Universal Membership Card, purchase jars (5800)

[Unopened Gold Jar (Gold)]

"Oh? It's actually a Gold-quality jar?"

Cao Xing's interest was piqued.

However, he did not impulsively rush over to ask for the price. Instead, he looked at City Lord Oran beside him and asked in a low voice.

"City Lord, when you came to this black market before, had you heard of these kinds of jars?"

City Lord Oran thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Yes."

"Most of these jars are unearthed from the outskirts of that Lost Royal City."

"They are usually buried underground and are not easily discovered."

"Even if you use special detection devices, or even aura detection, you cannot discover these jars."

"So, up until now, the number unearthed has been quite small."

After a pause, he continued, "These jars are divided into common Earthen Jars, Silver Jars, Gold Jars, and the rarest Black Jars."

"Depending on the color of the jar, the items obtained from opening them are different."

"Besides the guaranteed ancient coins, you can also obtain valuable items such as gold, mithril, and emeralds."

"Sometimes, you can even find precious gemstones inside."

"Of course, the probability is very small."

Hearing this, Cao Xing hurriedly interrupted, "Wait a moment, are you saying that ancient coins can be found inside the jars?"

"Is it this kind of coin?"

After speaking, Cao Xing took a [Silver Ancient Coin] out of his backpack.

City Lord Oran took it and examined it for a while.

Then he nodded and said, "That's right, it is this kind of ancient coin."

"However, this silver ancient coin of yours should have been obtained from those Silver Jars."

"Like those Earthen Jars, they produce copper coins, while Gold Jars produce gold coins."

After getting his confirmation, Cao Xing's breath hitched!

Good heavens! It really was!

Doesn't this mean that these jars and the Ancient Treasure Chests are items from the same era?

And this couldn't help but spark an idea in Cao Xing's mind.

Most of the items in this black market come from that ancient ruin.

That is to say, the number of these jars should be quite large.

Then, could he spend some cost to acquire all the jars in this black market?

Or simply acquire those ancient coins and then exchange them into Ancient Treasure Chests himself?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but get a little excited.

Of course, this was just an idea of Cao Xing's; whether to implement it or not would depend on the situation.

After all, he didn't know the market price for these jars and ancient coins.

If they were too expensive, even if he collected them, he might face a loss.

Cao Xing suppressed his excitement and nodded, asking, "Besides these ancient coins and some gemstones, can other things be found inside the jars?"

"Of course."

City Lord Oran nodded solemnly and then said, "The things that can be obtained from the jars are uncertain; they seem to contain some kind of special spatial crafting method."

"In other words, after you smash the jar open, there might even be a large war mech, or even a turret or other such items inside."

"And besides these, you can also smash out some extremely precious things."

Speaking of this, City Lord Oran's tone rose slightly.

"It is said that someone once bought a Black Jar here and obtained a special item that made him instantly wealthy!"

"That was a Relic left behind by a Legendary powerhouse, capable of allowing many powerhouses stuck at the Hero realm for years to break through to Legendary. It is enough to drive many heroes crazy!"

Hearing this, Cao Xing's eyes lit up.

Good heavens! A Black Jar can actually contain a Relic?

You must know, his territory has a large group of Hero and Master-level powerhouses waiting to break through to Legendary.

And breaking through to Legendary requires two conditions.

One is a Heart of Legend, and the other is a Relic corresponding to the profession.

And this item, in the previous two great battles, they had already harvested quite a few by killing a large number of Blood Legion Myriarchs.

Now, they were just missing the corresponding Relics.

Cao Xing asked doubtfully, "Then who ended up buying this Relic?"

City Lord Oran replied, "This Relic was finally acquired by the Giant Axe Mercenary Group at a high price."

"They seemed to be preparing to put this Relic up for public auction, but it was later bought by another mysterious figure. We don't know the specific price."

Cao Xing nodded in realization, a look of contemplation flashing in his eyes.

Looking at it this way, these jars are actually quite similar to Ancient Treasure Chests, capable of yielding all sorts of strange items or props.

Cao Xing continued to ask, "Are there many of these jars in the entire black market?"

"Also, do you know roughly how many ancient coins can be obtained from one jar?"

He needed to know how many ancient coins one of these jars could yield.

If he were to acquire them on a large scale, would he lose money?

City Lord Oran was basically forthcoming with all answers to Cao Xing's questions.

"The number of jars in the entire black market is not large, or rather, it is very small."

"And because the things that can be obtained from inside are not fixed, and the price is high, any random Earthen Jar costs tens of thousands of crowns."

"As for those Gold Jars, they often cost over a million crowns."

"But sometimes, the things you get might be worth less than one-tenth of the price; basically, you lose everything."

"As for how many ancient coins you can get from a jar—"

City Lord Oran thought for a moment and replied, "There is no specific number for that."

"Sometimes you can get a dozen or so, and sometimes you can get dozens of ancient coins."

"However, these ancient coins have no value to us; they are basically used for collection or just melted down into silver or gold."

"Except for those greenhorns who have just come to the black market for the first time and want to open a jar out of curiosity."

"Under normal circumstances, not many people will buy these jars."

Upon hearing this, Cao Xing's thoughts became active again.

According to what City Lord Oran said, if one is lucky, a single jar can even yield dozens of ancient coins.

That is to say, the ancient coins from about two or three jars added together could be exchanged for an Ancient Treasure Chest?

Even if the luck is a bit worse, he could still get a dozen or so ancient coins!

And the items inside an Ancient Treasure Chest, even the most common Ancient Bronze Treasure Chest, should be worth at least over a hundred thousand crowns, right?

Clearly, this was a profitable deal for Cao Xing!

At this moment, City Lord Oran seemed to have seen through his thoughts and solemnly reminded him.

"Lord Cao Xing, although you can occasionally obtain precious items from the jars that can make one instantly wealthy, the probability is too small."

"Furthermore, the merchants in this black market are all old foxes; they might tamper with the jars."

"If you are really interested in these jars, I think you still need to be cautious, very cautious."

"Tamper with them? What kind of tampering?" Cao Xing asked doubtfully.

City Lord Oran sighed and explained, "For example, they will clean the jars in advance and then apply paint to change the color of the jar."

"For example, changing an Earthen Jar to a Silver Jar, or a Silver Jar to a Gold Jar."

"There is something even more outrageous: they directly smash the jar open, take out the contents, and then reseal it, disguising it as unopened."

"There are too many tricks; they simply stop at nothing."

Speaking of this, he shook his head helplessly; it seemed he had been scammed here before.

After listening, Cao Xing felt no ripples in his heart; on the contrary, a smile appeared on his lips.

After all, in front of Survivors like them, these methods of fraud were useless.

They only needed to glance at them to know the quality and unopened status of these jars.

And most importantly—they didn't know that the most precious things inside these jars were actually those ancient coins.

As long as he exchanged them into treasure chests, it was basically a guaranteed profit.

Of course, this method could only be used by Survivors like them.

After all, these natives did not have the ability to exchange ancient coins into Ancient Treasure Chests.

Cao Xing nodded and said, "I understand. I will go over and take a look at this jar first and ask for the price."

"Then I will decide whether to buy it or not."

Seeing that he said this, City Lord Oran no longer tried to dissuade him.

Cao Xing continued, "Sarah, and City Lord Oran, come with me."

"The rest of you wait here."

"Yes, Lord."

The group responded solemnly.

Then, Cao Xing brought City Lord Oran and approached the vendor.

Sarah, meanwhile, disappeared silently from the spot and merged into Cao Xing's shadow.

Soon, the two arrived in front of the vendor.

Cao Xing's gaze swept across the stall.

Besides that ancient jar, there were also some miscellaneous mechanical parts, damaged weapons, and unknown metal fragments displayed on it.

It looked like they had just been dug out from underground.

At this moment, seeing two figures standing in front of the stall, the vendor gradually raised his head.

He first glanced at Cao Xing, then looked at City Lord Oran.

His eyes lit up immediately, and he became energetic.

From Cao Xing and City Lord Oran's attire and demeanor, the vendor immediately realized that these two were not ordinary people.

He hurriedly put on a smile, his tone tinged with a bit of flattery: "My lords, these are all items produced from the Lost Royal City. Please feel free to pick whatever you like."

"If you see anything you like, tell me, and I will definitely give you a discounted price."

Cao Xing nodded slightly without speaking.

He did not go straight to his goal and ask for the price of that jar at the beginning.

Instead, he browsed the stall in a leisurely manner.

It looked as if he had really come to hunt for treasure.

A moment later, he casually picked up a yellowish-brown crystal and asked, "How much for this?"

The vendor took a look and said with a smile, "My lord, this is a relatively rare Tiger Eye Crystal. I'll charge you 100,000 crowns."

Hearing this price, Cao Xing understood.

This guy was definitely gouging him, treating him like a fat sheep to be slaughtered.

This thing was clearly just a fragment from a damaged energy core, yet he claimed it was a Tiger Eye Crystal.

And he even asked for 100,000 crowns; if he actually bought it, he would be a total sucker.

However, Cao Xing did not lose his temper. Instead, he silently put the item down and continued to browse other goods.

A moment later, he picked up a mechanical arm and asked, "What about this?"

The stall owner took a look, still wearing a smile, and said, "Sir, you have a good eye. This is a mechanical arm salvaged from an advanced mech, and a Master-level expert even came to ask about the price earlier."

"How about 50,000 crowns?"

Cao Xing shook his head upon hearing this and put the mechanical arm back down.

Then, he began to pick out other things.

After asking for the price a few times, the stall owner gave an exaggerated price every time.

Of course, Cao Xing didn't buy a single thing.

After a few times, the stall owner started to get impatient. He frowned, his tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction and helplessness: "Sir, do you actually want to buy something or not?"

"If you aren't going to buy anything, please try another stall."

"Everyone's time is precious, so please don't waste mine."

Cao Xing chuckled, "Buy, of course I'll buy."

He casually picked up a necklace and asked, "How much for this?"

This was one of the few items on the entire stall that looked somewhat exquisite.

Cao Xing had already scanned it once using the system panel; it was a purple-quality necklace, though its stats could only be described as average.

Seeing what was in his hand, the stall owner's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Sir, you really have a good eye!"

"This necklace was dug up from an ancient noble's tomb beneath those ruins."

"Just give me 1 million crowns."

Hearing this price, Cao Xing seemed somewhat tempted.

After hesitating for a moment, he put the necklace back down.

"Forget it—"

Seeing that he still didn't buy it, the stall owner was so angry he gritted his teeth.

But forced by Cao Xing's strength, he could only force a smile, even though the anger in his heart was almost impossible to suppress.

At this moment, Cao Xing said apologetically, "Sorry, Boss, I didn't bring many crowns with me this time."

"Next time I bring more crowns, I will definitely patronize your business."

Seeing that Cao Xing was so polite, the stall owner looked surprised, and the anger in his heart dissipated a little.

"Sir, you are so powerful and yet so well-mannered; you must have an extraordinary background."

"It's fine. If you want to look around some more, please feel free."

"I am Granger Curry, and I love making friends with people like you," he said with a smile.

As previously mentioned, those who can survive in the black market are all shrewd and well-connected old hands.

This stall owner was clearly well-versed in this.

Cao Xing shook his head and smiled, "You are too kind, Boss."

"But this time, I really have wasted quite a bit of your time."

"Since that's the case, I can't let you work in vain."

"By the way, Boss, how much for this jar on the side?"

Hearing this, the stall owner cast his gaze toward the jar he was pointing at.

He then looked up at Cao Xing, seemingly pondering something.

A moment later, he said, "Sir, you should already be aware of the market price for this kind of jar."

"If you are sincerely interested, give me 3 million crowns. This is already my cost price."

Cao Xing thought about it secretly.

This price was likely indeed the lowest cost price.

From the stall owner's words, Cao Xing also gathered another piece of information.

That was, this gold jar wasn't dug up by him either; it looked like he had purchased it through some channel.

Seeing him still hesitating, the boss continued, "Sir, you don't need to worry about the authenticity of the jar."

"This is a proper, unopened gold jar. It is absolutely authentic!"

"If you buy it, you can smash it open right here."

"If it's fake, not only will I not charge you a cent, but I will return double the amount."

He guaranteed it solemnly, seemingly extremely confident in his goods.

Cao Xing smiled and shook his head, "I certainly believe that this jar of yours is real."

"Since that's the case, I'll buy this jar."

Hearing this, a flash of surprise crossed the stall vendor's face; he hadn't expected Cao Xing to agree so easily this time.

It wasn't until Cao Xing took out a bag filled with crowns that the vendor reacted.

A smile immediately appeared on his face. "Sir, you are truly generous. Then this jar belongs to you."

With that, he picked up the jar and conducted the transaction with Cao Xing.

[Transaction successful! You have obtained [Unopened Gold Jar] * 1. You have lost [Coins] * 3 million—]

[Ding! Item [Diamond Membership Card] activated. You have received a refund of [Coins] * 600,000—]

Seeing the notification that followed, Cao Xing was slightly stunned.

Then, the corners of his mouth curled into an imperceptible smile.

He sighed inwardly, "I almost forgot, I still have such a heaven-defying item as the 'Diamond Membership Card'."

"No matter what the transaction is, as long as it involves crowns, it will refund 20% of the money. It can be said to be very powerful."

"In this way, it's equivalent to me spending only 2.4 million crowns to buy this gold jar, which is a steady profit."

Thinking of this, Cao Xing became even more determined in his plan to massively acquire various jars in the black market.

After the transaction was completed, a sincere smile finally appeared on the stall owner's face.

"Thank you for your patronage, Sir. You are the first to buy a gold jar from me. Do you want to smash it open on the spot to verify its authenticity?"

The surrounding vendors and passersby, upon hearing the keywords "buying a gold jar," all curiously shifted their gazes over.

At least dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on the jar in Cao Xing's hand.

The expressions in their eyes included curiosity, greed, and strangeness.

More people were just waiting silently on the side.

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing said with a strange expression, "City Lord Oran, what are they waiting for?"

"Are they waiting to snatch my jar in a moment?"

City Lord Oran shook his head upon hearing this, "That won't happen. Because of the existence of the Giant Axe Mercenary Group, this black market can maintain simple order."

"Things like snatching others' goods in public are not allowed."

"They want to see what you can open from the jar."

Speaking of this, City Lord Oran revealed a meaningful smile.

"In this black market, watching others open jars is also a special kind of entertainment."

A look of realization appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

These jars, as items that can randomly spawn things when smashed, inherently have a gambling nature.

Some people have become rich overnight because they opened extremely precious treasures from the jars.

There are also people who spend huge sums of money to buy jars, wanting to make a big profit, only to end up losing everything.

Therefore, everyone wants to join in the excitement.

However, Cao Xing shook his head and said, "There's no need to verify authenticity; I trust this boss's character."

In fact, there is no such thing as character in the black market; it's just some polite social pleasantries.

With that, Cao Xing put the jar into his backpack.

Seeing the jar disappear into thin air, the onlookers felt a bit disappointed.

They also knew that this mysterious young man probably wouldn't open the jar here, so they all shifted their gazes away.

The vendor in front of him, seeing this, also said tactfully.

"Then I won't disturb you, Sir. If there is a chance in the future, I hope you will come to patronize my business again."

Cao Xing smiled, "Sure, sure."

With that, he took City Lord Oran and Sarah and left the stall.

After returning to his team, there were still some gazes on Cao Xing.

Cao Xing turned his head, knowing these people hadn't given up and all wanted to see him open this gold jar.

And he did indeed want to open this jar to see what could be opened from inside.

However, finding an empty corner in this black market was really quite troublesome.

At this moment, Cao Xing's gaze fell on a few big guys nearby, and he suddenly had an idea.

He chuckled, "Braum, Assam, and Andrew, come over and block for me. Let me see what can be opened from this jar."

"Yes, Master." Everyone responded in unison and then immediately took action.

Braum raised the shield in his hand, shielding Cao Xing behind him like a wall.

The others also gathered around, forming a wall.

And those gazes, upon not being able to see Cao Xing, immediately felt a bit disappointed.

Meanwhile, Cao Xing stood surrounded by the crowd and took the gold jar out of his backpack.

The gray gold jar was held in his hand, looking heavy.

Cao Xing asked, "City Lord Oran, can I just throw the jar on the ground to smash it open?"

The City Lord nodded, "Yes."

"I hope you can open something good."

His tone carried a hint of anticipation.

Including Elisa, Bai Zhi, and the others, everyone seemed very curious.

Under everyone's gaze, Cao Xing threw the gold jar in his hand onto the ground.

With a crisp "crack" sound.

Immediately, the jar body shattered into pieces.

Like fireworks blooming, a large pile of gold coins poured out from the broken jar!

A "clinking" sound rang out, and gold coins scattered all over the ground.

This scene was quite reminiscent of the shocking feeling of a piggy bank being smashed open.