111: Chapter 111 Black Market, Black Jade Dragon Mask

On Beast Taming Street, after offloading the inner cores of the Claw-Tooth Wolves and the others, Qin Ding transferred all the funds to Bai Muxue on the spot. Without further delay, he took Da Hei, hailed a carriage, and rushed straight to the Administrative Building without stopping.

Because he paid extra, the carriage wheels rolled rapidly over the bluestone road. In less than half an hour, the towering silhouette of the Administrative Building came into view.

The male secretary, who had already been notified, was waiting in the first-floor lobby. His gaze paused for a moment on Da Hei beside Qin Ding, a flicker of imperceptible confusion flashing in his eyes.

He seemed hesitant to speak.

Just moments ago, he had reported Qin Ding's intentions to the City Lord, and the City Lord had nodded in agreement almost without a second thought. This decisiveness forced him to re-evaluate the subtle relationship between the young man before him and the City Lord.

"Student Qin, please follow me. Your pet can stay on the first floor; I will have some blood-meat prepared for it shortly."

Upon hearing that there was food, Da Hei, who had been closely following Qin Ding, instantly braked. It sat down on the spot, lifted its massive head slightly, and gazed longingly at its master with eyes like copper bells, emitting a fawning whimper from its throat.

Qin Ding felt helpless and could only cast an apologetic smile at the secretary. "Sorry for the trouble."

"It is my duty. Please, this way."

After a knock on the door, a steady "Enter" came from inside.

After escorting Qin Ding into the office, the secretary tactfully closed the door and left, still needing to see to Da Hei's meal.

City Lord Mo Qian was leaning back in his large office chair. Seeing Qin Ding walk straight to the opposite side of the desk and sit down, a flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes, which then transformed into a gentle smile.

"You are visiting today, Student Qin—is there some new development regarding the Yellow Sky Hemp that you needed to report to me specifically?"

Unlike yesterday, Mo Qian had a genuine smile on his face today. In particular, the way he looked at Qin Ding was very much like looking at a junior of his own family.

Qin Ding looked at Mo Qian before him, especially the smile on the other man's face, and a flicker of confusion passed through his eyes. This City Lord Mo seemed to have changed quite a bit between today and yesterday. Was it just because he had reported the matter of the Yellow Sky Hemp? Unlikely... He felt a secret sense of vigilance rise in his heart.

"Lord City Lord, as you know, I killed Xiang Tian. I found ten portions of Sha Jin Wolf custom cultivation fluid in his Storage Ring. I wanted to ask if there is any black market where I can offload these items?"

Mo Qian, who had been leaning comfortably against his office chair, saw his smile broaden after hearing what Qin Ding said, while a hint of eeriness was added to it.

"Wanting to fence stolen goods? Ten portions of Sha Jin Wolf custom cultivation fluid have a market value of about 300,000, but the black market has its own rules."

"The price of items is only half of the market value, but it will not expose any information about the customer. Do you still want to proceed?"

Mo Qian watched Qin Ding before him with great interest. Especially when he mentioned that the price was only half of the market value, he clearly saw Qin Ding's pupils constrict. That was a sign of heartache.

"It has to be cut in half? I guessed the black market might be shady, but I didn't expect it to be this shady..."

Qin Ding's heart was bleeding. 300,000 turning into 150,000—to say it didn't hurt would be a lie.

But this cultivation fluid was a hot potato. He couldn't use it himself, and he dared not entrust it to Bai Muxue to sell, fearing that the old immortal behind Xiang Tian was still lurking in the shadows of Chang City, waiting to find any clues and follow the trail. It was better to be safe than sorry.

After hesitating for only a minute, Qin Ding nodded in agreement. The items were stolen, so selling them for 150,000 wasn't impossible, and with this 150,000, it should be enough for Da Hei to reach a Breakthrough to level 21.

"I can accept that. I just hope City Lord Chang can tell me the location of the black market..."

"You can accept it? Fine, give the items to me."

Mo Qian directly interrupted Qin Ding's words, and in the midst of Qin Ding's stunned and shocked gaze, he extended his right hand with a half-smile.

Looking at that extended right hand, Qin Ding was stunned for several seconds before coming back to his senses. With a complex look in his eyes, he took the box containing the Sha Jin Wolf custom cultivation fluid out from his Storage Ring and placed it on the desk.

Mo Qian casually flipped open the box lid, glanced at it, and smiled.

"As for the money, I will have my secretary transfer it to you later. As for the location of the black market, it is near the West City Gate. You can just ask the patrolling officers guarding the city; this sort of thing is semi-public."

After speaking, Mo Qian's hand flicked across the desk, and a white plaque with the word 'Black' written in black ink appeared on the desk. Along with it was a jet-black jade mask, carved into the shape of a Dragon face.

"This plaque is a pass, and this mask is for hiding your identity. Apart from the Federation, no one knows who enters the black market."

"At the same time, this token is effective in any city. However, you must remember that the black market is only at the West City Gate of each city—the exit gate, not the official road gate."

"Of course, as for this batch of cultivation fluid, I will have it sold across hundreds of cities, far away, so you don't need to worry about that old thing Commander Xiang Ding finding any clues."

The white token had 'Black' written on the front and 'Chang City' on the back. The material was unknown, but it felt as warm and smooth as jade, making one reluctant to put it down.

Stroking the token while listening to the City Lord of Chang City, he tried his best to control his twitching eyebrows. Good heavens... a one-stop service for fencing stolen goods. Is the Federation actually getting involved in this kind of work themselves...

But just as Qin Ding put the token into his Storage Ring and looked at the jet-black Dragon face mask, the Life Records suddenly popped up.

[Spirit Item: Flood Dragon Bone (High-Rank)]

[Description: A rib of a King Rank Flood Dragon. Because its Spiritual Qi returned to the heavens and earth after death, it no longer has much medicinal effect.]

Qin Ding: ?

Seeing him staring blankly at the mask, Mo Qian chuckled and explained casually.

"What, curious about the origin of this mask? I slaughtered an unruly Flood Dragon a few years ago; it had plenty of tendons and bones. In my spare time, I took some of the bones to carve trinkets, and this mask is one of them. It's been a long time, so it won't work for medicine, and don't bother thinking about feeding it to that black dog of yours."

Qin Ding's Adam's apple bobbed, his heart shocked to the core.

He really wanted to ask a question right now. Lord City Lord, what exactly is this sudden change in your attitude? Yesterday, you had the attitude and Aura of recruiting a thug or a lackey, looking down on me, yet today you are meticulously mentoring a junior? This contrast left him full of doubts, but he could only suppress them and bow solemnly.

"Many thanks for the City Lord's kindness."

"No need to thank me."

Mo Qian waved his hand, but his gaze suddenly became profound. He said earnestly, "I only hope that before the city competition and major exams, you can raise your Mental Energy to the third rank and teach all the aristocratic family descendants of the Federation a good lesson, letting them know that even from a small border city, a world-shaking Genius can emerge!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Ding was stunned once again. He understood the subtext of Mo Qian's words. This was a reference to those two legendary figures among The Twelve Councilors who came from humble beginnings. But to compare himself to a top-tier King Rank Councilor—wasn't that a bit too high an opinion of him? Although he thought this in his heart, when facing a superior, he couldn't show even the slightest bit of it on the surface.

Qin Ding put on a complete act of having been 'inspired' by the 'pie' promised to him, nodding seriously. "I will not let the City Lord down."

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