After browsing the contents of her system backpack, Mu Qingzhu immediately headed to Xia Bing's house. They planned to go to the black market together to explore that unknown yet opportunity-filled place.
Upon arrival, she found Xia Bing and Bai Ou waiting for her. Seeing Mu Qingzhu, Xia Bing was the first to ask:
"Qingzhu, why are you so late?"
"I fed some energy cubes to my Pokémon, so I arrived a bit late," Mu Qingzhu explained.
Afterward, the three of them got into Xia Bing's car and headed to the black market together.
In the car, the three of them chatted.
The black market is located on Qingyun Road, one of Guiyang's five bustling areas. The four got out of the car about 1km from the black market. Then the four walked towards the black market, and the closer they got, the livelier it became.
Mu Qingzhu looked at the goods on the nearby stalls. Most of the items were basically C-grade quality. Although there were some rare items, like Life Orbs and Flame Orbs, their quality was too low. She then walked further into the black market.
After arriving at the black market, the three decided to split up and meet at the black market entrance at 11 PM. Then the three went their separate ways.
The stalls at the front of the black market actually served to disguise the stalls further back, as the Alliance's crackdown on the black market was quite severe. However, this did not affect the black market on Qingyun Road. Every time the Alliance sent people to investigate, the surrounding residents would cover for each other.
Mu Qingzhu walked deeper into the black market. The quality of items on the stalls along the way was indeed a bit higher than before, but still not what Mu Qingzhu was looking for.
Just as Mu Qingzhu continued to walk deeper, she saw a key stone on one of the stalls. She walked up and asked how much the stone was.
"This stone is 500,000. It was unearthed from the Shangshui Mine."
The stall owner said.
Mu Qingzhu knew a little about the Shangshui Mine, as most of the ites on the market in Qian Prefecture were mined from there.
Hearing what the owner said, Mu Qingzhu replied:
"Can it be a little less?"
Mu Qingzhu said while looking at the other items on the stall. She found quite a few good things, such as Elite Four Level Bronzor fragments, Elite Four Level Sinistea fragments, B-grade Sharp Beaks, and so on.
"At least 250,000."
The stall owner said.
"Then how much are these fragments?"
Mu Qingzhu pointed at the pile of Bronzor and Sinistea fragments.
"The pile of fragments is at least 200,000."
The stall owner said.
"Boss, how many more of these stones do you have? And how many more of these fragments? If I take them all, can I get a further discount?"
Mu Qingzhu asked.
"As for the stones, there are 3 more, but the patterns inside are different. As for the fragments, there are more than 20 pieces."
"If you take everything, it's 1,500,000."
The stall owner said. At this moment, the owner thought to himself:
'These few stones have been in my hands for a while, and I haven't found any other use for them. As for the fragments, they are all from Bronzor and Sinistea. Sinistea are basically fakes. The potential of these kinds of Pokémon won't be too high.'
"Then forget it, it's too expensive."
Mu Qingzhu felt a little regretful and prepared to leave.
Seeing Mu Qingzhu about to leave, the stall owner thought that it was not easy for someone to take an interest in this kind of 'junk', so he tried to keep her.
"Then how much can you offer?"
"20,000."
Mu Qingzhu replied.
"20,000 is a bit low. The cost of these items is at least 50,000. Can you add a little more?"
The owner said a bit eagerly.
"Then forget it."
Mu Qingzhu said, then planned to leave.
Seeing Mu Qingzhu about to leave, the owner became a bit anxious, then said:
"20,000 it is, take them."
Then Mu Qingzhu scanned the code to pay, and the owner also packed up the pile of fragments and stones.
After Mu Qingzhu left, the owner thought, 'I've made a fortune, I didn't expect anyone to buy this pile of fragments and stones.'
This pile of stones had been here for a long time. He had previously asked an expert to look at them, and they all thought it was impossible to unearth ites from them.
Mu Qingzhu continued to walk deeper, thinking to herself, 'I've made a fortune! I didn't expect there to be a key stone, and I also got a Beedrill Mega Evolution stone, a Steelix Mega Evolution stone, and an Audino Mega Evolution stone. It seems I can come to the black market more often next time.'
And those fragments were basically all Elite Four Level. There were 22 Elite Four Level Bronzor fragments, 5 Semi-Elite Four level, and 10 Gym Leader level; for Sinistea fragments, there were 21 Elite Four Level, 3 Semi-Elite Four level, and 15 Gym Leader level.
Mu Qingzhu continued to walk further inside, and there were many people in front of each stall. And the deeper she went, the stalls were not limited to items, but also had Pokémon and Pokémon eggs.
Mu Qingzhu saw that one of the stalls had more people standing in front of it, so she went to investigate.
Upon closer inspection, she found that this stall was selling Pokémon eggs, or rather, gambling eggs.
The stall owner shouted:
"Don't miss out, folks! Today's Pokémon eggs include Starter Pokemon and Pseudo-legendaries! For just 5,000, you might get a Starter Pokemon, or even a Pseudo-legendary!"
Passersby heard the sound and walked towards it.
This kind of shouting best attracted students who were about to enter high school and whose families were not well-off. It made them think, 'What if I'm lucky and get a Starter Pokemon or a Pseudo-legendary?' This way, they could brag when school started.
Mu Qingzhu looked at the Pokémon eggs and found that the owner was indeed honest. There were indeed many Starter Pokemon in this pile of Pokémon eggs, such as Charmander, Turtwig, Totodile, Torchic, Oshawott, and Chespin; there were also two Pseudo-legendaries, namely Dratini and Goomy.
However, the potential of the Pokémon here was too low. The highest potential for the Starter Pokemon was only advanced, and the others were basically intermediate; the potential of the two Pseudo-legendaries was also intermediate. If they were lucky, they could reach advanced, or even Gym Leader level. The Pokémon with the highest potential here was a Gym Leader level Zigzagoon.
The passersby around the stall began to stir, and after the owner finished his introduction, they swarmed to buy. The people next to the stall began to check the Pokémon eggs they bought one by one. The results were a mix of joy and sorrow. Those who were lucky enough to pick a Starter Pokemon or Pseudo-legendary egg were grinning, while those who didn't were thinking about how to sell their Pokémon egg.
After watching for a while, Mu Qingzhu found it uninteresting and left.
Mu Qingzhu continued on, and soon arrived at a captivating place. An ancient building called Liuli Pavilion came into view, and she stepped into it without hesitation, looking forward to the surprises she would encounter next.