70: Chapter 70 Sleeping Red Tea?

Three days later.

Su Mo slowly opened his eyes. For these three days, he had been compressing the Spiritual Qi in his body without sleep or rest.

At this moment, all the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian had transformed into liquid. He was only one step away from condensing his Foundation Establishment Dao Platform and officially stepping into the Foundation Establishment Stage!

"Now, I am only missing a foundation establishment pill..."

Su Mo looked at the lake of spiritual liquid in his Dantian and said helplessly.

A single foundation establishment pill on the contribution point exchange list cost two thousand five hundred points. His pockets were completely empty right now, so he would have to complete a few more missions first.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Just then, the door was suddenly knocked.

Su Mo swept his Divine Sense and immediately saw who had come.

Li Da Niu was standing outside, hesitating, holding an earthen jar in his hands.

"Bro, brother..." Li Da Niu's honest voice came through the door panel.

"Are you home?"

"I came to bring you something..."

Upon hearing this, Su Mo immediately covered his face.

Ever since he found out that Li Da Niu was lusting after his body, he really didn't want to see this big silly guy again.

Li Da Niu might be a top-tier loli in other circumstances, but Su Mo really wasn't into that, and besides, who was the one doing the poking and who was being poked was still up in the air.

"Brother Niu, just leave the things at the door. I am currently Cultivating, so it is inconvenient to see anyone."

There was a moment of silence outside the door.

"Brother, you had better come out. If I leave this thing outside the door, I'm afraid it might run away on its own."

"?"

What kind of thing could run away on its own?!

Thinking of the "Basic Gu Insect Cultivation Method" that Li Da Niu had exchanged for a few days ago, could it be that he was giving me a Gu insect?

Su Mo carefully opened the door, only to see Li Da Niu staring at his face, stunned for a long time. It wasn't until Su Mo coughed lightly that he snapped out of it.

Li Da Niu handed over the earthen jar like he was presenting a treasure: "Bro, brother, this is an Iron-Skin Gu I raised. I happened to have an extra one, so I'm giving it to you for self-defense."

Su Mo was stunned and looked down at the earthen jar—

He saw a beetle with a silver-white body and a carapace gleaming with a metallic luster quietly curled up at the bottom of the jar.

He had already eaten an Iron-Skin Gu; having a few more wouldn't grant him any more talents.

However, he was quite curious about where Li Da Niu got the raw Materials to raise these Gu insects.

Su Mo took the jar and asked casually: "Brother Niu, you raise these Gu insects quite well... Where did you get them?"

Li Da Niu scratched his head and smiled honestly: "I was originally planning to take on missions to exchange for them, but I accidentally heard from a Senior Brother that there is a black market not far outside the Sect where you can buy Gu insect larvae with Spirit Stones. I happened to have some Spirit Stones..."

Su Mo's eyes lit up.

A black market?! That's right! Maybe they sell foundation establishment pills on the black market. Buying with Spirit Stones is definitely faster than doing missions.

Su Mo quickly followed up: "Brother Niu, where is that black market?"

"It, it's in the 'Ghost Cry Forest' thirty miles south of the Sect..." Li Da Niu was startled by Su Mo's sudden enthusiasm and stammered.

"But... I heard it is very dangerous there. Cultivators often go missing mysteriously..."

Su Mo ignored the second half of Li Da Niu's sentence entirely.

Dangerous? How dangerous could it be?

Could it be dangerous enough to strip off my underwear?

After learning the location of the ghost market, Su Mo impatiently sent Li Da Niu away.

He closed the door and immediately took out his Storage Pouch.

With the gifts from the two Senior Brothers added to the resources in his own Storage Pouch, he estimated he had over two thousand Spirit Stones. With the one-to-one exchange rate of contribution points to Spirit Stones, he should be able to buy a foundation establishment pill.

Su Mo immediately decided to set off and check out the black market.

In the Ghost Cry Forest, there were gusts of eerie wind, and faint, shrill wailing sounds could be heard from afar, as if vengeful ghosts were truly weeping.

"This should be it..."

Based on the location described by Li Da Niu, Su Mo quickly found the entrance to the black market.

It was a huge, hollowed-out dead tree. The patterns on the trunk looked like a ferocious ghost face, and the depths of the tree hole were dark and deep, making it hard to see clearly.

"Fellow Daoist, please stop." Beside the tree hole, a man in black wearing a bronze ghost mask stopped Su Mo. His voice was low and hoarse, but it was clear he was trying to remain gentle: "New Junior Brother? Do you know the rules?"

Su Mo feigned calmness and handed over ten Spirit Stones: "Entrance fee."

The man in black took the Spirit Stones and chuckled: "Ahem... You are from the Xuan Yin Sacred Sect, right? Remember to change out of your Sect uniform next time you come..."

He handed over a wooden token and whispered: "Junior Brother, I see we are fated, so I'll only charge you five. Don't let it slip after you go in."

"Here is a mask to hide your identity."

"..."

How is this different from what Li Da Niu said?

Didn't he say the man in black guarding the door was fierce and vicious, and his voice sounded heartless?

Su Mo immediately understood that this was his own damned charm at work; he also experienced the convenience of beauty being justice.

"Many thanks, Senior Brother."

He reached out, took the returned Spirit Stones and the mask, and strode into the tree hole.

After Su Mo left, the man in black impatiently took off his mask and took a deep breath of the lingering, delicate fragrance in the air, his face full of intoxication: "Mmm~ What a fragrant Junior Brother, hehehe~"

Entering the tree hole, Su Mo felt as if he had passed through a layer of fog, and the view before him suddenly opened up.

Inside the originally dark forest, a brightly lit street had actually appeared.

Stalls lined both sides, and cries of vendors were incessant: "High-quality blood essence pill! Refined with the essence blood of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, one is worth ten of the ordinary stuff!"

"Freshly captured Righteous Path Cultivator, you can do whatever you want after buying!"

"Newly excavated out-of-print Cultivation Technique, achieve immortality and invincibility among peers after mastering it, don't miss out!"

Su Mo was dazzled, when suddenly—

"Fellow Daoist~" A voice that made one's bones feel soft came from behind him.

He turned around and saw a female Cultivator wearing a light gauze mask that only covered the upper half of her face, with a hot figure, winking at him: "Do you want to come over to sister's place and take a look? I guarantee I have what you want~"

Su Mo swept his gaze and found that there were indeed several exquisite jade bottles on her stall, and one of them clearly had the words "foundation establishment pill" written on it!

So he stepped forward and asked directly: "How much for the foundation establishment pill?"

The female Cultivator chuckled and held up five slender fingers: "Five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones each~"

So expensive! Why don't you just go rob someone!

The contribution point exchange was only equivalent to two thousand five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones each; coming here, it had doubled.

The female Cultivator seemed to see Su Mo's hesitation and leaned in with a chuckle: "Fellow Daoist~ This price is not expensive at all~"

"The main ingredient for the foundation establishment pill, Jade Marrow Ganoderma, is rare and takes a long time to grow, not to mention the difficulty of refining it; you might not even get one pill out of ten batches."

"So even selling it for five thousand Spirit Stones each, it is in short supply~"

As she spoke, she suddenly leaned into Su Mo's ear, her nose twitching, her breath like orchids: "However... if you are willing to have a cup of tea with me, Fellow Daoist, it wouldn't be impossible for me to give you one for free~"

"..."

Good grief, is that even a proper cup of tea?!