Chapter 539: A Divine Material From The Outer Domain
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh_
"Pooh!"
Ao Buzun spat a lump of thick phlegm into the lake. One of the fish-headed demon enfeebled by his dragon might suddenly rose, its eyes shining with a bright gleam as he darted towards the phlegm and swallowed it together with plentiful of lake water. When he was done, he turned to Ao Buzun, then wagged his tail in a flattering manner and said, "My Grandfather True Dragon, please pardon my boldness and allow me to have some of your dragon aura!"
Grinning coldly, Ao Buzun stood on his hind claws atop Wu Qi's shoulder, his body swaying and his nose in the air. "You are pardoned! Although you are just a lesser demon, you do know what is good for you. Take the phlegm as a gift from me!" He said in a high and mighty tone.
With a lifeless expression, Luo Hao and his daughters gave the fish-headed demon a glance, then turned to look at Ao Buzun, who was making a show of his might on Wu Qi's shoulder. It struck them suddenly that Ao Buzun was a pure-blooded True Dragon! Only a pure-blooded dragon could be addressed as Grandfather True Dragon by these aquatic demons!
The dragons were the kings of all the aquatic demons under the heaven. It was no wonder that the few fish-headed demons had collapsed and fell into the lake with just a single sneeze from Ao Buzun, and it explained why the fish-headed demon had swallowed his phlegm without the slightest hesitation. Ao Buzun's saliva was the legendary dragon saliva. If it were used to water plants, ordinary grasses would turn into spirit herbs with medicinal strength similar to that of a Ganoderma. And, if ordinary aquatic demons could obtain a tiny wisp of dragon's energy essence from the dragon saliva, they would be shrouded by a faint dragon aura. With that, they would have a high chance to transform into a dragon in the future!
As Ao Buzun threw his head back and roared with laughter, Wu Qi gave his head a flick of his finger. "Very well," he said with a cold grin, "I suddenly recall that I will have a large herbs garden in the future. Since you have so much phlegm to spit, make yourself useful and water my herbs with your saliva! I have heard that the medicinal strength of spirit herbs watered with dragon saliva is ten times stronger than ordinary herbs at the very least. You do like to spit, don't you? Dry your mouth every day when my herbs garden is ready!"
Ao Buzun's boiling pride was quenched in an instant. He bowed his head sullenly and coiled up his body atop Wu Qi's shoulder, and before long, he began to snore. Wu Qi gave a cold snort for his lack of response. Led by Luo Hao, the company made the descent and landed on the small island. Seeing that a pure-blooded True Dragon was following Wu Qi, no fish-headed demons dared to come closer to them. Instead, they just stood where they were, bowing and smiling at them while pointing at the entrance to the Blackfish Immortal Market.
An arbor stood at the center of the small island, and beneath its roof was an entrance to a tunnel which measured tens of feet in both width and length. Both the arbor and the tunnel were built poorly. The arbor looked as if it were a thatched shed, and the tunnel looked like an earth pit messily dug by someone.
They entered the tunnel, walking down the crooked steps with an uneven surface. To their surprise, the tunnel was well lit. Numerous big and small pearls were disorderly embedded in the ceiling, each shining brilliantly and turning the tunnel as bright as day. Every now and then, some fish-headed or prawn-headed demons would run past them stupidly, mouths murmuring and grumbling something that nobody could understand except themselves.
After descending for tens of miles into the ground, they came to an opening, and an underground immortal market was revealed before Wu Qi's eyes.
It was a massive, misshapen cave with an uneven ground, measuring several dozens of miles in both width and length. The ceiling was about one mile above them, and it was embedded with tens of huge pearls, inside of which were contained the 'Illuminating Spells' cast by some cultivators. The spell made the pearls shine dazzlingly like the sun, and as they were properly positioned, the light was sprinkling down from all directions, leaving no shadows to be found.
Curiously, Wu Qi stretched out both hands and let the light cast onto them. He found no shadows on the ground. He laughed and said under his breath, "How advanced! They have even invented shadowless lamps?"
Countless small stalls were scattered across the spacious cave messily, with innumerable cultivators who came in all shapes and looks worming through the narrow space between them. There were nearly ten thousand stalls in the cave, uncoordinated amongst themselves while there was not even a single person who was in charge of managing them. Anybody could erect his or her stall anywhere he or she liked. As a result, the space between some of the stalls was so narrow that only an eel could squeeze through.
And, all the stalls were shabby. A better one was a big stone slab carried from the outside and placed on the ground, while those less than better had an animal skin placed on top of a few small, dried logs.
Some sellers were not particular about the appearance of their stalls. They had only drawn a circle on the ground, deployed a small restrictive spell to mark the circle, and thrown the items they wished to sell into it. Some were so lazy that they did not even have stalls, and just carried a couple of leather bags with their necks half-opened to reveal the items. They would either stand in one spot, or walk around amidst the streams of cultivators while shouting, yelling, and boasting about how rare and precious their treasures were.
Of all the cultivators here, seventy percent were heretical cultivators who had never attached importance to their appearances. Some of the Fiend cultivators and Ghost cultivators even had pale skulls and bones as ornaments. Only heaven knew which graves they had dug up to get the bones. Rotten flesh could be seen dangling from some of the skulls, and they were sending forth a foul stench.
Yet, it was not only the stench of rotting flesh that filled the air. When Wu Qi glanced at the cultivators in the cave with his divine will, he noticed a few demons whose true forms were skunks and weasels. Their innate divine ability had become so much stronger after they had learned how to cultivate and became demons. As a result, the smell that came wafting out of their bodies was so pungent that it would instantly knock out cultivators with a weaker cultivation base. On top of that, with so many cultivators packed and jostling with one another in such a tight space, everybody was sweating profusely. So, when the odor of their sweat was blended with the natural foul smell of their bodies, and coupled with the stench of rotting flesh, it had become a nasty smell that had a stronger offensive strength than the miasma found in the woods.
The triplets did not expect this. They rolled their eyes and bolted to a side, then began to throw up. The smell in the cave was dreadful, and even though they were early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, they were unable to resist it.
Luo Shui had long used a minor restrictive spell to isolate himself from the surrounding air. He explained to Wu Qi with a bitter smile, "Senior, my daughters have never visited Blackfish Immortal Market before. Though this place smells really bad, this is the only place where we can find some good items!"
Wu Qi shook his head as he fished out three Nine Yin Lotus Flowers which he obtained inside the belly of the Great Serpent of Nine Yin, then gave them to the girls. "Hold the flower in your mouth. It can help you resist the stench of this place. Mm, this place is one hellhole, but I do like it!"
Hastily, the girls accepted and shoved the flowers into their mouths. As they did that, they immediately felt a refreshing aroma was washing through their bodies, and wisps of fresh air were exuding from their pores. They felt their spirits were freshened up, and they could no longer smell the dreadful stench. They gave Wu Qi a respectful glance, wondering where he found such extraordinary flowers which they had never even heard of or seen before. Their respect for Wu Qi had grown stronger, as even a little flower given by him possessed such an incredible effect.
Noticing the girls' respectful glances, Wu Qi could not help but smile wryly in his heart. When he was forming his innate Chaotic Spirit Body inside the great serpent's belly, the energy required was simply too massive. As a result, he had already consumed nearly all of the flowers he had collected. Of over ten thousand lotus flowers he had collected, he had only a couple dozen of them left, and he had to thank Ao Buzun for that, as the black dragon had intentionally kept them safe. He was being extravagant in giving out three of them today.
Wu Qi could also see the wistful look in Luo Hao' eyes. 'You are a man, so why are you afraid of the stench? Can't you see so many cultivators are packed together while enjoying the dreadful smell?' He paid Luo Hao no mind as he clasped his hands behind his back and strode into the cluster of closely placed stalls.
The triplets giggled at their father before they trotted off to follow behind Wu Qi. Luo Hao sighed and cast a few more minor restrictive spells to block off the stench. Only then did he follow them and walked into the market with a tight frown.
Wu Qi was shrouded in a faint layer of cloud. He was quietly exercising the Asamskrta Energy Unity Scripture, which had produced the clouds as well as a soft latent force around him. Apart from the father and daughters of Luo Clan, nobody could stay within the range of ten feet around him. Wherever he went, he would always have a wide path before him.
His behavior was immediately taken notice by a few reckless and tyrannical Demon cultivators. They snorted coldly and purposely slammed their masculine bodies into Wu Qi's direction. However, no matter how much force they used, they just could not smash into something solid. They felt as if Wu Qi was surrounded by a void of complete emptiness. Though the force that came with their body could have easily shattered a lofty mountain, it vanished instantly when they approached Wu Qi, and they were gently pushed away at the same time.
After a few failed attempts, these Demon cultivators had finally realized that there was a huge gap between them and Wu Qi. Their faces turned deathly pale as they quickly squeezed into the crowds and disappeared. Meanwhile, the other cultivators had turned their heads away, as no one dared to give Wu Qi a second look.
Smilingly, Wu Qi walked past one stall after another. Although his divine will could easily cover the entire cave, the items here were too many and the variety was astonishing, while some items even had the ability similar to that of the Nether Ocean Dark Gold Copper, which could isolate divine will and energy, as well as distract the energy in the surroundings. He would not be able to find any good items with just his divine will. That was the reason why he brought the four members of Luo Clan into the cluster of stalls, glancing through items one by one with his Chaotic Divine Eyes.
'Not bad.' Wu Qi thought. He saw many ninth-grade spirit herbs, as well as a few eighth-grade ones. Eighth-grade spirit herbs were excellent ingredients which mid-tier Heaven Immortals could use to concoct immortal pills. However, not only were they useless for the cultivators here, should they accidentally consume an eighth-grade spirit herb, the powerful medicinal strength contained in it would kill them instantly.
He saw many crafting materials too, but scarcely could he find good quality ones among them. Since he did not need ordinary crafting materials, he only gave them a brief glance as he walked past the stalls.
After walking past several hundred stalls, Wu Qi's brows frowned as he suddenly reached out his hand to grab the arm of a rabbit demon, who had nearly twenty bags hanging all over her body and was shouting lazily next to him. She had the appearance of a teenage girl, but she also had two long rabbit ears erecting atop her head, a rabbit mouth, and a pair of bloodshot eyes. Although she had almost looked like a human, a careful glance at her would reveal her true form.
Apparently, she was a timid rabbit demon, as right when Wu Qi grabbed her arm, she screamed instantly. "Please spare my life, Senior! You can take everything you need from me!"
Even as she said that, tears began to trickle down across her cheeks, and her pair of long ears drooped down.
Wu Qi paid no mind to her scream. Instead, he poked his hand into a leather bag hanging before her breast and fished out a fist-sized rock. The rock weighed almost one hundred and fifty kilograms, was pale-silver in color, and dotted with several hundred tiny beads of rainbow colored metal that was shaped like grapes.
He was right. It was Star Jade Spirit Gold, a Gold Immortal crafting material of the same grade as the Nether Ocean Dark Gold Copper.