txolops Chapter 54 Secret City
Chapter 54 Secret City
Five thousand spirit stones is a huge sum of money for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even though he knew that Han Li could exchange spirit stones by selling thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, he still couldn't skimp on the gesture.
As for the crucial Great Teleportation Token, it was temporarily kept by Luo Ming—in this way, neither of them could activate the teleportation array alone, thus completely binding their fates together.
After discussing everything, the two agreed to meet here two years later. At that time, they would decide whether to risk leaving through the teleportation array based on the changes in the situation in Tiannan.
For Han Li, this teleportation was an adventure with an uncertain future, but Luo Ming knew perfectly well that the other end of the teleportation array was a vast ocean rich in demonic beast resources.
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"Until we meet again, Brother Luo!"
"Until we meet again!" The two bowed to each other in farewell.
Luo Ming watched Han Li head towards Huangfeng Valley, then took out a jade slip from his storage bag. This jade slip contained maps of several nearby countries. He planned to first go to a nearby market to buy some pills, and then find a place to cultivate in seclusion and break through.
"Hmm, there seems to be a market town about two days' journey from here. Although it's not as good as Qinghu Market Town, it should be enough to buy some pills."
After a moment's consideration, he decided to go and take a look at that Nanshan Market.
Luo Ming carefully concealed his cultivation level along the way, hiding whenever he sensed a cultivator of the same level passing by. Two days later, he finally arrived at the place marked on the map.
No, this... the market is gone?
What he saw was a scene of ruins destroyed by fire, from which one could vaguely discern that it had once been a market town.
Luo Ming frowned. If there were no market, where would he get pills? Without pills to quickly improve his cultivation, it would take him at least half a year to reach the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
Luo Ming spread his divine sense to the fullest extent and found that the place had indeed been completely looted. Just as he was thinking about where to go, he suddenly sensed two figures approaching from a distance.
One was a girl who looked to be only a teenager, with a cultivation level of four in Qi Refining, while the other was a middle-aged cultivator with a sallow complexion, with a cultivation level of ten.
"Father, will we be discovered by the demonic cultivators?" The girl's bright eyes kept scanning her surroundings nervously.
"Don't worry, those people have already looted this place and will never come back. Let's hurry up and act before the other rogue cultivators arrive. Maybe we can find some good stuff."
After they finished speaking, the two looked around warily, then summoned their magical artifacts and began to dig. Although the valuables had been taken away after the place was looted by the demonic cultivators, there were always some things left behind that they couldn't take with them, such as the foundations of some formations. If they could find them, they could exchange them for a lot of spirit stones for rogue cultivators like them.
Just as the two were digging with great enthusiasm, a voice suddenly came from somewhere.
"You're digging in the wrong spot. You should dig three feet to the right," Luo Ming reminded them as he saw the two of them digging in the wrong direction.
"Who?" The two were startled. They didn't know when a young cultivator in a black robe was standing a few feet away to their left.
The experienced, sallow-faced cultivator, seeing that even with his perfected Qi Refining cultivation, he couldn't discern the other person's realm, realized this person was at least a Foundation Establishment stage senior. He quickly cupped his hands in greeting and asked, "May I ask what instructions this senior may have?"
At the same time, he secretly groaned. He had consulted a fortune teller before leaving home today, and it was supposed to be very auspicious! How could he be so unlucky as to run into a Foundation Establishment cultivator? He hoped that this person wouldn't make things too difficult for them.
For low-level cultivators, the worst thing about going out is encountering high-level cultivators. If the other party is in a bad mood, they might just kill you and there's no one to complain to. Moreover, with the invasion of the demonic path, the entire cultivation world of Yue Kingdom is in chaos, with calamities breaking out everywhere. These rogue cultivators are even more miserable, otherwise they wouldn't have risked coming here to scavenge.
"Don't be nervous. I have a few questions for you. If you answer them to my satisfaction, this spirit stone is yours." Luo Ming calmly took out a mid-grade spirit stone from his storage bag.
The two men's eyes lit up when they saw the mid-grade spirit stone, and they nodded hurriedly. At this moment, the allure of the spirit stone had overcome their fear of the high-level cultivators.
A quarter of an hour later, Luo Mingzai rode his magical artifact and flew westward.
He had just learned about the situation in the vicinity from the two people. Although Nanshan Market was destroyed, most of the cultivators had escaped and rebuilt it in a secluded valley, now called Nangu Market.
Half a day later, Luo Ming arrived at a valley shrouded in mist. He probed into it with his divine sense and unknowingly lost his way. Looking into the Qianyang Fire Eye, he could vaguely see a spiritual energy shield inside, with many buildings below.
"This formation is of a high grade! It even has a mind-controlling effect," Luo Ming nodded.
After testing the formation, it was indeed as the two men had described, confirming that this was the place. So, following the secret code provided by the two men, he spoke a few words into the transmission talisman and entered the formation.
He waited quietly for a while, during which he sensed a hidden divine sense sweeping over him. Realizing that he was not a demonic cultivator, the divine sense opened a passageway just wide enough for one person to pass through.
That's quite cautious!
Luo Ming could understand that in such a chaotic situation, the market was indeed an easy target. However, cultivators also needed to trade frequently to obtain the resources they needed, so the market would continue to operate even at great risk, only in a more secretive manner.
He paid three spirit stones and received a token that allowed him to stay in the market for a month. If he stayed longer than a month, he would have to pay more spirit stones, or he would be kicked out of the market.
"The cost to enter the market has actually increased to three spirit stones. No wonder those two rogue cultivators were so short of spirit stones that they risked everything to run out," Luo Ming sighed.
He remembered that Qinghu Market was twice the size of this place, and entering it only required paying one spirit stone.
Upon entering, Luo Ming went directly to Tianzhu Tower in the northwest corner of the market. Unlike the bustling scenes in other places, this tower was deserted and didn't seem to have anything for sale at all.
He had his reasons for coming here. After the invasion of the demonic path, the prices of many pills skyrocketed, and often they were unavailable even with spirit stones. As a result, some high-level pills were strictly controlled by various forces. In some shops outside, you could only buy pills for Qi Refining stage cultivators, and even then, the quantity was limited.
However, cultivators have a strong need for elixirs, which leads to the emergence of secret underground transactions, known as the black market, where high-level elixirs and magical artifacts are offered through auctions.
This place is the black market trading location of Nangu Market, according to information provided by the older monk.
"May I ask what brings you here, fellow Daoist?"
A middle-aged cultivator who appeared to be a manager inside Tianzhu Tower asked warily when he saw Luo Ming enter.
Luo Ming calmly transmitted his voice to the other party. Upon hearing this, the middle-aged cultivator took out a jet-black token from his storage bag and handed it to Luo Ming, saying, "The next auction is in two days. This is the token. Fellow Daoist, you only need to come here before Chenshi (7-9 AM) two days from now."
Am I too early?
He could wait two days, so he took the token and turned to leave. Since the auction was still two days away, he decided to find an inn to rest.
Half an hour later, Luo Ming sat cross-legged in a rented cave dwelling and took out Lü Tianmeng's storage bag. He hadn't had a chance to organize it before.
"Let me see what good stuff you, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, have."