Chapter 3: Wanted (Part 2)

Guo Shier’s expression darkened instantly. Ku Mu silently handed him a talisman, roughly the size of a matchbox from his past life—a thin, white talisman.
Guo Shier quickly placed the talisman on his forehead. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, “It’s the Star Sect again!” The warrant was issued by the Star Sect, detailing Luo Jie’s appearance, but no other information about him was included. It seemed Ku Mu had seen Luo Jie’s talisman imprint and realized the person wanted was Guo Shier’s former master.
Ku Mu said calmly, “Since a warrant has been issued, it means… he’s safe.”
Guo Shier calmed down and nodded. “I know. Master Luo Jie was found on the Star Continent, but… he must have escaped by now. We just don’t know where to look for him. The Core Foundation Continent… that’s where we discovered it after arriving on the Star Continent, after being chased by the Star Sect’s experts and entering a secret realm.”
Ku Mu said, “I have another piece of news, also just a rumor. It’s said that Black Talisman People have appeared on the Earth Fire Continent. I’m not sure if it’s your master, Luo Jie.”
Guo Shier perked up. “Earth Fire Continent? Where is it?”
Ku Mu shook his head. “I don’t know. You’ll have to search for it yourself.” He had no objection to Guo Shier going in search of his master. For him, since he had entered a higher-level continent, it was time to start seeking his own path to advancement. As for the Chenxiao Sect, although he still had a sense of responsibility toward it, he no longer needed to pay too much attention.
Guo Shier was his disciple. Like Monier, he treated him almost like his own son. They had become like a family. With such familial bonds, the master-disciple relationship meant little. So both Monier and Ku Mu doted on Guo Shier, being extremely tolerant of him.
Guo Shier fell silent for a moment before saying, “Okay, I’ll go look for him.”
Ku Mu felt a slight pang of jealousy toward Luo Jie. He nodded and said, “If you need help, I can accompany you.”
Guo Shier shook his head. “No need. I plan to take Uncle Luo and Uncle Eagle Demon with me.”
Ku Mu said, “You have a cross-continents talisman, so you won’t get lost in the secret realm. But still be careful. If things go wrong, retreat first, and we’ll think of another plan.”
Guo Shier was secretly moved and said, “Yes, master.”
Ku Mu stood up and said, “You’ve just returned from the secret realm. Get some rest early.”
…

He sold a large amount of materials collected from the mutated beasts and earned a huge sum of money. Guo Shier remained most of it for Aunt Lan. To maintain this settlement, funds were necessary. This money covered the expenses of the courtyard and would be sufficient to sustain it for over a decade.

By the time Xuan Ai arrived, Ku Mu had already left. He took Guo Shier and Eagle Demon to the trading market in Haimen.

The trading market of a high-level continent’s sect was also extremely large. Unlike mid- and low-level continents, sects on high-level continents generally had agreements and alliances among them, making their trading scope far beyond Guo Shier’s imagination. Moreover, talismans on high-level continents were already used in daily life, unlike on mid- and low-level continents where talismans were in the hands of professionals.

“This is Haimen’s inner district?” Guo Shier asked in surprise. He thought he had only seen skyscrapers in his past life, but here he saw them again, though with greatly different appearances. He even saw floating buildings, various passages connected by talismanic power, and flying vehicles in the sky, making him feel as if he had entered a science fiction world.

Xuan Ai said proudly, “This is just the edge of the inner district. The inner district is even more bustling.”

Guo Shier sighed, “Compared to this place, Haicheng is simply rural… The gap is too huge.”

Xuan Ai laughed, “How can Haicheng be compared to the inner district? It’s impossible to build large talisman towers there. If a powerful mutated sea beast attacks, Haicheng can be abandoned.”

Only then did Guo Shier understand why Haicheng was so simple—this was the reason.

Xuan Ai said, “The trade fair will take place in the floating building. Professionals can fly in directly, while ordinary people must take flying vehicles to enter.”

Guo Shier was surprised, “Ordinary people can also enter?”

Xuan Ai replied, “Sure. Many ordinary people living here are family members of professionals, so of course they can enter.”

Guo Shier reflected inwardly. He realized now that the higher the continent, the easier it was for ordinary people to survive. On lower-level continents, the hierarchy was strict—ordinary people were treated like pigs and dogs, while professionals held supreme power, able to decide life and death without restraint. Suddenly, he had an epiphany: high-level continents were more like the world of his past life—this was the result of differences in productivity.

Xuan Ai said, “Hang your identity token on your belt. Let’s go.” He soared into the air, flying toward the floating building.

Guo Shier, along with Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan, also took off. Many professionals in the sky were heading toward the floating building as well.

The floating building had dozens of entrances and exits. Xuan Ai led them to one of them. At the entrance was a platform extending out—not very large. Anyone who wanted to enter had to land on the platform first before going inside. Xuan Ai landed first, followed by Guo Shier, Eagle Demon, and Luo Zhan. Xuan Ai gave a signal and walked ahead. The four of them entered through the entrance with the stream of people. The passage was brightly lit, with glowing runes all over the walls. The crowd moved quickly, and soon they arrived in a vast hall—its space even larger than the enclosed football field Guo Shier had seen in his past life. Numerous large talismans stood in the hall, displaying various kinds of information. Xuan Ai said, “You can also post messages offering to sell materials. If you see something suitable, you can send a message to the owner to negotiate a deal.” Guo Shier asked, “Where can I trade for more precious materials?” Xuan Ai replied, “You need to rent a trading room. Trading rooms are used specifically for trading those secretive materials. Neither party needs to meet in person, which avoids many disputes. Usually, large trade fairs have such rooms, but the rent is extremely expensive.” Guo Shier asked, “What are the requirements to rent one? I thought it would be impossible to rent such a room with just big talisman coins; maybe I’d need to exchange them for valuable materials instead.” To his surprise, Xuan Ai said, “One hundred thousand big talisman coins… for half a day.” Guo Shier asked, “Big talisman coins? Are those the gold talisman coins popular here?” Xuan Ai nodded, “Yes, you can rent one with big talisman coins.” Aside from leaving about a million big talisman coins for Aunt Lan, Guo Shier still had over a hundred thousand left as a contingency fund. He hadn’t expected to need big talisman coins here as well. He smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll rent it for half a day. Where do I pay the rent?” Xuan Ai was puzzled. For materials that weren’t particularly precious, no one would want to rent such an expensive trading room. He said, “I’ll take you to handle it. It’s simple… Well, using my identity talisman, you can get a 10% discount.” Trading rooms, also known as floating trading rooms, were located below the trading hall. All the trading rooms floated in the space beneath. Each one was a small floating room, looking identical on the outside, drifting in the vast space with the fluctuations of the runes.

As long as a trading chamber issues a transaction command, the other chambers can quickly receive the message. If one wishes to trade, they simply need to issue a command to negotiate with the other party. Once both sides agree to the trade, the two chambers connect to each other through special rune channels to complete the transaction, after which they disconnect automatically. This is the entire process of a trade, with neither party knowing who they are trading with—the whole thing takes place in a closed environment.

Guo Shier entered a trading chamber, which could only accommodate one person. Xuan Ai, Eagle Demon, and Luo Zhan were waiting in the lounge outside.

The trading chamber was a small square room of four square meters. A light cyan rune tablet stood in front of him, along with a tiny platform that housed a small teleportation rune array, used solely for transferring between trading chambers. The light cyan tablet displayed rows of runes, each representing information about the exchange of precious materials, with detailed descriptions for each type.

Next to the platform was a rune book. Guo Shier glanced through it briefly; it contained the spells needed to use the trading chamber and the steps for operating it. At the end of the book were the rules of trading.

After fully understanding everything, Guo Shier couldn’t help but sigh, “It’s so simple… Ah, so advanced…”

He cast a spell, and immediately various materials appeared on the tablet—among them were the soul beads of advanced mutated rune beasts, various high-grade runes, and many other precious materials.

Guo Shier marked on the tablet using runes: “A small amount of high-quality Anluo Stone in exchange for coordinates and rune maps of special secret realms, coordinates and rune maps of high-grade continents, and detailed rune maps of the Star Continent and the Earthfire Continent.” He had plenty of Anluo Stone, and any mid-to-high-level Grand Sage would be eager to obtain it.

As soon as he sent this message, the entire trading space seemed to pause for a moment, after which countless messages arrived.

Guo Shier began filtering through the incoming messages and quickly identified two trading chambers. He sent a message to each: “One refined Anluo Stone in exchange for the coordinates and rune maps you provide.”

Soon, Guo Shier exchanged a piece of Anluo Stone the size of a cigarette box for a rune book. He then exchanged it for another rune book, which was filled with numerous coordinates of secret realms and groups of coordinates for high-grade continents. He also obtained several rune maps, and most importantly, some basic information about the Star Continent and the Earthfire Continent.

Guo Shier immediately erased the information on his talisman. From posting the message to deleting it, it only took ten minutes, and he had obtained what he wanted, which further made him realize just how precious Anluo Stone was. He quickly cleared the information related to Anluo Stone from his talisman, but messages from other transactions kept arriving. A red rune was transmitted and stood out sharply on the talisman. Guo Shier reached out and stopped this message. Someone was willing to offer other items in exchange for Anluo Stone. “A set of field talisman houses, equipped with nine formation talismans that can create a small concealment array, in exchange for seven pieces of refined Anluo Stone.” “One large Ancient True Talisman-level spirit-hiding talisman and one Ancient True Talisman-level plant-hiding talisman, in exchange for two pieces of refined Anluo Stone.” “One giant axe talisman, of Ancient True Talisman level, in exchange for four pieces of Anluo Stone.” Guo Shier was somewhat excited—all the items offered were of Ancient True Talisman level. What interested him the most was the field talisman house, which was a treasure from adventure dungeons. He widened his eyes as he watched a new message appear.