Gateway of Immortality

Qin Sang nodded thoughtfully and said, "I’m willing to sell to you at your standard rates, but I need some items collected as well. I’ll require you to put in your utmost effort."

It was said that the Black Market auction here was held only once a month. With the number of artifacts he had, a single auction might not sell them all. He wanted to avoid any potential traces of exposure; after all, Yin Xingge had a Core Formation Realm cultivator backing her.

Additionally, Qin Sang intended to enter the Tianjing Hidden Realm soon, so he might as well sell everything at once.

To him, time was of utmost value. Accepting a bit of a loss was manageable, especially since these items had been acquired without cost.

The elderly face displayed a confident look. "Daoist, speak freely. As long as it's not something exceedingly rare, I can obtain it. Of course, that depends on whether you’re willing to pay the necessary spirit stones."

Qin Sang fixed his gaze on the elderly face and spoke in a low and hoarse voice, "I need a batch of soul refinement demonic artifacts. Does your shop have the means to acquire such items?"

In the Qianyang Quartz mine, Qin Sang had discovered that the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions could devour other demonic artifacts, which sparked his interest.

After leaving Yuankong Town, Qin Sang had the Yan Luo Banner devour all the evil spirits within the bracelet. Though its power increased significantly, it was still a distance from reaching its full potential of six fully-empowered banners.

Unfortunately, during their escape from the mine, despite killing many humanoid Cloud Beasts and obtaining several artifacts, they hadn’t found another soul refinement-type demonic artifact. Now, he had to rely on his own efforts.

Notably, the Yan Luo Banner did not lose power with repeated use, allowing him to wield it without reserve. When arranged as an array, its range and versatility surpassed that of a talisman astra.

If he could deploy the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions in advance, Qin Sang was confident he could face middle-stage Foundation Building cultivators head-on.

After all, this demonic artifact was derived from the life-bound astra of a Spiritual Infant Realm founder.

If he could gather ten Yan Luo Banners and set up a complete Yan Luo Array, its power would undoubtedly reach a new level, potentially doubling or tripling the potency of a talisman astra.

Foundation Building cultivators could not use full-fledged astras, so Qin Sang could rely on the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions to bridge the gap in cultivation.

After weighing his options, Qin Sang decided to let the Yan Luo Banner take precedence over his ebony sword for now. His resources were limited, so he could only focus on enhancing one artifact.

Collecting spirit wood to improve the ebony sword was costly and offered limited immediate results. His main goal was to prevent it from becoming a bottleneck in his cultivation.

Currently, it seemed that the ebony sword was almost ready to endure a second killing symbol, though not quite yet. Moreover, there was still considerable time before he reached the middle stage of the Foundation Building Realm, so there was no rush.

Enhancing the Yan Luo Banner would strengthen him immediately, potentially making it easier to acquire spirit wood.

Of course, gathering ten banners for the Yan Luo Array wasn’t simple, and it was premature to aim for it fully just yet.

Due to the Heart-Devouring Insect, Qin Sang didn’t dare set foot in demonic sect territory anytime soon, so even collecting demonic artifacts would require outside help. Ṝα𝐍Ộ𐌱ËS̈

He had already planned to spend some time training in the Tianjing Hidden Realm, improving his cultivation. Once he was steady on the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, he would investigate the whereabouts of the Kuiyin Sect's surviving disciples.

Where there is advantage, there is also disadvantage. Though the Heart-Devouring Insect was a sword hanging over his head, it could also serve as bait for fishing!

When Qin Sang made his strange request, the elderly face’s expression changed to one of utter shock, staring at Qin Sang in astonishment. "Daoist, are you interested in demonic artifacts?"

"Are you trying to probe my origins?" Qin Sang narrowed his eyes and let out a cold snort. "I heard that your shop follows strict principles and has an excellent reputation. But now…it seems you may not live up to that reputation."

The elderly face’s expression shifted dramatically, quickly explaining, "Please don’t misunderstand, Daoist. I was merely surprised and misspoke; I had no intention of prying into your background…"

Seeing that Qin Sang withdrew his intense gaze and eased up, the elderly face finally let out a sigh of relief. After a moment's hesitation, he said with some difficulty, "What you require isn’t easy to come by, even in the lands east of Yinshan Stronghold. High-quality soul refinement demonic artifacts are extremely difficult to forge, exceedingly rare, and exceptionally powerful. In demonic cultivator territories, they’re highly coveted, rarely circulating outside. And here, at Xuanlu Stronghold, I’m afraid it will be hard to meet your request…"

Qin Sang chuckled and said, "I trust that a shop of your standing won’t disappoint me. Moreover, I’m willing to be flexible with my requirements."

"Oh?" The elderly face looked at Qin Sang in surprise.

Qin Sang laid out his requirements in a calm tone, "I don’t need pristine demonic artifacts; as long as they contain soul refinement elements—such as evil spirits or demonic entities—I’ll take them, even if they’re damaged. If the damaged demonic artifact holds enough residual spirits, I’d be willing to pay the price of an undamaged one."

His true target was damaged demonic artifacts similar to the bracelet he already possessed.

The righteous and demonic paths had always been at odds. After righteous cultivators defeated demonic cultivators, they often captured a few soul refinement demonic artifacts as spoils of war.

Such artifacts were typically powerful. Those who obtained intact demonic artifacts often kept them for their own use, as Qin Sang intended.

However, damaged demonic artifacts were another matter; for righteous cultivators, they’re like an unwanted burden—useless to keep yet wasteful to discard.

Firstly, they’re unreliable in battle, with the potential to break at any time, and they wouldn't fetch much in spirit stones if sold.

Secondly, each soul refinement demonic artifact had its unique crafting method, requiring a master of artifact refinement to repair it, which would incur a high cost.

Collecting these artifacts himself was indeed challenging, but using the Black Market’s channels would make it much easier. The price of these damaged demonic artifacts wouldn’t be too high, and even if the Black Market added a markup, it would be acceptable.

Hearing this, the elderly face’s troubled expression gradually faded, and he responded, "This request isn’t too demanding. I’ll do my best to help you find what you need. Besides that, is there anything else?"

Qin Sang shook his head. "Not at the moment. However, if this cooperation goes well, there may be more opportunities in the future. For now… I’d like a price estimate on these items."@@novelbin@@

…

In the past, he had less than a thousand spirit stones and spent them all at Xuanlu Stronghold on various cultivation needs like elixirs and Cloud Artifacts. Now, his Mustard Seed Pouch held just under three thousand low-grade spirit stones, giving him some peace of mind.

Qin Sang kept the best of his artifacts for himself; he could always sell them later if he ever needed spirit stones urgently.

Otherwise, selling the possessions of three Foundation Building cultivators would have fetched even more spirit stones.