Pretty much every region had its own currency, but it caused no issues with trade between them. That’s because they are so far from each other that any trade made was always done with Godly Crystals. Currencies were never used as they weren’t worth the hassle.

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On the city’s outskirts, Roan entered a mildly crowded street, stopping in front of a restaurant a few minutes later. Inside, he went to the back, where a waiter seemed to be cleaning the utensils. The guy looked at Roan, and before he could speak, Roan said a few words.

The waiter’s expression changed, and he walked into another room, which Roan followed. On the back of said room, there was a hidden passage. The waiter opened it, and Roan walked inside and concealed his face.

Killing and fighting in the Besgol Region were prohibited. That much, everyone knows. Besgol needed every single expert who lived inside to always be ready for emergencies and couldn’t afford to lose anyone. However, it doesn’t mean illegal stuff doesn’t happen in the shadows.

The commerce of Godly Crystals was strict, and everything had to usually be reported to the Official Besgol Treasure Hall. When the twins got their Godly Crystals, it was obviously recorded down. Those disciples who tried to trade the crystals with the twins were also ready to report if the trades had gone through.

Why was everything reported? Taxes!

The Besgol Region couldn’t possibly work, keep its many arrays, services, and such working without the Godly Crystals, right? That said, of all crystals acquired, 30% were destined for the maintenance and improvement of the Besgol Region’s defenses.

No one had the right to complain. That’s because this was a rule that only existed inside the regions. If you didn’t like it, the answer was simple. You just had to live outside. No one would stop you. As long as you reported to the Guild that you were leaving, you would be allowed to do so, and that would be the end of the story.

Now, would you be able to survive outside the Sacred Relic’s protection? That was an option almost no one was willing to try. Even the Zone Gods, when they enter the Godly Creatures’ Territories, only stay out for a few weeks at most before returning. The world outside was truly dangerous.

The twins wouldn’t be able to avoid that contribution either. Flantoihy said that everything the twins acquire during the cleaning mission would be theirs, but he didn’t include the taxes in his words. That was considered a given.

So, why was Roan in this shady place? To avoid the taxes? No, not really. Roan actually thought the system worked well and considered the 30% to be pretty lenient, given the circumstances in the Besgol Region. He had no intention of not paying the taxes once he returned from missions outside.

Don’t get it wrong, though. Roan’s objective here was definitely the Godly Crystals for cultivation. It’s just that he intended to get the Godly Crystals of those who traded in the black market and avoided the system because of those 30%.

Since these crystals wouldn’t get where they should have in the first place, he had no qualms about taking them for himself. All the business in this black market was conducted with unreported Godly Crystals.

In the underground space, one could find quite a few experts walking back and forth. There were actually a few small streets with many stalls on both sides. You could also find a few shop buildings that operated in that location. The environment, obviously, was silent and gloomy. Everyone who went there wanted to leave as fast as possible.

’You always find these kinds of places, don’t you?’ Rean’s voice suddenly echoed in Roan’s mind.

Roan continued to walk. ’As long as greed exists, so do these places.’

Rean was on his way to the Arrays Guild. ’What do you expect to get there?’

’Godly Crystals,’ Roan answered.

’Shouldn’t you leave the business side of things up to me?’ Rean asked again.

However, Roan shook his head. ’Who said I’m conducting business?’

Then, Roan shared a memory with Rean.

’Hahaha!’ and Rean couldn’t help but laugh. ’You sure know how to make the most of everything.’ After that, Rean focused back on his own task.

Roan walked through the various streets of that market, stopping by a few stalls, entering some of the buildings, and so on. However, even after over an hour of walking, Roan hasn’t bought a single thing. At the same time, some interesting events began to happen.

Roan looked behind and saw two experts arguing in front of a stall. Far on the back, two other cultivators had bumped into each other, and a moment later, one of them came back running as another argument took place. These and a few more of these events happened in the past hour.

’This should be enough. Any more than this and someone might notice,’ Roan thought to himself. From there, he finally stopped at a stall that sold herbs. He brought out three Godly Spawn Crystals and collected the herbs from the man. Neither side asked anything about the other.

Finally, Roan walked out of the black market, appearing on another street, although still in the outskirts of the city. No one noticed, but under Roan’s clothes, there were several spatial rings. A total of twelve of those.

Were these Spatial Rings his? Of course! He stole them, so they are definitely his now!

The memory Roan shared with Rean earlier was actually a handful of Spatial Rings. However, those Spatial Rings were not the same ones as the Spatial Rings he was carrying now. Those rings from the memory sharing were free spatial rings, of the worst quality, the same ones the sect provides to its disciples.

In the dark streets, through the crowd, Roan easily found his prey. It was very unlikely anyone there had any good intentions, and Roan had very specific targets: ascenders!

Anyone who ascended was used to their old power as Celestial Realm Experts in the Great Void. The very notion that someone could try to pickpocket from them simply didn’t exist in their minds anymore. Well, it wasn’t like they hadn’t thought about it. They just don’t have that kind of mindset anymore.

Roan targeted ascenders in the Anchor God Realm Middle and Late Stage. He didn’t try to pick from anyone above that level, as they would have lived in the Celestial Plane for quite a while already. Fortunately, everything worked out. Twelve Spatial Rings were his bounty, which he swapped for the free, empty ones without his targets noticing. He definitely didn’t feel the least bit of remorse.

However, he wasn’t an idiot. He glanced back in the direction of the Black Market again, thinking to himself. ’I’d better not do it again for a while.’

Then, as he perused through the contents of the Spatial Rings, something caught his eye. ’What is this?’