Master of Kaidan
Chapter 116: Regain Blood

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Regain Blood

"Boss, you called for me?"

It had been over ten days since Huo Mu had taken Feng Xue around the black market. Huo Mu almost thought that the boss had forgotten about him being on call until he received a call from him.

Looking at the young man who appeared at the door with a business-like smile, Feng Xue, without a filter, barely recognized him if not for the contract binding them.

For him, however, it didn’t matter whether the broker was male or female. After letting him in, he patted a stack of fabric-bound books on the table and said,

"Take a look at this and tell me how much it’s probably worth."

As soon as Huo Mu had entered the living room, his attention had been on those books. Hearing Feng Xue’s affirmation, he quickly walked over eagerly.

As a broker, he had basic eye power, and although he couldn’t see directly through an item’s essence like some appraisers could, he had his own ways of confirming an item’s value.

Glancing casually at the topmost book and seeing the name "The Legend of Jing Ke," he realized it was a biography and felt somewhat disappointed. After all, biographies weren’t like reference books that could lay out a clear path to play or provide clues about skills. However, they couldn’t be completely dismissed either, as some did include acting techniques.

But when he picked up the book, his earlier intention to flip through it was discarded... because that had become irrelevant—this was undoubtedly a True Book!

Although it’s difficult for ordinary people to discern a book’s true essence without identification, as a broker who had long mingled in the black market, Huo Mu knew well the difference between a counterfeit book and a True Book.

One clear indicator was whether you treated it as a book when you picked it up.

This wasn’t easy for ordinary people, as they were often dominated by preconceived notions, but for someone like Huo Mu, who made his living this way, it was an instinctive "feel."

Without a doubt, this was a top-tier item that could be used as material for crafting exceptional illusions, not merely a counterfeit that replicated text!

With a nervous heart, Huo Mu checked the remaining books. His initial shock somewhat subsided.

Among the twelve books, only two or three were True Books; the rest were counterfeits. Now, the question was whether this man knew the authenticity of the books he had copied.

If he didn’t, could he acquire these books at the price of counterfeits?

He knew that except for a few educational reference books that contained precious knowledge, counterfeit books were priced just like mid-tier ordinary illusion items. However, if confirmed as True Books, their price would start at least at two hundred thousand. If the content was good enough, prices could easily top a million.

Although the content of the three suspected True Books leaned toward biographies or even fiction, their contents mostly pointed to heroes and assassins, which could be used as templates for role-playing or even given to forging masters to craft corresponding weapons, ensuring they wouldn’t lack buyers.

With his connections, mixing in the other books, he conservatively estimated that he could sell them for over nine hundred thousand. If he found an ignorant buyer, fetching two or three million wasn’t far-fetched.

Moreover, this wasn’t a one-time opportunity; if he could control this money tree...

This dangerous thought surfaced momentarily before Huo Mu suppressed it.

From the man’s haggling in the black market, it was clear he was an expert capable of discerning essence, and from the illusions he carried, he was likely more than just strong. Trying to deceive him here would be foolish.

Huo Mu took a deep breath to clear his mind, then calmly said,

"Boss, there are a few books I’m not sure about, but at least two here are True Books. If you decide to sell through my channels, I can offer you two options. Of course, this isn’t to pressure you into choosing; I can also introduce you to the book trading market. These aren’t obligations, but I hope you’ll consider my advice first."

"There’s no need," said Feng Xue, who had already explored other organizations’ channels and stalls in the underground book market a few days after consolidating his Copyist tag. He was well aware of what Huo Mu was about to say. He tapped the twelve books on the table and stated calmly,

"All twelve together, one million in total. Take them if you accept, otherwise I’ll find someone else."

"Ah, this..."

Huo Mu was a bit stunned by Feng Xue’s straightforward answer, but quickly realized that the other party must have already inquired about the market, and the offer was exactly at his limit.

If the book he wasn’t sure about was a True Book, he would undoubtedly have profited, but even if it were a counterfeit, the loss wouldn’t be too significant. Also, considering his channels, mixing the counterfeits with the True Books to sell them together virtually eliminated any risk of loss.

Besides, this man might have a Copyist tag...

Huo Mu clenched his teeth and nodded,

"Deal! But, boss, I don’t have that much cash on me; I need to go fetch it..."

Saying this, he looked at Feng Xue, somewhat worried that he might suspect he was planning a robbery.

But to Huo Mu’s relief, Feng Xue unexpectedly nodded, and he stood up as if granted amnesty,

"Please wait, no more than fifteen... no, I’ll be back in ten minutes at most!"

...

Watching Huo Mu hurry off, Feng Xue also showed a slight smile.

After more than ten days of acting as a Copyist, the progress of Feng Xue’s Copyist tag hadn’t been very impressive. He had copied at least two hundred books during the whole process, but only one of them had manifested an essence.

That was the book Huo Mu wasn’t sure was a True Book; along with "The Legend of Jing Ke" and another book, they were actually recreated by Feng Xue.

According to his experiments, turning a counterfeit book into a True Book not only required suitable essences but also corresponding tags on him, or considerable skill in copying the content, and he indeed had a decent success rate with books like recipes and assassin stories.

However, since he felt recipes wouldn’t sell well even as True Books, he used them directly as material for Refining book essences, while he sold the assassin books to regain some capital.

As a consequence, the "Food" essence Feng Xue had saved in real life had been mostly depleted, and his essence column now contained over thirty "Book" essences.

(The internet was inexplicably down at home, showing as connected and with data flow, but neither qq nor browsers could connect, and this Chapter was completely written on my phone... if I can’t make it by tomorrow noon, then it’s because the internet hasn’t been restored.)