Shopkeeper Courts Death, a Killing Trap Set Within Myriad Treasures Pavilion

At the deepest part of the underground black market's karst cave.

A three-story building rose from the ground.

Thick bronze pillars stood at the building's four corners, while great clusters of glowing spirit stones were embedded across its surface, forcibly driving away the surrounding gray miasma.

Above the main entrance hung a broad blackwood plaque, carved with four flamboyant characters: Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

This was the black market's core trading hub, a gilded den of endless wealth in the eyes of itinerant cultivators.

Lu Chen strode along the gravel path.

He utterly ignored the greedy, probing looks cast his way by the surrounding itinerant cultivators.

Reaching the entrance of Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Lu Chen roughly yanked aside the heavy beast-hide curtain shielding the doorway and stepped straight into the dim first-floor hall.

Several itinerant cultivators were gathered in the hall, picking through low-grade artifacts.

Hearing the commotion, they turned their heads and immediately felt an utterly terrifying wave of heat crash into them.

Beneath Lu Chen's broad black cloak, the pure-yang vitality and blood of the twelfth level of Iron Cloth Shirt was spilling out uncontrollably.

The heat wave scorched those low-level itinerant cultivators into retreating again and again.

Their backs slammed against the wall. Gasping for air, none of them dared approach the hulking man in black radiating frenzied heat.

Behind the counter, a slightly plump man in a brocade robe lifted his eyelids.

He was the first-floor shopkeeper of Myriad Treasures Pavilion. His cultivation had already reached the peak of the Qi Refining Realm, with one foot in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

A professional fake smile immediately spread across the shopkeeper's smooth, worldly face.

He clasped his hands inside his sleeves and secretly released a thread of exceptionally fine spiritual sense, silently probing toward Lu Chen.

"This guest looks quite unfamiliar," the shopkeeper said with a drawn-out tone and a smiling face.

"Our Myriad Treasures Pavilion buys and sells all kinds of artifacts and pills. So long as you have good goods, our prices will certainly be fair."

That thread of spiritual sense struck Lu Chen.

It discovered nothing.

There was not the slightest fluctuation of true essence on this man, nor could it catch any trace of spiritual energy.

Lu Chen did not waste a single word.

He walked to the costly darkwood counter, raised his left arm, and viciously smashed the bloodstained black cloth bundle onto it.

Bang!

The heavy, muffled impact made the counter's surface buckle sharply downward.

The black cloth bundle burst open on the spot.

Several dozen high-grade spirit herbs, their roots still clinging with fresh soil, spilled out in a disorderly heap.

Then, several horribly twisted low-grade flying swords clattered onto the countertop.

Most eye-catching of all was the top-grade storage ring pressed beneath everything else.

The restriction on that ring had already been forcibly crushed by an unreasonable brute force, and violent cracks covered its surface.

The itinerant cultivators in the corner of the hall all sucked in a sharp breath.

They stared fixedly at that top-grade storage ring, their Adam's apples bobbing wildly as the sounds of swallowing rose and fell through the dim hall.

That was a top-grade item only great Foundation Establishment cultivators could afford!

Yet it had been tossed onto the wooden table like scrap metal.

The shopkeeper's formerly smiling face changed color in an instant.

He swiftly pulled his hands from his sleeves, grabbed the shattered storage ring, and checked its inner side.

Engraved inside the ring was the exclusive mark of a Black Mud City retainer.

The shopkeeper knew perfectly well what that mark represented.

This belonged to Chen Yuanshan, that Foundation Establishment Realm retainer of Black Mud City!

The shopkeeper's breathing immediately grew heavier.

He scrutinized the tall figure before him once more, shrouded in a black cloak.

Scalding vitality and blood rolled off this man's body in waves, like beacon smoke set ablaze.

This was absolutely not the spiritual pressure a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator should possess, nor did it have the restrained true essence of an immortal cultivator.

Information that had just spread through the black market flashed through the shopkeeper's mind.

Black Mud City had sealed its gates tonight.

Rumor had it that remnants of the Blood Demon Sect had entered Immortal-Breaking Mountain.

Demonic cultivators loved using forbidden arts that burned away their lifespan and forcibly drained their potential.

This hulking man in black must have used such a life-shortening forbidden art, ambushed Chen Yuanshan, killed him in the shadows, and stolen this batch of goods.

And now, with his vitality and blood spraying uncontrollably from his body like this, it was clearly the backlash of that forbidden art. He had already reached the end of his wick, with the oil nearly spent!

He absolutely did not possess the strength to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator head-on!

Unconcealed greed flashed in the shopkeeper's eyes.

A demonic cultivator gravely injured by backlash, carrying the entire fortune of a Foundation Establishment Realm retainer, had delivered himself right to his doorstep.

This was a windfall handed over for free!

The shopkeeper had absolute confidence.

To guard against itinerant cultivators robbing one another, Myriad Treasures Pavilion had set up a formation in the treasure vault behind them, bestowed by the upper ranks of the merchant association.

Once that First-Order Spirit-Sealing Suppression Formation was activated, any cultivator entering it would have their spiritual energy instantly drained dry and be left at the mercy of others.

The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together and put that warm, welcoming smile back on his face.

"Oh my, honored guest, you've truly come into quite a windfall!"

He pointed at the spirit herbs and broken flying swords on the counter.

"But there are too many people and too many prying eyes in this hall. It truly isn't convenient to inspect this batch of high-grade goods here."

The shopkeeper turned sideways and extended a hand toward the space behind the counter.

There stood an incredibly heavy bronze door, densely carved with isolation formation patterns.

"Why not move to the treasure vault in the back, honored guest?"

"We can close the doors and discuss things at leisure. I guarantee I'll offer you a sky-high price that will satisfy you."

Lu Chen's face remained cold as his gaze swept over the slightly plump shopkeeper.

Without a word, he reached out, grabbed the black cloth bundle from the counter, and clenched it once more in his broad palm.

His eyes beneath the cloak were utterly still.

Lu Chen raised his foot and strode over the darkwood counter, crossed the threshold, and walked straight through the bronze doors covered in formation patterns.

The itinerant cultivators outside exchanged glances.

Several of them huddled together, all wearing mocking, gloating sneers.

"Another stray dog blinded by greed."

"He actually dares barge into Myriad Treasures Pavilion's back vault. Does he really think that fat man runs an honest business?"

"I bet that hulking bastard won't last half an incense stick."

"Half an incense stick? Once those bronze doors close, it won't even take ten breaths before every drop of blood essence in him is squeezed dry!"

With a rumble, the bronze doors slammed shut.

The laughter and mockery outside were completely cut off.

The treasure vault was exceedingly spacious, its surroundings piled high with shelves, but the light instantly dimmed.

The shopkeeper followed inside, quickly retreating until he stood atop a stone platform three zhang away.

The false merchant's smile vanished from his face. His five fingers suddenly clenched.

A jade formation disk hidden in his palm was crushed on the spot.

The bronze floor tiles beneath his feet shook violently.

The dark formation patterns across the walls flared brightly.

The First-Order Spirit-Sealing Suppression Formation roared to life!

Immediately afterward, an intensely pungent stench of blood surged up from deep underground.

The second killing formation, the Incomplete Blood Fiend Trapping Dragon Formation, erupted along with it.

The overt and covert formations locked down the entire treasure vault at once.

The shopkeeper stared at Lu Chen standing in the center of the formations, the flesh on his face quivering wildly with excitement.

"Throw over the bundle in your hand."

"I'll leave you an intact corpse!"