The Yongjiang Black Market

At this moment, Li Guanqi had no idea that Ran Qingshuang, with whom he had clashed before, was right here in Yongjiang Valley. Even among the myriad clans filling the valley, the Ran family was a major power. Inside her boudoir, Ran Qingshuang sat in a daze after hearing the tale of Li Guanqi. To her mind, a Mystic Immortal cultivator taking on an entire immortal cultivation sect was pure fantasy. Not to mention that Li Guanqi's cultivation realm had been extremely low back then! Calculating from the time the Tianhua Sword Sect's secret realm had opened, Li Guanqi, with just one man and one sword, had actually besieged and hunted down Tianhua Sword Sect for over nine whole months! By his own strength, he had slaughtered until a sect master who was himself a True Immortal had to bow his head and admit his fault. Such humiliation had practically cast the honor of Chen Tianhua and the Tianhua Sword Sect to the dirt and trampled it into dust! "What an incredible guy..." Even as the sun sank in the west, Ran Qingshuang's mind remained filled with thoughts of Li Guanqi. *Knock, knock, knock!* The sound of knocking broke her train of thought, followed by Ran Shiming's mellow voice from outside. "Qingshuang, do you want to come with Father to Wanxiang Tower to take a look at that ore?" *Creak.* Ran Qingshuang opened the door, looked at him, and nodded. "Alright, let's go together." Ran Shiming looked at her with gentle warmth. Having only one daughter, he naturally doted on her in every possible way. Although the clan had plenty of male heirs, not a single one was fit for the grand stage; only his daughter brought honor to their name. Barely thirty years of age, she had already broken through to the third tier of the Heavenly Immortal realm. Such talent had silenced many detractors. Yet there were always clan members scheming to marry Ran Qingshuang off to an outsider, which would give them an excuse to reconsider who should inherit the position of clan head. However, he had long made up his mind. He looked down on every single boy in the clan. As soon as Ran Qingshuang broke through to the True Immortal realm, he would pass the leadership to her! Why shouldn't a woman be the clan head? The daughter of him, Ran Shiming, was a peerless prodigy as well! "Father? What are you smiling at me for?" "Hahaha, it's nothing. I just haven't seen you in a few years, so I wanted to see how much you've changed. Looking closely, I realized my daughter has grown even more dashing!" Ran Qingshuang pursed her lips in a smile, warmth filling her heart. Father and daughter boarded an ornate carriage drawn by flying cloud steeds and flew toward Yongjiang City. Meanwhile, the appraiser had long been waiting outside the gates. *** As night fell, Li Guanqi woke from his cultivation and exhaled a breath of turbid qi. Over the past year, his breakthrough speed had been astonishingly fast, heavily aided by all manner of heavenly treasures and medicinal pills. This made him realize why cultivators of the Immortal Realm were so obsessed with pills, and why the status of an alchemist was held in such high esteem. Even those with mediocre cultivation talent could forcefully pile up their cultivation realms simply by ingesting Xuanyuan Pills. At the same time, however, the quality of Xuanyuan Pills was uneven and their price exorbitant. Relying entirely on swallowing pills required an astronomical sum of resources. Fortunately, Li Guanqi had money now—plenty of it. In fact, the remaining pieces of third-grade immortal ore he possessed were worth even more than all the immortal crystals he had received today. Those few chunks of immortal ore were enormous and extraordinarily rare third-grade ores. Li Guanqi rose and changed into a black robe, while Pengluo was still sleeping soundly. With the power of Li Guanqi's Devouring Void Sacred Flame helping soothe the turbulent energies within its body, the little fellow was naturally completely at ease. Left with no choice, Li Guanqi simply set it upon his shoulder. He donned his black robe to cover it completely, then released an aura to conceal his own presence. Taking out the jade slip map, Li Guanqi glanced over it briefly and found that Anting Ferry was a gathering place for cloud boat docks. This was very similar to certain customs in the Spirit Realm—traffic was enormous, making it the perfect location for black-market business. However... such places were also melting pots where dragons and fish mingled. Li Guanqi still remembered that back when he frequented boat dock hubs in the Spirit Realm, he would often run into all sorts of disreputable, shady characters from the jianghu. With a flicker of his figure, he vanished into the night. *** Anting Ferry lay a hundred li downriver from Yongjiang City. This was where the Yongjiang branched off, its waters churning with violent fury. Yet a level plateau stretched for tens of li across—a flat expanse carved out by cleaving off a towering mountain. Spatial fluctuations rippled with immense intensity. The stone plaza platforms were built along the river, featuring over thirty teleportation array daises alone. Enormous cloud boats spanning a full hundred zhang could be seen everywhere, all engaged in merchant trade. The Yongjiang was rich in a spiritual resource known as Yong silver carp spirit fish, a signature dish in many taverns and restaurants across Quping Prefecture; hence, many of the cargo vessels plying these waters transported spirit fish. Li Guanqi soon stepped onto the ferry wharf. The surrounding plaza teemed with bustling crowds, and boat after boat was unloading cargo. Many cultivators cast wary glances around them, openly releasing their auras to intimidate onlookers. Clashes were frequent as well; Li Guanqi had only just arrived when he noticed two factions locked in a tense standoff with swords drawn. Having no desire to watch, Li Guanqi moved briskly through the crowd and soon reached the bustling market streets. *** Meanwhile, Ran Shiming arrived at Wanxiang Tower with Ran Qingshuang, where the tower master personally received the two of them. Yet upon learning the purpose of Ran Shiming's visit, the master of Wanxiang Tower only smiled politely without giving away much. Having built an establishment like Linlang Emporium to its current heights, he naturally would not divulge certain information to Ran Shiming. As for whether the Ran family's appraiser would realize that the seller had been Li Congxin, that was none of his concern. When Ran Qingshuang saw the arm-sized ore, her eyes went wide. "Such a huge piece!" "Hehe, when the time comes, these immortal ores will be cut into suitable sizes." Ran Shiming nodded slightly and remarked in a low voice, "Wanxiang Tower has certainly stirred up quite a buzz this time!" The richly dressed man smiled. "After all, ores this rare—and all third-grade immortal ores at that—naturally warrant drumming up excitement." Ran Shiming cursed silently under his breath, but kept an impassive expression as he inquired, "I heard weapon refiners from Quping Prefecture and Qinzhou are already on their way?" The man smiled and nodded. Ran Shiming's heart sank. Competing against those weapon refiners for the stones truly left him somewhat lacking in confidence. "How many pieces will this Moon Splendor Frost Crystal be divided into? What will be the starting bid for each piece?" The man held up three fingers and said, "A starting bid of two million first-grade immortal crystals. If you wish to make a move, my advice is to bid for the first piece—it doesn't matter if the price runs a bit high." Ran Shiming kept his face calm and nodded slightly. Ran Qingshuang found it utterly tedious. She sent a quiet voice transmission: *Father, I'm going out for a stroll.* *All right, stay safe.* Ran Qingshuang nodded, gave the tower master a slight bow in departure, and breathed a long sigh of relief as she stepped out of Wanxiang Tower. Looking around, she suddenly remembered that there was a black market a hundred li away. Leaping into the air, she sped off in the direction of Anting Ferry. *** Li Guanqi walked through the streets without drawing any attention; after all, many who came here were headed specifically for the black market. Following the directions on the map, Li Guanqi soon arrived at the back of the ferry wharves. There lay a dim, unlit alleyway. Along its sides sat numerous cultivators hawking wares at stalls, accompanied by a scattering of small courtyards where people could conduct private trades inside. Li Guanqi reached the mouth of the alley. Just as he lifted his foot to enter, an old man seated by the entrance, who looked like a vagrant, suddenly raised his cane. "One hundred immortal crystals." Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, a glint flashing across his gaze. He could not sense even the faintest trace of an aura from the person before him; the perception he sent forth sank like a clay ox into the sea, vanishing without a trace! Li Guanqi raised his hand, tossed out a hundred immortal crystals, and cupped his hands slightly. The disheveled old man lifted his gaze to glance at Li Guanqi, then casually threw him a worn wooden token. Li Guanqi hung it from his waist and stepped into the alley. The space before him warped faintly—an array formation was actually concealed here! After Li Guanqi entered, the old man folded his arms and leaned back against the ground, muttering under his breath, "Bringing a graded sprite in there... aren't you afraid of someone stirring up trouble for you..." Yet not long after Li Guanqi walked in, Ran Qingshuang arrived as well, clad in a black robe. The old man uttered the exact same phrase, though the price had changed: "Fifty crystals."