Chapter 166

Chapter 166: Opening a Shop

First, he would buy intelligence from Star Vault Vista.

Using the address Du Xian had provided, he set a direct course for Four-Dao Star Cluster. The ship cut through the starfield at speed.

At the same time, in the artifacts direction, a man opened his eyes and stared at his terminal, his gaze sharpening.

Again?

“Ji Zheng.”

“Disciple is here.”

“Take Gao Chi and find someone named Wang Jie. Same as that batch of Shuanghua Sect disciples—except this one,” the man said coldly. “Kill him.”

Ji Zheng looked up, startled. “Kill?”

“His realm?”

“He should be at the Star-Breaking Realm.”

Ji Zheng hesitated. “Then disciple can go alone. There’s no need to hire Gao Chi—his price is steep.”

The man’s eyes widened. “I told you to take him, so take him. This is a task personally issued by someone from Zhi Upper Realm. There can’t be mistakes.”

Ji Zheng immediately lowered his head. “Understood.” He withdrew at once.

The man looked back at his terminal. Such a reward for a mere Star-Breaking Realm cultivator—was it really worth it?

As he wondered, his terminal rang again. He frowned and answered.

“Brother Bian,” a voice said, “did Zhi Upper Realm contact you?”

“What—so they contacted you too?” the man replied.

“Last time, you got to those Shuanghua Sect disciples first. This time, this Wang Jie should be mine, shouldn’t he?”

The man snorted. “Last time you didn’t ‘yield.’ My people found them first. What, you trying to sell me a favor now?”

“Bian, don’t get cocky. Watch yourself, or you won’t be able to buy pills in the future.”

“Then you should watch your furnaces. When they explode, who’s going to fix them?”

“You damn blacksmith. Just wait. That fat prize will be ours.”

“Fine, you pill peddler. We’ll see.”

Days later, Wang Jie finally saw Four-Dao Star Cluster.

He’d seen star clusters before, but never anything like this.

Back in the Ninth Star Chain, the Qing Fang cluster had been impressive—yet compared to this, it might as well have been a toy.

Every star here was enormous. Ship-lights crowded the screen like drifting fireflies.

So this was Zhi Academy.

The combat power detector beeped intermittently.

He’d already passed two Roaming-Star Realm experts on the way in.

So many?

Zhi Academy didn’t pride itself on brute force—but that didn’t mean it was weak.

Wang Jie’s expression tightened. In fact, the more he saw, the more relieved he felt. If this place had been soft, he might not have had the advantage he’d been counting on.

He docked and headed straight for Star Vault Exchange.

It wasn’t only for ships. Materials, tools, pills—everything gathered there under one roof.

When Wang Jie arrived, he stopped short.

The trading hall rose like a mountain, carved into a range of peaks, towering into cloud and sky. It was the largest single structure he’d ever seen.

Compared to this, Du Xian’s place in Locking Grounds had felt like a cluttered storeroom.

“Guest, welcome.”

The voice was familiar.

Wang Jie turned—and froze. “Du Xian?”

He hadn’t expected to meet her here.

Du Xian smiled, bright-eyed. “I’ve been waiting for you, guest.”

Wang Jie frowned. “How did you get here? And how are you faster than me?”

His Shen Wang hadn’t paused for a breath on the journey. Even if Du Xian also had a Star Chain–class ship, she should have arrived later.

Du Xian gave a playful laugh. “Just because you can’t cross the refining grounds doesn’t mean I can’t. Every refining grounds has a Star Vault Exchange, after all.”

She gestured. “Come, guest.”

Still bewildered, Wang Jie followed her inside.

The private room was familiar. The tea was familiar. For a moment he almost felt as if he’d returned to Locking Grounds.

“The Star Vault Exchange shopkeeper across the Four Refining Grounds is the same person,” Du Xian said with a little flourish. “Me.”

“So no matter which refining grounds you’re in, you can always find me. How about it—surprised?”

Wang Jie nodded. “Convenient. Better than dealing with strangers.”

Du Xian folded her hands in her lap. “Let me guess. Trouble, guest? You’re here to buy intelligence.”

“I need to know how to stand my ground in Zhi Academy,” Wang Jie said. “At least so I won’t be framed the moment I arrive.”

Du Xian smiled. “Easy. Don’t give them the chance.”

“As for standing your ground…” Her gaze swept over him. “Guest, you’re a Chen Refiner. Are you truly worried you can’t stand your ground?”

“Advice?” Wang Jie asked.

“You’re in Four-Dao Star Cluster,” Du Xian said. “Also known as Four-Dao Market. Open a shop.”

Wang Jie blinked. The thought had never occurred to him. “A shop?”

Du Xian nodded. “Traffic. Eyes. A shop draws attention—attention makes framing harder.”

“And you can use your strengths as a Chen Refiner, earn money, and build a foothold. Besides…” She tilted her head. “Guest, you don’t have much money left, do you? Intelligence isn’t cheap.”

Wang Jie hesitated only a moment. “Fine. I’ll open a shop.”

Du Xian’s smile widened. “Opening one is easy. Finding a good location is hard.”

“And the best locations are around Star Vault Exchange. I can allocate you a space. If you’re doing star-refining, I can approve it… but your sign would have to be under Star Vault Exchange’s name.”

Wang Jie looked at her and smiled—too brightly.

Du Xian’s smile faltered, just slightly. “Guest…?”

“Who said I’m opening a star-refining shop?” Wang Jie asked.

Du Xian blinked. “Then what are you doing? If it’s craft refining, I’d advise you to give up. There are too many craft refiners in the artifacts path.”

“I’m selling pills,” Wang Jie said simply.

Du Xian stared at him.

Selling pills next to Star Vault Exchange? That wasn’t opening a shop. That was declaring war on her business.

In the end, Wang Jie’s location could not be placed beside Star Vault Exchange.

If he wanted to do star-refining, Du Xian could accept. But selling pills—regardless of where they came from, regardless of whether he truly knew alchemy—would still be stealing customers. Star Vault Exchange was one of Four-Dao Market’s largest pill sellers.

Wang Jie considered other options, but he kept them to himself for now.

The real problem was money.

Opening a shop required capital. And he needed to buy a great deal of intelligence on top of that.

He didn’t have enough.

“Does Star Vault Vista buy unusual planets?” Wang Jie asked.

Du Xian’s eyes flashed. “You have an unusual planet?”

“Maybe,” Wang Jie said, taking a calm sip of tea. “I haven’t confirmed it myself. It came from Lie Qiu.”

Du Xian looked impressed. “Guest has incredible luck. You intend to sell it?”

“Assuming it’s mine,” she added carefully.

“It should be,” Wang Jie said. “Lie Qiu used it to buy her life from me. Either way, it’s definitely not hers anymore. Verify it and pay me after.”

“That’s only proper,” Du Xian said. Then her tone sharpened into business. “But I should warn you, guest—trading unusual planets is complicated. Ownership, location, mining difficulty, potential value… all of it affects the price.”

“Verify first. Give me an offer,” Wang Jie said. “I trust you won’t cheat me.”

Du Xian smiled. “Of course.”

“Also,” Wang Jie added, “I want to settle the payment in unusual starstone.”

Du Xian’s brows lifted. “Unusual starstone?”

Wang Jie nodded. “Unusual starstone.”

Du Xian’s expression turned troubled. “Unusual starstone rarely circulates. Anything discovered gets hoarded by major forces. The truly rare types become collector pieces. If guest insists, it will likely be the most common kind.”

Wang Jie didn’t care.

He needed unusual starstone for star-refining pills. Ordinary starforce didn’t work well.

In Shuanghua Sect, star-refining pills relied on Shuanghua starforce. Ordinary starforce could be star-refined into pills, sure—but the effects were unimpressive.

Starforce was just an ingredient. And ingredients had properties.

If he could use unusual starforce to star-refine pills, he could raise their grade—and sell them for a fortune.

The only issue was that Master Luan wasn’t here. Wang Jie would have to experiment his way through the combinations.

Right now, he didn’t even know which unusual starforce best matched which pill. So any type would do.

Du Xian agreed, but warned him that unusual starstone was valued on the level of starsea stone even at the most basic tier—and the price rose or fell depending on the uniqueness of its power.

With that settled, it was time for the intelligence.

Du Xian seemed to assume he wanted information on the people supporting Zhi Qing, to counter Zhi Xingxue’s enemies inside Zhi Academy.

Instead, Wang Jie bought profiles on influential figures across the three paths—artifacts, pills, arrays—who operated in Four-Dao Market and possessed Full-Star Realm strength.

Not the people helping Zhi Qing. Not yet.

Du Xian couldn’t read what he was planning.

The price was 2,000,000 starstones.

Wang Jie nearly choked. “What?”

Du Xian smiled sweetly. “Two million starstones. Friendship price.”

“Intel on Nie Zhou only cost fifty thousand,” Wang Jie shot back.

“That was a dead man. And a lockforce cultivator,” Du Xian said smoothly. “Now, guest, you’re buying intelligence on a batch of Full-Star Realm cultivators—people with influence in the artifacts, pills, and arrays paths. If this leaks, we’ll be dragged into trouble.”

“Guest wouldn’t want to make it impossible for us to survive in Black-White Heaven, would you?”

She looked almost offended.

Wang Jie stared at her, thinking, You’d sell intel on the Black-White realm lord if you felt like it.

But he paid anyway.

He could investigate for half a year, a year—eventually gather it all himself. But he didn’t have that kind of time.

News of his arrival would reach Zhi Upper Realm sooner or later.

Zhi Xingxue could help him. Zhi Qing could also crush him.

Just because Zhi Qing couldn’t do anything to him in Locking Grounds didn’t mean she couldn’t in Zhi Academy.

He couldn’t afford to wait.

Two million it was.

At least it was less than before. The first time he’d met Du Xian, she’d fleeced him for four million.

Now only two million.

Progress, he told himself grimly.

—

Yi Hao was a well-known pillmaster within Zhi Academy’s alchemy path. In Four-Dao Star Cluster, he ran more than twenty shops and commanded over a thousand disciples.

He couldn’t compare to those backed by a master alchemist, and he was nothing next to giants like Star Vault Exchange—but he was thriving.

Every year, he accumulated a mountain of starstones.

He’d spent years greasing palms and laying groundwork. In at most two more years, he could be recommended into Zhi Study Valley—the place where Black-White Heaven’s true masters gathered. Zhi Academy couldn’t compare to it.

If he could enter Zhi Study Valley, take the legendary Master Bai as his master, and advance again…

Then perhaps he could become a master alchemist.

A master alchemist lived in a different world from a mere pillmaster.

A pillmaster’s pill might sell for a few million at most. A master alchemist’s pill could sell for tens of millions—easily.

The difference was not a step. It was a chasm.

Thinking of that, Yi Hao steadied his breath and returned to refining with renewed resolve.