Chapter 64

Desolate, dilapidated...

The original location of the Qinglin Market now seemed to have turned into a large ruin!

"This... what about the Qingxuan Sect's mountain-protecting formation?"

Looking at the monitoring screen, Fang Xing suddenly thought of a question.

The Qinglin Market was guarded by a great formation! Once fully activated, it was like a giant bowl, firmly guarding the entire market.

But now... that formation's mist and spiritual light didn't exist at all! It revealed the peak of Qingxuan Peak, which was usually hard to see.

Not only that, there were even some low-grade demonic beasts wandering around the market, occasionally killing their way into the market to hunt cultivators, treating this place as a hunting ground!

"The number of demonic beasts... is too many."

"Could it be another beast tide? Has the Qinglin Market fallen?"

Fang Xing was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that during the time he was distracted by the final exam, the Qinglin Market had undergone such a huge change!

"The key is... what about that Jin Dan True Lord of the Qingxuan Sect?"

Fang Xing touched his chin, thoughtful: "It seems... I have to find a cultivator to ask..."

Qinglin Market.

Outskirts.

The original demon-catching person, Yu Xia, was hiding behind an ancient tree in fear, his heart full of regret: "I was truly blinded by lard to come out at a time like this..."

"But the spiritual rice and hunger-avoidance pills at home are almost eaten up. If I don't want to starve to death, what else can I do?"

After not seeing him for a while, this originally sturdy demon-catcher had become sallow, clearly not living well recently.

"Awoo!"

Just at this moment, accompanied by wolf howls, a group of 'Green Wind Wolves' whistled past him.

After a long while, Yu Xia came out and took out a jade bottle: "This scent-cleansing powder isn't much either... better save it."

Scent-cleansing powder was a secret medicinal powder passed down by his lineage of demon-catchers, which could cover the scent on his body and hide from the noses of most demonic beasts.

Demon-catchers who dared to come out to hunt at this time often had one or two special skills.

Just as Yu Xia was about to leave, suddenly!

There was a fluctuation of spiritual energy in the grass, and several cyan wind blades followed.

"Not good!"

Yu Xia quickly activated the Jin Guang Shield talisman, and a layer of golden light appeared on his body, struggling to block a wind blade.

But the second, the third...

The wind blades seemed to be endless, and they carried wolf howls!

"Awoo!"

From the dark depths of the dense forest, more than a dozen pairs of blue or green eyes suddenly emerged, all carrying a bloodthirsty color.

"Damn it... it's the previous wolf pack, they haven't left yet? This wolf king is truly cunning!"

Yu Xia had only one thought in his heart, and then he heard a puff, and the golden light on his body exploded into fragments.

The fierce wind hit his head, and he rolled on the ground in extreme embarrassment, which allowed him to avoid most of the wind blades, but his body was already covered in blood, and one arm was thrown away...

"I didn't expect my life's journey to end here..."

Yu Xia was full of dejection, calmly accepting the reality that he was about to be buried in the wolf's mouth.

Loose cultivators in the market were like this, just like weeds on the side of the road, not knowing when they would pass away with the wind.

Woo woo!

Suddenly, the wolf howls in the dense forest changed.

From the original excitement of foraging, it turned into panic...

"Did another powerful demonic beast come? I don't know which demonic beast I will die in the hands of, I hope it's not a 'Mountain-Back Pig,' that smell is too stinky..."

Yu Xia's consciousness was a bit blurred.

A moment later, a figure appeared before his eyes, followed by a talisman being torn open, and emerald brilliance overflowed, turning into drops of sweet rain falling.

—Sweet Rain Talisman!

"I... thank you, fellow Daoist, for saving me!"

Yu Xia felt his wounds slowly stopping the bleeding, and couldn't help but climb up with a pale face to thank him, but his heart still carried a trace of vigilance.

What loose cultivators fear most is not demonic beasts, but other loose cultivators!

Even if this person saved him, it didn't necessarily mean he had good intentions.

But when he saw that person, his expression instantly froze.

Five big and three thick, full of flesh on his face, looking very fierce—one look and you knew he wasn't easy to mess with.

Yu Xia instinctively felt very dangerous, and his smile became three parts more gentle.

"Cut the crap!"

Fang Xing was carrying the wolf king's corpse, looking impatient: "I was hunting demons outside before, and accidentally went deep into the Great Wilderness, delaying for some days. How did the market become like this?"

"Fellow Daoist doesn't know? Sigh..."

Speaking of this, Yu Xia was full of bitterness: "It's all to blame on that damned Qingxuan Sect. I don't know what happened during the exploration of the secret realm, but it attracted a Rank 3 demonic beast... That Jin Dan old demon woman took her disciples and left, leaving us here, with no way to heaven and no door to enter the earth..."

"Rank 3 Great Demon?"

Fang Xing's heart jumped. This was a demonic beast comparable to a Jin Dan True Lord, and demonic beasts could condense demon pills after Rank 3, nurturing innate divine abilities, and their strength would skyrocket!

'Maybe it's not just an ordinary Rank 3 demonic beast, otherwise the Qingxuan Sect Jin Dan True Lord might not have left... or even, more than one?'

Fang Xing's heart jumped: "How much do you know about that secret realm? Are there still people buying demonic beast materials and selling pills in the market now?"

He had little interest in the cultivator's secret realm.

But whether he could buy subsequent pills was very critical, related to whether his Unpolished Jade Realm cultivation could still advance by leaps and bounds!

"Secret realm? I don't know much, only that it's in the Five Scorpion Valley, containing the opportunity for Foundation Establishment..."

Yu Xia smiled bitterly: "The Qingxuan Sect disciples might know more..."

Fang Xing asked a few more questions and learned that the Qingxuan Sect left in a hurry, almost fleeing in a panic, and even Rank 3 avian great demons might have attacked, smashing several flying boats.

Therefore, many Qingxuan Sect disciples were left behind and couldn't leave.

Precisely because of this, these Qingxuan Sect disciples were regarded as drowning dogs, and the key was that they were wealthy, coveted by the loose cultivators of the entire market, often changing their names and disguising themselves as ordinary loose cultivators, making them very hard to find.

Fang Xing was not surprised at all. Don't look at how humble loose cultivators are when facing those sect geniuses; when it comes to the real deal, even true disciples dare to kill them for you to see!

Not to mention, those Qingxuan Sect disciples all had deep pockets and might even carry sect classics, spiritual pills, and medicines, which were absolutely excellent fat sheep!

'Although sect disciples have higher cultivation, if they haven't experienced actual combat, they might not be able to beat loose cultivators who are a few realms lower, not to mention that robbery cases are definitely done by more people against fewer, with traps and poisons, using all means.'

Fang Xing secretly mourned for the Qingxuan Sect disciples, and then asked: "What about the trading place?"

"The original market has long since turned into ruins... Only when the mist rises in the early morning are there occasional loose stalls by cultivators, called the 'Ghost Market'..."

Yu Xia replied: "Besides that, every three days, in a cave deep underground in the southeast of the market, there is a black market... The items sold are often better than the Ghost Market, but also more dangerous..."

"So that's it."

Fang Xing nodded and went away on his own.

Yu Xia looked at Fang Xing's departing back, licked his lips, and immediately dived into the dense forest...

Qinglin Market.

Walking among the ruins, Fang Xing was quite sentimental: "A good market turned into this... this market is truly full of disasters... Eh? It seems the secret realm opening has something to do with me? Then forget it, it's fine..."

"But looking at it now, actually, like Shen Yuxin, taking Meng Zijin and leaving early is actually the best choice. Hua Feiyue finally lacked a bit of courage... I wonder if this woman is dead or alive?"

He didn't have the idea of looking for the other party, only saying that if he met her, he would help her out.

If he didn't meet her... then it could only be said that the other party was unlucky.

"Meow!"

Between the ruins, on a beam, a cat meowed suddenly.

Fang Xing looked over and saw a two-tailed cat demonic beast, looking like a small leopard, its green eyes staring at him, and a layer of dark luster rising on its claws.

"Hmph!"

He snorted coldly, and a terrifying momentum followed.

The two-tailed cat jumped up as if it had been stepped on its tail, its whole body bristling, and it disappeared into the depths of the ruins in the blink of an eye...

"The spiritual veins of this market shouldn't be of high rank, so they can't attract Rank 3 demonic beasts... Therefore, many cultivators are still struggling in the ruins, after all, the Great Wilderness outside is more dangerous!"

As for walking out of the market and heading to the real Qingxuan Sect station?

That distance is not only very far, but the road is also full of difficulties and obstacles. Anyway, ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators shouldn't even think about it.

'It's actually quite similar to the black market on Chick Star...'

'Facts have proven that any order is better than no order...'

Fang Xing carried the wolf corpse and specifically walked past the wooden house he had lived in before, only to find that the original place had turned into a deep pit, scorched black all around, and he didn't know what had happened.

He walked past with a blank face, as if he didn't recognize this place at all.

Along the way, there was almost no one, but Fang Xing was sharp-eared and sharp-eyed, and after Unpolished Jade, his spiritual sense was even more extraordinary, able to feel the gazes cast from everywhere.

This also forced him to sigh: "People are truly as tenacious as weeds, able to survive no matter where they are..."

Fang Xing kept going inside and found the Qing Dan Fang, but unfortunately, this place was already a ruin, and had even been searched countless times...

Obviously, this was the good work done by other loose cultivators when the market suffered a disaster.

"All are pit goods... fortunately, they can't take away this spiritual energy."

Fang Xing came to a small courtyard. This was the high-end cave dwelling area of the market, where even martial artists could feel the fresh and active aura in the void.

He casually found a courtyard that looked relatively intact, pulled open the door, and walked in swaggeringly.

"Who is it, daring to trespass into this seat's cave dwelling?"

A late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator walked out carrying a flying sword, angrily glaring at Fang Xing, his expression clearly relaxing a lot: "Martial artist?"

He immediately looked around, fearing that Fang Xing was a bait for some robbery group.

"This is your cave dwelling? Take out the spiritual contract and let me see..."

Seeing this, a smile appeared on the corner of Fang Xing's mouth.