Chapter 937: Everywhere Are Pits

"Kid, if you don't want to join Wangshen Island, don't enter Wangshen City—otherwise, you'll lose your life."

As Ding Huan and the others were about to step into Wangshen City, an abrupt voice landed in Ding Huan's ear.

Ding Huan's divine sense had been extended outward; even though it was a whispered transmission, the nearly imperceptible dao ripples were still caught by him.

The one who whispered to him was an old man, standing on the Void Plaza, seemingly negotiating with several cultivators.

The old man was at the Fifth Step of the Dao; from the dao resonance around him, Ding Huan knew this person had altered his appearance.

Ding Huan retracted his divine sense—he hadn't expected that in this vast void, a place devoted to pursuing the ultimate Dao, there still existed such a warm-hearted soul.

This kind of thing was thankless work; if Wangshen City found out, the old man's actions would be suicide.

Ding Huan knew that if he turned around and left right now, he'd be watched too.

If that's the case, it's better to enter Wangshen City and gather some information first.

But the old man's words reminded him.

Here, everything must be done with proper justification—otherwise, even the tiniest excuse will be used against you.

Earlier, he had asked Li Yue whether one lower-grade dao vein could allow all of them to reside in Wangshen City; Li Yue told them to enter Wangshen City first before asking the elders—he shouldn't have said "alright."

"Officer Li, I have another question," Ding Huan said, stopping at the city gate and bowing.

Li Yue frowned slightly, then quickly said: "Comrade Ding, let's discuss this inside."

Ding Huan didn't move, and asked again:

"If, after Officer Li consults the elders, the elders determine that one lower-grade dao vein is insufficient to allow our four people and our beast companions to reside in Wangshen City, what then?"

Li Yue sneered inwardly—what then? Naturally, you'd become a laborer and pay with your life.

Unless you don't enter Wangshen City at all; once you enter, according to the unspoken rules of the Gods' Island, Wangshen City has the final say.

Unless you don't enter Wangshen City — once you do, then according to the rules tacitly accepted by the Gods' Island, Wangshen City calls the shots.

"I don't actually know—I'll have to ask the elders first."

Li Yue was muttering inwardly: she was certain Ding Huan was recording this, yet she hadn't noticed his movement at all.

There were countless void cities beyond the Gods' Island, but the unspoken rule was that no one could be the first to break it.

"Then we won't enter," Ding Huan said, turning to leave.

A cheerful voice rang out: "Haha, comrades, rest assured. Wangshen City has always served countless realms.

Even if you don't have a single dao vein, you may still come and go freely in Wangshen City."

With those words, a man with shoulder-length gray hair stepped forward.

"Who is this comrade?" Ding Huan asked.

Li Yue hurriedly said: "This is Elder Peng, the Third External Affairs Elder of Wangshen City."

"I, Peng Zhonghai, love making friends from all corners—any matter, come find me at my External Affairs Elder's residence."

Peng Zhonghai waved his hand carelessly, as if Ding Huan were no stranger at all.

"Thank you," Ding Huan said, casually plucking an image crystal ball from the void.

Clearly, this was intentional—he wanted to show he had recorded the exchange, hoping Wangshen City wouldn't renege.

Seeing Ding Huan put away the image crystal ball, Peng Zhonghai sneered inwardly.

A few ants who hadn't even reached the ordinary Fourth Step dared record an image crystal ball in front of him?

Not only could they not produce it later, even if they did, it'd be useless.

Though he mocked Ding Huan's trick, he still sent a forbidden mark into Ding Huan's image crystal ball.

With Ding Huan's sensitivity to heavenly laws, he sensed Peng Zhonghai's move instantly.

Just like Peng Zhonghai, he inwardly chuckled.

A mere Sixth Step cultivator dared try to destroy his image crystal ball with a forbidden mark—who gave him that confidence?

After Peng Zhonghai left, Li Yue smiled sweetly at Ding Huan and the others: "Comrade Ding, now you're reassured, right? Elder Peng has the best reputation—he never breaks his word.

If Elder Peng promised you, it's guaranteed."

"Then please lead the way," Ding Huan said, full of gratitude.

"If you're determined to enter, buy things at the Gods' Merchants Tower…" the old man's whispered voice came again into Ding Huan's ear.

Ding Huan sighed—this man truly was kind-hearted.

Under Li Yue's guidance, Ding Huan and the others had entered Wangshen City.

Though Wangshen City was a void city, its streets were wide, and every shop radiated grandeur.

As for heavenly qi, it was nothing special.

Worse than what Ding Huan experienced while cultivating inside the Cosmic Cauldron.

Li Yue led Ding Huan and the others to the place where cultivators registered their identities.

Ding Huan handed over one lower-grade dao vein and obtained four Wangshen City entry-exit identity tokens.

Ding Huan's divine sense touched the tokens—he saw only the words "Temporary" and knew this place was another trap.

Temporary identity tokens allowed only three days' stay in Wangshen City.

After three days, they'd still have to leave Wangshen City.

Even though all four had tokens, if they wanted to stay, it'd be better to register only one person.

After all, registering just one person meant later they'd only need to add three more.

But now, after three days, they'd have to register four new long-term residence tokens.

Li Yue watched Ding Huan put away the tokens, waiting for him to raise an objection.

She expected him to object—giving four three-day tokens for one dao vein was clearly unfair.

But even if he objected, it wouldn't matter—this was Wangshen City.

Questioning it was useless—they were inside Wangshen City now.

Within the default rules, she was the one in charge.

What annoyed her was that Ding Huan had tucked away his identity token, as if unaware it was temporary, and turned to leave.

"Comrade Ding, if you have any matters, just come find me." Li Yue pulled out a communication pearl and handed it to Ding Huan.

"Then thank you, Sister Li, the administrator." Ding Huan accepted the communication pearl without any sign of surprise.

Watching the retreating backs of Ding Huan and the others, Li Yue sneered.

She refused to believe Ding Huan would spend one Dao vein to obtain four temporary identity tokens.

As long as Ding Huan wished to stay in Wangshen City, he would have to come to her.

"So greedy—one Dao vein for four temporary identity tokens." Guan Huan cursed.

"I never planned to stay the full three days. We'll leave here in half a day at most—what do I care about identity tokens?"

Ding Huan didn't care.

"I wonder if all the shops here belong to Wangshen City." Jia Baihe knew Ding Huan's purpose for coming here.

If all the shops here were owned by Wangshen City, Ding Huan would find it hard to purchase what he needed.

【74】 "Not all of them. At least one shop should be able to sell real goods."

"Not entirely — at least one shop should be selling genuine goods."

As Ding Huan spoke, he pointed ahead.

"The Divine Marketplace?"

Guan Huan exclaimed: "This must be the largest shop in Wangshen City, right? It's definitely tied to Wangshen City."

The Divine Marketplace stood directly opposite the entrance to Wangshen City.

The entire building nearly occupied half a street—such a conspicuous location, such a prominent structure—how could it possibly have no connection to Wangshen City?

"Not necessarily. This marketplace was likely founded by someone from the Divine World. Even if Wangshen Island is powerful, it dares not offend the powerhouses of the Divine World."

Ding Huan replied.

Although the old man who had previously whispered to him hadn't said who owned the Divine Marketplace, Ding Huan had already guessed it was connected to the Divine World.

Far away, Li Yue saw Ding Huan and the others walk directly into the Divine Marketplace, her brow slightly furrowing.

Logically, Ding Huan and the others had just arrived in Wangshen City—they couldn't possibly know the Divine Marketplace's background.

Anyone unaware of the Divine Marketplace's background, seeking information or goods, would never choose it.

What's going on with this Ding Huan?

But even so, what of it?

If she didn't extract all the Dao veins from Ding Huan and the others, and then send them off to the Divine Island to die as slaves, she might as well be dead.

After entering the Divine Marketplace, Ding Huan realized it was a spatial marketplace.

From outside, the Divine Marketplace already looked large enough.

Only after entering did he realize how truly vast it was inside.

Not only was it vast, but the number of cultivators inside was immense.

The first counter he saw was piled high with various introductory jade slips.

How to join the Divine World, distribution of the Divine Islands, Divine Laws and Regulations, Notes on the Divine Islands, Taboos of the Divine World…

Nearly every jade slip was precisely what Ding Huan urgently needed.

Truly skilled at business.

Ding Huan sighed in admiration.

These weren't just things he needed—any cultivator newly arriving here would crave them desperately.

"Give me one copy of each of these jade slips up front," Ding Huan said, pointing to the hundred or so jade slips at the front.

"One top-grade Divine Spirit Vein per slip," the clerk said, not touching the jade slips, only gazing calmly at Ding Huan.

Ding Huan paused. A hundred-plus top-grade Divine Spirit Veins meant little to him.

But one top-grade Divine Spirit Vein for such a simple introductory jade slip?

This wasn't outrageous—it was outrageous's mother opening the door for outrageous.

"So expensive?" Guan Huan sucked in a breath.

Even though Ding Huan carried so many top-grade Divine Spirit Veins,

Qiao Qianhe truly couldn't produce that many.

In the vast universe, there were countless cultivators like Qiao Qianhe.

"You're certain? One top-grade Divine Spirit Vein per jade slip?" Ding Huan's tone was calm.

He was certain this was impossible.

This clerk was absolutely lying.

The clerk's expression grew colder: "I say it is. Buy it or get out."

Ding Huan's spiritual sense had been resting on the surrounding space, and he immediately sensed the faintest ripples.

Someone had sent a message to this clerk.

Ding Huan didn't need to search for the source—he knew it was definitely tied to Li Yue.

They saw he had Dao veins and thought they could fleece him, is that it?

The Divine World was clearly not something Wangshen Island could afford to offend.

But no powerful entity can oversee every detail.

This clerk, having worked at the Divine Marketplace for so long, being bribed by Wangshen Island was only natural.

"Then in that case, just pick whatever you like for me." Ding Huan tossed a storage bag onto the counter—inside it, only one top-grade Divine Spirit Vein.

His spiritual sense had already settled upon the seals of these jade slips.

These jade slips were all locked with something similar to barrier techniques; it should be a kind of binding seal.

In Ding Huan's eyes, it wasn't worth mentioning at all.

At the fastest speed, his divine sense seeped into these jade slip seals and copied their contents.

Originally Ding Huan had only planned to buy a hundred jade slips, but now he copied the contents of every single jade slip.

There were a full several thousand of them.

The reason he was still willing to take out a top-grade divine spirit vein was just to be prepared for any contingency.