Chapter 2478 — The Fight for the Blue Crystal (Part One)

Facing Yang Qiqi stood a man in a green mask, built like a scraggly beanpole—an expert of the early Earth Rank. He was eyeing her with utter contempt: "Little girl, if you have any sense, hand the thing over. We will make a fair trade. Do not make me lose my patience!"

"Fair trade, is it? Nicely put. Never mind whether what you are offering is worth what I have—I do not wish to trade with you, and so you mean to force a sale on me. Do you really think this market runs by your word alone?" Yang Qiqi glared at the beanpole before her. "This is going too far!"

"Little girl, have you failed to grasp the situation? Inside the market, of course, no one forces a sale. But outside the market, it is fists that do the talking." The beanpole man chuckled, utterly indifferent to her fury, taking pride where he ought to have felt shame. "If your fists were bigger, you could take what I hold back from me just the same!"

"You..." Yang Qiqi's chest heaved. Furious as she was, she knew she was no match for this man. She was only a peak late-stage Mystic Rank external expert, while the man before her was already an early Earth Rank expert—and an internal expert at that. She was certainly no match for him!

In truth, from the moment he had snatched her treasure, Yang Qiqi had known she was no match for this man! A single palm wind from him had left her badly hurt. An Earth Rank expert who could unleash martial techniques was simply different—not on the same level as a Mystic Rank expert at all.

And what Yang Qiqi excelled at was merely light-body skill. Though her rank was there, she was not skilled in combat, so if it truly came to a fight, she would surely come off badly. That was why, to this moment, she had done no more than denounce him in anger, not daring to strike.

Yet no matter how weak Yang Qiqi's position, the onlookers merely watched the show. Not one person stepped forward to help. Though any clear-eyed person could see at a glance that she was being bullied, at a time like this no one was willing to invite trouble.

Wei Zhao frowned, hesitating inwardly. To help or not to help? In truth, Wei Zhao did not care to invite trouble either. He had come only to trade for what he needed, and once the trade was done he would leave—he did not wish to stir up complications.

But Yang Qiqi was, after all, an acquaintance of Wei Zhao's. Granted, the girl often repaid kindness with ingratitude, but he had seen her body, after all, and during the trials of the Ice Palace they had, in a sense, worked together.

Just as Wei Zhao hesitated, the beanpole spoke again: "What are you all staring at? Scram, all of you! Or do you mean to stick your necks out for this little girl too?"

At the beanpole's words, the onlookers instinctively backed away two steps. Clearly the beanpole carried some weight; masked though he was, someone surely knew him—or rather, he was a tyrant of the market who often pulled this sort of trick. Most people simply dared not speak their anger aloud.

And those he bullied were mostly lone soft targets; once bullied, no one would stand up for them, and the stronger experts disdained to meddle in such affairs. "Hang high and let it pass"—that was perfectly normal in the world of cultivation.

"You..." Yang Qiqi ground her teeth in fury, on the verge of tears. With great effort she had learned the location of this market's trade, signed up, and brought her precious treasure hoping to exchange it for medicine to keep Xiao Jiu's illness in check—yet before she had even entered the market, her treasure had been brazenly stolen from her!

In truth, this was her own inexperience. Fearing she would be cheated in the later trades, Yang Qiqi had taken out her treasure before entering to have others appraise it and see its worth—and thus had the beanpole fixed his eyes on her.

Yang Qiqi had never imagined the market would be so chaotic. The rules she had inquired about beforehand said that trade in the market was fair and just and that one could refuse an exchange. How was she to know such a thing would happen before she even entered?

"Then where is the thing you mean to trade me?" Seeing that not a single person would speak a word of justice on her behalf, and that at the beanpole's shout the crowd had scattered seven or eight parts, Yang Qiqi knew at once that she must swallow this loss, and could only settle for the next best thing.

"Oh, this is a second-grade pill, the Minor Qi-Gathering Pill. Seeing as you are a peak late-stage Mystic Rank expert, eating it will help you advance to Earth Rank!" The beanpole man fished a small box from his pocket and handed it to Yang Qiqi. "Well? Fair enough?"

"I..." Yang Qiqi felt stifled, yet had no recourse. She could only stiffen her neck and say, "Is my Blue Crystal worth no more than a single Minor Qi-Gathering Pill?"

In truth, a second-grade pill was valuable enough, but all those who had witnessed the whole affair knew that Yang Qiqi's item was worth far more! The Blue Crystal—never mind its high commercial value in itself; like certain top-grade jades, it was excellent material for reforging weapons!

In this day and age, artificers had long since vanished from the world. Fortunately, some divine weapons and keen blades had come down from ancient times, but even these were not necessarily the most suitable ones. Divine weapons too are divided among the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. One who practices a metal-attribute mental method is best served by a metal-attribute divine weapon; wield a water-attribute one, and naturally the effect will not be optimal.

Yet cultivators often cannot choose the attribute of the divine weapon in their hands. It is hard enough to get hold of one at all—who would be picky? Where would you find an attribute that suits you so perfectly?

Thus at such times the divine weapon must be reforged! The method is this: take the vital blood or some part of the body of a heaven-rank spirit beast of the corresponding attribute, place it together with the divine weapon into a furnace, and temper and reforge it—and the weapon's attribute can be changed!

For example, the blood of a metal-attribute heaven-rank spirit beast can reforge a divine weapon's attribute into metal! Of course, such reforging is not guaranteed; success also depends on the auxiliary materials used in the tempering. These auxiliary materials are fine jades—and pure yellow jade is one of them!

The purer and more abundant the jade added, the higher the chance of successfully tempering the divine weapon's attribute.

If pure jade is precious in the world of cultivation, then the Blue Crystal is all the more precious! The Blue Crystal's effect is even more heaven-defying—it can temper a divine weapon into one that an Earth Rank expert can wield!