93: Chapter 93 Flowing Cloud Market, the Remnants of the Blood-Eating Vine

Watching Su Qinghan's retreating figure as she turned and left, Qi Yang straightened his waist, a flash of sharp light crossing the depths of his eyes.

The Tianluo Sect and Xuantian Sect friction at the border?

This was quite good news for him.

The more chaotic the situation, the more frequent the transactions in the Ghost Market, and all sorts of rare poisons and spiritual materials that were usually unseen would flood the market in large quantities.

He was stuck at the Peak of the Qi Condensation 11th Layer and urgently needed a brand-new, overbearing poison to stimulate his Meridians and tear open that final barrier.

"It seems I have to go out for a trip."

Qi Yang rubbed his chin.

His biggest trump card was the black gourd. As long as he could find a rare, top-grade poisonous grass seed or a residual root, he could use the green liquid to ripen it and transform it into nourishment for his Breakthrough.

In the underground secret room, Qi Yang sat cross-legged on the bronze stone platform, with several old poison manuals he had scavenged from the periphery of the Scripture Pavilion placed in front of him.

"Ordinary poisonous grasses are no longer useful. I must search for those strange poisons that can ignore spiritual power defense and act directly on the Meridians."

Qi Yang's fingers glided across the withered yellow book pages, finally resting on a fragmented record.

"The pulse-eroding blood vine is born in places of extreme malevolence, fond of consuming the vital blood of Cultivators. Its venom can ignore Protective Aura and directly dissolve Meridians barriers..."

Qi Yang's eyes lit up.

This thing was simply tailor-made for him!

As long as he could get a section of the pulse-eroding blood vine and match it with the ripening of the black gourd, he would definitely be able to break through to the Qi Condensation 12th Layer Great Perfection in one fell swoop!

However, this kind of extremely malevolent object was simply impossible to find inside the Xuantian Sect. Righteous Path Sects exercised extremely strict control over such unorthodox gimmicks.

"I can only go to the external markets to try my luck."

Qi Yang made up his mind.

He did not choose to go to those Ghost Markets where fish and dragons mixed and demonic Cultivators ran rampant.

Although the Ghost Market had many good things, the risk of getting robbed or double-crossed was too great.

He was currently stuck at the bottleneck of his Breakthrough and didn't want to branch out into side issues.

Within the Xuantian Sect's jurisdiction, there were several large-scale formal markets jointly controlled by the Loose Cultivator Alliance and Family.

These markets were not only open to Cultivators, but even had a large number of Mortals attached to them to survive, providing various living necessities.

The largest one among them was called Liuyun Market, about three hundred miles away from the Xuantian Sect.

Because of the recent friction between the Xuantian Sect and Tianluo Sect at the border, a large number of mercenaries and adventurous Loose Cultivators poured into Liuyun Market, bringing countless spoils looted from the border battlefield.

There was definitely what he needed there.

Early the next morning, Su Qinghan received a mandatory mission from the Law Enforcement Hall, leading a team to the border to suppress a group of Loose Cultivator bandits taking advantage of the chaos to plunder.

Watching Su Qinghan soar into the sky on her Flying Sword and neatly disappear into the clouds, Qi Yang nodded with satisfaction.

This girl was now decisive in killing and cutting, not needing him to worry at all, which saved him a lot of trouble.

After confirming there were no hidden sentries around the spiritual herb garden, Qi Yang returned to the secret room.

He kneaded his face for a moment, and his bones emitted a slight crackling sound.

His originally hunched body straightened a bit, and the wrinkles on his face were smoothed out, turning into the appearance of a middle-aged Loose Cultivator with a sallow complexion and somewhat gloomy eyes.

He swallowed a wuxiang pill, precisely suppressing his cultivation to the Qi Condensation Seventh Layer.

This cultivation level was neither high nor low; it would neither attract the covetousness of high-order Cultivators nor cause him to be casually bullied by bottom-tier punks.

Changing into a gray martial outfit and hiding the incomplete five elements ring and the poisoned sleeve arrows close to his body, Qi Yang quietly left the Xuantian Sect along the tunnel.

A distance of three hundred miles was merely half a day's journey for a high-order Qi Condensation Cultivator.

At dusk, Qi Yang stood before a bustling town built within a massive valley.

This was Liuyun Market.

On the outer periphery of the market, large patches of Mortal villages were built against the mountains.

Mortal Martial Artists, vendors, and porters shuttled back and forth, and the bustling aura of Mortal life rushed toward him.

Deep within the valley, it was shrouded by a layer of faint spiritual light Formation; that was the core area where immortal Cultivators traded.

Qi Yang paid the city entry fee of two Low-Grade Spirit Stones and successfully passed through the Formation light barrier.

The streets inside the market were wide, with shops standing in great numbers on both sides.

Qizhen Pavilion, Wanyao House, Baobing Tower... Various signboards exuded alluring spiritual light.

On the street, Cultivators dressed in various attires hurried along, and occasionally one could see a few border Loose Cultivators carrying a strong smell of blood.

Qi Yang did not go to those luxuriously decorated large shops. The places like that sold standard resources with clearly marked prices, and it was utterly impossible to have an unorthodox poison like the pulse-eroding blood vine.

He directly crossed the main street and came to an open-air square on the northern side of the market.

This was the area where Loose Cultivators set up stalls, commonly known as the bargain-hunting zone.

The square was buzzing with noise, and hundreds of stalls were arranged haphazardly.

Stall owners loudly hawked scrap metal and unknown Spiritual Plants they had obtained from various ruins, dangerous places, or the border battlefield.

Qi Yang cupped his hands in his sleeves, like an aimless idler, slowly shuttling between the stalls.

His powerful Poison Wood Spiritual Power perception acted like an invisible radar, sweeping across the items on every stall.

Dilapidated Magical Artifacts, shriveled Yao Beast inner cores, ordinary Spirit Medicine of insufficient age...

After browsing for a full half-hour, Qi Yang gained nothing.

Just as he was preparing to go to the market's Ghost Market intelligence merchant to spend a high price inquiring for clues, his footsteps suddenly stopped in front of a secluded stall.

This was a crude stall, and the stall owner was a bald Loose Cultivator missing one ear and with a fierce, fleshy face.

Spiritual power fluctuations of the Qi Condensation 8th Layer emanated from his body, and his gaze was fierce; at a glance, he was the kind of ruthless character who licked blood off the edge of a blade year-round.

On the stall were placed several dilapidated Flying Swords stained with dried blood, as well as a few filthy jade boxes.

Qi Yang's gaze locked dead onto one of the half-open jade boxes among them.

Inside the jade box lay a section of vine that was withered like firewood and dark red all over.

The surface of this vine was covered with fine scales. Although it had lost most of its vitality, the Poison Wood Spiritual Power within Qi Yang's body produced a strong desire to devour the moment it came into contact with its aura!

The residual root of the pulse-eroding blood vine!

Qi Yang's heart leaped wildly, but his face did not reveal the slightest anomaly.

He slowly squatted down, casually picked up a dilapidated Flying Sword on the stall, and examined it feignedly.

"How much for this piece of scrap metal?"

Qi Yang asked in a hoarse voice.

The bald stall owner glanced sideways at Qi Yang. Seeing that he only had the cultivation of the Qi Condensation Seventh Layer, he snorted coldly, "Fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, no bargaining."

"Too expensive, half of these Formation patterns are already destroyed."

Qi Yang shook his head, put down the Flying Sword, and let his gaze sweep casually across the jade box containing the blood vine.

"What kind of gimmick is this dry tree root anyway? There isn't a shred of Spiritual Qi."

A trace of craftiness flashed in the bald stall owner's eyes, and he slammed the jade box shut.

"This was looted by yours truly from the corpse of a Tianluo Sect Inner Sect Disciple on the border battlefield! Even though I don't know what it is, it's definitely a treasure! If you want it, take it for a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones!"

Qi Yang sneered inwardly.

This bald guy clearly didn't recognize the pulse-eroding blood vine and wanted to take a dead object to slaughter a fat sheep.

"A hundred? Are you robbing money?"

Qi Yang stood up, patted the dust off his hands, and turned to leave without the slightest hesitation.

The bald stall owner was stunned for a moment. Seeing that this only hooked fat sheep was about to leave, he hurriedly shouted, "Hey, hey, hey! Fellow Daoist, don't be anxious! The price is negotiable! Eighty! Fifty is fine too!"

Qi Yang stopped, turned around, felt out a shriveled Storage Pouch from his bosom, poured out thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and threw them onto the stall.

"Just thirty. That dry tree root looks pleasing to my eye, I'll buy it back to feed the venomous insects I raise. Sell it if you want, if not I'm leaving."

Qi Yang's tone was tough, exuding a sense of impatience.

The bald stall owner looked at the Spirit Stones on the ground and gritted his teeth.

He had asked people to identify that section of dry vine, and absolutely no one recognized it; keeping it in his hands was also useless.

"You're ruthless! Take it!"

The bald man grabbed the Spirit Stones and tossed the jade box to Qi Yang.

Qi Yang steadily caught the jade box and calmly stowed it away into his bosom.