339: Trading Conference with Strange People

Spike Camp.

This camp was clearly worse than Hope Camp, not even comparable to Blade Camp.

The outer perimeter of the camp was a sturdy wall constructed from steel and rock. A few fully armed guards were vigilantly patrolling the surroundings. The wall was neither tall nor large.

The central area consisted of simple houses built from various materials. These houses were either stacked with hard stones quarried from the underground or pieced together with metal plates brought from the earth's surface.

But there were many Martial Artists here; in terms of numbers, there were significantly more than in Blade Camp.

Many Martial Artists simply sat around a huge bonfire, the flames burning brightly. The air was filled with the aroma of roasted meat, wafting from the grill beside the fire.

As Shen Bei and the other two entered, they heard an incessant clamor:

“Blind man, what did you gain today?”

“Mute, can you shut up?”

“Tomorrow is the day Wala Mountain opens. Why risk hunting Vicious Beasts? Just go exchange, and you’ll still gain a lot.”

“Those aliens are really stupid. A lighter can be exchanged for a Medicinal Pill, haha.”

“That was before, it doesn’t work now. The aliens’ intelligence has caught up.”

“Don’t underestimate the aliens. We treat them like fools, but they also treat us like fools. Some Martial Artists even pay a high price for worthless items.”

...

After Shen Bei and the others left Black Furnace City, they rushed to Spike Camp without encountering any danger along the way.

However, exhaustion still plagued their bodies.

Especially Shen Bei, from eliminating the three-person robbery group to teaming up with Zhuang Bifan to kill the Seventh Rank Fang Han.

Then, he quickly rushed to Spike Camp, almost completely draining Shen Bei's physical strength.

Shen Bei really wanted to find a hotel to rest.

But rooms that could be called hotels were booked early by other Martial Artists.

After all, tomorrow was the Wala Mountain trading day, and a large number of Martial Artists gathered here, so accommodation was naturally insufficient.

Finally, the three of them could only find an open space. Zhuang Bifan pulled out three military tents, making do for a night.

Even so, the army of Spike Camp came to collect a land occupation fee.

The three of them naturally didn't have to pay.

As soon as Zhuang Bifan's identification was shown, all problems were solved.

“I just realized, military identification is very popular,” Shen Bei said enviously while cooking a pot of instant food.

The three tents didn't occupy much space. If they had to pay, one would cost 8,000 yuan.

The army had a legitimate reason for collecting money, which did not conflict with not being allowed to engage in commerce.

The army was responsible for protecting the camp's safety. Every Martial Artist who entered, while enjoying this treatment, had to pay.

In other words, wasn't Fang Nanxi hiring Shen Bei and Zhuang Bifan to buy her own safety?

The logic was the same.

At this moment, Zhuang Bifan pried open a military ration can, handed it to Fang Nanxi, and said, “I told you to join the army, but you wouldn’t. Look, the money you saved is enough for how many odd jobs?”

“You can’t calculate it that way. Don’t you know the principle that making money is like eating shit, and spending money is like diarrhea?”

“We’re eating, can you stop with the shit, pee, and farts?”

Fang Nanxi gagged a few times on the side, nodded, and agreed with Zhuang Bifan's statement.

Shen Bei, with an indifferent expression, scoffed, “A true strong person dares to sleep in a graveyard, eat Gua Zi in a bathroom, sit on a corpse and eat drumsticks, and eat instant noodles in an dissection room.”

Zhuang Bifan rolled his eyes, no longer bothering with Shen Bei, and ate his meal in peace.

After eating and drinking to their fill.

Shen Bei and Zhuang Bifan brewed a pot of tea and leisurely drank it.

Out in the wild, they wouldn't dare to openly light a fire and brew tea like this.

They would instantly become targets for aliens and Vicious Beasts.

This was the advantage of the camp; it allowed people to temporarily forget danger and enjoy a rare moment.

Fang Nanxi left for a short while to gather information, to see if there was a team returning to Hope Camp, and at the same time, take Fang Han’s corpse back to the earth's surface.

Shen Bei lay on the soft mat, taking a sip of black tea, and suddenly asked, “When we dealt with Fang Han, you saw the jade tablet he crushed, right? That time when a black gas explosive bear appeared.”

Zhuang Bifan reached into the full-length mirror and pulled out two bags of milk, signaling to Shen Bei.

Shen Bei shook his head.

Zhuang Bifan tore open the packaging, poured the condensed milk into the black tea, added some white sugar, and stirred it while saying, “You want to ask what that was, right? That’s a Beast Soul Jade Talisman, a kind of…”

Zhuang Bifan explained gradually.

After about a few minutes, Shen Bei understood and then asked, “Can it Seal a person’s Soul?”

“That’s a paradox.”

Zhuang Bifan drank the milk tea in his cup in one gulp, responding.

Shen Bei became interested and asked curiously, “Why do you say that?”

“Whether humans have a Soul or not, this concept cannot be determined.”

“But animals can, so why can’t humans? Are humans worse than beasts?”

Zhuang Bifan sniffed and said, “Because we human Martial Artists cannot do this, or rather, we don’t understand how to Seal the Soul of a Vicious Beast into a Beast Soul Jade Talisman. If we haven’t even learned to crawl, how can we explore whether we can Seal a human Soul into it?”

Shen Bei had some insight.

Zhuang Bifan did not deny the human Soul.

Rather, he couldn't determine if humans had a Soul.

After all, if they couldn't even fully research Sealing beast Souls, researching human Souls was even more impossible.

Unless human Martial Artists made a Breakthrough in their research on beast Souls, only then could they attempt to use the method of Sealing beast Souls to explore whether they could Seal human Souls.

“Although the history of the appearance of the underground can be traced back very far, the real contact has only been less than a hundred years.”

Zhuang Bifan’s gaze became more determined, and his tone became deeper. He continued, “To put it bluntly, we still have a great deal of the unknown to study and ponder. Even if someone has reached the Central Continent of the underground, it was merely a fleeting glimpse, with no opportunity to truly understand anything.”

Shen Bei’s eyes were deep. He slowly nodded and asked, “Then guess, what exactly did Yun Zhiyi see?”

Zhuang Bifan narrowed his long, slender eyes and said indifferently, “The name Yun Zhiyi is very interesting.”

Shen Bei blurted out, “It means the unity of knowledge and action.”

“Exactly,” Zhuang Bifan took a deep breath. “Just imagine, what exactly made him unify knowledge and action?”

“Are you asking me?”

“Aren’t we analyzing?”

“I can analyze it, as for robbing Fang Han…”

Zhuang Bifan laughed, “It seems we’re still missing a bad idea man.”

Shen Bei scratched his head, “Just the two of us is enough. If there’s one more, we’ll definitely end up taking sides.”

Zhuang Bifan naturally knew that wherever there were humans, as long as there were more than three people, factions would appear. This was an extremely annoying social phenomenon that would greatly interfere with making correct judgments about a certain matter.

This was also why Bai Wei only allowed Shen Bei and Zhuang Bifan to team up.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t send more Martial Artists; fewer meant less disagreement and interference with the correct course of action.

More meant too large a target, making it difficult to hide.

Two people were just right.

Then, Shen Bei asked another question, “If we find the Martial Dao Pinnacle, will you look, or will I look?”

Zhuang Bifan styled his hair in the full-length mirror and replied indifferently, “I only look at myself.”

“You’re afraid that if you see the end, life will be boring, right?” Shen Bei exposed Zhuang Bifan’s thoughts.

Zhuang Bifan was calm, openly admitting, “Isn’t the unknown of tomorrow what life is all about?”

Shen Bei composed himself, “Good mentality.”

Shen Bei understood that a Martial Dao Pinnacle marked the end of a Martial Artist’s journey. Seeing through it all at a glance, for some people, truly held no meaning.

It was like a stable job, working until retirement, still the same job, without any promotion, without any ups and downs, seeing the end at a glance.

For some, this was stability.

But for those who were not content with the status quo, this was torture.

Different ways of thinking also led to different choices.

For Zhuang Bifan, he would rather stand outside and guard after finding the Martial Dao Pinnacle than go in and take a look.

Nor would he listen to Shen Bei babble about what the Martial Dao Pinnacle truly was.

The unknown tomorrow and a handsome appearance were the only two things he cared about.

Other matters could wait…

Just then.

Fang Nanxi returned after finishing her business.

Shen Bei asked a few questions.

Fang Nanxi had already found a team returning to Hope Camp.

This team would return to the earth's surface after the Wala Mountain trading day ended. Fang Nanxi only needed to hire two Martial Artists to help carry the corpse, and she would follow them.

...

The night passed without incident.

The next day, the sun, hanging in the sky, suddenly brightened.

The Martial Artists of Spike Camp washed up and had breakfast.

They formed a large team at the entrance, gathering their forces, ready to set off for Wala Mountain.

Zhuang Bifan, in the full-length mirror, dragged out Fang Han's corpse bag.

“This is where we part ways.”

Zhuang Bifan said.

Fang Nanxi didn't need to go to Wala Mountain; she just needed to wait for the Martial Artist team to return.

“Thank you both,” Fang Nanxi responded with a slight smile on her red lips.

Shen Bei waved his hand, “Remember, you paid, so you don’t need to be polite with everyone.”

“See you again if there’s a chance.”

“Goodbye!”

Shen Bei and Zhuang Bifan bid farewell to Fang Nanxi.

The two walked out of the camp and followed the main force to the Wala Mountain trading ground, twenty kilometers away.

Shen Bei planned to first gather some strange information from this place, then filter out suspicious areas to explore, until he found the secret of the Martial Dao Pinnacle.

On the way.

The daily settlement panel arrived as scheduled.

【Yesterday’s settlement rewards are as follows:】

【Completed the mission to eliminate Fang Han: Gained Money +600,000, Strength Attribute +3, Physique +3, Agility +3, Spirit +5. Spirit Resistance +20% (Maxed out)】

Shen Bei glanced at it.

His heart was excited!

This was amazing; his resistance to spirit-type attacks had reached one hundred percent!

Shen Bei now had one hundred percent resistance to electric shock, one hundred percent resistance to strong light, one hundred percent resistance to toxins, plus one hundred percent resistance to spirit attacks.

His strength had improved even further!

The only regret was that the three-person robbery group wasn't considered a mission…

However, it was still the same old saying, why ask for a bicycle when you have a car!

He closed the panel.

Shen Bei quickly ran a few steps to catch up with the large group ahead.

This large group consisted of about two hundred people, all starting at Fifth Rank strength, and he even heard that there were Eighth Rank Martial Warriors also doing such small business.

With such a team, as they walked along, the Vicious Beasts along the way were in a panic, running faster than dogs, not daring to provoke them at all.

Not long after.

The main force arrived at Wala Mountain.

A scene that broadened Shen Bei's horizons unfolded before him…