468: Sihai Trading Company

The city guard captain quickly took the two Low Grade Immortal Stones. The sensation of the incredibly pure immortal spirit qi made his fingers tremble slightly.

He suppressed the greed and shock in his heart and stepped aside to clear the path.

"You two, please proceed!"

Gu Changge nodded slightly, his gaze seemingly casually sweeping over the palms of other Cultivators who were paying their fees nearby.

He saw that what they held in their hands was a type of crystal that was more translucent and had more concentrated energy than Spirit Stones, formed from condensed Spiritual Qi.

The spiritual power contained within was roughly between that of a High-Grade Spirit Stone and a Top-Grade Spirit Stone from the Lower Realm.

"I see, so these are Spirit Crystals."

Gu Changge understood immediately.

"Let's go."

He spoke indifferently to Xiaobai beside him and ignored the complex looks of the surrounding crowd as he stepped into the magnificent gates of Sunset City.

The guard leader withdrew his gaze from Gu Changge, his mind racing with calculations.

The white-robed man before him had an aura vaguely at the Saint Realm level of cultivation.

The black-clothed follower beside him had the aura of the Void Immortal Realm and vigorous blood vitality, but his immortal essence didn't seem refined yet, as if he had just achieved a Breakthrough not long ago.

These two people had casually taken out two stones just to pay a mere two Spirit Crystals for the entrance fee!

The most crucial point was that these two could actually produce Immortal Stones for an entrance fee!

They were either from a major power or were upstarts who had hit some stroke of dumb luck.

One must know that in this Chenyun Immortal Domain, although the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was denser than in the Lower Realm, and Cultivators could rely on slow, painstaking work to Cultivate to the Saint Realm or even the Void Immortal Realm, there was still a path to follow.

However, once one entered the Void Immortal Realm, one needed to convert all their spiritual power into a higher level of immortal essence. The thin and constantly dissipating Immortal Qi here became the greatest shackle.

Countless Void Immortals spent their entire lives unable to take the critical steps in the conversion of immortal essence.

Because of this, Immortal Stones containing pure Immortal Qi became treasures that all Void Immortals and even True Immortals dreamed of!

They could greatly accelerate the immortal essence conversion process and were supreme resources for a Breakthrough in Realm.

With Immortal Qi dissipating, Immortal Stones became non-renewable strategic reserves, almost completely monopolized by the Chenyun Immortal Palace and its affiliated major powers. Ordinary Cultivators had no chance of seeing them.

A single Low Grade Immortal Stone could often be exchanged for a hundred thousand Spirit Crystals on the black market, and even then, they were in high demand but unavailable!

The two men, including Zhao Gang, who had gone to the Xuanhuang Great World before, had a combined collection of only fifty Immortal Stones!

Seeing Gu Changge and the other walk into the city with calm expressions, the captain's face immediately changed.

He shouted sternly at the slightly restless crowd behind him to cover up his previous loss of composure:

"What are you looking at! Haven't you seen the world? Hurry up, those wanting to enter the city, be quick!

One Spirit Crystal per person, don't dawdle here!"

While maintaining order, he seemingly casually turned his back.

His fingers quickly and covertly tapped several times on an unremarkable jade pendant at his waist.

A piece of information was sent out through this specific channel.

This information was sent to the backyard of the Four Seas Trading Firm in the city, an underground intelligence and black market organization that appeared to be a merchant guild on the surface but actually specialized in the business of theft and robbery.

This captain had long been in league with them, agreeing that if there was information on a 'fat sheep,' he would pass it on secretly, and he would take a five-percent cut of the proceeds afterwards.

"Secret message to Four Seas Trading Firm: Fat sheep entering the city, one master and one servant. Master suspected Saint Realm, servant newly entered Void Immortal.

Suspected of great wealth; threw down two Low Grade Immortal Stones upon entry. Investigate quickly, usual rules."

The Four Seas Trading Firm had been rooted in Sunset City for many years. Their actions were secretive and ruthless, and their methods were sophisticated. They had handled countless similar matters and almost never failed.

It was rumored that there was a shadow of a certain powerful figure from the Chenyun Immortal Palace behind them, so even if a disturbance occasionally occurred, it was always resolved quietly.

In any case, if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up; this wasn't something a lowly city guard captain should worry about.

With the message sent, the captain felt slightly more at ease and even a bit expectant.

However, that extraordinary calmness from the guests caused an indescribable sense of unease to flash through his heart for some reason.

Whatever. If they really were fat sheep, they could certainly be squeezed for profit, and he could gain benefits just by sitting there.

If not, let the others go and bump their heads; it wouldn't involve him.

Meanwhile, in an unremarkable alley behind the bustling main street of Sunset City.

In a secret room in the backyard of the Four Seas Trading Firm, a kind-looking fat shopkeeper who was fiddling with an abacus paused slightly.

He raised his eyelids and glanced at the few lines of small characters that appeared before him.

In those eyes, squeezed small by fat, a glint of shrewdness flashed, like a shark that had scented blood.

"Immortal Stones as an entry fee?"

He muttered to himself, his fingers unconsciously flicking the abacus twice, as a warm yet cold smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Interesting, truly an interesting distinguished guest. We must have the brothers entertain them properly."

He clapped his hands lightly. In the shadows, a blurred figure quietly emerged and bowed to receive orders.

"Shadow Crow, follow the two guests who just entered the city, the one in white is the master, the one in black is the servant.

Be careful, find out their background. See if it's some ignorant Young Master or if they really have some other origin."

Shadow Crow nodded silently and quietly disappeared like ink blending into the ground.

As Gu Changge and Xiaobai stepped into the city, his Divine Sense had already quietly washed over every corner near the city gate like an invisible tide.

The subtle transmission fluctuations between the city guard captain and the Four Seas Trading Firm, as well as the fat shopkeeper's secret words and the dispatching of the scout afterwards...

Under his vast Divine Thought at the Immortal Emperor Perfection level, it was as clear as if it were happening before his eyes or being whispered in his ear.

"Heh, it seems the Four Seas Trading Firm is an underground tentacle of this city."

Gu Changge smiled indifferently in his heart, not caring in the slightest.

In his past life, he had read all sorts of novels and had seen countless similar situations.

He hadn't expected to encounter it himself just by stepping out the door.

In places where resources were scarce, the Law of the jungle was often more overtly displayed; collusion, greed, and calculation were merely the most basic desires of living beings.

"It's much the same in any world, among any kind of being."

He shook his head slightly, his tone carrying a hint of sentiment.

"Very well," a faint sense of amusement crossed his heart.

"Since you've taken the initiative to approach, I'll play along with you."

"Master, what did you say?"

Xiaobai asked with some confusion from the side.

He hadn't noticed those subtle transmission fluctuations, but he stood guard loyally by his side.

"Nothing," Gu Changge waved his hand and said casually.

"Since we've arrived in this so-called Immortal Domain, we should naturally experience the local customs."

Gu Changge led Xiaobai at a leisurely pace, blending into the bustling crowd of Sunset City.

Shops lined both sides of the street, and the cries of street vendors were endless. The items for sale ranged from low-level Talismans, Medicinal Pills, and Materials to handicrafts and specialty snacks containing faint spiritual energy, a dazzling array of goods.

The air was filled with thin Immortal Qi, mixed with the smell of cooking fires and the sound of voices, giving it a unique atmosphere of mundane life.

Gu Changge looked at everything with interest, as if he were truly a first-time visitor curious about everything.

Within his vast, star-like perception of Divine Sense, an obscure aura that was being suppressed to the extreme and almost blended with the market noise quietly appeared a hundred feet away, following them like a shadow.