230: Chapter 230 Shang Buhuan's Test

Mirage Water Market, the setting sun descended.

The afterglow dyed the wide white jade stone streets a vibrant orange. Cultivators came and went in an endless stream, and the cries of hawkers rose and fell between the gangways of the giant spirit wood treasure ships.

Gu Shen, dressed in a cyan-grey robe, maintained the scholarly and steady demeanor of a middle-aged Loose Cultivator as he leisurely stepped out from the five-zhang-wide white jade stairs of Wanxiang Pavilion. He carefully tucked the Wanxiang Black Gold Token, which symbolized a top-tier VIP, into his Storage Ring, naturally merging into the bustling crowd.

Gu Shen had already seen through the ways of large merchant associations during his time struggling at the bottom.

That Golden Core Grand Deacon Shang Buhuan appeared generous and lavish, throwing money around, but in reality, he was suspicious by nature and prioritized profit above all else. A nameless Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator without a Sect, casually producing ten flawless, top-grade Medicinal Pills without any Karma—such an abnormal event would certainly trigger the sensitive nerves of the Merchant Alliance.

"My Lord, the microwave radar has detected an anomaly."

Inside the black iron clasp at his collar, Crab's dry, electronic voice sounded right on cue, "One hundred and twenty zhang behind, two hundred zhang behind, and on top of the pavilion to the left, three high-energy heat sources have appeared.

The target individuals have activated optical camouflage and infrared shielding, and their physical movement trajectories are showing a state of absolute synchronous accompaniment with your path."

Gu Shen's eyes were deep, his expression unchanged as he paused for a moment in front of a stall selling Spiritual Plants, casually toying with a low-grade Spirit Medicine.

"Three Foundation Establishment secret agents proficient in breath-concealing techniques."

Gu Shen made his judgment in his heart. The concealment methods of these three were indeed brilliant; the Spiritual Qi fluctuations around them blended perfectly with the noisy market environment. If relying solely on the Divine Sense detection of Cultivators of the same rank in the Cultivation World, it would be extremely difficult to find any clues.

However, under the full-area scan of the microwave radar, the crystallization of the highest technology of the Wasteland, the constant body temperature and heart rate vibrations emitted by their carbon-based biological bodies were as dazzling as torches in the dark night.

The probing of Grand Deacon Shang Buhuan came faster than expected.

Gu Shen put down the Spirit Medicine and continued walking, his pace remaining unhurried.

If he wanted to gain a firm foothold in this man-eating Great Yu Cultivation World, relying solely on personal martial prowess would ultimately be insufficient. These ten flawless Medicinal Pills were merely a lure. If he wanted to continuously obtain massive amounts of high-level supplies from the Wanxiang Merchant Alliance to nourish the Wasteland arsenal, he had to discard this vulnerable "middle-aged Loose Cultivator" shell.

He needed to forge a background for himself, and for the legion of mechanical iron guards about to appear in the world, that would make all major Sects deeply fearful.

Gu Shen passed through two bustling main streets, then turned his steps, heading straight for the foggy dark alley area at the edge of the water market, which was interwoven with chains from the bottom of giant ships.

The Mirage Water Market was built on the turtle shell of a deep cyan giant tortoise, and the massive complex of buildings inevitably left many dead corners that never saw the sun all year round. At the edge of the Formation light screen on the outskirts of the water market, thick white fog surging from the depths of the Great Swamp lingered all year round.

Gu Shen's figure flashed, and like a swimming fish, he plunged into a dim and cramped alleyway.

Seeing this, the three Merchant Alliance secret agents following closely behind immediately activated their movement techniques, encircling him in a triangular Formation and chasing into the fog without hesitation.

Entering the dark alley, the light dimmed suddenly.

The dark blue Formation patterns on Gu Shen's thunder shadow boots glowed slightly, his figure instantly lifted off the ground, landing lightly on a ten-thousand-year mysterious iron chain as thick as a water vat above. Under the operation of his Cold Jade Bone, the Qi activity around his body was completely restrained.

The three secret agents rushed into the alleyway, and seeing the empty dead end, they immediately sacrificed their respective tracking Dharma disks. The pointers on the Dharma disks spun wildly, but after a moment, they completely lost the target's aura.

"The person was lost?" one of the secret agents transmitted via voice, his tone filled with disbelief.

Gu Shen, hidden on the chain above, looked down coldly at the three of them, having no intention of killing them at all.

Killing a few spies was meaningless and would only intensify the conflict with the Wanxiang Merchant Alliance. What he needed was for these spies to bring back a fear of being "unfathomable" to Grand Deacon Shang Buhuan.

Gu Shen no longer paid attention to the three headless flies below, his figure skimming like a ghost along the chains towards the abandoned ship cabins deeper in the water market.

He arrived at an absolutely quiet and dark bottom cabin.

Gu Shen waved his large sleeve, and a pale white flame of rules ignited at his fingertips. He took out a high-grade rare alloy module from his Storage Ring and threw it into the void fire.

Under the calcination of the Heaven and Earth Furnace, the high-grade alloy from the Wasteland quickly softened into a mass of dark golden molten metal.

Immediately after, Gu Shen took out a mass of polymer energy-absorbing gel leftover from when he previously excavated his underwater Immortal Cave, and evenly blended it into the molten metal.

High-level Cultivators in the Cultivation World loved to use Divine Sense to probe the reality of others. Ordinary Magical Artifact masks were useless under the Divine Sense scanning of a Golden Core Old Ancestor. This time, Gu Shen wanted to use the physical black technology of the Wasteland to create an absolute Divine Sense insulator for himself.

That polymer energy-absorbing gel itself possessed extremely strong frequency band absorption characteristics, and when supplemented with the extremely dense atomic structure of the high-grade alloy, it was enough to swallow any intruding mental wave bands completely.

True Yuan circulated, and Gu Shen's hands moved like butterflies among flowers, rapidly kneading and shaping the dark golden molten liquid.

It took only half an incense stick of time.

A dark golden mask with an ancient design, exuding an endless aura of sternness, condensed and formed in Gu Shen's hands. On the mask, Gu Shen used True Yuan to carve several Asura totems with powerful and vigorous strokes, and a scarlet vertical mark was left on the forehead, fully displaying arrogance and dominance.

The mask was complete, and Gu Shen perfectly connected it with the Magical Artifact Thousand Faces attached to his face.

"Click."

The moment the dark golden Asura mask covered his face, Gu Shen's entire temperament underwent a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering change. The disguised scholarly and mediocre air was completely torn to shreds.

He took off the cyan-grey robe he was wearing, and with a flip of his hand, took out a wide, purple-crimson robe embroidered with complex dark patterns from his Storage Ring. This robe was carefully selected from his past spoils of war; the texture was excellent, and it exuded an aura of killing intent from having long occupied a high position.

With the robe on and the large sleeves hanging down.

Gu Shen no longer deliberately suppressed the Qi activity in his Dantian. The deep cyan Ultimate Poisonous Evil True Yuan slowly surged through his limbs and bones, and a heavy, unfathomable pressure, like a deep abyss or a towering mountain, naturally overflowed from his body.

Combined with that dark golden Asura mask that insulated against all Divine Sense detection, at this moment, Gu Shen had already shed the naivety of a bottom-tier Loose Cultivator.

"From this day forth, this Great Yu Cultivation World shall have one more hidden Sect that has been secluded for thousands of years."

Gu Shen stood in the dark bottom cabin, hands behind his back, his eyes beneath the mask revealing the coldness of one who controlled everything.

"Its name is Xuanji Tower. This Venerable One is the Master of Xuanji Tower."

Once the name was spoken, Karma was born.

With this hidden giant persona that had a heaven-reaching background, Gu Shen could now let go and act as a superior, engaging in a truly equal capital game with that Golden Core Grand Deacon of Wanxiang Pavilion. He wanted Grand Deacon Shang Buhuan to believe that those ten flawless Medicinal Pills were merely the tip of the iceberg of Xuanji Tower's foundation.

As long as the Merchant Alliance dared to accept, Xuanji Tower could provide a continuous stream of divine medicine, in exchange for massive amounts of high-level Spirit Stones and strategic supplies sufficient to arm the entire Wasteland mechanical legion.

Gu Shen looked up towards the cabin ceiling.

"Next, I shall go meet those few headless flies, and add the first piece of deceptive firewood to this grand play."