Chapter 446: Straw Buying an Evergreen Punching Fiend

If anyone wanted to find Ares in the black market it wouldn't be a difficult task. All they'd have to do is follow the chalk lines he'd left behind without a care in the world and the loopdey loop markings would eventually catch up with him. Currently the line ended just in front of a multistorey building on the western side of the square and Ares was inside it, eyeing up some goods placed side by side on a piece of cloth. Ares would be lying if he said he wasn't looking for anything specific but the problem is that what he was looking for would be incredibly hard to find, even in a place like this, and not worth focussing on to the point of ignoring everything else. Off the top of his head, Ares wanted either medicinal treasures that could increase life span or cultivation boosting treasures as well as anything that could reconstruct a body. The former was to fulfill Yulo's offhand request about picking something up for the previous sect master of Heaven's Path. Apparently he was struggling to breakthrough to the next realm of cultivation and extend his fading lifespan so anything that could aid him would be much appreciated. It was hardly Ares' job to do this but there was also no reason not to keep an eye out for anything he could pick up in passing. Ares was taking the sect off this old timer's hands after all, as he was still technically in charge and Yulo was a temporary replacement, so a thank you gift wasn't out of the cards. Who knows? Maybe the sect was hiding a secret stash or something and the old crony might offer it to Ares in a burst of dementia-fuelled gratitude.

As for the body reconstructing treasures and resources Ares was interested in... Ares wasn't even remotely expectant. Such a thing was not easy to get his hands on. He could even go and exploit his connections in Vraizon, asking his ludicrously powerful and influential mother to help him find something of the sort, and still come up empty handed. It's not that they didn't exist, it's that such treasures, that existed to serve that purpose exclusively and did so with unmatched potency, were rare in the lower domains. Add onto that the fact that these lower domains had been sealed by the barrier for a good many years and it was likely any body reconstructing treasure or resource that had ever existed was already long devoured by the talented members of the previous generations gone by. Ares was simply born too late to join the party on this one. He wanted a body reconstructing treasure both for himself and for Sandy, so two if possible. The former because this was the only way he could increase his physical strength in human form, without it all being siphoned towards Garmr, and the latter because Sandy's fine grind needed removing one way or another and this was the simplest way of doing it. Disintegrating the fine grind, and its effect, would take Ares a long time. He would have to be precise and surgical in its removal, and going so would definitely hurt a crap ton too, so the process, and learning how to do it, would take years. It was way more efficient and painless to just reconstruct Sandy's body and siphon out the fine grind as it happened.

Considering al of the above, Sandy's need for that sort of treasure was more pressing than Ares' and he'd quite happily give one up for her. So now the question was where to find such a thing if they didn't really exist anymore? Well there was another option. Sometimes, if body tempering treasures and resources got mystical enough, and were aged over a significant period, they could come attached with a body reconstructing traits. Fine grind was an example of this as there was, supposedly, a two year old fine grind at some point in history that defied the limits of its capabilities. It was such a legendary resource it went above and beyond, not just enhancing the body but also completely shredding it and replacing it. If normal fine grind was good for sanding a person' innards down then such a magical resource becoming one with a person's literal essence would do astonishing things for them. A body made of fine grind, constantly tempering the body for all eternity, was the kind of thing cultivators would die pursuing no matter what so that two year fine grind was pretty legendary. Fine grind wasn't the only treasure such a thing was applicable to so it was definitely possible to reconstruct a body if a rare enough resource, with all the right traits, had evolved and was then discovered or sold. This was more likely than a resource or treasure who's purpose innately was to reconstruct the body specifically due to the fact that time was required for such a thing to form. While all the immediately useful treasures were snatched up, and long gone, herbs and plants like this would grow in secrecy for future generations, like the one Ares lived in, becoming pseudo replacements that served the same purpose as a side effect. Were they better than the innately capable treasures and resources? Probably not, it wasn't their original purpose so the effects might be somewhat diminished comparatively. Some could be better but most typically wouldn't. Still, it would do a good job as a temporary option until Ares could explore higher domains and get better body reconstructing tools there that were designed for the job. Sometimes these kinds of treasures could overlap too, and work well together, so it wasn't a waste to commit to a so-so resource this early in his journey.

As for acquiring such a resource, the best bet was to find a high calibre auction house, with unmatched prestige across both Sheryashka and Vraizon, as cream of the crop treasures and resources would show up there before anywhere else. Despite not being the best option, these resources were the only option and so, in turn, were incredibly valuable and irreplaceable. They would sell for a fortune at the auction houses so it's no surprise this was where most of them ended up. That being said, an internationally renowned black market such as this was as good as it was going to get for Ares in his current position. He couldn't possibly attend an auction in Vraizon any time soon, and he was still technically banned form the auction house in Red Sun thanks to his previous outburst, so he would have to make do. Alas, none of the items on display here, in front of Ares, were anything he was searching for so he got up and left to go to the next floor. Thankfully Ares had Dominus up and about giving him advice on what things were and how much they were worth. He was an ancient mutt with extensive knowledge on all things cultivation so if there was a resource worth picking up, or something that Ares needed for his two goals, Dominus would spot it like a sniffer dog. Ares also had his Omniscience on deck to aid in this endeavour so the chances of him getting swindled was outright negative and he might be the most knowledgeable peruser of goods the black market had ever seen. Hell he might be more informed about the objects these merchants were selling than the merchants themselves which was a fantastic way of purchasing severely undervalued and misunderstood loot. That was Ares' main hope right now, that someone would be in possession of a rare treasure they didn't fully grasp or understand, much like the Extinction Converter back aboard the Federation.

Ares walked up to the second floor and found a merchant stumbling around while trying to hold onto something... What one earth this clown was doing was unknowable but he did manage to eventually wrestle the thing in his hand to the ground and slam it down onto his mat to line it up with his other goods, like the culmination of am exaggerated mime show. Ares' eyes immediately darted to the troublesome object that gave the merchant so much trouble and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He'd never seen a... Resource? Like this. Was it even really a 'resource'? It looked more like a living creature... A feisty living creature at that. Thankfully Dominus was here to save the day and explain this bizarre existence to Ares... Although, first, he had a recommendation.

Buy it. 

Two simple words and that was all Ares needed to be convinced the thing he was looking at was worth its weight in gold. There was a sense of urgency in Dominus' voice so evidently this was a precious item worth picking up that had no business being sold in a poxy place like this lower domain black market. If Dominus was impressed by it then it appearing in Sheryashka must have been quite a shock to his system. This was his home domain but he knew well enough that objectively it was a dump compared to the higher domains. Dominus was so surprised he even almost forgot to explain the nature of the resource but Ares pressed him for an explanation as he walked over and sat down in front of the merchants mat and looked over all the goods. Ares scanned the other items for sale, even though he wasn't interested, to give Dominus time to talk in his head.

That thing, jumping around and throwing its limbs everywhere, is called a 'can-do bamboo'. Ares listened to Dominus with rapt attention as a small stickman-esque bamboo hopped to and fro on the mat, taking a stance like that of a boxer throwing his fists during practice for an upcoming tournament. It looked ready to take on the whole world and come out on top victorious after a bloody and gruelling battle. The little fella was energetic and quite spry so it wasn't surprising the merchant had trouble holding onto it earlier. The bamboo must have been jumping around in the merchant's palm and smacking it with its determined strikes. Contrary to expectations, though, the bamboo was small but notably mighty as its punches looked strong enough to kill an early mental accumulation cultivator in a single blow. Was that impressive? To Ares, no. For a random plant? Hell yes! How sad would it be for a prodigious cultivator, a cultivation tyro, to be murdered in the spring of his youth, on the up and up, while out on a stroll by a shadow boxing piece of fucking bamboo? If this was the kind of treasure that existed outside the Primordial Blade barrier then Ares almost didn't wanna leave the safety of these lower domains... The grass was, in this case, NOT GREENER. Ares was curious about this bamboo, though, because he could only really envision it doing one thing and one thing only, tempering a person's body. How? Well... The method probably packed quite the punch... That aside, for some strange reason, this bamboo critter was silver in colour and not the typical green you'd expect from anything bamboo related... Thankfully everything was cleared up by Dominus who understood everything there was to know about this resource.

The can-do bamboo comes in three rarities: green, silver, and gold. I'll get back to that later but even a green can-do bamboo is worth a fortune. In the outside world you wouldn't even have a billionth of the stardust you'd need to buy one of these for a fair price so if you can buy this silver one here today you'll be laughing all the way to the bank. As for what they do... As you've probably already guessed, they punch you. Hard. That's it, you let them punch you to their heart's content. Until they tucker out of energy, you let them punch you across your entire body like a masochistic massage. They pound your muscles and bones, transferring all their lifeforce with every hit and powering you up immensely. Green can-do bamboo temper your body and your meridians but silver ones can do that better plus a whole lot more and is exactly, rather conveniently, what you're searching for. Not only can they, as an aside, punch and temper your soul, which is extremely rare in and of itself as soul tempering is hard to come by, but they can also reconstruct your body. Their punches target the core of each individual body part they strike and blows it up. From there they whack away at the stump of your injury and mould a new piece of flesh with their lifeforce.

It might sound ridiculous but these bamboo have extraordinarily potent and vigorous life sources so even stealing an ounce would do you immeasurable good. Plus the silver ones are good at removing impurities. They'll automatically dig out anything in the body that's harmful or useless after they're permitted to start striking you relentlessly. If you let that silver can-do bamboo blow up Sandy's body piece by piece it will drive out the crappy fine grind on its own as it will refuse to tolerate its life source sharing the same body as such a pathetic resource. Even if the silver bamboo pushes out other body tempering resources Sandy's swallowed I guarantee it will be worth it. They say a silver can-do bamboo is equivalent to tempering your body in perfect conditions for fifty thousand years straight with powerful resources. I would honestly recommend you use this thing yourself, because Garmr's strength would skyrocket to the moon with this, but I know you won't listen to me anyway. At least it won't be wasted on Sandy, I guess. If she uses this, and you give her a good fine grind immediately after on top of it, she might actually have enough physical strength to punch her way through one of your Perish Wheels; it's that significant of an upgrade especially for someone like her.

Ares raised his eyebrows because, up until now, he'd never come across anyone or anything stupid enough to willingly block a Perish Wheel with their body. If what Dominus was saying was even partially accurate then Sandy would become a real menace by the time he was done here in Xasca. Quite frankly, that was perfect! She was going to be an elder in his sect, obviously, so making her more powerful was great news. You're right, I am giving this to Sandy. It's not that I don't care about improving Garmr, I just think he's already overkill for basically everything in Sheryashka as is. Plus I can always search high and low for another silver can-do bamboo right? Hell I might even find a gold one. Ares shrugged. As a fundamental champion he believed he was fated to find basically every resource under the sun he ever wanted and then some. That was just how it went for people with a fate such as his and he knew it. If nothing else, his status as a fundamental champion would allow him to be a bit forceful in his acquisition of it if need be. He really wasn't concerned about getting another down the line.

These things don't grow on trees! Dominus sighed. Also, don't underestimate the golden can-do bamboo; even I wouldn't play around with one carelessly!

They're that strong?

I can't even begin to explain it. Stronger than Garmr. Might incarnate.

It's hard to imagine something so tiny packing such boundless might if I'm being honest...

Well then you'll be happy to know golden can-do bamboo are utterly ginormous for some inexplicable reason. The green and silver ones are tiny but a golden one can be anywhere between two and three hundred feet tall. A guy called Armageddon, a real powerhouse, once tempered his body with one of those golden bastards and even he was nearly knocked out cold by the end of it. A single light punch of theirs is said to pack the force of a hundred million asteroids. It's to the point that a golden can-do isn't even classified as a resource anymore but rather a catastrophic monster that requires the effort of a cultivator collective to put down.

Oh? And where could I find such an intriguing monster?

In your dreams! Thinking there would be such a monster down in the lower domains... Honestly, have you banged your head somewhere recently? It's incredible enough there's a silver can-do here and I dare not even question how this happened. If a golden bamboo showed up it would obliterate every single planet down here and become an undisputable king for the ages. If you want to look for one when you're at least multiple thousands times stronger than you are currently, maybe then you can dare ask to meet one! All I'll say is that there's supposedly a can-do bamboo paradise tucked away somewhere with an entire race of the buggers led by their golden king. Finding a golden can-do in the wild is rare but if you want to guarantee locating one then finding their paradise will net you a meeting with it... Although whether you survive or not is another matter. A single silver can-do can destroy your body hundreds of times over with its lifeforce, imagine stumbling across thousands all in one place! Forget the gold one, you likely won't even get past the endless swarm of green can-do! I shudder to imagine a multiple hundred thousand strong army of can-do... I mean, it would be one hell of a way to temper your body, I'll give you that... But I mean that just sounds like a death wish for most people. Granted if I had my real body my revenant regeneration might actually allow me to live through such an ordeal... Who knows, with Garmr you might be able to as well one day. Not now though, your regeneration isn't up to snuff right now. Hell even that weirdo 'tool' has better regeneration than you currently and that's just embarrassing if I'm being honest. Whatever, stop worrying about the future and just pick up that rowdy little plant before it wastes its lifeforce on the merchant. He might not know it but every time he grips the bamboo in his palm he's absorbing some of its lifeforce as it fights back. God only knows how much he's wasted by not storing the bamboo properly all this time. It shouldn't matter much but the sooner you get it away from that ignorant idiot the better. Plus there's no way he knows the true value of it so you should get it for a steal depending on how fed up he is of having to deal with the bamboozling can-do attitude of that troublesome plant... Tsk, I swear you were born under a lucky star. Resources and rare treasures just fall into your damn lap the second you want them...

Ares ignored Dominus' jealousy and pretended to be uninterested in the seller's wares on the off-chance his actions could result in a lower price. After half-heartedly scanning for a while longer Ares pointed at the can-do bamboo and asked, "How much for the zealous bundle of sticks?" Ares was feigning interest in the product as something niche and fun to purchase out of fleeting interest despite knowing its true potential but, alas, the seller was a little too wise to be fooled by such an act. Plus it seemed like the merchant had a price in mind from the start and wasn't willing to back down.

"150 high grade. I don't know what this obnoxious little bastard thing is but even I can tell it has some kind of interesting use. Nobody I had appraise this rotten little punch-a-holic knew what it was so I'm aware of its rarity, just not whatever the hell it does. If it weren't for the fact that carrying it around has gotten on my nerves as of late I might not have even bothered selling it. I'll tell you what, though, if you can tell me what this thing is and does I'll sell it to you for one hundred high grade instead. Not a bad deal, no? You look new to the black market so I'll kindly inform you that a lot of us merchants really value information. If you're going to haggle a price it would be for the best if you have some worthwhile knowledge tucked in your sleeve to offer us. My merchant senses are tingling and if I can know what this thing is and does, if I ever find another, I can make so much more money off it than the fifty extra high grade I'll lose to you in this exchange. I can't justify extreme prices with this silver problem child as is, because nobody understands it, but that's where you come in. Play pretend all you want but I know a glint in customer's eyes when I see one. I used to be an upright businessman who sold ancient antiques and valuables to high class clientele on the regular. If it weren't for that rotten traitor Cash destroying my business on the Federation I would still be raking in the stardust and living the high life. I know who you are, Ares. I've heard that you gave that asshole a good face-slapping and hurt his reputation by defying him in front of an auction house. HMTG is too big for its boots and deserved the whole Firestarter plot, in my humble opinion. They invited me to join them, as I have bad blood with Cash too, but I'm not much of a fighter so I skipped out and, given how things turned out, lucked out. Anyway, I'm getting distracted. My point is I've been in the business circle for a while now and you can consider this offer a very good deal. You can't fool me, you don't have the years of experience that I do, that would be needed to pull off such a stunt, and that's fine. I couldn't beat you in a fight because you have more experience than me as a cultivator and I'm not complaining. That's just how this works so let's not beat around the bush and try to be sly with one another. There aren't many people I would offer this deal to. I trust in your reputation, and your actions, so if you give me information about this bamboo thing then I'll take your word for it, and assume its credible, and you'll get to save fifty high grades."

150 high grades? 100 high grades? Ares felt a bit guilty because there probably wasn't enough high grades in all of Sheryashka to pay the correct price for a silver can-do bamboo if what Dominus had said was accurate. The four matriarchs could collectively pit all their stardust into buying this thing in an auction and wouldn't even come close to owning it in the outside world due to how poor they were in comparison. For starters, high grades were the wrong currency. There were other types of stardust and high grades just weren't going to cut it for a resource like this. An auction house might even throw a potential buyer out if they had the nerve to try and dump high grades on them for this type of item. They were an auction house, not an currency exchange booth! Point being, Ares was more than happy to pay 100 or 150 high grade! Who cared?! "Ok. So I pay you 150 high grade, you give me the resource, I tell you what it is, and you give me the fifty high grade change back?" Ares was being cautious as this order of business was extremely important. If he gave the information away first this guy might try and make a run for it with the treasure! Ares ought to be able to snatch it up before him if he tried but risking it was pointless. Ares would much rather lose fifty high grade than the can-do bamboo so handing over the full amount first, and getting the bamboo in his hands before he dropped the truth bomb, was for the best.

"Alright... Hey what the hell!?" The merchant was about to stretch out his hand and wait for the 150 high grade payment but he noticed the can-do bamboo start floating and was immediately wary! He didn't know how Ares was doing this but he didn't care! No hands on the merch before paying for it! The merchant was going to complain but Ares quickly shoved the 150 high grade onto his mat, stood up, and walked away silently alongside the floating bamboo after paying full price for it. Ares didn't speak another word and he seemingly wasn't interested in the discount anymore; hell he didn't even go to the third floor of the building to check what the the other merchant was selling upstairs. It looked like he was in a rush to leave. Ares simply followed the floating bamboo down the stairs and didn't speak another word to anyone, keeping his head low and his expression unreadable.

From the merchant's perspective, this all looked rather strange. From Ares' perspective, though, things were a little different... This son of a bitch... Ares was currently walking alongside an entity that only he could currently see. The stepper was here and glancing down at Ares with the bamboo clutched in its hand as he strolled alongside his 'good old friend'. This damnable creature is getting on my nerves! Ares was pretty pissed because this entire situation was well calculated by the stepper who was more conniving than Ares initially gave it credit for. Ares had been played like a fiddle here and there was nothing he could do about it. Ares still needed info on the scavengers so fighting the stepper right now, and destroying the area while making everyone flee, wasn't an option. He would ruin the main reason he came to the black market so forcefully snatching the bamboo away from the stepper was out of the question. Back by the merchant Ares was forced to pay for the bamboo on behalf of the stepper stealing it because what else could he have done? Tell the merchant there was a prehistoric stepper psychopath stealing his resources from under his nose!? As if the merchant would believe such a shoddy excuse...

If Ares didn't pay up on the spot for the bamboo floating away then a fight would kick off then and there with the merchant's guards and, again, everything would be ruined as everyone else would flee. Ares couldn't fight the stepper yet nor could he pin the blame correctly on its actions so he was basically forced to buy the resource for the stepper and give it to him to keep. The insufferable maniac was grinning at Ares and doing full 360 degree spins with its two eyes in mocking fashion. It had stalked Ares ever since he entered the market and took action as soon as it saw him conversing for a long period of time with the merchant and deliberating over an item for the first time. It roughly understood Ares was interested in purchasing this thing, whatever it was, so it came along and took it while being fully aware of the awkward situation it was putting Ares in. To add insult to injury it was now pacing alongside Ares through the building with him like they were cherished friends taking a stroll down memory lane. It wasn't massacring people nor was it trying to creep Ares out, it was just playing with him knowing full well the fight wasn't going to start yet no matter how it prodded at him. This thing was smart and that made Ares want to beat the crap out of it here and now. It knew how to piss people off and grind their gears, that was for sure. The real kicker, however, came when Ares walked outside the building. The stepper returned the gesture from their previous meeting and pat Ares on the shoulder before getting down low to the ground, with its countless rickety black bone arms pushing against the floor, and skittering away backwards through the market with its eyes trained on Ares the whole time. It expertly weaved its way through he crowd without touching a hair on any of their heads, even climbing up walls like a massive spider to avoid large groups, before disappearing around a corner with an evil snicker that left a haunting echo. It wasn't entirely gone yet, though, as it stuck a hand out and waggled the floating bamboo in the air to taunt Ares one final time before finally leaving.

The stepper was going to keep stalking Ares until he was done with his black market exploration and knowing that made Ares want to blow up this entire damn place because he'd never been treated in such a fashion and despised being manipulated like this. This thing had seriously earned itself an all-expenses paid trip straight to hell. At least, for what it was worth, the bamboo resource was actually safe for now. Sure using it would annoy Ares to the point of insanity but the stepper wanted to mess with Ares even more that that. It believed it could beat Ares so it wanted to leave him half dead on the floor, picking away at his limbs and torturing Ares while it used his treasure in front of him when he couldn't resist or retaliate. Like tying a person to an electric chair and forcibly making love to their kidnapped wife before their very eyes. Seriously, this stepper was a real piece of work... But at least that meant it wouldn't consume the resource just yet so Ares could take it back off the monster's corpse later without concerning himself about losing it. If Ares paid for the treasure only to lose it immediately after he would need to hurl at least ten Armillarias at this stepper to relieve even a fraction of his rage. Still, if Ares felt like the stepper was actually going to use the bamboo at any point he would give up on the scavenger information as this treasure was worth fighting for. Based on the actions of the stepper, rubbing the bamboo in Ares' face and wriggling it about earlier, though, that wasn't the case so Ares took a deep breath and started walking towards the next building. Ares didn't bother with the third floor of the previous building because he used his divine sense to check it out and it was just some wretched idiot selling crappy broken artifacts and scamming people to stupid to notice.

Ares let his anger silently bubble to a boiling point as he waded through the crowd with chalk in hand. As soon as he got information about the scavengers he was going to make this cocky maniac stepper pay. Ares hadn't seen the full extent of the stepper's plans as of yet, and there was certainly going to be more garbage to put up with, but it had already ruffled Ares' feathers to the point of no return. Ares didn't' show it but he was in a terrible mood and planning on taking out all his grievances one by one. He slashed a nearby stall with his chalk and wove a familiar pattern into it without even sparing it a single glance as he kept walking. His hands were lightning fast as they danced across the stalls and street, painting an intricate web of lines that nobody understood as they'd need a proper perspective to truly get his intentions. Ares wasn't playing around anymore and this stepper was going to rue the day it picked this fight. Beating it wasn't enough anymore, Ares wanted to humiliate it tenfold. He wanted revenge, and he was going to get it.