out an empty wooden mug from under the table. "What can I get for ya today?"
"Oh, nothing yet," Xuan replied absentmindedly. "I'm waiting for someone."
"Huh… is that so?"
The bartender seemed a bit dubious, but he didn't want to pry, so he backed off and went back to talking with the other guests sitting at the counter. Likewise, Xuan felt the same—since entering a place like this without ordering anything was disrespectful, Xuan could only use this excuse to get the bartender off his back.
Meanwhile, Xuan took this opportunity to truly examine the crowd inside the bar—though the building wasn't very big, it sure was packed. Trying to identify a player by appearance alone was near impossible due to how lifelike NPCs were—especially with the new updates. But thankfully, there was a special trick players could use to find other players: the Chat feature.
He didn't use the Global channel, however. Instead, he used the Proximity Chat, which was a chat channel open only to those within a certain range of his location—perfect for finding nearby players. As for NPCs, they were still oblivious about the fact that they even had access to a chat, so they were out of the equation—for now, at least.
In addition to this, there was also another reason why Xuan was using the Chat instead of outright going around and asking for players. It was to find a certain lost artifact that he was unable to obtain in his past life—an artifact of which was rumored to be in the parts near this very city. Naturally, he couldn't just stand up and shout about it, otherwise those who didn't know about it before would now be trying to get their hands on it.
To those who didn't have the temperament to use the artifact, however, it was just a piece of trash that allowed them to identify whether someone was a player or an NPC—an ability completely unworthy of belonging to a Divine-Grade artifact. Hell, many low-grade artifacts had the same power. But to those who were, in fact, worthy… it contained unfathomable power.
There was a high chance a player had found this artifact by now, given how the first few batches of humanity's invacuation had entered the game hours before he had (the equivalent of days in-game). Xuan was setting all this up precisely to find this special item, due to just how much it meant to him.
After sending out a message in Proximity Chat, there would be a very good chance that many players would be interested and come for the trade. After all, it was Credits for the most basic of currencies—Spirit Crystals. By attracting this many people here, there was a good chance Xuan would be able to sense the powerful aura high-grade artifacts gave off coming from one of them.
And so, while everyone else was busy engaged in their own conversations or simply drunk, Xuan wrote a message in his Proximity Chat after toggling the 'Anonymous' identity, then hit <Send>.
[Anonymous: Messenger's Bar. Sitting at counter. Trade: Credits for Spirit Crystals.]
Xuan had been prepared to wait a few minutes, maybe even an hour or two. But almost immediately after he sent the message, he received a reply.
[Anonymous: On my way.]
Xuan blinked. 'Oh…? Interesting. Someone responded that quickly? Guess they are quite in need of Credits then, huh…'
[Zheng Bai: Credits for Spirit Crystals? Bet! Count me in!]
[Hu Bao: I'd like to trade as well.]
[Kong Yijun: I am just in need of some Credits for a technique I want to buy from the System Shop, actually. I'll be there in 5.]
[Jiang Zemin: … This isn't a scam, is it? Who would trade Credits for Spirit Crystals? Just do some Commission Quests…]
'… I would, if I had the time,' Xuan thought in his head with a sigh, then typed out a reply to them all.
[Anonymous: I will see you one at a time for privacy reasons on a first come, first serve basis. The first Anonymous user, I will speak with you first. When I am done negotiating, I will call the next person in this chat channel. The person who offers the best price will get the deal. If anyone comes before I call them, I won't trade with them—and if multiple come at the same time, I won't trade with any.]
Not bothering to wait for their replies, Xuan exited out of his System and waited patiently for the first trader to arrive. He knew they had no choice but to accept his terms if they wanted to take part in this excellent deal. As for why he was doing this… it was precisely because of the artifact he was looking for. If everyone came at once, it would be difficult to find it, and the others might also want to get their hands on it.
And so, while Xuan sat back and waited, he listened in on the various conversations going on around the tavern, between both drunkards and drunkards-to-be.
"Hey, Brother Gong, did you hear the news about the Ninth-Order Magic Beast?"
"What, the one the city lord's crying over?"
"Yeah! Heheh, don't tell anyone, but… I heard some rumors that it's actually a Wyvern!"
"Huh? A Wyvern?" The man named Brother Gong took a swig of his beer. "Guh… aren't those things the descendants of the Dragon Clan? What's one doing here?"
"I dunno either, but someone apparently saw the shadow of a massive dragon-like creature donning upon them with immense pressure while walking through Hefeng Forest the other day, strong enough that he didn't even dare to look up. It couldn't be a real dragon cuz' those guys never leave their Dragon Island, so it's gotta be a Wyvern!"
"Haha! Wyvern or not, this Gong can take them all! Drink, drink!"
"Yes, Brother Gong is the strongest!"
'Hm… a Wyvern?' Xuan chuckled to himself as the two men clinked their mugs together and downed another cup of beer. 'These idiots are so oblivious, not even knowing what the true role of Wyverns are in the Dragon Clan. Speaking of… those fools have already rebuilt their island so soon after I ravaged it? Huh… it seems quite some time has passed in the short duration I spent outside of the game.'
Perhaps time in-game had been fast-forward by a few years or something like that to accommodate for humanity's invacuation, Xuan mused.
But if what these drunkards say is true and this Ninth-Order Magic Beast threat is truly a Wyvern, then… Xuan's profit this time around may be even more than expected, with his experience. He chuckled at the thought.
Several minutes later, the fellow anonymous user opened the door to the bar. His System was open in front of him as if sending a message. Without a doubt, this was the guy. His whole character practically radiated 'incognito', from the hoodie that covered pretty much his entire face to the mossy cloak that made him look like some humanoid hairball.
Xuan sighed. No powerful artifact aura this time around. Well, at the very least, he could say he hadn't lying when he told the bartender he had been waiting for someone.
But then, without even looking anywhere else, the person walked directly towards Xuan, which caught him a little off-guard.
'Oh…? Interesting.'
Was it just because he'd looked at him for a brief moment just now? No, that can't be it. Everyone in the bar had turned to look at him when he entered, thanks to his odd attire that made it hard not to stand out. It wasn't just Xuan. And yet… this guy had walked directly towards him, as if they knew he was the one offering the trade.
'Could it be…?'
It was unlikely, but this actually could be the artifact Xuan was looking for. Chances were this was just some random Earth-Grade artifact at work, but he'd seen artifacts that hide their true grades before. It never hurt to try. If this really was the Divine Asura Eye he was looking for, then…
The anonymous player cut through the crowd with ease, ignoring all the stares on him, and sat down next to Xuan at the counter.
"Name your price."
Xuan liked this young man already. Efficient and straight to the point. After some thought, he responded.
"100,000 Spirit Crystals for 1,000 Credits. Deal?"
"Impossible," the other party cut in almost immediately. "Do you think I'm a novice at this? Don't take me for a fool."
"I don't, and I'm not," Xuan replied calmly, recalling how this person had responded near immediately to his message. "But if my guess is not wrong… you're in urgent need of these Credits, aren't you?"
"…" The other young man did not respond, signaling that Xuan had hit the mark with his words.
"Make your choice," he continued, his expression nonchalant. "I have many more customers waiting in line."
"I don't know what you're talking about," the young man replied coolly. "I don't have 100,000 Spirit Crystals. Name something lower."
"Hm… in that case…"
Xuan smiled, lowering his tone.
"… Give me your eye."
A test. And one that worked at that, given how the young man froze up.
"… What?"
"You know what I'm talking about. There's no need to play dumb, I won't try to take it from you by force. But…" Xuan let out a soft chuckle. "… You really don't have much of a choice here, do you? Most other players would never be willing to sell Credits for something as lowly as Spirit Crystals. Saint and Origin Crystals, maybe, but definitely not Spirit. Since you're not a 'novice' and all, you must be aware of this, yes?"
The other party was left in stunned silence for a few moments as he tried to figure out what to do next. After a short while, however, he spoke once more.
"… How did you discover it?"
Xuan shrugged. "It's simple, really. In my message, I didn't specify anything about my looks, yet when you entered this place, you came to me directly despite all the other people sitting at this very counter. Why is that? It's obvious—you could tell from one glance that I'm also a player. The artifact that enabled you to do that… I want it."
"… 10,000 Credits, then. Give me 10,000 Credits, and I'll give you this artifact."
Xuan laughed. "I don't think you understand your position, fellow cultivator. You're the one pinned to a corner right now. I can do without that artifact. It'll be regrettable, sure, but not necessary. You, on the other hand? Can you live without these Credits?"
The other man clenched his fists, knowing he was at a disadvantage. "The artifact plus 24,000 Spirit Crystals. Final line."
"30,000," Xuan continued bargaining nonchalantly.
"26,000…"
"28,000. Lowest I'll go."
"Tch… fine."
"Perfect," Xuan smiled, opening up his System. "What's your ID?"
The man stopped, tapping on his System a few times. "294038923," he said.
Xuan inputted the number into the Social tab, and pressed on 'Search'. Immediately, a single profile appeared, and he sent it a trade request. The other man accepted on his end, and without even a moment of delay, Xuan initiated the process.
[Your Offer]
[ 1,000 C | _ | _ | _ | _ ]
———
[Their Offer]
[ 28,000 Spirit Crystals | Divine Asura Eye | _ | _ | _ ]
'Divine Asura Eye… it's the real thing,' Xuan thought, not letting his surprise show on his face. 'But… why does it not have an aura?'
"… What's the meaning of this?" The other man frowned upon seeing Xuan's offer in the trade menu. "1,000? We agreed on 10,0-"
"We didn't agree on anything," Xuan cut in with a wry smile. "Think harder. When did I ever say I'll give you 10,000 Credits in return? My initial offer was 1,000. I never changed it. And besides… I don't even have 10,000 Credits anyway. I just got these thousand from completing a quest. This is all I have."
A lie, of course, but Xuan was correct in the first part. He never changed his deal at all.
[Your Offer]
[ 1,000 C | _ | _ | _ | _ ] ✓
———
[Their Offer]
[ 28,000 Spirit Crystals | Divine Asura Eye | _ | _ | _ ]
"Go on. Confirm it."
The other party, clearly struggling with this decision, hovered his finger over the 'Confirm' button beneath the trade menu. This was without a doubt a losing deal for him, but he needed these Credits to buy 'that' item from the System shop. It wasn't sold anywhere in Cloud Catcher City, so this was his only choice if he wanted to save his friend.
Taking a deep breath, he steeled his resolve, and pressed on the 'Confirm' button. The screen loaded a bit, then the transaction completed and the man stood up from his seat, turning around and preparing to leave.
"… That Divine Asura Eye is only an Earth-Grade artifact, by the way," He said quietly, not turning around. "It may sound cool, but all it does is show me whether someone's a player or an NPC. I'm not sure why you want it this much when you have Credits to spare—it's useless."
"Oh, it's useful, alright," Xuan replied. "Just to the right person. And besides…"
Standing up, he brushed past the other man, stopping to pat his shoulder as he did so.
"… If you really did scam me, do you think you would be able to pay the price?"
With that, he walked off, laughing, into the night. As the man watched Xuan leave, he felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down his neck at how easily he'd been outplayed and manipulated with no room at all to even fight back.
'Just who... was that man?'
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