104: Chapter 104 White Bone Yang Key

Inside Fengxiao Gorge, fire soared into the sky.

The ear-piercing explosions of Magical Artifacts colliding, mixed with the bloody stench of severed limbs, churned violently in the gale.

Gu Shen hid at the edge of the battlefield.

He did not kill blindly; his deep eyes were locked onto the swaying black beast-drawn carriage in the center.

Above, the clash between Deputy Gang Leader Li Kun of the Quicksand Gang and the Blood Fiend Sect commander had reached a fever pitch.

The Spiritual Pressure of the Qi Refining 9th Layer Peak surged, causing gravel to continuously tumble down from the cliff walls.

"Kill! Leave no one alive!"

The Blood Fiend Sect shadow guards were like mad dogs, charging the caravan's defensive line without fear of death.

Most of the Loose Cultivator cannon fodder hired by the Quicksand Gang were already dead or injured.

Just then, above the cliff, a Blood Fiend Sect Cultivator crushed an extremely precious 2nd-tier 'Flame Explosion Talisman'.

Boom!

A millstone-sized crimson fireball whistled down, accurately slamming into the beast-drawn carriage in the center.

The isolation Talisman pasted on the carriage surface shattered instantly.

The hard century-old ironwood splintered under the violent power of the 2nd-tier Talisman, and wood chips mixed with sparks flew everywhere.

The scene inside the carriage was completely exposed to the night.

There were no gold, silver, or treasures, nor were there any Spirit Pills.

Inside, there stood a heavy refined iron cage!

In the center of the cage, a disheveled young Loose Cultivator was chained with black iron chains.

Two barbs mercilessly pierced his scapulae, pinning him firmly in place.

The young man's skin exhibited an eerie blue-purple hue, and his eyebrows were covered in white frost.

Most chilling of all, his sternum had been brutally chiseled open, and within the bloody chest cavity, a broken bone fragment that was completely pale and radiated bone-chilling cold baleful energy was embedded!

"Using the essence and blood of a living person as a Cauldron to forcibly nurture an extreme yin object!"

Gu Shen's eye twitched slightly, his heart cold.

The Demonic Path methods of the Cultivation World are extremely cruel.

This young man was clearly of the extremely rare pure yang body, used by the Quicksand Gang or the patron behind them as a Physical Body vessel to suppress the rampaging yin baleful Qi on this white bone.

That bone fragment embedded in his flesh was exactly the other half of the key to the Myriad Insect Tomb—the white bone yang key!

"Found it."

Gu Shen did not hesitate.

The [shadow shoes] on his feet flashed with black light.

Taking advantage of the moment the beast-drawn carriage exploded and the entire scene's attention was drawn by the fire, he transformed into a black phantom flying close to the ground, instantly cutting into the inner circle.

"Who goes there?!"

Two core members of the Quicksand Gang guarding the cage reacted extremely quickly, their long sabers slashing towards Gu Shen's neck from left and right.

"Scram!"

Gu Shen did not dodge.

The dark golden Thunder Bone inside his body let out a muffled roar, and the immense strength granted by the Bone Refining Art poured into his arms.

He clenched his left hand into a fist and struck out towards the blades.

Bang!

The refined iron long sabers struck Gu Shen's fist, actually producing the sound of metal clashing, and the blades shattered instantly.

Gu Shen's momentum did not diminish; he smashed the chest of the member on the left with one punch.

At the same time, he waved his right sleeve.

Swoosh!

A 1st-tier mutated Yao Beast bone spike, like a heavy crossbow bolt released from its string, tore through the air with a piercing shriek, accurately piercing the throat of the member on the right and pinning him firmly to the iron pillar of the cage.

Two Qi Refining Level 7 Cultivators died instantly.

Gu Shen stepped over the corpses and grabbed the bars of the refined iron cage.

The thunder pattern gold-slaying blade was unsheathed, a flash of dark blue lightning, and the arm-thick refined iron bars were sliced through like tofu by the top-grade fierce gold.

He leaned in and entered the cage.

The young man locked in the center was already breathing more than he was exhaling, his pupils unfocused.

When he saw Gu Shen approaching, there was no fear in his eyes, but rather a flash of relief.

"Kill me... take the bone..."

Black blood mixed with ice shards gushed from the young man's mouth, and he grabbed Gu Shen's sleeve tightly, his voice weak and thread-thin, "This key... has been placed with a Blood Fiend Seal... go to the Black Sand Market... Nili Lane... find Old Ghost Mo... he can break the Seal..."

Before he finished speaking, the last trace of life in the young man's eyes was completely extinguished, and his head hung heavily.

Gu Shen frowned slightly.

Blood Fiend Seal? Black Sand Market, Nili Lane, Old Ghost Mo?

The Opportunities in the Cultivation World were indeed never free for the taking.

This yang key had actually been tampered with; no wonder the Blood Fiend Sect could set an ambush in Fengxiao Gorge with such precision, like sharks smelling blood.

"This Old Ghost Mo must be the contact for the force behind this young man."

Gu Shen's heart was as clear as a mirror.

Plan thirty steps for the big picture, two or three steps for the small picture.

Since the clue had been thrown out, it seemed he could not avoid the murky waters of the Black Sand Market.

But he would never be led by the nose.

With a flick of his blade.

The gold-severing saber ruthlessly pried open the young man's chest cavity.

Gu Shen did not use his hand to catch it; instead, he took out a spirit-sealing jade box, and with the tip of his saber, he steadily flicked the white bone yang key, stained with cold, filthy blood, into the box.

Clack.

The box lid closed, an isolation Talisman was applied, and it was instantly stored in the Storage Ring.

The entire treasure-snatching process was smooth and fluid, taking only three breaths.

"Bastard! Who dares to touch my goods!"

In mid-air, Deputy Gang Leader Li Kun, who was fiercely fighting the Blood Fiend Sect commander, saw from the corner of his eye that the cage had been broken and the yang key stolen.

His eyes split with rage, and he let out an extremely furious roar.

"The key-snatcher is there! Kill him!"

The Blood Fiend Sect commander's expression also changed drastically.

He immediately abandoned Li Kun, turned the spearhead of his blood-colored long spear, and transformed into a shrill blood-red light, aiming straight for Gu Shen below.

In an instant, dozens of killing intents locked onto Gu Shen in the cage.

"Want to keep me?"

Gu Shen sneered.

Since he dared to pull chestnuts from the fire, he naturally had already thought of a retreat.

"Crab!"

Gu Shen whispered in his heart.

"Master, ten zhang below, there is an underground river in the gorge, the current is rapid, and there is no Formation blockade!" The iron buckle at his collar transmitted Crab's precise calculation.

"Condense!"

Cyan light surged on Gu Shen's body surface, and [Wood Armor Technique] instantly condensed into a thick layer of vine armor.

At the same time, he did not flee outward, but did the opposite; his legs exerted sudden force, and he leaped high.

Boom!

The blood-colored long spear and several Spells slammed into the refined iron cage simultaneously.

The indestructible cage instantly exploded into a ball of twisted scrap metal.

The violent Spiritual energy shockwave spread like a giant wave.

Gu Shen, in mid-air, deliberately used the Wood Armor on his back to withstand the edge of this shockwave.

Bang!

The Wood Armor vibrated violently and shattered for the most part, but it perfectly converted this thrust.

Borrowing this terrifying impact, Gu Shen, like a cannonball, crossed the cliff at the edge of the battlefield and fell straight into the bottomless rift of Fengxiao Gorge.

"Splash!"

The extremely faint sound of falling into water was inconspicuous amidst the sky-shaking sounds of slaughter.

The cold, biting underground river instantly swallowed Gu Shen.

He restrained all Spiritual energy fluctuations, held his breath, and let the rapid undercurrent carry him towards the deep, unknown underground.

Above the cliff, Deputy Gang Leader Li Kun and the Blood Fiend Sect commander rushed to the edge, their Divine Sense frantically scanning the abyss.

But the river current was turbulent and the geomagnetism chaotic; where could they find even a trace of aura?

"Chase! Even if we have to drain this underground river, we must find the yang key!"

The furious roar echoed over the gorge for a long time.

...

Three days later.

Beside a desert oasis dozens of miles from the outskirts of the Black Sand Market.

In the murky lake water, a series of bubbles emerged.

Splash.

Gu Shen broke through the water, wiping the mud and sand from his face.

He dragged his exhausted body ashore and hid in a dense reed marsh.

The terrain of this underground river was extremely complex; if not for Crab's sonar guiding him underwater to avoid dead ends, he would have nearly been trapped to death in the intricate caves.

Sitting cross-legged, Gu Shen swallowed a drop of essence white dew (inferior), and the warm Spiritual energy finally flowed through his parched Meridians again.

He took the jade box sealing the white bone yang key out of his Storage Ring, his eyes deep.

"The Blood Fiend Seal is not broken; this item must not be easily taken out of the Storage Ring. Otherwise, it will inevitably attract pursuit."

Gu Shen recalled the clue left by the dead young man.

Black Sand Market, Nili Lane, Old Ghost Mo.

"It seems that this Opportunity of the Myriad Insect Tomb must first have the hook on this yang key removed in the Black Sand Market before I can safely go and retrieve it."

Gu Shen reached out and wiped his face.

Thousand Faces wriggled, and the scarred, fleshy face gradually faded away.

His bones shrank, his skin smoothed out, and he transformed into a pale-faced, wealthy Young Master who looked weak from overindulgence in wine and women.

His cultivation was also suppressed to the non-threatening Qi Refining Level 3.

He changed out of his mud-stained robe and put on a dry, luxurious blue satin brocade garment.

"After the battle in Fengxiao Gorge, that hard-training saber Cultivator Alias is dead. Standing here now is just an abandoned son of a noble family who has come to the market to seek pleasure."

Gu Shen stood up and gazed into the distance, towards the massive market dozens of miles away, shrouded in swirling yellow sand and a Formation light screen.