Yes, I became a god just by exercising.

Chapter 97: The Black Bag that can yield a Hegemon-level Secret Contract?

As Xia Fa walked out of the bar, he headed toward the extraordinary market, which was located in the center of the island and was almost like a bustling small town, while still savoring the history he had just heard from the bard.

But he was thinking about something else entirely.

"If what the young miner said is true, then..."

Xia Fa remembered that the young miner had said that he would be very happy if one day the god of absolute defense discovered that he had also signed the Silver Throne, a supreme-level secret contract.

Of course, the same goes for the entity called "Storyteller".

Xia Fa didn't understand why before, and he still doesn't understand now, but after obtaining new information this time, he vaguely guessed what it was.

The demigod Axo once described the Silver Throne, a supreme-level contract, as "extremely powerful, extremely domineering, and irresistible."

Now, after signing the contract and experiencing it firsthand, Xia Fa has found that Axel's description was indeed correct.

To exaggerate a bit, when he transforms into that three-meter-tall metal humanoid form, even if he is only an insect-level superhuman, he can hunt down elephant-level or even whale-level superhumans with his extremely terrifying destructive power and unparalleled speed!
If it weren't for the fact that the demigod was simply too powerful, transcending the level of mortal life and having just begun to touch upon the existence of "gods," then it would have been impossible to defeat him...

Now, Xia Fa sincerely felt that the story of the god [Absolute Defense], whether it was hunting down the Great Old One [Fallen Evil] or single-handedly killing the other five Great Old Ones who dared to besiege Him, was very similar to the description of the Silver Throne.

Extremely powerful, extremely domineering, and irresistible.

"Could it be that [Absolute Defense] has also signed the Silver Throne, a supreme-level secret pact? Do gods need to sign secret pacts too?"

"Wait a minute, if we follow this line of reasoning, did the entity that answered the story also sign the Silver Throne? Does the entity also need to sign a secret contract?"

Xia Fa shook his head with a sigh. It seemed that his previous understanding of the concept that "the secret contract is the foundation of the extraordinary" was still too superficial.

Now it seems that the secret code... could even be said to be the root of all the extraordinary!

Apart from certain supernatural creatures and the bizarre.

"arrive."

Suddenly, Xia Fa stopped and stood in front of a bungalow.

The entire bungalow was built with pure black walls, had no windows, and even the roof was made of black bricks.

Moreover, these black wall bricks seem to absorb light; even when the bright and intense sunlight of the island shines on them, there is no reflection whatsoever, and the patterns on the bricks are not even visible.

One can imagine how dark the interior of the house would be when someone went in and closed the door.

There was a small stall at the entrance, with brand-new black robes displayed on the stall made of coconut bark.

Xia Fa nodded slightly, first spending a silver coin to buy a black robe, and then walked into the pure black bungalow.

The door closed almost the instant he entered the room, revealing it to be pitch black inside, as if he had fallen into a lightless abyss.

The room was filled with the sound of rustling footsteps, suggesting that there were dozens of people inside, but no one was speaking. Only occasionally could one sense the fluctuations of extraordinary power.

With a slight thought, Xia Fa immediately covered his face with a bronze ghost mask and wrapped his body in dried mud.

This made him look suddenly much more robust and muscular, no longer the skinny man who lacked muscle and fat.

He draped a black robe over himself, covering him from head to toe.

Even those who know him very well would never recognize him as Xia Fa at first glance.

Xia Fa was quite satisfied with his attire. He pushed open the door on the other side of the bungalow and went out.

This is a "disguise hut" found in every extraordinary market, specifically for extraordinary individuals who do not wish to reveal their identities.

Superhumans disguise their appearance and physique in various ways. Some rely on secret contracts, some on secret treasures, and some even on sealed artifacts. The Disguise Hut only provides a brand new black robe and does nothing else.

Xia Fa naturally disguised himself using the power of the Etheric Source Pact, the bronze mask came from the use of the gold element, and the mud block came from the earth element.

After leaving the disguised hut, Xia Fa began to truly explore this extraordinary market.

Clearly, this place is a melting pot of all sorts of people from all walks of life.

Interestingly, the Extraordinary Market is divided into two areas. The East Zone is where the shops and stalls are set up by the real extraordinary individuals, and it occupies a larger area. The West Zone is exclusively for ordinary people to buy and sell.

Because the disguised cabin was located in the West District, Xia Fagang entered the West District as soon as he came out.

There are almost no shops in the western district, only two or three fish stalls. Apart from that, everything else is just a thick cloth or mat spread out on the ground to sell.

"Sir, would you like a human-faced eel? We just caught one today, so I'll give you a special price: 260 gold pounds!"

At one of the fish stalls, the owner greeted Xia Fa warmly, showing no fear of his bronze ghost mask and black robe, as if he were used to seeing superhumans dressed like this.

A human-faced eel?
Xia Fa turned around and curiously glanced into a glass fish tank at the fish stall.

There it was, a black eel with brown spots, about the thickness of an adult's forearm, swimming and swaying its body in the aquarium.

Strangely, it actually has a human face, exactly like a real person, as if someone had shrunk their head and embedded it in.

Moreover, the person's face showed a tearful expression, but their eyes were also rolling around, looking at Xia Fa curiously.

The moment Xia Fa met the human-faced eel's gaze, he suddenly felt slightly dazed, his vision blurred for a moment, and he couldn't help but look away in surprise.

As recorded in the data, although the human-faced eel is not very aggressive, it does have a certain psychological effect on people and is suitable for superhumans who have signed a spiritual and mental bond to consume.

Xia Fa browsed through other stalls and saw that they mostly sold ores, herbs, fruits, etc., and rarely saw items like the secret treasure.

"Sir, come and see the Hibiscus syriacus I just dug up in the mangroves by the sea today! You definitely won't regret buying it!"

"I've heard that the shells shed by the ethereal spiders are quite valuable. I don't really know much about them. Is anyone interested?"

"Sawtooth grass, specially used to stop bleeding, one gold pound for one plant, three gold pounds for two plants, buy one hundred plants and get one free!"

Because he was wearing a bronze ghost mask, Xia Fa didn't need to hide his expression too much and wasn't afraid of revealing that he was a novice superhuman.

He curiously looked around at the stalls, enriching his extraordinary knowledge.

Extraordinary fruits, extraordinary herbs, extraordinary minerals... Ordinary people sell all sorts of extraordinary materials they unexpectedly obtain from the mountains, forests, and seas, hoping to make a fortune in return.

Of course, these ordinary people were also quite wary, and most of them wore masks, mostly animal masks.

Clearly, as ordinary people, they are more afraid that after selling their extraordinary materials and making money, they will be robbed by superhumans who are far more powerful than them.

After all, the money obtained from selling extraordinary materials is too huge for ordinary people, enough to allow some lucky individuals to live a life without working. Similarly, such a sum would also tempt some extraordinary individuals.

Xia Fa silently memorized the names of the many extraordinary materials he saw along the way, so that he could use them in the future. Then, he stepped into the eastern part of the extraordinary market.

The layout of the East District was completely different. Several grand shops stood there, and many items that looked like secret treasures or sealed objects finally appeared on the street stalls. Xia Fa even saw several secret contracts.

Ordinary people wouldn't dare sign a secret contract casually, and they rarely even dare to consider buying one to try it out. There's no other reason; under normal circumstances, if a hundred ordinary people signed a secret contract, all one hundred would spiral out of control.

Unless the number expands to tens of thousands, perhaps one extraordinary individual will emerge.

Even ordinary secret contracts have extremely high requirements for the mental and physical well-being of the signatories. Therefore, the church does not prohibit the sale of secret contracts, which can be considered as leaving a path for the advancement of extraordinary individuals in the general population.

Xia Fa didn't look at these treasures. At present, he had signed the Silver Throne, a hegemon-level secret contract, and the Taiyuan Secret Contract as an aid. In addition, there was the sealing object in the shape of a horse-slaying sword. He really didn't need any treasures.

Moreover, he needs to save money, at least 500,000 gold pounds, or even 1.5 million gold pounds, for his next overlord-level secret contract, "Gate of the Stars".

So, following the information that Chestnut had given him, Xia Fa headed straight for the "Secret Trade" shop in the Extraordinary Market.

The store is called "Secret Transaction," and it's even part of a chain that spans the entire Wright Starfield. It's said to be backed by a ruler-level being.

As soon as he walked in, the chubby boss with slicked-back hair behind the counter immediately greeted him with a smile.

"Honorable sir, what do you need? As long as you can name your price, our secret trading shop can find anything for you!"

The chubby boss was wearing a white shirt and overalls, but even the overalls couldn't hold back his huge belly that looked like it was about to fall off.

Xia Fa couldn't help but find his words amusing. If what he wanted was a top-tier secret contract or a sealed item with a high number, did the secret trading shop also have it?
However, he didn't think much of it, walked to the counter, deliberately lowered his voice, and changed his tone:
"Did you get a black bag?"

The portly boss adjusted his glasses, his face full of obsequiousness:
"Yes, yes, esteemed guest, we certainly have that. But, we're not sure if you'd like a regular black bag or a blind bag?"

"Blind bags?" Xia Fa asked curiously.

"Yes, blind bags." The chubby shopkeeper smiled and took out an iron plate from under the counter.

The iron plate was clearly no ordinary object; it was covered with hundreds of black cryptic symbols engraved in a strange arrangement.

On the iron plate were various kinds of small bags, all only the size of coins.

Some looked like small black buffalo leather bags, others resembled metal buttons, and still others looked like plastic toys at first glance, completely unremarkable.

Before Xia Fa could ask any further questions, the chubby boss explained with a smile:
"These are spoils of war seized by the victors during battles between superhumans. They didn't want to open the black bags for fear of encountering something unpleasant, so they sold them directly to us. How about it, want to give it a try? Maybe there will be a pleasant surprise."

Xia Fa looked at the full iron plate with over a hundred black bags and was quite surprised.

No wonder it's called a blind bag... Isn't this just like opening a blind box in a past life?
However, he won't touch it for the time being.

Putting everything else aside, firstly, as a chain store that can be spread throughout the entire Wright Starfield, the Secret Trading Store must have many methods and secrets. Under such circumstances, what is the big deal about opening one or two acquired black bags?
In other words, it's highly unlikely that there will be anything good in the black bag in this iron plate; any good items would have already been opened.

Secondly, according to the fat shopkeeper, if one were to accidentally open the cursed black bag, it seems the customer would be responsible for the consequences.

"From left to right, the cheapest black bag costs only ten gold pounds. You heard me right, ten gold pounds. The one on the far right starts at ten thousand gold pounds, and the most expensive costs thirty-two hundred thousand gold pounds, and not a penny less."

The chubby boss was still actively promoting the product, practically spitting as he spoke.

Xia Fa clicked his tongue in amazement:

"Thirty-two hundred thousand gold pounds? Could this contain a supreme-level secret contract?"

The fat boss laughed:

"You guessed right, sir! Guess what? In the past, some customers have opened up top-tier secret contracts from inside, making millions of gold pounds. Some have even opened up..."

His voice suddenly softened, and his large, fat head leaned closer, as if he were revealing some extremely shocking secret:

"...A sealed artifact with a number starting with 0!"

Seeing his alarmist demeanor, Xia Fa was even less likely to fall for it.

Just kidding. Sealed items starting with number 0 are mostly with the nine major churches. How could they possibly appear in a blind bag?

So he responded without hesitation:

"I'll try again next time. Just give me a regular black bag this time."

Surprisingly, the portly boss didn't seem annoyed at all; on the contrary, he remained very enthusiastic and brought out another iron plate.

"Of course, of course, sir. Please choose one. Prices start at one hundred gold pounds. The nicer ones are more expensive."

This iron plate is just an ordinary iron plate, without any secret inscriptions on it.

Xia Fa glanced at it and saw that on the iron plate, there were small pouch-like black bags, button-like black bags, and even some that looked like rings.

After thinking for a moment, he pointed to the button-shaped black bag:
"how much is this."

The chubby boss said enthusiastically:

"It would normally cost two hundred gold pounds, but since this is your first time, I'll give you a discount and it will only cost one hundred and fifty gold pounds!"

Xia Fa certainly didn't believe his claims about discounts, but 150 gold pounds wasn't much. He immediately took out a 100-pound gold pound note, along with two 20-pound notes and two 5-pound notes that the waiter had given him as change in the tavern.

He quickly counted them and handed them directly to the fat boss.

The portly boss accepted it with both hands, his smile widening even further.

"Does the guest need anything else? As I said before, our secret trading shop has everything. If you can think of it, we can find it. Moreover, all transactions are absolutely confidential!"

Xia Fa pretended to think for a moment, acting as if he had been persuaded, as if pondering what else he needed, before hesitantly speaking:

"Hmm... I still have some money. Do you have any clothing-related treasures here? Preferably something durable and not easily damaged."

The fat boss laughed:

"Yes, yes, esteemed guest, we certainly have this one too. Here, take a look at this one."

He crouched down and took out a bodysuit that looked like sharkskin from the counter.

"The secret treasure 'Phantom Shark Suit' can freely change size according to your body shape. It is resistant to high temperatures and lightning, and can withstand the stabs of sharp objects. However, it is less effective in defending against blunt force trauma."

"Furthermore, if you only wear the Phantom Shark Suit, it can create phantom images of the clothes you want around you, so realistic that they can be mistaken for the real thing!"

Xia Fa listened carefully and couldn't help but be quite moved.

He didn't care that the Shark Suit could grow or shrink, nor did he care about lightning strike resistance; what he wanted was high-temperature resistance so that he could withstand the temperature of Rheinmetall.

But the key point is that this Shark Suit can actually transform into another set of clothes, which is incredibly convenient.

So he pretended to be indifferent and said:

"The functions are too complicated, and many of them are unnecessary for me. Let's talk about the price first."

(End of this chapter)