“Thank you.” Yuan Ming said, walking towards the passage.

“Friend, is this your first time coming to the Ghost Market? Are you planning to enter like this?” The shadow suddenly spoke.

“What do you mean by that?” Yuan Ming felt a little strange about this person suddenly speaking to him, but he didn’t lie and asked.

“Although you are wearing a hat, this level of disguise can be easily seen through by divine sense. Don’t you know that it is very dangerous to be seen through your true appearance in the Ghost Market?” The shadow said.

Yuan Ming was taken aback. Gu Yue did not mention this.

The shadow’s words made sense, but he couldn’t hide his appearance without the Thousand Machine Mask, which was not yet refined.

“Friend, there’s no need to worry. Here is a hidden cloak that can conceal your aura and block divine sense. As long as you wear it, I guarantee that no one will recognize you. Since we have met today, I can sell it to you for fifty spirit stones, or rent it to you for five spirit stones for one use. How about it?” The shadow took out a gray-black cloak with a hood and his tone became eager.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming understood and couldn’t help but laugh.

This shadow stopped him because he wanted to do business.

He used his divine sense to touch the cloak, but it was forcefully repelled by an invisible force.

Yuan Ming’s eyes lit up. This cloak could really block divine sense, it was a good thing.

However, his Thousand Machine Mask would be refined soon, so he didn’t need to spend a lot of money to buy this item.

“Rent it for one use, one spirit stone.” Yuan Ming took out a spirit stone and handed it over.

“Hehe.” The shadow chuckled, took the spirit stone and threw the cloak over.

Yuan Ming put on the cloak and his magical aura and scent disappeared completely.

He touched the cloak. It was not made of cloth, but woven from a soft black grass stem. It seemed like he had seen it somewhere before.

Yuan Ming carefully recalled and suddenly the figure of the old tobacco pipe appeared in his sea of consciousness.

Most of his memory had been restored, and he vaguely remembered the situation when he was picked up by the old tobacco pipe and some other bodies.

On that day, he was picked up by the old tobacco pipe from the riverside. The old tobacco pipe had used a grass mat to cover him and the other bodies, concealing the smell of the bodies. It seemed that the grass mat was made of this kind of grass stem, which seemed to be a specialty of Southern Region.

“Please enter. Remember not to follow the sellers!” The black figure reminded him and disappeared into the darkness again.

Yuan Ming stepped into the wall passage and soon reached the end. The light ahead became normal and a dim square came into view.

Looking around, he saw small stalls filled with various goods. All the stall owners were wearing masks and they looked a bit crude, far from the scale and grandeur of the Black Rock City market.

There were a few scattered customers in the square, each of them hiding their true appearance. Most of them were wearing black cloaks like Yuan Ming, obviously bought or rented from the black figure, and they looked vague.

After a quick glance, Yuan Ming casually walked towards the nearest small stall.

There was nothing else on this small stall, only two bodies lying side by side. They were covered in green scales and a faint black mist appeared on their bodies.

“Corpse refinement.”

Combining the information he had seen in the sect, Yuan Ming recognized that the two corpses had reached the level of “Green Steel Corpse,” which was a relatively high-level corpse refinement in the Black Fire Sect. They would not easily leave the sect, but unexpectedly, there were two of them appearing in the Ghost Market at once.

Looking at these two Green Steel Corpses, Yuan Ming was a little tempted.

The Green Steel Corpse had a body harder than iron and its combat power was comparable to the peak of Foundation Establishment. It could even withstand attacks from cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage. It was far superior to the Human Fiend refined by Hu Huo. If he could have one, it would be very useful in battle.

“How much is the price for these two corpses?” Just then, another person wearing a black cloak walked over and asked about the price.

“Eight hundred spirit stones each, non-negotiable.” The hooded gray-robed stall owner said without looking up.

“Will you sell them for five hundred?” the person asked.

“I said it’s non-negotiable. If you leave here, even if you offer a thousand spirit stones, you won’t be able to buy them.” The gray-robed stall owner said coldly.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming shook his head and walked away.

The price was too high, so he decided to look at other things.

He continued to look at several stalls and found that there were many exquisite items, even some items suitable for cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage.

Before long, Yuan Ming stopped in front of another small stall.

Behind the stall sat a person in a green robe with a bronze mask. Judging from the figure, it should be a woman.

Yuan Ming’s gaze continued to sweep over the stall.

His eyes fell on a silver-white bell-shaped magical tool.

He was very familiar with this item. It was the one Hu Zha and the others used to collect wild souls.

“What is the function of this item and how much does it cost?” Yuan Ming pointed to the bell and pretended not to recognize it as he asked.

“This bell is called the Soul-capturing Bell. Although it is a low-grade magical tool, it has the effect of capturing and attacking souls. When used to attack mortals, it can make them lose their memory or even their soul. When used to attack cultivators, it can temporarily stun and make them lose their memory. Although it is a low-grade item, it is an exclusive magical tool of the Birolo Cave and many cultivators are eager to have it. It is sold for sixty spirit stones.” The woman in the green robe said in a low voice.

“It can make mortals lose their memory.” Yuan Ming was taken aback.

When he entered the Birolo Cave, he lost his previous memories and until now, he had only remembered most of them. If this Soul-capturing Bell had the effect of making people lose their memory, he suspected that he had also been attacked by this bell.

Finally, he found the reason for his amnesia!

Yuan Ming couldn’t help but feel resentful!

He must obtain this bell!”The effect of this Soul Capturing Bell is quite intriguing, but the spiritual power it contains is weak, and it’s a low-grade magical tool. I’m afraid it can only deal with low-level Qi cultivators. As for dealing with mortals, it seems a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Sixty spirit stones are too much, I can only offer twenty at most,” Yuan Ming said.

“Twenty? Don’t underestimate this bell. If you spend a spring night with a mortal woman you fancy, this magical tool is most suitable. Fifty-five!” The woman in the green robe lowered her voice and said, “If it weren’t for the death of the young master of White Dragon Island, how could you get it so cheap?”

“How could I possibly be that kind of person? Twenty-five, that’s about right!”

“Fifty!”

After some haggling, the stall owner finally conceded to thirty-two spirit stones.

After Yuan Ming left, the woman also quickly departed.

At another stall, an ancient book was displayed with the title “Miscellaneous Discussions on Array Dao” written on it.

During these days in the market, Yuan Ming had come into contact with many things related to magical arrays and had developed some interest in them. Not that he wanted to distract himself with learning, but understanding them was necessary. So, he paid three spirit stones and bought it.

Having browsed for half an hour, he got up from a small stall and spent thirty spirit stones to buy three somewhat shriveled black fruits.

According to the stall owner, this fruit was from a unique tree owned by a family in the southern region of Nanjiang, which only bore fruit every few hundred years. After a fierce beast ate it, its fertility rate could be rapidly increased. If this fruit was placed in the forest, the faint scent it emitted would attract fierce beasts from hundreds of feet around to fight for it.

By now, Yuan Ming had seen more than half of the stalls in the Ghost Market. In addition to these three black fruits, he had bought a few other items: four talismans, three yellow pills, and more than thirty kinds of spirit wood and spirit grass.

The four talismans, known as the Four Directions Sealing Spirit Talismans, must be used together. They could form a hidden boundary, concealing all fluctuations of aura inside and hiding one’s tracks, suitable for use when resting in the wild.

Unlike ordinary talismans, these talismans were of the type that slowly unleashed their power and could be used multiple times.

The three pills were not ordinary elixirs, but a common attack method used in the Hundred Poison Cave. When they hit an enemy, they would explode into a cloud of poison powder, similar to the smoke bombs he used to use frequently.

As for the spirit wood and spirit grass, he bought them on a whim, intending to use them for experimenting with making incense. After this investigation of the White Night Scattering Alliance, Yuan Ming had deeply realized the magic of the incense burner. However, the duration of the black incense’s effect was too short to bring out the effect of the incense burner, so he had to find a way to prolong the time of the black incense.

His understanding of incense-making materials was still insufficient, so he could only use the most straightforward method: buying various spirit materials and trying them out bit by bit.

All these items were somewhat cheaper than the market price, but when added up, they were not a small amount. He had spent about two hundred spirit stones in total. Including his previous expenses, he only had a little over four hundred spirit stones left in his storage ring.

This trip to the Ghost Market was quite fruitful.

But he was surprised to see the Yin Ghost Flag of the Kun Diagram for sale in a corner!

Although he didn’t know the seller’s face, it was undoubtedly one of Wu Lu’s accomplices. Yuan Ming was about to approach and start a conversation, but a cultivator beat him to it and bought it at an unknown price. The seller also left in a hurry, and Yuan Ming didn’t dare to follow.

Yuan Ming continued forward, and a black stone pillar appeared at the edge of the square ahead. Several luminous stones were embedded in it, illuminating a large area around it.

There were four such pillars in the market, located in the four corners, and the light they emitted illuminated the entire square.

Under the light, Yuan Ming looked around. By now, there were far fewer stalls than when he first entered.

Under the stone pillar was a stall run by a one-armed old man wearing a fox mask, who was currently sitting on a worn-out bamboo chair with his eyes closed.

A few items were scattered on the small stall, most of them spirit materials, and one magical tool, a dark red small shield.

Yuan Ming’s eyes lit up, and he squatted down in front of the stall, saying, “May I take a look at this magical tool?”

“Please,” the old man said without opening his eyes.

Yuan Ming picked up the shield, channeled his spiritual power into it, and the shield immediately floated up, emitting a red glow, and a red rune appeared.

“A low-grade magical tool, what a pity!” he thought to himself.

With that thought, Yuan Ming put down the dark red small shield, intending to get up and leave.

The one-armed old man opened his eyes and called out to Yuan Ming, “Please wait, fellow Daoist.”

“What is it?” Yuan Ming stopped and asked.

“Do you want to buy a defensive magical tool? This Fire Rock Shield is not bad. If you like it, I can give you a discount,” the one-armed old man said with a smile.

“I’m not interested,” Yuan Ming replied.

“Pardon my boldness, but do you have any beast eggs or exotic beasts on you?” the one-armed old man asked.

Upon hearing this, a glint flashed in Yuan Ming’s eyes. Not only did he have the Black Toad, but he also had a blue beast egg.

(End of Chapter)