Pei Ze didn't give those three punks a second thought, forgetting about them the moment he turned away.
After crossing two narrow alleys, he soon arrived in front of an inconspicuous bar.
Outside the bar stood two bald, heavily muscled men wearing black tank tops.
The moment Pei Ze approached, the two immediately shot him a wary look.
"What's your business?"
"Here for the trade," Pei Ze replied succinctly.
The man on the left sized him up, then took out an object that looked like an eyeball and aimed it directly at him.
A second later, the strange eyeball suddenly glowed with a violet light.
"Wizard Apprentice!"
The man's expression shifted, his face immediately showing a hint of reverence.
"Sir, the rule here is..."
Pei Ze cut him off with a wave of his hand. With a light flick of his finger and a crisp CLINK, a Gold Coin spun toward the man.
"The entrance fee is one Gold Coin. No problem, right?"
"Yes, sir."
The man nodded respectfully, then turned and knocked on the thick iron door.
A shadow seemed to flit past the small window in the door. A few seconds later, the iron door was opened from the inside.
"Please, enter, sir," the man said, bowing slightly.
The other man also stepped aside deferentially.
Pei Ze walked inside without a word.
After passing through the thick iron door and a narrow corridor lined with swords, Pei Ze finally entered the bar proper.
Surprisingly, though it should have been the bar's busiest time, the inside was eerily quiet.
Apart from the bartender, there were only a few beautiful waitresses in skimpy tops and short skirts.
They glanced up as Pei Ze entered, then immediately looked back down and went about their business.
Pei Ze didn't linger. He walked straight through the bar and into a door at the back.
Beyond the door was another long corridor. After traversing it, he emerged into a massive underground space.
The cavernous space was about the size of a soccer field. Ash Stone Lamps hung from the ceiling and on the surrounding walls, casting a hazy, eerie glow that lent the area an air of mystery.
The underground space was filled with rows of small, counter-like stalls. Most were laden with various goods.
Others simply had a sign listing items for purchase, with the space behind the sign either empty or occupied by a single person.
This was the Black Market.
Looking at the bar from the outside, it was hard to imagine such a vast space existed beneath it.
Pei Ze scanned his surroundings. There were at least a thousand people in the Black Market, creating a considerable din.
Without exception, everyone here wore long robes and masks, completely concealing their identities. It was impossible to tell who was who.
Pei Ze's gaze swept the area, landing on a black-robed figure about seven or eight meters away.
'Eye of Omniscience, analyze that person's information.'
[Analysis requires 0.1 Spiritual Power. Proceed?]
'Analyze!'
[Spirit: 2.12]
[Physique: 9.65]
[Status: Healthy]
Pei Ze immediately turned his attention to another person.
[Analysis requires 0.4 Spiritual Power. Proceed?]
Pei Ze raised an eyebrow and abandoned the idea of scanning them.
The experiments over the past few days had largely confirmed his theory.
The Eye of Omniscience could indeed be used to probe the strength and stats of others.
However, the amount of Spiritual Power consumed varied depending on the target's strength.
For example, scanning a Knight usually only cost 0.1 Spiritual Power.
A Peak Knight, on the other hand, would cost 0.4 to 0.5 Spiritual Power.
As for a Grand Knight, the cost was even higher, requiring at least 1 point of Spiritual Power.
As for a Wizard Apprentice, perhaps due to their Mental Force Field, the analysis cost was far greater than that of a Knight.
A Wizard Apprentice with Spiritual Power comparable to his own would cost a hefty 3 points of Spiritual Power to analyze.
In the case of a Third-level Wizard Apprentice, the cost was an astonishing 10 points of Spiritual Power.
'The amount of Spiritual Power an analysis costs must be relative to my own,' Pei Ze mused. 'The higher my Spiritual Power, the lower the cost should be.'
Fortunately, after summarizing his findings, he realized he didn't need to complete the analysis. He could estimate a target's strength just by looking at the initial cost displayed by the Eye of Omniscience.
Based on his previous two scouting trips, Pei Ze observed that most people who came to the Black Market were Knights and Grand Knights.
It was rare to see anyone below the rank of Knight.
It made sense when he thought about it. The items traded in the Black Market were mostly things like Enchanted Equipment, supernatural materials, Spell Books, and Potions.
Any single one of these items cost dozens of Gold Coins. Ordinary Apprentice Knights and Sword-Bearing Attendants could never afford them.
As for Wizard Apprentices, they were far fewer in number than Knights.
Composing himself, Pei Ze headed to his left.
Thanks to his two previous scouting visits, he was quite familiar with the Black Market and easily found the administration office.
After paying a rental fee of 20 Gold Coins, he successfully secured the rights to a stall.
Arriving at his stall, Pei Ze took out all his Ferocity Potions, arranged them on the counter by quality, and then sat down to patiently wait for customers.
Among the various non-tiered potions, antidotes, stamina potions, and Ferocity Potions were arguably the three best-sellers.
They were relatively affordable and highly practical.
Many Knights would carry a few potions with them when they ventured deep into the wilderness to hunt beasts.
At a critical moment, a potion could mean the difference between life and death!
Pei Ze had been sitting for less than two minutes when someone was drawn over by the large number of Ferocity Potions on his counter.
"How much are the potions?"
Pei Ze remained silent and pointed to a wooden sign on his left, where the prices for the different qualities of Ferocity Potion were already written.
Low-Grade Ferocity Potion: 82 Gold Coins.
Medium-Grade Ferocity Potion: 91 Gold Coins.
Top-Grade Ferocity Potion: 109 Gold Coins.
Supreme-Grade Ferocity Potion: 135 Gold Coins.
Each potion was priced ten percent lower than the market rate.
There was no helping it. Most goods in the Black Market had questionable origins and no quality guarantee, so prices were typically lower than through legitimate channels. Otherwise, why would anyone buy from the Black Market?
Low prices were the Black Market's main selling point.
Of course, whether the goods were actually *high-quality* depended on the buyer's discerning eye.
People who got swindled in the Black Market were a dime a dozen.
"The price is too high. Can you go any lower?" the black-robed man said.
Pei Ze remained silent, merely looking at the man with an air that clearly said: 'Take it or leave it.'
Given how well Ferocity Potions sold, he wasn't worried about them not moving. The ten percent discount was his bottom line.
The black-robed man seemed to recognize Pei Ze's confidence. He shrugged helplessly, picked out two Low-Grade Potions and one Medium-Grade Potion, inspected them carefully, and left after confirming they were fine and paying.
In the Black Market, there were plenty of people selling Ferocity Potions.
But over ninety percent of them were only Low-Grade and Medium-Grade Potions; Top-Grade ones were few and far between.
As for Supreme-Grade Potions, it was a rare sight to see even one.
A stall that could offer Supreme-Grade Potions for sale often had more reliable quality than others.
Because of this, it wasn't long before a crowd had gathered in front of Pei Ze's stall.
"Wow, it really is a supreme-quality Ferocity Potion!"
"Look at this quality. This doesn't look like the work of a Potion Apprentice. Could it have been crafted by an Alchemist?"
"You're kidding, right? What Alchemist has the time to brew this kind of Low-tier Potion?"
As the crowd whispered amongst themselves, their hands moved quickly. In no time, all the potions had been snatched up.
Even the three Supreme-Grade Ferocity Potions were bought by a black-robed man who exuded a powerful, oppressive aura.
After paying, he looked at Pei Ze and said in a low voice, "Friend, do you have any more of these potions?"
Pei Ze glanced at him. Based on the feedback from the Eye of Omniscience, this man was likely a Grand Knight.
"Not at the moment."
The black-robed man pressed, "Then when will you have more in stock?"
Pei Ze said flatly, "I'm not sure."
Even with the Eye of Omniscience, it wasn't easy to create supreme-quality potions.
A great deal of it came down to luck.
More importantly, however, Pei Ze didn't want to make any promises lightly.
The Black Market was full of all sorts of people; it was better to be cautious.
The black-robed man gave Pei Ze a deep look, said nothing more, and turned to leave.