24: Chapter 24 Everything is Ready

The Black Wind Ridge Ghost Market was hidden within a natural limestone cave, its entrance shrouded year-round in a gray mist that blocked Divine Sense.

Zhang Mingxuan, dressed in black robes and stooping his back, followed several other Cultivators who were also concealing their identities into the mist. As soon as he stepped in, two extremely sharp Divine Senses swept over him unscrupulously; it was the gatekeepers' inspection.

"DeepEye, passive defense. Simulate Spiritual Pressure characteristics: Early Foundation Establishment Stage, mixed Spiritual Power."

Zhang Mingxuan did not resist at all, allowing the Divine Sense to sweep past, only maintaining that layer of forged spiritual light on the surface of his body.

Two guards wearing ghost-Face masks stood at the entrance, exuding a dense Evil Qi.

"[Scanning targets: Ghost Market Guard A/B]"

"[Realm assessment: Peak Ninth Level Qi Refining.]"

"[Equipment analysis: Carrying standard Profound Rank Low Grade Magical Artifact, Soul-Locking Hooks; Warning Jade Talismans hanging at their waists. Threat level: Medium.]"

"Entrance fee, fifty Spirit Stones," the guard on the left spoke coldly, his voice sounding as if it were coming from an iron bucket.

Zhang Mingxuan silently tossed out a bag of Spirit Stones, accepted a Concealment Array Plate labeled Bing-72, and walked deep into the cave.

The auction hall was extremely spacious, with glowing fluorites embedded in the surrounding rock walls, illuminating the place in a ghostly green light that gave off an eerie atmosphere.

About a hundred people were already scattered throughout the hall, most of them wearing cloaks that blocked detection. They sat far apart from each other, maintaining a high level of vigilance.

Zhang Mingxuan found a corner near the back and sat down. He appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, but in reality, DeepEye was using his perception to quietly construct a Spiritual Qi thermal map of the entire venue.

"[Scanning environment...]"

"[High-energy reaction sources: 3.]"

"[Target A: Located in the Jia-rank private booth on the second floor.]"

"[Spiritual Pressure intensity: Late Foundation Establishment Stage. Spiritual Power attribute: Gold.]"

"[Target B: In the shadows behind the auction stage.]"

"[Spiritual Qi intensity: ??? Warning: Energy level exceeds the Foundation Establishment Stage range. Suspected Early Golden Core Stage!]"

"[Assessment: Overseer. Extremely dangerous, do not look directly!]"

Zhang Mingxuan's heart jolted. As expected, a black market of this level had a Golden Core Cultivator overseeing it.

He immediately withdrew all his detection feelers and huddled in his chair like a literal wooden block.

Half an hour later, the auction began.

The initial auction items were mostly Magical Artifacts of unknown origin, Yao Beast Materials, or loot obtained from robbery and murder.

Zhang Mingxuan remained still until the auctioneer—an enchanting female Cultivator—held up a transparent jade bottle Sealed with a crimson liquid.

"One of the grand finale items: skyfire spiritual liquid. Produced deep within the Fire Veins of Falling Demon Valley, it is a supreme spiritual treasure for fire-attribute Cultivators to cleanse their marrow and achieve Foundation Establishment. It can also be used to nurture fire-type Lifebound Treasures. Starting bid: two thousand Spirit Stones."

The atmosphere in the hall instantly heated up.

"[Item identification: Matches the description of skyfire spiritual liquid in the Sect's ancient records.]"

"Two thousand five hundred!"

"Three thousand!"

The price soared.

Zhang Mingxuan was in no hurry to bid. DeepEye was monitoring the micro-expressions and heart rates of the main competitors in real-time by capturing subtle tremors in Spiritual Power fluctuations.

"[Competitor C: Heart rate spiked when bidding four thousand, Spiritual Power showed brief turbulence. Assessment: Approaching their limit.]"

"[Competitor D: Bidding casually, but there is clear impatience in their voice. Assessment: Financially powerful, but not determined to obtain this item at any cost.]"

When the price reached five thousand five hundred, only a man in black and the second-floor booth were still in a stalemate.

"Six thousand!" The man in black grit his teeth and shouted the number, his voice trembling; he was clearly betting his entire fortune.

"Six thousand five hundred." The person in the second-floor booth lazily added five hundred, seemingly just for the sake of their so-called Face.

The whole place fell silent.

Just as the auctioneer raised the hammer, Zhang Mingxuan's finger, which had been tucked in his sleeve, moved slightly.

"Seven thousand."

He called out the price in a raspy, aged voice that carried a hint of ruthlessness.

*Swish.*

Countless gazes instantly converged on him.

"[Warning: Locked on by Divine Sense. Source: Second-floor booth.]"

"[Warning: Subjected to malicious prying. Source: Man in black in the front row.]"

Zhang Mingxuan acted as if he hadn't noticed. He just sat there coldly, slightly releasing a bit of the Foundation Establishment Stage Aura to intimidate the surrounding Loose Cultivators who were only at the Qi Refining stage.

The second-floor booth was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing whether it was worth offending a fellow Cultivator of the same rank for a bottle of spiritual liquid. Finally, the person snorted coldly and did not bid again.

"Seven thousand once... seven thousand three times! Sold!"

When he received the warm jade bottle, Zhang Mingxuan's hand was steady, without a single tremor. He quickly paid the Spirit Stones—which was nearly half of his savings—and then stood up directly, walking toward the exit under everyone's complex gazes.

But he did not relax. DeepEye's radar showed that the man in black who had failed the bid, along with two other obscure Auras, were trailing not far behind him.

Once out of the Divine Sense-blocking mist of the Ghost Market, the outside was a stretch of rolling desolate mountains. The night wind, mixed with the scent of decaying vegetation, made the surrounding withered trees appear flickering and shadowy, like ghosts.

Zhang Mingxuan applied a second-rank "Godspeed Talisman," and his figure flickered through the mountain forest like a phantom.

"DeepEye, report enemy coordinates in real-time."

"[Target A: Three hundred meters behind, accelerating to close in.]"

"[Targets B/C: Five hundred meters to the rear-left, forming an encirclement pattern. Suspected professional Bandit Cultivator duo.]"

"Three at the Peak of Qi Refining." Zhang Mingxuan analyzed calmly while speeding along. "Do they take me for an old fat sheep who's strong on the outside but weak on the inside, relying on Medicinal Pills to prop up my Realm?"

It was no wonder.

In Black Wind Ridge, true Foundation Establishment Cultivators usually just flew away; who would run on the ground like him? This behavior itself exuded a sense of weakness.

"Since you want to eat meat, you'd better be prepared to have your teeth broken."

Zhang Mingxuan's eyes turned cold. He suddenly slowed down in front of a narrow mountain gully, his body staggering slightly as if his Spiritual Power was failing.

"Old man! Leave the spiritual liquid behind!"

A sharp shout came along with the sound of something tearing through the air.

The man in black who had failed the bid was clearly desperate. Before even fully closing the distance, he sacrificed a flying dagger glowing with green light, aiming straight for Zhang Mingxuan's heart from behind.

This was a Profound Rank Medium Grade Magical Artifact, and it was coated in deadly poison.

Zhang Mingxuan didn't look back, and didn't even stop his pace.

Just as the flying dagger was about to pierce three inches into his back, DeepEye's background defense program was triggered.

*Hum!*

Three spiritual power scales, like red crystals, instantly appeared on his back.

*Clang!*

The flying dagger hit the light scales as if it had struck a wall of bronze and iron. Amidst flying sparks, it was directly knocked away.

"What?!" The man in black's pupils shrank. Before he could even retrieve his artifact, he saw the "old man" in front of him, who had been stooping, suddenly spin around.

It wasn't a Face filled with panic, but a pair of eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"Fireball Chain, saturation strike mode."

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!*

Twenty crimson fire bullets instantly condensed around Zhang Mingxuan.

They weren't ordinary fireballs; each one compressed an astonishing amount of high-purity Heavenly Fire Spiritual Power, appearing a dark red like lava.

No nonsense, no wind-up.

Under DeepEye's multi-threaded locking, the twenty fire bullets were like twenty miniature cruise missiles, tracing twenty completely different eerie arcs, sealing off all of the man in black's evasion angles.

"This is impossible—"

The man in black only had time to prop up a Heart-Protecting Mirror before his vision was swallowed by the sky-filling red light.

*Boom boom boom!*

Violent explosions echoed in the gully.

The power of fire-type Spells enhanced by a Heavenly Spiritual Root was staggering. With just one volley, the man in black and his protective artifact were turned to charcoal.

"[Target A eliminated.]"

"[Warning: Targets B/C are approaching at high speed! High-pressure Spiritual Qi fluctuations detected on the left high ground!]"

Just as Zhang Mingxuan had finished off the man in black, a cold, chilling light shot out from behind a rock on the left—it was a Bone-Piercing Nail specifically designed for armor-breaking. Simultaneously, a figure charged out from the woods on the right, holding a giant axe and bringing down a strike with the Aura of splitting mountains and cracking rocks.

This was the true killing move of the two professional Bandit Cultivators.

Taking advantage of the gap when the prey had just attacked and their strength hadn't recovered, one from afar and one from near—a lightning-fast certain kill.

If it were an ordinary Qi Refining Cultivator, they would certainly have died.

But Zhang Mingxuan was no ordinary person. DeepEye had already calculated the trajectory of the Bone-Piercing Nail 0.5 seconds before the cold light flashed.

He didn't even look at the nail; his body simply shifted three inches to the right.

*Ssh.*

The Bone-Piercing Nail flew past his protective spiritual light, only nicking a bit of his sleeve.

Meanwhile, facing the bandit with the giant axe striking down, Zhang Mingxuan didn't retreat but instead charged toward the blade. His right hand was instantly encased in a thick layer of Red Lotus Spirit Armor, turning into a burning lava gauntlet.

" court death！" Seeing the old man dare to engage in melee combat, the axe-wielding bandit was overjoyed and frantically poured spiritual power into the axe.

However, in the next second, he saw the calmness in the other's eyes, as if looking at a dead man.

DeepEye had already calculated the force nodes and spiritual power weaknesses of this axe strike.

Zhang Mingxuan's body twisted at an incredible angle, avoiding the sharp edge of the axe. That burning right hand, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, precisely pierced through the gap in the opponent's defense and punched the bandit's Dantian.

*Thud!*

A muffled explosion. There was no flesh and blood flying, but the bandit's eyes instantly bulged, and his whole body froze in place. A violent surge of fire spiritual power had followed the punch, rushing directly into his Dantian and instantly detonating the Qi vortex within.

" Well..." The bandit slumped down, smoke billowing from his seven orifices; his internal organs had already been cooked.

Seeing that things had gone south, the accomplice in the distance who had fired the cold shot turned and ran without a word.

"Do you think you can escape?"

Zhang Mingxuan looked at the figure already a hundred meters away and using a Godspeed Talisman, and slowly raised his right index finger.

"DeepEye, beyond-visual-range guidance. Single shot power: Maximum."

A fire bead only the size of a thumb but deep red in color condensed at his fingertip. This was a sniper bullet that compressed thirty percent of the spiritual power of a Peak Ninth Level Qi Refining Cultivator.

Go.

A red light flashed and vanished.

The fire bead traced a straight red line through the air, moving so fast that not even an afterimage could be seen.

Two seconds later.

A brilliant burst of fire exploded in the distant woods, accompanied by a shrill scream, followed by dead silence.

"[All targets silenced. Combat ended. Duration: 43 seconds. Spiritual Qi consumed.]"

Zhang Mingxuan lowered his hand and gasped for air several times.

He quickly cleaned up the battlefield. He didn't even pass up the Storage Pouches of the two bandits, even if they only contained a few Spirit Stone fragments; even mosquito legs are meat.

As for the bodies, they were all incinerated and disposed of cleanly, and he even turned over the small patch of scorched earth.

After doing all this, he lowered the brim of his hat again, his figure blending into the vast night once more, as he sped toward the direction of the Qingyun Sect.

"The Materials are all here," he whispered to himself.