Chapter 139 - 120: Appointment

Chapter 139: Chapter 120: Appointment

In front of the ancient tree, Zhao Zuo’s expression shifted slightly.

Suddenly, he felt the Communication Jade inside his Storage Bag activate. He quickly stood up... and hid behind the tree.

"Younger Brother Zhao, someone wants to meet me. It might be the person behind Zhao Qingmeng," Liu Heng’s voice transmitted.

"How did he contact you?" Zhao Zuo asked, curious.

"Zhao Qingmeng and I set up a secret signal. Three stacked stones in front of the Earth Fire Hall means we meet at the Ghost Market tonight," Liu Heng replied.

"Go meet him. A meeting at the Ghost Market should be safe," Zhao Zuo instructed.

"Understood."

Only after Liu Heng left did Zhao Zuo step out from the shadows of the ancient tree. Just as he had guessed, the person pulling the strings hadn’t given up on this extra source of profit and had contacted Liu Heng.

But Zhao Zuo didn’t dare to be careless. ’I bet that person won’t show up tonight,’ he thought. ’He’ll definitely want to test if Liu Heng has been controlled by the Punishment Hall, to see if he’s become bait to lure the snake from its hole.’

’The person behind the scenes will only truly connect with Liu Heng after confirming it’s safe.’

Zhao Zuo walked toward the Scripture Pavilion. He still had the habit of spending a few two-hour periods there every now and then, reading the autobiographies of his predecessors and the strange tales of the Cultivation Realm.

He gained something new from each reading, broadening his horizons.

The one thing Zhao Zuo could never figure out was why Zhao Qingmeng had actively sought death. In this whole affair... it was the only part that made no sense to him. At first, he thought it was due to contractual control. But while he could now control Liu Heng’s life and death at any moment, he couldn’t make him go to his death so willingly.

’What bound Zhao Qingmeng was definitely not a contract or a Restriction,’ he mused. ’The only thing that can make someone die so unflinchingly is emotion—be it love or kinship.’

Zhao Qingmeng had skillfully juggled relationships with many men, obtaining resources from them to advance herself. That was her public image. The one she truly held in her heart was likely the person hiding behind the scenes.

’I’m very curious what kind of person Zhao Qingmeng would care for so deeply, enough to do something like this.’

’I just can’t figure it out. I can’t.’

A dozen or so minutes later, Zhao Zuo arrived at the Ghost Market. He took out the Fire Spirit Snake from his Spirit Beast Pouch to feed it. Over this period, after paying a negligible price, he had already upgraded the inferior-grade Spiritual Object to a Lower Grade Spiritual Object.

The Fire Series Energy it contained had tripled. The Fire Spirit Snake ate once a day and spent the rest of its time sleeping in the Spirit Beast Pouch. Its body length had now reached thirty-five centimeters.

Zhao Zuo guessed that once the Fire Element Seed on his wrist was upgraded further, the Fire Spirit Snake’s growth rate would certainly increase again. During feeding, the Fire Spirit Snake would affectionately nuzzle his palm with its head, its golden, vertical pupils curiously observing its surroundings.

After more than a month of nurturing, the little fellow had made great progress. It could now feed itself, using its two fangs to bite off a small piece from the Fire Element Seed itself and swallowing it to complete its meal.

A moment later, it coiled itself up and fell asleep.

Zhao Zuo casually put the Fire Spirit Snake into his Storage Bag. ’At least for the near future, this snake... is useless.’

As dusk fell, the number of disciples on the central platform increased. Some found an empty spot to set up a stall, while others weaved between them, purchasing needed cultivation resources and various Spiritual Materials.

The Golden Fire Refining World Scripture recorded a Secret Technique that allowed for the Refinement of a Lifebound Magical Artifact even during the Qi Cultivation Stage. However, one needed to be in the late-period of Qi Cultivation to even attempt it. Still, that didn’t stop Zhao Zuo from acquiring some of the supplementary materials in advance.

For example, the Bright Soul Pill, used to stimulate Divine Thought, and Soul Cleansing Water.

This Secret Technique actually had a prerequisite: only those with a powerful soul could successfully cultivate it. When Zhao Zuo first transmigrated, his soul might not have been strong, but after hundreds of Quenching sessions using Creation Points, he dared to claim that his soul’s strength was unmatched in the Qi Cultivation Stage.

The Bright Soul Pill was a type of Pill Medicine that temporarily boosted the strength of one’s Divine Thought. It was often used during Alchemy or Artifact Refining to increase the success rate. However, due to its rather high price, it was typically only consumed when Refining One Tier Upper Grade Pill Medicines or Upper Grade Magical Artifacts.

The price... fifty Spirit Stones per pill.

Therefore, obtaining Bright Soul Pills wasn’t particularly difficult.

But Soul Cleansing Water was different. It came from the Ten Thousand Year Cold Spring, and it took a thousand pounds of spring water to refine a single pound of Soul Cleansing Water. Its effect was also simple: it could wash away distracting thoughts, allowing one to enter the state of Unity of Heaven and Man, a state of perfect harmony with nature where one would remain unfazed even if the heavens were to collapse.

Because the state of Unity of Heaven and Man could increase one’s cultivation efficiency by several dozen times—a few two-hour sessions of cultivation often equaled more than forty days of ascetic practice—Soul Cleansing Water was frequently sold as a Spiritual Object for raising one’s Cultivation.

Furthermore, its side effects were extremely low. Thus, even if someone managed to obtain it, they would almost always use it for their own cultivation, and very few would sell it for Spirit Stones.

Zhao Zuo’s gaze quietly locked onto Liu Heng, while he also searched for Soul Cleansing Water.

To maintain his cover, Liu Heng had deliberately set up a stall selling some Artifact Refining materials, all while scanning the crowd for the arrival of his contact.

At the same time, Liu Heng’s eyes swept over every person who approached him; he, too, was actively searching for the contact.

He knew this was the only opportunity he had in the short term to win Zhao Zuo’s favor. If he lost this chance, it would be incredibly difficult to earn it back again.

Time ticked by. On the surface, Liu Heng appeared calm, but inwardly he was starting to panic.

The Ghost Market began to close, but the contact never appeared.

Zhao Zuo had browsed dozens of stalls but couldn’t find the Soul Cleansing Water he needed. Of course, he also noticed that Liu Heng’s contact had not shown up.