OUTSIDE OF TIME

311 Sinister Artifacts

The black market was filled with all kinds of people. Even though the Seven Blood Eyes belonged to the top forces in the Nanhuang Continent, there were still many malicious intentions hidden in the dark.

Xu Qing had always been cautious and he did not want the things he did in the black market to be exposed. Hence, not only was he more meticulous in his disguise, but he also hid his aura.

The captain, who was an old fox, disguised himself even deeper than Xu Qing. He transformed into a hunchbacked old man. Although he looked sickly, he also looked like someone who could be provoked.

In this regard, his disguise was much better than the skinny middle-aged man Xu Qing had transformed into.

After walking out of the teleportation array, Xu Qing glanced at the captain. He felt that he had gained some more knowledge.

The captain coughed hoarsely. After his gaze swept across the city, he calmly spoke.

“This place isn’t bad. This old man also has some items to get rid of. We’ll meet up here after we are done with our things.” The captain spoke and walked out. His gaze swept across the few children who were looking at him eagerly in the surroundings and casually chose a little boy.

The little boy’s eyes lit up and he quickly followed.

Xu Qing didn’t choose a guide. He had the Diamond Sect’s ancestor.

The Diamond Sect’s ancestor was clearly familiar with the black market. Hence, Xu Qing expressionlessly walked into the distance. Some of the malicious and scrutinizing gazes behind him gathered on him. As Xu Qing left, more than half of these gazes dissipated but there were still a few strands that remained.

“Master, this is a brilliant plan. You must have known that there are many greedy people in the black market, so you deliberately let them target you. This way, we can gain additional benefits after selling everything.”

“I suggest that Master can reveal a little of his wealth later. As long as you control the degree of exposure, we can lure those trash Foundation Building cultivators without attracting Golden Cores.”

“Master, these hyenas are all very fat.”

When the Diamond Sect’s ancestor saw this, he spoke fawningly. He felt that his presence during this period of time was too low. On one hand, the captain was always around and it wasn’t good for him to reveal himself. On the other hand, the little shadow had been showing signs of being arrogant recently.

This made the Diamond Sect’s ancestor very vigilant. He decided to deepen his role in Demon Xu’s heart in the black market. He couldn’t give Demon Xu the impression that he was trash.

“Okay.”

Xu Qing’s gaze swept across the shops and people in the surroundings. There were many pedestrians here and most of them hid their identities. They wore large robes and masks that prevented others from seeing their appearances. Xu Qing didn’t listen to the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s words and calmly replied.

However, this simple response caused the incomparably sensitive Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s heart to tremble.

‘When this Demon Xu only replied with one word to me previously, it represented displeasure. Was what I said just now wrong? Is Demon Xu not thinking of selling the items so easily? Is he dissatisfied with me because of this? No, I have to think of something. Otherwise, if this continues, this is a sign that he will use me as cannon fodder!!’

The intense sense of danger caused the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s heart to tremble as he hurriedly spoke.

“Master, I’ve been thinking about it recently. If we sell the magic artifacts like this, we might not get a good price, so I have a good idea!”

Xu Qing was about to enter an artifact refinement shop where there weren’t many cultivators. When he heard this, he slowed down in surprise.

“We aboveboard people don’t do underhanded things like selling these magic artifacts that look normal but will shatter by the slightest touch!”

“I’ve thought about it. This characteristic can be our specialty. After all, the people here are very mixed and they have all kinds of thoughts. Many people don’t buy things for themselves but buy them to scam others. In that case, our magic artifacts will be their first choice!”

“Therefore, we won’t go to the shops. We’ll set up a stall!” The Diamond Sect’s ancestor racked his brains and quickly spoke. After Xu Qing heard this, he fell silent for a moment and felt that it was fine.

Moreover, the rarer an item was, the more valuable it was. To people with special needs, it might be a rare item. Hence, Xu Qing accepted the Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s suggestion and left this place under his guidance, heading to the free market lane of Lingyou City.

There were even more cultivators there with a mix of good and bad. The Diamond Sect’s ancestor familiarly guided Xu Qing to the management department here. He rented a stall and erected a huge wooden plank.

There was no need for Xu Qing to do anything. The Diamond Sect’s ancestor controlled the black iron stick and wrote two large words on it in a flamboyant manner.

Sinister Artifacts!

Xu Qing raised his brows but didn’t say anything. He sat down cross-legged and waited silently. He looked at the city square where there were people coming and going, and listened to the bustling sounds.

After waiting for a long time, most of the people who passed by glanced over, but didn’t stop. This made Xu Qing a little impatient.

“Master, calm down. I am confident in this. Back then, I went to many black markets to specially look for such items… This kind of item is rare. I believe there should be many people like me.”

The Diamond Sect’s ancestor hurriedly spoke. He didn’t notice that the shadow at the side had actually been squinting its eyes the entire time, staring at him as though it was facing a great enemy.

At the same time, it was rapidly learning. After hearing the ancestor’s words, it seemed to have come to a realization like it had learned something.

When Xu Qing heard this, he didn’t say anything and closed his eyes. Just like that, time flowed by. Amidst the anxiety of the Diamond Sect’s ancestor, the time it took for an incense stick to burn passed. Suddenly, the eyes of the Diamond Sect’s ancestor lit up. Xu Qing also opened his eyes.

A tall cultivator whose entire body was covered in a black robe and whose appearance couldn’t be seen at all stopped in front of Xu Qing’s stall. Their gaze landed on the words on the wooden board.

“How sinister?” A hoarse voice rang out from the robe.

Xu Qing didn’t say a word and threw out a jade slip. At the same time, he took out a fan magic artifact and placed it to the side.

The black-robed caught the jade slip and fell silent after taking a closer look.

The content of the jade slip was made by the Diamond Sect’s ancestor. It introduced the functions of this fan magic artifact in a comprehensive manner, and also mentioned that this item only had an outer shell left but it didn’t affect its usage. Moreover, it was very difficult to detect any problems. Only when someone tried to use the artifact with more power during crucial times would it shatter.

From the content of the jade slip, it seemed that the purpose of refining this magic artifact was to scheme against others.

“The price is not too ridiculous. Also, this magic artifact is a little interesting…” The black-robed man pondered and was very tempted. In the end, they took out a bundle of spirit tickets and handed it to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing took it and waved his sleeve. The fan magic artifact flew out and landed in the black-robed man’s hand. From their stretched out hand, Xu Qing could tell that the other party was a young female cultivator.

She grabbed the fan and checked it. Satisfied, she quickly left.

Seeing that he had really sold it for a sum, Xu Qing was quite happy. The Diamond Sect’s ancestor also heaved a sigh of relief and transmitted his voice in a low voice.

“Master, don’t worry. I understand this type of person too well. These magic artifacts could be considered special. They are worthless to many people. However, in the eyes of some people, they are a great way to trick people. Moreover, they are rarely seen and impossible to guard against. You just have to think of a way to make the enemy take this thing away. The other party won’t even know how they died.”

“Not bad.” Xu Qing encouraged. These words made the Diamond Sect’s ancestor excited.

He had told the truth. The people in the black market weren’t all here to buy for themselves. Many of them had their own stories. To them, such special sinister items were rare.

Very soon, Xu Qing welcomed his second customer. This person didn’t seem to be a human but a nonhuman. After checking Xu Qing’s jade slip, he didn’t hesitate at all and bought three in one go before leaving.

Just like that, when dusk arrived, the eight magic artifacts Xu Qing had prepared were all sold.

Xu Qing left the stall and walked through the market to find the captain and return to the sect.

Although it was dusk, there were more cultivators moving in the market. As Xu Qing walked, his gaze swept across the surrounding stalls. Suddenly, his gaze froze and he stopped in his tracks, walking toward a stall at the side.

There were no items on this stall. Only some words were carved on the wooden board at the side. There were two words inside that attracted Xu Qing’s attention.

“Soul pill?”

The stall owner was also wearing a black robe. It was impossible to tell if they were a man or a woman. They also wore a ghost face mask. When they noticed Xu Qing inquiring about the item, they lifted their heads and looked over coldly.

“100,000 spirit stones per pill.”

Xu Qing frowned. He knew that soul pills were expensive. Regardless of whether it was refining artifacts, opening magic apertures with special cultivation techniques, or other evil techniques, this item would be useful. However, at such a price, unless the quality was acceptable, it wasn’t worth it.

As though he had guessed Xu Qing’s thoughts, the vendor calmly spoke.

“The quality is okay. They were refined with Foundation Building souls.”

Xu Qing fell silent. If they were refined with Foundation Building souls and there were enough of them, they would be helpful for him to open his magic apertures. He was only 11 magic apertures away from igniting the third ball of life fire.

Xu Qing wanted to open these 11 magic apertures fast. Hence, he threw out a roll of spirit stone tickets. The vendor glanced at them and waved his hand, handing over a jade box.

Xu Qing took it and opened it. After taking a glance, his pupils narrowed slightly.

They were indeed Foundation Building souls. Moreover… these Foundation Building souls belonged to the members of the Sea Corpse Race. There were also some Qi Condensation souls mixed in. They were also from the Sea Corpse Race.

Xu Qing cast a deep glance at the stall owner but didn’t see the captain’s aura on him. In that case, if all of this person’s soul pills were refined from the souls of the Sea Corpse Race members, there was a high chance that the other was a Seven Blood Eyes cultivator.

Only the Seven Blood Eyes possessed so many souls of the Sea Corpse Race now.

“How many more?” Xu Qing asked. His right hand casually tapped the black iron stick.

“A lot.” The stall owner lifted his head and looked at Xu Qing with a cold and arrogant expression.

Xu Qing pondered. A few breaths later, he made up his mind.

“I want 40!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the stall owner was also shocked. His arrogance was gone and his breathing became slightly hurried. He was clearly hesitating.

“I don’t have that many here. Wait for me. I have other companions. We should be able to gather enough.”

“Sure. I bought so many, so you guys need to add some extra,” Xu Qing said seriously.

The vendor was also a straightforward person. He nodded and transmitted his voice to his companions. Not long later, five to six cultivators dressed like him quickly arrived in the surroundings. After they got close, they sized up Xu Qing a few times.

Among them, there was a tall cultivator with an extremely strong aura. He stared at Xu Qing for the longest time.

Xu Qing also looked at them.

A long time later, the tall cultivator chuckled softly.

“The Seventh Peak?”

“The First Peak?” Xu Qing calmly asked.

The tall cultivator smiled again and stopped asking. He took out a storage bag and tossed it to Xu Qing.

“43!”

After Xu Qing took it and checked it, he handed the spirit tickets he obtained for selling the magic artifacts and turned to leave.

After he left, these black-robed men looked in the direction Xu Qing had left in. The vendor spoke in a low voice.

“Second Senior Brother, who is this kid from the Seventh Peak? The sect’s rewards haven’t been issued yet. Why is he so rich?”

“It’s hard to say. That group of people from the Seventh Peak all like to hide their cards… We’ll investigate later. If he’s so rich, he might need a Dao Protector, right? When the time comes, we will just make him pay up a lot of money to hire us. Recently, there have been fewer fat sheep. I believe he’ll definitely hire us generously.”

“Let’s not talk about this first. Let’s hurry up and sell our things. The war is about to end. After selling all of our stuff, we probably won’t have to continue going to the battlefield.”