Chapter 221: Yin Corpse Sect · Jubao Pavilion · Soul Severance Nail

Chapter 221: Yin Corpse Sect · Jubao Pavilion · Soul Severance Nail

Tianyin Sect had also sent people to explore the Relic, though whether this was good or bad remained unclear.

In the past, it was common for several major sects to encounter each other at Relics, then jointly seal the entrance and bar unrelated cultivators from scavenging leftovers. If such a situation occurred, nearby solitary cultivators could only watch helplessly and curse their luck.

Xiao Chen, currently a solitary cultivator with no connections in the Eastern Territory, naturally hoped to avoid this. He couldn’t help glancing toward the sect members a few times.

Cao Mingjie happened to notice. He glanced at the southeast corner and shook his head slightly. “Golden Light Technique Fellow Cultivator, you’d better be careful. I’ve heard Tianyin Sect’s female cultivators have terrible tempers.”

“There was even an incident where a solitary cultivator was beaten to the point of spitting blood just for staring at them.”

“Huh? Really?” Xiao Chen quickly averted his gaze. “That’s more than just a bad temper, isn’t it?”

“Oh, there’s plenty of that. Similar incidents happen almost every year.” Cao Mingjie’s tone carried a hint of schadenfreude. “Especially Fairy Sumruo, Tianyin Sect’s current top disciple. Her cultivation realm is formidable, and she’s ruthless in action. Rumor has it she’s crippled several solitary cultivators’ life forces.”

“Luckily, she’s not here. The women over there are probably just ordinary sect managers.”

“By the way, there’s another thing you should watch out for.” Cao Mingjie lowered his voice. “I’ve heard Tianyin Sect’s female cultivators love youth-preserving techniques. Though they look young, they might actually be older than you or me.”

Most cultivators didn’t obsess over their appearance—once reaching a high cultivation realm, anyone without obvious congenital defects would naturally avoid ugliness. They also didn’t deliberately control their aging, so their true age could usually be guessed from their looks. Except for those who’d consumed Youth Preserving Pills, whose real age couldn’t be discerned by appearance alone.

As he spoke, murmurs suddenly rose from the entrance.

“Is that Yin Corpse Sect’s disciple?”

“I think so. Why else would they wrap themselves head to toe?”

“Shh! Don’t let them hear you! Oh no, he’s coming this way.”

The solitary cultivators at the nearby table immediately buried their faces in their bowls, nearly sticking their noses into the rice.

Moments later, Xiao Chen saw the tavern’s attendant leading three unusual guests inside.

The leader was a black-robed youth with a shadowed face and icy eyes. Behind him trailed two companions, entirely swathed in black cloth strips, their faces so thoroughly covered that even their noses and eyes were hidden.

“There’s an empty table here. Please, this way.”

The attendant guided them to the northwest corner, near Xiao Chen’s group, with about two meters separating the two parties. This wasn’t intentional—lately, the hall had been packed with guests.

Though the trio sat together, only the youth ordered three dishes and poured tea for himself. The other two remained motionless, backs straight, hands naturally hanging at their sides, fingers aligned with their knees, utterly still and silent.

This peculiar scene immediately drew Xiao Chen’s attention. Other cultivators in the hall also glanced over, some subtly, others openly.

The black-robed youth, seemingly accustomed to scrutiny, sipped his tea with a blank expression.

“Such bad luck. Let’s go!”

A sharp female voice rang out. The three Tianyin Sect women stood abruptly. One went to settle the bill while the other two glared at the black-robed youth before hurrying to the entrance to wait for their companions, clearly unwilling to linger in the same room.

A faint voice drifted over: “Senior apprentice-sister, don’t be angry. Let’s eat elsewhere.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Who can eat now? Bringing corpses to the table—what a bunch of perverts.”

Xiao Chen studied the two black-wrapped figures again. They remained still, showing no reaction to the commotion.

The black-robed youth frowned slightly but said nothing, glancing briefly at the women’s retreating figures.

Many cultivators, especially those from the Inner Sea who’d come for the Relic, stared in shock.

Xiao Chen couldn’t help but hiss in surprise.

The Eastern Territory had long claimed demonic cultivators were extinct, with no more evil sects causing chaos. He hadn’t considered this possibility.

Yet here was Yin Corpse Sect, openly raising corpse puppets without hiding, even bringing them into public streets in broad daylight.

Wasn’t this considered part of the Demonic Dao? In the Southern Domain, such acts would’ve triggered immediate reports to the nearest sect, mobilizing forces for righteous extermination.

Then Xiao Chen realized—the most powerful sect in the Dark Sea was precisely the Yin Corpse Sect.

Ah… but where were the other orthodox Dao sects?

No one was stopping them? What was the Demon-Slaying Sword Sect doing?

Xiao Chen couldn’t quite wrap his head around it, but since the facts were before him, there must be some special hidden reason.

Reflecting on it, the Inner Sea had never leaked a word about this. Such high-level secrets were clearly beyond the reach of ordinary Golden Core cultivators.

“Golden Light Technique Fellow Cultivator, done eating?” Yu Zhenyang whispered. “Shall we leave first?”

Following Tianyin Sect’s lead, two more tables paid and departed, though silently and hastily. Some Outer Sea veterans, however, continued eating and drinking without care.

“I’m done. Let’s go.”

Xiao Chen nodded. The five exited, turning the street corner before stopping.

“It’s been years. I need to visit some old friends and gather information. Shall we meet again in a few days?” Qiu Fanghui spoke first, clearly intending to act alone.

“Of course. Fellow Cultivator Qiu has many old friends—you should definitely visit them.” Yu Zhenyang smiled. “Shall we meet on the ship in three to five days?”

With the Relic’s imminent opening, he still hoped for Qiu’s help.

“Five days might be tight. You know I have many friends here.” Qiu Fanghui feigned worry. “I’ll try my best to come, but I can’t promise.”

Cao Mingjie laughed. “We understand. A figure like Fellow Cultivator Qiu naturally has friends everywhere.”

Yu Zhenyang nodded. “Go ahead, Fellow Cultivator Qiu. We’ll prepare in the meantime. If five days isn’t enough, make it six or seven. We’ll wait on the ship.”

Qiu Fanghui’s face brightened. “Rest assured, rest assured. I’ll do my best to reunite with you soon.”

“After all, I’m also drooling over the treasures inside the Relic.”

After seeing Qiu off, Yu Zhenyang turned to Xiao Chen. “Golden Light Technique Fellow Cultivator, we’ll return to the Spirit Ship first to prepare talismans.”

“Shall we go together or meet later?”

He suddenly slapped his head. “Look at my memory—I don’t even know what Daoist art you specialize in.”

Xiao Chen shook his head. “I dabbled in pill forging long ago, but I’ve been too busy to study it further. Nothing worth mentioning.”

"Perfect timing—I also want to explore the area. Let’s meet again in a few days."

Yu Zhenyang nodded. “Fine. Five days from now on the ship.”

“If you don’t plan to go far, you can return to the ship at night to rest.”

Cao Mingjie waved goodbye, adding a reminder. “Golden Light Technique Fellow Cultivator, the Outer Sea is chaotic. Be careful traveling alone.”

“Especially avoid the Blackwater Zone—it’s full of Bandit Cultivators.”

Xiao Chen waved back. “I’ll be cautious.”

But knowing was one thing—visiting the Blackwater Zone was inevitable. He’d come all this way; he needed to check the local sea creatures. If he encountered a Third Stage sea beast, both its demon core and meat would be valuable.

Before that, Xiao Chen planned to tour the East Market to compare Outer Sea prices.

After visiting several shops, he noted the goods were sharply divided. Spirit Herbs, especially marine-related ones, were generally 20% cheaper than in the Inner Sea. Conversely, spirit pills and spiritual artifacts were significantly more expensive.

Xiao Chen examined over a hundred spiritual artifacts—none priced below 150,000 spirit stones.

If he exploited this price gap, trading between regions could earn substantial profit.

However, only a few stable merchant guilds could withstand Bandit Cultivators’ threats or losses.

“East Market’s goods seem unremarkable,” Xiao Chen mused, disappointed. Most items were also sold in the Inner Sea, offering no surprises. Worse, no shops offered high prices for spiritual artifacts or Spirit Herbs.

Previously, he’d obtained many artifacts in Nanlao Sea but couldn’t sell them locally. Now in the Outer Sea, he wanted to convert them to spirit stones. Yet the highest buyback price here was only 50,000 spirit stones—half their Inner Sea value. Too low.

He thought, “Better check the West Market’s open-air stalls.”

Besides, as a solitary cultivator, selling at open-air stalls fit his current identity.

Turning westward, he reached the island’s western side, where clusters of buildings and ornate signs sprawled.

This area was at least ten times more prosperous than the East Market!

Looking around, he saw no street vendors as imagined, but instead grand pavilions larger than those in Hundred Grasses City, some seven or eight stories high.

If not for a nine-story formation tower limiting height, these buildings might’ve been even taller.

What a sight!

He entered the nearest shop—Qibing Workshop.

Inside, rows of spiritual artifacts lined the shelves. But Xiao Chen quickly noticed—aside from the front-row items, many artifacts on the back shelves bore obvious battle scars. Some even looked like antiques excavated from ancient forbidden realms, centuries old.

Truthfully, these were the kind of artifacts Xiao Chen associated with open-air stalls. They were just sold indoors now.

Another notable difference was the complete absence of attendants to greet customers.

Except for managers collecting payments at both the front and back entrances, there wasn’t even a single staff member managing the interior.

Xiao Chen noticed a spiritual artifact on one of the shelves that had clearly been left in disarray by a previous customer.

Yet no one was around to tidy or organize anything.

“May I ask if this place accepts spiritual artifacts for sale?”

“Go to the second floor, turn right, and look for Old Songtou.”

Old Songtou turned out to be a short, thin old man with a goatee. He squinted at Xiao Chen’s Bright Silver Red-Tasseled Spear, Narrow-Bladed Spirit-Fusing Knife, and other artifacts as he examined them.

“Most of these items are nothing special, except this Brocade Mountains and Rivers Seal. I’ll give you twelve thousand spirit stones for that alone.”

He stroked the sharp tip of his goatee. “All in all, I’ll offer you forty-seven thousand spirit stones. Tell me which items you want to sell, and I’ll draft the contract right away.”

Throughout the entire process, he only examined the quality and condition of the spiritual artifacts themselves, not asking a single question about their origins or even hinting at their provenance.

“All of them!”

Xiao Chen replied without hesitation. He had no use for these items anyway, so he might as well convert them into liquid assets.

“Forty-seven thousand spirit stones in total. Make sure you count them carefully.”

Old Songtou handed him a pouch of spirit stones and pointed at the sandalwood wooden door. “Once you leave through this door, our shop bears no responsibility for any shortages or discrepancies.”

What a place! That sounded suspiciously like a bandit den.

Xiao Chen carefully counted the spirit stones. “Wait a second—this only adds up to forty-four thousand six hundred spirit stones.”

“You’re a grown man who can’t even read?”

Old Songtou pointed at a notice on the wall beside him. “You came here to sell things, didn’t you? Don’t you know there’s a service fee?”

“Fine, no need to calculate. A 5% commission isn’t expensive.”

He rotated the contract on the table. “Also, Old Songtou charges you 500 spirit stones as a signature fee. If you don’t like it, you can sign the transaction contract yourself.”

Xiao Chen glanced down and saw the contract was issued by the Yin Corpse Sect.

The sect required both parties to sign transaction contracts when trading spiritual artifacts within the Darkness Sea region, making it easier to trace the origins of suspicious items.

But according to Old Songtou’s explanation, paying 500 spirit stones exempted him from signing.

What a place! Such blatant fraud, not even pretending to be honest.

Objectively speaking, 500 spirit stones wasn’t a small amount, but Xiao Chen still chose to leave no written trace.

“Then I’ll trouble you to sign for me.”

After all, it wasn’t a big deal for him.

“That’s settled then.”

Old Songtou snatched the contract back, leaned back in his rocking chair, and lifted his teacup. “Alright, if there’s nothing else, you can leave. No need to close the door on your way out.”

After leaving Qibing Workshop, Xiao Chen wandered around the West Market.

He now realized the East Market was merely a facade set up by the Yin Corpse Sect.

The West Market was the true Outer Sea marketplace.

In some spirit herb shops, he directly saw openly sold Third Stage exotic poisons and Third Stage soul confusion incense.

Of course, antidotes were sold alongside them, and the sales were excellent.

Many cultivators, even if they had no intention of poisoning others, would still buy an antidote as a precaution.

In another talisman shop, Xiao Chen saw a specialized talisman called the Spirit Severance Talisman, designed to restrict a cultivator’s ability to cast spells.

Once this talisman was stuck on a cultivator’s life gate acupoint, the target would be unable to channel true mana or mana for an entire day.

There were also Soul Severance Nails with similar effects, which took effect immediately when nailed into the spine.

While these items had high prerequisites and were generally difficult to use, the fact that they were openly sold here was still absurd.

That said, the chaos of the Darkness Sea was a well-known feature across the entire Eastern Territory.

From this perspective, the presence of such items here seemed reasonable—even overly civilized.

However, Xiao Chen soon revised this thought.

At the center of the West Market stood a towering, pitch-black pavilion with seven floors.

This building had no windows at all, and unusually, several guards were stationed at the entrance.

“Jubao Pavilion?”

Curious, Xiao Chen approached but was immediately stopped at the door.

“Sorry, fellow cultivator, you look unfamiliar to me.”

A guard with a full beard scrutinized him. “Please show me your Treasure Accumulation Decree.”

Hmm?

Xiao Chen countered, “If I don’t have a Treasure Accumulation Decree, you won’t let me in?”

The guard’s tone turned slightly colder. “We only serve honored guests here. You can go check elsewhere.”

What a place! So it’s a membership system?

Who would’ve thought they’d have such a system here.

Of course, this was partly related to Xiao Chen’s cultivation realm and background influence. If he were a Golden Core True Sovereign, the guards—merely at Golden Core Middle Stage—wouldn’t dare stop him.

If he had some background influence, obtaining a Treasure Accumulation Decree wouldn’t be difficult.

In short, this place simply didn’t serve ordinary cultivators.

“Ah, Master Zhang Daoyou, you’ve arrived!”

The guard suddenly switched to a smiling face, bowing as a young man approached from the side.

The young man had a pale complexion, wore luxurious robes, and had his arm around a beautiful woman at the Golden Core Middle Stage.

He completely ignored the guards and strode inside.

This was clearly someone with background influence.

Adjacent to Jubao Pavilion was a very familiar organization—Chao Hui Pavilion.

Xiao Chen decided to come here directly to purchase intelligence about the new Relic.

Perhaps many people had recently bought such intelligence, as the staff immediately pulled out two ready-made envelopes.

“We have a basic version and a detailed version. Which one would you like?”

The envelopes had price tags—1,000 spirit stones for the former and a hefty 5,000 for the latter.

“How come it’s so expensive?”

Xiao Chen asked, “Can I know where the extra 4,000 spirit stones go?”

The staff shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t disclose additional information.”

“But I can guarantee with Chao Hui Pavilion’s reputation that this intelligence is crucial for exploring the Relic. Your spirit stones won’t be wasted.”

For an intelligence organization, reputation was the most important asset.

Thus, Xiao Chen decisively chose the detailed version and also requested the latest intelligence on the Darkness Sea’s power structure.

He specifically requested, “I need it detailed down to important cultivation families and frequently appearing Golden Core Stage solitary cultivators.”

The staff skillfully pulled out a thicker envelope. “This intelligence originally costs 1,000 spirit stones, but purchasing it this month will cost you 2,000.”

“Also, the new Relic might cause some inaccuracies in the intelligence.”

“Please consider carefully. Once sold, intelligence is non-refundable.”

Xiao Chen pressed, “Is the price increase because of the Relic? Since I’ve already bought intelligence related to the Relic, can you give me a discount?”

The staff hesitated, then put the envelope away. “Please wait a moment.”

He briefly left and returned. “Sorry, the manager said this is the current price.”

Xiao Chen thought for a moment. “Alright, I’ll take both.”

Spirit stones were meant to be saved when necessary and spent when necessary.

He had just earned a fortune from selling spiritual artifacts. There was no need to skimp on intelligence fees.

After leaving Chao Hui Pavilion, walking westward, a pink high-rise building stood ahead. Female cultivators in revealing outfits stood at the entrance, striking seductive poses.

On both sides of the building were neatly arranged small courtyards.

Further back was the true open-air market.

Most of these were the lowest-tier solitary cultivators or passing cultivators who couldn’t even be bothered to build small wooden huts.

They simply spread a piece of cloth on the ground and set up stalls to sell spirit herbs.

The market focused on two main features.

First, the prices were incredibly cheap, far below those in shops.

Of course, the quality wasn’t guaranteed. It all depended on the cultivator’s discernment.

Second, there were opportunities to find hidden treasures. Some items had very obscure origins, with vendors only daring to sell them while wearing bamboo hats.

Under normal circumstances, buyers would also hide their identities, with some even deliberately disguising their voices.

Xiao Chen looked around and saw many cultivators wearing veils or masks.

He casually glanced and noticed a small jade vial with an open mouth, containing a Foundation Building Pill.

Although the pill looked round and smooth, its luster was very dull.

Based on Xiao Chen’s estimation, this was most likely a failed pill.

Even if there was residual medicinal power, its effectiveness was questionable.

A cultivation-stage cultivator beside him was asking the price.

“Senior, how much is this Foundation Building Pill?”

“This one?”

The vendor looked him up and down. “Cheap deal—1,000 spirit stones, and you can take it.”

Hearing the price, the cultivator clearly felt tempted.

After carefully inspecting it, he started haggling.

Meanwhile, at the neighboring stall, another Foundation Building Stage cultivator was negotiating with a vendor while holding a top-grade magic shield.

“This magic artifact is so worn out. Give me another 200 spirit stones off.”

Xiao Chen glanced at the shield.

Using his truth-seeing spirit eye, he immediately noticed a seam in the middle of the shield.

Clearly, this was most likely a counterfeit, or at the very least, a subpar item being passed off as genuine.

Similar situations were everywhere here, shocking to the eyes.

Of course, there weren’t entirely without genuine goods. Further back, Xiao Chen saw a bamboo shade.

Inside, three rows of cultivators stood crookedly. The front row had twelve people, all at the Foundation Building Stage.

The back two rows were cultivation-stage cultivators, totaling sixty-seven.

Five of them had their hands bound, with Soul Severance Nails piercing their spines.

The rest weren’t bound but stood there with dull, lifeless eyes, showing no intention to escape or seek help.

Each person wore a sign with prices ranging from 500 to 10,000 spirit stones.

The prices were mainly differentiated by cultivation realm, with only two Naturally Graceful female cultivators priced 200 spirit stones higher than others at the same level.

Noticing Xiao Chen standing in front of the bamboo shade, a round-faced Golden Core cultivator immediately approached.

He greeted enthusiastically, “Fellow cultivator, everything here is clearly priced. Take whoever you fancy?”

Before Xiao Chen could speak, a black-robed middle-aged man approached from the side.

“Old Jin, give me two more.”

He turned to look and saw the newcomer wearing a Magic Robe bearing the Yin Corpse Sect’s insignia.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end