Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1477: Chapter 204: [Origin No. 9]

In the Octagonal Pavilion of the Fire Cloud Cave, a young man with long hair reaching the floor and Da Zhe were sitting facing each other—or rather, Da Zhe was currently wide-eyed with surprise.

There was no tearful reunion between fellow disciples—whether it was this young man or Da Zhe, it was their first time meeting, and the only connection between them was—they were both Black Souls.

To be precise, this young man with hair down to the floor couldn’t even remember how old of a Black Soul he was—he was Fuxi, numbered as [The Ninth of Origin] within the shop’s Black Soul system.

“…Why is your number [The Ninth of Origin], an extra prefix than other Black Soul numbers? Handsome Guy?”

Da Zhe was quite silent at this moment—in fact, he had a number himself, whether it was him or Tai Yinzi, or even Zhao Le and Chen Mingming, they all had numbers.

It’s just that Da Zhe always felt this numbering was quite casual… capricious—according to the maid’s words, he could just pick any number between 1-99 if it wasn’t used already, then just take it… or something like that.

So Da Zhe really felt this number was quite useless—not arranged by sequence, nor by performance ranking, but seemingly connected to one’s power, though not much… so he could choose between 1-99.

Later, Da Zhe casually picked the number 88.

In fact, there was no special meaning, simply being a person from China, he felt 88 was a lucky number—so Da Zhe could also be called Black Soul Number 88.

By the way, Tai Yinzi’s number is 1001… assigned by the maid.

“Eh, you don’t know?”

Numbered [The Ninth of Origin], Fuxi blinked and said, “Anyone who can develop the Dark Soul Body to the limit of humanization will automatically advance to the [Origin] level… I was the ninth to do so, so naturally, I am [The Ninth of Origin]. As for those below the [Origin] level, numbering is arbitrary. Judging by the richness of your Heteromorphic Origin, it’s only a matter of time… Aren’t you curious?”

—Who should I ask…

Da Zhe shook his head, suddenly feeling a bit curious, unable to resist asking, “By the way, what is Ms. You Ye’s number?”

As the maid in charge of overseeing the Black Soul envoys… although there was no such official position in the shop, it was evident that she was fulfilling this role—the true extent of the maid’s power was still unclear to Da Zhe, but presumably, she should also be of the [Origin] level, right?

“Ms. You Ye?” Unexpectedly, Fuxi, numbered [The Ninth of Origin], was puzzled and said, “Who is this? Looks like another Black Soul… Oh, excuse me, I haven’t returned for a long time, I have no concept of the newly promoted Black Souls.”

“Huh?” Da Zhe was taken aback.

“Huh?” At this time, Fuxi, numbered [The Ninth of Origin], was also stunned.

“Wait!” Da Zhe rubbed his forehead and cautiously asked, “Senior, if I may ask, how long has it been since you last went back?”

Fuxi thought for a moment and said, “That’s difficult to say because there’s no concept of time in this dimensional gap—or rather, the time here is chaotic. We can randomly enter different times in various sub-worlds through here. So if you ask how long I haven’t gone back, I can only tell you it’s been quite some time. To be more specific, since the sub-world’s super strong assault on the shop ended, I haven’t returned—well, specifically, it should be since the New Era of the dimensional gap.”

Because Da Zhe had no concept of this either, he tentatively considered it to be a very long time ago—even happening before the maid started working at the shop, so he thought and said, “In terms of time, Ms. You Ye became a maid over three hundred years ago in my original world’s timeline, primarily responsible for taking care of the owner’s daily life and managing the Black Soul envoys.”

“Huh?” Unexpectedly, Fuxi, numbered [The Ninth of Origin], furrowed his brows again, “Now, the master’s maid is called You Ye? Your sub-world, over three hundred years ago? Then where did Xuan Nu go?”

“Maid? Xuan Nu… who is that?” Da Zhe opened his mouth, and then shuddered, “Come to think of it… Senior, are you sure we aren’t cross-server chatting here?”

Fuxi furrowed his eyebrows, then took out the Bagua Plate he had put back earlier, and began to spin it rapidly—until Da Zhe got sleepy from staring. He finally exhaled slowly, sighed, and said, “Looks like I haven’t gone back for too long.”

“Looks like we really are cross-server chatting…” Da Zhe also sighed.

He shook his head—perhaps because they were both Black Souls, he gradually forgot that the person in front of him was the ancestor possessing the legendary Jiuzhou Xuanyuan Sword from Huaxia.

Fuxi too was in thought, and after a while, he suddenly said, “In my era, the maid who served the master was Xuan Nu, but Xuan Nu wasn’t responsible for managing Black Soul affairs… she didn’t have that qualification either. As for you now… there’s an unknown process that even I cannot estimate. It seems that in the years I haven’t gone back, a lot has happened in the [Holy Ground] indeed…”

“… [Holy Ground]?” Da Zhe was really at wit’s end at this point, “Senior, are you sure we’re really from the same organization… or from the same company?”

Fuxi merely shook his head, seemingly unwilling to say more, “Don’t worry, whether it’s where you work now or where I used to be, in essence, they are the same place… The name doesn’t matter much. I just didn’t expect my original master had been changed long ago already.”

Da Zhe knew Luo Qiu had taken over the shop not long ago, and before Luo Qiu, there was another predecessor… but the club was already named before Luo Qiu took over, yet Fuxi called it [Holy Ground]… Da Zhe was startled; could this mean that even before the previous owner before Luo Qiu, there was an even earlier owner?

“Senior… may I ask, the shop in your era… I mean [Holy Ground], what was the owner’s name?” Da Zhe even held his breath at this moment.

Fuxi shook his head: “I can’t remember.”

“What?” Da Zhe opened his mouth.

Fu Xi seemed rather helpless and said, “I really can’t remember, whether it’s my former master’s name or appearance… It seems that after the owner of the Holy Ground changed, the Holy Ground might have unilaterally erased our impressions. This Bagua Plate was specially created by Lu Banzu for me, and I used it just now to make calculations, finding that the history ahead is tangled and complex, like a stirred lake, unclear to see.”

On this point, Da Zhe completely believed… because he knows that the current master Luo Qiu possesses the ability to freely open or close others’ perceptions — and this ability to manipulate others’ perceptions seems to be gradually extending to the level of freely adding or deleting memories.

Da Zhe suddenly breathed in coldly, realizing that he might have come into contact with something he shouldn’t know casually — based on his past experience in the underworld, in such a situation, there’s always the danger of being silenced… He even, because of Fu Xi’s words, felt that the shop he was working at might be hiding a shocking secret behind it.

“You don’t need to panic,” Fu Xi suddenly said indifferently, “nor do you need to worry, because no matter what you worry about, since you became a Black Soul, your soul has already been placed in the Hall of Souls of the Holy Ground, and your life and death are controlled by the Holy Ground… So, no matter the will of the Holy Ground, even if it directly wipes you out, you yourself have no possibility of resistance.”

Da Zhe naturally understood the underlying meaning but was puzzled by another matter — the Hall of Souls, the place to store the souls of Black Souls… But within the club, shouldn’t the Covenant Cabinet be used to hold the Life Lamp of Black Souls?

The Hall of Souls and the Covenant Cabinet… are they not the same thing?

“Wait, Senior… may I ask, are the souls of Origin-level Black Souls and ordinary Black Souls placed separately?” Da Zhe asked abruptly.

“They are all placed in the Hall of Souls, not separated… why do you ask this?” Fu Xi couldn’t help but curiously ask.

Da Zhe shook his head, face unblushed and heart untroubled, and said: “Nothing, I was just curious… After all, it’s my first time encountering an Origin-level Black Soul.”

At this moment, Fu Xi smiled slightly, seeming quite agreeable to this thought, and continued on the previous topic: “Because the souls of Black Souls are all stored in the Hall of Souls, it ensures their loyalty to the Holy Ground… Conversely, if the Hall of Souls doesn’t exist or is damaged, and the souls inside the Hall escape, then the Black Soul gains freedom — Of course, this situation naturally won’t happen with the Holy Ground, so as Black Souls, just being dutiful is good.”

Da Zhe nodded indicating he understood… but why did this Black Soul, Fu Xi, of The Ninth Originator mention these things — was he hinting something?

However, before figuring out the details of the Black Soul Fu Xi, Da Zhe was not planning to be too reckless, his mind quickly turning, “By the way, Senior, when I came, you told me, was it the master who asked me to urge you to return…? Why did you ask me that?”

Black Soul Fu Xi casually said, “Because I myself am in a state of vacation… In fact, my vacation hasn’t ended yet, but due to some accident, my body consciousness came back to its senses. I thought my vacation still has a long time, so I pretended not to know and continued vacationing — Of course, I think the Holy Ground… Oh, now it’s the shop you called, I think it might be aware, so sooner or later it will summon me back, but it seemed to take a long time — until you appeared, just didn’t expect, nowadays the master of the Holy Ground has already changed.”

This explanation reminded Da Zhe of a news piece he read before: an old soldier who was stationed in the wilderness to perform a secret mission, in order not to be discovered by the enemy, the old soldier even abandoned all communication methods. He waited bitterly for decades, later discovered and brought out, only to find out the war had ended in the second year of his mission…

— I believe you’re a ghost!

Da Zhe glanced at the Bagua Plate that Black Soul Fu Xi unknowingly put away again… If the Origin-level Black Soul is such a formidable character, would the change in the shop’s master be unknown?

— But what if it’s true?

— If Black Soul Fu Xi truly forgot the information of his former master… does it indicate that Black Souls from the same era might have been modified, even unable to know the change in the shop’s master?

“What are you thinking?” Black Soul Fu Xi looked at Da Zhe and asked.

“Oh… nothing.” Da Zhe shook his head, his nimble mind quickly said, “I was just thinking, since Senior now knows, have you any plans on when to return?”

Black Soul Fu Xi nodded, pondering, “Logically speaking, since the master of the Holy Ground has changed, as Black Souls we certainly need to pay respects… but since the master of the Holy Ground has changed and has not summoned me back who has awakened, I think there might be some secrets among them. Moreover, my vacation was already granted, and now it’s not ended yet, temporarily not returning also makes sense. After all, it’s the relationship of old minister and young master… it’s better to wait till the young master grows a bit. I’m afraid he might feel pressured!”

— Are old employees always this daring… Talking so openly, is it truly okay?

Da Zhe merely smiled, didn’t say anything… Although truly unaware of how powerful Origin-level Black Souls are, intuition tells Da Zhe that his boss is not afraid of the opponent at all.

“By the way, Senior.” Da Zhe remembered something, “Could it be that the Throne of the Transcender Organization are all like you, all Origin-level Black Souls?”

“How did you come upon such a thought?” Black Soul Fu Xi curiously asked.

Da Zhe awkwardly said, “Because back home, this often happens, the leaders in the underworld are almost all undercover, only the subordinates obediently fighting…”

“Hahaha, that’s so boring.” Black Soul Fu Xi shook his head and said, “Among the Thrones within the Transcender Organization, at present, I should be the only Black Soul… but whether other Thrones have Black Souls, I don’t know either — the identity of a vacationing Black Soul is only known by the master of the Holy Ground. So, even if there are two Origin-levels, no matter how good their former relations were, as long as one is vacationing, they can’t recognize each other. This is also to ensure the safety of vacationing Black Souls.”

“How so?” Da Zhe frowned.

They just heard Black Soul Fu Xi calmly say, “Resources are limited… if fewer people divide them, naturally the remaining people get more. If I know you are also a Black Soul, and you are weaker than me, I can completely devour you directly and take everything of yours. And this… the Holy Ground permits.”

Da Zhe couldn’t help but his heart skipped a beat!

Between Black Souls… is there a relationship of mutual cannibalism?

Da Zhe couldn’t help clenching his fist subconsciously.