40: Soul-Chasing Bone Nails

After selling all the remaining sweet potato pill to Qin Xiangling, Lin Jingyu did not delay in the slightest; he left the market entrance and headed straight for the shantytown.

After twisting and turning, he stopped in front of a dilapidated house filled with the smell of inferior Spiritual Plant and rot, then knocked on the door.

The door creaked open a crack, revealing Gong Changshou's sallow, sickly-looking face.

Seeing that it was Lin Jingyu, his murky eyes brightened.

"It is Fellow Daoist Lin, you have sold out of the sweet potato pill, right! Please, come in quickly."

Lin Jingyu lowered his voice and spoke directly: "Brother Gong, I have an urgent matter. I need to go to the 'Black Market'. You mentioned last time that you had a way in; I wonder if you could take me there?"

Gong Changshou's murky eyes narrowed sharply. He looked around vigilantly before saying: "The 'Black Market', Lin kid, that place is a mix of dragons and snakes, and the waters are very deep. You..."

"I have my own judgment, and I have reasons why I must go." Lin Jingyu's gaze was firm. He fished two Spirit Stone out from his bosom and handed them over. "Two Spirit Stone as an introduction fee, is that enough?"

Gong Changshou licked his lips while looking at the Spirit Stone, but he still shook his head and said: "Fellow Daoist Lin, I do want to earn your Spirit Stone, but the Black Market has rules. To enter, one must have at least one hundred Spirit Stone or items worth one hundred Spirit Stone as a qualification..."

Lin Jingyu put an arm around Gong Changshou and led him into his dim, dilapidated, and damp house, then solemnly took out the VIP room jade token for the "Immortal Residence".

Gong Changshou saw the jade token with its gentle, flowing spiritual light and gasped: "Hiss... Immortal Residence VIP room? You kid... your connections are wild. You even managed to get your hands on this. You should know that many people, even with Spirit Stone in hand, are not qualified to book a room. This is worth at least one hundred and forty Spirit Stone."

He snatched the jade token and greedily rubbed it a few times, squeezing a smile onto his sallow face: "Enough. It's more than enough."

Lin Jingyu held a thunder fiend talisman in his hand, not afraid that Gong Changshou would become greedy and try to steal the treasure.

Gong Changshou caressed it for a good while before reluctantly returning it: "Little Miss Liu from Peony Street said that whoever can take her to stay one night in the inner area VIP room, she will provide a full set of services for free, unlimited times. What a pity, what a pity..."

He turned back into the room and came out a moment later, having changed into an even more tattered robe. He personally helped Lin Jingyu with his disguise, then led him into the labyrinthine alleys.

Gong Changshou stooped, like a vigilant rat, leading Lin Jingyu through the depths of the narrow alleys in the shantytown, where sewage flowed and the stench was unbearable.

They finally stopped in front of a collapsed stone house half-buried by a huge mountain of trash. The pungent smell of rot was almost tangible.

"We're here." Gong Changshou's voice was extremely low as his withered fingers rhythmically tapped several times on a moss-covered spot on the wall.

"Creak—creak—" A heavy grinding sound rang out, and the wall silently slid open, revealing a gap only wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. A thick, damp, musty odor mixed with murky Spiritual Qi rushed toward them.

"Follow closely, don't look around, don't talk too much," Gong Changshou whispered, then dived in first.

The moment he stepped into the space behind the gap, Lin Jingyu's pupils constricted. The view suddenly opened up; it was a vast, immense underground cavern.

Countless rough, jagged natural stone pillars, like the spines of giants supporting the heavens, pierced from bottom to top into the dim dome.

The faint, flickering, eerie green will-o'-the-wisps and the inferior moonstones with murky light embedded in the stone walls reflected off each other, rendering the entire space bizarre and filled with ghostly shadows.

Gong Changshou bent his body low and said hoarsely: "Number 761, bringing a new member."

"Produce the credential."

After a few breaths, a cold voice came. Only then did Lin Jingyu see that, at some point, a Man in Black wearing a skull mask had appeared on a rock nearby.

The Aura on his body was immense, far exceeding that of the Lin Family Great Elder.

Lin Jingyu felt a chill in his heart; this was definitely a top expert at the Late Stage Qi Refining.

Not daring to delay, he quickly took out the VIP room jade token for the "Immortal Residence" and held it in his palm.

"Requirements met, pass."

Then, a wooden token flew over wobblingly and landed in Lin Jingyu's hand.

On the front were the characters "1324", and on the back were dozens of small characters detailing how to properly knock on the door.

The two moved quickly, passing through a narrow corridor, and arrived inside the Black Market.

On a flat ground about a hundred zhang in radius, stalls were packed together. At a glance, there were no fewer than a hundred people.

But there was no hawking or selling; there were only countless whispers lowered to near-breathy sounds, merging into an unsettling "buzzing" wave of noise.

The air was mixed with the heavy scent of blood, pungent medicinal herbs, metallic rust, and a raw, naked Aura of greedy desire, which was dizzying.

The figures coming and going all hid their faces with hoods, masks, or Spell, like startled foxes or rats, their eyes vigilant and sinister, filled with cold wariness toward one another.

Whether it was Medicinal Pill forbidden by the Qinglan Sect, special Magical Artifact, or even the methods of demonic Cultivators.

Here, as long as one had Spirit Stone, one could purchase almost any item needed, at least twenty percent cheaper than in the market.

Lin Jingyu and Gong Changshou separated, his gaze sweeping across the stalls on both sides as sharp as a falcon. His goal was extremely clear—to find a lethal weapon that could pose a fatal threat to a Cultivator at the Qi Refining Mid-Stage.

Even though the family head Lin Lingshan was about to come out of seclusion, he still felt some unease in his heart. After all, his own strength was simply too weak. The three thunder fiend talisman were good. But he still wanted more.

He directly ignored those so-called "treasures" that flashed with strange colors and had unknown origins.

Finally, his gaze locked tightly onto an extremely inconspicuous, dark corner deep in the corridor.

There, a stooped figure completely wrapped in a tattered, heavy cloak whose original color could barely be distinguished, seemed to merge with the shadows.

The Aura on his body, while not as strong as the Cultivator at the entrance, was still stronger than the Lin Family Great Elder. He was suspected to be a great Cultivator at the Late Stage Qi Refining.

His stall was empty, with only a few items placed casually.

Among them, a sharp nail about three inches long, pale as bone, and shaped like the fang of some Vicious Beast, instantly seized all of Lin Jingyu's attention.

The entire Bone Nail was covered with fine cracks that seemed as if they could shatter at any moment, with only a point of dark red at the tip, like solidified filthy blood, emitting a chilling, ominous, and fierce Aura.

Lin Jingyu squatted down calmly, lowered his voice, and asked directly: "What is the name of this object? What is its use? How powerful is it?"

From under the cloak came a hoarse, dry voice like a broken bellows being pulled, every word seeming to have the texture of rusted iron rubbing together: "'bane bone soul-chasing nail'. A fang from a Yao Beast at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, refined with secret methods. It is a damaged artifact; although its spirituality is mostly lost, but..."

He extended a finger that was withered like a bird's claw, with filth under the nail, and carefully pinched the Bone Nail, holding it up before Lin Jingyu's eyes: "Once this nail is unleashed, if a Cultivator at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer does not have a High Grade protective Magical Artifact, they will find it hard to escape the calamity of having their heart pierced and soul shattered."

"However, it only has the power of this one strike; once used, it will be ruined."