Goodbye Xiao Wanchang

As expected, watching the crowd rapidly scatter into the surrounding market, everyone focused solely on leaving quickly—not a single person noticed him.

He felt as if he were in another space, recalling the legendary ghosts from his past life; at this moment, he was a ghost, omnipresent yet unknown to anyone.

Perhaps he was now in a different dimensional world observing this one, which was why no one detected him.

Otherwise, with so many people pouring out of the market, not one would have missed him—this feeling was truly wonderful!

But this was a good thing; only if others couldn't see him could he do what he wanted.

Thinking this, he suddenly hit upon a very interesting idea—since no one could spot him, wouldn't it be fine to visit the treasure vaults of those great sects and immortal cultivating families?

Still, he needed to find time to test this, because those major sects and immortal worlds were far more tightly guarded than this place; otherwise, rogue cultivators would have already looted them clean!

For now, though, he had to deal with the matter at hand.

After all, this Xiao Wanchang was a man he wanted dead to the core, and even coming to Bayberry Market, he was still so arrogant. Since they'd crossed paths, he had to kill him—consider it collecting some interest from that bitch Ouyang Tingting.

If he couldn't deal with her, he could certainly deal with her son, making her know what regret meant!

But now he realized a terrible thing: he'd wasted too much time bickering with Hu Yidao earlier, and now he'd lost track of Xiao Wanchang.

At the start, the surging crowd had bolted out of the market as soon as the auction ended, as if rushing to reincarnate.

Now, the person he needed to watch had slipped away, and it infuriated him.

Outside Bayberry Market, all around were shanty towns—what people usually called the outer market.

On the open ground, shanty towns kept springing up endlessly, built by rogue cultivators who gathered here, erecting their own little huts and paying a monthly protection fee to the market.

Why build shanties near the market? Because the market had a grand formation that protected these areas from external demonic beasts and evil cultivators, keeping their lives safe.

Plus, the market had constant patrol teams, boosting security, which made rogue cultivators flock to build their little homes nearby.

They usually called friends and gathered in twos and threes to set up their nests, and over time, more and more houses went up, eventually forming these shanty towns scattered all around the market.

Since the building materials were cheap—mostly wood, bamboo, and such, extremely simple—it didn't take these cultivators long to finish; even one person could do it quickly, given they were cultivators.

Of course, these places had no planning, making them chaotic and messy, and worse, they harbored filth and crime.

So when the massive crowd plunged into these shanty towns, it was like dragons diving into the sea—they vanished without a trace.

After a moment's thought, he understood why those people had left so fast.

They weren't stupid; having won so many auction items, they were probably worried about being targeted, so they naturally used the crowd to flee quickly, denying others a chance—hence the chaotic rush.

In the southwest area of the market, a middle-aged man covered in bloodstains was fleeing rapidly.

Not far behind him, a young woman in black followed closely.

For a time, two figures chased each other through the shanty town.

"Old Ghost Xu, what's the rush? Why run so fast? Old ghost, why not leave the thing behind?"

"Tu Jiaojiao, you bitch, dreaming? If you've got the skill, catch this Old Man first!"

The middle-aged man surnamed Xu didn't look back, madly sprinting forward.

"Hehe, Old Ghost Xu, if you keep running, your descendants might meet the King of Hell before you do!"

"Haha, you bitch, this Old Man won't let your Tu family off easy either—just wait for my revenge!"

The middle-aged man surnamed Xu laughed wildly, his face twisted with grief and fury.

His Xu family, dozens of people, had endured for years, always trying to get their hands on a 'Clan Establishment Order,' because the family was growing, more cultivators were appearing, and they needed more spiritual energy for cultivation.

He never expected to win a 'Clan Establishment Order' at this auction. As soon as he got it, he left early, but still got blocked.

By the Xu family who had bid against him at the auction!

After a hard fight, he escaped, but he was badly injured, and the key problem was that old hag clinging to him like a bone-gnawing maggot, chasing relentlessly...

On the other side, as soon as Lu Wanyuan left the market, he knew something was wrong, because the shanty towns around it were already in chaos, a complete mess.

Smoke rose everywhere, fires blazed, people wailed and screamed, and the clatter of pots and pans rang out constantly.

It was a full-blown battlefield of brawls!

Sure enough, before he even reached the shanty towns near the market, he heard violent spiritual energy fluctuations sweeping in like a whirlwind.

There was a sense of wind from nowhere!

The crashing sounds of magical combat rumbled like thunder, booming so loud that standing miles away made his ears ache.

And the flimsy little houses near the shanty towns were overturned by the shockwaves, like a stormy rain.

Building materials flew everywhere—timber and bamboo filling the sky!

From the look of it, at least Late Qi Refining cultivators were dueling there, and the nearby shanty towns were taking the hit.

Seeing this, a small fry like him naturally had to stay far away.

Yet the market's patrol teams, faced with such obvious combat, didn't send a single squad out—seems the monthly protection fee of one piece was paid for nothing.

It felt like they'd known this would happen all along, as if the market's managers had tacitly accepted it.

Especially after an auction, there were bound to be so many disputes, since plenty of people hadn't gotten the items they wanted.

Now they were giving them this chance!

Seeing this situation, he wanted to turn back and head home—after all, the person he was trying to catch was now nowhere to be found.

Anyway, the other party couldn't escape. Once he returned and raised his Cultivation Realm, he could go to Green Bamboo Peak and settle accounts with them. They might dodge the first day, but they certainly couldn't dodge the fifteenth.

But then it suddenly occurred to him that he was currently invisible. Going back now would be such a waste, since this trait wasn't obtained through that content either. If he didn't recoup some of his investment, it really wouldn't be right.

And right now, with everything in chaos, couldn't he also Fish in Troubled Waters?

Lu Wanyuan's eyes lit up, but he still prioritized safety. He chose areas where the fighting wasn't too intense, wanting to check those out first.

After all, if the struggle was too fierce, he feared some anomaly might be exposed, and with his small frame, he probably couldn't withstand it. He had always just loosened soil and turned over fields—he had zero experience in combat.

His last fight was two years ago, when he came to Bayberry Market and was intercepted by someone, and he ended up killing that person.

For the past two years, he had basically been holed up in this mansion farming.

But if the battle wasn't too violent, there would definitely be opportunities to make a move. Because fishing in troubled waters meant fishing where the water wasn't too murky. If the water was too muddy, it was easy to hurt yourself, and you might end up losing the bait along with the chicken.

Given the current situation, the southwest direction was definitely out of the question. He probably wouldn't even make it there before being knocked down by the storm of the fight—that would be trouble.

That kind of commotion clearly warned people: small-time characters should stay out of it.

Lu Wanyuan took a deep breath. The advantage was his now. He had to stay calm, plan before acting, and only then could he advance and retreat freely.

He immediately looked up toward the northeast. Although there were also fluctuations from fighting in the northeast, the scale was clearly smaller than in the southwest.

So he ran toward the northeast. Even though he was invisible, he still remained cautious.

Looking at the chaotic, smoke-filled scene of the Shanty Town along the way, it felt like bandits had ransacked a village.

Corpses were everywhere—some with bellies ripped open, some missing arms or legs. There were the young, the old, the middle-aged, men and women.

There were also cultivators with just a breath of life left, looking as if they were about to die. The eyes of all these people were filled with despair.

Seeing this, he was deeply shaken. Was this what they called cultivation? Cultivating to the point of losing your life—was it really worth it?

Bang!

Just then, he heard a huge noise from not far ahead.

Then came the sound of houses collapsing in a rush.

Lu Wanyuan immediately moved away from the wall, afraid that the wall he was leaning on might suddenly collapse too—that would be too unjust. Then he carefully walked toward the source of the loud noise.

He had just poked his head out when he saw Xiao Wanchang up ahead with three people, surrounding a young man.

Seeing Xiao Wanchang—to actually run into him here—this was truly "breaking iron shoes in vain, yet finding it without effort." Of course, he had to teach him a good lesson.

"Brother Zhuge, I'd like to see how you escape now," Xiao Wanchang said, a vicious glint in his eyes as he threatened harshly. "What good is having more Spirit Stones than me? How dare you snatch things from me—are you tired of living?"

"Hmph, you little bastard," the young man, Zhuge Man, coughed and spat, looking at Xiao Wanchang with contempt. "Aren't you just relying on your mother selling herself out there, hooking up with wild men everywhere? Do you really think we don't know?"

"The face of our Qinghe Village has been thrown away by your mother. How dare you talk big here and try to fight me?"

"I wonder where your mother picked up some wild man. Two years gone, and her cultivation is now on par with mine."

"If it weren't for your mother, what could you possibly surpass me in? With that dead-father look of yours, pah!"