Chapter 265: Chapter 234: Hidden Marketplace^

Immortal Moon City.

Outskirts of the slum area.

Rundown shanties, bustling crowds, randomly discarded rubbish.

No matter where, there will always be the rich and the poor, flying high-level cultivators, and low-level Qi cultivators who can hardly make ends meet, even in a place like Immortal Moon City.

Inside an ancient shack, Xu Mu is tidying up his clothes. The air is filled with a damp and gloomy smell; insects of unknown species crawl around on the ground and comers.

Xu Mu hangs a storage bag from his waist, steps on a cockroach that has no fear, and after confirming there are no omissions, he uses the Invisibility Technique, disappearing inside the room.

This dwelling was prepared by him a while ago. He hid a storage bag in advance, just to use the Virtualization Skill to get down the mountain.

The drawback of not being able to carry anything after virtualization has always been a thorn in his side, but he has no other choice.

As for why he used the Virtualization Skill to get down the mountain while still pretending to stay, it was all to create the illusion that he was still up there. Although, even if he came down in his real form, it would not necessarily be traced back to him. But for safety’s sake, Xu Mu chose to play it safe and leave no trace.

The cost of being discovered is just too high.

“I wonder if the Tianyang Palace is still looking for me after all these years,” Xu Mu thought to himself.

Even though the streets are bustling, no one seems to notice Xu Mu, who’s using the Invisibility Technique.

Back then, Xu had fooled a group of Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators with this high-tier Invisibility Technique.

The slum area is the most rundown part of Immortal Moon City, mostly inhabited by low-rank cultivators at the early or middle stages of Qi cultivation, they could hardly see through his invisibility technique.

Xu Mu keeps walking, heading in the opposite direction of the city. He doesn’t plan to sell what he has got in the Fairy Moon Palace.

Having stepped out of the slum area after a while, he sweeps the surroundings with his Divine Intent, confirming no one is around, then he cancels his Invisibility Technique, taking out a mask imbued with white cloud patterns and puts it on.

The mask was given to him by a nameless woman when he was in the Cloud Peak Mountain Range. Xu Mu had tested it; its concealing ability is extremely strong; one would probably need to be in the Nascent Soul Stage to see through it.

In addition to this golden mask, he has two more, one purple and one blue, all taken from the faces of the two plump men and women he brought out.

In order to prevent his true face from being seen during the next part of his journey, he specifically brought this mask out to cover his face.

After putting on the mask, Xu Mu turns into a white Escape Light, flying in the southwest direction.

There lies a place where the black market is located.

Immortal Moon City is too close to Fairy Moon Palace, with many Golden Core stage masters stationed there, even a Nascent Soul Stage patriarch might come for an inspection occasionally.

What he’s about to sell is extraordinary, selling it in Immortal Moon City would pose too much risk. If they were to discover it, it could lead to big trouble.

It’s safer to sell in the black market. With his power, as long as he’s careful, there shouldn’t be any significant problems.

After nearly an hour of high-speed flight, Xu Mu slows down his pace and finally stops in front of a lake surrounded by green hills.

This is the location of the black market. The obvious lack of anything is simply due to a concealing formation.

Some of his magic artifacts were sold here back in the day.

At this moment, there are a dozen cultivators of different attires waiting in the surroundings. Seeing Xu Mu approach, people barely react; they just glance at him without initiating a conversation, and nobody dares to use their Divine Intent to inspect him.

Those who come to the black market to trade naturally want to conceal their identities. There is no place for socializing or networking here.

Xu Mu also doesn’t seek trouble, he chooses an unoccupied spot and waits with closed eyes.

For the sake of safety and concealment, the black market’s formation only opens periodically, hence why everyone is waiting here.

From what he knows, this concealed black market should be safeguarded by over ten Golden Core Stage cultivators. It’s nearly the match for Immortal Moon City in terms of safety and transaction volume.

The origin of these Golden Core Stage cultivators who operate the black market is unknown to anyone.

They could be Loose Cultivators, sect cultivators, patriarchs of great families, or most likely, members of the Demonic Dao.

Their gathering here for one common goal – to make Spirit Stones.

Certain treasures obtained through extreme means, such as the secret martial methods of some major sects, would easily be tracked if traded in places like Immortal Moon City. However, there’s no need to worry about that in the black market.

The buyers here only care about the goods, not the people, and they won’t ask about the origin of the items.

Of course, in such a place, it’s very hard to hike up the price too much.

After approximately an hour, the previously desolate lake surface suddenly split open, revealing an entrance two people high and about ten feet wide.

Through the entrance, you could see the hustle and bustle inside, looking much like a bustling small town.

Xu Mu opened his eyes and followed the crowd inside.

At the entrance, two teams of cultivators, wearing armor and holding magical artifact spears, were standing guard.

“Ten Lower-grade Spirit Stones for the entrance fee!” said a guard – a cultivator who was at the Qi Cultivation Late Stage, with an unchanging facial expression.

The crowd entering didn’t say a word, silently handing over the spirit stones and their identity wooden tablet. After passing by the guards, they entered the marketplace.

Just like everyone else, Xu Mu paid in spirit stones, blended into the crowd, and quickly disappeared from sight.

The guards, long accustomed to this, didn’t pay attention to where the people were going. After confirming that no one else was coming, they closed the entrance again and continued to wait for the next opening.

The number of people in the marketplace wasn’t necessarily a lot, but it wasn’t few either. However, compared to bustling cities, the silence here felt eerily strange.

Even those bargaining at roadside stalls tried to lower their voices as much as possible, as if afraid that others would hear.

Passersby on the street were extremely careful, maintaining as much distance from others as possible. If they weren’t wearing masks, they would be wearing conical hats or using secret techniques to obscure their faces.

Xu Mu’s attire was not conspicuous within the crowd.

He didn’t swagger around using his divine intent, instead he moved swiftly among the crowd and quickly arrived at a lofty building.

To avoid being pursued by large sects nearby, the black market could move at any time. Hence, building dedicated stores was a bit wasteful, so most of the merchants simply set up simple stalls.

To go to the extent of painstakingly building a loft in the black market, one could only be the behind-the-scenes manager of the black market.

The item Xu Mu wanted to sell wasn’t cheap, and ordinary loose cultivators couldn’t afford it, so he could only sell it in such a shop.

After entering the loft, a plump maid with a veiled face, and an alluring aroma swaying her hips, came over.

Esteemed friend, are you here to buy or sell something?”

“I’m here to sell something! Take me to your shopkeeper!” Xu Mu indifferently replied.

“Honored guest, could I take a look at what you are selling first?” The maid wasn’t quick to agree, obviously thinking of evaluating the price first.

“Hmm?”

Xu Mu’s eyebrow slightly wrinkled as he immediately released his Golden Core Stage aura.

The maid’s pupils shrank sharply and she hastily said: “Senior, please follow me. I will notify the shopkeeper right away!”

A Golden Core Stage expert, no matter what he was selling, was not someone she could deal with.

Xu Mu nodded and followed the maid into a private room. Shortly after, the shopkeeper – a purple-robed cultivator wearing a white mask – hurriedly came in.

“Sorry to keep you waiting! I am the shopkeeper of this store.”

Seeing that the shopkeeper was only at the late Foundation Establishment Stage, Xu Mu’s eyebrows involuntarily furrowed again. In the end, he was still being looked down upon.

He didn’t scold the other to bring a different person, instead, he took out two bottles of pills and placed them on the table.

“I wish to sell these two bottles of pills. Can you give me a price?”

“Pills?”

The shopkeeper’s gaze flickered.

He thought to himself, ‘Just two bottles of pills, what are they worth? Could they be tier eight or nine that help breakthrough bottlenecks?’

With curiosity, he opened the bottles for inspection, and when he recognized the pills, he couldn’t help but gasp.

“These are Dust Reduction Pills and Hao Yuan Pills. Given their grade, could they be…”