88: black market

Tianxing City, Central District, Qingshi Alley.

The night was as dark as ink, yet the night sky of Tianxing City was more brilliant than the day. Countless pavilions floating in the air emitted multicolored spiritual light, like a river of stars hanging upside down.

But beneath that glamorous facade, there were still unknown shadows.

Zhou Wannian changed into a loose black robe and put on a previously prepared 'Thousand Illusion Mask' that could isolate Divine Sense.

"Now that I have money, I have to spend it where it counts."

He felt the heavy Storage Pouch in his arms. With Young Master Ling's five thousand Spirit Stones plus what he had earned selling Formation Plates recently, his liquid capital had once again broken the ten-thousand mark.

"Goal: Purchase high-level talisman-making Materials, and... find a special carrier that can hold a 'Second-Tier Top-Grade Talisman Formation'."

Ordinary talisman paper, even top-grade, would find it difficult to withstand the terrifying spiritual pressure of a Second-Tier Top-Grade Talisman Formation. He needed a tougher, more stable material, such as—Yao Beast hide... Ghost Market, Lower District of Tianxing City.

The scale here was more than ten times larger than the Ghost Market in Qinghe Market.

There was no prosperity like above ground, only dampness, darkness, and the omnipresent smell of blood.

Zhou Wannian blended into the crowd, moving through like a ghost.

"Complete hide of a Second-Tier Early Stage 'Iron-Back Bear', only eight hundred Spirit Stones!"

"Freshly made 'Demon Blood Ink', top-grade for drawing talismans, five hundred a bottle!"

Zhou Wannian walked and looked along the way. His standards were extremely high; after all, he was someone who had seen the world (having emptied the Chen Family Treasury and the Yun seal Water Mansion), so ordinary goods simply couldn't catch his eye.

Until he walked up to a stall located in a corner.

The stall owner was a freak wrapped entirely in bandages, with only a pair of cloudy eyes showing. In front of him lay a beast hide the size of a tabletop, emitting a faint silver light.

"This is..."

Zhou Wannian's pupils constricted slightly.

The surface of that beast hide had natural cloud patterns, its texture as soft as silk yet as tough as iron. Vaguely, a fluctuation of spatial power could be felt.

"The belly skin of a Second-Tier Late Stage 'Void Ray'?"

Zhou Wannian asked in a low voice.

The bandaged freak looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, seemingly not expecting this unremarkable black-robed person to actually recognize the goods.

"Good eyes."

The freak's voice was hoarse, "I picked this up near the 'Eye of the Storm' in the Outer Sea. Although it's a bit damaged, it's still a rare top-grade item. Fixed price, three thousand Spirit Stones."

"Three thousand?"

Several nearby passersby gasped. This price was enough to buy a decent Medium Grade Magical Artifact.

However, Zhou Wannian didn't think it was expensive.

The skin of a Void Ray naturally possessed spatial attributes, making it an excellent material for creating 'Spatial Talisman Formations' or 'Ultra-Long Distance Teleportation Talismans'!

Most importantly, this piece of skin was large enough!

"If I use this piece of skin sparingly, I can cut out at least ten standard Formation Plate bases, and even have some scraps left over to make talisman paper."

"Calculating it, the cost per unit is only three hundred Spirit Stones."

"This deal is worth doing."

Zhou Wannian was just about to take out the money.

"Hold on!"

An arrogant voice suddenly cut in.

A young dandy wearing a flashy dharma robe, followed by two lackeys at the Qi Refinement Perfection stage, strode over ostentatiously.

"I've taken a fancy to this skin! I'll pay three thousand five hundred!"

The Young Master was waving a folding fan, wearing an expression of 'I'm rich and I do what I want'.

The bandaged freak didn't even look at him, only staring at Zhou Wannian: "First come, first served, but the highest bidder wins."

"Hey! You freak, you don't want to make money?" The Young Master was furious, "I am the Young Lord of the 'Jinguang Sect'! In this neck of the woods, who dares to compete with me?"

Jinguang Sect?

Zhou Wannian's eyebrows twitched slightly.

He had heard it was a medium-sized Gang in the Lower District that specialized in protection rackets and loan sharking.

"Four thousand."

Zhou Wannian spoke indifferently, directly raising the price.

"You!" The Young Master glared at Zhou Wannian, "Five thousand!"

"Six thousand."

Zhou Wannian's expression remained unchanged.

"You... you just wait!"

The Young Master's face turned green with rage, but he wasn't a fool; someone who dared to bid like this in the Ghost Market was either a lunatic or a ruthless person with backing.

He gave Zhou Wannian a vicious glare, spat out a threat, and left dejectedly with his lackeys. However, the sinister look in his eyes as he left clearly showed he didn't intend to let the matter rest.

Zhou Wannian paid the money and put away the precious beast hide.

"Thanks."

He nodded to the bandaged freak and turned to leave... Ghost Market exit, a dark little alley.

Just as Zhou Wannian walked in, Wangcai on his shoulder suddenly perked up its ears alertly and squeaked twice toward the back.

"As expected, they followed."

Zhou Wannian swept his Divine Sense slightly and found that a hundred feet behind him, those two Jinguang Sect lackeys were stealthily tailing him under the cover of night.

"Want to rob the robber?"

A cold smile curled at the corner of Zhou Wannian's mouth.

He didn't speed up to escape, nor did he turn back to take action (that would cause too much commotion).

He simply pulled out the Void Ray skin from his bosom, cut off a thumbnail-sized scrap, and took out the 'talisman brush' he carried with him, dipping it in a bit of the spiritual ink he had just bought.

"Just in time to test my skills."

With a flick of Zhou Wannian's wrist, the tip of the brush quickly outlined on that small piece of skin.

In just a breath, a simple yet exquisite 'Chaos Space Talisman' was formed.

"Go!"

He tossed the piece of skin behind him while simultaneously injecting a wisp of spiritual energy.

Buzz!

The air distorted slightly.

A momentary visual displacement appeared in the alley.

In the sight of those two lackeys, the black-robed person in front seemed to still be walking forward, but his figure became somewhat blurred, even splitting into two or three phantoms that scattered in different directions.

"Clone technique?!"

The two lackeys were stunned and hurriedly split up to give chase.

In reality, the real Zhou Wannian had already used this moment of spatial folding and visual deception to cling to the shadows above the alley like a gecko.

Wait until the two lackeys had run far away, he then dropped from the shadows, patted his robes, and leisurely departed in the opposite direction.

"Technology is the primary productive force."

...Back at Qingshi Alley.

Zhou Wannian didn't dive straight into the secret room.

He first stood in the courtyard and activated all the defensive Formations, enveloping the entire small courtyard in layers of Restrictions.

Then, he slapped a 'Clear Spirit Talisman' on himself and used his Divine Sense to meticulously scan his entire body three times. After confirming there were no tracking marks planted on his clothes, soles, or even strands of hair, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Carefulness is the key to longevity."

After confirming his safety, he pushed open the door to the secret room and walked in.

"Materials obtained, trouble shaken off. Next is... technical upgrades."

He spread out that Void Ray skin, carefully cut out a palm-sized portion of the essence, and took out the 'turtle spirit brush' and the specially made spiritual ink.

"Ordinary defensive Formation Plates can only take a beating passively."

"But for someone of Young Master Ling's status, he needs more than just defense; he needs... a counterattack, or an escape."

A special talisman Formation from the 'Cloud Seal Heavenly Scripture' surfaced in Zhou Wannian's mind—【Void Shifting Shield】.

"Utilizing the spatial attributes of the Void Ray skin, at the moment the defensive Formation shatters, it triggers a miniature random teleportation Formation, sending the user a hundred feet away."

"This is the true life-saving Divine Artifact!"

No sooner said than done.

Zhou Wannian no longer suppressed himself, and his vast Early Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense poured out. Had it not been for the isolation of the Formation, this wave of Divine Sense fluctuation would have been enough to alarm half the street.

Under that powerful Divine Sense micro-manipulation, the turtle spirit brush moved across the beast hide like a swimming dragon.

This time, he didn't use that tricky 'spiral drawing method' but followed the orthodox talisman Formation logic completely, outlining the complex spatial runes stroke by stroke.

Every stroke that fell consumed a massive amount of mental energy.

For three full days and nights.

Zhou Wannian went without sleep or rest.

Until the morning of the third day.

"Buzz—"

The palm-sized beast hide Formation Plate on the table suddenly erupted with a dazzling silver light, after which the light receded, becoming simple and unadorned.

It was done!

Zhou Wannian wiped the sweat from his brow and picked up the Formation Plate.

Second-Tier Top-Grade · Void Shifting Shield.

Defensive Power: Can withstand a full-strength strike from the Foundation Establishment mid stage.

Special Effect: Triggers random teleportation upon breaking, with a distance of one hundred feet.

"This is the goods I'm going to deliver to Young Master Ling."

To prevent this from being a 'scare', Zhou Wannian specifically marked a conspicuous red mole on the back of the Formation Plate and used spiritual power to Seal a small note inside.

The note read: 【Special Life-Saving Plate (Red Mole Edition), do not use unless in a life-or-death situation. Teleportation occurs upon shield break, keep this in mind.】

"This is called... after-sales service."

"With this, even if he encounters a certain-death situation, he can still get his life back."

"And this life-saving favor might become my... stepping stone to truly enter the high-level circles of Tianxing City."

Zhou Wannian put away the Formation Plate and pushed open the door to the secret room.

Sunlight spilled into the courtyard.

"Three days are up; it's time to deliver the goods."

He tidied his robes, reverted to the appearance of that worldly old man, and opened the shop door.

Outside the door, Young Master Ling's carriage had already arrived.