25: Secret Trade Fair

A few days later, in the evening.

The gravel road surface of Xilin Town was dyed a dim yellow by the setting sun.

A simple carriage slowly drove up and stopped in the shadow of the street corner.

The faint scent of baked bread drifted in the air, mixed with the smell of earth and livestock.

Pedestrians were sparse on the street, mostly weary townspeople who had finished a day's labor.

Li Ke got out of the carriage.

"Wait for me here."

He instructed Barton, the old butler driving the carriage.

Barton respectfully assented and parked the carriage by the roadside.

Li Ke, alone, turned and walked into a narrow, damp alley nearby.

On both sides of the alley were mottled walls, piled with miscellaneous items, emitting a faint musty smell.

Behind him, in the shadow of the carriage's canopy, a faint "hee hee" giggle seemed to flash by.

Two childlike figures dressed in white, Li Ke porcelain dolls, climbed onto a nearby eave using both hands and feet in a manner that defied physics.

Their figures, Li Ke ghosts, silently followed Li Ke's steps, quickly disappearing into the deep shadows of the alley.

Li Ke casually turned a few corners in the alley, confirming that no one else was peeking around.

He took out a simple white mask from his In arms and put it on his face.

A distorted swirl pattern was roughly drawn with charcoal in the center of the mask, covering most of his face.

Then he took out the black Mist Emblem.

A faint trace of Devilish Qi was exhaled from his fingertip and injected into the emblem.

Buzz.

The distorted Mist pattern on the emblem's surface seemed to come alive, slowly swirling.

A very subtle ripple spread out.

Not long after.

At the alley entrance, a figure quietly appeared.

The person was entirely enveloped in a large black hooded robe, even their face hidden in the shadow of the hood, making it unclear.

"The land shrouded in Mist?"

The black-robed person uttered in a low, hoarse voice.

"The place where All Things flow."

Li Ke responded calmly, his voice muffled through the mask.

The black-robed person said no more, only turning slightly to signal Li Ke to follow.

The two, one in front and one behind, silently passed through several more secluded alleys,

finally arriving at the back door of a small tavern that looked Li Ke it had little business.

The wooden door of the tavern was tightly shut,

the black-robed person stepped forward and knocked on the door three times with a special rhythm.

Creak—

The wooden door opened inward a crack, revealing an even deeper darkness inside.

Just as Li Ke stepped into the tavern,

on the roof outside, the Spirit boy and girl who had followed closely, silently climbed down, attempting to sneak in with Li Ke.

However, just as they were about to touch the door frame.

A layer of gray Mist, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, rippling Li Ke water, suddenly appeared at the doorway, forming an invisible barrier.

The figures of the Spirit boy and girl crashed into the Mist, as if hitting a soft yet incredibly tough wall, and were gently bounced away.

Their eerie smiles seemed to freeze for a moment, and their dark, hollow eye sockets looked into the doorway, emitting tiny, confused "yi ya" sounds.

"Guests can rest assured."

The black-robed person leading the way seemed to sense something, and he turned back to Li Ke, saying.

"The Mist will guarantee the safety of all traders."

"Your guards can wait outside."

Upon hearing this, Li Ke's gaze flickered slightly, noncommittal.

The door quietly closed behind him.

The light inside the tavern was even dimmer than outside,

what met his eyes was not the tavern hall, but a misty, bottomless passage.

The black-robed person leading the way did not stop, and Li Ke silently followed.

Soon, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

A vast underground space appeared before Li Ke's eyes, filled with a faint gray Mist.

Within the Mist, dozens of stalls of varying sizes were vaguely distributed.

Figures moved slowly in twos and threes between the stalls, their forms appearing blurry in the Mist, Li Ke ghosts.

Occasionally, someone would stop in front of a certain stall and converse in low voices with the stall owner, seemingly conducting a transaction.

The entire area of the space was far larger than the small tavern above ground.

"Is it a spatial extension Formation?"

Li Ke's eyes narrowed slightly.

He subtly surveyed his surroundings,

everyone here was enveloped in a thin layer of gray Mist, only barely allowing their general body shape and outline to be discerned.

Li Ke looked down at himself and found that, at some unknown point, he too was covered by a layer of the same light gray Mist.

This Mist did not obstruct his vision but cleverly blurred the details.

"Interesting."

"It seems this Mist organization indeed has its unique aspects, and its system is quite mature."

Li Ke mused inwardly.

"Guests can trade freely here."

The black-robed person leading the way stopped and turned sideways, saying.

"If you wish to set up a stall, the Mist will need to collect a portion of the transaction fee."

Li Ke nodded slightly, indicating understanding.

His understanding of this world's resources was limited, so he planned to browse first.

First, he wanted to figure out what valuable things were here for him.

Coincidentally, Baron Harman had been quiet during this period, and he had already ordered his servants to secretly mine that blood copper mine.

Aside from leaving enough for refining the Lifebound Guardian Zombie, he still had a considerable surplus.

His purpose in coming to the Mist this time was twofold: first, to try and dispose of these blood copper Ores for some useful resources.

Second, to use this opportunity to probe the depths of this underground organization called the Mist, to see what level of power and resources it could access.

Li Ke started to stroll through the pervasive Mist.

His gaze quickly swept over the numerous stalls, where the items were diverse and strange.

There were twisted bone sculptures and bottles containing viscous green liquid, clearly evil items,

but also pages and branches with a sacred aura, seemingly products from the Radiant Light Holy Court.

The Righteous Path and Evil Path coexisted here, without interfering with each other, and no one probed.

Li Ke's steps paused before a stall.

On this stall, several glass bottles of varying sizes were displayed.

Inside, cloudy liquid soaked some pale limbs, including hands, feet, heads, and meat chunks from unknown parts.

"What is this?" Li Ke asked.

The stall owner, enveloped in Mist, could only be seen as a vague, hunched outline, and he chuckled twice before replying:

"Hehe... remains of the Golden Bloodline, very nourishing..."

Li Ke's eyes flickered.

Golden Bloodline... using form to supplement form...

This kind of talk was most likely the work of the Holy Meal Society, those lunatics.

According to the notes left by Baron Charles, the so-called "Golden Bloodline" typically referred to the descendants of ancient noble families with long Legacies, in whose veins flowed the Legacy Blood of high-level Bloodline Knights.

No wonder after the incident at Charles Manor, the Knight Order immediately pointed their fingers at the Holy Meal Society.

They were indeed arrogant enough.

Li Ke did not ask further and continued forward.

Soon, he stopped at another stall.

On this stall, several irregularly shaped Ores were displayed.

The surface of the Ores was rough, yet it faintly emitted weak energy fluctuations.

"What is this?" Li Ke asked again.

Upon hearing this, the outline of the stall owner, shrouded in Mist, seemed to move, as if looking at Li Ke in surprise.

It seemed he didn't expect anyone not to recognize this common extraordinary Material.

But he still replied in a low voice: "Energy crystals, basic spellcasting Materials, also usable for setting up some simple arcane Formations."

Li Ke nodded.

He immediately no longer hesitated, directly taking out a small bag of blood copper Ore and conversing with the stall owner.

Soon, he exchanged a portion of his blood copper Ore for all the energy crystals on the stall.

Although the elemental energy contained within these energy crystals was impure, their value might not be too high for spellcasters specializing in a particular element.

But Li Ke was different.

He possessed the Demonic Technique characteristic of All Things Demon Infusion, which theoretically allowed him to convert and absorb any form of energy.

Whether the energy was impure or not had little impact on him.

As long as the total amount of energy was sufficiently abundant, it was fine.

After discovering valuable items Li Ke energy crystals here,

Li Ke no longer hesitated, simply paid the fee to set up a stall,

and took out a small pile of blood copper Ore from his portable cloth bag, casually stacking them on the ground.

Next to it, a crude wooden sign was stuck in the ground.

On it were a few crooked large characters written in charcoal: "Purchasing high-energy substances, various special resources."

Soon, a few people were attracted over.

Gradually, Li Ke exchanged for a few more energy crystals of varying sizes.

Seeing that nearly half of the blood copper Ore he brought was consumed, and he had collected some energy crystals,

Li Ke was about to pack up and leave.

Just then, a figure slowly walked up to his stall.

Although this person was also enveloped in a thin Mist,

judging from the graceful and lithe figure, and a hint of delicate fragrance drifting in the air,

this should be a woman, and most likely a noble.

"How much red-patterned stone do you still have?"

The woman slowly squatted down, extended a slender finger, and gently touched the blood copper Ore on the ground.

The thin Mist outlined the surprisingly full curve of her chest.

Her voice was somewhat charming, with a slight upward lilt at the end, carrying an alluring sensation that made one's heart itch.

"Not much left this time."

Li Ke's gaze shifted, his voice still calm.

"But I can supply it long-term later, in considerable quantities."

The woman paused in her movement,

her face beneath the Mist seemed to curve into a smile.

"I want to buy it all."

"But I don't have that many energy crystals. Can I pay in gold crowns?"

Li Ke pondered for a moment.

Although gold crowns were secular currency, they were still somewhat useful to him at the moment.

"Yes."

He nodded, then added.

"If you have any special resources, you can also use them for exchange; the price can be negotiated."

The woman was silent for a moment, seemingly thinking.

"What kind of things qualify as special resources?"

Her voice still carried that alluring quality.

"Any strange and bizarre things will do."

Li Ke's tone was casual.

"For example, certain cursed artifacts."

"Ancient objects of unknown origin, all are fine."

Because Baron Charles's bronze fragment originated from the Mist,

Li Ke was quite interested in such things and wanted to try his luck.

The woman chuckled upon hearing this, the Mist on her face rippling slightly.

She didn't answer immediately but took out a few items from her In arms and gently placed them on the stall.

A small crystal bottle containing viscous green liquid.

A bone fragment with strange purple patterns on its surface.

And a seemingly ordinary, grayish-white stone, Li Ke a pebble.

Li Ke's gaze lingered only briefly when it swept over the first two items.

But when his sight fell upon that inconspicuous grayish-white stone,

a hint of interest flashed in his eyes.

Soul Stone!