Picking a secluded corner, Luo Chen sat down.
Wang Yuan was not far from him.
Seeing the taut muscles beneath Wang Yuan's coarse hemp clothes, Luo Chen knew his decision had been the right one.
Times had truly changed.
Without the numerous shops of the inner city, the outer city's black market had welcomed unprecedented liveliness.
Last time, only a few dozen people had attended, but this time attendance surged three to fourfold, totaling more than three hundred.
The Zhenlong Hall, which had previously seemed sparsely populated, now gave off a distinctly crowded feel.
In particular, the seven Foundation Establishment True Cultivators seated on either side exerted an immense, suffocating pressure.
Luo Chen scanned them one by one. The one wearing a golden flood dragon mask was undoubtedly Tianxingzi.
Truth be told, the moment he entered, Luo Chen had been utterly shocked.
The Zhenlong Black Market had participated in the battle besieging the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion. Reason dictated that once the battle ended, they should have fled.
To his surprise, not only did they not flee, but they even held their black market on schedule.
Even Tianxingzi, the leading Foundation Establishment cultivator, hadn't left.
"Where do they get the confidence to stay?"
Luo Chen couldn't fathom it, so he had no choice but to shift his gaze to the others.
The figure in the rotten wood mask was very familiar.
The last time he attended the black market, this elderly Foundation Establishment cultivator had been present as well, successfully bidding on a puppet comparable in strength to a cultivator at the peak of the Qi Refining stage, as well as an eight-hundred-year Root of Heaven and Earth.
For that, he had even made a promise to another Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"This fellow is truly strange. Attending the black market at the drop of a hat—doesn't he cultivate?"
Aside from these two familiar figures, Luo Chen couldn't decipher the remaining five at all.
He couldn't detect the slightest trace of familiarity from any of them.
It was as though they were not local cultivators of Dahe Market at all.
"Could they have come from outside?"
"Right. In half a month, news about Dahe Market must have spread far and wide, naturally drawing some powerful Foundation Establishment True Cultivators to investigate."
"And the black market, beyond dealing in all sorts of resources, also trades in intelligence."
"Some crucial pieces of information can even fetch high prices."
Just as Luo Chen was about to look away, his gaze lingered for a moment on a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator built like a bear.
This man gave him a sense of familiarity.
"Familiar?"
"Where have I seen him before?"
Luo Chen furrowed his brows, trying to recall.
While he was pondering this, Tianxingzi had already stepped up to the sandalwood table in the center.
Taking out the Five-Colored Treasure Compass, he tirelessly reiterated the rules of the black market, just as he always did.
"I am Tianxingzi, humble master of the Zhenlong Black Market. Today, I shall once again preside over the transactions."
"I am glad to see many old friends, and I welcome our newly joined fellow Daoists."
"The rules of our market are simple. First, the host will..."
Luo Chen listened quietly until the first auction item appeared.
The moment it was brought out, the entire hall fell dead silent.
Shock flashed in Luo Chen's eyes, and he turned his head.
As if by telepathy, Wang Yuan looked over at the same time.
The two exchanged a glance, both unable to suppress their shock.
"A sword pill!"
"Cultivated over twenty-five years by a Jade Cauldron Foundation Establishment True Cultivator with their natal true fire and spiritual power."
"Originally an embryonic magic treasure. Following its master's death, its grade remains unchanged, but it can never be upgraded further unless one masters the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect's secret sword pill nurturing technique and switches to the sword path."
"Its current grade is supreme-grade. Its abilities are size manipulation, sword light division, and Giant Sword Art."
"As for flaws, besides being unable to advance in grade, it requires the cultivator to project spiritual sense or possess exceptionally strong control over dharma artifacts."
"Starting bid: five thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
"Each bid increase must be no less than one hundred."
Tianxingzi's voice rang out like the solemn chime of a great bronze bell, its resonance lingering on and on.
In the hall, the brief silence was followed by a wild commotion.
A sword pill!
A sword pill from a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect!
What did that signify?
Everyone knew full well.
A massive battle had just erupted in that ghost town, claiming the life of a Golden Core sword cultivator.
As far as everyone knew, besides that Golden Core sword cultivator, there were two other Foundation Establishment sword cultivators.
In other words, this sword pill had to belong to either Outer Sect Deacon Miao Wen or True Disciple Luo Tianhong.
The crux of the matter was—
How dared the Zhenlong Black Market bring it out for auction?
Did they have a death wish?
Or did they intend to pull off one last heist and run?
The clamor spread, no longer confined to voice transmissions; some even began speaking openly.
Many directly questioned Tianxingzi.
"If we bid on this sword pill, shouldn't we fear the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect coming after us?"
"This is stolen property!"
"The karmic burden is too heavy. One cannot taint themselves with it, absolutely not!"
Tianxingzi didn't bother to explain. It was a black market auction, and they were talking about fearing consequences? Fearing vengeance from enemies?
Besides, wasn't his goal precisely the scene unfolding right now?
It instantly drew everyone's rapt attention.
And it demonstrated the hidden, formidable strength of the Zhenlong Black Market.
As for whether it sold or not, he didn't care.
He simply smiled. "Is no one going to bid?"
It wasn't that no one wanted to bid, but that no one dared.
Amid this heavy silence, a voice rang out from a corner.
"Five thousand!"
Beneath his mask, Tianxingzi raised an eyebrow.
He smiled. "Very good. Seems there's someone who recognizes good stuff after all!"
"Five thousand spirit stones, going once!"
After calling it once and seeing no one bidding, he revealed another advantage of the sword pill.
"Though it is supreme-grade, this sword pill does not suffer from the common drawback of supreme-grade dharma artifacts."
"Its spiritual power consumption is not heavy—merely on par with a high-grade dharma artifact."
At these words, many in the crowd felt tempted again.
Especially the Qi Refining rogue cultivators!
A supreme-grade dharma artifact that consumed little spiritual power was immensely useful, even if it could never advance in grade!
Yet considering the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect's retribution, everyone remained silent.
"Oh, and one more thing. I forgot to mention."
As if deliberately whetting their appetites, Tianxingzi slowly added another selling point:
"The previous owner's spiritual sense has already been erased from this treasure. It requires only a brief refinement before it can be used."
Only then did a second bidding voice finally emerge.
"Five thousand five hundred spirit stones."
Tianxingzi turned to look; it was a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator seated on the right side.
An acquaintance!
"Five thousand six hundred spirit stones!"
From the corner, the one who had made the initial bid raised again.
Everyone held their breath. A Qi Refining rogue cultivator actually dared to contest an item against a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator.
Was he not afraid of being taught a lesson by the Foundation Establishment cultivator once they left?
Moreover, how could an ordinary Qi Refining rogue cultivator compete with the wealth of a Foundation Establishment cultivator?
Yet strangely, that aged voice did not speak up again.
"Five thousand six hundred, going once."
"Five thousand six hundred, going twice."
"Five thousand six hundred... going three times. Sold!"
Tianxingzi teased them no longer and placed the sword pill into a jade box.
From the corner, Luo Chen stepped forward, calmly and unhurriedly producing five thousand six hundred spirit stones.
Once the transaction was settled, the sword pill was his.
On his way back, everyone stared at his figure, wondering what kind of backing this man had to dare bid on this sword pill.
Was he not afraid of retribution from the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect?
Beyond confusion, there was uncontrollable envy, and even jealousy.
A sword pill on par with a supreme-grade dharma artifact!
And it barely consumed mana, requiring only sufficiently superb control over dharma artifacts.
Even though many lacked that level of control, for such a powerful offensive method, one could easily practice to acquire it!
In the past, a treasure like this would have easily fetched a high price of seven or eight thousand!
Yet this man had acquired it for merely five thousand six hundred.
How could anyone not be envious?
Luo Chen could feel those hundreds of gazes on him, including even that of his good brother, Wang Yuan.
Yet he didn't care.
Such a treasure rightfully belonged to him!
He had personally witnessed the might of a sword pill.
On the Lancang River, that demonic cultivator possessed countless tricks, yet couldn't withstand Pang Renxiong alone with his sword.
Even though he lacked the corresponding sword cultivation manual and could not project his spiritual sense, he had sufficiently exquisite control over dharma artifacts!
In fact, it went far beyond mere precision.
His Grand Completion Attraction Art brought his control over dharma artifacts to the very peak.
Even someone as strong as Qiu Bai, at the peak of the Qi Refining stage, could only unleash six flood dragons from the supreme-grade Azure Musk Flood Dragon Gathering Banner with all his might.
Yet back when Luo Chen was merely at the eighth level of Qi Refining, he had summoned six.
He had relied entirely on the Grand Completion Attraction Art.
Therefore, after obtaining this treasure, he wasn't at all worried about how to control it.
The reason he bought it was to supplement his combat arsenal.
The Azure Musk Flood Dragon Gathering Banner was powerful, but its spiritual power consumption was too high. Its strength lay in flexibility and versatility, and paired with the azure musk venom incense, it was more effective in prolonged battles.
Yet in a frontal assault, it always fell a bit short.
Qiu Bai's strike at full power back then hadn't managed to kill the Three Sima Cultivators.
When Luo Chen used it against Fu Zhang, he had still needed to follow up with a Grand Completion Fireball Art.
Clearly, its raw power was not overwhelming.
But a sword pill was different.
He had seen the Giant Sword Art in action!
Pang Renxiong's earth-shattering sword strike on the Lancang River and the sword qi transforming into a dragon on Mount Luofeng were all variations of the Giant Sword Art.
With this treasure, he could make up for his deficiency in frontal offensive capability.
"Five thousand six hundred—I truly scored an incredible bargain!"
Smiling, Luo Chen stowed the sword pill and watched the crowd bid on the various treasures Tianxingzi presented.
He knew such bargains weren't easily stumbled upon.
He had merely capitalized on the current peculiar circumstances.
No one dared touch this hot potato!
Even the Foundation Establishment True Cultivator had given up after a brief bid.
Luo Chen, however, was different!
First, since the Zhenlong Black Market dared to auction it, they definitely had backing.
Where that confidence came from, Luo Chen didn't know.
But since they hadn't fled, there had to be a reason.
Second, one had to consider Luo Chen's "deep ties" with the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect!
Even if the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect returned and came knocking, he had an excuse!
"I gained Elder Pang's trust, and even in dire circumstances, I did my best to recover the fallen relic of a Sword Sect cultivator."
Who knows, maybe the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect would even reward him.
"One bottle of Clarity Liquid!"
"Produced by the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, a Tier 2 spirit medicine. Regular use over time can induce an ocular mutation in a cultivator. At minor mastery, one can discern truth from falsehood; at grand mastery, one can see through all illusions and treat array formations and restrictions as nothing."
"There is no realm restriction for its use."
"Starting bid: five hundred spirit stones. Each bid increase must be no less than ten."
"Fellow Daoists, if you please!"
Another item from the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect!
The atmosphere, which had grown increasingly heated from the other auction items, went quiet once more.
Just what was the Zhenlong Black Market's background?
Could they have participated in that Golden Core battle?
Or had they outpaced all neighboring forces, stepping into the ghost town beforehand to excavate the legacy of the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion?
However, this time the response wasn't as chilly as before.
A spirit medicine was different from a sword pill.
Once bought, you just consumed it.
"Five hundred twenty spirit stones!"
"Five hundred thirty!"
...
In the crowd, the moment he heard "Clarity Liquid," Luo Chen perked up.
This was the upgraded version of Moisturizing Pearl Liquid!
Or rather, Moisturizing Pearl Liquid was merely a weakened version of Clarity Liquid.
He had been using Moisturizing Pearl Liquid for a long time, but hadn't noticed any distinct effects yet.
Yet his Grand Completion Spirit Eye Art had genuinely brought him great convenience.
It could see through a cultivator's simple spiritual energy disguises and take in an expanse of a hundred li at a single glance.
During the battle on the Lancang River, any other Qi Refining cultivator wouldn't have been able to watch it from beginning to end like Luo Chen had.
"Spirit Eye Art has already reached Grand Completion and cannot advance further."
"Still, the sharper these eyes are, the better."
"This item is mine!"
When the bidding reached six hundred spirit stones, the heated atmosphere cooled down somewhat.
At the end of the day, it was merely a Tier 2 spirit medicine.
Moreover, with only a single bottle, using it consistently over a long period would be difficult.
It was at this moment that Luo Chen entered the bidding.
"Six hundred fifty!"
Compared to the sluggish increments of ten spirit stones at a time earlier, raising the bid by fifty all at once was undeniably a bold move.
It drew sidelong glances from many cultivators.
Upon realizing it was the same man who had won the sword pill earlier, quite a few cultivators felt their hair stand on end.
Where on earth did this person come from? Why did he want everything connected to the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect?
For a time, no one made another bid.
Tianxingzi paid it no mind.
"Six hundred fifty, going once."
"Going twice."
"Six hundred fifty, going three times. Sold!"
"Congratulations to this fellow Daoist!"
This time, Luo Chen did not go up to deliver the spirit stones.
He had gone up earlier merely to inspect the quality of the sword pill in front of everyone.
This time, he simply used spiritual power to carry six hundred fifty spirit stones floating over.
Tianxingzi also sent someone to deliver the Clarity Liquid to Luo Chen.
Once he had it in hand, Luo Chen inspected it and put it away.
Excellent!
He would test its effects once he returned!
Next, Tianxingzi brought out even more treasures.
Pills and dharma artifacts in particular were nearly ten times more numerous than in previous auctions.
There were even Qi-Nourishing Pills and Dust-Cleansing Pills, which were staples at the Spirit Herb Pavilion.
Although the prices were higher than at the Spirit Herb Pavilion—a bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills easily fetching a steep price of a hundred and twenty or thirty—people still bought them enthusiastically.
And for good reason!
Now that the Spirit Herb Pavilion had left Dahe Market, even with the spiritual energy dispersing from Mount Luofeng, it wasn't enough to satisfy the appetite of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
Luo Chen even made a move himself, winning five bottles of Dust-Cleansing Pills.
He spent one thousand three hundred spirit stones, a full three hundred more than usual.
That extra amount was almost enough to buy another bottle and a half.
Still, with these items, the more the better.
Under the current circumstances, hoarding as much as possible could never be wrong.
After spending another thousand spirit stones to purchase ten portions of Golden Quality Jade Liquid originating from Taishan Market, Luo Chen could hardly contain his astonishment.
"Just how many pills and dharma artifacts has the Zhenlong Black Market stockpiled?"
"It's as if they knew this day would come long ago and prepared specially to make a fortune off it!"
"If that's truly the case, releasing three ghost kings to besiege and kill Pang Renxiong was definitely no spur-of-the-moment whim. It was a well-prepared conspiracy."
"Then from when did it begin?"
When Pang Renxiong returned to Dahe Market?
When the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator Fei Baiwen of Mount Ailao was slain?
Could preparations have already been underway when the Dao Discussion Platform opened?
Luo Chen couldn't deduce the specifics, because back then he had been merely in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and his connections were far too limited to grasp such matters.
All he knew was that the Zhenlong Black Market was making a killing this time!
The auction continued.
Not only did Luo Chen reap a rich harvest, but other rogue cultivators actively joined in as well.
Even Wang Yuan stepped up several times to purchase the resources he needed.
Among them was a pair of supreme-grade dharma artifact gauntlets, which he secured for the bargain price of six thousand five hundred spirit stones.
In the past, this would have triggered a bidding frenzy.
Today, however, it seemed utterly unremarkable.
The gauntlets' drawbacks were simply too severe.
Beyond the common flaw of draining spiritual energy, they required a physique comparable to a Tier 2 demonic beast; otherwise, they would devour the cultivator's own flesh and blood in backlash.
A supreme-grade dharma artifact leaning toward the demonic path.
Luo Chen wasn't worried about that, though.
When it came to physical resilience, few in Dahe Market today could rival Wang Yuan.
The long host-auction phase finally concluded after the sale of a complete Tier 2 demonic beast carcass.
"Quite the impressive feat, actually managing to slay a Tier 2 demonic beast,"
Luo Chen murmured under his breath, then immediately stepped forward to auction his own goods.
Nothing else but Blood Burning Pills!
Truth be told, these things genuinely had a huge market.
Especially in the current climate.
Luo Chen brought out ten Blood Burning Pills in total, preparing to fetch a hefty sum.
Unexpectedly, the moment they were listed, Tianxingzi suddenly spoke up.
"One hundred fifty spirit stones each. I'll take them all!"
With that, no one else dared to make an offer.
Everyone had to show respect to the master of the black market; even the other six Foundation Establishment cultivators tactfully refrained from bidding.
Luo Chen had no objection whatsoever.
At a hundred and fifty spirit stones apiece, this was a fifty percent markup over previous auctions.
It also saved him plenty of trouble.
Once goods and payment changed hands, he recouped one thousand five hundred.
Luo Chen let out a small breath of relief. Buying the sword pill and pills today had cost him seven thousand five hundred and fifty spirit stones—a severe drain on his funds.
He had less than thirteen thousand spirit stones left on him.
Recovering a bit now could be considered staunching the bleeding.
"Seems that besides concocting Jade Marrow Pills every day, I need to spend more time refining Blood Burning Pills."
"Not only does it bring quick money, but finding buyers is never an issue."
Just as Luo Chen was running these calculations, a voice transmission entered his ears.
Luo Chen's brow twitched. Leaving his spot, he walked straight over to Tianxingzi.
Many noticed this. Though curious, no one dared eavesdrop, and they continued actively participating in the peer-to-peer auction.
Wang Yuan's gaze tracked Luo Chen, a hint of worry in his eyes.
As Luo Chen reached Tianxingzi's side, before he could speak, Tianxingzi unleashed a strand of spiritual power.
A thick sound-insulating barrier enveloped them both.
"Senior, what guidance do you have for me?"
Tianxingzi smiled. "Young friend, are you an alchemist? By my observation, you have come three times, and all three times you have auctioned off quite a few Blood Burning Pills."
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow, dodging the question.
"I am no alchemist; I merely have a friend who is."
"Is that so?"
Tianxingzi didn't press the matter and got straight to his purpose.
After hearing his proposal, Luo Chen exclaimed in surprise, "Cooperation?"
Chapter 162