Crisis in the Dark Alley

"Three low-grade spirit stones! Damn it!"

At a slightly secluded street corner in the northern market district, the Green Robe Old Man inside the Ghost Nurturing Jar had gone a little mad, even using Wei Suo's usual catchphrase.

"Old man, what exactly is this thing?" Wei Suo held the Magic Treasure Fragment that emitted a gray glow and an aura that made him somewhat uncomfortable, his heart surging with excitement.

After all, the instant the Green Robe Old Man saw this item, he had gone madly insistent that Wei Suo need not buy anything else, but if he did not buy this one, he would regret it for half his life. The Green Robe Old Man was an antique from tens of thousands of years ago. Wei Suo was not worried at all about how to use a Magic Treasure Fragment whose use no one now knew; he merely wanted to know what this thing was that had made the shopaholic Green Robe Old Man so excited.

"Yin Charm Blade! This is a fragment of the Yin Charm Blade. The Yin Charm Blade was a High-grade Spirit Artifact, and I just examined it. This piece should still retain most of the Yin Charm Blade's power!" the Green Robe Old Man said, sounding as if he were having a fit.

"A Spirit Grade Magic Treasure? A genuine spirit artifact, and a high-grade one at that?" Upon hearing this, Wei Suo's mouth fell open as he too began to twitch with excitement.

A high-grade spirit artifact that retained most of its power—wouldn't that make it equivalent to a genuine Low-grade Spirit Artifact? Its power was more than twice that of a Magic Treasure Replica like Lin Daoyi's.

"What type of Magic Treasure is this, exactly? How do I use it?" Wei Suo only came back to his senses after quite a while. Clutching the half-knife-shaped gray Magic Treasure Fragment in his sweaty palm, he asked rapidly.

"Wait. Let me first see just how badly this Magic Treasure Fragment is damaged and how much power it has left."

As the Green Robe Old Man's voice entered Wei Suo's ears, a faint green light floated out of the Ghost Nurturing Jar at his chest. It swiftly wound out from beneath Wei Suo's clothes, along his arm, and onto the gray Magic Treasure Fragment in his hand.

The half-knife-shaped Magic Treasure Fragment had been refined from an unknown refined metal. It was engraved with talismanic patterns many times finer than spider silk and felt icy cold in his hand. The green light flowed through those patterns several times before suddenly withdrawing into the Ghost Nurturing Jar.

"One piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" the Green Robe Old Man's voice sounded again.

Wei Suo, already impatient beyond endurance, gritted his teeth. "Damn it, tell me both!"

The Green Robe Old Man was somewhat speechless, but he immediately said, "The good news is that most of this Magic Treasure's formations have not been damaged. Its power really is comparable to a genuine Low-grade Spirit Artifact, about as strong as a powerful spell unleashed at full force by a Circulation Realm Fourth Level cultivator. The bad news is that because some of the formations are damaged, using it consumes far more True Essence than it once did. With your current True Essence cultivation, you can probably activate it twice at most before your True Essence runs dry. Also, there are still cracks in parts of the fragment's body. If it clashes with powerful Magic Treasures or spells, the damage may worsen. The lighter consequence would be diminished power; the more serious one would be total ruin, making it unusable. If you get the chance, you should repair it first."

"Repair it? How?" Wei Suo replied carelessly, already grinning from ear to ear.

What Wei Suo lacked now were powerful offensive spells and magic artifacts. A Magic Treasure equivalent to a genuine spirit artifact—even if he could only activate it once or twice—was enough to make him overjoyed. Besides, once his cultivation advanced in the future, he could use it more times. As for it being easily damaged and unable to clash head-on with opponents, it could at least be used for surprise sneak attacks. And something of this level certainly would not be easy to repair.

Sure enough, just as Wei Suo expected, the Green Robe Old Man answered, "I know the method of repair, but telling you would be useless. Without Circulation Realm Fifth Level cultivation and a powerful True Fire Spell, there is simply no way to repair it."

Wei Suo looked at the gray-glowing Magic Treasure Fragment in his hand. "Then what type of Magic Treasure is this?"

The Green Robe Old Man said, "It was refined by an elder of the Yin Yuan Sect in the past. The Yin Yuan Sect specialized in cultivating Yin Qi Cultivation Methods and refining Ominous Magic Treasures. This Yin Charm Blade was forged by fusing the bone blade of an Iron Bone Flood Dragon with several refined metals. It gathered the souls and Yin Qi of many demonic beasts. When intact, once released, not only did its body become a streak of black light with astonishing power, it could also unleash dozens of black, yin-wind skulls of considerable might at once—yin winds howled, sand and stones flew, and ghosts wailed!"

Wei Suo swallowed wildly as he listened. He did not care who had refined this Magic Treasure or whether it was yin or not. As long as it was practical and powerful, the more yin it was, the better.

"Old man, let's hurry and buy the rest of the things now, then go back so you can teach me how to use this Magic Treasure Fragment, all right? This Yin Charm Blade Fragment has the power of a spirit artifact. Killing Fourth-tier Demonic Beasts like the Unicorn Thunder Viper should be no problem. I could even spend spirit stones to buy information on where Fourth-tier Demonic Beasts can be found."

The Green Robe Old Man immediately protested, "I helped you buy an item worth far more than a thousand low-grade spirit stones for three low-grade spirit stones, and you still will not let me keep browsing properly? Maybe we'll find something else like this."

Wei Suo thought that made sense. After swiftly putting away the Magic Treasure Fragment, he prepared to head toward an area with more stalls.

"Heart Devouring Worm... Tie Ce..."

But just as he stepped out from that somewhat secluded street corner, in an empty alley beside it, a middle-aged cultivator in yellow robes with a long beard and a jade crown, who looked exceedingly refined, was speaking in an extremely low voice to a gray-robed cultivator. Wei Suo could not hear what the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator was saying at all, but those two words that happened to drift into his ears made his heart jolt, stopping him in his tracks.

Almost the instant Wei Suo made out the general appearances of the two cultivators in the secluded, dark alley, the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator had finished giving his instructions and left through the other end of the alley.

"Old man, what that fellow said seems to involve the Heart Devouring Worm and Tie Ce. I think he's acting suspiciously. I'm going to follow him first and see what's going on." After whispering this to the Green Robe Old Man, Wei Suo immediately followed after him without waiting for a reply.

"You're worried that something might happen to Nangong Yuqing, aren't you? Fine, follow him then," the Green Robe Old Man muttered softly.

After emerging from the alley, Wei Suo saw that the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator and the gray-robed cultivator split up as though they did not know each other.

But after secretly sweeping his gaze over them with the Qi Gazing Technique, Wei Suo's expression changed drastically. Six bright yellow glows of sea consciousness radiated from the gray-robed cultivator whose face he had not clearly seen. He was clearly a formidable Circulation Realm First Level cultivator. As for the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator, a layer of bright, rolling currents of aura billowed around him, rendering the Qi Gazing Technique ineffective!

Wei Suo was now at the Sea of Consciousness Realm Fourth Level. His Qi Gazing Technique could see through cultivators up to the Circulation Realm First Level, yet it did not work on this cultivator. That meant this yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator was at least at the Circulation Realm Second Level!

As a chill surged through his heart and he hesitated slightly, the gray-robed cultivator had already headed out of the northern market district. Meanwhile, the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator strolled leisurely toward another alley. Watching carefully, Wei Suo discovered that a disheveled-haired cultivator dressed as a Daoist in a purple robe immediately followed him.

When Wei Suo used the Qi Gazing Technique on that disheveled-haired old Daoist, who looked to be over fifty and wore a purple Daoist robe patterned with dragons and tigers, he was startled again. This disheveled-haired old Daoist was also a Circulation Realm First Level cultivator!

Moreover, the old Daoist's six seas of consciousness were also purple, but the radiance revealed by the Qi Gazing Technique was exceptionally vast and turbulent. He seemed to cultivate at least a high-grade Profound-tier True Essence technique.

Three formidable Circulation Realm cultivators in a row, the sort rarely seen under normal circumstances, and all acting so mysteriously—this made Wei Suo feel even more strongly that something was amiss.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wei Suo did not even look at the two men. He merely lowered his head and headed toward the alley the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator had entered.

Only when he neared the mouth of the alley did Wei Suo swiftly glance inside. To his surprise, it seemed that the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator and the old Daoist who had followed him had quickened their pace within. At a glance, the deep alley was completely empty.

Somewhat surprised, Wei Suo walked in. Upon reaching a corner, he saw that the two alleys beyond were still empty. Just as Wei Suo's eyes flickered uncertainly and he hesitated over whether to retreat from the alley, a chilling voice suddenly entered his ears. "What? Are you following me?"

A figure emerged from the darkness of the alley ahead. Looking at Wei Suo, it was precisely that yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator with at least Circulation Realm Second Level cultivation!

The yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator still looked exceptionally refined, with a faint, almost imperceptible smile on his face. Yet in Wei Suo's eyes, he immediately inspired a bone-piercing chill. Cold sweat drenched Wei Suo's back in an instant.

At the same time, faint footsteps sounded behind Wei Suo. The old Daoist in purple robes had somehow circled around and now stood at the entrance of the alley behind him. One before and one behind, they trapped Wei Suo in the middle of the alley.

Without any hesitation, an expression of extreme surprise immediately appeared on Wei Suo's face. He turned and pointed at the old Daoist behind him. "I have a rather good Magic Treasure Fragment on me. Earlier, I saw that this fellow Daoist seemed to be someone who recognized quality, so I wanted to ask whether he wished to buy it. But I clearly saw this fellow Daoist walking ahead of me just now. As for this talk of following you, I don't understand it at all."

(This extra update is thanks to the mighty red votes, and it also continues paying off what I owe fellow student Fading Gaze. Next, I need to prepare to repay what I owe fellow student Oldcat0315. We've been getting more impressive and more flamboyant by the day lately. While we aim for a new record tomorrow, don't forget to check in on the homepage for red votes and points—I'm about to explode again.)