tYou have my deepest grat.i.tude, Elder!"
Zhang Xuan chuckled softly as he walked through the path that the crowd had reluctantly opened for him. Just as he was about to leave the area, he suddenly halted for a moment before turning around.
"One last thing. Since Twilight City is serious about maintaining fairness and equity among the cultivators, I am just curious to know if it"s considered an act of cheating for someone to sell the number they have calculated to another person in order to profit from this slot roulette system."
"It"s considered as an act of cheating," Elder Fu Yuan replied with a confused look on his face.
The slot roulette system was designed with the intention of making the acquisition of the slots random. If a person sold a number that was calculated inaccurately, his actions would be considered fraud. On the other hand, if the person was really somehow able to calculate the number accurately, that would be cheating.
"That person over there, Yao Shan, has been selling the numbers he has deduced to the other cultivators here. I believe that there are many people here who will be able to testify to that," Zhang Xuan said with a smile. "With that, farewell!"
After saying this piece, Zhang Xuan left Netherworld Palace without waiting for any response.
That fellow, Yao Shan, had riled the crowd up against him, attempting to prevent him from leaving. Did the other party really think that he was a pushover?
As for the evidence of his fraud, he had convinced quite a few people to purchase the numbers that he recommended. Considering that none of them had won, they should be more than willing to give Yao Shan away. After all, they might just be able to recoup the money that they had given to Yao Shan this way.
Yao Shan had never expected to have the tables turned on him like that. With his body trembling fearfully, he immediately tried to explain, "Elder Fu Yuan, I..."
But Elder Fu Yuan was not even interested in hearing his explanation. "Take him down!"
Huala!
A group of people rushed forward and apprehended Yao Shan.
There was absolutely no doubt that Yao Shan"s fate was going to be tragic. He had only lost a toilet and a kitchen earlier, but at this rate, he was going to lose his entire flat.
Completely uninterested in whatever was happening inside, Zhang Xuan and the others swiftly got onto horseback and left Netherworld Palace. After galloping across various streets, Zhang Xuan checked his surroundings and confirmed that there was no one following them before indicating for everyone to stop.
"The rest of you should head back to prepare yourselves for the trial of the Celestial Mountain. It"ll be good if all of you can achieve a breakthrough to G.o.dhood. I"ll be heading off to settle some other matters first."
The crowd nodded in response.
After that, Zhang Xuan turned around and galloped in another direction. It did not take him long to disappear at the end of the street.
Shortly after, Zhao Ya and the others quickly made their way back to their residence.
They knew that they had to reach the level of the G.o.ds in order to not be a burden to Zhang Xuan. Thus, it was important for them to exploit this opportunity to the fullest.
After parting from the group, Zhang Xuan galloped straight ahead, and it did not take him long to arrive before a certain building.
This building looked perfectly ordinary, not standing out in the least along the street. It was the kind of building that one could easily overlook as part of the scenery. Furthermore, the doors and windows were tightly shut, making it look as though it had been abandoned.
Zhang Xuan walked up to the building and knocked on the wooden doors six times, four long knocks and two short knocks.
Jiya!
The doors creaked open.
A blind man walked out and said impatiently, "Follow me."
Without saying a word, Zhang Xuan followed the blind man closely.
The interior of the building was a little dark, creating an eerie atmosphere.
The two of them walked all the way to the innermost room before the blind man suddenly halted and lifted his palm.
Understanding the blind man"s gesture, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and pa.s.sed a token over.
The blind man touched the token carefully to a.s.sess its authenticity before nodding slowly. Then, he placed his palm on the wall.
Weng!
There was a soft humming sound, reminiscent of a formation coming to life, and the walls swiftly turned transparent. The blind man walked into a transparent wall and pa.s.sed through it without any problem.
Zhang Xuan followed behind him.
Proceeding ahead, there was a flight of stairs that led downward. The entire area was shrouded in deep darkness, making it impossible to discern what lay beyond. All one could see were the inscriptions on the ground that served to conceal this place from view.
The flight of stairs was surprisingly short. It did not take them too long to reach the bottom.
Zhang Xuan found himself faced with a boat floating atop an underground river.
He quickly got on top of the boat together with the blind man, and the latter began ferrying him forward. The surroundings were completely dark, such that Zhang Xuan could not see too far ahead even with the Eye of Insight. He could only trust the blind man to take him to where he wanted to go.
For the next hour, all Zhang Xuan could hear was the sound of oars pus.h.i.+ng against the water. At some point, the boat b.u.mped lightly against an incredibly large boulder before lodging into it. It swayed for a brief moment before coming to a complete halt.
The blind man got off the boat and led the way forward once more. There was yet another flight of stairs, but this time, it was heading upward. Then, they pa.s.sed through another wall, and when they finally walked out of the door, they were in a bustling market. It was filled with many different voices, creating a lively atmosphere.
"Wait here for me. I"ll be right back after completing my transaction," Zhang Xuan instructed before walking into the crowd.
The place he was currently at was the black market of Twilight City!
Where rules existed, people would always find ways to circ.u.mvent them, and the black market was such an existence.
The bandit named Streak of Gray would often visit the underground market to sell the goods that he had plundered from the merchants. There were detailed instructions in one of the books in his storage ring on how one could enter the black market.
One could buy practically anything one wanted in this thriving black market, including illegal goods that would be impossible to procure in legal markets. It was just that the prices there tended to be on the higher side.
The manager of this ma.s.sive black market was a particularly seductive lady in her mid-thirties. There was an exquisite crimson rose filled with thorns tattooed on her neck that hinted at a capricious personality, and the slightly overpowering scent of perfume she emanated served to further reinforce this judgement.
The seductive lady leaned in toward Zhang Xuan as she spoke. "Hey, you look unfamiliar to me..."
"Do you refuse to do business with people who look unfamiliar to you?" Zhang Xuan met her gaze calmly.
"Of course not!" the seductive lady replied as she walked out from the back of the counter. With a smile on her lips, she asked, "May I know what kind of business this das.h.i.+ng young man has with me? We sell all sorts of stuff here, and that includes me."
After saying those words, she intentionally breathed out slowly on Zhang Xuan"s face.
However, Zhang Xuan remained completely unfazed as he nonchalantly replied, "I need Mayang Beast Blood. Is it possible to acquire it here?"
He already had the Greenbeast Ancient Gra.s.s on hand, so as long as he could find some way to obtain some Mayang Beast Blood, he would be able to raise his soul cultivation right away.
"Mayang Beast Blood? The Mayang Beasts are low-tier Celestial G.o.ds, so it won"t be easy to acquire their blood..."
The seductive lady took a step back before looking at Zhang Xuan with a frown on her face.
Celestial G.o.d realm divine beasts were mostly able to transmogrify themselves to a.s.sume forms similar to those of humans, making it extremely difficult to capture them. As such, procuring their blood was no easy feat.
"I understand. I"ll look for another person to work with." Zhang Xuan rose to his feet and began walking away.
"Hey, hey, wait a moment!" The seductive lady quickly rushed forward to block his way. "Why are you so hasty? What I said is that it won"t be easy to acquire it, not that I am unable to acquire it..."
"I need a liter of it," Zhang Xuan added.
"You need so much of it?" The seductive lady frowned at those words. "Since you are here to buy the blood of a Celestial G.o.d realm divine beast, I trust that you know how much it"s worth, so I"ll just get straight to the point. Three thousand Divine Coins."
Three thousand Divine Coins?" It was Zhang Xuan"s turn to frown. "The price doesn"t sound right to me."
All in all, he had only received roughly six hundred Divine Coins from Streak of Gray, a long way off from three thousand Divine Coins. Was Mayang Beast Blood really that expensive?
He had no idea how much the blood of Celestial G.o.d realm divine beasts was worth, but he had a feeling that the price offered to him by the seductive lady was way beyond market price.
He felt that it would cause too much of a ruckus if an ordinary-looking person like him with no particular background was spotted looking around for the blood of a Celestial G.o.d realm divine beast on the market, so he had chosen to head to the black market straight away. As such, he actually was not too sure about the pricing.
"I"m sure you understand how difficult it is to procure the blood of Celestial G.o.d realm divine beasts. To be frank with you, three thousand Divine Coins really isn"t much. Besides, as a lady living in a shady place like this, how am I going to find a good husband if I don"t earn more while I can?"
The seductive lady slowly walked around Zhang Xuan as she giggled flirtatiously. "If that"s not acceptable, why don"t you marry me then? I"ll give you a discount."
"Six hundred Divine Coins. I"ll give you some advice in exchange," Zhang Xuan replied.
"Six hundred Divine Coins? Are you here to cause trouble?"
The face of the seductive lady immediately darkened.
Huala!
As soon as she spoke, black-robed middle-aged men swiftly rushed out from the streets. Every single one of them had a fairly strong presence, displaying their might as middle-tier G.o.ds.
"I have no interest in wasting my time on something that doesn"t provide value to me," Zhang Xuan replied nonchalantly, unaffected by the sudden turn of events. "If I"m not mistaken, due to the cold, wet, and spiritual energy- deprived environment of the black market, you have been consuming Dampness Expulsion Pills to preserve your youthful appearance."
The seductive lady scoffed coldly. "What about it?"
Living in the underground regions where the sun would never reach, there were plenty of people there who frequently consumed Dampness Expulsion Pills. It would not take a genius to figure out that she was doing the same.
"It wouldn"t be a problem for others to consume the Dampness Expulsion Pill, but the same doesn"t go for you. If I"m not mistaken, your neck and chest area are filled with red b.u.mps, and you have been unable to get rid of them," Zhang Xuan said.
"Where did you hear that?" The seductive lady frowned.
The young man was right. Her body was indeed covered in red b.u.mps, and those red b.u.mps emanated an odor. It was for this reason that she had to douse herself in perfume and tattoo her neck with a crimson rose.
"I didn"t have to hear it from anyone to know that. It"s pretty obvious just by looking at you."
Placing his hands leisurely behind his back, Zhang Xuan continued. "You have been cultivating the yin attribute Rising Tide Cold Wave Art. This cultivation technique requires you to absorb the yin attribute energy from rising tides and cold waves, resulting in your body being wetter than the others. Consuming the Dampness Expulsion Pill appears to have resolved the various problems you face from living here, but at the same time, it has also deprived you of the essence of your cultivation technique.
"The effectiveness of your cultivation technique has been reduced by half as a result of that, and the growth of those red b.u.mps is just the primary symptom of your condition. As time goes by, your skin will begin to rot, and your rate of cultivation will continue to slow down till it finally stagnates. Eventually, you will go berserk and die."
"Are you trying to scare me, little boy? Your big sister over here didn"t get this far by trembling in fear!" the seductive lady spat with narrowed eyes.
The other party had hit the mark on quite a few things regarding her, including her cultivation technique and her current condition. However, she still found it hard to believe that a mere Dampness Expulsion Pill could induce such symptoms in her. Furthermore, she had not noticed any major issues in her body thus far.
"Of course not," Zhang Xuan replied. "Just the Dampness Expulsion Pill itself isn"t potent enough to cause any problems in your body. However, what if we consider the Concealment Formation cast over the underground black market too? Correct me if I"m wrong, but you reside in the southwest area of the black market, right?"
The seductive lady frowned upon hearing how Zhang Xuan was aware of where she lived.
Paying no heed to the seductive lady"s expression, Zhang Xuan said, "The sun rises from the northeast and sets in the southwest. The rise of the sun ushers in the birth of the yang energy, and the setting of the sun symbolizes the opening of the yin gates. Southwest is the direction where yin and yang intersect with one another. Most life usually thrives in such a place, but that happens to be the very opposite for you.
The Rising Tide Cold Wave Art is a pure yin cultivation technique, so the conditions of the southwest should have been ideal for you to advance your cultivation. However, you chose to consume Dampness Expulsion Pills, which in turn makes you extremely vulnerable to yang energy. As a result, there"s a chaotic mess of yin and yang ravaging your body at this very moment. The growth of red b.u.mps is just the starting symptom."