Ja Sun still needed some time to be truly familiar with Balak City. He mostly remained within the inn, took part in missions, or spend some of his time in local taverns: not for the bothersome task such as collecting information but to try local dishes and calm his nerves.
But Ja Sun himself had long entered the information network of the city for being able to complete six missions was already impressive. Ordinary spirit masters either stop after their second or third missions or simply disappear. After all, if they can kill, they must also be ready to die and disappear. Who among the truly experienced spirit master didn't know of this?
Experience didn't mean Spirit Title. In some manner, the lower-ranked rogue spirit masters were craftier. Their wealth of experience can allow them to face even a higher-ranked, untrained spirit master.
Six missions meant a watershed.
Ja Sun understood this fact once he got the mission to destroy the fortress. To someone else, destroying was even harder than protecting, and with the trained but slightly loose garrison, the situation could change anytime.
But uncaring of the suspicious gazes, Ja Sun walked around the city calmly. Now that he had completed the mission, and even found a fortuitous encounter in the form of a Spirit Master, Ja Sun recalled one particular Soldier.
When he had disarmed all the soldiers during his confrontation with Steel Hornet, one of the soldiers actually revealed slight traces of spirit energy after having his meridian unblocked. This situation, Ja Sun didn't find it on anyone else at all. This made him curious.
But the human body is mysterious, more so in Douluo Continent where any strange trigger can reveal a new mystery. Even Ah Yin didn't reveal any abnormalities after having her body unblocked post-training session with him so Ja Sun could only put this in the back of his head when he came across a large white building with a blue roof and a stone plaque hanging over the door with reserved carving declaring the name of the establishment— Blind Pavilion.
A strange name for a trading center but still one of the most successful businesses in the city.
Pushing open the entrance, Ja Sun observed the archaic furnishing of the trading center. The entrance was simply a guidance center to attend the aspiring traders with the establishment.
Walking up to the stone counter with an old, bald man in a plain blue robe, Ja Sun made his intentions clear.
"I am here to sell armor and weaponry."
The old man nodded calmly and stood up.
He wasn't the only one sitting behind the counter so walking out of it, the old man silently led Ja Sun into the inner portion of the building. No guards could be seen but Ja Sun understood why when he was asked to enter one of the unmarked rooms along the long corridor.
Entering the room, Ja Sun found the originally marbled floor carpeted with green material, and the room itself was quite well furnished. Aside from the wooden chairs, the scent of tea, and the beautiful landscape painting over the opposite wall, the most attractive feature of the room was actually a scroll of calligraphy.
Profits have no eyes.
The letters were struck boldly yet the words seem to hint at the actual nature of the serene-looking trading center.
In the room, only a masked woman sat over the other side of the table. Calmly pouring the fragrant tea into the cup, she silently pointed at the empty chair. Taking the hint, Ja Sun sat down but withheld from drinking the tea which would expose his fact itself.
"State your business," The woman's pleasant voice rang. She had only poured tea for Ja Sun but seeing it untouched, disappointment flickered in her eyes.
"Sale of Silvers Kingdom Armor and Weaponry."
Slightly startled, she nodded and gestured to Ja Sun to continue.
"I have 112 red-steel armors, 24 Cavalry Armors alongside 24 sets of Silvers Kingdom saddle and blinders. 39 Red-steel swords and 97 lances."
Hearing the numbers, shock in the woman's heart grew. Silently, she pondered for a moment and inquired in one word.
"Condition?"
Flipping his hand, Ja Sun revealed the sheathed sword and handed it to the woman.
"This is the average condition," Ja Sun replied and as the woman slightly unsheathed the sword to observe the edge, she couldn't help but nod.
"I will still need to check the condition of every item individually," she spoke up. He didn't mind it at all. He did bring a big business and such situations are prone to larger scams, which Ja Sun didn't intend to do, not without a mission motivating him, at least. Often, offending a strong merchant in this world can be more dangerous than offending Nobility. Although low-key, every successful business hinted at a strong backing of a spirit master and to merchants, a loss is worse than injuries or maiming.
Instead of revealing all the items at once, Ja Sun took them out one by one. The inspection didn't last longer than a few seconds. The woman's eyes were like a hawk. Often, she would mumble something under her breath and then place the item aside. Once the room felt slightly stuffy, she paused and looked at Ja Sun.
"Let's note these goods down first and reach an agreeable price," she suggested but Ja Sun shook his head, "All at once."
By selling things separately, there would be a higher chance of the price being lowered. In reality, the entire selling price was Ja Sun's profit. He didn't pay anything for these armors and robbed them. But as the Blind Pavilion states: Profits have no eyes.
Ja Sun wanted the highest price he can receive.
Unable to refute or change Ja Sun's mind, the woman agreed and began inspecting other goods before stacking them over the previously arranged items. Soon, the entirety of the armory filled the room and if it wasn't for the serene furnishings, this room could easily be fashioned as a blacksmith's toolshed.
She started to individually price the better items and then slightly worse items. The market price of such ordinary items fell between 4000-5000 gold coins, which Ja Sun already knew. But if it was this simple, he would have waited until the end of the war to sell all the equipments.
"Considering the condition of the items, the entire stock will be traded for 4700 gold coins. The market value would place it at 4600 gold coins and the Blind Pavilion will be willing to fork out a little more because of the size of the transaction."
"12,000," Ja Sun uttered calmly.
The woman was stunned. Now, it was her time to speak while Ja Sun would grunt in response. Her reasoning was impeccable. These items cannot be easily worn by others in the Balak Kingdom, not after the recent affairs, and are only valuable to nobles who love collecting war items. She, of course, wouldn't mention the greatest use of these items but that doesn't mean Ja Sun wouldn't.
"These armors can be sold to spirit masters who will wear it and approach the enemy's camp to strike surprisingly. This will earn them merit points. Stronger Spirit masters will even buy more than one in case they are in a group. 12,000 gold coins. Not a copper less."
"Sir," the woman remarked coldly, "You may choose not to sell the products but we will not be taken advantage of."
"Fair enough," Ja Sun nodded and stood up. Anyway, there wasn't only a single Blind Pavilion in City. There were other trade centers. Blind Pavilion happened to be the closest one.
Under the woman's stunned eyes, Ja Sun stored his goods and left within a few breaths. She still couldn't believe that the negotiations would fall because of her own words!
---
Ja Sun finally sold the armors and weapons at a trading center named Metal Ascension Pavilion. Although he didn't get the price of 12,000 gold coins, the Metal Ascension Pavilion was the most lenient in its negotiation, and the price was finally settled at 10,500 gold coins. By now, Ja Sun had a sum of 21,000 gold coins in his pockets.
He didn't sell the corpses of rare beasts within the ring of the dragon girl. The true use of a spirit beast material is its use in the development of spirit essence tools. If Ja Sun receives a manual or a blueprint of the spirit essence tool as a reward, he can use the materials to create something himself!
"Brother?" A slightly surprised voice stopped Ja Sun in his tracks as he tilted his head sideways. A little further away, at the corner of the street, Ja Sun gazed at one grey-haired youth with a thick-browed, dark-haired woman stuck to him.
"It's me!" Oscar said hurriedly, "One tofu and one spice!"
Ja Sun nodded calmly. Over the past few days, he had already run into this particular team but none of them actually knew who Ja Sun was. After all, they hadn't seen his appearance. They didn't know how his voice sounded. And they only knew about Evil Title. But aside from Oscar, nobody actually knew his current persona.
"Who is he?" Jun'er nudged Oscar slightly and whispered.
If there was one thing Ja Sun was lucky about, it was his scent. After equipping with spirit rings, his body had already gone through a fundamental change. He was no longer an ordinary human being and his scent had gone through a considerable transformation, too. So all Jun'er could feel was that Ja Sun was faintly familiar. As if someone she came across a long, long time ago.
"Jun'er, he's the one I told you about. The brother who gifted us..." Oscar whispered as Jun'er blushed slightly and nodded at Ja Sun meekly.
"What is it?" Ja Sun inquired calmly. Although he wanted to team up with others to make his life more flavorful, carelessly exposing his identity will only bring trouble. Not to mention the fact that Ah Yin was all the flavor he needed at the moment.
"Oh, I just saw you and wanted to express my gratitude again," Oscar snickered with a foolish grin. An expression that most men with or without experience would understand but the ones, like Ja Sun: without experience, would find this expression exceptionally displeasing.
"It's alright," Ja Sun mumbled before turning around.
"Brother, my promise still stands. I will help assist you whenever you want. If I'm still in the city, you can find me in Balak Inn."
Ja Sun nodded without turning back and left. Seeing Oscar and Jun'er together, he couldn't help but recall the feeling of Ah Yin's body against him. She was, by no means, light. But somehow she was so soft and her scent seemed to linger around him even now.
'And best of all... she's 19 years old!' Ja Sun's smiled turned extremely pleased.
But once he returned, Ah Yin and Ja Sun seemed to have a tacit understanding and didn't speak on the matter. It was clear to Ja Sun that with the way he moved, there was no way that Ah Yin could still be asleep. But so what? If she didn't mind it now, then in the future, the possibilities are endless!
The night was spent calmly. They ate and cultivated while Ah Yin helped Ja Sun reach his peak condition using her domain momentarily. As Ja Sun slept, his spirit energy continued to rise minutely due to the passive form of his breathing technique. Meanwhile, the Final Buddha Array moved within his above his spiritual sea. It continued to refine recently absorbed spirit qi into dense white slivers of spirit energy that will then merge with the almost solid and slug-like sea of white spirit energy.
The next day, however, something out of the ordinary happened.
When Ja Sun passed his token over at the individual mission counter, the guiding spirit master looked at him and inquired politely.
"Ultimate Grandson, will you come along with me? I will be guiding you to your personalized mission counter."
"Personalized Mission Counter?" Ja Sun looked curious. He hadn't heard about anything like this from anyone. Even the guide's voice was extremely low as he led Ja Sun into the interior of the Spirit Temple.
Gesturing towards Ja Sun to enter the designated room, the guide left silently and after inhaling deeply, Ja Sun pushed open the door.
The room was quite small and could barely be considered a living room. Still, it was enough to fit two chairs and a table.
The person behind the table, unexpectedly, did not have his face hidden. He was a young individual with short green hair and blue eyes. A rather strange combination but who could question genetics? He wore a similar white habit with golden embroidery and a familiar insignia of a downward pointing sword could be seen on the left side of his chest.
"Ultimate Grandson, representing Heaven Dou Empire and Spirit Hall, I congratulate you for successfully completing six individual missions. Please take a seat and allow me to share some information crucial to the spirit masters taking part in this war."
Silently sitting in front of the youth, Ja Sun had a few odd thoughts in his head.
"You can call me Deacon Yu Suntao. The personal mission counters are relevant to the cultivation levels of the spirit masters so, just like you, I happen to be a Spirit Grandmaster. These personalized missions can only be individual missions and not group missions. Now, I would like to ask your opinion on this war."
Ja Sun remained silent the entire time.
Although Ja Sun had been in this world for a little over a year, he was quite a fortified individual in the past. His teacher had drilled him with qualities of torture, combat, leadership, and even the art of abstinence through constant beating. He cannot be coerced, seduced, or even tortured to reveal information he doesn't want to give. Of course, this world may have quite a number of supernatural means to achieve the same objective.
But to Ja Sun, it was clear that this part of the conversation was a disguised interrogation. To know what he understands and only reveal slight information. He can lie, or stay silent. But there are tools that can detect lying and what interrogation chamber won't be fitted with such an amazing tool if it was possible. Instead of risking one's exposure, Ja Sun kept his quiet.
Seeing the silent visage and eerie stare, Yu Suntao himself felt intimidated instead. It was clear to him that finding some answers from this individual was hard and if it was before, when the spirit temple wasn't filled with rogue spirit masters then sure, they would have used some extreme methods but now? Not even the Cardinal dared do anything drastic.
Coughing softly, Yu Suntao continued breezily.
"Well then, I should inform you that this war is a pretense to recruit talented spirit masters. The method of recruitment, for various reasons, will be kept a secret. However, when an individual completes six individual missions, he or she will be allowed to participate in personalized missions."
Continue: Is what Ja Sun's completely serene yet dangerous stare replied Yu Suntao with.
'Is this person really a Spirit Grandmaster?' The Deacon felt bitter internally and continued regardless.
"Six missions are regarded as a watershed. An individual may continue individual missions from the public counter but the rewards and merit points will remain completely inflexible. But the personalized missions are more flexible and taking part in these missions and completing them will allow an individual to choose rewards hidden from the masses.
However, the difficulties of this mission are far greater. It may jump ranks or quantities. But personalized missions allow the spirit master to decide whether to accept these missions or not."
"Explain flexibility," Ja Sun uttered. The difference in difficulties Ja Sun cared very little about. To him, rewards mattered more. The more merit points he accumulates, the better his rewards are calculated in the end.
"Basically, a spirit master will be given merit points thrice in this system. The first payment of merit points will be the base reward of the mission. Second will be the payment of merit points snatched from the opponent's blood tokens. Of course, these benefits are present in regular missions, too. Third, the opponents themselves will have a bounty. The bounty of an enemy is based on their completed individual missions only. So if you are dispatched to take care of a group of Spirit Grandmasters, their bounties may be low in value since they might not have completed enough individual missions."
Ja Sun nodded calmly.
"And, the greatest benefit is that a spirit master gets one lifeline. After the first personalized mission is accomplished, should the spirit master fail any other mission then they will not be considered deserters from the two kingdoms and spirit hall despite the fact if they have a criminal record in any of the organization and will be allowed to enter the war system again.
This is based on the assumption that your enemy lets you leave with your life, of course.
Keep in mind that while you can select taking care of a two-man team or a group by yourself, the chances of meeting another personalized mission taker is the highest in the individual missions itself."
Yu Suntao explained everything and finally turned silent.
"What are the missions?" Ja Sun inquired, this time, interest apparent in his tone.
"There are three missions of the same kind."
Saying this, Yu Suntao brought a small thin booklet and passed it to Ja Sun.
Skipping through the pages, Ja Sun nodded in understanding.
'Defending a war tower against an individual grandmaster. Merit Points: 120.
Defending a war tower against a two-man team of spirit grandmasters. Merit Points: 240.
Defending a war tower against a seven-man group of spirit grandmasters. Merit Points: 480...
Time Limit: 5 days.
Proof of Success: Letter of Success stamped by the Chief of the tower.'
Ja Sun fell into a thought before inquiring.
"What is the general bounty of someone who has completed six individual missions?"
Taking a moment to reply, Yu Suntao finally spoke up: "120-200 merit points. This number increases exponentially if the spirit master is of higher spirit title than the victor."
'Defending a tower is far easier than attacking it. However, it requires a firm fist to command. If not, the same situation as the spirit master with that enlightened martial soul will occur. In a group, defending would have been easier but...'
Ja Sun selected to tackle the group in the end. After all, amongst the same rank, fighting multiple opponents is harder than fighting a slightly stronger individual. The rewards are also greater and the chances of obtaining more merit points from the bloody tokens increase.
After being briefed on the mission, Ja Sun was explained that the next time he wants to take a personalized mission, he can walk right in by showing his token as the guards will be detailed about his importance. With that, Ja Sun left and Yu Suntao exhaled in relief.
'Can he really tackle seven spirit grandmasters? This confidence can only be revealed if he's a control-type spirit master...'
He silently thought.
After saying his farewell to Ah Yin and making clear that he doesn't mind if he walks in on her changing clothes, he left in a hurry.
***
A/N: If you like the fanfic, please leave a review stating your experience or expectations.
Oh, and Please Vote so the novel can reach high in rankings and gain more exposure.