"The reward is up to you."
"Hall of a Thousand Souls?"
The smile on Gu Yuan's face froze instantly, replaced by obvious fear and embarrassment, and he lowered his voice subconsciously.
"Brother, you... are you kidding? That place is deep in the ruins, close to 'Soul Burial Valley'!
Not only are there a large number of sect-level monsters on the road, but it is said that Hall of a Thousand Souls himself is a very evil sect, a master who has access but cannot get out! Ordinary sect-level warriors would not dare to rush into that area if they formed a team! "
His reaction was loud, his voice was trembling, and he was obviously extremely afraid of Hall of a Thousand Souls.
Gu Sheng didn't say anything, but turned his palm over, and a stone filled with aura and luster suddenly appeared in his palm - it was a High-grade Spirit Stone!
The value of High-grade Spirit Stone is far beyond that of low-grade spiritual jade. Its pure spiritual energy is of great use to warriors in the sect realm and even higher levels.
As soon as this spiritual stone appeared, it immediately attracted the attention of many warriors around it, and a series of greedy or surprised gazes were projected towards it.
"Hall of a Thousand Souls! I know the way! I'll take you there!"
"Brother! Choose me! I have been living in the depths all year round and have a third-level cultivation in the sect. I am sure to be more reliable than that kid!"
"Brother! I only want half the price! And I'm familiar with all kinds of ways to avoid monsters!"
Immediately, several warriors with strong auras, who were obviously leading the way or exploring here all year round, surrounded them. They rushed to speak, staring at the High-grade Spirit Stone with burning eyes.
In the face of huge benefits, the danger of Hall of a Thousand Souls seems to have been temporarily forgotten.
When Gu Yuan saw this, his expression suddenly changed, and he no longer cared about fear. He hurriedly took a step forward, stood in front of Gu Sheng, and shouted sternly at the warriors.
"What are you doing! Do you understand the rules of the camp? This big brother came to me first! This business is mine! Do you want to rob it?"
Those warriors obviously recognized Gu Yuan. Although their cultivation was higher than him, they seemed to have some scruples about some of the unwritten rules of the place. When they heard the words, they all stopped in their movements, with resentful looks on their faces, but their eyes were still greedily staring at the spiritual stone in Gu Sheng's hand.
Gu Yuan then breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Gu Sheng quickly, and spoke quickly.
"Brother! Hall of a Thousand Souls I'll go! I'll take this job! The reward... you just have to pay it as you see it!"
He gritted his teeth.
"But brother, the ugly words are ahead. That road is indeed extremely dangerous, full of monsters, and you may even encounter big guys from the middle or even late stages of the sect realm! Once you enter the deep area, you must obey my command and try to avoid it as much as possible. You must not force your way in, otherwise..."
"You don't have to worry about the monster problem, I will take care of it myself."
Gu Sheng interrupted him, his tone still calm, but with an inexplicably convincing and powerful confidence.
"You only need to lead the way and reach Hall of a Thousand Souls as quickly as possible."
Gu Yuan was choked by these words, solve it? Are Zong realm monsters so easy to deal with?
He looked at Gu Sheng's calm face and couldn't really figure out the other party's details, but thinking of the High-grade Spirit Stone and the other party's unfathomable feeling, he swallowed back his doubts.
"Since the eldest brother is sure, then the younger brother will stop talking."
Gu Yuan.
"However, it is getting late now, and the night in the ruins is many times more dangerous than the day. Many powerful monsters and strange beings will become active. There will even be some immortal souls left over from the ancient battlefield wandering around. They are irrational and will chase and kill any living thing they see.
We'd better leave early tomorrow morning, as the safety will be much higher. "
Gu Sheng looked up at the setting sun, which was gradually setting in the west. A stronger cold atmosphere and faint beast roars began to fill the depths of the ruins, and he nodded.
"Okay."
He threw the High-grade Spirit Stone in his hand to Gu Yuan.
"Make arrangements for tomorrow's itinerary, and the rest is a deposit."
Gu Yuan hurriedly caught the spirit stone that exuded pure spiritual energy. Feeling the powerful energy contained in it, his heart was beating fast and his face turned red with excitement.
He carefully put the spirit stone away, patted his chest and said.
"Don't worry, brother! I'll take care of it for you! I'll definitely arrange everything for you!"
"Now, take me to Fangshi here to see."
Gu Sheng ordered.
"Okay! Brother, please come over here!"
Gu Yuan was full of energy at the moment and quickly led the way.
"The market in the camp is right in front. This point happens to be when many teams return from exploration. The trading is the most lively and you can often come across some good things."
The two walked through the noisy camp and came to a more open area.
The place is crowded with people, shouting and bargaining. Many warriors spread animal skins or coarse cloth directly on the ground and placed various items obtained from the ruins.
Incomplete weapons, unknown ores, herbs exuding strange energy, some ancient scroll fragments, and even monster furs, claws and inner elixirs.
The air is mixed with various smells, such as sweat, blood, herbs, and metal rust, creating a rough atmosphere unique to adventurer camps.
Most of the warriors looked tired but excited, loudly showing off their harvests, or searching carefully for the resources they needed.
"Brother, what type of items do you want to see? Pills, weapons, materials, or map information?"
Gu Yuan introduced it diligently.
"Good ores often appear in the stalls here. There are many herbal medicine sellers over there, and there are some that specialize in processing monster materials. But you have to weigh the authenticity and quality by yourself. There is a mixed bag here, and it is common to get cheated."
Gu Sheng glanced slowly across the stalls, his consciousness carefully sensing the energy fluctuations emitted by those items.
Most of the things are mediocre, either lacking in spiritual energy, or just common low-level materials.
Suddenly, his eyes stopped at a stall in a corner.
The stall owner was a one-eyed old man with a cold aura. On the stall were several rusty and broken weapons, a few pieces of dim ore, and an inconspicuous black compass-shaped object covered with soil.
Gu Sheng's attention fell on the black compass.
From inside the compass, he felt extremely weak, but extremely ancient and profound spatial fluctuations.
This fluctuation is extremely obscure, and would be almost impossible to detect unless his consciousness was strong enough.
He walked over calmly.
Gu Yuan guided the way and introduced Gu Sheng in a low voice.
"Brother, look here, there are many people around those booths, most of them are members of 'Headhunter Gang'.
They form a team specifically to hunt down the powerful monsters in the ruins. The quality of the materials is generally good, but the price is also high, and they are not easy to mess with.
There are many broken formation flags and ancient runes in the corner over there, which is the territory of 'Formation Breaker Gang'. They are good at cracking the simple restrictions in some ruins, and occasionally they can find some good things, but it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false, so you have to rely on your eyesight. "
He pointed to another area.
"Those scattered small vendors are mostly lone travelers or temporary teams. They have miscellaneous things and may be able to pick them up, but they are also the most likely to be deceived. In short, in this market, you have to keep your eyes open."
Gu Sheng nodded slightly, but his eyes did not stay too long on the noisy stalls. His consciousness swept over each item. Most of them had thin or mixed spiritual energy, and there was nothing special.
The two walked through the crowded main road and walked deeper into the city. The flow of people decreased slightly and the environment became slightly quieter.
Finally, they stopped in front of a three-story wooden loft.
This attic is quite eye-catching in this simple camp. Although the materials are still rough, it is built quite regularly. There is a plaque hanging on the lintel with the three ancient characters "Linlang Pavilion".
In the corner of the plaque, an imperceptible emblem is carved - a vine surrounded by stars.
Seeing this emblem, Gu Sheng's eyes paused slightly, with a hint of surprise.
This mark was no stranger to him.
"Brother, this is the best and biggest store in our camp, 'Linlang Pavilion'."
Gu Yuan introduced, with a bit of admiration in his tone.
"It is said that this is Branch Store, the top martial arts store in Great Desolation City. It has a very deep background and there are many good things in it. Pills, weapons, armor, and even some high-level martial arts are for sale. Of course, the price is also extremely expensive. But it has an excellent reputation and there are absolutely no fakes."
Great Desolation City Linlang Pavilion's Branch Store? Gu Sheng has a clear look in his eyes, no wonder the emblems are the same.
He no longer hesitated and stepped in.
The interior of the attic is much more spacious than it looks from the outside. Various products are placed on the shelves in different categories, with a hint of Spirit Light. The quality is obviously far from comparable to the goods sold at the stalls outside.
There were not many customers in the store at this time, only a few warriors asking for prices in low voices.
Behind the counter, a fat middle-aged man wearing a brocade robe was lazily leaning on a Taishi chair, his eyes slightly closed, as if he was taking a nap.
He is the shopkeeper here, Shopkeeper Xia.
The moment Gu Sheng stepped into the store door, Shopkeeper Xia, who seemed to be sleeping, didn't even move his eyelids. An invisible but strong mental force swept over Gu Sheng's body and passed over Gu Sheng's body accurately.
This mental force has a sense of exploration, but it does not appear to be overbearing, but more like a routine warning.
Gu Sheng looked as usual, as if he didn't feel anything at all.
Gu Yuan behind him shivered, subconsciously shrank his neck, leaned closer to Gu Sheng and whispered.
"Brother, this Shopkeeper Xia's strength is unfathomable. I heard that he has already been a strong man in the late Zong realm. None of the Headhunter Gang or Formation Breaker Gang leaders in this city dare to speak loudly in front of him."
Gu Sheng walked straight to the counter, looked calmly at Shopkeeper Xia, who was still asleep, and spoke in a calm but clear voice to break the silence in the store.
"Great Wilderness Linlang Pavilion's Branch Store, when did it become so disorganized that even the shopkeeper became so slack?"
As soon as these words came out, the few customers and waiters in the store looked over in surprise.
Gu Yuan turned pale with fright and almost pulled Gu Sheng's sleeves.
Shopkeeper Xia, who had been sleeping with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and ejaculated!
The lazy look on his face disappeared instantly, replaced by a terrifying fierceness.
"Presumptuous!"
With a low shout and an explosion, Shopkeeper Xia's figure disappeared from the Taishi chair in an instant, and the next moment he appeared outside the counter, standing in front of Gu Sheng.
An unparalleled force of infuriating energy suddenly erupted, pressing hard on Gu Sheng!
The terrifying aura of Zongjing's late stage was released without reservation. The air in the store instantly solidified, and the products on the shelves buzzed. The customers were even more suppressed by this aura and were forced to back away. Their faces turned pale and they could hardly breathe.
Gu Yuan, who was standing behind Gu Sheng, was the first to bear the brunt. He felt an irresistible force coming towards him, as if he was going to be crushed into a pulp in the next second, and his eyes were filled with despair!
At this critical moment, Gu Sheng seemed to reach back casually and grabbed Gu Yuan's arm accurately.
A soft but extremely tough force instantly enveloped Gu Yuan. When the overwhelming sect realm pressure encountered this force, it was naturally diverted away and failed to harm Gu Yuan at all.
Gu Yuan felt a warm current pouring into his body, and the suffocating pressure disappeared instantly. He gasped for air and looked at Gu Sheng's tall back in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief and fear.
Shopkeeper Xia's pupils also shrank slightly.
The other party so easily resolved his pressure and protected an insignificant Earth Martial Realm boy. This level of strength is absolutely extraordinary!
He was about to speak again, but his eyes suddenly froze on Gu Sheng's fingers - to be more precise, it was a token that Gu Sheng had taken out at some point and held between his fingers.
The token was made of neither gold nor wood, with warm tentacles. The front was engraved with a vine emblem surrounding the stars, and the back was a vigorous and ancient Chinese character "ge".
The surface of the token is radiant, faintly exuding a unique formation fluctuation that can only be recognized by the Linlang Pavilion core executives.
"This... this is..."
The stern expression on Shopkeeper Xia's face disappeared instantly, his eyes widened, staring at the token, and his voice became a little trembling and sharp.
"Pavilion Master Token?!"
Gu Sheng looked at him indifferently and said nothing.
The expression on Shopkeeper Xia's face changed drastically, from shock and disbelief to panic and excitement after the final confirmation.
The next second, under the horrified gaze of everyone in the store, Shopkeeper Xia, who was usually aloof and in awe of even the leaders of major gangs, fell to his knees with a pop!
"Subordinate Xia Wuyou! I didn't know Main Pavilion Special Envoy was here! What an offense! You deserve death! Please forgive Special Envoy!"
Not only did he kneel down, but he started wailing, and while talking, he even reached out to hug Gu Sheng's leg.
"Sir Special Envoy! You are here! Please show mercy, say a few kind words in front of the eldest lady, and transfer your subordinates back to Great Desolation City!
I don't want to stay in this stupid place anymore! Facing these scraps and barbarians every day, my subordinates are going crazy..."
This sudden change caused a deathly silence in the entire Linlang Pavilion.
The guys were stunned, the guests were dumbfounded, completely confused about the situation.
Gu Yuan even opened his mouth wide, his jaw almost dropped to the ground, and his mind went blank.
When Gu Sheng was about to touch Xia Wuyou's hand, he took half a step back to avoid his pull, and frowned slightly.
"Get up and talk."
His voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable power.