I Build a Shelter in the Eternal Night

...

Chen Fan strolled along, casually scanning the street-side stalls. Most of them displayed unappraised Exotic Treasures, and he quickly checked the stats panels for each one. Finally, as if he’d grown tired of walking,

He stopped in front of a stall.

Thirteen items in total.

Eleven were white, and two were green.

Their shapes were neither Blueprints nor Tokens. They all fell into the "Other" category, coming in all sorts of strange forms, such as a smoking pipe, a nail, or a couplet.

The value of unappraised Exotic Treasures, from highest to lowest, is as follows:

-

"Blueprint > Token > Array Plate > Weapon > Seed > Other."

-

The "Other" category was for Exotic Treasures with bizarre and varied shapes. Most of these were junk, with an extremely low chance of yielding anything good.

And for that very reason,

everyone called them "blind boxes."

Many people couldn’t get enough of opening these "blind boxes." Loose Cultivators were the most frequent customers, followed by the spoiled young masters of certain families, who were also utterly obsessed with them.

"Domain Lord Chen."

When the vendor saw Chen Fan stop at his stall, he scrambled to his feet, a huge grin plastered on his face. "Domain Lord Chen, in the mood to open a few ’blind boxes’ today? You might just find something good."

"I recommend this couplet."

"This couplet may be blank, but who knows? After it’s appraised, it might turn out to be a top-quality Exotic Treasure that can ward off evil."

...

Chen Fan picked up the couplet, hefted it in his hands a few times, and asked with a smile, "What’s the price?"

"1,600 Ghost Stones," the vendor said with a serious expression.

"Tsk. In the Jiangbei Marketplace, an unappraised white Exotic Treasure sells for 500 Ghost Stones, yet you’re asking 1,600 here?"

"Ah, but you can’t look at it that way."

The vendor chuckled helplessly. "The prices for unappraised white Exotic Treasures are low in the Jiangbei Marketplace because the purchasing power in Jiangbei is weak. That’s the only price they can get. Eventually, the goods have to be transported to Jiangnan to be sold."

"Once they’re brought to Jiangnan, the price soars to 1,000 or even 2,000 Ghost Stones."

"These ones I have were brought from Jiangnan, so of course I can’t price them like they do in Jiangbei."

"What’s more, with the Mortal Realm’s recent rise in Jiangbei, numerous factions have sent their merchant guilds over. How could there be any stock left in the Jiangbei Marketplace? It’s all been bought up. And besides, ’Other’ category Exotic Treasures don’t have a fixed price range. There was once a White Level ’Other’ Exotic Treasure priced at 8,000 Ghost Stones, which was ultimately bought by a faction from Jiangnan."

"Oh? What kind of unappraised white Exotic Treasure could sell for 8,000 Ghost Stones?"

"That one was special. It was a Jade Lion, just like the ones at the gates of Mortal City, only bigger. An Exotic Treasure like that is obviously no ordinary item, so of course the price was high."

"And what did it turn out to be after appraisal?"

"Well..."

The vendor looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, after it was appraised, they discovered its only effect was that when placed inside a camp, it would keep rats from gnawing on things within the camp’s perimeter. You can’t say it’s useless, I suppose. At least it ensures the grain stored in the Warehouse won’t get ravaged by rats."

"Sounds great. And 8,000 Ghost Stones could probably buy that faction more than ten lifetimes’ worth of grain, couldn’t it?"

"That’s true, but that’s how opening blind boxes is. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win."

"Fine, I’ll take it!"

Chen Fan waved his hand. Lame Monkey, who was standing behind him, immediately pulled out a bag of Ghost Stones and handed it over. "Do you have an Appraiser? Open it for me right here. I want to see its effect. I’m buying this couplet!"

"You got it!"

The vendor excitedly accepted the Ghost Stones and waved over an Appraiser from his faction, ready to have the treasure appraised for Chen Fan personally.

A curious crowd quickly gathered around.

People naturally love to watch blind boxes being opened.

Especially when Domain Lord Chen himself was opening one.

That made it even more of a spectacle.

"Come and see, everyone! Domain Lord Chen is opening a blind box!"

The vendor stood up and shouted to the crowd. Soon, many people were crowded around the stall, with those on the periphery standing on their tiptoes to get a look.

Seeing the crowd, the vendor took a deep breath to suppress his excitement. He hadn’t just been making a blind recommendation; based on his years of experience,

this "couplet" really did have a decent chance of being something good.

If, by some chance, it turned out to be something good, his stall’s reputation would be made.

Some people who opened blind boxes believed in a sort of fate.

They would only open blind boxes at stalls that had previously yielded good items.

Other people who opened blind boxes believed in avoidance.

If a good item was opened at a certain stall, they wouldn’t go there again for a short time, convinced a second one wouldn’t appear so soon.

But either way,

having a reputation was never a bad thing.

...

"A public appraisal?"

the vendor asked Chen Fan with anticipation.

"A public one is fine."

Chen Fan stood there cheerfully. A public appraisal meant displaying the Exotic Treasure’s effect in front of everyone, while a private one meant only the buyer could see it, not even the Appraiser.

All eyes focused on the middle-aged man behind the vendor.

The middle-aged man, with a solemn expression, cradled the "couplet" Exotic Treasure in his hands. Wisps of Spiritual Qi drifted out and flowed into the Exotic Treasure. Soon, a panel composed of white lines slowly materialized in the air above it.

Words gradually began to form.

An Appraiser wasn’t a special type of Cultivator.

Rather, they were Cultivators who practiced a special Mental Method. Ordinary people could become one too, though it required a great deal of effort to learn. It was one of the few paths to wealth available to common folk. After several years of arduous study, a certified Appraiser would never have to worry about finding work.

They might not live in luxury, but they were guaranteed a comfortable life free from want.

Quickly!

The words fully formed.

-

[Exotic Treasure Name]: Blank Couplet

[Exotic Treasure Level]: White

[Exotic Treasure Effect]: Words written on the couplet will never fade, remaining pristine forever.

-

A permanent couplet.

It wouldn’t turn yellow or fade with the passage of time.

As for its value...

If you tried to sell it, you could probably get three to five Ghost Stones for it. Maybe someone wanted a blank couplet. But for a purchase price of 1,600 Ghost Stones, this was the kind of loss where you’d lose your shirt and then some.

"Uh..."

The vendor was also a bit embarrassed. "Opening ’blind boxes’ is always a gamble—you win some, you lose some. Before an appraisal, nobody can say for sure what an Exotic Treasure will be. I honestly thought this one might have an effect like warding off evil or dispelling Ghost Objects."

He wasn’t lying; he had genuinely thought so.

A wave of sighs and murmurs rippled through the crowd. Many people winced and sucked in their breath, as if they had personally witnessed 1,600 Ghost Stones shattering. A whole Skeleton Horse, gone just like that.

"Son."

In the crowd, an old man whispered seriously to his son, "In the future, you can get obsessed with anything you want, but never get obsessed with opening ’blind boxes.’ Even someone of Domain Lord Chen’s stature took a loss. What makes you think you’d come out ahead?"

"Buying one or two occasionally, just for fun, is fine."

"But you must never get hooked."

"Do you hear me?"

"Yes, yes."

The young man standing beside the elder nodded repeatedly, his expression completely serious.

...

Chen Fan smiled but said nothing. He wasn’t particularly disappointed. ’The Eternal Night Lord Panel has robbed me of so much fun,’ he thought. ’I can’t experience the thrill of opening a blind box at all.’

’Of course, I knew what this Exotic Treasure’s stats were all along.’

’There were several reasons I chose to open it in public.’

’First, to show that I respect the rules of the market and can accept a loss gracefully.’

’Second, to let everyone see with their own eyes that I don’t know the effects of unappraised Exotic Treasures either.’

’And third, of course, was to... provide cover for the other unappraised Exotic Treasure I actually want.’

But to everyone else, his calm expression simply meant that the Mortal Realm was so vast and prosperous that such a minor loss was nothing to him.

Just then—

An old man suddenly darted out from the crowd and looked at Chen Fan respectfully. "Domain Lord Chen, I have taken a great liking to this blank couplet. I wonder if you would be willing to part with it for 10,000 Ghost Stones?"

The crowd fell silent in an instant.

Everyone stared at the old man with bizarre expressions. ’Has he lost his mind? Ten thousand Ghost Stones for a couplet? What is he thinking? That’s not how you suck up to someone. Domain Lord Chen probably won’t even remember who you are tomorrow!’

"Very well."

Chen Fan didn’t think much of it and simply handed the couplet to the old man with a smile.

But then,

the old man respectfully unrolled the couplet and said with some trepidation, "Um... I have admired you for a long time, Domain Lord Chen. I wonder if I might ask you to write a few words for my Zhao Family?"

...

The crowd was completely silent.

’Is that a permanent couplet?’

’That’s not a permanent couplet, it’s a permanent protective talisman!’

’He’s publicly paying protection money to the Mortal Realm! From now on, anyone who wants to mess with the Zhao Family will have to think twice and consider the Mortal Realm’s reaction. Who knew an Exotic Treasure could be used like that?’