Five days passed in a flash.
It was the day Wei Tu and Sun Chixin had agreed to go to the black market in Peach Immortal City.
Following Sun Chixin's instructions, Wei Tu arrived at a residential house in the west of Peach Immortal City.
He flipped his hand and took out the white token, injecting several streams of magic power into it.
In a moment, the white token gave a reaction and pointed toward a nearby Buddhist temple.
Liao Prefecture was full of Buddhist sects, and Jinglian Convent was absolutely one of the top forces in Peach Immortal City, so in the city, it seemed like there was a temple every hundred steps.
A Buddhist temple in Peach Immortal City, or anywhere in Liao Prefecture, was nothing unusual.
"A Buddhist temple?" Wei Tu hesitated for a moment, then decided not to go in right away. He kept waiting for Sun Chixin.
Black market deals are always underground—new faces were the biggest taboo.
Without a guide, just wandering into a black market area could easily cause trouble.
Whoosh!
At that moment, there was the sound of someone slicing through the air at the door. A cloaked cultivator, face masked, entered quickly.
The person's figure and build were a close match for Sun Chixin.
"Follow me," Sun Chixin said simply. He walked to the inner part of the house and pressed a spell onto the white token in his hand.
The token shone a beam of multicolored light onto the wall.
In a flash, the illusion formation on the wall melted away, revealing the corner of a hidden corridor.
It looked like a long corridor in a grand mansion.
"So, it's not in the temple?"
Wei Tu was startled.
He'd thought the black market was inside the Buddhist temple indicated by the token. He never expected it to be hidden right inside this residential house.
This time, he'd been fooled by a classic under-your-nose trick.
Wei Tu guessed this might be a test set up by Sun Chixin or whoever ran the black market—to see if he was careful and knew how to follow the rules.
After all, a black market couldn't be exposed to the light.
If someone rash and careless found out about it, there'd always be a risk of leaks.
Wei Tu waited a little longer.
Once the illusion formation fully disappeared, he finally got a clear look at the mysterious black market.
The corridor stretched for several hundred meters, and every ten steps or so there was an open-air stall. The things on offer varied—pills, magic tools, spiritual herbs, cultivation manuals—pretty much everything you could want.
But there weren't many guests in the black market; by Wei Tu's observation, there were fewer than one hundred people.
However, they were all of high quality.
Over ninety percent were Foundation Establishment late stage.
The rest were all Golden Core, not a single low-level cultivator.
Clearly, the minimum entry level for this black market was Foundation Establishment late stage.
"Daoist Fang, put on these clothes before you go in with me," Sun Chixin said, tossing Wei Tu a set of black cloak just like his.
"Thanks, Manager Chi."
Wei Tu checked it with his spiritual sense, making sure there were no tricks hidden inside before putting it on.
The cloak was made of a special fabric, able to block spiritual sense and even had a minor face-concealing enchantment.
While it couldn't compare to the Demon Lord Gui Luo's custom "Shadow Cloak," it was more than enough for black market deals.
"I've already spoken with Senior Xing. For this black market transaction, I'll be your guarantor," Sun Chixin said just before entering the corridor.
"Don't worry, Manager Chi. You'll get your introduction fee. Besides, I'm still staying in the Fu family's Lingfu Courtyard. I could run from the monk, but not the temple," Wei Tu joked lightly.
Sun Chixin thought that made sense, so he relaxed and led Wei Tu into the black market.
Between the residential house and the corridor, there seemed to be a formation barrier. As soon as Wei Tu and Sun Chixin entered, the cultivators inside finally noticed them.
Sun Chixin ignored the looks—he was used to this. He led the way directly to a stall piled high with spiritual herbs.
At that moment, Wei Tu handed Sun Chixin his list of required herbs, letting him handle the negotiation with the stall owner.
The prices of herbs—high or low—were well-known at official shops.
As long as the black market price was lower than market price, Wei Tu could pocket the difference as profit.
"Geng Yin Hua, Xiang Chong Shen…" Sun Chixin was momentarily surprised to see several herbs on the list that had come up a lot lately.
These herbs weren't top sellers at Wansheng Trading Company recently, but were the very ones the Fu family was searching for—possibly related to clues about Yi Yun.
Six days ago, a suspected outsider surnamed Yi had asked about these very herbs at Ye's Herb Shop.
According to the guide Niu Gu, this outsider's appearance was exactly like Yi Yun's.
'Could Fang Hanliang really be Yi Yun?' Sun Chixin's eyes flashed.
The list of spiritual herbs was pretty mixed, and just slipping a few of those herbs into the order didn't make them stand out. Just from this, there wasn't enough proof that Wei Tu was the Yi Yun the Fu family wanted.
This was only Sun Chixin's own suspicion, a gut feeling.
'But now that I'm already on board with this, helping a merchant customer from the trading company to deal in the black market… that's a major taboo in this business…' Sun Chixin shook his head.
Now that their interests were tied together, he and Wei Tu were in the same boat. If he ratted Wei Tu out to the Fu family, that would be betraying himself and looking for death.
There was also the fact that Yi Yun's strength made him wary. Someone with a ten-thousand spirit stone bounty from the Fu family was most likely Golden Core Realm, which was far beyond what he could handle.
And honestly, reporting him wouldn't even bring in as much as what Wei Tu had promised for the introduction.
And there was one more thing Sun Chixin didn't dare say out loud. Besides the black market trade, he himself wasn't clean either. He was most afraid of attracting too much attention from the Fu family.
"Manager Chi, what's wrong? Is there a problem with my list of herbs?" Wei Tu asked, acting confused.
This deal wasn't just about buying herbs—he also wanted to drag Sun Chixin, a Fu family shop manager, into the water with him.
In Peach Immortal City, without connections, he was basically blind, but with a high-level insider like Sun Chixin helping, it was a different story.
Of course, Wei Tu wasn't stupid enough to tell Sun Chixin his real identity. They were both clever people; just a subtle hint was enough for Sun Chixin to guess. And even if he didn't, it wouldn't affect Wei Tu's plan.
"No problem, no problem…" Sun Chixin waved his hand, passed the list to the stall owner, and started haggling over price.
It was only because he managed the medicine shop that Sun Chixin even knew about Yi Yun's purchases at Ye's Herb Shop—most outsiders would never know about it.
So, Sun Chixin wasn't worried about the stall owner noticing anything strange about this list.
…
A quarter of an hour passed.
Under Wei Tu's watchful eye, Sun Chixin and the stall owner came to a deal: the batch of third-rank spiritual herbs would go for a total of ninety thousand spirit stones.
That's a lot of spirit stones, but in the black market, it didn't stand out.
Bulk purchases here usually ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of spirit stones. This deal was only mid-sized.
"Here are the herbs, check them, customer," the stall owner said generously, pulling the goods out of his storage bag.
Wei Tu didn't bother pretending. He took the bag, carefully checked every item, and showed no sign of impatience.
Once he finished checking, he paid the stall owner ninety thousand spirit stones, along with the ten thousand introduction fee for Sun Chixin.
As for the half-share of profit…
That was calculated based on the difference between market and black market prices.
In the end, after paying Sun Chixin's introduction fee and his share, if Wei Tu sold these herbs at regular market prices, his profit would be less than five thousand spirit stones.
But this was just the first trade.
In later trades, he wouldn't need to pay Sun Chixin that fee anymore.
And in the black market, he could buy way more than what was allowed at the public shops.
For Wei Tu, the most valuable thing about the black market was anonymous trading, not just buying cheap to sell high.
…
After the trade, Wei Tu didn't linger. He left the black market with Sun Chixin.
The only things in Liao Prefecture that really interested him were body-refining pill recipes and body-refining secret medicines.
If he kept focusing on those, Sun Chixin would start to suspect his real background.
He could afford to let people know he was Golden Core Realm. But Wei Tu had no intention of letting anyone know about his true strength in body refinement. That was one of his trump cards.
"Manager Chi, the Fu family is offering a bounty of one hundred thousand spirit stones for Yi Yun. That huge reward has me a little interested too…"
"If you hear anything new, let me know," Wei Tu hinted as they left.
The meaning was clear—if there were any updates on the Fu family's moves to catch Yi Yun, Sun Chixin had better give him a heads-up.
"For the next black market deal, I'll still need you as the go-between," Wei Tu added, sweetening the deal.
A little pressure, a little reward.
Sun Chixin didn't need to hesitate. He immediately agreed to help Wei Tu keep track of what the Fu family was doing.
…
Back at the Fu family's Lingfu Courtyard.
Inside the cave residence, Wei Tu took out his pill furnace and the required herbs, getting ready to refine Golden Marrow Pills.
With this black market deal and the leftover herbs he'd bought earlier from Situ You, he finally had a complete set for refining the Golden Marrow Pill.
Now, with the threat from Jinglian Convent and the Fu family hanging over him, Wei Tu had to do everything he could to boost his own strength.
There was no shortcut for raising his qi cultivation realm.
But the body-refining realm was different. When he switched to the Dao-Founding Immortal Source Scripture, his body-refining stage nearly fell to third-rank mid-stage. It was only by taking a Golden Marrow Pill that he'd managed to keep his level steady.
In other words, his body-refining foundation still had some gaps left to fill. Making up for these gaps would, in turn, boost his own strength.
And for these gaps, he just needed to take some body-refining pills to restore his foundation—there was no need to comprehend new techniques or break through another level of physical cultivation.
Seven days passed.
Three Golden Marrow Pills were finished.
Unlike last time, this time Wei Tu didn't try to exceed his normal skill. He refined the pills at his usual level. Over the last ten-plus years, his pill refining had naturally improved a lot.
He looked at the three golden pills in his hand, each about the size of a longan. He picked one, swallowed it, and began to refine it inside his body.
In an instant, his body changed. His muscles stacked up thickly like slabs of stone, and a soft white jade-like glow shone from all over him.
Crack!
A faint sound came from his bones.
Wei Tu's height grew from around eight chi to just about one zhang, turning him into a tall, imposing man.
"Unexpected bonus—after taking this Golden Marrow Pill, my cultivation actually rose to third-rank mid-stage perfection."
A few days later, Wei Tu looked pleased, lightly clenching his fist and feeling the mountain-shaking power inside him.
It had been less than twenty years since he last broke through the third-rank mid-stage of body refinement. Advancing a minor realm in just twenty years was extremely fast for a body cultivator.
'It must be because of switching to the Dao-Founding Immortal Source Scripture. This body-refining technique makes breaking through so much easier.'
Wei Tu thought to himself.
A high-level technique could sometimes lower the bottleneck for breaking through.
The Evil Demon True Skill was only a third-rank technique. Its potential had run dry at this stage, so making progress was tough.
'Might as well go all the way.'
Wei Tu swallowed the remaining two Golden Marrow Pills and started refining them.
Just like with Vajra Fruit before, since he had already taken two Golden Marrow Pills previously, taking two more didn't improve his physical body much. The effect wasn't very cost-effective.
But as a pill master, Wei Tu didn't need to worry about cost-effectiveness.
He was the one making them.
As long as he didn't fall into the trap of thinking 'not selling is losing out,' taking the pills didn't really cost him anything.
A few days later, Wei Tu's body-refining stage advanced again, now only a step away from reaching the peak of third-rank mid-stage.
"My current combat strength still can't compare to the absolute top Golden Core cultivators like Hu Shan and Qi Chengchu, but compared to the likes of Jia Tianlong, I'm at least on par."
Wei Tu thought to himself.
Even among peak Golden Core, there were differences in strength.
For example, Bai Zhi, even when badly wounded, was still able to kill Jia Tianlong.
Jia Tianlong was the kind of ordinary Golden Core who'd reached the peak just through years of accumulation—usually the weakest kind at that level.
Still, even the weakest of the peak Golden Core were not easy to beat for most.
People like Bai Zhi, Qi Chengchu, Hu Shan, Ning Yan, and True Monarch Wanhai were each elite among the Golden Core of major factions, and there weren't many like them. They were usually among the top three below Nascent Soul.
If other cultivators found out Wei Tu thought he could stand alongside the peak Golden Core, they'd probably laugh themselves to death.
The gap between mid-stage and late-stage Golden Core was like a canyon. Unless you were a top genius from a major sect, hardly anyone could bridge it.
…
After a few days stabilizing his cultivation, Wei Tu finally ended his closed-door session.
'I wonder if Jinglian Convent has withdrawn their Golden Core cultivators from watching outside Immortal Peach City yet.'
Wei Tu was itching to leave.
He'd already gotten enough out of this city to last him for a while. There was no reason to linger.
"Let's ask Sun Chixin."
Wei Tu thought for a moment, then flew over to Wansheng Trading Company to ask Sun Chixin for news.
"Right now, any outsider cultivator who wants to leave Immortal Peach City has to be inspected by the eldest young master of the Fu family. If you don't get checked, you can't leave," Sun Chixin reported.
He glanced around nervously, then leaned in and said in a low voice, "These past half a month, Fu Dalu has already ruled out quite a few cultivators. Now he's targeting the remaining few who haven't been checked yet—including you, Daoist Fang…"
"If you weren't renting a Fu family cave residence, they'd have broken the rules and checked you already."
"Oh? What happened to those who did get checked?" Wei Tu asked, getting an idea.
Right now, the only thing he and 'Yi Yun' had in common was being at the Golden Core stage.
And there were other Golden Core cultivators who got off the flying boat, not just him.
"Of course, they were let go."
Sun Chixin shook his head. "No matter how bold the Fu family is, they wouldn't dare detain or kill Golden Core True Lords for no reason—they're still a righteous clan, after all."
Hearing that, Wei Tu finally relaxed.
With the combined power of the Fu family and Jinglian Convent, there was no way they could investigate him across kingdoms or connect his real identity to his fake 'Yi Yun' alias.
That meant even if his true identity was exposed now, he didn't have to worry about being hunted down by the Fu family.