The tall, thin cultivator's face went deathly pale in a flash. His two companions stiffened all over, their hands and feet turning icy cold.
They had never imagined that such a deadly fiend would suddenly appear.
Still less had they expected him to unleash the formidable spiritual pressure of the Late Qi Refining Stage without the slightest concealment the moment he arrived!
Here in the market on Earth Jade Island, Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators already counted as experts.
Although the Condensed Jade Sect had vast holdings, nearly ten thousand Qi Refining disciples, over a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, and several Golden Core powerhouses, those experts mostly operated within the sect's core territory.
Earth Jade Market was a place where fish and dragons mingled, populated mostly by rogue cultivators struggling at the bottom.
Some toiled diligently, some hunted demonic beasts, and some murdered and robbed.
All for a few scraps of spirit stones.
What was more, the Mystic Ice Pearl in Qing Chen's hand radiated biting cold and astonishing spiritual fluctuations. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell it was an exceptional high-grade magical artifact.
It was far beyond anything impoverished rogue cultivators like them could contend with.
"Th-this... could that be the shopkeeper's Mystic Ice Pearl?" one of the men beside the tall, thin cultivator asked.
The tall, thin cultivator forced out a smile uglier than a crying face. Cold sweat seeped from his forehead as he cupped his hands.
"F-fellow Daoist, we meant no offense. Please be magnanimous and spare us. Please don't misunderstand."
Qing Chen scoffed, his gaze sharp as a blade. "A misunderstanding? I doubt it. This shop belongs to me from now on, and this young lady is the new shopkeeper I appointed.
"The spirit contract and secret key are both in my hands. Under