In the hundred years since Sky Abyss descended, the black market within the second layer has remained ever-popular.
Its immense allure isn't just because rare items, hard to obtain in the outside world, occasionally refresh here.
More importantly: even if the items are common outside, their prices here are incredibly affordable!
Take the item currently up for auction: the Bloodthirsty Blade.
The starting bid is only 30 copper coins, and even if the final price is ten times that, it would only be 3 silver coins, equivalent to six hundred bucks.
On the market, any piece of level 28 Black Iron Equipment would cost no less than a thousand!
Thus, as soon as the auction began, the crowd was buzzing with excitement.
"35 copper!"
"40 copper!"
"50 copper coins!"
...
Everyone wanted to snag the item at the lowest price, so the bids weren't very high.
Besides, they had to weigh another factor:
Every item in the black market is presented in a sealed state.
After a player wins an item, they must complete a task to unseal it before they can use it.
If the task fails, the item is destroyed, and the money is non-refundable.
In the end, the Bloodthirsty Blade was won by a level 25 chubby assassin for 1 silver and 90 copper.
Players then waited patiently for the next round of items to refresh in ten minutes.
The chubby assassin wasn't in a hurry to leave either.
He put the newly won dagger into his backpack and continued to sit in the audience, hoping to win a few more items.
Lu Ming wasn't very interested in the beginner's black market.
The probability of rare items appearing here was just too low!
Moreover, compared to the items in the black market, Lu Ming was more focused on finding the goblin Avani, who carried the Scroll of Deification!
Other players hadn't seen it, which was understandable.
But the ten-star account Lu Ming currently had was obtained through the Scroll of Deification.
So, he was eighty percent sure that the golden scroll Avani was carrying was the Scroll of Deification!
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
This would also explain why, in the decades the goblin had appeared in the black market, no player had ever managed to obtain the scroll by any means!
The Scroll of Deification is not something easily acquired.
In his past life, Lu Ming had paid with his life to get it!
"If nothing goes wrong, completing the task on that goblin should get me the scroll!"
Thinking about the Scroll of Deification's ability to upgrade any account's potential to a full ten stars, Lu Ming couldn't wait to find the goblin and get the scroll!
Although helping Lin Youwei reach level 200 could also earn him a Scroll of Deification.
But that goal was still too far off.
This one was much quicker to obtain.
Coincidentally, Lu Ming had a secondary account named Dawn.
When the time came, having two ten-star accounts would mean he could switch between them at will, doubling the fun!
According to what Lu Ming knew, the goblin only appeared in the black market between six and seven in the evening.
Looking at the time, it was not yet five in the afternoon.
"There's still over an hour, just enough time to browse the black market!"
With that thought, Lu Ming left Lin Youwei in the intermediate black market after passing through the beginner's black market.
He left her with 3 gold coins.
He then headed straight to the advanced black market.
Since the refresh times for items in the four black markets were the same, Lu Ming could only focus on one at a time.
So, bringing Lin Youwei into the black market was to control two different realms simultaneously, increasing the efficiency of finding treasures!
After taking a seat, Lu Ming looked around at the crowded surroundings.
These people were no ordinary folk.
Being able to enter the advanced black market meant they had more than 10 gold coins on them, indicating they were wealthy individuals with at least 200,000 in liquid assets!
After waiting a few minutes, the items finally refreshed.
"Thank you for waiting! This round's item is a D-level Knight Skill Scroll [Desperate Charge], starting bid at 1 gold coin, with each increment no less than 5 silver coins!"
"The auction officially begins!"
As the NPC hostess finished speaking, Lu Ming couldn't help but be impressed.
No wonder it's the advanced black market!
A random refresh yields a D-level skill scroll!
This thing's market price is at least a hundred thousand a piece.
And they're always in demand.
"Too bad it's for the Knight class,"
Lu Ming lamented.
If it were a D-level scroll for a Trickster, he would definitely bid!
Meanwhile, the bidders below started a fierce auction.
At this moment, Lin Youwei sent Lu Ming a message: "Nether brother, do you want this?"
Lu Ming opened the link Lin Youwei sent.
[Claim as Your Own] (Tier 1 Magic Scroll)
[Description: After use, you can freely extract an additional skill from any equipment not higher than your level for your own use, limited to three days]
[Starting bid: 10 silver coins]
Magic scrolls are extremely precious and rare in the Sky Abyss world.
Though they can provide players with various significant boosts.
Because of their high value and one-time use.
They are commonly referred to as "toys for the rich."
But the [Claim as Your Own] that Lin Youwei sent was exactly what Lu Ming needed!
"Ever since the [Moon Demon set] was replaced by the [Soul Set], the lack of the [Mana Recovery] skill has made it difficult to keep up with mana consumption, leading to a significant increase in mana potion usage."
"If I can use this Claim as Your Own scroll to extract the Mana Recovery skill from the Moon Demon set, I can save a lot on potion expenses!"
With this in mind, Lu Ming told Lin Youwei, "Yes, bid on it! Always bid 1 silver coin higher than anyone else."
"If it exceeds 50 silver coins, then forget it."
"Okay, got it!"
Two minutes later, Lin Youwei sent a message: "Nether brother, I won it for 41 silver coins!"
41 silver coins, converted to market value, is 8,200 bucks.
That's acceptable.
Completely within Lu Ming's budget!
Because he had already calculated.
Just this afternoon, while grinding in the eighth realm of the Nether Ghost Tower, he used up mana potions worth no less than five thousand bucks in just a few hours!
Based on this consumption, if he grinded all day, Lu Ming's daily potion expenses would not be less than twenty thousand bucks!
No exaggeration!
Because as a Trickster, with the triple formation continuously active, his mana consumption per second was terrifyingly high!
"A scroll costing only eight thousand bucks can save me a total of sixty thousand in potion expenses over three days, a guaranteed profit!"
So, Lu Ming instructed Lin Youwei, "That's great, it's exactly what I need."
"Keep an eye on the next round of items, let me know if something good comes up."
"Okay!"
Lu Ming didn't know how happy Lin Youwei was at this moment, having received his approval.
For Lin Youwei, she felt she could finally do something for Lu Ming, which naturally made her very happy.
Next, Lu Ming focused on the advanced black market, while Lin Youwei kept an eye on the intermediate black market.
Every ten minutes, a new auction round began.
To Lu Ming's dismay: nothing good ever came up on his side.
Instead, almost every round on Lin Youwei's side had great items.
In less than an hour, Lin Youwei had already won three items!
And for Lu Ming, they were all essential!
Checking the time, he realized it was almost six o'clock.
"The goblin should be arriving soon, let's leave it at that for now, I'll get the task from the goblin first and come back to shop later,"
Just as Lu Ming was thinking this, preparing to head back to the beginner's black market where the goblin Avani often appeared.
Suddenly, the NPC hostess's voice caught Lu Ming's attention.
"Next, the item in my hand will surely be the star of the day!"
"It is... the Tier 3 Magic Scroll [Strategize]!"
Hey, y'all! If you're into this novel, do come to Pawread to give me a hand and I'll be able to update it quicker over there. Thanks a bunch!