Hidden talents in the city, secrets begin to emerge

With experts stationed in the direction of the City Lord's Mansion and strict security in place, Nightmare did not intend to alert the enemy for the time being.

He moved slightly, changing his strategy, merging into the crowd of commoners still struggling to survive at the bottom of Qingyang City, just like a drop of water blending into the ocean.

In wartime Qingyang City, order had not completely collapsed, but under the erosion of panic and despair, many things in the dark corners became even more active.

He needed information, and the marketplace often hid secrets that were difficult to obtain through official channels.

He arrived at a relatively secluded street where a few shops were still open for business.

The pedestrians here mostly had hurried expressions and vigilant eyes, and the air was filled with an oppressive atmosphere.

On both sides of the street, besides stalls selling small amounts of food and crude weapons, there were more stalls selling all kinds of "bizarre" items, as well as some establishments with low-hanging curtains that exuded a mysterious aura.

Nightmare swept his gaze over them and stopped in front of a shop with a small frontage and an old plaque that read "Hundred Knowledge Pavilion."

This shop looked inconspicuous, but in his perception, it was set up with some crude Formations to isolate detection, and although the people entering and leaving were dressed plainly, their eyes all carried a hint of shrewdness and vigilance.

"Hundred Knowledge Pavilion... it certainly lives up to its name." Nightmare moved slightly and pushed the door open to enter.

The interior was dim, with only a thin, elderly man wearing a small cap and sporting a goatee sitting behind the counter, wiping a piece of mud-covered metal fragment by the light of an oil lamp.

Seeing Nightmare enter, he lifted his eyelids to glance at him, a trace of imperceptible sharpness flashing in his murky eyes.

"What does the guest need? Information, connections, or... special goods?" The old man's voice was hoarse as he got straight to the point.

Nightmare did not waste words; he took out a small piece of beast bone armor obtained from the outskirts of the Forbidden Ground, which had lost most of its energy, and placed it on the counter.

This bone armor was considered decent Artifact Refining Materials in this world, enough to pay for some information.

"Regarding the 'Grey-Clad People' in the city, and what they have been looking for recently." Nightmare's voice was calm as he stated his purpose directly.

Seeing the bone armor, the old man's eyes brightened slightly. He put down the fragment in his hand, picked up the bone armor to stroke it carefully, and nodded. "The guest is straightforward. Many people in the city know about the Grey-Clad People, but few dare to discuss them."

He lowered his voice. "These people appeared about a month ago, holding the highest Guest Elder token of the City Lord's Mansion, and their status is transcendent."

"Their methods are bizarre, and they have indeed helped the City Defense Army fend off several fierce beast tides, but because of this, the City Lord almost obeys their every word."

"What are they looking for?" Nightmare pressed.

"This..." The old man hesitated, looked at Nightmare, and weighed the bone armor in his hand before leaning in to whisper, "As for what exactly they are looking for, I am of too low a rank to know."

"However, according to some laborers who have done work for them, it is rumored privately that they seem to be looking for some... ancient stones with special patterns, buried very deep."

"They haven't just dug in one place; they've prospected in the Li family's abandoned garden in the east of the city, the old well in the west of the city, and it's even said... they've even prospected near the ancestral shrine of the City Lord's Mansion itself!"

Ancient stones? With special patterns? Nightmare immediately associated this with the "void stone" mentioned by the primal cube, as well as those potentially existing, space-related Formation bases or tokens.

"Has anyone seen what those stones look like?" Nightmare asked again.

"That, no one has." The old man shook his head. "Those Grey-Clad People guard them very strictly; whatever they dig up is immediately taken away, without letting a single whisper slip out."

"However..." He paused, his voice dropping even lower. "There is a rumor that last night, in the 'Ghost Market' in the south of the city, they offered a heavy reward to purchase a type of Ore called 'Star Shine Sand.' It is said that this thing is extremely rare and usually only appears in very deep earth veins or... places where meteorites have fallen."

Star Shine Sand? Nightmare quickly searched the primal cube database.

Star Shine Sand contains faint Power of the Stars and spatial attributes, and is one of the auxiliary Materials for refining high-level spatial Magical Artifacts and stabilizing certain special Formations!

The Eshi Yue Organization is collecting Star Shine Sand while searching for void stones? They are indeed preparing to construct some kind of large-scale, space-related Formation or device!

Furthermore, judging by the fact that they even dared to prospect near the City Lord's Mansion's ancestral shrine, their ambitions are vast. It is even possible that... Qingyang City itself is built upon a key node they require!

"Where is the Ghost Market?" Nightmare asked. Perhaps he could find more clues there.

"In the south of the city, at the end of Withered Willow Alley, after the hour of the Rat." The old man gave the location and then reminded him, "If the guest wants to go, you must be very careful. The Ghost Market is a mixed bag, and now there are many informants for the Grey-Clad People mixed in."

Nightmare nodded, asked no more, turned around, and left the Hundred Knowledge Pavilion.

He had obtained enough information. The Eshi Yue Organization's goal in Qingyang City was most likely to find and collect space-related Materials with the intention of building some kind of Formation.

What was this Formation used for? Teleportation? Summoning? Or... opening a passage to somewhere?

Associating this with their previous plot regarding the "demon ancestor origin pact" (which might also involve a spatial passage) on the back mountain of Shiquan Village, a guess vaguely formed in Nightmare's mind—the Eshi Yue Organization seems to be systematically searching for and attempting to activate or utilize the surviving ancient ruins or items related to space in this world!

What exactly is their ultimate goal?

Night slowly fell, and the siege battle of Qingyang City seemed to have temporarily come to an end. The roars of beasts outside the city had subsided quite a bit, but the tense atmosphere inside the city had not eased; instead, it felt even more oppressive due to the arrival of the curfew.

As the hour of the Rat drew near, Nightmare restrained his aura and moved like a ghost through the shadows of the silent alleyways, heading towards Withered Willow Alley in the south of the city.

Withered Willow Alley lived up to its name; on both sides of the alley were old willow trees that had been dead for who knows how many years, their branches twisted like ghost claws.

At the end of the alley was a seemingly ordinary stone wall, but Nightmare could perceive that behind the stone wall existed an entrance covered by a simple illusion Formation.

He drew upon a trace of chaos qi flow, easily penetrating the barrier of the illusion Formation, and with a flash of his figure, he had already entered.

The view before him suddenly opened up. It was not an underground space as he had imagined, but an "Inner Street" that still extended within the alley, with its space twisted by some kind of power!

Both sides of the street were filled with various street stalls, and most of the stall owners were shrouded in black robes or hoods, their faces unclear.

The traded items were bizarre, ranging from blood-stained weapons and unknown beast bones to Ore and herbs emitting strange energy fluctuations, and even a few incomplete, dubious ancient Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals.

This was the Ghost Market of Qingyang City, a place in the shadows of rules and order.

Nightmare swept his gaze and quickly locked onto a stall in a corner.

The stall owner did not deliberately hide, wearing a grey martial outfit and a standard metal mask on his face—it was indeed a member of the Eclipse Moon Organization! His strength was approximately at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

There were not many things on his stall, just a wooden sign standing on it, with words in the local language written: "High price to purchase Star Shine Sand, or exchange for space-attributed Materials of equal value."

Nightmare moved slightly. In his space, he happened to have some "Wutu Essence Crystals" that he had stripped away while refining the Rock Bear carapace earlier, which contained faint earth-elemental yuan power and a trace of earth vein spatial stability. Although they were not Star Shine Sand, they were also space-related Materials.

He walked slowly to the stall and simulated a slightly hoarse voice: "No Star Shine Sand, but Wutu Essence Crystals, do you accept them?"

The Eclipse Moon member raised his head, his gaze under the mask scanning Nightmare coldly. He probed Nightmare's body, but was blocked by a mysterious, chaotic aura, unable to see through him.

He frowned and said coldly, "Wutu Essence Crystals? What is the quality? How much do you have?"

Nightmare moved slightly, taking out a piece of Wutu Essence Crystal the size of a fingernail, emitting a faint yellow glow, and placing it on the stall.

The Eclipse Moon member picked it up and sensed it carefully, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes. "The quality is decent, and the earth vein spatial power contained within is quite pure. Unfortunately, the quantity is too small, far from enough to meet the reward quota for Star Shine Sand. If you have more, perhaps we can talk."

"Only this much." Nightmare said calmly. "May I ask, what is the purpose of your party collecting space Materials so urgently? Perhaps I know where to find more."

The Eclipse Moon member's eyes instantly became sharp, carrying scrutiny and warning. "Don't ask what you shouldn't. You only need to know that the price we offer is absolutely the highest on the market."

Nightmare sneered, knowing he wouldn't be able to extract more information from this person.

He moved, just about to leave and find another way, when suddenly, the primal cube in his space fluctuated again, capturing a strange aura coming from another stall not far away—an aura that was extremely faint, yet caused the primal cube to fluctuate once more!

That aura... was of the same origin as the void stone, but even more obscure and ancient!