Chapter 498 Black Market (2)

The area where the black market transactions were taking place was quite large. It was almost as expansive as an ordinary market district, with countless narrow streets branching off in different directions. Hooded figures stood beside stalls that were scattered throughout the district, their faces concealed as they quietly negotiated, inspected goods, or simply watched the people passing by.

After walking for a few minutes, Grey and Iria suddenly noticed someone pushing a rather large object through one of the narrow streets.

The object was covered by an old, tattered cloth, making it impossible to determine what was beneath it. Its wheels rolled quickly over the uneven stone pavement as the person pushing it hurried along.

The mover’s face was concealed by a dark blue mask, leaving only a pair of dark brown eyes visible.

Several people who noticed the enormous object couldn’t help but feel curious. Their gazes lingered on it for a few moments, attempting to figure out what could possibly be hidden beneath the cloth.

However, no one made any attempt to approach the person or investigate.

In a place like this, curiosity could easily become a person’s downfall.

Everyone here understood that there were countless things that were better left unknown. As long as something did not concern them, it was usually wiser to mind their own business and continue with their purchases.

However, as the cart moved through a particularly narrow section of the district, a gust of wind suddenly swept through the street.

The old cloth covering the object was lifted slightly. And for a brief moment, the object beneath it was exposed.

It was a statue. More precisely, it was a statue of an Inhuman.

The statue possessed two arms and two legs, but its proportions were extremely strange. Its head was significantly larger than its body, giving it an unnatural and somewhat grotesque appearance. A massive sarcophagus was strapped to its back, making the already bizarre statue look even more mysterious.

Most noticeable of all were the nine dots carved into its forehead.

They resembled tiny holes that had been drilled directly into the statue’s skull. The masked cultivator pushing the cart immediately noticed that the cloth had slipped.

His expression changed drastically and as he panicked and hurriedly pulled the cloth back over the statue before increasing his speed. The wheels of the cart rattled loudly against the stone pavement as he rushed through the street.

His sudden change in demeanor immediately attracted attention. Several nearby cultivators stopped what they were doing and turned toward him.

Their gazes were no longer merely curious. They revealed a dangerous and greedy glint within their eyes.

Obviously, they knew what the statue was and what it symbolised. Similarly, Grey was also curious.

His eyes briefly followed the retreating cart, and he wondered what kind of secret could cause so many cultivators to react in such a manner.

However, he quickly suppressed the curiosity within his heart.

There were countless strange things in this world. He didn’t need to investigate every single one of them. Grey calmly withdrew his gaze and continued walking.

Eventually, his attention landed on a stall that was selling old and ancient books containing information and stories that had been passed down from long ago.

Grey’s footsteps slowed. A faint spark of interest appeared within his eyes.

When it came to knowledge and learning, Grey had always possessed an almost instinctive urge to understand more about the world around him. No matter how insignificant the information seemed, he was always willing to take a look if it could broaden his understanding of the world.

He walked over to the stall. The person selling the books was a middle-aged man who didn’t bother to conceal his face.

However, Grey immediately realized that this wasn’t his true appearance.

The man had clearly used a talisman that altered his facial features, making it extremely difficult for anyone to recognize his true identity. The same talisman also seemed to interfere with spiritual perception, preventing Grey from accurately sensing his cultivation realm.

Even so, Grey could still make a rough estimate. The man’s cultivation stood somewhere between the ninth and tenth levels of Qi Accumulation.

He was probably already standing on the verge of breaking through.

The middle-aged man silently observed Grey as the latter examined the descriptions of the books displayed across the stall.

Some of the books were so ancient that their physical forms could no longer be preserved. Their contents had been transferred into Jade Slips instead, allowing the information within them to survive despite the passage of countless years.

Others, however, had been preserved as actual books.

Grey picked them up one by one, casually flipping through their pages and perusing the information within. Several stories immediately caught his attention.

There were records concerning the legendary Ancient Human Emperor, accounts of the Battle of the Four Heavenly Generals, stories about ancient sects that had long since disappeared, and various other tales that had been passed down through generations.

Some were obviously exaggerated while many others contained conflicting information. Grey wasn’t particularly concerned about whether the stories were completely accurate. He simply wanted to know more.

He continued reading for some time. The middle-aged man watched his expression carefully before eventually clearing his throat.

"If you’re so interested in these kinds of stories, I happen to have something that might interest you."

He smiled lightly and retrieved a Jade Slip from beneath the stall.

"It’s a collection of ancient myths and mysteries from the previous eras. It’s far more detailed than these ordinary books and contains quite a bit of interesting information. Some of the records within it cannot be found anywhere else."

He waved the Jade Slip slightly as he spoke, clearly trying to pique Grey’s interest.

Grey glanced at it.

Then he shook his head.

He was only slightly curious.

He had come here because he wanted to see what kinds of books were available and learn more about the history of this world. He wasn’t particularly interested in purchasing myths and stories that might have been fabricated countless years ago.

"I’ll only take these ones."

Grey pointed toward the books he had already selected and placed on the counter.

The middle-aged man’s smile stiffened slightly.

He had already brought out the Jade Slip, after all.

Still, after seeing Grey’s firm expression, he realized there was little he could do.

With a slightly disappointed expression, he calculated the price of the books before selling them for less than twenty Spirit Stones.

Grey was about to leave when his gaze unconsciously landed on the Jade Slip containing the myths of the previous eras.

He hesitated for a moment.

After briefly considering it, Grey finally changed his mind.

"How much for that one?"

The middle-aged man’s eyes immediately brightened.

"Five Spirit Stones."

Grey nodded and handed over the additional Spirit Stones.

A faint smile appeared on the middle-aged man’s face.

By the time Grey and Iria left the stall, the middle-aged man had earned a total of twenty-five Spirit Stones from him.

Grey continued walking through the black market alongside Iria.

Eventually, they reached the end of the black market district and entered the Teleportation area.

This was where cultivators could use the city’s massive teleportation formations to travel to various destinations.

Their destination was the nearest city to the Sky Mist Sect.

After waiting in line for several minutes, it was finally their turn.

Grey and Iria stepped into the teleportation formation.

Runes immediately began illuminating beneath their feet.

A powerful spatial fluctuation swept through the area, and the surroundings gradually became distorted.

Then a blinding ray of light enveloped their bodies. Their figures disappeared from Archon City.

A few moments later, their bodies began to reform somewhere far away.

Flesh, bones, clothes, and belongings gradually materialized within another teleportation formation. When the light finally faded, Grey and Iria had arrived in an entirely different city.

---

Sky Mist Sect

Inside her office, Violet sat behind her desk with her legs crossed over it, wearing a carefree expression. In one hand, she held a Jade Slip.

In the other was a freshly picked red apple that already had several bites missing from it. Violet quietly read the information contained within the Jade Slip while casually chewing on the apple.

The room was peaceful. Until the door suddenly opened, but then it closed again.

Violet didn’t immediately react. A faint breeze swept through the room.

Her snow-white hair was blown backward slightly, revealing a pair of clear blue eyes that glistened with an intelligent and unfathomable light.

Although no one appeared to have walked through the door, Violet calmly turned around.

A figure stood behind her. It was a haggard female corpse.

Its skin was extremely weathered and cracked, looking as though it could crumble apart at any moment. Large clumps of hair were missing from its head, while maggots and other filthy substances continuously dripped from its decaying flesh.

Its body was in an appalling condition. This corpse was none other than the same corpse that had followed Grey into the depths of the Corroded Zone.

However, its appearance was far more ghastly than before. It looked as though it had been involved in a series of brutal battles and had barely managed to escape with its body intact.

Violet smiled when she saw its condition.

"You’ve done a very good job, I must say."

Her voice remained calm.

"Thankfully, you left the Corroded Zone before more dangers perceived ’it’ and rushed over. If you had remained there any longer, they would have eventually discovered Little Grey’s presence and put him in danger."

She paused briefly.

"Although you encountered several other dangers along the way, that’s still much better than the calamity that would have inevitably descended if you had remained there."

The broken corpse smiled faintly.

Its expression looked utterly horrifying on such a decayed face. Then it spoke. Its voice was extremely similar to Violet’s.

"Are you trying to say that you care about Little Grey more than yourself?" The corpse’s smile deepened.

"Are you certain that he can really be trusted? You took a considerable risk back there. If he hadn’t acted the way he did, we would have lost this opportunity and been forced to wait for another cycle before we could fulfill this plan."

There was a faint hint of reprimand in the corpse’s voice. Violet merely smiled.

"Of course he can be trusted."

She leaned back slightly in her chair.

"I trust him. Caster trusts him. Even Master has already begun to acknowledge him."

Her blue eyes narrowed slightly.

"If it is truly destined, then we’ll accomplish great things together."

The corpse stared at her for a moment.

Then it smiled. Without saying another word, it suddenly raised one of its hands and plunged it directly into its own abdomen.

Violet remained completely calm. The corpse’s fingers dug deep into its decaying flesh before grabbing hold of something.

It began pulling.

Slowly, a length of intestine emerged from its body. The sight was grotesque. Yet neither Violet nor the corpse seemed bothered by it.

The corpse continued pulling until it had completely removed the severed intestine from its body.

It then held it out toward Violet. A particular section of the intestine was glowing with a faint golden radiance. An indescribable aura of divinity permeated the surrounding space.

However, the terrifying divine aura was being forcibly suppressed by the corpse’s hand, preventing it from spreading any further.

Violet’s eyes narrowed slightly. If Grey were present, he would immediately recognize the aura.

It was the aura of the Heavenly Vine. More importantly, it carried the same divinity.

Yet the two had somehow merged together with the Captain’s intestine, forming this bizarre and unnatural existence.

Violet calmly reached out and took the severed intestine.

The instant it left the corpse’s hand, the female corpse began to rapidly corrode.

Its flesh crumbled and its skin slowly blackened. Its already-decayed body rapidly deteriorated until, in the blink of an eye, it had been reduced to little more than a withered human husk.

Countless maggots continued squirming through the rotten flesh, desperately devouring what remained of its body.

Violet silently watched the scene.

She had just witnessed a part of herself that she had placed within that corpse perish. However, she didn’t seem particularly troubled by it.

Her attention had already shifted toward the severed intestine in her hand. She slowly examined it.

Radiant golden light continued to flow across its surface, accompanied by an aura so profound that it could only be described as Divinity.