Soul Devouring Sect's Bait

"It is indeed the origin essence produced by an Azure Ghost with a century of cultivation. Though somewhat damaged, this item can be used both to cultivate soul-path secret arts and as a supplementary material in the refinement of many magical artifacts. It is often unavailable despite its price, with demand far exceeding supply."

"For a Blue Essence Soul of this quality, I can offer two thousand seven hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

After studying it carefully, the shopkeeper gave a fairly impartial assessment. After considering it for a moment, he named his price.

This time, Zheng Yi did not hesitate and agreed at once.

Soon after, he spent another two hundred Spirit Stones to purchase a Mid-Grade Storage Bag.

Zheng Yi swept his eyes over the Spirit Stones, carefully checked the amount, then put them all away. He had just turned to leave when the shopkeeper's voice came from behind him.

"Fellow Daoist, if you have any more Blue Essence Souls of this quality, our shop is willing to purchase them at a ten percent higher price."

Hearing this, Zheng Yi gave no response. He merely turned and walked out, his attitude neither accepting nor rejecting.

As he watched Zheng Yi's departing back, a strange glint flashed through the shopkeeper's eyes.

He vaguely sensed that this customer should have more Blue Essence Souls in his possession, but he had no proof, which was why he had asked.

Yet the customer seemed extremely vigilant. He did not answer and simply left, leaving the shopkeeper unable to make up his mind for the moment.

Wealth stirred people's hearts. If there were a stable channel through which to obtain Blue Essence Souls or Azure Ghosts, he would definitely contact the owner behind him and seize that channel, holding it firmly in his own hands.

After leaving the main entrance and putting some distance between himself and the shop, Zheng Yi turned into another passageway before finally letting out a long breath.

He had personally felt the shopkeeper's gaze fixed on him the entire time, making him afraid to show even the slightest panic.

If any flaw had been exposed, there was no telling what he would have faced next.

Fortunately, Zheng Yi had been cautious and only taken out one bottle of Blue Essence Soul. If he had produced two at once, things might have gone in a very different direction.

If his Spirit Stones had not nearly run dry, and if he had not traded this Blue Essence Soul, he would probably soon have been thrown straight out of the inn.

He still had Zombie Crystal Cores on hand, but Zheng Yi would never take them out to sell.

After all, no one in the Cultivation World had ever heard of such things.

Once he took them out and exposed his tracks, it would definitely bring tremendous trouble.

He still lacked Spirit Stones to purchase certain other cultivation materials. Left with no alternative, Zheng Yi had taken out the Blue Essence Souls refined from Azure Ghosts to sell.

In truth, directly selling the Azure Ghosts would certainly have brought in even more value.

But Zheng Yi would never consider it.

The reason was simple: the risk was too great.

Who knew how many methods cultivators had to obtain the information they wanted from ghostly creatures?

Though this Azure Ghost was not very intelligent, it still possessed basic intellect.

If he brought an intelligent creature from the Apocalyptic World into the Cultivation World and someone else noticed something, it would be a disaster of heaven-shattering proportions.

To Zheng Yi, the Apocalyptic World was now the foundation of his Great Dao.

Like a dragon's reverse scale, anyone who knew of it would die upon touching it.

Still, Zheng Yi seemed to have underestimated the usefulness of the Blue Essence Soul.

Setting aside his concerns, Zheng Yi changed his appearance once more and continued on to find the next shop.

For two thousand six hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, he traded away the Blue Essence Soul refined from the third Azure Ghost.

By then, two bottles of Blue Essence Soul had sold for more than five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and his shriveled purse suddenly became full again.

The success of these transactions undoubtedly gave Zheng Yi an idea.

The Apocalyptic World contained countless Vengeful Spirits, of varying strength, along with terrifying numbers of zombies and monsters.

If he could bring these resources from the Apocalyptic World to the Da Yi Immortal Domain to sell, it would definitely be a business that guaranteed profit without loss.

Of course, that also required Zheng Yi to become stronger.

If Zheng Yi openly sold cultivation resources more precious than Blue Essence Souls without sufficient strength, he would certainly attract unwanted attention.

A child carrying gold through a bustling market, punished for possessing jade—those sayings were enough to keep him vigilant.

Of course, even if he traded resources, Zheng Yi would never bring living creatures into the Da Yi Immortal Domain.

At most, he would sell refined semi-finished products.

Anything that might expose his secret absolutely could not be circulated.

This was his own secret.

Without the Apocalyptic World, Zheng Yi would merely have been an ordinary cultivator. He might have spent his entire life struggling to reach Qi Refining Seventh Layer, while Foundation Establishment would have been beyond even his dreams.

Zheng Yi's mind was clear. He would never trade his future for a few Spirit Stones of immediate profit.

After completing the transaction, Zheng Yi rounded a corner, quickly changed clothes, and turned to leave.

Though Zheng Yi did not know whether changing his attire could evade anyone pursuing him, at least it gave him an extra layer of protection and should be of some use.

Without wasting any more time, and without returning directly to the inn, Zheng Yi headed straight for the Soul Devouring Sect's outpost in Blood Mist Abyss City.

He had no choice. The cultivation techniques available to Soul Devouring Sect Outer Sect Disciples only extended through the Qi Refining Middle Stage.

Like the Black Fiend Technique he had obtained, once he cultivated to Qi Refining Stage Five, all its contents came to an abrupt end.

This technique given to Outer Sect Disciples contained only the first five layers. To obtain the complete subsequent technique, one had to go to the Soul Devouring Sect's sect station and formally become a disciple before gaining access to it.

This was one of the Soul Devouring Sect's methods for drawing in talent. After all, for any cultivation sect—whether righteous or demonic, great or small—the inheritance of cultivation techniques was an extremely important matter.

The early portions of a cultivation technique were unimportant, so they could naturally be given to nominal Outer Sect Disciples, like bait cast into the water.

If you wanted to continue cultivating, you could. Come to the sect station. The full technique was there; as long as you came, they would let you cultivate it.

After casting out bait, was there any need to fear that the fish would not bite?

It was not only the cultivation technique. If Zheng Yi wanted to advance his Soul Devouring Banner, everything that followed—advancement materials, refinement methods, and advancement techniques—was all at the sect station.

In other words, unless he wanted to change sects, he had to go to the Soul Devouring Sect's sect station.

From what Zheng Yi understood, he had now successfully broken through Qi Refining Stage Four and entered the Qi Refining Middle Stage. Within the Soul Devouring Sect, he could apply for the status of Inner Sect Disciple.

This was because the Soul Devouring Sect could only be considered a small sect within the Demon Domain's demonic path. It was not a particularly powerful demonic cultivation sect, so the disciples it recruited were a mixed bag of good and bad.

Qi Refining Stage Four was already considered the middle stage of Qi Refining, enough to serve as an Inner Sect Disciple.

As for those powerful Demonic Sects, one needed at least High-Stage Qi Refining cultivation to possibly become an Inner Sect Disciple.

As Zheng Yi stepped into the Soul Devouring Sect's branch outpost in Blood Mist Abyss City once more, what troubled him most was whether he had come too eagerly.

If Elder Gongsun, the Outer Sect Deacon he had bribed back then, was still here, would he notice something?

After all, although his cultivation advancement was still within a reasonable range, it had indeed been rather rapid.