The Entry-plundering Demon Hunter

They stepped into the venue for the convention.

The place was virtually indistinguishable from a shopping mall.

The decor was incredibly lavish.

Booths were lined up one after another in an orderly fashion.

Each booth was manned by one or two vendors.

The dazzling array of goods was almost too much for Lin Yi, Wei Nan, and the others to take in.

Elixirs, weapons, armor, talismans...

Beyond these common items, there were also some strange and bizarre things they couldn’t even name.

They were even selling demon beasts.

These demon beasts were all alive, with iron chains around their necks and their limbs pinned in place by some kind of needle.

The demon beasts had long since lost their usual ferocity.

Instead, they had become completely docile.

Some of the demon beasts had not yet taken on a humanoid form, while others could walk upright like people.

”Sister Xue, are these for sale too?”

Lin Yi couldn’t help but ask.

Qin Zhaoxue nodded. ”Usually, the only ones willing to buy demon beasts are places like restaurants and inns.

Besides, most of these demon beasts are highly nourishing ingredients!”

”They buy them to slaughter and cook!”

A chill ran down the spines of Lin Yi, Wei Nan, and the others as Qin Zhaoxue finished speaking.

’These New District folks really know how to live it up.’

They treated demon beasts like chickens and ducks, selling them off while they were still alive.

’Buy them to butcher and eat fresh?’

Wei Nan walked curiously over to a Dog Demon.

He sized it up. This Dog Demon had already reached the Three-Star Realm.

But now, all its sharp ferocity was gone.

Aside from retaining its realm, it had long since lost the ferocious, bloodthirsty nature of a demon beast.

”Hey, young man! How about one of these? This Dog Demon is a fantastic restorative. You can take it home and stew it. It’ll boost your Qi and Blood, and it tastes amazing!”

Seeing Wei Nan’s curiosity about the Dog Demon, the vendor selling them quickly chimed in with a smile.

Wei Nan smiled and nodded. ”Boss, what realm is this Dog Demon at?”

”It’s a 4-star. It took a hell of an effort to catch it—I even lost two of my men. If you’re interested, I’ll give you a good price!” the owner said with a light chuckle.

Hearing this, Lin Yi glanced at the owner.

’A total swindler. That’s clearly a 3-star Dog Demon.’

’And he has the nerve to call it a 4-star?’

Wei Nan nodded. ”How much are you asking for this Dog Demon?”

The owner just smiled, not stating a price directly. Instead, he held up one hand, palm open.

Wei Nan glanced at it. ”Is that... fifty thousand?”

”Are you kidding me, kid? Five million! This is a live 4-star Demon Beast. Even if you don’t plan on eating it, you could tame it and keep it as a pet!”

”It’d be a guaranteed guard dog, right? Besides, the price is perfectly reasonable. Go on, look around the entire convention. If you find one cheaper than mine, I’ll give it to you for free. Won’t charge you a dime!”

After the owner finished his pitch,

Wei Nan was about to say something more, but Lin Yi pulled him away.

”Come on, you can’t afford it anyway. Why waste time here? Let’s go!”

Hearing Lin Yi say they had no money, he expected the owner’s expression to turn sour, or for him to even shoo them away.

But to their surprise, the owner just smiled and said, ”No money? No problem! You can get a loan!”

”Right over there. Just use your student wristband to apply for a loan, and it’ll get approved immediately...”

A cunning glint flashed in the owner’s eyes.

Lin Yi frowned but didn’t say anything to him.

He just dragged Wei Nan away from the stall.

Then, they followed Qin Zhaoxue to explore other areas.

Although there were countless stalls on the first floor with an endless variety of goods,

nothing truly caught Lin Yi’s interest.

Furthermore, one glance at the elixirs told him they were defective, guaranteed to have considerable side effects.

The weapons and armor were also of a quality that didn’t meet Lin Yi’s standards.

To be blunt, among the stalls selling miscellaneous goods like these, how could it be easy to find something that truly met his standards?

Most of it was just defective merchandise, put out for sale at rock-bottom prices.

”Sister Xue, the quality of this convention isn’t all that great, is it?”

”This stuff can’t even compare to the black market in our Old District!”

Lin Yi was speaking the truth.

While most of the goods sold at the Ancient Tower Black Market weren’t great either,

you could at least find some decent-quality items among the first-floor stalls there.

Here, however, every vendor seemed more crooked than the last.

Take that Dog Demon from earlier. It was clearly only a 3-star, but the owner insisted it was a 4-star.

The difference between a 3-star and a 4-star is immense.

A 3-star Demon Beast might cost around one to two million.

Even for a higher-quality one, the price would only be between two and two-and-a-half million.

But by calling it a 4-star, the price premium becomes outrageous.

Perhaps the owner left some room for haggling.

But even if you haggled down from five million, you’d probably only get it down to three million.

No matter what, the owner would still be making a profit.

Qin Zhaoxue smiled. ”Whether it’s a black market or a convention, the best items are never going to be at the first-floor stalls. But it also depends on your luck.”

”You can still find treasures among these stalls; it all comes down to having a keen eye.”

”The items sold on the second floor are much better than those on the first.”

”And the third floor, much like the Ancient Tower Black Market, is home to established shops. Everything there is guaranteed to be authentic, with assured quality.”

”The only drawback is that the prices are exorbitant...”

After Qin Zhaoxue finished her explanation,

Lin Yi nodded. In that case, it really wasn’t any different from the Ancient Tower Black Market.

The items sold in both places were definitely not counterfeits.

There were just huge variations in quality.

And some people, like that demon beast vendor, would try to pass off inferior goods as high-quality ones.

The group continued to wander around the first floor.

Even though most of the goods on the first floor were of poor quality,

its main draw was the lively atmosphere.

Everyone who came to the convention was gathered on the first floor.

The second and third floors lacked this bustling scene.

They were much quieter in comparison.

This was mainly because the prices on the second and third floors were much higher, so very few people bothered to go up.

Only those with a specific purchase in mind would choose to browse upstairs.

Suddenly, Xiaoqi, who was in his pocket, seemed to sense the fluctuating auras within the convention hall.

Driven by curiosity, Xiaoqi flew out of his pocket.

It landed on Lin Yi’s shoulder, its eyes gazing around with curiosity.

Seeing Xiaoqi, Lin Yi smiled and decided not to put it away again.

Xiaoqi was much bigger now, though still far from the size it had been in the Heart Spirit Domain.

There, its wingspan had reached over ten meters, and its feathers had been a shimmering rainbow.

However, at Xiaoqi’s current size, it would soon be too big to hide in Lin Yi’s pocket anymore.

’It’s good to let it out to see the world once in a while.’

So, Lin Yi let it be.

Qin Zhaoxue, Shen Mengyi, Wei Nan, and the others were completely focused on the stalls.

This was especially true for Wei Nan, Sun Tao, and Zhou Qi.

They all looked like country bumpkins who had just come to the city for the first time.

Everything they saw filled them with a sense of novelty.

The stalls selling things like talismans and weapons particularly caught their attention.

They stopped in their tracks to study the items carefully.

But when they asked about the prices,

a single, so-called low-grade talisman cost several thousand.

A slightly better one cost tens of thousands.

This was enough to scare Wei Nan and Zhou Qi away.

”Damn, everything here is so expensive! A single talisman costs that much?” Wei Nan said, shocked.

As soon as he spoke, Qin Zhaoxue said with a smile, ”Those talismans are mostly from Dragon Tiger University.”

”They’re mostly made by the students there.”

”I’ve heard that making these talismans is a lot of trouble. The necessary components and materials are all particularly rare.”

”Take the talisman paper, for example. I think it’s made from a special kind of grass. The ink for drawing the runes is made from the blood of a demon beast mixed with some other ingredients... In short, it’s a very complicated process.”

”Plus, not every attempt is successful; there’s a failure rate.”

After Qin Zhaoxue finished, Wei Nan and the others finally nodded in understanding.

Hearing that, the price of the talismans no longer seemed so surprising to them.

’It’s basically a skilled craft, isn’t it?’

Besides, the materials used are extremely precious.

Selling even a low-grade talisman for a few thousand might just be breaking even, or even a loss.

So, the price was actually quite fair.

Just as Qin Zhaoxue finished,

Lin Yi spoke up with a smile. ”Sister Xue, so can I assume...”

”...that the elixirs, talismans, and weapons sold at these stalls are basically just defective products made by students from Dragon Tiger University and Lanshan University?”

”They’re useless to keep but a waste to throw away, so they use the convention as an opportunity to sell them off and recoup some of their material costs?”

Hearing this, Qin Zhaoxue nodded and chuckled lightly. ”Yes, that’s more or less correct.”

”Most of the vendors here are students from Lanshan University and Dragon Tiger University.”

”This stuff is basically their regular homework.”

”They’re different from us. Xingwu University students have to go Demon Hunting. Martial Alliance University students have to go to the Restricted Area, either to hunt exotic beasts directly or to stand guard there for a certain number of days to complete their assignments.”

”But for Dragon Tiger University and Lanshan University, their assignments are completely different and depend on their majors.”

”Some students can’t even afford the materials for their assignments, so they’ll risk going to Jail City for some Demon Hunting, or even venture into a Restricted Area to gather herbs and things.”

Hearing Qin Zhaoxue’s explanation, Lin Yi finally understood something from his time in Jail City.

He had encountered students from other universities there before.

Their combat experience was practically nonexistent, and they always moved in groups of seven or eight.

When they ran into demon beasts, the chances of their entire group being wiped out were high.

However, there were also some students from Lanshan University with decent cultivation talent.

In groups of two or three, they could effectively mitigate the dangers they faced.

Lin Yi had previously assumed they were there for Demon Hunting.

Now he realized they were there searching for materials.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Wei Nan’s mind.

”I just thought of a way to make money...”

Before he could finish his sentence, a man in his thirties approached them.

He smiled at Lin Yi and asked, ”Friend, is that bird of yours for sale?”