He could find a way to obtain talismans from Lan Song.
His Revered Teacher was a first-tier mid-grade talisman maker. Buying from him would, for one, earn him a better discount.
For another, it could deepen their relationship.
Killing two birds with one stone!
As for magical artifacts, he could only head to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.
He had an excellent relationship with that Hundred Treasures Pavilion shopkeeper. Choosing a fine magical artifact at a lower price should not be a problem.
Three days later, a young man dressed as a demon-hunting cultivator left the western gate of Red Leaf Square and sped away.
Everything went very smoothly. There were none of those legendary robbery cultivators blocking the road.
After roughly a day's journey, Zhou Xun finally arrived at the entrance to the Black Market.
A mountain ridge shrouded in dense fog made it impossible to see what lay within.
Zhou Xun activated the Heaven's Eye Technique, immediately seeing through the mist, and walked toward the entrance.
Just as Zhou Xun entered, streaks of spiritual light in all colors continued to race in from afar.
Among them were two cultivators clad in brownish-black robes.
"Big Brother, does this place truly have Spirit Condensing Herb?" the short, plump cultivator asked the person beside him.
"There can be no mistake. This Black Market is holding an auction—would they dare write nonsense on the list of auction items that was leaked?" The thin, tall middle-aged man replied expressionlessly in a grating voice.
"We must buy that Spirit Condensing Herb. Then Elder Brother will be able to use it to break through to the Late-Stage Qi Condensation!"
Zhou Xun stepped through the entrance, and the view before him suddenly opened up.
A crude plaza spanning over a hundred zhang appeared before him. Calling it a plaza was generous; it was really just a slightly leveled platform.
Bare earth still showed in many places, suggesting it had only recently been built.
At the center of the plaza stood a simple wooden platform over one zhang high. It was completely empty, without a single person on it.
From beneath the platform all the way to the edge of the plaza were stalls of every size. A cultivator sat behind each one, presumably the stall owner.
Quite a few cultivators had already gathered in the plaza, crowding around the various stalls as they browsed.
Without exception, the cultivators here either wore cloaks to conceal their figures or masks that hid their faces.
Zhou Xun was no exception. A pitch-black cloak wrapped him completely within it.
"Welcome. One Spirit Essence, please!" At that moment, a cold voice rang beside Zhou Xun's ear.
There were two guards standing on either side of the entrance. The voice just now had come from their leader.
Zhou Xun did not hesitate. He decisively took out a Spirit Essence and handed it to the guard, then strode toward the stalls in the plaza.
"Fellow Daoist, take a look at these fine talismans! Fireball Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, Quicksand Talismans—we have everything!" Seeing Zhou Xun pass by, a stall owner wearing a monkey mask called out to him.
"How much?"
Hearing this, Zhou Xun crouched down, picked up a Fireball Talisman, and examined it carefully.
"Fireball Talismans and Ice Spike Talismans, five for one spirit stone!" Seeing Zhou Xun ask about the price, the stall owner became even more enthusiastic.
They really are much cheaper than in Red Leaf Square. Zhou Xun nodded inwardly.
At Red Leaf Square, one spirit stone could buy at most four.
Zhou Xun then visited several more stalls. The goods at every one of them were at least twenty percent cheaper than those in Red Leaf Square.
Some stalls were even thirty or forty percent cheaper.
However, such treasures often still bore traces of blood. One glance was enough for Zhou Xun to know where they had come from.
They must have belonged to some unlucky cultivator.
Looking at the stall owners behind their wares, two words surfaced in Zhou Xun's mind: robbery cultivators.
He immediately stopped lingering.
It was said that many robbery cultivators cultivated special tracking spells, causing their victims to fall prey without even realizing it.
Zhou Xun was a cautious man, so he naturally left quickly.
After making a full round of all the stalls, Zhou Xun had come across quite a few treasures that tempted him.
But his pockets were empty, and the spirit stones he had needed to be saved for bidding on the Spirit Condensing Herb.
Otherwise, if he fell short by just a few spirit stones during the auction, would he not regret it to death?
After all, cheap Tier 2 Spirit Herbs like Spirit Condensing Herb were rarely seen.
After waiting for another two hours or so, the auction finally began.
Three drumbeats sounded, and more than a dozen cloaked figures flew up from behind the raised platform.
"Welcome, everyone, to this market gathering. I am one of this event's organizers!" A man wearing a Nuo Mask stepped forward and cupped his hands toward the crowd in greeting.
Though his words were courteous, he did not conceal his Late-Stage Qi Condensation cultivation in the slightest.
He was presumably doing so to intimidate those harboring ill intentions.
After all, Black Market dealings were a cesspool of filth, where fish mingled with dragons.
"And I shall be presiding over this auction!"
"As for the auction rules, there is only one: the highest bidder wins. Once a Fellow Daoist makes a successful bid, they may immediately proceed to the rooms below the stage to complete the exchange."
As he spoke, he pointed to the left side of the platform.
Several simple wooden rooms stood there.
"For this auction, some Fellow Daoists must have already received word in advance. Whether it is pills for breaking through bottlenecks, magical artifacts of exceptional quality, or rare talismans, we have them all!"
"Enough nonsense. Let us bring out the treasures!"
He then raised his voice and called out loudly:
"Bring up the treasures!"
Before long, two hulking men carried a treasure chest half the height of a person with both hands and gently set it down beside the middle-aged man.
The Nuo Mask-wearing middle-aged man waved a hand, and the chest opened on its own.
He then lifted a gear-shaped treasure from within:
"The first treasure: the Frost Moon Wheel!"
"A mid-grade offensive magical artifact!"
"Forged primarily from black iron, with Celestial Star Sand mixed in. Refined by the master artifact refiner Jin Hongzi. When activated, the moon wheel spins through the air with armor-piercing sharpness. It is the nemesis of defensive magical artifacts!"
"The starting price is twenty-one spirit stones. Each increase must be no less than one spirit stone!"
The very first auction item was a mid-grade magical artifact.
The crowd's excitement immediately surged.
As the saying went, the first cry seizes the initiative—the organizers had precisely this in mind.
Zhou Xun watched with great desire. Though the Frost Moon Wheel looked rather ugly, much like an oversized gear, its power was indeed impressive. It was a fine treasure.
Unfortunately, he could not bid on it. After all, his true goal was that Tier 2 Spirit Herb.
"Twenty-two spirit stones!"
The moment the words fell, a cultivator impatiently made a bid.
"Twenty-three!"
Bids rose one after another.
This Frost Moon Wheel possessed an armor-piercing effect, something exceedingly rare among offensive magical artifacts. It could be called a superior piece.
"I offer thirty spirit stones. I hope you Fellow Daoists will give me some face!"
At that moment, an aged voice rang out.
Along with it came a sudden eruption of Qi Condensation Level 9 spiritual power.
Everyone was startled.
"Qi Condensation Level 9!"
Even in Red Leaf Square, that would make him an important figure!
No one knew who had concealed his identity.
The middle-aged auctioneer on the stage frowned slightly at the words and cupped his hands faintly toward someone behind him.
At that moment, one of the cultivators seated in the back stood up.
"Auction items go to the highest bidder. No one may interfere!"
His voice was extremely authoritative, and the pressure in his tone silenced the entire plaza.
"A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator!"
Before you continue