The Bloody Man

An old man was seated inside the stone room. He had not concealed his identity. In truth, throughout the entire trade fair, those wrapped up tightly from head to toe like Qin Sang did not make up the majority. The old man's hair and beard were completely white, and his demeanor was genial and welcoming. Seeing Qin Sang walk in, he immediately rose to greet him. "Welcome, Daoist friend, please come in! What might you be looking to purchase?" The stone room was bare, devoid of any wares, but that was merely on the surface. Qin Sang sat before the old man, opened his palm, and revealed a token. This token was a proof of identity from Tiange Tower. "Did you bring the items Pindao reserved last time?" "Ah, so it is Daoist Qingfeng!" A look of delight crossed the old man's face, followed immediately by caution. With a wave of his sleeve, he activated the stone room's warding restriction before retrieving a mustard seed bag from behind him. Taking two jade vials from within, he handed them to Qin Sang. "Please have a look, Daoist. Do these two bottles of elixir pills meet your requirements?" Qin Sang uncorked a jade vial, and a rich medicinal fragrance drifted out. They were indeed the foundational spirit pills he needed, though their quality was slightly lower than Spirit Gathering Pills. Qin Sang gave a slight nod, then produced a spirit sword and handed it to the old man. "This is the spirit sword reserved last time. Please inspect it, Daoist friend." This spirit sword had cold metal mixed in. Exchanging it for these two bottles of elixir pills was actually a losing deal for Qin Sang, but given the unstable times, he could not afford to be so particular. The spirit swords he had accumulated were originally meant to be saved until he could find the right opportunity to sell them for a handsome price. Now, most had been traded away for medicine. Even though the pills' efficacy was merely passable, Qin Sang put up with it. Increasing his strength as quickly as possible was what truly mattered; if only he could advance to the False Core stage before general chaos erupted. Once the old man verified the weapon, Qin Sang stowed the spirit pills and stood up to leave. Seeing this, the old man hurriedly rose. "Wait a moment, Daoist!" Qin Sang's tone grew guarded. "What other business do you have, Daoist friend? Are you dissatisfied with the spirit sword?" "No, no, not at all..." The old man waved his hands repeatedly. "Please do not misunderstand, Daoist. I am merely passing along a message from the higher-ups. Your sword-forging craft is so exquisite—would it not be a pity to let it lie fallow? I wonder if you have any intention of firing up your furnace to forge swords again? We can deliver the spirit materials directly here. You would only need to concentrate on forging swords, and the compensation would remain the same as before." Hearing this, Qin Sang pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Pindao has already wasted much time on artifact crafting and must now prioritize cultivation; I have no plans to fire up the furnace for the time being. However, once my cultivation improves and I no longer have to worry about my progress, I will resume artifact crafting. Working with your Tiange Tower has been pleasant enough, and I will contact you when the time comes." He was not speaking falsely. Over these years, his attention had been divided by learning artifact crafting; had it not been for the Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom, his cultivation speed would have been even slower. At the very least, before reaching the False Core stage, Qin Sang had no intention of firing up the forge to craft swords again. Having received Qin Sang's response, the old man smiled with satisfaction and pressed no further, cupping his hands in farewell. "Then I shall await your good news, Daoist." Qin Sang gave a slight nod, turned, and walked out of the stone room. By now, a few more people had arrived in the main hall. Seeing that it was still early, Qin Sang patiently made a circuit around the hall. There were indeed some fine treasures, but they were far too expensive to be worth such a steep price. Qin Sang browsed casually for a while and was just about to leave and return to the herb garden when a deafening crash suddenly rang out. *Whoosh!* The hall fell abruptly silent. Everyone's expressions changed as their gazes snapped in unison toward the source of the crash. The door of the stone room serving as the exit to the hall had been forced open by sheer brute strength by a man drenched in blood. The figure collapsed forward onto the floor, curling into a ball and groaning in agony. Only then did the Gatekeeper, wearing a tiger-head mask, come flying out in pursuit from behind. Seeing this scene, the attendees of the trade fair assumed this person had tried to force his way in, offended the Gatekeeper, and been beaten into this wretched state. Their gazes toward the Gatekeeper could not help but carry a profound sense of awe and dread. The bloody man was severely injured and his aura was feeble, but his cultivation could no longer be concealed—he was actually a late Foundation Establishment cultivator! A dignified late Foundation Establishment cultivator had been battered so heavily by the Gatekeeper, and without the slightest advance warning, showing how swiftly the battle had ended. The Gatekeeper's strength was far beyond imagination. How could the crowd not be appalled? Yet, just as everyone was reeling in shock, the bloody man forced himself up and screamed with all his might, "The Heaven-Traversing Alliance scoundrels have mounted a massive assault! They're ambushing and slaughtering us! Quickly... quickly go save them..." Halfway through his sentence, the bloody man abruptly lost consciousness and crumpled to the ground. He had already been at the very end of his strength, barely holding on just to reach this place. "What?!" "The Heaven-Traversing Alliance is attacking in force?!" "How is that possible? There wasn't the slightest warning beforehand!" ... The moment the bloody man uttered those words, an uproar erupted in the hall. Caught entirely off guard, no one had expected the Heaven-Traversing Alliance to launch a sudden assault at this time. Although the trade fair was concealed, the fact that this bloody man had appeared here meant the battlefield was not far away; they would surely be caught in the crossfire. Even though dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators were gathered at the trade fair, if the Heaven-Traversing Alliance launched an all-out offensive against the Lesser Cold Domain, they would never deploy only Foundation Establishment cultivators. How could the crowd not panic? Right then, the Gatekeeper darted to the bloody man's side, hoisted him up, and called out loudly, "It might not be a full offensive by the Heaven-Traversing Alliance; there may be more to this. Fellow Daoists, please calm yourselves..." As he spoke, the Gatekeeper's figure flickered repeatedly as he darted before one of the stone rooms and shouted, "Quick, save him!" A middle-aged woman in court dress hurried out from the stone room. Squatting beside the bloody man to examine him, she retrieved a spirit pill from her mustard seed bag and fed it to him. At the same time, the woman extended her hand and tapped several points on the bloody man's body in quick succession, infusing subtle streams of spiritual power into him. With the spirit pill ingested and the woman's arcane techniques applied, the bloody man's aura soon stabilized. Suppressing the unease in their hearts, the crowd watched the woman's actions with trepidation, hoping the spirit medicine would take effect quickly so the man would wake and explain everything that had happened. At this moment, no one dared to leave rashly. Without knowing the direction of the Heaven-Traversing Alliance's forces, blundering straight into them would mean certain death! Hidden among the crowd, Qin Sang also felt his heart leap into his throat, unsure whether this trip was a blessing or a curse. Although he had run into an unforeseen mishap, learning of the upheaval in advance was not necessarily a bad thing; otherwise, if he had only realized something was amiss belatedly back at the herb garden, he would have been trapped like a turtle in a jar. Qin Sang glanced left and right, quietly shifting his position toward the stone room's doorway, intending to slip away the moment he learned the inside story. He already held the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner gripped in his palm, and his ebony sword was quietly prepared as well. He had no intention of banding together with these people. Fleeing in a large group would make for too conspicuous a target. Carrying precious treasures on him, as long as he kept a low profile and avoided drawing the attention of Heaven-Traversing Alliance Golden Core cultivators, making an escape would not be difficult. The question was just how immense the scale of this Heaven-Traversing Alliance assault was. In that moment, time seemed stretched infinitely long as everyone watched the bloody man with utter tension. After a grueling effort, the woman in court dress was dripping with sweat. A moment later, she cried out in delight, "He's awake!"