Chapter 67 — The Sleepless City

To say nothing of three coins — given away, no one would want them. Yet before these stalls stood many who looked like martial artists, picking and choosing in hopes of truly finding some treasure.

Shen Mu went from stall to stall, and his heart stirred a little; he did find some good things.

On certain stalls lay fragments of weapons, and in his eyes these fragments gave off a faint dark glow. They were surely fragments of primal weapons, and worth something. He stepped up to ask the price and could not help clicking his tongue: fragments of primal weapons cost several dozen dragon coins apiece. "This has to be a swindle.

" Shen Mu kept looking, and came to a stall where a dozen or so clay jars were laid out on a sheepskin. Most of the jars were damaged, either missing a lid or chipped at a corner.

But when he looked with his Skypiercing Heavenly Eye, the dark glow bursting from these jars was fiercely bright, far surpassing those weapon fragments — indeed far richer than the primal weapons he had sold! "How much for the jars? " Shen Mu asked, stepping closer.

"Three coins apiece," said the stallkeeper.

Shen Mu took the dragon coin from his pocket and said, a little embarrassed, "I have only one dragon coin.

Will you sell me all of them? " The stallkeeper, astonished and delighted, snatched the coin away, wrapped up the broken jars in the sheepskin, thrust the bundle into his hands, and said with a laugh, "They're all yours!

" "Fool. . .

" Several stallkeepers nearby chuckled under their breath.

"One dragon coin is a thousand coins, and he doesn't even know it.

" The stallkeeper clutched the coin tight and said hastily, "Young sir, you mustn't go back on your word! " Only now did Shen Mu learn the value of a dragon coin.

He laughed heartily. "Since we have struck our bargain, I won't go back on it.

One dragon coin for these jars seems to me a fine price.

" The stallkeeper breathed a sigh of relief and was about to leave when a clear, ringing voice suddenly said, "Wait!

Young sir, how much for these jars?

" Shen Mu raised his head and saw several richly dressed men escorting a youth in even more splendid attire. The youth had fine brows and clear eyes, red lips and white teeth, and a touch of baby fat in his cheeks; beside Shen Mu he looked almost delicate.

He was staring at the sheepskin in Shen Mu's hands with great interest. "A divine ability user?

" one stallkeeper blurted out. Shen Mu cried out despite himself, "You're that chubby fat Seventh Young Master from the tower ship of the Kingdom of Jingping! " "Chubby fat Seventh Young Master?

" The youth started, then recognized Shen Mu, and said through gritted teeth, half angered and half shamed, "Who's a chubby fat Seventh Young Master?

" Shen Mu had little interest in the chubby fat Seventh Young Master; he looked instead at the men behind him.

They were of uncommon bearing, vital essence flowing about outside their bodies.

One of them had an azure dragon coiled around him, its head rising above his own, its dragon eyes bright and piercing as it warily surveyed the surroundings. This man was plainly an Azure Dragon spirit body, one who had opened the Six Heavens Divine Treasury — a divine ability user whose vital essence manifested at every hour of the day!

Though Shen Mu's vital essence was mighty and he could make it take form, that was only in the thick of battle, when his essence was dense beyond measure, mingled with blood and breath, so that others could see it. A divine ability user was different: he could manifest his vital essence anywhere and at any time, and within that essence a divine ability might be hidden, so that if an enemy struck, the ability would burst forth in the very first instant to meet the foe. Shen Mu had once heard Granny Zhu say that the Spirit Fetus realm was only that of a martial artist; to cultivate to the Five Elements realm was to be a grandmaster, one who understood the transformations of the five elements and evolved martial techniques and arts into divine abilities.

And to break through the wall of the Six Heavens Divine Treasury was to become a divine ability user, able to wield divine abilities.

Crimson Dragon City was no small place, and it had many divine ability users — but to have such a one following at one's back, that was no small thing at all. "These jars are indeed for sale.

" Shen Mu thought for a moment. "A hundred dragon coins apiece. " He had been asking an outrageous price, but to his surprise the chubby fat Seventh Young Master smiled mildly and nodded.

"Cheap. Done.

There are thirty-six jars in your sheepskin — three thousand six hundred dragon coins in all.

Chiliarch Ding, settle with him. " One of the men behind him bowed and said, "Yes.

" Then he stepped forward and settled accounts with Shen Mu.

The stallkeepers in the lane and the passersby stared, dumbstruck, their breath coming short.

The man who had just sold the jars to Shen Mu twitched at the corner of his eye, dizzy and dazzled, gazing at those jars, wanting to snatch them back yet not daring to.