8: Chapter 8 Scavenging in the Ghost Market

Nightfall, the Hour of the Ox.

The wind and snow had begun to subside, but the chill grew more intense.

In the northwest corner of Qingyun Market lay an area of long-abandoned dry wells. It was the sewage outlet for the slums, stinking to high heaven on normal days, so much so that even stray dogs were unwilling to linger there.

But at this moment, shadowy figures moved around the dry wells, and from time to time, dark shapes flashed by, silently slipping into one of the largest wells.

Gu Shen had his entire body shrouded in a wide black robe, his face covered by a "Green Wood Fang Mask" purchased from a general goods stall, revealing only his calm eyes.

He walked to the edge of the dry well, where two guards, resembling iron towers, stood at the opening. They were at Level 5 Qi Refining, their bodies wreathed in Evil Qi.

Gu Shen did not speak, skillfully fishing ten shards of Spirit Stone from his sleeve and tossing them into the iron basket in front of the guards.

That was the entrance fee.

The guards didn't even glance at him, stepping aside to clear the way.

Gu Shen leaped, his figure disappearing into the darkness of the well opening.

After falling about three zhang, his feet touched solid ground. The view before him suddenly opened up; on both sides of a winding underground river, dim green phosphorous fires were lit, illuminating a long, narrow, and crowded underground market.

This was the "Ghost Market".

A den for fencing stolen goods, a black market, and the only place where bottom-tier Loose Cultivators could buy contraband.

There was no hawking here; everyone was wrapped up tightly, and even their Divine Sense was deliberately restrained. Transactions were conducted entirely through gestures and eye contact—once bought, it was final; money and goods were exchanged, and once outside this door, one was responsible for their own life and death.

Gu Shen walked close to the rock wall, his gaze quickly scanning the stalls on both sides.

"Blood-refined steel, fresh from the furnace, carries Evil Qi…"

"A bodice left behind by a female Cultivator of the Hehuan Sect, comes with hypnotic incense…"

"A damaged Low Grade Magical Artifact, a broken sword, two Spirit Stones…"

The items on the stalls were varied, mostly stained with wet blood or smelling of earth, clearly acquired through illicit means.

Gu Shen did not look sideways.

His goal tonight was very clear—an offensive Spell.

Although Qi Refining Level 3 allowed one to project Spiritual Qi, without understanding the methods of channeling power for a Spell, the projected Spiritual Qi was like loose sand; it might bully a Mortal, but encountering a Cultivator of the same rank would be courting death.

He stopped in front of several stalls selling Jade Slips and ancient books.

The first stall owner was a sinister old woman, with several Jade Slips laid out in front of her.

"'Fierce Fire Art', fierce and overbearing, cultivatable by Middle Stage Qi Refining, ten Spirit Stones."

Gu Shen shook his head. He couldn't afford it, and the commotion it would cause was too great; it would easily expose his identity.

The second stall owner was a man with a severed arm.

"'Blood Arrow Spell', uses essence blood as a catalyst, immense power, five Spirit Stones."

Gu Shen still shook his head. This was the path of an Evil Cultivator, harming the enemy by a thousand while harming oneself by eight hundred; it did not fit his principle of caution.

After visiting seven or eight stalls in a row, Gu Shen was somewhat disappointed.

Good Spells were too expensive, and the cheap ones often had huge flaws—either they were incomplete fragments or had severe side effects.

Until he walked to an inconspicuous small stall in the corner.

The stall owner was a thin, small Cultivator hunched into a ball, with a piece of tattered cloth laid out in front of him, on which a few yellowed, thread-bound books were scattered—he couldn't even afford Jade Slips.

Gu Shen squatted down and flipped through them casually.

"Introduction to Spirit Planters", "Detailed Explanation of Cleaning Spell", "Elementary Talisman Making Insights"… all common goods.

Until his finger touched a thin booklet pressed at the very bottom.

"Golden Light Finger".

Gu Shen opened the first page and glanced at the general summary.

"Gather metal-attribute Spiritual Qi at the fingertips, instantaneous casting, strong penetrating power…"

Looks good.

But Gu Shen quickly saw the notes at the back, and his brows furrowed.

"Drawback: Consumes immense Spiritual Qi, and requires extremely high-purity metal-attribute Spiritual Qi to exert power. Ordinary mixed Spiritual Root Cultivators who try to force practice often break their Meridians before the finger energy is released; even if mastered, one finger drains half of one's Spiritual Qi, yet the power can only pierce a three-inch wooden board; it is truly a chicken rib."

Chicken rib.

Tasteless to eat, a pity to discard.

But this booklet was priced very cheaply—two Spirit Stones.

Gu Shen's fingers gently stroked the pages.

If it were anyone else, this Spell would indeed be a trap. The Spiritual Qi is impure, making it difficult to condense; the consumption is huge, leaving one to be slaughtered after one strike.

But for him…

He had the non-attribute pure Spiritual Liquid refined by the [ Heaven and Earth Furnace ].

Spiritual Qi purity? His Spiritual Qi was purer than that of a top-grade Spiritual Root.

High consumption? That mass of Spiritual Liquid he had was enough to support him in releasing it dozens of times in a row.

The most crucial part was—instantaneous casting.

In all martial arts under heaven, only speed cannot be broken. In the low-end skirmishes of the Cultivation World, whoever strikes first lives.

"How much for this?"

Gu Shen lowered his voice and pointed at the "Golden Light Finger" book, his voice as hoarse as two whetstones grinding against each other.

The stall owner raised his eyelids, revealing a pair of muddy eyes, glanced at the book Gu Shen pointed to, and sneered:

"Fellow Daoist has unique taste. This piece of junk has been sitting here for three years and no one wanted it. If you are sincere about wanting it, take it for one and a half Spirit Stones."

"One."

Gu Shen said indifferently, "This Spell has flaws; practicing it easily ruins one's hands."

"One point two! Can't go any lower!" the stall owner gritted his teeth, "This is at least an offensive Spell, even if it's a bit useless, it's a remnant copy that leaked out from the Xuanjin Sect!"

"Deal."

Gu Shen didn't waste more words, fished out one Spirit Stone and twenty shards, threw them on the stall, grabbed the booklet, tucked it into his robe, and turned to leave.

Transaction complete, he would not stay for even a breath longer.

However, the moment he turned, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a glimpse of a pitch-black "paperweight" that the stall owner was using to weigh down the corner of the books.

It was a broken piece of black iron, covered in verdigris, looking like it had no Spiritual Qi fluctuations at all.

But the [ Heaven and Earth Furnace ] in the center of Gu Shen's brow gave a light throb the moment his gaze swept over that iron piece.

Just once, so faint it felt like an illusion.

Gu Shen did not stop walking, acting as if he hadn't seen it, and walked straight into the crowd.

After walking a dozen steps, he stopped at a stall selling Talismans, pretending to look at them, while his heart was filled with uncertainty.

The Great Furnace reacted, indicating it was a high-grade material that could be refined.

Anything that could make the Great Furnace actively warn him was definitely not ordinary.

"Must buy it."

Gu Shen calculated in his mind. But if he went back to buy it now, his intention would be too obvious, making it easy for the stall owner to raise the price on the spot or even arouse suspicion.

"No rush, that thing is covered in verdigris, clearly treated as scrap iron for a long time, it won't run away."

Gu Shen took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to pick up a bargain.

Principle of caution: Once greed arises, death is not far away. He had already bought a Spell tonight, and most of his wealth was gone; causing further complications was not a wise Move.

He finally spent two Spirit Stones to buy a Low Grade Vajra Talisman and hid it close to his body—this was a one-time defensive Talisman that could block a full-force strike from a Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivator at a critical moment.

By now, of the six Spirit Stones he had, only a little over one remained.

"Time to leave."

Gu Shen mingled among several Cultivators who were leaving and walked toward the exit.

Just as he exited the dry well, a cold wind blew.

Gu Shen's entire body tensed, and his Divine Sense was instantly released.

Someone was following.

Although the other party was extremely stealthy, that vague malice was like a maggot on a bone, making the hairs on his back stand up.

Was it the stall owner who sold the book? Or was he targeted by a passing bandit Cultivator because he revealed his wealth?

Gu Shen did not look back, nor did he speed up, maintaining his original pace and walking unhurriedly toward the shantytown.

But one of his hands had already silently reached into his robe, gripping the "Vajra Talisman" he had just bought.

The other hand gripped a steel nail.

He walked about two hundred steps and turned into a dead-end alley.

Gu Shen suddenly stopped, turned sharply, the steel nail in his hand poised to strike, and let out a low shout:

"Fellow Daoist has been following all this way, aren't you tired?"

The alley entrance was empty, with only the wind swirling snowflakes around.

No one?

Gu Shen's pupils constricted slightly.

Wrong, that malice was still there, and… closer!

Above!

Gu Shen didn't even think, his body lunging forward, performing a lazy donkey roll to tumble a zhang away.

Boom!

A pitch-black wind blade silently sliced through the spot where he had just been standing, cutting a foot-deep crack into the frozen hard earth.

If he had reacted half a beat slower, he would have already been split in two.

"Oh? You react quite quickly."

A soft sound of surprise came from the eaves at the top of the alley.

A figure dressed in night-traveling clothes landed lightly, playing with a black dagger in their hand, looking at Gu Shen, who was getting up in a disheveled manner, with playful eyes.

"Qi Refining Level 3? Tsk tsk, looks like a little fat sheep that just left the nest."

The person licked their lips, their aura released without reservation.

Qi Refining Stage 4.

And it was that kind of veteran bandit Cultivator who had spent years licking blood from the edge of a knife, wreathed in Evil Qi.

Gu Shen half-knelt on the ground, his muscles tense to the limit under the black robe, his heart beating violently, but his brain was in a state of extreme calmness.

This was his first true life-and-death struggle since arriving in this world.

No way back.

Only… kill!

"This Fellow Daoist, I am just a poor Loose Cultivator, all my Spirit Stones were used to buy books…"

Gu Shen said weak words while slowly retreating, appearing as if he had been scared out of his wits.

"Less nonsense, hand over all the treasures on you, perhaps if I am in a good mood, I might leave your corpse intact."

The bandit Cultivator sneered, not buying this act at all, tapped his feet, and the whole person lunged over like a large bird, the dagger in his hand glowing with a ghostly blue light, clearly quenched with deadly poison.

Five steps.

Three steps.

The terror in Gu Shen's eyes suddenly vanished, replaced by a coldness like ice.

He did not use the Vajra Talisman.

The moment the opponent lunged within two steps, Gu Shen suddenly raised his hand.

Not an attack, but a cloud of white powder.

Lime powder!

This was what he bought at the general store for two shards, a low-class trick from the Mortal Jianghu.

"Courting death!"

The bandit Cultivator didn't expect this Cultivator to use such a despicable method, subconsciously closing his eyes and turning his head, his offensive momentum slowing by a fraction.

Just in that fraction of a moment.

Gu Shen moved.

He didn't retreat but advanced, and what he pulled from his robe with his right hand was not a Magical Artifact, but another ugly, ground-down "Cold Iron Kitchen Knife".

No flashy Moves.

Only the simplest and most direct Move he had used to kill zombies in the Wasteland.

Wind-Facing Blade Slash!

Pfft!

The sound of a blade entering flesh.

That ugly kitchen knife cut through the bandit Cultivator's protective Spiritual Qi barrier without any resistance, just like cutting through a piece of tofu.

Immediately after, a terrifying wound appeared from the left shoulder to the right abdomen.

Blood gushed out.

The bandit Cultivator widened his eyes, looking in disbelief at the wound on his chest that was deep enough to see bone, and then at the gray, dusty kitchen knife in Gu Shen's hand.

"You…"

He wanted to speak, but his lungs had been sliced open, and he could only make a wheezing sound.

Gu Shen did not stop.

Take advantage of your illness to take your life.

He reversed his grip on the knife, lunged forward again, and the cold blade precisely sliced across the bandit Cultivator's throat.

Clean and efficient.

The corpse fell to the ground with a thud.

Gu Shen stood beside the corpse, panting heavily, the kitchen knife in his hand still dripping blood.

It was over.

It took no more than three breaths.

Battles between Cultivators never involved so many back-and-forth exchanges of three hundred rounds. Life and death often depended only on a moment of calculation and ruthlessness.

Gu Shen quickly calmed down.

He first stabbed two more times to ensure the other party was dead, then skillfully began to loot the corpse.

Storage Pouch, a few Spirit Stones, that poisoned dagger.

After collecting the loot, Gu Shen took out Corpse Dissolving Powder and sprinkled it on the body.

Watching the corpse turn into blood in the sizzling sound, Gu Shen's eyes became even deeper.

"This is the true Cultivation World."

He put away the kitchen knife, and his figure quickly disappeared into the darkness of the alley entrance.

The wind and snow quickly covered all traces, as if nothing had ever happened here.