The Fourth Calamity: People in High Martial Arts, Gods in Games

Chapter 67 Hidden Mission 2

Phosphorus fire trading market.

Xia Ling slowly walked to the front of the medium-sized transport vehicle, her eyes scrutinizing Lin Qi, whom she hadn't seen for several days, a hint of surprise flashing in her golden pupils.

Unexpectedly, after only a few days apart, Lin Qi's blood and energy had become significantly stronger.

Although it's impossible to determine exactly how much stronger he's become, his qi and blood indicate that he's definitely at the apprentice level, which would make him a top expert in a wilderness guild.

In Xia Ling's memory, Lin Qi was definitely not at the apprentice level when he last came. Even the butler said that he was still several years short.

"Miss Xia, I'm here to make a deal again. I hope I haven't disturbed you." Lin Qi greeted Xia Ling with a smile as she approached.

Xia Ling's status in the phosphorus trading market is not low, which reduces the risks of her transactions.

He was genuinely worried that Xia Ling, after the last transaction, had figured out his background and knew that the crocodile-toothed rhinoceros meat was scavenged, and would then be too lazy to bother with him anymore. Fortunately, Xia Ling still came out.

"Mr. Lin, you flatter me. Our phosphorus trading market is open for business; how could we possibly turn away our customers?" Xia Ling stopped probing Lin Qi's aura and said with a smile, "May I ask what Mr. Lin wishes to trade this time?"

The phosphorus fire trading market has never been a concern for apprentices or aspiring martial artists. Any guard in the phosphorus fire trading market can suppress an aspiring martial artist, and apprentices are nothing more than ants.

"Miss Xia can tell by looking inside the cargo box," Lin Qi said, pointing to the medium-sized transport vehicle behind him.

"Mr. Lin certainly likes to play mysterious." Xia Ling smiled, thinking that Lin Qi was making a fuss over nothing. Even if they were to trade another ton of crocodile teeth and rhinoceros meat this time, there was no need to hide it like this.

However, Xia Ling was a very casual and approachable person, and she didn't care about Lin Qi's mysterious act. She directly opened the side door of the medium-sized transport vehicle and went inside alone.

As for safety, Xia Ling wasn't worried at all. Putting aside the fact that this was the phosphorus fire trading market, she herself was only half a step away from becoming a quasi-martial artist, and as long as she wasn't facing a martial artist-level expert, Xia Ling was confident that she could hold out for a long time.

Inside the small cargo container, besides a large metal box, lay a corpse over three meters tall, resembling a grizzly bear, but with a long tail, lying there quietly.

"The One-Horned Gold-Eating Rat!"

When Xia Ling saw the corpse, she froze for a moment, her eyes filled with surprise and confusion.

Although the One-Horned Gold-Eating Rat is the weakest monster, it is extremely difficult to kill. A normal quasi-martial artist can fight it head-on for a short time, but cannot hurt the One-Horned Gold-Eating Rat.

Unless a quasi-martial artist possesses a B-grade weapon, the One-Horned Gold-Eating Rat is very cunning. Once it realizes it cannot be defeated by force, it will flee. In addition, the One-Horned Gold-Eating Rat usually lives in groups of three to five, which is a headache for martial artists.

Of course, with a large number of people involved, a group of extreme apprentices or quasi-martial artists equipped with B-grade weapons can kill the One-Horned Gold-Eating Rat. Some large gangs in the wild and gangs in the suburbs also use this method to obtain monster meat, but the sacrifices involved are considerable, and not many crazy gangs would do this.

More often than not, it's the martial artists who buy from the gangs, allowing the gangs to continuously accumulate strength – that's the key.

It's hard to imagine a newly formed gang in the wild hunting gold-eating unicorns.

"Miss Xia, what price are you willing to offer for this one-horned gold-devouring rat?" Lin Qi walked up, closed the side door of the cargo box, and asked in a low voice.

"One kilogram of unicorn gold-eating rat meat costs 580 bits on the market, but I can offer 600 bits," Xia Ling said almost without hesitation. "Of course, if Mr. Lin can guarantee a long-term supply, I can offer 620 bits."

"Miss Xia is indeed very straightforward." Lin Qi nodded. Xia Ling's price was indeed much higher than the market price. "Okay, I can supply the Unicorn Gold-Eating Rat long-term, but I can't guarantee the time."

As the weakest monster, the price per kilogram of the One-Horned Gold-Eating Rat is naturally lower than that of the more energy-rich Crocodile Tooth Rhinoceros meat. The price of 620 bits is already very satisfactory for Lin Qi.

"As long as we can guarantee a long-term supply, that's fine." Xia Ling looked at Lin Qi, who could ensure a long-term supply, and couldn't help but think more highly of the power behind him. Then, her gaze drifted to the large metal box beside her. "I wonder what's in that metal box?"

"500 kilograms of blood essence rice, market price 400 bits per kilogram, Miss Xia, are you interested?" Lin Qi quoted directly.

Blood Essence Rice has always been a hard currency in the City of Light, with extremely high demand. However, the purchase price is always lower than the selling price, especially after the stable income from the Unicorn Gold-Eating Rat.

Lin Qi felt that he could keep these mature blood essence rice for himself.

"No problem, I'll take them all." Xia Ling didn't haggle. She looked at Lin Qi with a slight smile, even moving a little closer. Her beautiful eyes no longer regarded Lin Qi as an insignificant nobody. "I wonder what Mr. Lin would like to buy from Phosphorescent Fire this time?"

"I need ten sets of second-hand A5-grade protective gear and one set of second-hand A6-grade protective gear." After thinking for a moment, Lin Qi decided to buy the protective gear from Xia Ling and also get a set for himself.

Although he could also buy from the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop, that would draw too much attention to him. Buying from Xia Ling would be different, and secondhand items would be even cheaper.

"No problem, a set of A5-grade protective gear is 60,000, and a set of A6-grade protective gear is 150,000." Xia Ling was a little surprised when she heard what Lin Qi wanted, not understanding what use these low-end goods were, but since Lin Qi wanted them, she might as well do the deal.

Lin Qi and Xia Ling then completed the transaction.

The Unicorn Gold-Eating Rat weighs 2315.5 kg and has a total value of 1435610. The Blood Essence Rice has a total value of 20. After deducting ten sets of A5-level protective gear and one set of A6-level protective gear, Lin Qi immediately obtained 885610 bits, which greatly increased his cash reserves. This was more than enough to purchase materials to repair the entire martial arts school.

While Lin Qi was waiting for Xia Ling's subordinates to pick up the goods, he discovered that there were quite a few apprentice-level vagrants from various ethnic groups coming to seek refuge in the entire phosphorescent fire trading market.

"Miss Xia, why are there so many apprentices joining today? Is your gang expanding its recruitment recently?" Lin Qi looked at the many apprentice-level vagrants participating in the Phosphorus Fire Gang's registration and assessment with great surprise.

The Half-Scale Clan's influence in the City of Light has increased greatly because of the emergence of several genius martial artists, but it is impossible for it to have risen to this level, attracting hundreds of apprentice-level experts to come and join them.

"No, that's not it." Xia Ling glanced at the long queue and explained, "Recently, wasn't it because the White Feather Gang's outdoor planting base was attacked? The White Feather Gang took action against several outdoor gangs they suspected, and those gangs were unlucky."

"The White Feather Gang had long coveted the resources of those ordinary gangs in the wilderness, but they didn't have a pretext to take action before, fearing that the ordinary gangs would join forces against them. Now that the planting base is gone, the White Feather Gang has a pretext. Those gangs were either completely wiped out or some of their members joined the White Feather Gang because they were dissatisfied with the conditions proposed by the White Feather Gang."

"Among these people are quite a few members of those gangs. In order to avoid trouble from the White Feather Gang, they came here hoping to participate in the assessment."

"Is the White Feather Gang that strong? How could they wipe out several gangs in one go?" Lin Qi was somewhat surprised.

The White Feather Gang was just one of the top 100 gangs in the wilderness. He could believe that they could fight against a few ordinary wilderness gangs, but to wipe out several ordinary wilderness gangs in one go was quite astonishing.

"The White Feather Gang has indeed gained several experts recently, making it much stronger," Xia Ling said nonchalantly. "Especially their gang leader and three vice gang leaders, who have quietly risen to the level of quasi-martial artists. It's quite normal for them to have such strength."

"Although the difference in strength between a quasi-martial artist and an ultimate apprentice may seem small, there is a fundamental difference between the two."

"Once you become a quasi-martial artist, it means that your blood and qi have filled your whole body and have begun to affect your internal organs. Although this effect is small, this improvement in your internal organs allows your brain to receive more nutrients."

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"For this reason, even if a quasi-martial artist is only slightly stronger and faster than a limit apprentice, their perception and reaction nerves are far ahead of those of a limit apprentice."

"This allows a quasi-martial artist to fight against three to five ultimate apprentices at the same time without any problem. Under normal circumstances, apprentices can only suppress and fight against quasi-martial artists by relying on the auxiliary effects brought by the battle armor."

"I see." After hearing this, Lin Qi couldn't help but gain a new understanding of quasi-martial artists.

Unexpectedly, after becoming a quasi-martial artist, the brain would grow, which is far more significant than muscle growth, since battles between masters often happen in an instant.

When neural responses are faster, the balance of power becomes obvious.

System: A player has created a martial arts-level skill called "Layered Wave Blade".

System: Congratulations, host, for completing the hidden mission "Born to be Talented". The maximum number of reward slots has been increased by 40.

System: Congratulations, host, for triggering the second hidden mission, "Geniuses are never alone." This mission requires the player to create ten martial arts skills or forging methods at the warrior level. Currently, there are three. The maximum number of slots for this mission is 100. The reward is martial arts fusion, which allows the player to combine three martial arts skills of the same type into a new martial arts skill, which the host can directly master and reach perfection.

"Fusing martial arts techniques?" Lin Qi looked at the new hidden mission below his field of vision and was also amazed by the system's generosity.

It's one thing to reward extra slots, but I didn't expect to be rewarded with a fusion martial arts technique. The minimum requirement for players to create their own martial arts techniques is the Martial Artist level. With three martial arts techniques of the same type fused together, you can imagine the level of this martial arts technique.

Moreover, starting with the perfect state, it would be a shame not to let players create to their hearts' content with this reward.

Lin Qi then purchased forty alloy shovels from Xia Ling, along with a month's supply of synthetic food and water for forty people.

After completing the transaction, Lin Qi drove the medium-sized transport vehicle back to the Obsidian Martial Arts School without stopping, not intending to stay a moment longer.

Forty spots are available; that's a huge wave of newbies, so we need to make proper arrangements for them.

As Lin Qi drove away in his transport vehicle, a young man from the Winged Clan with one arm followed closely behind on a small electric motorcycle, quickly disappearing from the phosphorus fire trading market.

"Miss, it seems like the White Feather Gang is following them." A half-scaled guard carrying a battle sword quickly entered the house and reported in a low voice, "Should I handle this?"

"No need, it's just the White Feather Gang." Xia Ling couldn't help but smile, flicking her tail as she said, "If they can't even handle the White Feather Gang, then they're not qualified to cooperate with us anymore."

"Yes!" The half-scaled guard carrying a battle sword bowed and left, no longer disturbing Xia Ling's cultivation.

As the sun set, Lin Qi finally returned to the Obsidian Martial Arts School before sunset. Almost immediately upon his return, he instructed the system to open up forty new spots.

"Captain Mans, I've found this gang's stronghold." The one-armed winged youth looked at the magnificent martial arts hall in the distance and felt that the martial arts hall in front of him must be the stronghold of Lin Qi and others. After all, many gang strongholds in the wild are just dilapidated buildings. With such a well-equipped martial arts hall, it is impossible that it is not used as an important stronghold.

"Okay! Send me your location, and I'll ask the gang leader for confirmation. Once it's confirmed to be them, you'll definitely get a reward." The man named Mans nodded, and after seeing the location sent by the young man, he hung up the call.

"The Obsidian Martial Arts School in the human nomadic area?"

Mans looked at the exact location, left his room, and slowly walked upstairs to the top floor, where the White Feather Gang leader's residence was located.

(End of this chapter)