26: Chapter 26 Barter

Stepping into Wild Dog Ridge.

The sights on both sides made Gu Shen feel as if he had returned to the slums of Qingyun Market, but this place was even more raw and chaotic.

The items sold by the Cultivators setting up stalls by the roadside were shocking: blood-stained Sect Disciple robes, Yao Beast skulls that hadn't yet dried, and even remnants of souls screaming miserably, sealed within jade bottles.

Along the way, at least seven or eight malicious Divine Senses swept over Gu Shen.

But upon sensing his Qi Refining Stage 4 Perfection cultivation base, and seeing the intimidating poison spots on his face, these Divine Senses quietly retreated.

Gu Shen didn't look sideways as he walked up the mountain path.

He needed to find a place to stay first.

In the middle section of Wild Dog Ridge, by a cliff, there was a row of stone caves crudely chiseled into the cliff face.

A tattered wooden sign hung at the entrance: Old Ghost Inn.

Behind the counter lay a skin-and-bones old man, puffing on a dry pipe.

"I want to rent an Immortal Cave. The most secluded one, with defensive Restrictions." Gu Shen walked to the counter and tapped on the tabletop.

The old man exhaled a smoke ring, his murky eyes scanning Gu Shen.

"Low Grade stone cave, only has a layer of sound-insulation Formation, half a Spirit Stone per month. Medium Grade stone cave, comes with a 'Small Confusion Formation' and warning Restrictions, one Spirit Stone per month. Which one do you want?"

"Medium Grade. Rent it for one month first."

Gu Shen directly slapped down a Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

He would never skimp on money when it came to safety.

"A-17, it's at the very end. Take the Restriction jade plaque; whoever enters besides you will die." The old man put away the Spirit Stone and threw out a gray jade plaque.

Gu Shen took the jade plaque and followed the plank road along the edge of the cliff to find his stone cave.

He used the jade plaque to unlock the green light Restriction at the entrance.

The interior of the stone cave was extremely simple, with only a stone bed and a prayer mat.

However, Gu Shen didn't mind; he closed the heavy stone door and reactivated the Restriction.

Afterward, he picked up a few sharp gravel stones from the roadside and arranged them in a specific pattern behind the stone door.

Once someone forcibly broke the door, these stones would be swept up by the airflow, emitting a sharp ringing sound.

This was a crude method he had learned after years of struggling at the bottom of the Loose Cultivator world.

After doing all this, Gu Shen finally relaxed and sat down on the prayer mat.

"Finally settled in."

He let out a long sigh of relief.

Next was how to turn the resources in his hands into cash here in Wild Dog Ridge.

In his storage ring, he still had ten jin of ordinary gold, half a jin of refined red copper, and thirteen balls of red blood essence glue that could stop bleeding instantly.

"Gold isn't worth much; I must find a shop that crafts low-level ordinary Puppets and sell it as scrap material.

refined red copper is a hard currency, but half a jin is a bit eye-catching, so it must be sold separately."

Gu Shen calculated rapidly in his mind.

"As for the red blood essence glue, in this Wild Dog Ridge where people die every day, it is definitely a hot commodity."

But he would never be foolish enough to set up a stall himself.

Possessing a treasure is a crime.

He must change his identity again, an identity that even the local bullies of Wild Dog Ridge would be unwilling to provoke.

Gu Shen touched the fake poison spots on his face, a perfect plan already forming in his mind.

He closed his eyes and began to meditate and regulate his breathing, preparing for scouting the black market tonight.

Night fell.

The clamor of Wild Dog Ridge did not subside; instead, it revealed a bloodthirsty frenzy.

On the cliffs on both sides of the ridge hung lanterns made from Yao Beast skulls, and the ghostly green phosphorus fire illuminated the entire narrow black market, making it look full of ghostly shadows.

Gu Shen pushed open the heavy stone door of the A-17 Stone Cave.

The dark purple poison spots on his face appeared exceptionally hideous under the reflection of the phosphorus fire.

A gold-severing saber was slung across his waist, the hem of his gray robe was stained with dried mud, and his entire person exuded a cold, keep-away aura.

Stepping in his shadow shoes, Gu Shen silently walked into the black market.

The stalls here were extremely simple, mostly just a tattered cloth spread on the ground.

On both sides, there were also a few fixed shops chiseled into the mountain, with fierce-looking guards standing in front of the doors.

Gu Shen's gaze swept over those street stalls without stopping.

The stalls mostly held black-market goods of unknown origin, with many fakes, and since he was currently holding hard currency, he didn't need to gamble on luck.

He stopped in front of a stone house named Hundred Refining Workshop.

Outside this shop stood two broken ordinary wooden Puppets, and the sound of hammering iron clanged from within.

Gu Shen lifted the greasy door curtain and stepped inside.

The shop was not big, and behind the counter stood a burly man missing an arm, with Level 5 Qi Refining cultivation.

"Buying Puppets or repairing Magical Artifacts?" The one-armed burly man didn't even lift his head, his hand busy with a carving knife, tracing on a Formation-pattern board.

Gu Shen didn't waste words, his Divine Sense probing into his storage ring.

Clang!

A large, golden ingot, plus a fist-sized, purplish-red metal, slammed heavily onto the wooden counter.

"Buying materials." Gu Shen's voice was hoarse, with a harsh, grating sound.

The one-armed burly man looked up, his gaze first scanning the poison spots on Gu Shen's face, a flash of wariness in his eyes, before finally landing on the two pieces of metal.

"Ten jin of ordinary gold.

About half a jin of refined red copper." The burly man weighed it with one hand, "Ordinary gold isn't worth much; one hundred liang is just enough to exchange for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

This refined red copper has pretty good purity..."

"The market price is five Spirit Stones per jin.

For my half jin, I'll charge you two and a half Spirit Stones." Gu Shen stated his bottom price directly.

The burly man looked at him deeply: "Fellow Daoist is quite knowledgeable.

Fine, three and a half Spirit Stones, I'll take these materials."

As he spoke, the burly man pulled three Low-Grade Spirit Stones from his sleeve, along with fifty crystal fragments, and lined them up on the counter.

Gu Shen snatched up the Spirit Stones and crystal fragments, putting them into his storage ring.

The first transaction was extremely smooth.

In Wild Dog Ridge, as long as you don't show weakness, and the transaction amount isn't enough to make people risk their lives, most shops still follow the rules.

Walking out of the Hundred Refining Workshop, Gu Shen continued deeper into the black market.

The next item to sell was the real hot commodity.

He stopped in front of a wide tent emitting a strong stench of blood and decay.

A sign hung outside the tent: Blood Clam Tent.

This was the largest fence for Medicinal Pills and Spiritual Plants in Wild Dog Ridge, rumored to be backed by a Foundation Establishment Stage evil Cultivator.

Gu Shen took a deep breath and lifted the curtain to enter.

The light inside the tent was dim, and behind a long stone table sat an elderly man as thin as a stick.

The old man's face was deathly pale, without a trace of blood, like a living corpse.

"What do you want?" The old man lifted his eyelids slightly.

"Buying things, and selling things too." Gu Shen walked to the stone table, "I want a defensive Formation Plate capable of resisting attacks from Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivators, plus a bottle of Medium Grade qi gathering pills to assist in breaking through to Level 5."

The old man let out a cold laugh like a night owl: "The Formation Plate is fifteen Spirit Stones, the Medium Grade qi gathering pills are five Spirit Stones.

Fellow Daoist, you look very unfamiliar; can you produce twenty Spirit Stones?"

Gu Shen didn't speak, flipping his right hand.

An empty porcelain bottle that had contained a barrier-breaking pill appeared in his palm.

He pulled out the stopper, using True Qi to support two balls of viscous, ruby-like gel, each the size of a pigeon egg, floating above the stone table.

Boom!

The thin old man stood up abruptly, and in his previously dead, murky eyes, greedy light burst forth.

"This... what kind of intense Qi and blood power is this?!"

The old man's withered fingers trembled slightly as he leaned close to the two balls of red blood essence glue and sniffed carefully, "Not a trace of pill poison, and no resentment from evil Cultivators extracting souls and refining blood... it's as pure as a heavenly treasure! What is this?"

"A sacred healing medicine refined by a unique secret method.

For anyone below Late-Stage Qi Refining, as long as they haven't breathed their last, applying this externally will instantly stop bleeding and regenerate flesh." Gu Shen said coldly.

In this lawless land where people die every day, this kind of sacred healing medicine that can instantly pull someone back from the gates of hell is more valuable than any Magical Artifact.