12: Chapter 12 First Pot of Gold in Hand

The underground space created by the renovation of Jiang City's sewer System was perpetually shrouded in an unshakeable damp, musty smell.

Neon signs flickered on the mottled walls, emitting a buzzing electrical sound and reflecting cheap, multicolored light and shadows.

This was the Black Market.

A place where the Law could not reach, and the most authentic foundation for the altars in the Era of Deities.

Wrapped in an oversized hoodie, Jiang Xun kept his head down, skillfully bypassing several demigod thugs huddled at the mouth of an alley, puffing out clouds of smoke.

His destination was clear.

Old Ghost's General Store.

This was the largest distribution center for Civilization Shards in Jiang City. It was said that the owner, Old Ghost, had once been a ruthless character in a frontier pioneering group, only retiring after losing a hand.

Pushing open the creaking tin door, he was greeted by the heavy scent of machine oil mixed with the aroma of burning incense.

The room was piled high with all sorts of junk.

Broken high-carbon steel longswords, rusted bronze tripods, and even some dried biological organs emitting a faint fluorescence.

“Where'd this schoolboy come from? Did you take a wrong turn?”

Behind the counter, a one-armed middle-aged man was dangling an unlit local cigarette from his mouth, holding a magnifying glass in his only remaining hand as he carefully observed a dim energy stone.

His movements were steady, and his eyes were like a hawk's.

“Selling goods.”

Jiang Xun didn't waste words, tossing the burlap sack from his back directly onto the counter.

The dull thud made Old Ghost's eyelids twitch.

The burlap sack spilled open, revealing Undead Bone Cores shimmering with a faint green light and several Orc Forging Blueprints exuding a primal aura.

These items were all scraps he had plundered from Li Ang and his lackeys on the assessment battlefield.

To his SSS-rank Talent, they were scraps, but in the eyes of ordinary gods, these were solid resources.

Old Ghost put down the magnifying glass and casually flipped through them with his single arm.

“The quality is average, the undead aura is too messy, and the forging blueprints are common goods.”

He spat out the cigarette butt and extended two fingers.

“Two hundred thousand Faith Points for the whole lot.”

Through his lenses, Jiang Xun calmly looked at the face written all over with treachery.

“Old Ghost, do you really take me for some good boy who only studies dead books at school?”

He extended a finger and tapped the edges of the Orc blueprints.

“Although these blueprints are low-tier, they bear the rare Molten Tribe mark. If you took these to those Fire-element gods who have just opened up their wasteland Divine Kingdoms, they would bash your head in for the hot-forging techniques inside.”

“And these bone cores.”

Jiang Xun casually picked one up and held it to the light.

“There are indeed Impurities inside, but that’s because the negative resentment was forcibly stripped away. These kinds of pure bone cores are the best catalysts for making high-tier potions; the loss rate is at least thirty percent lower than the standard Black Market goods.”

“Am I right?”

The room fell into a brief, deathly silence.

Old Ghost's originally cloudy eyes gradually narrowed at this moment, revealing a sense of re-evaluation.

He put down his cigarette.

“Kid, you know quite a bit.”

“Five hundred thousand.”

Jiang Xun shook his head and directly tied the bag shut.

“One million. One point less and I'll go to Red Hair next door. I believe he'd be very happy to take these items with the Molten marks.”

Old Ghost's single arm swung violently.

“One million?! You dare to open your mouth so wide! In all of Jiang City, no one but me can swallow so many cursed undead Materials in one go!”

As soon as he finished speaking, several burly tattooed men suddenly rushed in, carrying glowing electromagnetic batons, and surrounded them with ill intent.

“Old Ghost, this kid has been wasting time for a while now. Is he here to cause trouble?”

The leading thug had a face full of scars, his eyes sizing up Jiang Xun's hoodie.

This kind of 'dog-eat-dog' drama in the Black Market played out every day.

Jiang Xun didn't even move; he just gave Old Ghost a faint glance.

“Get out.”

Old Ghost's voice was very low.

The thug froze for a moment. “Boss, this kid looks like a fat sheep...”

Slap!

A crisp slap echoed through the room.

Although Old Ghost only had one hand, his movements were incredibly fast.

The thug was sent flying, slamming heavily against the iron door and spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with teeth.

“Is it your turn to run your mouth in my shop?”

Old Ghost snorted coldly, then put on a fake smile as he looked at Jiang Xun.

“Fine. Every generation brings forth new talent. One million. Consider it making a friend.”

He swiped his personal terminal, and after a series of rapid notification sounds, a long string of zeros instantly appeared in Jiang Xun's account.

That was the first pot of gold in his life.

It was already enough to support the large-scale infrastructure of the Divine Kingdom's Early Stage.

Jiang Xun put away his terminal and prepared to leave.

“Kid, wait.”

Old Ghost called out to him, his expression becoming somewhat strange.

“Looking at your age, you're a senior at Third High School, right?”

Jiang Xun stopped but didn't turn around.

“I'll give you a piece of news.” Old Ghost said in a low voice while tidying the counter. “Jiang City is about to hold the Low-Level Deity Resource Competition. The slots are distributed by the Deity Administration Bureau. Winning the championship allows direct entry into Taichu Academy's Key Class.”

“However, the slot reviewer is someone from the Li family.”

“I heard the Dean of Third High School was very angry today and wants to directly wipe out the eligibility of a student surnamed Jiang.”

Jiang Xun pushed up his glasses, a cold smile flickering in his eyes.

“Thanks.”

Meanwhile, at the Jiang City Deity Administration Bureau, in the Director's office.

“Director Li, the slots have been locked down.”

Director Li Fu lowered his head, his expression respectful.

In front of Jiang Xun, he was an arrogant elite of the Education Bureau, but here, he didn't even dare to raise his head.

“There is indeed a problem with that Jiang Xun's talent. I rejected his registration application on the grounds of 'unstable Divine Kingdom foundation, fearing risk of collapse'.”

Director Li Jianguo sat in a black leather swivel chair, his back to him.

The lights in the room weren't on; only the neon lights of the city outside the window stretched his shadow long and distorted.

“Well done.”

His voice showed no emotion.

“But it's not enough. A low-level deity without resources is like a withered weed. I not only want him to be ineligible for the resource competition, but I also want to make it so he can't buy a single Faith Crystal in all of Jiang City.”

“I want him to watch his own Divine Kingdom slowly become desolate, and watch his believers starve to death or self-immolate one by one.”

Director Li Jianguo turned around, the black jade thumb ring on the table emitting a cold light.

“He took away my son's pride. I will take away his life.”

Director Li Fu quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Of course, of course. Young Master Li is so heroic; how could that kid possibly compare? I've already arranged for the championship title at school as well. The internal report will blur his results... it might even be classified as an experimental accident.”

“I've been holding onto that admission notice for the Key Class. No matter how great his abilities are, if he can't enter that door, he will always be a social defect.”

As Jiang Xun walked out of the Black Market exit, a fine drizzle had already dampened his sleeves.

The skyscrapers at the edge of the city stood like massive tombstones, pressing down on the slums.

He took out his terminal and clicked on the registration status for the resource competition.

The page prominently displayed three red words: Application Rejected.

Reason for rejection: Recommended for psychiatric evaluation; Divine Kingdom severely mutated, unsuitable for competition.

“Truly interesting.”

He murmured softly.

This wasn't just suppression; this was an attempt to completely nail shut his path as a professional deity.

In this era, if you were labeled as having a mutated Divine Kingdom, no university would admit you, no matter how high your combat power was.

But to a history graduate student who had died once, this level of obstruction was laughably crude.

The loopholes in these rules were as numerous as a sieve.

He looked up at the grand projection of the Key Class teaching building in the distance.

That was the convergence point of all the most superior resources in Jiang City.

There was the Li family's suppression at any cost, and the scrutiny of those high-and-mighty geniuses.

“Key Class?”

Jiang Xun pulled his hood back up, concealing all his expressions.

Originally, he only wanted those hundred thousand Faith Points.

But now, he had changed his mind.

Since the door to some places was locked from the inside, he would use violence to tear down the entire wall.

“I will fight my way in myself.”

His voice was drowned out by the honking of the distant traffic.

“Not only will I enter, but I will also trample your so-called elite class, whom you are so proud of, under my feet.”

At this moment, within the Divine Kingdom, the originally quiet undead aura and the Human Race civilization Laws collided frantically, faintly forming a more eerie and heavy power.

The first pot of gold was in hand.

Next, it was time for that so-called Key Class to feel the terror of Civilization Plunder.