Soon, the entire Goryeo country mourned, cursing its chaebols who, after going bankrupt, had shifted the blame and suffering onto their ordinary citizens.
For the Goryeo chaebols, wasn't this a usual tactic? As long as they could weather the crisis, what did the lives of others have to do with them?
Zhou Yan had just finished trading a batch of astonishingly valuable materials with dozens of people when he heard news of the destruction of Goryeo enemies on the Lord Continent. This was indeed something his territory had done, but Zhou Yan only learned of the destruction of the Goryeo enemies later.
Saturday, a holiday.
Ye Bufan found Zhou Yan and said, "I've already arranged for a faction on the Lord Continent to help you sell the treasures you've 'obtained'."
Zhou Yan nodded and replied, "It's inconvenient for my territory to teleport now. I'll go to your territory directly, and you can take me there."
Hearing this, Ye Bufan knew that Zhou Yan's territory was still "doing business." He nodded and said, "Let's go now."
"Alright." Ye Bufan invited Zhou Yan to his territory, and Zhou Yan took a brief tour.
Ye Bufan began to teleport, arriving at a mysterious place.
Ye Bufan introduced, "These people are the black market merchants of the entire Lord Continent. There's nothing they dare not buy. They have their own channels to sell anything."
"Their business is quite extensive then," Zhou Yan remarked.
"There are countless black market merchants like this on the Lord Continent. Next week, I heard there's a black market trading fair. Are you interested?" Ye Bufan asked.
"Of course, I'm interested. It's just a trading fair, right?" Zhou Yan said.
Ye Bufan smiled, "I knew you'd see it as an ordinary trading fair. This one isn't simple."
Zhou Yan became interested and asked, "How is it not simple?"
Ye Bufan then explained, "At this black market trading fair, if you fancy something someone is selling, you must first offer an item of lower value, and then send a subordinate to win against their fighter."
"If you win, you can trade. If you lose, not only can you not trade, but you must also forfeit your own item."
Zhou Yan was taken aback and exclaimed, "What kind of trading method is this? It's completely unreasonable. Wouldn't the seller become the biggest beneficiary, able to obtain countless treasures just by winning? It makes me want to sell things."
"That's just their rule. When I first heard of this trading method, I had the same expression as you. But we can't be sellers; we can only be buyers." Ye Bufan didn't elaborate, but it was likely a complicated matter.
"Don't think this trading method is unfair. I haven't finished explaining. For example, if you fancy an S-grade item, you only need to offer a B-grade item."
"If you win, the seller's item will be sold at half its market price. If you lose, your item naturally belongs to the seller. Whether it's fair or not depends on your ability to purchase it."
"But one thing to note is that the opponent sends a fighter of a certain strength, and you must send a fighter of the same realm. You can only send someone of a lower realm, never a higher one," Ye Bufan stated.
"This is interesting. Is it next week?" Zhou Yan asked.
"It's next week. Before that, we need to buy an entry ticket first," Ye Bufan replied.
"You mean the person we're meeting now has entry tickets for sale?" Zhou Yan had already guessed something.
"Clever. Those entry tickets are only held by black market merchants. Only those who cooperate with them can buy them," Ye Bufan answered.
"These black market merchants are even engaging in this kind of business. It seems they've united to form a merchant association, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to organize such a grand event," Zhou Yan mused.
"They are keeping up with the times. Black market merchants who don't keep up either don't grow big or are swallowed by others with ulterior motives. Smart ones unite, like these people. They've successfully grown stronger, but they only appear together during events."
Ye Bufan rode his mount, accompanied by several powerful generals, preparing to set off.
Zhou Yan also summoned his White Tiger, rode on it, and followed Ye Bufan into the distance.
Half an hour later, Zhou Yan spotted a hidden formation. Looking from above, it was identical to the surrounding terrain, but it couldn't fool Zhou Yan's eyes. This was a city, hidden beneath the entire grand formation.
"We're here," Ye Bufan nodded to Zhou Yan, landed below, and sent a message to the other party.
After a long while, the environment changed. Several soldiers emerged from within the formation and said to Ye Bufan, "Please follow us inside."
They followed them into the formation and saw a city gate. Countless soldiers stood atop the gate.
They entered, finding an ancient city. The soldiers led the two towards a building and then to the third floor, entering a room.
Inside was a middle-aged man, and not a human. Based on Zhou Yan's senses, he was likely from the Black Demon race.
In front of him was a huge table, empty.
"My name is Vina. Friends, what good goods do you have? Let's take a look," Vina said, squinting as he observed the two.
Hearing this, Zhou Yan finally understood why the man had such a large table; it was likely for people to place their items on.
Zhou Yan took out all the items, filling the entire table.
Vina looked at them and said, "Some antiques. Anything more special?"
"The table is too small. If we had ten thousand more tables, we might be able to fit it all," Zhou Yan quipped.
Vina: "..."
"Please follow me," Vina stood up and opened a side door.
Zhou Yan put away his belongings and followed him into a peculiar space. There was no danger, just a simple space with some special functions.
"Alright, feel free to place everything on the ground. I'll appraise the value of these items," Vina said.
Zhou Yan took out all his items, piling them up around the area. Vina unleashed a powerful mental force, making these items float in the air.
"Oh, these items are quite interesting. They seem to be from the Canglan Continent..."
Vina looked at Zhou Yan and then smiled, "I heard some things have happened on the Canglan Continent recently. You must have gotten these from there, right?"