Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 380: Chapter 377: Trading Market

”Senior Brother Wu Tianhao? My apologies, but Senior Brother Wu has been away on missions lately. He hasn’t been in Barbaric City for the past few days.”

Within Barbaric City,

At the Dragon Cloud Sect’s encampment,

Shen Changchuan asked a junior brother at the Soul Emergence First Layer, who was there handing over his duties, for news of Wu Tianhao.

As it happened, this Soul Emergence First Layer junior brother was a peer who had joined the Dragon Cloud Sect at the same time as him.

So they were able to have a decent conversation.

Perhaps he’d had a stroke of luck during the great war, for in just a few short years, he had broken through the bottleneck of the Qi Introduction Realm and successfully become a Soul Emergence Realm Cultivator.

Compared to Shen Changchuan, however,

there was still a massive gap.

Of course,

having been stationed in Barbaric City for a while, the man was undoubtedly better informed.

Unfortunately, Shen Changchuan couldn’t get the information he wanted about Wu Tianhao from him.

’No, that’s not quite right,’

’I did get news.’

’It’s just that he happened to be gone,’

’so I can’t find him.’

Fortunately,

the junior brother also told Shen Changchuan where Wu Tianhao lived.

So, Shen Changchuan left a message at the entrance to Wu Tianhao’s cave abode.

Since he couldn’t find Wu Tianhao,

Shen Changchuan decided to change course and pay a visit to his master, Master Wandering Dragon.

However,

he didn’t know if it was an unlucky day or if he was just cursed with bad luck.

An attendant at the door said Master Wandering Dragon was away and wouldn’t be back for several days.

Shen Changchuan had missed both of his targets, one after the other.

This left Shen Changchuan feeling quite frustrated.

’Forget it. I’m in no rush to head back anyway. I’ll just look around Barbaric City for a while.’

’Come to think of it, as a forward base for the war, this city was supposedly newly built. It was to prevent any hidden stratagems that might allow enemies to ambush the Tian Nan Domain Cultivators resting here...’

With no other choice,

Shen Changchuan could only temporarily abandon his original plans and decided to stay in Barbaric City for a while.

Besides,

after more than half a month of tense escort missions, his mind was constantly on edge.

It was about time he got some rest and relaxation.

And so,

for the next few days,

Shen Changchuan idled his time away wandering around Barbaric City.

He explored the Workshop, strolled the streets, and chatted with people to gather information about the Nanyue Kingdom.

He even ventured outside the city walls occasionally to observe the region’s natural environment.

To Shen Changchuan’s surprise,

within Barbaric City,

there was actually a market for trading Demon Artifacts.

This puzzled Shen Changchuan.

’Aren’t the artifacts used by Demon Cultivators completely banned because they defy heaven and create disharmony? How can they be displayed so openly here?’

After making some inquiries,

Shen Changchuan finally learned

that the use of Demon Artifacts was not forbidden in Barbaric City.

After a moment of thought,

Shen Changchuan understood.

’Adapt to local conditions.’

’It’s a very simple principle.’

Refining a Demon Artifact often required seas of people, involving all sorts of massacres and sacrifices. They used human flesh and blood as sustenance, which created the incomparably vicious power of these artifacts.

The appearance of every single Demon Artifact

represented a boundless Sea of Blood in its wake!

The Tian Nan Domain is vast; it’s impossible to be thorough everywhere.

Who’s to say whether that Demon Artifact in your hand was purchased, or if you secretly slaughtered a mortal town to obtain it?

So, a blanket ban

was the simplest solution.

But that regulation,

when applied to Barbaric City’s territory,

was a different matter entirely!

’The Nanyue Kingdom is a land where the Demon Dao runs rampant. As the Tian Nan Domain invades, they are bound to acquire a great many Demon Artifacts as spoils of war.’

’You can’t just forbid people from using these spoils and destroy them all, can you?’

’Besides, while Demon Artifacts are savage, they are indeed more powerful than ordinary Magical Artifacts. An average Cultivator is already weaker than a Demon Cultivator of the same Realm, so to be further weakened in terms of weaponry...’

’As long as the higher-ups aren’t fools, there’s no way they would continue to prohibit the possession or use of Demon Artifacts like they do back in the Tian Nan Domain!’

Shen Changchuan thought to himself.

At the same time, he felt a flicker of joy.

’This is quite convenient for me!’

During his three years as the acting Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, sweeping for infiltrating Demon Cultivators,

Shen Changchuan had ended up with a number of Demon Artifacts that were difficult to sell.

Combined with the unsold Demon Artifacts he had acquired from slaying Xiong Banqing and his companion,

his Storage Bag was cluttered with quite a collection of them.

Now that this market existed,

things couldn’t be better!

Thus,

within a few days,

Shen Changchuan successfully sold off all the Demon Artifacts he was holding.

He now had over five thousand Middle Grade Spirit Stones in hand.

This was undoubtedly an immense fortune!

It was enough to support Shen Changchuan’s Cultivation for a good long while.

’It seems the front lines have fully accepted the use of Demon Artifacts.’

’That’s to be expected. War is a matter of life and death, after all. Having moral scruples at a time like this is just absurd.’

’You use whatever works best.’

Shen Changchuan was in a great mood.

The trading market in Barbaric City had, without a doubt, been very profitable for him.

Over the past few days,

he hadn’t just been liquidating the Demon Artifacts he had accumulated over the years.

In this market,

he had also seen many useful things.

For example, there were Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, Cultivation Elixirs, and Cultivation Inheritances that could be used by Cultivators in the Soul Emergence Realm.

Shen Changchuan also spent a fair number of Spirit Stones to purchase these useful items for himself.

Although he was currently at a bottleneck,

it didn’t mean Shen Changchuan was going to give up on his Cultivation.

On the contrary,

according to the breakthrough insights left behind by the Sect’s predecessors,

continuously cultivating and persistently assailing the bottleneck without the slightest slack,

was the best way to break through!

And for that very reason,

even though Shen Changchuan had come seeking Wu Tianhao in hopes of obtaining a Secret Technique to break through his Cultivation Realm,

he wouldn’t let that stop him from training,

nor would he pin all his hopes on that one possibility.

Always having more than one path forward,

had always been Shen Changchuan’s guiding philosophy for Immortal Cultivation.

During his few days of browsing and buying,

besides purchasing rare Cultivation Resources and precious Heavenly and Earthly Treasures,

Shen Changchuan had also purchased some knowledge-based Jade Slips.

These included things like a Refining Technique for a Tier Two or even Tier Three Gu Technique, the notes of some nameless Alchemist, the Pill Formula for a Black Water Pill usable by those in the Qi Introduction Realm, and an Array Master’s inheritance.

These items, which had flowed out of the Nanyue Kingdom,

undoubtedly served to further enrich his knowledge base!

For the next few days,

Shen Changchuan stayed in his temporary cave abode to digest his gains.

It was hard to say whether it was the release from the mentally taxing escort mission, the great profits from the market, or the resulting lift in his spirits,

but after several days of meditation and Cultivation,

Shen Changchuan vaguely felt he had made some progress.

Although the bottleneck before him remained as impenetrable as ever,

he could now at least cause a slight stir.