Chapter 19: Ch 19- Genius
At the entrance to the Black Market.
Mo Yuan looked at the two Origin Vessel Realm cultivators guarding the entrance before calmly walking toward them.
The two guards carefully sized him up.
Although they had never seen him before, they could clearly sense the aura of an Origin Vessel Realm cultivator coming from his body.
Because of that, neither of them stopped him. After passing through the entrance, Mo Yuan followed a long stone staircase leading underground.
Step by step, he descended into the depths. Soon, the true Black Market appeared before his eyes.
The underground market was enormous. It was at least as large as a huge public square.
Rows of shops lined both sides of the streets, while Origin Vessel Realm cultivators walked around everywhere. The atmosphere was lively, yet everyone carried themselves with caution.
After wandering around for a while, Mo Yuan found a shop that specialized in purchasing Beast Materials.
He sold all the materials he had collected during his trip to Blackwind Mountain. In the end, he received a total of two hundred thousand yuan.
It wasn’t a fortune, but it was still a decent harvest. After putting away the money, Mo Yuan continued walking through the Black Market.
Soon, a large building caught his attention.
"Martial Hall."
Mo Yuan stopped in front of the entrance and looked up at the signboard. Among all the shops in the Black Market, this was undoubtedly the largest. Whether it was the building itself or the number of customers coming and going, no other shop could compare.
Without hesitation, Mo Yuan stepped inside.
As soon as he entered, a young female shop assistant walked over with a respectful smile. Although she was only an Origin Seed Realm cultivator, her attitude toward every customer was extremely polite.
"Lord Origin Vessel Realm cultivator."
She bowed slightly.
"May I ask what you’re looking for? Our Martial Hall sells all kinds of cultivation resources. As long as it’s available in Dong Hai Base, there’s a good chance you’ll find it here."
Mo Yuan nodded.
"I want a cultivation manual for Origin Vessel Realm cultivators."
The female assistant smiled.
"Are you referring to a Primordial Qi Body Tempering Method?"
"Our Martial Hall only sells Low-level Primordial Qi Body Tempering Methods."
"As for Middle-level or High-level methods, only the larger bases have those."
"Primordial Qi Body Tempering Method..."
This was the first time Mo Yuan had heard that name.
He couldn’t really be blamed for his lack of knowledge. The higher-ups of Dong Hai Base tightly controlled information related to the Origin Vessel Realm.
Ordinary people and even Origin Seed Realm cultivators had almost no chance to learn about these things. Even the academy only taught the basics before deliberately stopping.
Clearly, this was an unspoken rule followed by the major powers within Dong Hai Base.
After thinking for a moment, Mo Yuan asked,
"Do you have an item catalog? I’d like to look through everything before deciding what to buy."
"Of course."
The female assistant nodded with a smile before quickly bringing over a thick catalog.
Mo Yuan opened it and carefully read through each page.
The catalog contained all kinds of valuable items. There were Primordial Qi Body Tempering Methods. Different grades of Beast Blood.
Healing medicinal liquids.
Weapons.
Secret techniques.
Rare treasures.
Special ores.
And many other cultivation resources.
Some treasures even had prices reaching several million yuan for a single item. Originally, Mo Yuan had believed he was fairly wealthy.
After all, he possessed the savings taken from Lin Xuan. However, after seeing the prices listed inside the catalog...
He realized he wasn’t rich at all.
At best, his current wealth was only enough to support his cultivation during the Origin Vessel Realm.
After carefully thinking everything through, Mo Yuan finally made his decision.
"I’ll take one Low-level Primordial Qi Body Tempering Method."
"One information booklet about the Origin Vessel Realm."
"Three portions of Intermediate Grade Beast Blood."
"One Beast Atlas."
"And three bottles of Clear Source Liquid."
The female assistant quickly calculated the total price.
"The Low-level Primordial Qi Body Tempering Method costs fifty thousand yuan."
"The Origin Vessel Realm information booklet costs ten thousand."
"Three portions of Intermediate Grade Beast Blood cost five hundred thousand."
"The Beast Atlas costs twenty thousand."
"And three bottles of Clear Source Liquid cost one million yuan."
"The total comes to one million five hundred and eighty thousand yuan."
Even Mo Yuan couldn’t help feeling a little pain after hearing that number. One purchase had emptied nearly half of his wealth. Fortunately, he had obtained Lin Xuan’s savings.
Otherwise...
He wouldn’t have been able to afford any of these items.
After paying the money, the female assistant quickly prepared everything and handed the items over.
Just as Mo Yuan was about to leave...
The female assistant suddenly called out.
"Lord Origin Vessel Realm cultivator."
"Our Martial Hall’s manager would like to meet you."
"If you have the time, would you be willing to come upstairs?"
"The manager wants to meet me?"
Mo Yuan frowned slightly. He wasn’t particularly interested.
However, after thinking about it for a moment, he decided there was no harm in meeting them. He was also curious why the Martial Hall’s manager wanted to see him.
"Lead the way."
"This way, please."
The female assistant respectfully guided him toward the second floor.
A few moments later...
Mo Yuan entered a quiet room.
Inside, someone was already waiting.
The moment he saw the manager...
Mo Yuan froze slightly.
"A girl?"
He couldn’t help feeling surprised.
He had expected the manager of such a large organization to be an elderly man or perhaps a middle-aged expert.
Instead...
The person sitting before him was a young woman. She looked no older than eighteen or nineteen.
Almost instinctively, Mo Yuan activated his Copy Talent and examined her abilities.
The information that appeared before him instantly made his heart tremble.
Human: Mu Qingying
Cultivation Talent: Peak Grade
Sword Talent: Superior Grade
Speed Talent: Secondary Grade
Mo Yuan’s pupils shrank.
A true genius!
Since arriving in this world, this was the first real monster he had encountered.
Compared to Mu Qingying...
Hong Yuan and the so-called geniuses of Dong Hai Base were nothing.
’They’re not even worthy of comparison’
Mo Yuan thought to himself.
’Peak Grade Cultivation Talent...’
’Superior Grade Sword Talent...’
’And even Secondary Grade Speed Talent...’
’Considering her age and background...’
’She’s definitely an extremely powerful cultivator.’
The more he thought about it, The more excited he became.
He wasn’t very interested in the Superior Grade Sword Talent. After all, he already possessed Superior Grade Saber Talent. Copying another Superior Grade weapon talent wouldn’t improve his combat strength very much.
However...
The Secondary Grade Speed Talent was different.
And the Peak Grade Cultivation Talent was even more valuable.
If he could copy the Peak Grade Cultivation Talent...
His future cultivation speed would increase dramatically.
"My Copy Talent can only be used once before entering its cooldown."
"The Secondary Grade Speed Talent is tempting."
"But compared to Peak Grade Cultivation Talent..."
"The choice is obvious."
"Besides..."
"I may never meet someone like Mu Qingying again."
Mo Yuan immediately made his decision. A bright and harmless smile appeared on his face. He took a step forward and politely extended his right hand.
"Hello."
"My name is Mo Yuan."
Mu Qingying looked slightly surprised.
She hesitated for only a brief moment before politely extending her own hand.
The two lightly shook hands.
Almost immediately afterward...
She withdrew her hand.
What Mu Qingying didn’t know...
Was that during that brief moment of contact...
Mo Yuan had already completed the copy.
Peak Grade Cultivation Talent... copied successfully.
"Success!"
Mo Yuan screamed with excitement inside his heart.
If it weren’t for his self-control, he probably would’ve burst into laughter right there.
On the surface, however...
His expression remained perfectly calm.
"Hello."
"My name is Mu Qingying."
"I’m the manager of Martial Hall."
After introducing herself, she glanced toward the female assistant.
"You may leave."
"Yes, Manager."
The assistant respectfully withdrew, leaving only the two of them inside the room.
Mo Yuan sat across from Mu Qingying before speaking first.
"Manager Mu."
"What did you want to see me about?"
Mu Qingying calmly sat down before carefully observing him.
Then she asked,
"You’ve only recently broken through to the Origin Vessel Realm, haven’t you?"
"That’s right."
Mo Yuan nodded honestly.
Mu Qingying continued,
"Do you know where Martial Hall comes from?"
Mo Yuan shook his head.
"I only know that it’s very powerful."
"I assumed it belonged to one of Dong Hai Base’s major families."
Mu Qingying smiled slightly before shaking her head.
"No."
"Martial Hall doesn’t belong to Dong Hai Base."
"It comes from one of the major human bases."
Seeing Mo Yuan’s surprised expression, she continued explaining.
"Although Dong Hai Base is small and isolated, it still occupies a very important location."
"To those large bases..."
"Dong Hai is considered a gateway."
"They don’t directly control this place."
"But they also can’t afford to ignore it."
"So several major powers established branches here many years ago."
"Martial Hall is one of them."
Hearing that explanation, everything suddenly made sense.
"No wonder..."
Mo Yuan finally understood.
It was no surprise Martial Hall possessed so many treasures that couldn’t be found anywhere else inside Dong Hai Base.
At the same time...
He also understood Mu Qingying’s identity.
She clearly came from one of those powerful bases.
Her background was definitely extraordinary.
But that only made him more confused.
Someone with her status...
Why would she personally come to a remote place like Dong Hai Base?
Suppressing his curiosity, Mo Yuan asked,
"So..."
"Why did Manager Mu want to see me?"
Mu Qingying looked directly into his eyes.
Her expression became serious.
"Mo Yuan."
"I’d like to invite you to join Martial Hall."
"You’ve only just reached the Origin Vessel Realm."
"Judging from your appearance, you’re no older than sixteen or seventeen."
"More importantly..."
"You don’t belong to any major family in Dong Hai Base."
"That makes you even more valuable."
"I believe someone with your talent has great potential."
"So..."
"Would you be willing to join Martial Hall?"
Mo Yuan didn’t even need to think about it.
He calmly shook his head.
"Manager Mu."
"Thank you for thinking so highly of me."
"But for now..."
"I have no intention of joining any organization."