YM778.TV Book 2: Chapter 30: Fu Yingying
“Young Master, I’ve heard that in the Hanyuan Underground City, Destiny Disks are for sale. With enough money, they’re yours...” Sun Qiang whispered as Zhang Xuan finished reviewing the notes.
“An underground city?” Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Sun Qiang nodded. “It’s said to be a black market beyond the control of the Hanyuan royal family and the Destiny Hall, where anything can be bought—including lives.”
“Interesting!” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.
Although he had gained a considerable amount of Heaven’s Fate Energy by breaking the Heaven’s Fate Lock on the [Mystic Dragon Palm], stabilizing Nie Lingxi and the others’ Source Pools and transcribing Divine Soul Realm techniques had consumed a lot of it. He now had very little left.
Since such things were available for purchase, it was worth checking out. Additionally, progressing in soul cultivation proved increasingly difficult; obtaining rare treasures could help speed up his training.
“If it’s a black market, shouldn’t it be secretive and hard to access without significant status? How did you find out?” Zhang Xuan asked curiously.
“Well, I got lucky, and since I’m now in the Divine Soul Realm and a new wandering cultivator, people were eager to make connections...” Sun Qiang explained.A Divine Soul Realm expert, even in Hanyuan City, was considered significant. Such strength with no background naturally attracted those willing to share inside information.
The black market was only about thirty miles from their residence. Riding on Dao Li’s swift hooves, Zhang Xuan reached the destination quickly.
He dismounted and let Dao Li roam freely while he followed Sun Qiang’s directions.
The place was disguised as an unremarkable teahouse, almost empty, with a bored tea master tinkering with tea utensils at a table.
Zhang Xuan sat down and tapped the table lightly. “A bowl of tea, no water, no leaves, and no bowl.”
The tea master’s eyes gleamed as he cupped his hands. “Sir, such tea won’t be drinkable! How many bowls would you like?”
Zhang Xuan handed him a 100-tael silver note. “I’ll have as many as you can serve. I’m not greedy.”
Upon seeing the hefty sum, the tea master’s eyes lit up, and he nodded enthusiastically. “This way, please, sir.”
Zhang Xuan followed him out of the room. The tea master handed him a black cloth, which Zhang Xuan knew to tie over his eyes. He boarded a carriage that took a winding, half-hour route before being transferred to a small boat. After drifting for a while, light finally returned as the cloth was removed.
“We’ve arrived, sir.”
Zhang Xuan found himself in a spacious underground cavern. A dark river flowed beneath wooden bridges, creating long corridors carved into stone walls where stalls lined both sides, lit brightly and bustling with activity.
“Quite lively!”
He hadn’t expected so many people after such a convoluted journey. The area held at least several hundred, surprising him.
“This way, sir...” The tea master led him along the wooden corridors.
The stalls were filled with items that were forbidden or hard to find in the outside world.
“Last two jars of Purple Jade Balm! Great for asthma, agitation, internal fire injuries, and men’s... discreet issues!” a vendor called out with a smile as Zhang Xuan passed.
Curious, Zhang Xuan lightly touched the balm, prompting the Library of Heaven\'s Path to produce an entry.
“Purple Jade Balm: created by chopping an unborn infant and combining with Iceleaf Grass, Illusion Fire Fruit, and Source Beast blood, then solidified over a flame.”
Zhang Xuan’s pupils contracted in shock.
Using unborn infants in concoctions? That was treating human life as mere ingredients.
Before he could recover, another vendor shouted, “Three Corpse-Eating Worms for sale! They burrow into victims through the anus, eating intestines and organs while releasing an anesthetic, making them undetectable until it’s too late. Ideal for covert assassinations. Effective against anyone below the Organs Easing Realm.”
Zhang Xuan glanced at the vendor’s display, where three beetle-like, black-shelled insects crawled slowly in a golden bowl, their heads a silvery hue. Their wing movements produced a hypnotic, chirping sound.
Zhang Xuan was astonished.
Corpse-Eating Worms, nurtured on corpses, were rare and often considered mythical. He hadn’t expected to find them sold so openly.
“Here, anything imaginable can be found. Even if you want the meat of a Divine Soul Realm Source Beast to pair with your drink, it can be arranged,” the tea master chuckled.
First-time visitors often reacted as Zhang Xuan did. This guest seemed no different.
Amid such items, Divine Soul Realm Source Beast meat seemed commonplace.
“Are there tamed pet beasts for sale?” Zhang Xuan asked out of curiosity.
“Beasts are sold, but taming must be done by the buyer!” the tea master explained. “As you know, taming without a Beast Tamer\'s destiny is impossible, and Hanyuan City lacks any Destiny Masters specializing in beast taming...”
Zhang Xuan nodded, now understanding.
Taming, medicine, arrays, painting—all these specialized skills required breaking their respective Heaven’s Fate Locks. Only a Destiny Master could accomplish that.
With no beast-taming Destiny Masters in Hanyuan City, learning the art was an unreachable goal for others. Thus, even if a Source Beast was captured, taming it would be as uncertain as Yu Longqing’s attempts to befriend them the most basic way.
As the two conversed, they walked past a corridor and into a small room. Inside, a woman in a black dress sipped tea, one long, snow-white leg visible beneath her hem.
“Lady Proprietor, we have a new customer,” the tea master said, halting.
“A new customer?” The woman scoffed, set down her tea, covered her leg with her skirt, and stood gracefully. “If Elder Ling is new, then I must be a maiden!”
“Elder Ling?” The tea master’s eyes widened.
The woman nodded. “Yes, this is Elder Ling Buyang from the Destiny Hall, soon to be the vice-principal in a few days, if nothing goes wrong...”
“My apologies, Elder Ling. I failed to recognize you...” The tea master retreated, embarrassed.
Ignoring him, Zhang Xuan studied the woman with interest. “The Proprietor knows me?”
“What a surprise!” She smirked and swayed over, placing her hands on Zhang Xuan’s shoulders, exhaling playfully in his face. “What’s the matter, Elder Ling? Got a new concubine and pretending not to know me? You used to call me ‘Little Yingying,’ but now I’m just ‘Proprietor’?”
Zhang Xuan didn’t reply, staring back coldly, unleashing a sliver of his divine sense.
The woman’s cheeks flushed, realizing she had been subtly pushed back. She took two involuntary steps away, her expression changing to one of irritation. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing, just not fond of people getting too close,” Zhang Xuan said coolly.
She laughed. “Men only behave saintly when they’re exhausted. That new concubine of yours must be really draining you...”
She retreated and crossed her long legs, sitting back in her chair with no trace of the earlier allure. “So, what brings you here this time?”
Zhang Xuan didn’t answer immediately but focused inward on the Library of Heaven’s Path.
He had pushed her away to force her to use power, thus creating an entry in the library.
“Fu Yingying, Proprietor of Hanyuan City’s underground black market, Divine Soul Realm peak cultivator, practitioner of the Heaven’s Path Seduction Art, disciple of Green Hill Mountain.”
Zhang Xuan frowned.
This woman was also a Destiny Master with an inheritance.
It baffled him that a dignified Destiny Hall elder like Ling Buyang would frequent a place like this and know her so well.
Never mind. Familiarity made things simpler. Zhang Xuan dropped the thought and stated his needs clearly.
“First, I need Heaven’s Fate Energy—lots of it. Second, I need Dharma Aspect Realm cultivation techniques. The more, the better.”
“Heaven’s Fate Energy? You, an elder of the Destiny Hall, are short on it?” Fu Yingying laughed with disbelief.
“Is that surprising?” Zhang Xuan stood with hands behind his back, unfazed.
“Ah, I see, Elder Ling is trying to expand No Need Hall and cultivate more followers to surpass Elder Feng, isn’t he?” Fu Yingying guessed with a smirk. “There are Destiny Disks for sale, but the price is double that of the Destiny Hall.”
“Double?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
She nodded. “Yes, 4 million Source Coins per disk. But if you have the money, we have the stock.”
Zhang Xuan remained silent. That was indeed steep.
A disk from Dean Lu Mingrong cost 2 million, and here it was 4 million. This black market was aptly named.
“Too pricey to buy?” Fu Yingying teased, brushing her hair back. “As for Dharma Aspect techniques, I can gather them for you, but the cost will be high.”
“How high?” Zhang Xuan asked.
With a slight smile, Fu Yingying said, “Dharma Aspect techniques are precious,
no matter the level. Even collecting them is challenging. Since you’re an old client, I won’t overcharge: 500,000 Source Coins per book.”
Zhang Xuan’s brow creased.
He needed at least 1,000 books to create a Heaven’s Path technique. At 500,000 per book, that would mean a staggering 500 million Source Coins. Even his earnings couldn’t cover that.
Still, at 50,000 per Source Pool Realm manual, the price was fair and not extortionate.
“What if I don’t open or copy the books and only look at their titles and bindings? What would that cost?” Zhang Xuan inquired after some thought.
“Just the titles and bindings?” Fu Yingying was puzzled.
What kind of odd hobby was that? Searching for techniques without reading them was like visiting a brothel to look without touching.
Wait... she had heard that Elder Ling might enjoy just that...
“Yes, and if you don’t believe me, bring a few over and I’ll show you,” Zhang Xuan offered.
“Very well.” After a pause, she smiled and walked into the back, returning shortly with a few books she placed on the table. “These are some Dharma Aspect techniques. But remember, just titles and bindings—don’t open them.”
Zhang Xuan glanced at the covers: *Celestial Roaming Technique*, *Falling Soul Method*, *Soul Shatter Art*, *Water Origin Focus Technique*, *Golden Body Manifestation*.
He lightly touched each one, copying them into the Library of Heaven’s Path. This time, there were no errors.
“How are they? Genuine?” Fu Yingying asked.
“Yes...” Zhang Xuan nodded. “I’m done. Please put them back.”
“Done?” Fu Yingying looked at him in surprise, her curiosity piqued.
Elder Ling’s status was formidable, but she had never seen such peculiar behavior before.
In the past, he looked at her with twisted excitement, clearly interested in more than conversation. Now his gaze was so clear it seemed she held less interest to him than the books.
Had her charm, honed over years of cultivation, lost its effect?
“How much for just looking like this?” Zhang Xuan asked.
Fu Yingying pondered.
Most people read books to learn; he truly just *looked*. No copying, no studying, just a glance.
“Let’s say, 10,000 Source Coins per book,” she finally decided.
“Agreed!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
At 10,000 per book, 1,000 books would only cost 10 million Source Coins, which was manageable. And with the Heaven’s Path Order technique, he might only need 500 books.
500 books at 10,000 each was 5 million—steep but achievable by taking a few more assignments.
Seeing him agree, Fu Yingying said, “I’ll gather them for you, but it will take three days. I can’t promise how many I’ll find.”
“Understood. I’ll come back in three days,” Zhang Xuan said. “As for the Destiny Disks, I’ll take three for now.”
At 4 million each, three disks would cost 12 million. Though he had earned over 30 million in White Roc City, most of it had been given to Sun Qiang, leaving him with just enough for this purchase.
The Destiny Baptism was both ill-suited for his disguised identity and months away, as he’d learned from his research. Spending the money on immediate needs was wiser.
“Alright.” Fu Yingying clapped, summoning a youth who brought over three new Destiny Disks.
Zhang Xuan inspected them and found them unused before pocketing them. “Any quick ways to earn money here?”
“You’re short on funds?” Fu Yingying was momentarily taken aback, then caught herself. “There are many ways to earn here—selling items, selling techniques—all lucrative. But for someone of your status, these are small sums. For real wealth, three methods suit you best.”
“Oh?” Zhang Xuan was intrigued.
“First, selling your body... As a Destiny Hall elder and a Source Pool Realm expert, many wealthy patrons would pay dearly. In this world, money without power is as risky as beauty among wolves.
If someone could have your child, their fate might change entirely,” Fu Yingying teased.
“It’s the fastest way to make money and matches your known habits. I’d even reserve a special room for you here for... services. One time, 1 million Source Coins. Ten times, and that’s 10 million.”
Author\'s Note
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