Chapter 4823 — Regional Sales
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
After wandering the jianghu for so long, Wei Zhao had by now accumulated considerable experience. He made it a rule to ask three questions before doing anything; only after he had scouted out the proper channels and rules could he truly achieve twice the result with half the effort. Otherwise, given the temperament of these East Continent academies, charging in blindly would invite trouble at any moment—and if he happened to provoke some formidable figure, he might not even know how he had died.
Emerging from the inn, Wei Zhao cast a half-smiling glance at the Xishan great one, who was huddled in a distant street corner. A mighty evil cultivator of the late Xuan Sheng stage, reduced to something little better than a street beggar—some passersby had even tossed him alms. The mere thought of it was truly pitiful...
After making a few casual inquiries, Wei Zhao headed straight for the largest market district in Morning Star City. It was where the crowds gathered, and the best place to pick up all manner of news.
He strolled through the market with the flow of people. Judging by its scale, this market district was not much inferior to the one on North Island—but when one considered that this was merely a small city on the East Continent, while that market on North Island represented the very highest standard North Island had to offer, the gap between them spoke for itself.
A short while later, following the crowd, Wei Zhao arrived at a public notice board plastered with all the latest announcements. A large ring of people had crowded in to stand and stare, whispering and discussing among themselves.
Wei Zhao gave it a cursory scan. The board carried notices of every kind—wanted posters, new regulations for the main city, current affairs bulletins—a bewildering variety, each different from the last. Of them all, the notice attracting the most attention was an announcement about an auction.
"The Morning Star Grand Auction?" Wei Zhao read the notice while listening to the chatter around him, and found himself somewhat tempted. Since he happened to be here for it, he might as well go along and join the excitement.
By the look of it, this grand auction was the highest-caliber auction Morning Star City had to offer. In the two months since coming to the East Continent, he had never once seen an auction. No doubt there would be all sorts of rare treasures of the very highest grade—this was the East Continent, after all. Its standard could hardly be lower than the auctions on the other Cloud Tier Islands, surely.
Yet though the notion appealed to him, getting into this Morning Star Grand Auction was probably no simple matter. The notice gave the time and place, true enough, but beyond that there was no more specific information—nothing about what qualifications one needed to enter. Surely they could not let just anyone wander in.
It looked as though he would have to find someone to ask about the particulars. After a few more glances, Wei Zhao withdrew and went on wandering through the market district.
From what he knew, the market districts in many places were not solely devoted to the trading of goods. There were also local fixers who made a business of information; so long as one could meet their price, it was easy enough to learn all sorts of secret tidings from such people.
The trouble was that much of this fixers' trade was underground business that could not see the light of day. Without paying attention to certain special marks in the streets and alleys, one would find it very hard to locate them simply by strolling about. Fortunately, Wei Zhao was a man of wide experience; so long as he kept his eyes open, it should not be difficult.
After drifting along with the crowd for a while, Wei Zhao suddenly stopped in his tracks—not because he had spotted some secret street mark, but because the signboard of the trading company before him felt warmly familiar: the Hong Clan Trading Company of Morning Star City.