Chapter 2501: Chapter 2502: The Underground Black Market
As Abulei frantically sprinted towards the Laksum Principality, on the other side, Angel had already followed Docks out of the Sandworm Market.
Looking at the vast yellow sand around, Angel doubted: "Didnāt you just say that Kael is at the Sandworm Market?"
Docks expressionlessly said: "According to Mesomyiaās regulations, the entire Wizard Market of the Laksum Principality, with the market as the center, extends a hundred miles in radius as the marketās range."
Angel: "...So, as long as Kael is within a hundred miles, it can be considered that he is at the Sandworm Market?"
"Yes."
Angel: "..."
Seeing Angel rendered speechless, Docks suddenly changed his tone: "That was just the official line; those who actually reside permanently at the Sandworm Market would never consider the vast desert as part of the market. Moreover, thereās no need for me to play word games with you. Kael is indeed at the Sandworm Market, but the market he is in is a black market secretly controlled by the Nomir family, not far from the Sandworm Market."
When Docks spoke to this point, he suddenly stopped: "Here we are, this is the entrance to the black market."
In front of Docks stood a huge boulder, next to which was a columnar cactus with a bright red flower blooming on top.
Angel glanced back; indeed, the distance from the Sandworm Market was not far, estimated at about two hundred meters in a straight line, and from here one could still see the densely packed buildings of the faraway Sandworm Market.
"So what you initially told me about the radius of a hundred miles was actually all nonsense?" Angel asked.
Docks: "No, no, no, I was just enlightening you. Whether you interpret my previous statement āKael is at the Sandworm Marketā broadly or narrowly, it is correct."
Angel: "...But itās still nonsense."
Docks felt choked by Angelās deadpan complaint; he had many eloquent words bubbling in his throat, but ultimately suppressed them.
The other party is, like him, an official wizard.
The other party is very likely not a wandering wizard.
Must hold back, do not quarrel over trivial matters.
Docks took a deep breath, then nonchalantly turned his head, saying: "Those are all irrelevant matters. Arenāt you here to find Kael? Kael is just below."
Angel glanced at the stone and cactus; indeed, he felt a faint energy fluctuation.
Docks: "Entering the black market is simple. As long as you feed it enough, you can enter the black market."
Docks pointed at the cactus.
"Feed it enough? What do you mean? Water it?"
"No, no, no, it doesnāt drink water; it drinks blood. Any kind of blood will do. As long as it can be fed enough, it will open a door for you." Docks paused: "A friendly tip, it prefers the blood of extraordinary creatures. If itās the blood of an extraordinary creature, just a few drops are enough. But if itās ordinary blood, like from a common person, youād need to drain their entire body of blood to satisfy it."
After hearing this, Angel frowned slightly; since Docks mentioned that ordinary human blood could be used to feed the cactus, it suggests that most wizards would likely choose this method due to their nature. In other words, this cactus blooms so brightly because beneath it lies a pile of accumulated bones.
Angel originally didnāt have any particular feelings towards this well-growing cactus, but now he felt a surge of disdain.
While Angel expressed aversion towards the cactus, Docks quietly stared at Angel. After being stared at for a while, Angel looked back at Docks with curiosity, silently questioning with his eyes: Why are you looking at me?
After roughly ten seconds of mutual gazing, Docks finally spoke: "Iāve already told you how to enter the black market, just go in."
"Didnāt you say I need to feed it enough?"
Docks replied grumpily: "Iām just here to guide you. Youāre the one looking for Kael, so why should I be the one to feed it?"
Angel now understood; Docks had been standing still just waiting for him to bleed.
But on the other hand, Docks had a point. After all, Docks was merely guiding him. However, if Angel were to feed the cactus, although he had extraordinary blood, it was mostly precious alchemy materials, and using it here seemed wasteful.
Angel thought for a moment: "Wait for me."
After speaking, Angel turned and headed back to the Sandworm Market.
Docks quietly watched Angelās departing figure, thinking to himself that an ordinary person in the Sandworm Market was likely to be out of luck.
While Docks sighed softly, Angel returned from the Sandworm Market with great speed.
Under Docksā puzzled gaze, Angel tossed out a sandworm larva about ten centimeters long: "Will this feed the cactus?"
"Did you go buy a sandworm?" Docks asked in surprise.
"How else would I get one, steal it?" Angel replied grumpily, then couldnāt help but mutter under his breath: "Another 3 Magic Crystals, this will have to be charged to Kael. If Kael doesnāt reimburse me, Iāll go find Esos."
Listening to Angelās muttering, Docks felt inwardly speechless.
Docks looked at Angel with a deep gaze, then nodded: "Thatās enough. Although this orange peel sandworm is a larva, itās still an extraordinary creature, and just ten drops of its blood will satisfy it."
Without another word, Angel cut a small slit at the larvaās tail and let the blood drip onto the cactus.
Docksā judgment was incredibly precise; at the tenth drop, the cactus trembled slightly, and its crown flower grew even more vibrant. Subsequently, Angel sensed the surrounding energy becoming active, probably indicating that the cactus had triggered some mechanism, activating a hidden node.
As the energy node changed, the large stone in front of them slowly moved aside, revealing a downward passage.
"Letās go, Kael is in the black market."
Docks resumed the lead, while Angel followed slowly behind, contemplating... how should he handle this sandworm?
The value of sandworm larvae is low, often used as food for adult worms. Currently without an adult worm, and after bleeding, this larva seemed rather listless; likely even the adult worm would find it lacking in meat.
Angel thought for a moment, then turned to look at Dangross, who was curiously looking around on his shoulder.
"Ahem, youāve been following me for so long, and I havenāt officially given you a gift. Iāll give you this sandworm." Angel directly tossed the sandworm larva to Dangross.
Dangross couldnāt help but roll its eyes at Angel. It wasnāt foolish; judging by Angelās hesitant expression while holding the sandworm earlier, it knew he was figuring out how to deal with it. Now, to claim it as a gift ā who would believe that!
Thatās what Dangross thought, but it still picked up the sandworm and began twirling it around its fingers.
Seeing that Dangross didnāt reject the gift, Angel was somewhat relieved. Since Dangross accepted his gift, he would no longer feel any psychological burden when using its fire in future alchemy. This was a trade!
As Angel happily thought this over, they had already reached the end of the staircase.
There was no door at the end, allowing a clear view into the black market.
The black market is actually quite similar to the previous Underground Market, just much smaller than expected, with only one street. This street is winding and twisting, causing the shops on both sides to be unevenly placed, lacking any aesthetic appeal and dizzying to ordinary people after a while.
There are quite a few people in the black market; some narrow streets are even crowded shoulder to shoulder.
However, this did not hinder Angelās progress.
Almost everyone on the road, upon seeing Dox, automatically made way for him. Clearly, they were aware of Doxās identity.
"Red Sword" Dox, a Level 1 Wizard, even though heās a Wandering Wizard, he is still an Official Wizard. In a place full of Apprentices, Doxās existence is at the Great Demon King level.
The journey was very smooth, Angel even had the leisure to observe the black market.
His attention was not on the shops on both sides, but on the overall structure of the black market, especially the top.
Previously, he thought this was just a cavity, because there are very few level grounds, and everything is winding, with many sediment stones on the ground.
But when he saw the top, he discovered that the pothole-ridden top occasionally had some corners with obvious artificial Pattern traces.
Those Patterns were Magic Patterns. But obviously, they are from long, long ago, already broken and ineffective. However, judging from the number and distribution of the Patterns on the entire top, if the Magic Patterns were complete, it must have been a huge Magical Energy Array.
Many, many years ago, possibly thousands, or even more ancient times, this place might not have been simply a cavity.
As Angel was scrutinizing the structure of the black market, Dox announced: "We have arrived."
Only then did Angel withdraw his gaze and look around.
At this point, there were no other people around. The nearest shop was a hundred meters away and completely out of sight due to the slope.
This was a deep pit going downward. The pit was full of rubble and had traces of excavation.
"It is said that hundreds of years ago, this was a Magic Blood Ore pit, which is why it was dug like this. But now, thereās no ore left, and itās been abandoned."
Angel had no interest in the abandoned pit and asked directly, "Whereās Kaier?"
Dox pointed to one side of the pit: "There."
Angel walked to the place Dox had pointed to. On the surface, there was nothing there, but within the sight of spiritual power, Angel could clearly feel some Concealed energy fluctuations around.
Moreover, these fluctuations were not unfamiliar to him, they were space nodes.
"Can you sense it? Thereās a Concealed space node here, set up by Kaier. Only one of these space nodes is connected to Kaier, all other space nodes are traps. Touching them will drag you into a Space Rift."
Dox shrugged: "As for which one is the correct space node, I donāt know. All I can do is bring you here. I can stay with you and wait for Kaier to come out. He comes out at least once a week, and according to past occasions, the latest would be the day after tomorrow, he will..."
Dox hadnāt finished speaking when he saw Angel reaching towards a space node.
Dox was startled and hurriedly tried to rush over to stop him, not because he was worried about Angel, but because if a Space Rift formed, he would suffer as well.
Although the Space Rift set up by Kaier isnāt too dangerous for an Official Wizard, if you enter an unknown Void and cannot find a Path Mark, returning to the Wizardsā Realm would cost a lot.
However, Dox still failed to stop it. Angel was faster than him, directly touching the space node.
Seeing this, Dox started retreating frantically, hoping the savage Space Rift wouldnāt reach him.
But after retreating tens of meters, he realized no Space Rift had appeared in the distance.
While Angel calmly sat on a stone.
He hesitated for a moment, then walked over.
"Did you just touch the space node?"
"Yes." Angel nodded in acknowledgment.
"But, why..." no Space Rift?
Dox didnāt speak the incomplete sentence because thereās only one answer: the Wizard named Lyon opposite him had found the correct space node!
"Are you, like Esos, a Space Mage?" Dox hesitated for a moment, then asked.
Angel: "No, Iām just someone who has done some research on Space Series."
Angel had just acquired a complete set of space knowledge from the Dalmatian, and in terms of theoretical knowledge, he was already comparable to many Space Mages. However, from a practical standpoint, he was still at zero.
This time with the space node doesnāt even count as practice. For Angel, who possesses such a comprehensive set of space knowledge, finding an unusual space node was a piece of cake.
Looking at Angelās calm and unruffled expression, Dox quietly speculated on his true identity.
Regarding whether heās a Space Mage, the other party probably wasnāt lying.
Someone who isnāt a Space Mage but has such an in-depth study of the Space Series must have spent considerable time on it. The other party looks young, but heās probably hundreds of years old.
Otherwise, how could he have time to study across fields?
At hundreds of years old, and heās still an Official Wizard like Dox, without crossing into the realm of True Knowledge, it seems his Talent isnāt too high.
Thinking of this, Dox instantly gained confidence. Heās just turned eighty this year, even if heās a Wandering Wizard, heās still at the same level as the other party.
Heās confident that given a hundred years, he could find his own path and step into True Knowledge.
With this comparison, Doxās confidence and sense of superiority began to soar.
So what if Lyon knew more than him?
He, Red Sword Dox, was still swelling with pride!
Angel gave Dox a strange look, feeling that the other had undergone some change in a short time, but upon closer inspection, he couldnāt find anything different.
Angel quietly shook his head: Forget it, itās none of my business anyway.
Although he touched the correct space node, Kaier did not appear immediately. Presumably, he was busy with some research or something.
Half an hour later, a figure with an explosive hairstyle, face covered in black ash, clothes in tatters, appeared before them.
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