Chapter 19: The Girl with High-Level Talent
At one of the entrances to the black market, Ye Tian looked at the two Martial Warrior guards at the gate and walked straight in. The guards scrutinized Ye Tian and found him somewhat unfamiliar, but sensing the aura of a Martial Warrior on him, they didn't stop him.
Entering through the gate, a stone staircase led downward. Soon, Ye Tian arrived at the actual underground black market. The area was vast, at least as large as a big square, with many shops and numerous Martial Warriors walking around.
Ye Tian found a shop that purchased fierce beast materials. He sold the materials he had gathered from his hunts, making a total of 200,000 yuan (Chinese currency)—a modest gain.
"The Martial Pavilion!" Ye Tian arrived at the entrance of this shop and carefully examined it. Judging by its size and scale, this shop was undoubtedly the largest in the black market.
Upon entering the Martial Pavilion, a female apprentice clerk approached Ye Tian and respectfully said, "Honored Martial Warrior, may I assist you with any purchases? Our Martial Pavilion sells a variety of items; you can find most things here."
"Do you have cultivation manuals for Martial Warriors?" Ye Tian asked.
The female clerk smiled and said, "Are you referring to Elemental Body Cultivation Methods? We only have low-level ones here. For higher-level methods, you'd have to go to a larger base."
Elemental Body Cultivation Methods! This was the first time Ye Tian had heard this term. It wasn't his fault for being unaware; the higher-ups at Linhai Base had strict control over information related to Martial Warriors. Apprentices and ordinary people had limited access to such knowledge.
"Do you have a list of items? I'd like to take a look before making a purchase," Ye Tian thought for a moment and said.
"Yes, we do," the female clerk nodded and quickly fetched an item list.
The list contained many items, including Elemental Body Cultivation Methods, beast blood, healing potions, weapons, secret techniques, and various rare treasures. Some of the precious items were worth millions of yuan.
Initially, Ye Tian thought he was wealthy, but after seeing these items, he realized his money wasn't that much after all. It was barely enough to support his cultivation at the Martial Warrior level.
"I'll take one low-level Elemental Body Cultivation Method, one Martial Warrior information guide, three portions of mid-level beast blood, one beast atlas, and three bottles of Clear Origin Liquid," Ye Tian listed.
The female clerk calculated, "A low-level Elemental Body Cultivation Method is 50,000 yuan, he Martial Warrior information guide is 10,000 yuan, three portions of mid-level beast blood are 500,000 yuan, the beast atlas is 20,000 yuan, and three bottles of Clear Origin Liquid are 1,000,000 yuan. The total is 1,580,000 yuan."
Spending 1,580,000 yuan all at once made even Ye Tian wince a bit. Fortunately, he had inherited the wealth of Shadow Li, so he could afford such a purchase.
After paying, Ye Tian collected his items. Just as he was about to leave, the female clerk spoke, "Honored Martial Warrior, our Martial Pavilion manager would like to meet you. Do you have time?"
"The manager of the Martial Pavilion wants to see me?" Ye Tian frowned slightly, somewhat reluctant, but after thinking it over, he decided it would be better to meet.
He was also curious about what the manager of the Martial Pavilion wanted with him.
Led by the female clerk, Ye Tian arrived at the second floor of the Martial Pavilion. Here, he met the manager of the Martial Pavilion.
"A girl!" Ye Tian was somewhat surprised.
He had initially thought that the manager of the Martial Pavilion would be a middle-aged man or an old man. He hadn't expected it to be a young girl, who looked to be no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.
Subconsciously, Ye Tian checked the manager’s talent status. The moment he saw it, he was utterly shocked.
Cultivation Talent: High-level
Swordsmanship Talent: Mid-level
Speed Talent: Low-level
A genius! A true genius!
This was the first real genius Ye Tian had encountered since his arrival in this world. Compared to Yue Ling, people like Mo Shao Bei were simply insignificant.
"She has high-level cultivation talent, mid-level swordsmanship talent, and low-level speed talent. Given her age and background, she must already be an Elite Martial Warrior," Ye Tian thought.
Immediately, he became excited. He wasn't too concerned about the mid-level swordsmanship talent, as he already had mid-level blade talent. Even if he copied the swordsmanship talent, it wouldn't significantly improve his abilities. However, he wanted to copy both the low-level speed talent and the high-level cultivation talent.
His copy ability could be used again, but he could only copy one talent at the moment. Although the low-level speed talent was useful, it wasn't as crucial as the high-level cultivation talent. Especially since he might not have another opportunity to encounter Yue Ling.
So, Ye Tian extended his right hand with an innocent smile, "Hello, my name is Ye Tian."
Yue Ling hesitated a bit but still extended her jade-like right hand to lightly shake Ye Tian's, immediately pulling it back afterward. What Yue Ling didn't know was that the moment Ye Tian touched her hand, he had copied her high-level cultivation talent.
"Success!" Ye Tian was overjoyed, his heart practically bursting with happiness.
"Hello, I am Yue Ling, the manager of the Martial Pavilion," Yue Ling introduced herself and then signaled the female clerk to leave with a glance.
"Manager Yue, what did you want to see me about?" Ye Tian got straight to the point.
Yue Ling sat down, looked intently at Ye Tian, and asked, "Ye Tian, you've just advanced to the level of a Martial Warrior, haven't you? Do you know the background of our Martial Pavilion?"
"I have indeed just advanced to the level of a Martial Warrior. As for the Martial Pavilion’s background, I'm not sure, but I assume it's a major force in Linhai Base," Ye Tian said.
"No!" Yue Ling shook her head. "The Martial Pavilion is not a force from Linhai Base. Although Linhai Base is a minor power and has limited contact with other bases, some larger bases have established branches here due to Linhai Base's unique geographical location. These larger bases are concerned about any incidents occurring in Linhai Base. For them, Linhai Base serves as a gateway, so even if Linhai Base is weak, they will station people here. The Martial Pavilion comes from one of those larger bases."
"From a larger base!" Ye Tian showed a look of understanding. No wonder the Martial Pavilion could sell so many treasures. He had already guessed Yue Ling's identity; she must come from a larger base and hold a very noble status. But what was Yue Ling doing in Linhai Base? This was just a small base, after all.
"Manager Yue called me here because...?" Ye Tian asked, increasingly puzzled.
"Would you like to join the Martial Pavilion? I see that you're at most sixteen or seventeen years old and have already advanced to the level of a Martial Warrior. More importantly, you're not from one of the major families in Linhai Base, which makes you even more valuable. Therefore, I would like to invite you to join the Martial Pavilion," Yue Ling candidly said.
"Manager Yue, I don't wish to join any forces for the time being," Ye Tian immediately refused without giving it a second thought.