From Family Fisherman to Water Virtue True Immortal-Chapter 170: Mu Daoist

"I’m here to collect the Lot Number 88."

Li Quanqing took out a Storage Bag with a hint of heartache; it was filled with Low Grade Spirit Stones that emitted a dazzling glow, the abundant Spiritual Energy almost seeping out through the opening.

"Alright, honored guest, please wait a moment."

The maid with a striking appearance gave a gentle smile, her speech sweet and pleasant, making it hard for anyone to get annoyed.

Soon, all the treasures Li Quanqing won in the auction were delivered to him, packed neatly into the provided Storage Bag and Spiritual Beast Bag.

After all, he was a VIP customer, and naturally received excellent service.

Li Quanqing extended his Divine Sense to check each item one by one, ensuring everything was correct before taking out a Yang Flame Fish and holding it in his hand.

The Spirit Fish, less than a foot long, was encased in a glowing red crystal, lifelike as if in a deep slumber. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

The warmth of the crystal was tangible, like holding a Fire Jade, sealing away the fish’s mighty life force layer by layer.

[Sweet Dreams]Yang Flame Fish: "An endless supply of delicious food, fun things to play with, vast lakes of magma—I love the smell of sulfur; it’s like I’m in a dream!"

[Cultivation: Qi Refinement Second Level (69%)]

Noticing his gaze, the maid hurriedly spoke: "Esteemed guest, this Sealing Spirit Jade ensures the Yang Flame Fish can sleep for three years. Just a light tap will break it and awaken them."

Li Quanqing nodded slightly: "What kind of food do they eat?"

"These creatures have a unique diet; they feed on magma, drawing in the purest Fire Essence Qi. Of course, it’s also possible to feed them ordinary Spirit Bait or Spirit Pills."

The maid explained, and although she was but a servant, she boasted profound knowledge.

"That should be easy to take care of."

Li Quanqing let out a soft chuckle, stowed away the Storage Bag and Spiritual Beast Bag, and left the Great Auction House, returning to his own Cave Mansion.

Now that he had obtained the Merfolk Silk, plus a large number of assistive materials, he only lacked Fire Attribute wood and silk to craft a Second Order formation.

Besides that, he had only a single Beiming Zhen Sha but two Spiritual Beasts ready for Foundation Establishment—Ao Qing and the Canghai Whale, both eagerly waiting to be fed.

"And the Foundation Establishment Pills..."

Li Quanqing stroked his chin, thinking of the information Master Huang Li had given him, silently pondering.

There was a Mu Daoist in the black market who was suspected of selling Foundation Establishment Pills and had even prepared a map for him.

"If I can get my hands on a Foundation Establishment Pill, Ao Qing’s breakthrough would be guaranteed, and the Beiming Zhen Sha can be given to the Canghai Whale. It’s worth taking a look."

Li Quanqing made up his mind, feeling equally curious about the mysterious and unpredictable black market.

Baoying Fang had its own black market which he had personally visited before.

Twas nothing but a gathering place for robbers and thieves revealing half-concealing figures, a den for fencing stolen goods, bustling with a mix of the good and the bad.

"Hopefully, this Workshop can bring me some pleasant surprises..."

As Li Quanqing contemplated, he slowly closed his eyes and began meditating to cultivate and nourish his spirit.

...

In a blink of an eye, ten days quietly passed.

A bright moon hung high, as large as a plate, pure and bright—today was the day the black market operated.

Li Quanqing glanced at the sky, swaggered out of his Cave Mansion, and promptly left Cold Chi Immortal City, flying off toward the northeast.

Whoosh whoosh!

The moment he left the vicinity of Immortal City, a whistling blizzard came rushing, the cold wind cutting like a knife, painfully scouring the skin.

Li Quanqing put on a black robe that could conceal his Mana and wore a hat that covered his face, silently blending into the night.

After flying for more than a hundred miles, with the sparkling sea almost in sight, he finally arrived at his destination.

Below, an eerie ice mountain shaped like a skull rose up, its appearance frightening.

There were no other Cultivator’s Cave Mansions in the barren surroundings; it was deadly quiet and secluded, easy to recognize.

The moonlight shone on the blowing snowfall, and at a certain moment...

Dark fogs began to rise, drifting from several large holes in Skull Mountain and enveloping the entire mountain.

Through the thick fog, one could faintly see flashes of various colors, quite mystical.

At this time, figures with concealed lights moved stealthily from all directions, converging here.

The place seemed bustling with activity.

Li Quanqing flew at a very high altitude, seeing that there was no strangeness happening, proceeded to camouflage his figure, and descended on a cloud.

He operated his Cultivation Technique, suppressing his Mana to the level of Qi Refining Perfection, and landed in front of the black fog.

Buzz buzz!!

Li Quanqing casually tossed a Spirit Stone into the fog, causing it to churn and reveal a passage.

Without fear, he boldly walked into the passage.

The passage was short, extending downwards, and at the end stood two masked Cultivators guarding it, revealing only their cold eyes.

"Fighting is prohibited within the black market, and we hold no responsibility for the authenticity of any items... Heh heh, Daoist friend, please come inside!"

The Cultivator on the right spoke with a raspy voice, showing the entrance to a large, artificially excavated cavern behind him.

Li Quanqing nodded, stayed silent, and walked straight into the cavern.

Looking inside, an extremely spacious underground ice cavern came into view, sprawling large with passages running through the walls in all directions.

At the bottom, unlike the refined architecture of some, everyone sat on the ground like Loose Cultivators, each with their own simple stands and setups.

The luminescent pearls of various colors shone brightly, and although there were many cultivators, each of them was draped in a veil, hiding their heads but revealing their tails, wandering idly among the stalls.

Li Quanqing grew curious, not in a rush to find Mu Daoist, as he leisurely surveyed each stall.

Here, the wares were bizarre and varied, featuring all kinds of unusual magic artifacts and even demonic materials and cauldrons used by female cultivators, openly put up for sale.

"A tragically dead baby born at a sinister time, buried for a hundred years, nurtured into a piece of high-quality Yellow Springs Bone..."

"Ghostly winds drawn from the pits of ancient battlefields, where tens of thousands have died—offered at a bargain price!"

"Yin corpses, top-quality yin corpses! Cheap and useful cannon fodder, black-haired, white-haired, yellow-haired, red-haired—got them all..."

As Li Quanqing wandered around, to his surprise, most of what he saw were fellows peddling demonic materials.

"Are there so many demon cultivators in the East Sea?"

He was somewhat speechless, and the materials up for sale were all from the disreputable paths of the Demon Path, things a Qi Refining cultivator would disdain.

Yet he was unaware that due to the immense pressure from the Demon Clan, the Human Clan forces in the East Sea had united like never before.

Those Nascent Soul Sects of the Demon Path could equally show their faces and control their own territories in the ocean, just not within this region.

The antagonism between the righteous and demonic ways today was far less fierce than it was thousands of years ago.

Li Quanqing shook his head, not interested in browsing further, preparing to ask someone for information on Mu Daoist.

"Esteemed cultivator, may I ask if you’ve heard of the name Mu Daoist?"

He stopped at a stall, fiddling with a nameless bone of black and red as he spoke.

The stall’s owner was an extremely obese man who, sensing his unfathomable cultivation, swallowed his anger with his words in an instant.

"Heard of him? Of course, I’ve heard of him, that senior is renowned!"

"You want to covet that Foundation Establishment Pill too? Better dismiss that thought, that thing is an out-and-out scam..."

Li Quanqing gently tugged with his divine sense, immediately coaxing the man to blurt out the truth, unknowingly spilling all the information.

Indeed, the so-called Foundation Establishment Pill was a dud, a failure of an elixir that might as well be called a poison pill.

It was well-known that producing a Foundation Establishment Pill requires a Second Order Demon’s core, and this batch was the practice work of a certain alchemist.

As a result, the pills were fraught with muddled demon energy, creating a batch of poison pills that could corrupt an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator into some monstrous being after assimilation.

Mu Daoist somehow got hold of one such poison pill, hyped it up in the black market, and became notorious.

"A poison pill brimming with demon energy? That’s perfect, not like I’m the one who’s going to eat it. Ao Qing would probably love it!"

Li Quanqing left with satisfaction.

Only to have the plump cultivator regain consciousness, his back drenched in cold sweat, so panicked that he didn’t dare to linger and hastily packed up his stall to flee.

Li Quanqing twisted and turned, entering an icy corridor. The temperature around was frosty, and a green-robed cultivator with an oddly-dressed appearance sat there cross-legged.

Mu Daoist did not cover his face, had a peculiar look, a top-knotted braid on his head, and his face had lines so deeply etched they looked like wood grain textures.

"Ha! Another Qi Refining junior, foolishly dreaming of obtaining my Foundation Establishment Pill!"

Mu Daoist opened a slit in his eyes, which flickered with a dim green light; his voice was dry and raspy, with an unordinary demeanor.

"Fellow Taoist, name your price."

Li Quanqing didn’t speak but instead extended a wisp of divine sense, which thunderously shook the void.

This was unique to Foundation Establishment cultivators; sometimes hiding one’s cultivation level could ironically be more trouble.

"Turns out to be a fellow cultivator; hiding in such a manner, could it be you’re a half-demon?"

Mu Daoist spoke sarcastically, revealing yellowed teeth with a grin, his appearance eerie.

Li Quanqing was speechless, this old coot must have a screw loose.

But upon reflection, he realized it was indeed true, such poison pills mixed with demon energy would largely appeal to half-demons.

"This seat has a Qi Refining spirit pet on the brink of breakthrough and requires this Foundation Establishment Pill."

Li Quanqing stated in a deep voice, his tone neither joyful nor sorrowful, but with an inexplicable pressure: "Fellow Taoist, name your price."

"To feed a pet with a Foundation Establishment Pill, fellow Taoist sure is lavish; this old one cannot compare."

Mu Daoist shook his head, "A flat rate—50,000 low-grade spirit stones!"

"Are you jesting with me?"

Li Quanqing’s gaze was speechless, thinking to himself how this old man didn’t just rob him directly.

A regular Foundation Establishment Pill wouldn’t even sell for that price.

"Then I’ll offer another condition: a high-grade defensive spirit artifact or an exquisite-grade attack spirit device, how about that?"

Li Quanqing now understood, this old man was simply taking advantage of the situation by making exorbitant demands.

"Can’t agree on terms!"

He snorted and left abruptly without lingering a moment longer.

Even if he wanted to buy it, he couldn’t possibly afford those 50,000 spirit stones; better to trust in Ao Qing’s own potential.

Mu Daoist let out a slight smile, said nothing more, and watched him leave.

Since he had come to the black market, naturally he couldn’t leave empty-handed.

After pondering for a moment, Li Quanqing walked towards the market’s central area.

The cultivators setting up their stalls here, although likewise concealing their faces, did not hide their Foundation Establishment power.

They made the many passing Qi Refining cultivators exceedingly cautious.