473: Chapter 473 Buying Intelligence

The smile on the brocade-clad young man's Face froze, and the folding fan in his hand dropped to the ground, completely unnoticed by him.

It took a full five or six breaths before someone swallowed with difficulty, letting out a trembling murmur:

"Is... is this person a monster?!"

Ye Tian withdrew his finger and did not look at the brocade-clad young man, instead casting his gaze over the crowd to an inconspicuous spot in the corner of the viewing stands.

Sitting there was a middle-aged man wearing a ragged fur coat and a felt hat pulled down very low, obscuring most of his Face.

A pot of wine sat in front of him, and he was currently holding a wine cup, his hand suspended in mid-air, evidently also stunned by the scene just now.

"Mr. Vulture," Ye Tian said calmly, "I have a business deal I would like to discuss with you."

Everyone's gaze shifted once more, landing on that middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment, then set down his wine cup and slowly raised his head, revealing a gaunt Face.

He looked at Ye Tian, and after a long while, suddenly grinned.

"Interesting. Little brother, I'll take this business deal of yours."

Vulture's response caused the atmosphere of the entire Blood Hand Arena to shift instantly.

Those spectators who were originally discussing how Ye Tian had crippled the Iron Vajra with a single finger now turned their gazes toward the middle-aged man.

The name Vulture was not exactly a household name in the City of Buried Bones, but in well-informed circles, it held significant renown.

This person's whereabouts were uncertain and elusive, and he possessed a vast amount of intelligence regarding the ruins, Secret Realms, and Ancient Tombs of the Northern Wilderness.

It was said that as long as one could afford the price, there was no information he could not obtain.

However, he also had a peculiar habit.

He never did business with people he did not trust.

Even if you piled mountains of gold and silver in front of him, if he didn't like the look of you, he would still turn around and walk away.

At this moment, Vulture stood up from his seat, carried the pot of wine, and walked slowly down from the viewing stand to the edge of the arena.

He did not step onto the arena, but merely leaned against the railing, tilted his head back to take a swig of wine, then wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, sizing up Ye Tian.

"Little brother, impressive skills," Vulture said, his voice gurgling, likely a result of years of heavy drinking.

"To cripple the Iron Vajra with a single finger, there are not many in the entire City of Buried Bones who possess such power. But I am very curious, you are an outsider who just arrived in the city today, so how did you set your sights on me?"

Ye Tian smiled slightly and did not hide it: "The proprietress of the Spiders Nest introduced me."

"Black Spider Lady?" Vulture raised an eyebrow and then clicked his tongue, "That gossiping woman... I should have charged her twenty percent more when I sold her intelligence last time."

He took another swig of wine, his gaze swept over Ye Tian, and then he nodded: "Since it was Black Spider Lady who introduced you, that at least means you aren't here to cause me trouble. Speak, what information do you want to buy?"

Ye Tian looked around: "There are too many eyes here; this is not the place to talk."

Vulture clearly understood this point as well, and he waved his hand: "Follow me."

After saying this, he turned and walked toward a passageway on the side of the arena.

Ye Tian gave a look to Shui Qingdie, and the two followed closely behind.

The three of them walked through a corridor, made a few turns, and arrived in front of a small room behind the arena.

Vulture pushed open the wooden door and walked in first.

The room was sparsely furnished with a table and two chairs, and upon entering, one could smell a strong scent of alcohol.

Vulture sat down behind the table, crossed his legs, took out a wine gourd from his waist, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip before speaking slowly: "Speak, what do you want to know?"

Ye Tian sat down opposite him, and Shui Qingdie stood behind him.

"The ancient altar to the north," Ye Tian said, getting straight to the point.

Vulture's hand holding the wine gourd paused slightly, and the expression on his Face changed ever so slightly.

Although it was only for an instant, it had already been captured by Ye Tian.

"That altar..." Vulture set down the wine gourd, "That is a hot potato. In the last half-month, no fewer than five groups have come to me to inquire about that altar. Do you know where they are now?"

"I would like to hear the details."

"Two groups died, one group was crippled, and another two groups entered the altar's vicinity and never came out again."

"A few days ago, a Loose Cultivator leader at the Sea Transformation Second Layer took a whole team of over twenty people in to scout the path. Yesterday, someone found their captain's weapon on the outskirts of the altar, but the people were gone, and there wasn't even a drop of blood in the surrounding area."

Upon hearing this, Shui Qingdie's Face turned slightly pale.

Ye Tian continued to ask: "What exactly is inside that altar?"

Vulture did not answer directly but instead asked in return: "Do you know the origin of that altar?"

"Please, Senior, tell me."

Vulture took another swig of wine, his eyes becoming somewhat distant, as if recalling some long-past event: "That place, it is said that in the ancient era, it was the Dao field of a great expert. Later, for some unknown reason, that expert fell, and the Dao field sank underground. Later still, a powerful expert built an altar upon those ruins to suppress some... ominous object."

"An ominous object?" Ye Tian pressed.

"No one knows exactly what it is," Vulture shook his head, "but one thing is certain. Everyone who approaches that altar will be affected to some degree. At best, they suffer from restlessness and nightmares. At worst, they lose their sanity and turn against their own kin. The one person who returned alive previously is the best example of this."

He spoke to this point and gave Ye Tian a meaningful look: "Little brother, I see that you are young and already possess such cultivation, your future is limitless. That altar is no good place; I advise you to think twice before acting."

"Thank you for your kindness, Sir," Ye Tian said, sincerely grateful, but his attitude remained resolute, "However, my trip north was precisely for this altar. I will not turn back before achieving my goal."

Vulture stared at Ye Tian for a good while, seemingly judging his resolve.

Eventually, he sighed and pulled a square-folded piece of animal hide from his bosom, spreading it out on the table.

It was a map.

The map was marked with some strange symbols.

In the center of the map, a pattern resembling an altar was drawn, with several lines of notes written beside it, though some parts had been worn away and were no longer legible.

"This is the topographical map of the area around that altar," Vulture said, pointing at the map.

"It is something I spent several years piecing together from seven or eight different incomplete maps. It covers the main terrain on the outskirts of the altar and several key marked points. With this, at least you won't get lost on the outskirts of the altar."

Ye Tian's gaze fell on the map, scanning it quickly, memorizing those terrains and markings.

"How much for this map?" he asked.

Vulture extended three fingers: "Thirty thousand Spirit Stones."

Shui Qingdie gasped: "Thirty thousand? That's too expensive!"

"Expensive?" Vulture chuckled, "Little girl, this is intelligence bought with one's life. Last year, in order to map the terrain of that swamp in the northeast corner, I was almost swallowed by the poisonous flood dragon inside. Thirty thousand Spirit Stones is already a discount given for the sake of Black Spider Lady."

Ye Tian did not haggle and directly took out three High-Grade Spirit Stones from his Universe Ring and placed them on the table.

A High-Grade Spirit Stone was worth ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and they were priceless and hard to find.

Vulture's eyes lit up immediately, and he grabbed the three Spirit Stones, weighed them, and nodded with satisfaction: "Good! I love doing business with straightforward people!"

He pushed the map toward Ye Tian: "Take it. But let me warn you—you'd best not go to the location marked with a red cross on the map. The several batches of scouts I sent out previously all went missing near that area."

Ye Tian looked down and saw that in a valley location in the northeast corner of the map, a striking red cross had indeed been drawn with cinnabar.

"I understand." Ye Tian folded the map, put it away, and stood up, "Thank you for your guidance, Sir."

"Wait," Vulture suddenly called out to him.