Leaving the Black Market Laden, Traveling Through the Deadwood Breath-Hiding Blind Spot

Clang—

An ear-splitting sound of metal breaking exploded through the black market's main hall. The massive bronze gate, said to withstand the full bombardment of a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator, had its hinges snap on the spot and came crashing down onto the bluestone tiles.

The hundred-odd rogue cultivators who had been waiting to watch the show—and perhaps pick up some scraps—were all jolted by the tremendous commotion. A chill seeped from the cracks of their bones.

Dust billowed everywhere.

Lu Chen strode out of the swirling haze. A bulging beast-hide bundle was tightly bound around his lower back with tough leather cord, while the pure yang vital blood of twelve layers of Iron Cloth Shirt frantically consumed the vast medicinal power he had just swallowed.

Ultimate Dao vital blood spilled outward.

The hall's originally cold, damp air was forcibly baked dry and scorching by that violent heat wave. The surrounding air grew incomparably thick, and a suffocating pressure rushed head-on, instantly stopping the breath of several nearby rogue cultivators and making their chests ache.

In the darkness by the walls, several evil cultivators who had long made their living by robbing other criminals had already clenched poisoned darts and vile enemy-trapping artifacts in their hands.

Through the dust, they saw Lu Chen's iron-gray, knotted body. Not only was there not a single scrape on his skin, but the surface of his muscles still bore a dark-red, rusty smear of blood left from snapping the Foundation Establishment shopkeeper's neck.

The knees of those desperadoes instantly went weak. Their fingers trembled violently twice as they stuffed their artifacts deep into their trousers and sleeves, not daring to make even the slightest sound for fear of drawing his attention.

No one needed to say a word. In the crowded black market hall, over a hundred rogue cultivators frantically pressed themselves against the wet stone walls on both sides.

They shoved one another with brutal force, forcibly opening up a passage two zhang wide through the center of the hall for Lu Chen.

These bottom-feeding scum, who normally killed without batting an eye and chased profit above all else, could not summon even a trace of admiration. They lowered their heads and stared fixedly at their toes, their minds filled with nothing but utter terror toward this beast of pure violence. In this lawless place beyond heaven's justice, they recognized only fists and death.

Lu Chen did not even glance at the crowds on either side. Without looking aside, he strode down the passage and out through the entrance to the underground cavern.

The dense gray miasma around Immortal-Breaking Mountain rolled over him. His tall, broad back disappeared cleanly into the night, swallowed completely by darkness without the slightest hesitation.

The instant Lu Chen stepped out of the black market, the dozens of spiritstone lamps embedded in the ceiling of the underground cavern suddenly erupted with a fierce crackle.

The lights flickered madly twice, then all went out.

The entire black market was instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness. After a brief silence, a shrill, distorted scream burst from the crowd.

"The earth veins have been cut off! The Azure Firmament Sword Sect has sealed the entire Immortal-Breaking Mountain!"

Panicked curses, shoving, and the clatter of artifacts tangled into a chaotic mass within the dark hall. The rogue cultivators had fallen completely into extreme panic.

Within several concealed grottoes deep in the cavern, several obscure streams of divine sense had quietly extended outward. These belonged to old Foundation Establishment Realm evil cultivators who had spent years hiding in the lowest reaches of the black market to evade their enemies.

The moment their divine senses spread into the hall, they crashed straight into the domineering residual might of Lu Chen's vital blood lingering in the air after his departure. Then, the terrifying array pressure of the Azure Firmament Sword Sect sealing off all of Immortal-Breaking Mountain brutally crushed down through the earth veins.

Several streams of divine sense were jolted numb. Without even communicating, those old monsters tacitly cut off their investigation. Heavy stone doors were sealed layer upon layer, and they obediently retreated into their own domains, allowing Lu Chen, this baleful god in mortal flesh, to swagger away. None of them dared touch that bad luck.

Deep within the outskirts of Immortal-Breaking Mountain.

Large numbers of outer disciples from the Azure Firmament Sword Sect and Black-Iron Heavy Cavalry soldiers had formed a massive half-fan formation. Holding glowing blue detection array disks, they advanced step by step into the depths of the forest.

Their methods were exceedingly brutal. The disciples in front directly drove their flying swords, grinding the dense brush along the way into splinters. The operation of the array disks forcibly drew away the moisture from the ground, and the surrounding flowers and grass visibly yellowed, withered, and cracked apart. The lackeys of the immortal sect trampled fallen leaves across the ground, scouring the forest until not a blade of grass remained and displaying the arrogant posture of absolute oppression over mortal life.

Several li away, Lu Chen was darting through the deep forest at high speed.

His two powerful thighs erupted with astonishing force. Every time his feet hit the ground, they crushed hard stones to powder and stamped deep pits into the earth. The century-old blood ginseng and demon beast leg meat in his belly were being frantically refined by the Ultimate Dao Furnace, while vital blood rampaged through his veins with a muffled roar.

Suddenly, Lu Chen's charging body jerked to a halt. The perverse danger sense of an Ultimate Dao body cultivator screamed warnings inside his mind.

Less than five li ahead, more than a dozen pale flying sword lights were parting the miasma and rapidly closing in.

Lu Chen drove both feet into the ground. The soles of his feet plowed two trenches through the slick mud, each reaching his calves in depth. His enormous body, racing at high speed, was forcibly nailed in place, revealing a terrifyingly precise control over physical strength.

The sound of flying swords tearing through the air grew louder and louder.

Lu Chen did not waste even half a breath. He forcibly suppressed the pure yang vital blood boiling at its peak within him. The wildly pounding heart in his chest instantly slowed, its rhythm pressed down until it beat only once every incense stick's time.

The dark-red metallic sheen representing the twelve layers of Iron Cloth Shirt completely faded from his skin, leaving it a lifeless ash-gray. His body temperature plunged sharply, becoming exactly the same as the cool, damp rocks beside him.

He leaned back, pressing his broad back tightly against the trunk of an ancient towering tree so thick that two people would need to join arms to encircle it. His entire body fit seamlessly into the heavy shadow cast by its canopy.

Above him, disciples of the Azure Firmament Sword Sect rode flying swords past at low altitude.

The harsh white light of the flying swords swept through the forest below, striking directly onto the ancient tree's shadow and revealing only a patch of light-devouring blackness.

Lu Chen squeezed his heavy eyelids shut, completely blocking any possible reflection from his eyes.

The Heaven-Locking Array of the Azure Firmament Sword Sect had completely severed the earth-vein vitality of this region. The ancient tree Lu Chen leaned against was rapidly withering from the loss of water. Great chunks of dry, dead bark peeled from its trunk.

Lu Chen's iron-gray, knotted muscles matched those dry, cracked pieces of bark perfectly, both in color and texture.

The cultivators high above spread out their divine senses, sweeping downward together with the harsh light of their flying swords.

They were less than three zhang apart.

The disciples' divine senses instinctively sought the resonance of spiritual energy and fluctuations of true essence. When the detection principles swept over Lu Chen's body, all they received in return was the sensation of a rough, cold, lifeless dead tree burl.

The sword-riding disciple did not even turn his head, directly howling past above the ancient tree. The blind spot born of the immortal arts' overconfident detection had been exploited completely by this Ultimate Dao mortal without spiritual roots.

Only after the sword lights in the sky had vanished entirely into the distance did Lu Chen open his eyes again, reactivate his suppressed pure yang vital blood, and continue making his way deeper into the mountains.

Half an hour later.

With cold night dew covering his head and shoulders, Lu Chen stepped over shattered stones and successfully returned to the mountainside of the hidden miasma valley.

The black City-Guarding Stele, weighing thirty thousand jin, still blocked the cave entrance tightly.

Lu Chen turned sideways and forcibly squeezed through the half-chi-wide gap left above it, entering the cave.

The instant his feet touched the hard, dry ground, a pair of small hands, their body heat faintly warm, reached out from the darkness and accurately grasped Lu Chen's large hand, covered in calluses and bloodstains.

Wrapped in shabby Netherwind Wolf hide, A-Nan moved close to Lu Chen's leg and lowered her voice. "Those cold people... locked up the whole mountain. Even the water underground is gone."

The little blind girl's newly formed jade-bone perception was extraordinarily sharp, and she had detected in advance the Heaven-Locking Array's strangulation of the forest.

Lu Chen did not speak. He pressed the soles of his feet flat against the cave floor.

His sense of touch, enhanced by twelve layers of vital blood, clearly caught the faint array fluctuations continuously spreading from deep beneath the strata. The valley's moisture and vitality were being forcibly drained away by a domineering force, while the surrounding rock walls began to turn dry and brittle.

This stronghold had been completely exposed within the immortal sect's net of slaughter.

A fierce glint flashed through Lu Chen's eyes. He turned directly around and strode toward the City-Guarding Stele blocking the cave entrance.

There was no need for any preparatory motion. Lu Chen spread his arms, his thick limbs directly wrapping around the cold black stele. His waist and back suddenly pulled into the curve of a fully drawn bow, and the muscles in his legs bulged high.

"Rise."

A low roar rolled from his throat.

The thirty-thousand-jin City-Guarding Stele was forcibly ripped from the mud and rock crevices. Broken stones and dirt pattered down.

Lu Chen supported the base of the stele with one arm, exerted force through his waist and hips, and hoisted the massive heavy weapon back onto his right shoulder. He tightly wound the remaining length of the century-old Black-Iron Chain around and around his arm and the stele.

With his free left hand, he pulled over the wolf hide and tied A-Nan back against his chest. Carrying the stele, he strode out of the cave and headed toward the deadliest reaches of Immortal-Breaking Mountain, facing the increasingly dense immortal sect sword lights in the night.