Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Ghost Ruins Market

Cultivators at Qi Cultivation Perfection possessed a keen Divine Sense and could often sense danger before it arrived. When Yang Jing assassinated Qiu Feihua, he had to first suppress him with an Array before moving in for the kill. If he had attacked directly with killing intent, he would have likely alerted his target from thirty feet away.

But for Yang Jing, who had now comprehended the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Sword Intent, assassinating a Qi Cultivation Perfection Cultivator was no longer so troublesome.

After the Beginning of Autumn, a solemnity falls over the world, heralding the arrival of killing intent. Among the techniques of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship, the six autumn stances possessed the heaviest killing intent, each strike carrying a brutal, executioner’s aura.

The Beginning of Autumn stance was particularly vicious.

The cicada senses the autumn wind before it blows; death arrives, silent and unknown.

During the Beginning of Autumn, Yang Qi recedes as Yin Qi grows, and all living things go into hiding. When a strike was unleashed after being charged, its Sword Intent remained concealed within the Sword Qi. A person struck by this sword would only realize they had been hit at the very moment of their death.

Paired with the body-concealing Cloud Escape, an ordinary Qi Cultivation Perfection Cultivator was nothing more than a sitting duck before his sneak attack.

Yang Jing stripped the clothes and hat from the corpse and put them on. The frigid Sword Qi had frozen the blood at the Tribulation Cultivator’s wound, so the garments remained clean, saving Yang Jing the Magical Power needed for a Cleaning Technique.

After changing clothes, he activated the Inconstant Illusionary Form Technique and assumed the burly man’s appearance.

Yang Jing then used his Divine Thought to force open the Storage Bag on the ground. Rummaging through it, he found seven Magical Artifacts. Five of them were slightly damaged, and one Defensive Spiritual Artifact was still stained with blood. They were clearly the spoils of murder and robbery.

In addition, the Storage Bag contained a few bottles of Spirit Pills, over 1,200 Spirit Stones, five Jade Scrolls, and a heavy, black Token.

This Tribulation Cultivator had clearly been carrying his entire fortune with him, and Yang Jing had just hit the jackpot.

Yang Jing took out the Jade Scrolls and inspected them with his Divine Sense. He found they were all second-rate Cultivation Techniques, comparable to the Jade Water Skill. Only one, a technique named the Black Death Seven Tribulations Scripture, was of any interest. This technique involved refining the Blood Evil Qi contracted from killing living beings into one’s Magical Power. The more one killed, the more tyrannical their Magical Power became. It was considered a rare High-level Heretical Technique.

Even in the game Nine Heavens World, many players had practiced this Cultivation Technique.

One could also gather Blood Evil Qi by slaying Demons, but this burly man had clearly chosen a shortcut: slaughtering Cultivators and mortals to advance his cultivation.

Yang Jing carefully stored the Jade Scroll. The complete Black Death Seven Tribulations Scripture allowed one to cultivate all the way to the Nascent Soul realm. This Jade Scroll only recorded the contents for the Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment Stages, but it was still quite valuable.

Now that he knew which Cultivation Technique the Tribulation Cultivator had practiced, Yang Jing activated his Inconstant Illusionary Form Technique to adjust his aura. A moment later, even his Magical Power fluctuations were identical to the dead man’s. He took the Token in hand. Engraved on it were the three words “Ghost Ruins Market”—it was the entry pass for the Black Market Illusion Array.

Sure enough, the moment he grasped the Token, a bustling marketplace materialized in the once-empty valley. The Cultivators who had appeared in the valley earlier were all inside, and there were even Demons whose Demon Qi billowed into the sky.

Yang Jing walked into the black market. The guards, who had been arrogant and strutting moments before, immediately began to bow and scrape before him.

“Brother Guo, it’s been too long since you’ve graced the Ghost Market! Your latest venture must have been fruitful.”

Not knowing how this Brother Guo usually behaved, Yang Jing simply put on a sullen face and an irritable air, ignoring the guard completely.

The guard just gave an awkward salute, thinking his attempt at flattery had backfired. He didn’t even dare ask Yang Jing for the entrance fee.

Upon entering the Marketplace, the first thing he saw was a magnificent, eleven-story pavilion. It featured winding corridors and upturned eaves that resembled pecking birds. Red lanterns hung from the eaves, draped in red silk. Female Cultivators, clad in sheer gauze that revealed their white jade-like skin, leaned against the railings, beckoning to potential customers.

A strange, sweet fragrance filled the air, evoking a scene of sensual revelry, like swallows dancing and orioles singing on a long spring day.

As he was proficient in Alchemy, Yang Jing could smell numerous herbs in the fragrance that were meant to stimulate Yang Qi. His Magical Power was pure and his Willpower profound, so he was naturally unaffected as he walked past the splendid pavilion.

Beyond the pavilion was a gambling den. The masterminds behind the black market clearly had a perfect grasp on the psychology of Tribulation Cultivators. They knew these were people who lived on a knife’s edge, with a ’live one day at a time’ mentality. The Spirit Stones in their pockets would never escape the clutches of the pavilion and the gambling den.

After the gambling den was a wide, flat plaza. The plaza was ringed with shops, and its center was filled with all sorts of stalls, the entire area brilliantly illuminated.

The stalls sold all kinds of Magical Artifacts, Elixirs, and Spiritual Materials. There were even Demons hawking the pelts and bones of other beasts.

After paying a Spirit Stone, Yang Jing imitated the others and set up a stall of his own. He laid out the miscellaneous Magical Artifacts he had acquired and put up a sign that read: “Seeking Insect Training Skill. High Price Paid.”

He had acquired quite a few Magical Artifacts recently, and the display instantly drew many eyes. However, upon seeing that the stall owner was Brother Guo, they sullenly retracted their greedy gazes.

As a Tribulation Cultivator, Brother Guo had a fearsome reputation in the Huangyuan Mountain Range. With his profound cultivation in the Black Death Seven Tribulations Scripture, he had few equals. It was even rumored that a Cultivator from the Law Enforcement Team had died by his hand.

But no matter how fearsome his reputation, he was here to do business. Before long, a crowd of Cultivators had gathered in front of his stall to pick through the Magical Artifacts.

Some of these Cultivators were looking for a suitable Magical Artifact for themselves. Others ran shops in the Ghost Ruins Market or even the Huangyuan Marketplace, looking to buy Magical Artifacts on the cheap, disguise them, and then sell them as brand new for a profit.

Yang Jing priced his wares with extreme precision, setting each Magical Artifact at its maximum value. After stating a price, he would close his eyes to meditate, refusing to haggle. His attitude was simple: take it or leave it.

It was only thanks to Brother Guo’s fearsome reputation that no one had tried to flip his stall. In less than an hour, he had sold nearly half of the Magical Artifacts, earning over five hundred Spirit Stones.

A few Cultivators came forward to sell him an Insect Training Skill, but their techniques were no better than what was available at the Huangyuan Marketplace, so Yang Jing rejected them all. He did, however, purchase a book titled *Qing Nang Insect Scripture* for fifty Spirit Stones.

This Insect Scripture seemed to be an Insect Control Skill that had been passed down from another province. It detailed the methods for taming and raising over two hundred types of Spirit Insects. Although the information was basic, it was remarkably comprehensive and might prove useful.

Amid the bustling crowd, a handsome and elegant, white-robed Cultivator suddenly stopped in front of Yang Jing’s stall. His gaze swept over the Magical Artifacts on display before he pointed to a Small Banner and asked:

“Fellow Daoist, may I have a closer look at this banner?”

Yang Jing glanced at him and nodded.

The white-robed Cultivator picked up the Small Banner and examined it carefully for a moment. He then shook his head, set it down, and walked away, acting no different from any other customer. But Yang Jing, using his Bright Qi Talent, had already locked onto the man’s Qi Mechanism.

For while the white-robed Cultivator had appeared to be casually examining the Small Banner, he had, with an exquisitely subtle movement, smeared a drop of his Essence Blood onto its surface.

The banner, which had been taken from a Demon Cultivator, was already steeped in sinister Blood Qi, so an additional drop of Essence Blood was practically unnoticeable. It could not, however, escape the notice of Yang Jing’s fully activated Bright Qi Talent.

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