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Li Sanwan.

It was just an ordinary small town.

Due to Jinlan River’s three meanders around this area, forming three bays, the town got its name.

Wang Ba concealed his Cultivator aura and walked in town at a leisurely pace.

The landscape and customs of Yan State were drastically different from those of Chen State.

Waterways crisscrossed the region, and the most common sights were small boats rowing and water-town young girls.

The area was imbued with a touch of Jiangnan culture.

This was his most significant impression when he first entered the town.

Compared with Cultivators, each passing moment in a mortal’s life seemed even more pronounced.

It also felt more filled with the atmosphere of everyday life.

After a stroll around, his Spiritual Sense slightly moved, and he soon stopped in front of a butcher’s booth.

“Brother, you seem new here, would you like to buy a couple of taels of prime meat or…”

Before the butcher with a whisker could finish speaking, it seemed like he noticed something, and he suddenly looked up at Wang Ba, showing an unusual color in his eyes.

The initially warm and polite expression quickly disappeared, replaced by a serious one.

He hesitated slightly, and then said gruffly:

“…Friend, let’s talk in the backyard.”

“Okay.”

Seeing this, Wang Ba followed him into a backyard filled with peach trees without surprise.

Before long.

Upon entering the backyard, the bearded butcher no longer concealed his true nature. He subtly widened the distance from Wang Ba, then, vastly unlike a clumsy mortal butcher, he greeted Wang Ba in the form of a Cultivator, gruff and strong in tone, announcing:

“I’m Wu Hai.”

“Esteemed fellow, may I ask what guidance you seek from your visit here?”

At the same time, the peach trees around the yard seemed to sway slightly, faintly forming what appeared to be a Formation.

However, even from Wang Ba’s untrained eyes, the Formation was full of mistakes.

On an approximate judgment from Wang Ba, it seemed to have a perplexing effect, and its effectiveness was at most…Stage I of Class 1?

Nevertheless, this was quite similar to the cultivation realm of the butcher who was disguised as a Cultivator.

In the eyes of Wang Ba, Wu Hai’s Dantian gave off an aura of Mana, which felt about as strong as the Qi Refining first or second stage.

Though weak, there was no denying that Wang Ba felt… quite safe.

He was about to reply courteously, lifting his hand.

Seeing this, Wu Hai instantly stepped waryingly back before realising he had reacted quite drastically, thereby revealing his uneasiness, and quickly put on an apologetic smile:

“Ahem, sorry, fellow Daoist. Recently, rogue Cultivators are frequently targeted by evil cultivators, and so organ operations, I’m a bit nervous.”

Looking at Wu Hai’s bovine body and the chest hair peeking out from his clothes, Wang Ba felt mixed emotions.

It seemed like life wasn’t easy for either rogue or evil Cultivators in Yan State.

Immediately showing understanding, he took a few steps back and courteously said: “I am… Shen Fu, a Cultivator from Song State. I have been traveling down the Jinlan River for Cultivation comprehension. But due to the lack of resources for my cultivation, I landed here, intending to exchange knowledge with local Cultivators.”

“So there’s such a cultivation method.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Hai looked astonished, but a guarded look surfaced on his face. Without thinking, he refused: “I’m merely at the second stage of Qi Refining. My daily cultivation involves inhaling the package of rich Blood Energy. I’m barely getting by, so I’m afraid I can’t be of assistance.”

Wang Ba wasn’t surprised. After all, it was normal to be cautious when meeting someone for the first time. He didn’t really think he could exchange anything with this butcher.

Showing a smile, he said, “Then, may I ask if there is a market nearby…”

Upon hearing this, Wu Hai’s face immediately turned even more cautious.

“We don’t have one.”

“Li Sanwan is just a regular small town. With only a handful of Cultivators, there’s no way a market would be open here.”

Seeing this, Wang Ba immediately understood that there must be a market around, and Wu Hai was consciously hiding it.

However, it seemed impossible to get any more information from him.

With a slight thought, in the temple of Yin’s Government, a droplet of Power of the Yin God instantly turned into a stream of light.

At the same time, a dozen more droplets of Power of the Yin God disappeared.

A flash of scarlet light appeared and disappeared in his eyes simultaneously.

Same for Wu Hai.

A struggle flickered on Wu Hai’s face, then he blurted out, seemingly confused: “Honoured fellow, do you have an old acquaintance with Brother Zhu?”

Wang Ba didn’t know the specifics. He had only planted the idea in Wu Hai’s soul that he was a good friend of the person Wu Hai trusted the most.

This inspiration was drawn from his previous encounter with Song Bupin, a location in Song State.

However, he knew absolutely nothing about the specific information.

Caught off guard, Wang Ba could only force a smile and assume acceptance.

Wu Hai showed a speechless expression:

“If you are acquainted with Brother Zhu, why ask me about the market? He has quite a few Market Entering Orders for the Ghost Market… Ah, Brother Zhu has meditated again, hasn’t he?”

Wang Ba didn’t know how to respond, so he just kept nodding.

Immediately, Wu Hai showed a righteous look, pat his chest and promised:

“Never mind, Shen, worry not. If it were anyone else, 1 wouldn’t tell them, but since you’re a friend of Brother Zhu’s, I’m glad to help!”

“Of course, um… this…”

Wu Hai raised his hand, rubbing his greasy fingers with a smile.

Somewhat silently annoyed, Wang Ba pulled out two lower-grade Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag.

“It’s too much!”

Wu Hai’s eyes widened with amazement as he walked forward excitedly.

He kept saying ‘too much’ while eagerly reaching out for the Spirit Stones.

Grinning from ear to ear, Wu Hai did not complain, he was very pleased. His attitute towards Wang Ba also noticeably turned warmer.

But for some reason, despite his delight, he felt vaguely that something was off.

It seemed he had overlooked something but no matter how hard he thought, he could not figure it out.

The behavior of Wu Hai made Wang Ba frown secretly. Such a person, even if he had information about the market, would probably not have high-level market insights.

However, the name of this “Brother Zhu” mentioned by Wu Hai drew his interest.

Under the influence of “Dream Creation”, Wu Hai was defenseless against Wang Ba. With a little careful probing from Wang Ba, Wu Hai quickly revealed everything about this ‘Brother Zhu’.

This Brother Zhu’s full name was Zhu Jianyi.

He was a disciple of a rogue cultivator who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage nearby.

Considered wealthy and powerful, and with extensive connections, he had organized a number of Ghost Markets for Qi Refiners. It was said that he also received invitations from some higher-level Ghost Markets, and he possessed a fair amount of Market Entry Orders.

Wu Hai had once had the fortune to speak with him a few times in the local Ghost Market and was deep in admiration for him.

“So the person whom Wu Hai has the utmost trust in is him.”

Having roughly grasped the situation, Wang Ba, while expressing amazement at Wu Hai’s trust in a friend he actually had not known deeply, secretly admired the terror of “Dream Creation”.

Under the Dream Creation, those whose minds have been affected seemed to be in a dream. They would spontaneously fill in some illogical details automatically.

For instance, Wang Ba previously claimed that he was a cultivator from Song State, which neighbored Yan State. But Wu Hai had ignored this aspect and imagined that Wang Ba was a friend of Zhu Jianyi’s.

Zhu Jianyi had numerous market messages in his hand, but instead of finding Zhu Jianyi, his friend’ turned to him. Although he had suspicions, he had assumed that Zhu Jianyi was in seclusion.

In short, this ‘dream’ was like a quagmire, trapping Wu Hai’s consciousness in it, and he was entirely unaware of it.

However, if Wu Hai himself was guarded in advance or had a strong soul, it would not be so easy for the Dream Creation to achieve such an effect.

While secretly filled with relief, Wang Ba learned a lesson, and aimed to make fewer mistakes the next time.

“Shen, don’t worry, the nearby ‘Jinhe City’ Ghost Market this month will not open until a few days later. We don’t need a Market Entry Order, and we can smoothly enter with you.”

Seeing that Wang Ba had not spoken much, Wu Hai thought that Wang Ba did not seem to trust him very much, and quickly reassured him.

“No rush, thank you then, friend!”

Wang Ba said cheerfully while using some more Power of the Yin God to extend the duration of the Dream Creation.

Although he felt a little distressed, as these powers of the Yin God would take quite a while to cultivate back, he still decided to stay at Li Sanwan’s place.

With the Essence of Spirit Chicken and Essence of Spirit Turtle for cultivation, there was still a significant amount left from his years of accumulation.

Days later.

Wang Ba followed Wu Hai as they ran dozens of miles along the Jinlan River outside of Li Sanwan’s place before they finally stopped at a calm river bank.

After that, to Wang Ba’s slight surprise, Wu Hai reluctantly took out a crumpled piece of yellow paper from his sleeve.

Water-avoiding talisman.

Wang Ba roughly recognized its effects.

Wu Hai threw the yellow paper into the water, and suddenly the water seemed to split, as if an invisible force cut off the river.

“Quick! This talisman won’t last long!”

Wu Hai exclaimed.

He immediately jumped into it.

Wang Ba examined it with his spiritual sense and prepared the Azure Spirit Turtle before jumping in after him.

With his mana, he could very well cut open the water or allow the Azure Spirit Turtle to create a path.

However, it was not appropriate to do so right now.

Fishes and shrimps passed by quickly on both sides.

Soon, the two landed underwater.

Wu Hai’s mana was meagre, and there was a lot of mud on his feet, but Wang Ba did not have this problem.

But it was only when he reached the bottom that Wang Ba saw an entrance.

An invisible water curtain could vaguely be seen at the entrance.

“Let’s go!”

Wu Hai entered the water curtain first.

Wang Ba paused slightly before also stepping through the water curtain. Suddenly, he discovered that the cave within was a different world entirely. The inside of the cave was completely hollowed out, and the ceiling was embellished with Luminous Pearls and torches, making the inside of the cave extraordinarily bright.

There were already a few cultivator figures in the cave, two of them seemed to be at the level of Stage VI or VII Qi Refining, likely the managers of this market. A few more cultivators were continually taking out items from their storage bags and setting them in front of them.

Clearly, Wang Ba and Wu Hai had arrived early.

Seeing Wu Hai, some of the cultivators nodded slightly in recognition.

But when they looked at Wang Ba, this unfamiliar face, they could not help but looked alert.

However, seeing that Wu Hai seemed to know Wang Ba well, they did not say anything.

“I met Brother Zhu in this market back in the day.”

“He was also one of the organizers of this place, but he rarely comes here now.” Wu Hai said wistfully.

Saying so, he walked to a cultivator, haggled for a while before reluctantly handing over half a Spirit Stone to purchase a new piece of yellow paper.

Wang Ba glanced over and realized it was a Water-avoiding Talisman.

“Brother Shen, you can have a look around. You might find something useful.” Wu Hai suggested.

That was precisely what Wang Ba was thinking.

As he had never been to a market organized by rogue cultivators, he was curious indeed.

However, to his disappointment, after making a round, he found that these rogue cultivators didn’t have anything of real value.

Just as he was about to put down a jade slip that contained a Class I spell, he heard Wu Hai’s surprised voice:

“Brother Zhu!”