As time passed, more and more aliens entered the market. The goods Song Chi purchased for over two thousand pieces of zero-level floating land origins were quickly sold out.
One ray of zero-order floating land source exchanged for a basic genetic optimization potion, and he sold them at five rays of zero-order floating land source.
There were twenty sets of tungsten spears and tungsten shields from the zero-level floating land origin, but he only sold five sets at the same price.
A set of basic civilian exoskeletons cost 200,000 credit points (20 strands of zero-level floating land source). He sold a hundred strands of zero-level floating land source for it.
Under these prices, which easily increased several times, the funds in Song Chi's hands quickly exceeded 8,000 strands of zero-order floating land origins, resulting in significant profits.
What made him even happier was that among the supplies valued at over 8,000 strands of zero-order floating land origins, there were over a hundred strands of first-order floating land origins. Together with the 32 strands he already had, it was enough for him to further enhance the "Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator" component several times.
And it didn't end there. Transactions in the free stall area continued, allowing him to collect various transaction taxes every minute.
Song Chi estimated that by the end of the fair, the funds in his hands would exceed ten thousand strands of zero-order floating land origins.
Furthermore, he continued to buy materials with significant price differences and sell them on the black market for a small profit.
His only regret was that despite his close attention to the various stalls in the stall area, he still couldn't find any more rare items from the Star Sea.
He wasn't too bothered by this. After all, the current market level was only lv9. Only zero-level Star Sea aliens could enter the market through the released space gate, and the chances of them acquiring rare Star Sea items were slim.
With this in mind, he stopped actively pursuing rare Star Sea objects. When the market level increased in the future, the chances of finding rare items would significantly improve.
A few hours later, half an hour before the market transactions were set to end, Song Chi tentatively set up a stall and placed over two thousand strands of zero-order floating land sources on it.
His efforts quickly drew the attention of many foreign visitors around him. Within minutes, hundreds of aliens had gathered around his stall.
Just as a group of curious alien creatures were wondering what Song Chi intended to trade for these zero-order floating land sources, he displayed a sign in the universal language of the Star Sea, immediately garnering murmurs of interest.
"In exchange for first-order floating land sources, 11 strands of zero-order floating land sources are exchanged for 1 first-order floating land source."
Upon learning that he intended to exchange for first-order floating land sources, most of the aliens gathered around dispersed immediately.
Song Chi wasn't surprised. In fact, seeing dozens of figures who stayed put, a hint of joy flickered in his eyes.
Although the exchange rate between first-order and zero-order floating land sources in the market had always been 1:10, offering 1:11 was a slight loss. However, compared to the 1:14 or even 1:15 ratios in the Principality of Morning Star, it was still acceptable. As long as there was a foreigner willing to trade, he wouldn't incur a loss.
Soon, an unfamiliar alien approached and inquired.
"1:11 is still a bit low. If you can provide 12 strands of zero-order floating land source for 1 first-order floating land source, I can trade you 10 first-order floating land sources."
Hearing this, Song Chi firmly shook his head. If it were 1:12, he wouldn't lose out, but he needed to make some profit from his efforts, right? Was he supposed to work for nothing?
The price of first-order floating land sources on the black market was unstable. While the average transaction ratio was 1:14, who could guarantee it wouldn't be squeezed down to 1:12 when he sold them?
Seeing his refusal, more aliens chose to leave. In the end, fewer than twenty people remained in front of his stall. Nevertheless, Song Chi was satisfied. Nearly twenty aliens were more than enough. Even if none of the transactions succeeded, it wouldn't matter much.
The final outcome exceeded Song Chi's expectations. Twelve out of the eighteen aliens successfully traded with him, with one even completing a transaction for 100 strands at once.
By the time the fair officially ended, Song Chi's funds totaled more than 11,000 strands of zero-order floating land origins, including as many as 302 strands of first-order floating land origins.
Among the various remaining materials, excluding the six deep-water clam beads, Mermaid's Tears, mercury crystals, fine gold, life protozoa, and other resources he needed for the next stage of strengthening, the total value of usable materials exceeded 5,000 strands of zero-order floating land origins.
For these materials, Song Chi planned to keep around two thousand strands of zero-level floating land sources. Given the current number of space gates released in the Heaven's Market, the influx of aliens per market opening was limited. Leaving two thousand strands for purchases was sufficient, as buying too much would likely result in unsold inventory due to the market's size limit.
As for the remaining zero-order floating land sources worth over three thousand strands, he intended to use them all to strengthen the Sky.
Two days after the market transactions, Song Chi visited the black market several times, exchanging all materials valued at over 3,000 strands of zero-level floating land sources for zero-level floating land sources, mercury crystals, fine gold, etc., to enhance the airship's resources, and then returned to the market.
Heaven's Market, free stall area.
The Sky had been summoned long ago and was prepared for two days. Without hesitation, Song Chi initiated a new round of airship strengthening.
Naturally, the first item to be strengthened was the highest quality [Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator] component currently equipped on the Sky. This orange-glory-quality energy shield had performed admirably in the previous battle against the peak Gold-Devouring Vine, further solidifying Song Chi's determination to continue strengthening it.
The current level of the [Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator] was lv10. To continue its enhancement, he needed 20 strands of first-order floating land source, 20 tons of mercury crystals, and an immediate supply of 5,000 nether energy points.
While he had the first-order floating land source and mercury crystals prepared, the simplest obstacle was the nether energy points.
The standard psionic energy engine on the Sky had already been upgraded to lv14, but its attached psionic energy pool capacity was only 5,000 points. Strengthening the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator to lv11 was manageable, but subsequent enhancements to the psionic energy points would prove challenging.
Helpless, Song Chi had to allocate additional resources to directly upgrade the nether energy engine to lv19.
Fortunately, the nether energy engine was only a standard colorless component, and the initial enhancement required only zero-level floating land sources and zero-level life proto-nucleus.
Nether Energy Engine lv19
Quality: Colorless
Consumption: 10/s (psi energy points)
Energy supply: 118/s (psi energy points)
Overload buffering: 20 minutes
Nether Energy Pool: 9000 points (capable of storing 9000 points of Nether Energy)
Upgrade requirement: Component enhancement limit reached; no further enhancement possible.