After about half a day's travel, Jiang Xiaofeng's carriage arrived at the city gates of Black Horn City.
"Big Brother, we've arrived at Black Horn City!"
Jiang Xiaofeng stuck his head out, looking at the characters on the city wall. This should be Black Horn City.
"Mhm, let's first go sell the Death Qi Orbs!"
Big Brother Hu said, "No problem, if the quantity is high, the price will be even better. We've sold quite a few before; the price is about 30,000 gold soul coins per orb!"
Jiang Xiaofeng counted the Death Qi Orbs from the Sea Rising Moon, and there were as many as 14 in total.
"There are 14 in total!"
Big Brother Hu exclaimed. This definitely wasn't something Jiang Xiaofeng did on his own. There must be someone behind him. If it weren't for the three of them being clever, they might have died without knowing it.
"Big Brother, if there are 14 orbs, we can ask for a higher price. It's not a small number to have so many at once. I'll take you there now!"
"Alright, let's go!"
The carriage started moving, slowly entering Black Horn City.
The reason Black Horn City was called that was because in the center of the city, there were two massive black bull horns. These were the iconic feature of the city.
"What are these two black horns?"
Jiang Xiaofeng asked curiously. The black horns were indeed tall and imposing.
Big Brother Hu said, "These are the horns of a super soul beast from Death Gorge. It's said that one of the Pope's in the Spirit Hall killed it, and then placed the horns here in the city. That's how the city got its name!"
Jiang Xiaofeng: "The Pope killed it? Then the soul beast must have been at least tens of thousands of years old!"
"Definitely. After all, it was personally dealt with by the Pope of Spirit Hall. It's said to have been a soul beast close to 100,000 years old."
Jiang Xiaofeng was shocked. A soul beast close to 100,000 years old? But Mo Botu had mentioned that the strongest soul beasts in Death Gorge were only about 50,000 years old. Could this one be a mutated beast?
Big Brother Hu saw Jiang Xiaofeng's astonished expression and couldn't help but say, "Big Brother, you're overthinking it. There aren't any soul beasts that strong in Death Gorge right now. But the soul beasts in Death Gorge are more vicious than those in other forests because of the Death Qi!"
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded. If it were just a normal 3,000-year-old soul beast, Jiang Xiaofeng could handle it alone. But since this was Death Gorge, even a 3,000-year-old soul beast would be hard to deal with. This was why the mortality rate in Death Gorge was so high.
Then, there was something strange here.
High-level soul masters didn't care about it, and low-level soul masters couldn't handle it because soul beasts over 10,000 years old were rare and very powerful here. Soul Emperors and above wouldn't bother coming.
Soul Kings and below had a hard time fighting here, and there was a special unwritten rule.
If your soul power reached Soul King or Soul Ancestor level, you'd have to face soul beasts at least 8,000 years old to harvest Death Qi Orbs. This was probably to prevent soul masters from randomly killing soul beasts.
Jiang Xiaofeng and his companions were just strong enough to deal with 3,000-year-old soul beasts, which is why they were able to gather so many orbs. Otherwise, like other Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings, they might only get one or two a month, and sometimes they'd get injured in the process.
No wonder the price of Death Qi Orbs was so high.
Because Black Horn City was closest to Death Gorge, Death Qi Orbs were auctioned off here more frequently, and they were one of the most popular items.
The carriage stopped in front of the auction house in Black Horn City.
Since he was an old acquaintance, Big Brother Hu was familiar with the guards at the door.
"Big Brother Hu, it's only been two days, and you've already got some loot? You've got to treat us to a drink!"
Big Brother Hu laughed and said, "No problem, but this time, we brought my Big Brother along. Let's sell the Death Qi Orbs first and then talk about it."
"Your Big Brother? Since when did you have an older brother?"
Big Brother Hu awkwardly said, "I just met him!"
"Big Brother, come out!"
Jiang Xiaofeng, wearing a mask, stepped out of the carriage. The guard looked confused. Though he couldn't see Jiang Xiaofeng's face, his height suggested he was either a child or a short person. Had he climbed up the ranks of some noble family?
"Let's go!"
As soon as Jiang Xiaofeng spoke, the guard understood. Big Brother Hu had really hit the jackpot. It seemed like he'd connected with some bigshot.
The guard muttered to himself, "Big Brother Hu must treat us to drinks this time. Which noble family does this young master belong to?"
Big Brother Hu replied, "I'm not sure yet, but he's definitely not ordinary!"
"Big Brother, please come inside!"
Jiang Xiaofeng led the way inside.
The auction house wasn't very large because Black Horn City wasn't big, so the auction house here didn't have a grand scale.
Big Brother Hu led Jiang Xiaofeng to the backstage of the auction house.
A middle-aged man saw Big Brother Hu and quickly said, "Oh, isn't this Big Brother Hu? Got some goods again? Let me see. There are quite a few people looking to buy Death Qi Orbs today. How many are you planning to sell?"
Big Brother Hu said, "Not me, it's my Big Brother! Big Brother, this is Manager Li, my old acquaintance. Manager Li can help us with the price for the Death Qi Orbs. We'll make sure we don't lose out."
Manager Li saw Jiang Xiaofeng, who was wearing a mask, and unlike the guards, he wasn't short-sighted. He quickly came over.
"Young Master, are you planning to sell some Death Qi Orbs?"
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded and said, "Yes, I have 14 orbs here. What's your offer?"
Manager Li's jaw dropped. He didn't know what to say. It was the first time he'd seen someone selling so many Death Qi Orbs at once.
"Young Master, may I ask your surname?"
Jiang Xiaofeng shook his head and said, "That's not important. You can call me Mask."
Manager Li smiled and said, "Mask Young Master, I won't beat around the bush. Since you're Big Brother Hu's older brother, I won't make much profit off of you. Since the quantity is large, we'll only take a 3% commission. How does that sound?"
Big Brother Hu: "Manager Li, you're really good at business. I used to get 5%!"
Manager Li laughed: "Others take 8%. If it weren't for Mask Young Master bringing out so many at once, I wouldn't be able to offer such a good deal. What do you think, Mask Young Master?"
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded and said, "Alright, let's go with that. When do we get paid?"
Manager Li: "We'll have to wait until the auction ends, but don't worry. Death Qi Orbs always sell well here. The auction starts in about an hour, and I guarantee you'll get your gold soul coins."
Big Brother Hu said, "I've promised my Big Brother the price can't be low!"
Manager Li reassured him, "Don't worry, with 14 orbs, the price will be higher, not lower!"
Jiang Xiaofeng handed the Death Qi Orbs to Manager Li, who eagerly opened a bag to count them.
"The number's correct. I'll go make arrangements now. Mask Young Master, here's your entry token for the auction. You can come watch anytime!"
Jiang Xiaofeng glanced at the token, then put it into the Sea Rising Moon. Manager Li saw this and became even more certain that Jiang Xiaofeng must be a disciple of one of the big sects. Otherwise, how would he have such a precious storage item? It wasn't hard to guess that the bodyguards must be nearby.
"Mask Young Master, take care. We'll see you at the auction in an hour!"
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded, then left the auction house with Big Brother Hu and the three brothers.
On the carriage:
"Let's go to the Black Horn Soul Fighting Arena!"
Big Brother Hu responded, "Alright!"
(End of Chapter)