64: Chapter 2 The Underground Market

During the three days Lu Li had been staying in the East Borough of Backlund, he had already fully mapped out the layout of the surrounding main and secondary streets, as well as the network of alleys.

However, the first thing he did after clarifying his surroundings was not to go find Abraham, but to head straight to the Underground Commercial Street on Water Pump Street to register a brand-new anonymous identity for himself.

This was an ironclad rule that the Backlund underground black market had followed for many years: any Beyonder who intended to trade or frequent the place for a long time had to register a unique code name at the market administration office.

There was no need to report one's real name, nor was there a need to disclose one's Sequence and Pathway; one only needed to settle on a unique designation and leave behind a unique low-level spiritual imprint for identity verification.

The registration fee was two pence, and the identity authorization was valid for a full year.

The market administration office was hidden in an old stone room in the middle of the main passageway of the Underground Commercial Street on Water Pump Street. The person in charge of registration was an old man who wore a monocle year-round, with a rigid expression and a humorless demeanor.

Lu Li placed two shiny penny coins gently on the stone tabletop, his tone calm and waveless: "Code name, Traveler. I specialize in intelligence trading and occasionally accept various Beyonder commissions."

The old man glanced up at him and silently pushed out a brass badge.

The front of the badge was engraved with a simple and clean silhouette of a Traveler walking, while the back was inscribed with a unique, exclusive serial number, which served as the only proof of his black market identity.

Traveler.

This was the code name Lu Li had already settled on; it couldn't be more fitting for his current situation.

Situated in the intricate and turbulent Backlund, he needed a public identity with no support, no roots, and no background, allowing him to freely enter and exit the underground market, exchange intelligence, and take on commissions.

A Traveler has no affiliation, no faction, and no past; they are merely passing through this prosperous yet decaying city, and once the karma that needs to be resolved is settled, they will quietly leave without a trace.

After carefully putting away the brass badge, Lu Li walked along the deep main passageway toward the depths of the market.

The underground space never saw the light of day, and the air was far more damp and cold than on the surface. Fine, cold water droplets condensed on the rough stone walls, creating layers of mist.

The phosphorescent stone lamps embedded on both sides cast a dim, cold blue halo, illuminating the long passageway in a hazy and mysterious way.

Compared to the black market in Tingen City, the scale of the Underground Commercial Street in Backlund was worlds apart.

The main passageway ran longitudinally beneath the three major districts of Water Pump Street, River Bay District, and the Old Town. The crisscrossing side alleys were as dense as a spider web. If he hadn't carried the hand-drawn atlas gifted by Old Neil, even an experienced hand would easily lose their way among the layers of forks.

Following the route in his memory, Lu Li soon found a small shop specializing in basic materials for the Apprentice Pathway.

The shop's frontage was narrow and cramped, and the space was confined. Behind the counter stood a thin, gaunt old man wearing a dirty, worn-out leather apron, holding a copper brush and meticulously cleaning the inner wall of a sealed glass jar.

The display cabinet contained various niche Beyonder materials: several fragments of space charms that had lost their spirituality, a small bag of Spirit World dust with many impurities, and several labeled medicine bottles filled with dark green fine powder—these were the core auxiliary materials for the Apprentice Pathway Sequence 7 [ Traveler ], [ Traveler's Foot ].

Lu Li was currently just a newly promoted Beyonder of the Apprentice Pathway Sequence 9, and he was still far from Sequence 7, but these basic materials were exactly what he needed to hone his abilities and solidify his foundation.

"How much for the expired space charm fragments?" Lu Li asked.

The old man peered over the rims of his reading glasses and looked him over slowly, his tone flat: "Three pence each, five pence for two. All genuine goods, recovered from abandoned ancient seal nodes. Although the internal spiritual circuits have collapsed and failed, making them impossible to reactivate, the complete spatial structure remains. They are perfect for honing basic perception and practicing Lock Picking abilities."

Lu Li carefully selected two fragments in good condition, with the fewest cracks and the most complete structure, and paid five pence.

The core authority of the Apprentice Pathway Sequence 9 was [ Lock Picking ]. This ability was never limited to picking physical door locks or shackles; it also encompassed basic spatial perception, the identification of faint spatial rifts, and the opening of short-range spatial barriers.

Although the expired space charms had no practical combat value, their preserved, complete spatial structure made them excellent teaching tools for novice Beyonders to hone their spatial perception and familiarize themselves with spiritual manipulation.

After safely tucking the two charm fragments into his pocket, Lu Li purchased a small bag of affordable Spirit World dust.

This batch of dust was of low purity and contained many impurities, insufficient for mixing high-level potions, but adequate to assist in the spiritual perception training of Sequence 9; its cost-performance ratio was just right.

After purchasing the basic materials, Lu Li wove through the crisscrossing side alleys, turned several corners, and finally arrived at Abraham's temporary stall.

This stall was hidden in the second to last spot at the end of the side alley, extremely discreet. The cramped space could only accommodate one folding wooden table and two chairs, making it so low-profile that it would barely be noticed by passersby.

Abraham was sitting upright at the table, looking down at a yellowed old ledger. The two plain silver rings worn on his left index and middle fingers gleamed with a faint, cold luster under the dim blue phosphorescent light.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, he looked up. After recognizing Lu Li, he just nodded slightly without any unnecessary pleasantries.

"You are much thinner than when you were in Tingen," Abraham said indifferently.

"The food and accommodation conditions in the East Borough are far less stable and comfortable than in Tingen," Lu Li said, taking a seat opposite him.

Abraham closed the ledger in his hand, skipping all pleasantries, and directly took out a delicately folded paper crane from the depths of the drawer, gently pushing it to the center of the table.

This paper crane used a very vintage folding technique, with a wingspan of about four fingers' width. The paper was yellowed and old, with the edges covered in tiny, age-worn creases, exuding a strong sense of time. At the position of the paper crane's eyes, a tiny snake emblem mark was dotted. The strokes were clean and regular, and the curvature of the lines was identical to the inscription on the back of the pendant Lu Li wore close to his body, without the slightest difference.

"Four days ago, this paper crane flew into my stall on its own," Abraham said slowly. "The client left a message: if you came to pick up the materials, I should pass this item to you. The paper crane's own spirituality has been exhausted and it has completely failed, but the core snake emblem token mark is intact."

Lu Li raised his hand to pick up the paper crane, his fingertips lightly stroking the wrinkled paper surface, flipping it to the inside of the wing.

Sure enough, another smaller snake emblem was hidden deep in the shadow of the crease. The brushstrokes were minute but highly recognizable. The unique curved hook at the end of the stroke matched the eye mark perfectly, sufficient to confirm it came from the same person.

"Are the materials deposited previously still in the locker?" Lu Li asked in a low voice, inquiring about the core matter.

"Safe and sound," Abraham nodded in response. "I specifically checked; the spirit lock on the locker is functioning normally, with no signs of damage. Only the person holding the snake emblem token can unlock it and retrieve the items."

He tapped the paper crane on the table with his fingertip and added: "This token being sent means the client is signaling to you that you can go and retrieve the deposited items. The other party has been waiting for you to arrive in Backlund."

Lu Li carefully folded the paper crane, put it into his pocket, and continued to confirm: "The location of the locker is still the same place?"

"Unchanged. Turn left at the end of the main passageway, deepest part of the third side alley, locker number A-3."

Abraham paused for a moment, his expression becoming more serious, and revealed a key development: "There is one more urgent matter I need to tell you. Since that client stopped procuring materials, recently there have been people in the underground market constantly inquiring about the stock of Deceiver hyoid bone powder. It's not regular purchasing agents; they are all scattered buyers inquiring privately."

"I have secretly investigated and verified that this group of inquirers are not Beyonders of the Marauder Pathway at all; they are all people from the Aurora Order."

"They are currently conducting a city-wide search in Backlund for all Beyonder materials related to the Antigonus Family. Deceiver hyoid bone powder, various family tokens, ruins fragments, manuscript scraps—they are searching for anything related, determined to get their hands on them."

Hearing this, Lu Li's heart sank suddenly.

The Aurora Order had suffered heavy losses in the Tingen catastrophe; core member Megose had been completely incinerated by the Sun Flame charm, and their main black sail ship had also been expelled from the Storm Cape sea area by the Sea Patrol, seemingly suffering a major blow.

But now it seemed that this heavy blow had not completely destroyed the foundation of the Aurora Order; their intelligence network, which they had cultivated for many years, remained efficient and active.

They clearly knew the secrets of the ancient Antigonus ruins and were even more aware that the snake emblem token was the core key to opening the ruins and delving into the secrets. Now that they were spreading their net across the entire Backlund underground market to investigate, their goal was self-evident.

If they were allowed to continue searching and digging, it wouldn't be long before the secret of the A-3 locker was inevitably exposed to the sight of the Aurora Order.

"How much longer can the spirit lock on the locker hold up?" Lu Li asked seriously.

"Without external force causing damage, it can safely persist for half a year without a problem," Abraham answered precisely. "But if it encounters a high-Sequence Apprentice Pathway Beyonder using spatial cracking abilities to force a breach, this spirit lock won't hold for long. I advise you to take out the materials in the locker as soon as possible to prevent future trouble."

Lu Li nodded slightly, his plan already settled in his heart.

Before leaving, he took a small bag of dried time-order grass root powder from a hidden pocket at his waist and placed it gently on the table. This was material that Old Neil had specially shared with him from the Nighthawks' Potion Room reserve in Tingen; the amount was sufficient to mix two Sequence 7 potions and was of high value.

"This is the payment for keeping the locker."

"If any more people from the Aurora Order come to inquire about related materials, please help me spread a piece of false information: just say that the Deceiver hyoid bone powder remaining on the market has already been bought out in one go by an anonymous merchant from the Southern Continent. After the transaction was completed, the buyer immediately left Backlund and has already gone far overseas."

Abraham put away the precious time-order grass root powder. His usually indifferent mouth corners twitched upward very slightly for a moment, as if in approval, or perhaps praise.

"Once this news is spread, it will be enough to keep the people from the Aurora Order fruitlessly searching in the Dock District for weeks." He looked up at Lu Li, his tone carrying a bit of affirmation, "Traveler, this new code name suits you well."

Lu Li said no more, turned, and walked out of the cramped shop.

In his pocket was the yellowed paper crane carrying the secret clue, and at his waist were two space charm fragments used for honing his abilities. The token clues, the traces of jiaowei, the secret items in the locker—all the foreshadowing was quietly converging.

But the greatest crisis had already descended upon Backlund—the minions of the Aurora Order had already penetrated deep into the underground market.

Before they could lock onto the A-3 locker and discover the secret, Lu Li had to get there first and retrieve all the deposited materials.

And before that, he had to completely solidify his Sequence 9 foundation, skillfully mastering the spatial perception and basic unlocking abilities of [ Lock Picking ], achieving precision, stability, and zero errors.

When he returned to the apartment he rented in the East Borough, the sky had already turned completely dark.

The apartment's windows were old and dilapidated, and the gaps were growing wider. The biting evening wind poured in through the gaps at will, filling the room with a chill. Lu Li found some old newspapers and carefully sealed all the window gaps, isolating himself from the cold wind outside and prying eyes.

After doing all this, he sat upright at the table, laid the two hard-won space charm fragments flat on the tabletop, gathered his focus, and calmed his spirit, preparing to begin his arduous training and honing.

The core of [ Lock Picking ] for the Apprentice Pathway Sequence 9 was never about breaking through with brute force, but about precise perception, controlling the critical point, and unlocking by following the flow. Besides physical locks in reality, the more core aspect was the perception and prying of spatial rifts and incomplete spatial structures.

The incomplete spatial circuits remaining in the expired space charms were the best medium for honing this fine spiritual manipulation.

Lu Li slowly closed his eyes, mobilized the gentle spirituality within his body, extended spiritual tentacles as thin as silk and extremely sharp, and slowly probed into the internal space of the charm fragments.

In an instant, a microscopic field of vision of pitch-black nothingness spread out in his perception. Countless fine, glowing white threads crisscrossed, weaving into a layered, complex, and precise spatial network. However, after years of wear and spiritual dissipation, the vast majority of nodes in the network had broken and withered, the architecture was dilapidated, and only a few short, weak circuits still maintained their complete form.

The sensory ability of Sequence 9 allowed Lu Li to clearly capture the direction of every residual circuit and the position of every broken node, and he could even perceive the faint tension and stability of the structure.

He controlled his extremely gentle spiritual tentacles, carefully touching those broken nodes, trying to grasp the core essence of [ Lock Picking ]: finding the most fragile critical point of the structure, probing and touching with the most subtle and precise spiritual pressure, withdrawing his force in time at the moment the structure was on the verge of collapse, and repeatedly honing his feel and precision.

This training had extremely strict requirements for spiritual control and concentration.

The broken spatial nodes were extremely fragile. If the spiritual force was a fraction too heavy, it would trigger a chain collapse, and the entire residual spatial circuit would instantly dissipate; if the force was a fraction too light, it would fail to reach the critical threshold, failing to achieve the training effect.

This subtle feel was very much like Lu Li using a screwdriver to turn a completely stripped screw in his previous life. If the force was imbalanced, it would either not move at all or be completely ruined immediately.

The only difference was that the [ tool ] in his hand at this moment was his own refined, microscopic spiritual tentacles, and once he made an operational mistake, the price would be the charm fragment turning into ashes, and the five pence invested would go down the drain.

During his first practice, on the twenty-third attempt, a slight deviation in force caused all the residual circuits of the first fragment to collapse with a bang.

Gray-white fine powder fell onto the table, completely losing all value.

Lu Li opened his eyes and stared at the pile of powder, took a deep breath, suppressed the regret in his heart, and quickly calmed his state of mind.

Fortunately, he had purchased two pieces in advance, so he still had one chance left.

He settled his mind, closed his eyes again to focus, and controlled his spiritual tentacles to repeatedly probe, hone, and correct errors on the second fragment.

Touch after touch, withdrawal after withdrawal, micro-adjusting force and perception time after time.

During the long two hours, he continuously familiarized himself with the tension of the spatial structure and adapted to the rhythm of critical touching; the precision of his spiritual control improved rapidly. By the time he reached the last few residual circuits, his spiritual tentacles had already formed muscle memory, able to accurately predict the limit of the nodes, touch the critical point, and immediately withdraw, without the slightest error.

When the last incomplete spatial circuit was completely probed, Lu Li slowly drew back his spirituality and opened his eyes, his gaze clear and steady.

The proficiency of Sequence 9 was not yet complete and still required a large amount of practical honing, but his basic spatial perception and Lock Picking feel were already completely solidified.

He properly packed away the remaining Spirit World dust, a trace of certainty flashing in his eyes.

Tonight he had solidified his foundation; tomorrow, he would head to the underground market, open the locker, retrieve all the secret materials, and face the crisis lurking beneath the ground of Backlund.