79: Chapter 79 Cloudze Immortal City, Blood River Secret Meeting

Great Yu Cultivation World, outskirts of the Qingmu Cliff ruins, Scorched Tree Forest.

The night was deep, and withered trees swayed in the wind like ghostly shadows.

Gu Shen, wearing the face of a tender youth, galloped through the forest looking extremely flustered. Even his protective spiritual light flickered inconsistently, perfectly portraying a low-level Loose Cultivator fleeing in panic after attracting trouble with a treasure.

"Master, those two heat sources have accelerated. They are still a hundred meters from you, flanking you from the left and right."

The black mechanical spider on his shoulder was like a piece of dead iron, but Crab's extremely calm electronic voice provided precise coordinates in Gu Shen's ear.

"Two at Qi Refinement Level 6. Lu Kuang is quite cautious; to deal with a fat sheep at Level 5 Qi Refining, he actually sent out two elite subordinates."

A hint of cold mockery flashed in Gu Shen's eyes, but his steps cooperated by becoming extremely messy, and he stumbled into a hollow that had been burned into a white Wasteland by intense fire.

A dead end with no escape.

Swish! Swish!

Two sounds of breaking air suddenly rang out.

Two gray-robed Cultivators drifted down from the treetops, firmly blocking Gu Shen's retreat. The one on the left was tall and thin, named Zhao Wu; the one on the right had a fleshy face, named Chen Feng. Both emitted the magical power fluctuations of Qi Refinement Level 6.

"Running? Kid, why aren't you running anymore?"

The man on the right toyed with a hook-sword Magical Artifact that emitted a chilly aura, looking at Gu Shen with a playful sneer. "Hand over that half-piece of Jade Slip, then take off your Storage Pouch and throw it over. This lord is kind-hearted; perhaps I'll leave you an intact corpse."

Gu Shen pretended to be extremely terrified, his body trembling slightly. "Two Fellow Daoists... I bought this Jade Slip at a great cost. Does your Manager Lu intend to force a sale here in the Ashen Ghost Market?"

"Hahahaha!" The man on the left laughed as if he had heard a massive joke. "Force a sale? Do you even know the rules, rookie? If Big Brother Lu likes something, it's his! If you want to blame someone, blame your own cheap life for trying to stand out!"

Before he finished speaking, a fierce light appeared in the tall man's eyes. Without any nonsense, he flicked his hand, and three Firebird Talismans turned into three clusters of extremely hot flames, blasting directly toward Gu Shen's face!

Killing for treasure requires no words.

However, just as those three clusters of flames were about to consume Gu Shen,

The terrified expression on Gu Shen's face vanished uncannily, replaced by coldness.

"Since you've come to seek death, then leave your lives behind."

Boom!

Gu Shen advanced instead of retreating, not activating any magical shields at all. The dark golden iron bones in his body let out a dull roar, and he charged like a rampaging Vicious Beast, forcibly shattering those three firebirds!

The terrifying physical collision brought a gust of scorched wind.

"What?!" The tall man was shocked, never expecting a Loose Cultivator at Level 5 Qi Refining would dare to use his Physical Body to tank Talismans.

Too fast!

A distance of thirty meters was covered in an instant.

"Soul-Shocking Spike!"

Gu Shen's eyes flashed with brilliance, and his Divine Sense at the Peak of Level 7 Qi Refining turned into an invisible spike, stabbing ruthlessly into the tall man's Sea of Consciousness.

The tall man let out a scream, and his movement to summon a defensive Magical Artifact suddenly froze.

Clang!

The thunder pattern gold-slaying blade roared out of its sheath. A ghostly blue thunder light tore a blinding crescent through the dark night.

Squelch!

The top-grade vicious gold sliced through Zhao Wu's throat without resistance. The power of thunder instantly charred the cut, and a head soared into the sky.

An instant kill.

"Old Zhao!!"

The fleshy-faced Cultivator beside him stared with eyes nearly splitting, only now reacting. The tender-faced kid before him wasn't some fat sheep at Level 5 Qi Refining; this extremely violent thunder technique and Physical Body clearly belonged to a ruthless person who was a dual Cultivator of body and magic, playing the pig to eat the tiger!

"Escape!"

Without any hesitation, the fleshy-faced Cultivator bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the hook-sword, which turned into a blood-red light about to soar into the sky.

"Now that you're here, what's the rush?"

Gu Shen's cold voice was like the whisper of the death god. He flicked his left hand suddenly.

Swish!

A rank one mutated Yao Beast bone spike flew like a heavy bolt from a released crossbow, carrying terrifying physical strength as it tore through the air, instantly piercing the fleshy-faced Cultivator's right knee!

"Ah!"

The fleshy-faced Cultivator screamed and fell heavily from the air, crashing onto the scorched earth.

Gu Shen stepped forward slowly, pointing his long blade at the man's throat. The thunder light on the blade reflected his expressionless face.

"Spare... spare me, Great Lord! It was Lu Kuang who sent us! That Jade Slip only contains the method for refining the shell; it's useless without the thread-controlling secret technique! Lu Kuang sent us to kill you and take back the Jade Slip to go to the Blood River Dark Assembly..."

To save his life, Chen Feng spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube, pleading for mercy frantically.

"Blood River Dark Assembly?" Gu Shen frowned slightly.

"Yes, yes, yes! That's the largest underground black market trade fair in Yunze Immortal City, the heart of the Danding Sect! Word has it that at the assembly in half a month, a core Incomplete Manual of Qianji Pavilion's Puppetry, 'Soul-Pulling Threads', will appear! Lu Kuang wants to get that thread-controlling secret technique to combine with this half-piece of Jade Slip to complete the full Puppet Legacy!"

"Lu Kuang gave us the Blood River Invitation and told us to meet him in Yunze Immortal City directly after we succeeded."

The fleshy-faced Cultivator looked at Gu Shen in terror. "Big brother, I've told you everything I know. Please, just let me go like a fart..."

Squelch.

The blade light flashed, and the fleshy-faced Cultivator's head rolled to the side.

"Releasing the tiger back to the mountain is not my way. I will verify your information myself."

Gu Shen skillfully sheathed his blade. He pressed his hand onto the two warm corpses.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the phantom fire of the Heaven and Earth Furnace swept through.

[Refinement complete. Obtained: two drops of essence white dew (inferior). Current inferior white dew: twenty-six drops.]

After destroying the evidence, Gu Shen snatched the two men's Storage Pouches. He forcibly erased the extremely weak Divine Sense imprints on them.

Clatter.

Miscellaneous items spilled onto the ground. A few bottles of low-level Qi Recovery Pills and a few damaged Low Grade Magical Artifacts.

Gu Shen's gaze swept over them, and he swept all one hundred and twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones into his Storage Ring. Then, his gaze landed on a pitch-black iron plate carved with a blood-colored river.

Blood River Invitation.

"Yunze Immortal City a hundred miles away, the Blood River Dark Assembly. The core Incomplete Manual of Puppetry, 'Soul-Pulling Threads'..."

Gu Shen held the cold iron plate, a deep light flashing in his eyes.

Without the thread-controlling secret technique, those mecha parts he brought from the Wasteland would just be a pile of dead objects. He had to go to this Blood River Dark Assembly.

However, an underground trade fair of that level would be a mixture of dragons and snakes, and there would surely be Foundation Establishment Stage old monsters presiding over it. With his few Spirit Stones, trying to snatch food from the tiger's mouth at the auction was a pipe dream.

"I must liquidate."

Gu Shen touched his Storage Ring. It was time to find a secure channel in Yunze Immortal City to turn those Wasteland poisonous materials into the capital he needed to fight for the Legacy.

"Crab, deactivate the alert. Prepare to set out."

Gu Shen put away the token, dark light flickering beneath his feet as he completely merged into the deep night, speeding toward the direction of Yunze Immortal City.