The So-Called Murder for Treasure...

Gu Chengming instinctively wanted to refuse.

"Thanks for the offer, Junior Brother, but lately I've..."

Right now, he had a whole pile of Spiritual Sense pills from Great Elder Ren. With the Two-Way Fraud strategy, he wasn't really short on body-forging resources in the near future.

However.

Just as he was about to politely decline, Hundred Bones Ming inside him suddenly stirred.

[Hundred Bones Ming heard the word "Marketplace" and instantly perked up!]

[It thought, the Marketplace? That's the Child of Destiny's Dragon Rising Ground!]

[According to the usual tropes, places as mixed and chaotic as this were often hiding earth-shaking opportunities! Ancient fragments, dusty divine weapons, lumps of iron that looked like scrap but were actually Immortal Sword Fragments...]

[And as a peerless Cultivation Method rarely seen in a thousand years, it was usually the one who got these opportunities.]

[It desperately wanted you to agree to go to the Marketplace and investigate.]

Gu Chengming glanced at the System Panel with a strange look.

Sure enough.

This Divine Person Cultivation Method had come up with another Divine Person idea.

But...

Since it wanted to go so badly, couldn't he make use of that?

As a GAL Master, it was indeed difficult to devise the perfect strategy before you understood someone's personality.

But by now, he had thoroughly figured out Hundred Bones Ming's temperament.

What were the few things that ■-point protagonists loved most?

Finding bargains at auctions, an old man in a ring, getting ambushed on the road and turning the tables to strike it rich.

And after seeing Hundred Bones Ming's thoughts, a plan quickly took shape in Gu Chengming's mind.

So the refusal that had nearly left Gu Chengming's lips vanished at once.

He set down his teacup and cupped his hands toward Jiang Lu, a warm smile on his face.

"Since you've invited me so sincerely, Junior Brother, I won't stand on ceremony. To be honest, I've always been interested in places like that and wanted to see one for myself. Sorry for the trouble, Junior Brother Jiang."

Jiang Lu was delighted. He quickly rose to his feet. "You're too polite, Senior Brother Gu. This way!"

The two left the small courtyard and followed the mountain path toward the Marketplace.

Along the way, Jiang Lu proved quite talkative, regaling Gu Chengming with all sorts of interesting stories about the sect.

As they walked, Jiang Lu seemed to remember something and lowered his voice.

"By the way, Senior Brother Gu, have you heard about something strange lately?"

"What strange thing?" Gu Chengming asked casually.

"Recently, a very strange Cultivation Method has been making the rounds among our Outer Sect Disciples, and even some of the Inner Sect Disciples."

Jiang Lu spoke mysteriously. "I heard it's quite miraculous and has no barriers to entry. Anyone can practice it. The strangest part is that the more people practice it, the more powerful it becomes, and the more benefits everyone gets."

"Apparently, quite a few senior brothers who'd been stuck at bottlenecks for years somehow broke through after practicing it."

Gu Chengming frowned slightly.

A low barrier to entry? Stronger with more people?

Why did that sound so much like... a pyramid scheme?

A faint, peculiar feeling rose within him.

In the cultivation world, nothing ever fell from the sky for free. Behind shortcuts that seemed too good to be true, there was often a massive pit waiting to swallow you whole.

Could this be some Evil Cultivator's scheme to harvest the disciples' Essence, Qi, and Spirit?

But then he thought it over.

The news had already reached Jiang Lu's ears, which meant it must have spread throughout the sect some time ago.

Wenjian Sect wasn't as strict with its disciples as some reclusive sects, but neither was it a place for hidden filth.

The sect's elders were all shrewd as foxes. If this were truly some Evil Cultivator's sinister scheme, they would've slapped it dead long ago. How could it have spread this far?

Since the elders hadn't intervened, that meant it was at least harmless on the surface?

"Oh? Is that so?" Gu Chengming feigned surprise. "How interesting."

As they talked, the two had already crossed a mountain ridge.

From the valley ahead, the noise of crowds surged toward them on the mountain wind.

The once-quiet valley had been turned into a vast market.

Hundreds of makeshift stalls lined both sides of the valley, stretching farther than the eye could see.

The stalls displayed a dazzling array of wares. Some glimmered faintly with spiritual light, while others looked plain and unadorned.

Disciples in robes of every color wove among them. Bargaining, hawking, and even arguments over prized goods mingled together, forming a scene of cultivation steeped in the Mortal World Qi.

This was the disciple Marketplace of Wenjian Sect.

Chapter 28: The So-Called Murder for Treasure...

Jiang Lu led Gu Chengming through the bustling crowd.

"Senior Brother Gu, most of the stalls over here are run by Outer Sect Disciples. The goods are a mixed bag, but they're cheap. Those slightly fancier booths over there belong to senior brothers from the Inner Sect. Better goods, but higher prices."

As they walked, Jiang Lu expertly explained the layout of the Marketplace.

Gu Chengming nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping casually across the stalls on either side.

To be honest, there were quite a few body-forging resources here.

Tiger Bone Powder, Bear Gall Wine, even the blood of low-tier demonic beasts—people were selling all sorts of things.

But today, he wasn't here for the wine.

Buying things was secondary. The real goal was to raise Hundred Bones Ming's Favorability.

Since it was a ■-point protagonist, what could appeal to it more than a "Market Bargain" plot?

With that in mind, Gu Chengming didn't rush to buy anything. Instead, he wandered from stall to stall like a seasoned connoisseur, sometimes picking up a piece of ore to examine it, sometimes leaning closer to sniff a spirit herb.

But reality was often far less romantic than fiction.

Most of the wares at the disciples' Marketplace were ordinary, and nearly all had fixed prices.

They were all fellow disciples, seeing each other every day. No one wanted to ruin their reputation by cheating or swindling anyone.

A foolish stall owner selling a divine weapon as scrap metal, or a crooked merchant hawking scrap iron as a divine weapon, was practically unheard of here.

That didn't stop Gu Chengming from "creating" a miracle.

He stopped at a stall specializing in medicinal herbs.

The stall owner was a rather honest-looking young man. The moment he saw Gu Chengming stop, he greeted him enthusiastically.

"Senior Brother, you've got a good eye! Come have a look. These herbs were all freshly picked from the Back Mountain. This is Hemostatic Vine, this is Mind Calming Flower, and this..."

He pointed to a pile of green plants tucked in the corner of the stall, so plain they looked like weeds.

"This is Blood Activating Grass, a basic ingredient for low-tier healing pills. Plenty to go around, and a fair price."

Gu Chengming's eyes flickered.

He ignored the spirit herbs displayed prominently and reached straight for the bundle of utterly unremarkable Blood Activating Grass.

His movement was swift and decisive, as though he'd already fixed on his target.

"How much for this bundle?"

The stall owner paused, then held up two fingers. "Two Spirit Stones."

It was a fair price, even a little cheap.

Blood Activating Grass was common, but it still took effort to gather.

Without another word, Gu Chengming pulled out two Spirit Stones and tossed them to the stall owner. Then he put the bundle of herbs into his Storage Bag and turned to leave.

The whole process flowed smoothly, without the slightest hesitation.

[Hundred Bones Ming was a little puzzled.]

[It looked at the bundle of green grass in the Storage Bag and wondered why Gu Chengming had bought such low-grade herbs.]

[The stall owner had said it himself: this was the most basic Blood Activating Grass, the kind that grew all over the mountains. It didn't know herbology, but the bargain-basement price of two Spirit Stones made it clear this couldn't possibly be some precious natural treasure.]

Gu Chengming ignored the confusion in his mind.

He hurried through the crowd until he reached a relatively quiet corner. After making sure no one was paying attention to him, he stopped.

He glanced around, lowered his head to look at the Storage Bag in his hand, and the corners of his mouth lifted with barely contained delight. In a trembling voice only he could hear, he muttered to himself:

"I've struck it rich..."

"I can't believe I actually found one."

"It's an immature Dragon Blood Grass... Though it looks exactly like Blood Activating Grass, that faint golden pattern showing through its leaf veins gives it away."

"This is a third-tier herb, the primary ingredient for refining the Dragon Blood Body Forging Pill. It'd fetch at least a few hundred Spirit Stones at an outside auction house... and I bought it for just two Spirit Stones."

[Hundred Bones Ming was stunned.]

[It instinctively wanted to argue, to say it was impossible. After all, it had watched the stall owner sell the grass with a look of disdain.]

[But when it saw Gu Chengming's hands trembling with excitement as he desperately tried to keep quiet...]

[And when it recalled its own "Child of Destiny" setting, it somehow found itself believing him a little more.]

[Had he really found a bargain?]

At the same time, Hundred Bones Ming finally understood Gu Chengming's earlier actions, which had seemed so baffling.

[No wonder he hadn't even looked at those flashy spirit herbs and had gone straight for that bundle of weeds!]

[No wonder he'd paid so readily, without haggling, picked up the goods, and left!]

[He not only knew how to recognize rare treasures, but also understood the principle of keeping wealth hidden, and knew to conceal his abilities!]

[As its Golden Finger, he truly possessed great opportunities, great Karma, and great wisdom!]

[Hundred Bones Ming Favorability +5]

Hearing the system notification, Gu Chengming chuckled to himself.

The truth was, this was the heart of Wenjian Sect, where order was strict and the laws were severe.

He'd only bought a bundle of Blood Activating Grass for two Spirit Stones. Even if he'd walked around flaunting a Top-grade Spirit Stone, at most people would've gathered to stare at him enviously. No one would dare rob him in broad daylight.

The supposed "danger around every corner" was nothing but this Cultivation Method's paranoid delusion.

But that didn't stop Gu Chengming from keeping up the act.

Playing along with Hundred Bones Ming's nervousness, he tucked the Storage Bag securely against his body with a grave expression, then tugged at Jiang Lu beside him and said quietly:

"Junior Brother, we shouldn't stay here. We'd better leave at once."

Jiang Lu looked baffled.

"Huh? Senior Brother Gu, we've only just arrived... Why shouldn't we stay?"

Gu Chengming didn't explain. He only gave him a look that said, "You don't understand, but this is serious."

[For some reason, Hundred Bones Ming began to feel nervous.]

[It fully agreed with you.]

[As the saying goes, a common man is innocent, but his jade brings disaster! You were discreet when you found that bargain, but there was no telling whether some sharp-eyed expert had noticed.]

[This place is full of people, and danger lurks everywhere!]

Meanwhile.