**Chapter 21: Crossing Two Worlds to Become a Trader**
"Come and see, excellent Big Stomach Horses!"
"Fragrant and sweet Jade Melons—everyone who eats them says they're good!"
"Young man, come and see our wine. Clear, sweet, and mellow—you'll never forget it after one sip."
As soon as he stepped into the market, all sorts of hawking filled his ears. Various items were displayed on the numerous stalls, an overwhelming sight.
Zhou Ming walked through the dense stalls and shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, seemingly uninterested in everything around him, heading directly to the central area of the market.
The outer perimeter of the market was mostly filled with mortals hawking, and the goods sold were also for mortals.
The central area was the place that served Gu Masters, and most of the people coming and going were Gu Masters. Although it was in the same market as the outer perimeter, it felt like two different worlds.
Zhou Ming found a relatively large shop and sold five of his Grass Root Gu.
"Grass Root Gu are 260 primeval stones each. Five Gu total 1300 primeval stones."
A shop assistant, also a One-turn Gu Master, handed two bags of primeval stones to Zhou Ming with a look of surprise and envy.
It wasn't strange for a One-turn Gu Master to sell One-turn Gu, but to sell five One-turn Gu at once was rare.
Ordinary One-turn Gu Masters rarely had more than a thousand primeval stones on them, but Zhou Ming had earned 1300 primeval stones in one go, so the shop assistant was naturally envious.
Why had Zhou Ming exchanged a large number of One-turn Grass Root Gu from the Main God? The reason was here.
Exchanging Grass Root Gu from the Main God only cost 100 reward points, but exchanging Sword Qi Gu cost 400 reward points.
However, in the shop, a Grass Root Gu could sell for 260 primeval stones, while a Sword Qi Gu could only sell for 800 primeval stones.
In other words, in the Main God Space, the reward points consumed to exchange one Sword Qi Gu were enough to exchange four Grass Root Gu.
But in the Gu World, four Grass Root Gu could sell for 1040 primeval stones, which was much more valuable than one Sword Qi Gu.
Why had he only exchanged twenty Gu?
Because Zhou Ming was only a One-turn Gu Master. He planned to sell the twenty Grass Root Gu across four different shops—five Grass Root Gu per shop—which wouldn't attract too much attention.
If he sold more, it would inevitably raise suspicion: how could a One-turn Gu Master have so many Gu to sell at once?
As for exchanging Sword Qi Gu, it was purely to make a small profit through family channels.
Zhou Ming picked up the two bags of primeval stones, weighed them in his hand, and then pushed them back to the shop assistant.
"I also want to buy some Gu. Please introduce them to me."
Zhou Ming originally had only a little over a hundred primeval stones. Even after selling the Sword Qi Gu, he had less than a thousand. Now his net worth had directly soared to over 2300, which was sudden wealth for a One-turn Gu Master.
However, this money barely warmed his hands before he spent it again.
When he walked out of the shop, he only had a dozen primeval stones left. In their place, he had a Two-turn Rattan Armor Gu (800 primeval stones), a Two-turn Revival Fruit Gu (one-time consumable Gu, 160 primeval stones), a One-turn Leaf Blade Gu (330 primeval stones), a One-turn Straw Sandal Gu (290 primeval stones), a One-turn Straw Hat Gu (310 primeval stones), a One-turn Straw Raincoat Gu (300 primeval stones), a One-turn Cloud Mist Grass Gu (one-time consumable Gu, 50 primeval stones), and a One-turn Smoke Bomb Gu (one-time consumable Gu, 50 primeval stones).
A total of eight Gu.
This was just the beginning. Next, he went to three other shops he had already scouted, selling all his Grass Root Gu in batches, and then exchanging them for various different Gu.
Finally, Zhou Ming had six Two-turn Gu, three of which were one-time consumable Gu. He also had twelve One-turn Gu, six of which were consumable Gu.
Afterward, Zhou Ming did not stop for a moment and returned directly to his family.
It wasn't until he returned to his small room that Zhou Ming's constantly anxious heart finally settled.
He took out the mechanical watch and placed it on the table, then chose to go to the Main God Space.
The next moment, Zhou Ming's figure disappeared.
The scene before him shifted, and he was now in the living room of that small villa in the Main God Space.
Zhou Ming eagerly looked up at the perpetual calendar hanging on the wall. The next moment, he froze.
**0 days, 0 hours, 1 minute, 27 seconds.**
It was the same as when he had left the Main God Space.
This meant that when he returned to the Gu World, the time in the Main God Space was stagnant.
"Why is this happening?"
Clearly, when he was in the Main God Space, the time in the main world was flowing.
This was another question he couldn't figure out for now.
Zhou Ming shook his head and strode out of the villa. In the small plaza in front of the villa, he took out the Gu one by one.
The Main God's voice kept ringing in his ears.
**[Submitted item "Leaf Blade Gu." This item is not in the Main God exchange sequence. Received 200 reward points.]**
**[Submitted item "Straw Sandal Gu." This item is not in the Main God exchange sequence. Received 200 reward points.]**
**[Submitted item "Rattan Armor Gu." This item is not in the Main God exchange sequence. Received 800 reward points.]**
...
The mechanical yet grand voices, which now sounded so pleasant to Zhou Ming's ears—like the music of heaven.
"Indeed, the Main God's price for Gu of the same turn is the same. Even for one-time consumable Gu."
"I'm rich. Next, as long as—"
**[Submitted item "Entwining Vine Gu." This item is not in the Main God exchange sequence. Received 110 reward points.]**
**[Submitted item "Illusory Mushroom Gu." This item is not in the Main God exchange sequence. Received 110 reward points.]**
**[Submitted item "Obscuring Leaf Gu." This item is not in the Main God exchange sequence. Received 110 reward points.]**
The sudden continuous three Main God prompts interrupted Zhou Ming's thoughts, causing his smile to freeze on his face.
"What's going on?"
He quickly searched for these three Gu and found that their exchange price at the Main God was also 100 reward points, with no difference from other One-turn Gu.
"Why is the exchange price the same, but the reward points obtained from submission are different? What's different about these three Gu compared to the others?"
Zhou Ming furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought.
These three Gu included commonly used Gu and one-time consumable Gu, some cheap and some expensive. And like other One-turn Gu, they were all wood path Gu.
There was no reason why other Gu could get 200 reward points while they only got 110.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"Could it be the quantity?"
This time, he had submitted a total of twelve One-turn Gu. Adding the previous Grass Root Gu, that made thirteen One-turn Gu.
Subtracting those three, it was exactly ten.
If the Main God had lowered the submission price of Gu after he submitted ten One-turn Gu, then why would the Main God do that?
Was it to prevent him from continuing to exploit the Main God, or were ten One-turn Gu already enough for the Main God?
"It's a pity I've only submitted seven Two-turn Gu in total. To verify if it's related to ten Gu, I'll have to wait until next time."
Zhou Ming felt a bit regretful, but his hands didn't stop. He took out the Wood Spiritual Root Gu, intending to submit it.
However, this time the Main God did not give Zhou Ming a chance, showing no intention of reclaiming the Wood Spiritual Root Gu at all.
"Why are other Gu being reclaimed, but this one isn't?"
Zhou Ming's brows furrowed tighter. He simply sat down on the stone steps at the edge of the small plaza and pondered.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and an answer exploded in his mind, causing him to blurt out, "Laws. The laws of the Gu World."
Why did the Main God want Gu?
If he thought about it from the perspective that the Main God wanted to obtain the laws of the Gu World, everything became much more reasonable.
Gu themselves are the manifestation of laws. Obtaining Gu means obtaining the laws of the Gu World.
With the Main God's ability, perhaps by obtaining a segment of laws, it could analyze and replicate that segment of laws—which was why Zhou Ming could exchange for the Gu he had submitted.
Therefore, the Main God did not reclaim the Wood Spiritual Root Gu, because the Wood Spiritual Root Gu was refined from a Wood Spiritual Root, and the Wood Spiritual Root was given by the system—not the laws of the Gu World at all.
Then, did the lower submission price of Gu mean that the Main God's research into the laws of the Gu World had deepened, and new Gu had significantly decreased in value for the Main God?
Zhou Ming sighed. Old problems weren't solved, but new ones were accumulating.
"Since the Main God won't reclaim this Gu..."
Zhou Ming looked at the Wood Spiritual Root Gu in his hand and immediately activated it. The Wood Spiritual Root Gu transformed into a green light and merged into his body.
*Rumble.*
In Zhou Ming's aperture, the bronze true essence sea, originally as calm as a dead sea, suddenly erupted with boundless giant waves, surging and roaring.
While giant waves raged on the surface of the sea, strong undercurrents surged at the bottom, like a volcanic eruption, roaring incessantly.
Amidst these cataclysmic changes, the sea level rapidly rose. The true essence sea, which originally occupied 50% of the aperture, quickly increased to 51%, 52%, 53%... At the same time, the surging waves continuously impacted the aperture's stone membrane, making the already extremely thin stone membrane, which had been nourished for a long time, precarious.
*Splash.*
Above the stone membrane, cracks gradually formed, expanded, and connected, finally shattering completely at a certain moment.
Then, countless fragments of the stone membrane dissolved amidst the sweeping and engulfing true essence seawater, forming an ethereal crystalline substance that re-covered the entire aperture.
The stone membrane disappeared, replaced by a more solid crystal membrane.
He had broken through.
At this moment, as his cultivation rose to One-turn Peak, the dark green true essence seawater deepened in color, becoming a higher-quality deep green.
The boundless waves gradually subsided. Finally, the true essence sea settled at 67%, and his aptitude had already risen to Grade B.
"Good. Double happiness." Zhou Ming opened his eyes and laughed heartily.
He had already been not far from One-turn Peak. Now, with the boost from the aptitude increase and the surging power of the true essence sea, breaking through in one go was a matter of course.
"No, it should be triple happiness." Looking at the reward points he currently possessed, Zhou Ming's smile grew even brighter.
This massive Gu submission had earned Zhou Ming a total of 7130 reward points. Adding the previously remaining 4449 points—he had obtained a total of 7050 points from the last mission, gained 1000 from submitting two Gu, consumed 200 to strengthen the Wood Spiritual Root Gu, consumed 500 to strengthen the Curved Trajectory skill, consumed 2800 for exchanging Straw Sandal Gu and Sword Qi Gu, consumed 100 to exchange for the Main God Space ecosystem, and split 1 reward point into 1000 sub-points for daily use (the mechanical watch was exchanged from these 1000 sub-points)—his current total reward points were 11579.
"I can buy a lot of things now."
Zhou Ming let out a long breath, walked back into the villa, threw himself onto the sofa, and leisurely opened the exchange list.