89: Chapter 89 Mica Spirit Sand and the Opened Blood River

Yunze Immortal City, beneath the Inner City, Zhenmo Abyss.

A ceaseless underground river roared within the deep cavern.

The river water appeared a strange, dark red; this was the natural barrier for the underground black market, the Blood River Dark Assembly.

On a suspended stone platform above the dark river, Danding Sect Inner Sect Deacon Lin Xuan stood with his hands behind his back.

He wore a green Daoist robe, and his Foundation Establishment Stage Late Stage Spiritual Pressure was like a deep pool of water, unfathomable.

"Deacon Lin, the outer loose stall area has already opened. All sorts of monsters and demons have entered."

A Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator draped in a black cloak landed quietly on the stone platform, their voice hoarse, "Sure enough, people from the Blood Fiend Sect's Leng Wuhen have also mixed in. There are also a few wanted criminals suspected to have fled from the Misty Swamp."

A cold sneer curled the corner of Lin Xuan's mouth.

"The Blood River Dark Assembly of Yunze Immortal City, do they really think it's a game set up by those underground rats themselves? If not for the tacit approval of my Danding Sect, how could such a large-scale fencing event have been held under the Sect's nose for over a hundred years?"

Lin Xuan's gaze was dim as he watched the group of Loose Cultivators swarming into the assembly venue below like ants.

"Water that is too clear has no fish. Usually, these demonic Cultivators and bandits hide in every corner of the Immortal City, making them extremely difficult to catch. Only the Blood River Dark Assembly, held every three years, using the black market's resources as bait, can wipe out this flock of fat sheep in one fell swoop."

"Pass down the order: loose on the outside, tight on the inside. The core of tonight is that scroll of 'Soul-Pulling Threads'. That penniless Puppeteer He Zichuan is nothing but a Puppet pushed to the forefront. Keep a close eye on every new face participating in the auction. I want to use this Dark Assembly to cut off the tentacles the Blood Fiend Sect has extended into the Immortal City, right at the root!"

"Understood!"

...

Outer City, Qingyi Alley Immortal Cave.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Gu Shen sat cross-legged on the stone bed, quietly exhaling a breath of turbid air. Over the past half month, he had kept to himself, relying on the gentle Mind-Cultivation Technique of the 'Longevity Art' to thoroughly cleanse the restless Evil Qi from the successive bloody battles.

"Tonight is when the Blood River Dark Assembly begins."

Gu Shen stood up and walked to the water basin. The surface of the water reflected a slightly plump merchant's face that looked amiable and profitable.

"I've used this face for half a month. If I've been secretly targeted, there will definitely be flaws tonight."

Gu Shen reached out and wiped his face. Mana surged, and 'Thousand Faces' meticulously rearranged his skin and bones. A moment later, a gaunt, middle-aged man with a sinister face, a hooked nose, and eyes like stagnant, murky water appeared on the water's surface.

He disguised his mana aura to the level of Qi Refining Level 7 Early Stage, deliberately emitting a cold, gloomy aura as if he had been in seclusion in an underground cave for years. An image of a slovenly, eccentric lone Loose Cultivator emerged vividly.

"Crab, activate low-power environmental monitoring." Gu Shen thought silently in his heart.

"Understood, my Lord." The iron spider on his shoulder transformed into an extremely inconspicuous black iron clasp, fastening onto the collar of his gray robe.

Pushing open the door of his Immortal Cave, Gu Shen merged into the night with extreme naturalness.

Half an hour later, following the faint Divine Sense guidance on the Blood River invitation, Gu Shen arrived beside an extremely dilapidated dry well in the Outer City.

The area around the dry well appeared empty, but Gu Shen's Divine Sense keenly detected the presence of three Late-Stage Qi Refining sentries.

He did not hesitate, walking straight to the edge of the dry well and crushing the iron token with one hand.

Hum!

A faint force of spatial teleportation instantly enveloped him, and a sensation of weightlessness washed over him.

When Gu Shen's feet stepped onto solid ground again, he was met with a strong, fishy stench of underground river water and the noisy clamor mixed with the auras of hundreds of Cultivators.

What met his eyes was a surprisingly large underground karst cave. A dark red underground river flowed around the cave, and hundreds of stone platforms of various sizes were distributed in an orderly fashion across the open ground.

This was the outer loose stall area of the Dark Assembly.

Most of the Cultivators who came here wore cloaks or masks, and the stalls displayed various shady Incomplete Manuals of Cultivation Techniques, blood-stained Magical Artifacts, and Yao Beast Materials of unknown origin.

Gu Shen did not rush to find the passage to the inner auction arena; instead, he patiently wandered in front of the various stalls like an ordinary Loose Cultivator.

He did not expect to encounter any dust-covered Spirit Treasure here; such good fortune of finding a treasure only existed in delusions within the cruel Cultivation World.

Gu Shen stopped in front of a stall selling Low Grade Artifact Refining Materials.

The stall owner was a fat man wearing a demon mask, and the stall was piled with messy Ore.

Gu Shen's gaze swept over and landed on a glass bottle filled with extremely fine, faintly silver-glowing powder.

"Mica Spirit Sand."

Gu Shen's heart stirred. This was not some top-grade spirit material, but an auxiliary material used in the Cultivation World to lubricate Qi nodes and reduce wear when refining Low Grade Magical Artifacts.

The heavy industrial mech parts of the Wasteland, their high-frequency servo motors and load-bearing bearings, were extremely prone to jamming without industrial lubricating oil. This Mica Spirit Sand was exactly the natural, top-grade "engine oil" of the Cultivation World!

"How much for this bottle of Mica Spirit Sand?" Gu Shen deliberately lowered his voice, making it sound hoarse.

"Twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones." The fat stall owner did not even look up.

"It's impure; ten at most." Gu Shen coldly countered.

After some extremely worldly haggling, Gu Shen, with feigned reluctance, took out fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch and exchanged them for the bottle of Mica Spirit Sand.

This act of haggling perfectly fit his current persona as a penniless Loose Cultivator, without attracting the attention of any sentries.

He put the Spirit Sand into his Storage Ring.

Just at this moment.

Dong—!

A dull, heavy bell sound rang out from behind a huge bronze door in the deepest part of the cave.

The noisy loose stall area instantly fell silent.

"The Blood River inner arena, the auction begins. Those holding high-level tokens or who have passed the asset verification may enter."

A voice, ethereal yet containing the terrifying Spiritual Pressure of the Foundation Establishment Stage, spread throughout the entire venue.

Gu Shen looked up, a glimmer of light flashing deep within his sinister eyes.

He straightened his robe and, blending in with several deep-aura Loose Cultivators, walked toward the slowly opening giant bronze door.