Da Mi Luan City, District 10.
The wide road was spacious enough to accommodate twelve chariots abreast, with buildings of varying heights on either side, some seven or eight meters tall, others reaching twenty or thirty meters, but all built with extraordinary grandeur. Some structures were dominated by ancient, sturdy trees, while others resembled gaping monstrous mouths, and still others were pagodas and palaces.
This truly opened An Jianyou's eyes.
As expected of the most prosperous city in the Shattered Sea region, it held many things she had never seen before.
Having handled many affairs at the Mission Guild, An Jianyou's knowledge of this grand metropolis far surpassed that of many native residents of Da Mi Luan City—ordinary people born and raised here often never left their designated digital districts in their lifetime, and almost always remained in the outer districts.
Even awakened individuals, those of lower tiers, only crossed a few districts to make a living.
An Jianyou, in managing the guild, had traveled to many parts of Da Mi Luan City in just two months. This giant city was even larger than their Water Marsh Base City, though its population was far smaller.
There were no population statistics here, but from some of the information compiled by the guild, one could make a judgment.
It wouldn't exceed fifty million.
Most were still concentrated in the outer districts, or more precisely, in the slums of the outer districts. The scenes she witnessed in the slums made her feel a pang of sorrow, and she couldn't help but sigh, yet there was nothing she could do to change it.
This was Da Mi Luan City.
The poor were extremely poor, and the rich were extremely rich.
Like this District 10, this entire district was the city's 'commercial street', a high-end commercial street at that, where a plot of land cost an exorbitant price, enough to make even the wealthy An gasp.
"So many of the shops here are run by outside forces! If our Blazing Fire Mall could rent out this many shops, wouldn't we be rich!"
Liu Ying's head turned left and right, her eyes darting everywhere, already seeing shapes of money.
She was utterly amazed.
The Blazing Fire Mall was indeed far inferior. Not only was the number of shops less than one-thousandth or one-ten-thousandth of what was here, but even the rent per square meter was vastly lower than here.
This was a golden district, where every inch of land was precious!
Why was the main base of the former Hidden Kill Pavilion located in District 11? Wasn't it precisely because District 10 was too expensive! Of course, there was also no need for it, as this was a commercial district.
Not only that, but the land parcel where the Hidden Kill Pavilion left its base was only leased by them, not purchased and transferred to the Blazing Fire Merchants Guild, which seemed to have only a year or two left.
Bad rating.
An Jianyou nodded, clenching her fist with surging fighting spirit, "So, we need to work hard and make the mall bigger and stronger, to reach the same level as this place."
"I have no doubt our mall will grow stronger. When the time comes to purchase shops, I'll buy one and wait for it to appreciate, hahahaha, I'm so clever~!"
"Hey, Youyou, you have such a good relationship with your mentor, why not ask for some inside information for us sisters?"
Liu Ying poked An Jianyou's waist with her elbow, receiving a flick on the head in return.
Ouch!
Seeing Liu Ying's enthusiasm, An Jianyou pondered, "With Da Mi Luan City's commercial prosperity, there must be things worth learning. Ying, why don't you write a research report?"
Liu Ying: "???"
The more An Jianyou thought about it, the more she felt this report was necessary. Didn't her mentor always ask her to write reflection reports? Now, it was time to pass this organizational culture down.
Of course, she would also write one. Having written so many of them, she felt a bit unaccustomed to not being asked to write one by her mentor for a while.
One full of high spirits, one with a drooping head, and several with wide, curious eyes, the innocent girls ventured into the bustling street.
This wasn't the first time the group had been to District 10, but previously they were busy with official duties. It was only today, on holiday and resting, that they could leisurely stroll and experience the customs and traditions of this 'other world'.
There were truly many otherworldly elements here, opening the girls' eyes. Xu Yun's mouth remained slightly agape the entire time.
However, as they gradually grew accustomed to these novel elements, they discovered that the otherworldly styles here were excessively diverse.
Every ten or twenty meters, the styles of two shops would be drastically different. Each building appeared to have been constructed entirely by its respective faction, with no unified standard.
Here, there were ancient wooden buildings, and not far away, there was a fiery style adorned with countless towering torches. This was acceptable, at least in An Jianyou's view, both buildings were novel. But what about the one more than two hundred meters away?
The entire exterior wall of the building was carved with hundreds of massive fish heads. These fish heads were grayish-blue, their eyes wide open, staring at the passersby, as if saying, "Come in, guests, come in..." As if!
Seeing the hundreds of dead fish eyes seemingly staring at her, An Jianyou got goosebumps.
Liu Ying also hugged her arms, shivering, "How can there be such an anti-human design!"
"Because the owner of that shop is not human."
An Jianyou turned her head to the side. The speaker was a man wearing a headscarf, accompanied by several servants.
Judging by their appearance, they were either wealthy or noble.
However, in this District 10, nobles and wealthy merchants being accompanied by servants was commonplace; perhaps they were the exception.
But what concerned An Jianyou more was the statement "not human."
Were they aliens?
Aliens did exist; she had known this from various sources. For example, the City of Falling Stars kept several fantastical life forms like 'flower fairies', 'blue sprites', and 'minotaurs', though in small numbers. They were more like rare protected creatures than aliens.
There were also more powerful alien life forms, like the Serpent of Imagination.
Her practice of Void Contemplation required consuming snake brains and scales.
But she had only seen these in texts; she had never encountered a living fantastical creature.
Without needing to speak, Liu Ying eagerly asked the question that was on her mind, "What race are they? Are there alien vassals in Da Mi Luan City?"
So naive, an innocent girl of the world.
She was clearly visiting Da Mi Luan City for the first time, and perhaps it was her first time traveling far from home.
Yet, she seemed to possess considerable wealth, as the strange artifacts they wore looked extraordinary.
A faint glint flashed in the depths of the turbaned merchant's eyes. With a smile, he said, "You ladies have guessed wrong. The Sea Monster Palace, behind this Ten Thousand Fish Pavilion, is a dominant force throughout the entire Shattered Sea region, no less than Da Mi Luan City itself."
"It's just that alien forces like the Sea Monster Palace rarely interact with humans, and it's hard to see them even in large cities. Of course, alien races are not uncommon in our Da Mi Luan City."
An Jianyou saw.
The welcoming staff at the distant Ten Thousand Fish Pavilion were still human, but looking through the main door, one could see several peculiar 'human figures'. They had large fish heads and wore wide sleeves similar to humans, creating an indescribable sense of disharmony.
Were those sea monsters?
Similar, but not entirely.
An Jianyou recalled that the Sea Monster Palace seemed to be a dominant force gathering various fantastical life forms. She had seen a little about it in the data from the Hidden Kill Pavilion's base. However, the information was scarce. Although the Hidden Kill Pavilion claimed to have bases everywhere, they were limited to human territories and had little contact with other races.
What they took over were only scattered outposts, not the core of the Hidden Kill Pavilion, making it difficult to find much high-level, secret information.
However, besides the Sea Monster Palace, there seemed to be another dominant alien force – Wind Spirit Island.
An Jianyou soon saw them.
They were beings about three to four meters tall, humanoid, their entire bodies seemingly constructed of whirlwinds, appearing semi-transparent. They didn't walk, but floated... poof, a group of them.
Clearly, those who had lived in Da Mi Luan City's royal and upper districts for a long time were accustomed to the existence of such fantastical life forms.
An Jianyou and her companions were merely curious. After seeing them, they felt it was nothing special. They all had two hands and two legs. Even with four or eight hands, it wasn't that surprising when you thought about it.
She herself could grow eight or ten arms.
Hmm... Unconsciously, she recalled her non-human form, and An Jianyou forcefully shook her head. "Demons and monsters, begone!"
They learned many novel things from this turbaned man who called himself 'the helpful merchant Aquino'. Because of this, they couldn't refuse Aquino's recommendation and came to a large shop.
"Here we are.
"This is the gambling stone shop I told you about—Shattered Rock Gambling Stones.
"If you want to buy some rare and exotic treasures, you don't need to go to various treasure pavilions to pick them out. Just come here. Not only can the raw stones here yield high-grade strange crystal ores, but they can also yield all sorts of rare treasures. Not long ago, someone dug out a divine crystal here! A divine crystal!
"That down-on-his-luck young master who dug out the divine crystal became rich overnight and is now a legend. If you don't believe me, ask the passersby around."
This gambling stone shop, at first glance, was indeed extraordinary.
Firstly, it was large. In this expensive District 10, the area occupied by Shattered Rock Gambling Stones was two to three times that of the previous Ten Thousand Fish Pavilion.
Moreover, the gambling stone shop was exceptionally lively, and one could often hear exclamations of surprise.
Accompanied by the halo of treasures bursting forth as the raw stones were broken open.
An Jianyou also saw it. Indeed, many of them were rare and exotic items that she barely recognized. She could only judge their extraordinary nature by the brilliance of the treasures.
According to the people discussing nearby, some of these raw stones came from ancient ruins and could yield inheritances of ancient civilizations.
"Why don't you ladies give it a try? You can start with the smaller denominations," Merchant Aquino introduced enthusiastically.
An Jianyou and the others toured the gambling stone shop. Seeing many people unearthing treasures, they were also tempted.
They spent several thousand strange crystals to buy a few small, pitted raw stones.
Don't underestimate a few thousand strange crystals. This was already the price of a blue strange artifact. Some non-human beings only had one or two blue strange artifacts on their entire bodies.
And non-humans, even in a place like Da Mi Luan City, were elite individuals.
The few raw stones they bought based on their intuition were immediately cracked open. Several yielded only scattered strange crystals, a significant loss. However, when the last raw stone was cracked open, it emitted a faint purple glow.
"It's Epic!"
"It's out!"
People gathered around, chattering.
A鉴定 (jiàndìng - appraisal) expert on-site evaluated the value of this epic material, with an initial estimate of thirty thousand. This meant they had easily earned twenty to thirty thousand strange crystals on this gamble!
A huge profit!
People around them looked envious, and some urged An Jianyou to pick more large ones while her luck was hot, to broaden their horizons.
Just then, a shout came from afar.
A new batch of raw stones had arrived, freshly transported from the outside.
"These raw stones haven't been picked yet, they're most likely to yield good items!"
"Yeah, if I had enough money, I'd definitely give it a try today."
"You all hesitate, this young master will pick first. If I'm slow, I won't be able to get the good stuff."
Many people became anxious, as if it were truly a case of "first come, first served."
Seeing this, Liu Ying, Xiong Tianshuang, and the others also grew anxious, "Youyou, let's go together."
An Jianyou hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
This batch of raw stones was large and of high quality, and the price was much higher than the previous scraps. The cheapest cost over a hundred thousand strange crystals, while the expensive ones cost hundreds of thousands or millions.
As if sensing the hesitation of An Jianyou and her companions, Aquino spoke up, "Ladies, do you not have that much strange crystal on you? That's alright. This gambling stone shop also provides a mortgage service. You can have your items appraised, and when the raw stones yield treasures, you can redeem them."
As he spoke, wealthy merchants, young masters, and young ladies were already picking.
One, two, three... Several raw stones of excellent quality were successively taken. The atmosphere at the scene became even more tense and passionate.
Under such an atmosphere, An Jianyou couldn't help but make a move, purchasing a raw stone worth over a million strange crystals.
Liu Ying and the others had a stronger desire to purchase, but they didn't have hundreds of thousands of strange crystals in cash. Their entire collection of strange artifacts might be worth that much.
After hesitating, they still couldn't bear to gamble.
An Jianyou was also worried about acting impulsively. She took the raw stone without cracking it and left with the other three.
After they left, the lively atmosphere inside the gambling stone shop strangely cooled down.
Merchant Aquino and a manager of the gambling stone shop walked over. Both had a look of regret on their faces.
"I didn't expect them to restrain themselves."
"What a pity. A young lady who could casually spend a million strange crystals. If she had mortgaged something, wouldn't we have earned tens of millions?"
"Earning a million strange crystals now is not bad either. After all, we have no cost; these are all waste stones collected from various places."
"By the way, have these waste stones ever yielded treasures?"
"Isn't that a silly question? Even a mythological being wouldn't be able to find many rare treasures."
The two exchanged glances and gradually started to chuckle.
...
"Youyou, I think we were tricked!"
Walking on the road, Liu Ying thought more and more that something was wrong.
It was the atmosphere at the time that made them feel impulsive. But now, with their minds cooled down, they felt that the passersby, the merchant, the rich young masters, and so on, were all actors. They were the only outsiders in this staged play.
Moreover, giving a little taste first and then enticing large consumption—wasn't this a common tactic on their Blue Star?
Thinking about it carefully, that was a million strange crystals! Even in Da Mi Luan City, how many wealthy merchants could casually throw out a million strange crystals?
"Hmm, indeed."
"You already knew?"
"No, I only vaguely realized it just now. Then, I used memory reconstruction to recreate the scene and discovered subtle inaccuracies in those people's expressions, but I hadn't observed them carefully before."
An Jianyou shook her head.
Liu Ying and the others hung their heads and stamped their feet, wishing they could run back and argue with the gambling stone shop. An Jianyou, who had actually lost over a million strange crystals, didn't show much emotional fluctuation.
After all, being deceived like this was irreversible.
Consider the million strange crystals as the price of a lesson learned. Fortunately, it was only a million strange crystals. Sighing, she also felt relieved. It wasn't a big loss.
Thinking of this, An Jianyou took out the raw stone from her storage ring—the one that had cost her over a million strange crystals.
She hoped it would yield something.
She thought.
Then, with incredibly precise strength, she peeled away layer by layer this enormous raw stone, which radiated chaotic energy and was impenetrable even to divine sense. Suddenly, wisps of golden light bloomed.
As the debris fell away, a rhombus-shaped crystal radiating a golden halo appeared before their eyes.
She was not unfamiliar with it.
This was...
"Divine Crystal!"
"Can this raw stone really yield a divine crystal?"
"A divine crystal is worth at least twenty million, right? Even with twenty million, it's hard to buy!"
Liu Ying and the others' eyes widened.
Could it be that they had wronged the gambling stone shop?
An Jianyou also fell into contemplation.
It seemed she had become rich again.
Looking up at the sky.