Born with immortal seed

Chapter 761 Tripartite Secret Talks
black market.

During this extraordinary time, business in the neighborhood has suffered greatly.

At the end, there was a blank stone wall.

It seems to be ten thousand feet high, reaching to the sky.

A monk in black robes strolled between the shops on both sides, and no one paid him any attention, as if he did not exist.

Looking at his face, he had broad shoulders and cunning eyes, with a sinister expression.

But as soon as you turn around, you forget what he looks like; you can't describe it at all.

The man in black placed his hand on the stone wall, silently chanting an incantation that caused ripples to spread across it, and he merged into the incantation.

The next moment, it returned to its original state.

Behind the stone wall, a rugged path leads downwards, with no handrails or railings on either side, and looking out reveals only bottomless darkness.

There seemed to be dark shadows moving around at the bottom, and the sound of ghostly wails could be heard, making one wonder what kind of scene was below.

The path was only a hand's width at its narrowest point, allowing the man in black to walk on it as if it were flat ground, and even look around to admire the magnificent scenery.

After countless steps, the path suddenly widens, leading to a chessboard with lines crisscrossing.

There was a jade chair on each of the four sides of the chessboard, and two people were already seated there.

"Master and Madam Mu have arrived very early; it is I who am late. I apologize to both of you."

The man in black cupped his hands and bowed slightly to greet the two men.

"This old monk is old and arrived early... Madam Mu, this is Fellow Daoist Ma of Fengdu City, known as the Faceless Judge."

A sorrowful-looking Arhat, dressed in a dark blue robe, with long, drooping ears, held an astonishingly long string of Bodhi beads in his hand, likely containing over a thousand beads.

"Faceless Judge, I have long admired your name... Indeed, the nickname is well-deserved. Looking directly at you like this, one would forget your appearance for the next moment. Fellow Daoist Ma's faceless divine power has reached the pinnacle. A thousand people, a thousand faces, even this description is insufficient to describe you."

Madam Mu had a soft, sweet voice and a plump figure. Judging from her exposed wrists and neck, her skin was radiantly white.

"Madam Mu is a heroine among women; I am truly impressed that she has managed to operate the black market to such an extent..."

The faceless judge offered a compliment, saying that although he had been to the black market several times, this was the first time he had met the master behind it.

However, the reason why this Lady Mu is truly famous, and can suppress various underground forces with her late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, is mainly due to her legendary Daoist partner.

"One person is still missing. May I ask which fellow Daoist it is?"

The faceless judge glanced at the empty seat. The old monk's invitation had been vague, and he wondered what his intentions were.

However, the Ten Earthly Fengdu are in an awkward position in the cultivation world. They rely on those major sects in many ways and cannot afford to offend them directly.

"No need to wait any longer. The brat from the Evil Fate Sect pried into the secrets of heaven and suffered a backlash. He won't live for more than a few days."

The old monk stretched out his withered, branch-like arm and waved it, causing the jade chair to retreat and disappear.

"I invited you two here because a few days ago a disciple sent word that the Ancient Demon Asura seems to have been banished to the Ten Thousand Evils Mountain by that person and has not appeared for half a year... As a result, all the plans we made earlier have been disrupted."

"Could they have really subdued the ancient demon...?"

The faceless judge gasped in astonishment. This was too outrageous. He had only just reached the Nascent Soul stage and was already chasing after an ancient demon who had reached the Nascent Soul stage.

Everyone was guessing how many rounds the Sword Lord of Time could hold out, but no one expected him to go this far.

"This is impossible... That is a True Demon of Refining Void. How could anyone but an immortal from the Upper Realm seal it? No one could set up a Demon Refining Formation alone."

Madam Mu covered her red lips with a round fan in her hand and leaned back slightly as she spoke.

"Even if he is not as good as a true immortal in the upper realm, he is not far off... Everyone thought that the cultivation world was about to face a catastrophe, but who would have thought that it would be stopped by the power of one person."

The old monk's face showed even more bitterness as he rubbed the prayer beads on his hands.

"The key is how we should face this. Once that person from the Moral Sect comes out of seclusion, we can at least keep the Ancient Demon confined to one place and prevent him from roaming around. Fellow Daoist Ma, if I remember correctly, the spiritual land that your Ten Earths Fengdu occupies was split off from the Taibai Sword Sect."

"Now everyone says that he is a successor of the Taibai Sword Sect. If he asks you for a sacred land, how should you respond?"

"No, nothing is better than sinking the spiritual land into the earth's core. It's impossible to chase us poor folks into the earth's core for a broken fifth-order spiritual land."

The faceless judge sneered. No one was willing to hand over the spiritual land, but to go and confront the Sword Lord of Time head-on was something to be incredibly foolish.

Furthermore, the Ten Earthly Fengdu has not been formed for more than two thousand years. If it weren't for the fact that the spiritual land in the cracks is suitable for the survival of Yin spirits and is a holy land for ghost cultivators, this organization would not have appeared.

From the very first day of its birth, it was under the surveillance of those few Nascent Soul sects.

Every member of the organization was once a Nascent Soul True Monarch with a reputation in the cultivation world.

For various reasons, he turned into a ghost cultivator, and still needs Buddhist relics to dispel the ghost energy and slow down his progress.

Otherwise, in less than a hundred years, they will become completely devoid of emotion, like ghost cultivators, and gradually lose themselves.

They rely heavily on the Kasyapa sect and would not easily refute their request.

"And you, Madam Mu... The top-tier cultivators in the cultivation world have to pay a guidance fee to the black market for every operation, and you provide intelligence, escape routes, resources and so on. Do you think that after the demonic scourge ends, someone will try to curry favor and inform on you, exposing the entire operation of the black market."

The old monk turned around and spoke softly.

"The Dao Heart Oath shouldn't be an insurmountable restriction for that person. He can easily learn everything if he wants to. Can the Black Market really sever all ties to the several waves of attacks by calamity cultivators that the Azure Maple Sect suffered in the past?"

"Qingdeng, what do you mean by this? Are you threatening me?"

A murderous glint flashed across Madam Mu's face, and her tone lost all respect.

She has been in the position of the black market leader for quite some time. Even if there is the factor of using her Daoist partner to intimidate others, her own abilities are not bad either, otherwise she would have been sidelined and become a mere figurehead long ago.

Now that he's angry, he's showing his ruthless and decisive side, ready to break off all pretense of civility at any moment.

This old monk was actually the junior disciple of Buddha Baolun, the most promising person to become a deity in the Kassapa school in the past few hundred years, a reincarnation of a great master, born with innate wisdom.

However, after the Green Lamp Arhat's indestructible golden body was broken and his cultivation level dropped, the sect turned its hopes to the next generation.

The three people on the chessboard are Kasyapa, the Green Lamp Arhat of the Kasyapa sect, and the junior brother of the Buddha of the Wheel of Dharma. He was originally at the peak of the Arhat realm, but has now fallen to the late stage of the Arhat realm.

Madam Mu, the mastermind behind the black market, is suspected of having a Nascent Soul cultivator partner, and is herself in the late Nascent Soul stage.

The Faceless Judge, the Left Protector of Fengdu in the Ten Lands, is said to have a fifth-order Yin God within his organization, though this has never been confirmed. He himself is a late-stage Nascent Soul ghost cultivator.

Even if it were true, the Yin God's combat power is far weaker than that of a Nascent Soul cultivator of the same level, making it difficult to regard him as a normal Nascent Soul ancestor.

Otherwise, the Ten Earthly Fengdu wouldn't need to be so subservient to others; it could have long ago appeared legitimately in the cultivation world and promoted the path of ghost cultivation.

These three individuals each possess strength and background; who would have thought that they would gather together to discuss how to deal with Bai Zichen?

“Madam Mu has misunderstood. Our interests are aligned, so there is absolutely no need for us to worry about this. But this threat is imminent, and we will have to face it within ten years at the latest.”

The Green Lamp Arhat smiled and waved his hand, revealing his own shortcomings to show that he was on the same side.

“A hundred years ago, when the Nine Yuan Sect set its sights on Rotten Axe Mountain, it was this old monk who stirred things up. Otherwise, how could the Datong Army have turned its attention to the Eastern Region so quickly? So you should believe that this old monk and that person have no possibility of reconciliation and won’t try to trick you into revealing anything.”

Upon hearing this earth-shattering news, the other two fell silent.

This matter is far more serious than theirs.

If the Sword Master of Time were to find out, the first person he would likely slay would be the Arhat with the Green Lamp, and even the Buddha of the Precious Wheel might not be able to protect him.

“That person is indeed strong, but as a Nascent Soul cultivator, he has been fighting in the outside world for fifty years. How many years of lifespan does he have left? I can simply avoid his sharp edge, close the black market for a while, and see what kind of attitude the Morality Sect and the Azure Maple Sect will have.”

Madam Mu blinked and said earnestly, "This is also the thought of the vast majority of people in the cultivation world."

The battle between the Sword Lord of Time and the Ancient Demon Asura was truly astonishing, and his strength earned everyone's admiration.

With his omnipresent supernatural abilities, he fought and fled, trying to avoid densely populated areas.

To outsiders, it could easily be misunderstood as the Time Lord chasing the ancient demon, creating a beautiful misunderstanding.

It is an undeniable fact that a Nascent Soul cultivator who leaves their grotto-heaven to make a move will lose some of their lifespan.

Never before has a Nascent Soul cultivator been able to do so much for the sake of the world.

They are the kind of heaven-defying cultivators with an extremely high probability of ascension, capable of creating a new chapter in history.

For a human cultivator like the Sword Lord of Time to reach this level, the lifespan he has expended is unimaginable. It seems that he might have reached the end of his lifespan if he were not young enough.

Lady Mu preferred to shut down the black market rather than delve deeper into resolving this issue.

In any case, the demand for the black market will always exist, so shutting it down for a period of time will not have as much of an impact as one might imagine.

If the Sword Lord of Time really wants to cause trouble for the black market, no one in the cultivation world can protect him, and even if Lady Mu's legendary Daoist partner comes, it won't be of any use.

Underground forces like the black market have actually had dealings with the top cultivators in the cultivation world.

Once you demonstrate the potential to be one of the best among the Great True Monarchs, they will take the initiative to come to your door to complete various commissions. They can even find ways to procure top-tier cultivation resources that their own sect cannot provide.

Therefore, top-level cultivators tend to turn a blind eye to the existence of the black market, as no one can guarantee that they won't need it in the future.

Even if Madam Mu's family is gone, a new black market will open under the control of another Madam Li or Madam Jin.

However, the Sword Lord of Time was an exception. His growth process was steady, step by step, so steady that it felt like reading a storybook.

Never lingering on one step, always forging ahead.

The black market has been hesitant to act because it has been unsure of which level of cultivator to use for contact.

As a result, it was just internally decided that Bai Zichen would make another breakthrough, in accordance with the treatment given to the Holy Emperor who spread the Dharma back then.

He disappeared again in the open sea for a hundred years, and when he returned, he miraculously succeeded in becoming a deity.

He gives people a sense of unreality; those bottlenecks and difficulties seem to require no further consideration in his presence.

The cultivation world had not yet adapted to welcoming such a young Nascent Soul cultivator.

This has resulted in the fact that even though the Sword Lord of Time is about to become the strongest cultivator in the world, the black market and he have not yet established a private connection.

And Nascent Soul cultivators with dark sides, like the Faceless Judge, hide in the forbidden lands of various regions to survive, and the Time Sword Lord rarely comes into contact with them.

"It's fortunate that he was so arrogant; otherwise, if he had just stayed hidden in his cave, what chance would anyone else have... This old monk has a plan that will make the ancient demon vow to never flee, thus delaying that person for several more decades..."

The expression on the face of the Green Lamp Arhat was uncertain. He then switched to telepathy, even though there were clearly no outsiders present.

Even though they were plotting against the most powerful sword cultivator in the history of the cultivation world, it still made people uneasy, fearing that someone might be overheard.

"Is this method feasible?"

The faceless judge finally spoke after a long silence, breaking the stillness on the chessboard.

"Isn't this too risky? I don't want the black market, which has been passed down for generations, to be destroyed in my hands..."

Mrs. Mu also found it difficult to accept and politely declined the proposal.

"You don't need to take direct action. Just cooperate with me. I will take charge of everything."

The Green Lamp Arhat reiterated that he would take full responsibility, which finally convinced the two to reluctantly accept the situation.

After discussing other matters for a while, the game of chess ended and everyone went their separate ways.

The monk with the green lamp lagged behind, waving his hand into the darkness on both sides of the path, as if making some meaningless gesture.

But a few green buds fell silently from my fingertips, swaying and sliding into the deepest part.

After the three left, the wailing and howling in the darkness seemed to grow louder and closer.

……

"Give the order to raise the intelligence level on the Sword Lord of Time by one level..."

Mrs. Mu leaned back, her voice languid, as if a kitten was sharpening its claws in her heart.

"Reporting to Madam, the Sword Lord is already at the highest level, with no further advancement possible..."

The Nascent Soul cultivator in charge of intelligence in the black market explained in detail that he was responsible for all these specific tasks.

"Then compile all the information about the people around Sword Lord and all information related to the Ancient Demon into a list... and send it to me later so that everyone can examine it carefully."

After Madam Mu finished speaking, she added another sentence.

"Also, the movements of the Kasyapa Sect's Green Lamp Arhat and the Tenth Ground Fengdu Left Protector should be closely monitored and not overlooked."

The Green Lamp Arhat has a close relationship with the black market, and their deep cooperation has lasted for hundreds of years.

However, the idea proposed this time is truly appalling and extremely risky.

One wrong move and you could lose the entire black market.

"Fortunately, we didn't need the black market to take the lead. We let the old monk charge ahead first and see what he's really up to."

Madam Mu reviewed the case files and wrote comments and replies. She appeared unaffected, but in reality, she was deeply moved.

……

The Arhat with the green lamp rode closely on a ball of Buddhist light, his speed astonishing, showing no signs of being seriously injured.

"What a vicious poison that afflicts the bones! Even changing twelve kinds of Buddhist light couldn't cure it. My senior brother pulled out the poison for me, but he can only guarantee that I'll be fine for ten years. New poison will grow back from the bones, endlessly..."

He rolled up his robe, and there wasn't a single good piece of flesh on his arm; large patches of rotten flesh slipped off even before he touched it.

The beast that injured him was an unknown creature, yet its venom was so potent that even an immortal would fall, its bite piercing his indestructible body and leaving the Green Lamp Arhat with a permanent poison wound.

"Could it be that Senior Brother cherishes his Buddhist power and is unwilling to give his full help...? Absolutely, absolutely! He's worried that this old monk will steal his precious disciple's place in the Buddhist kingdom, and he's been plotting this for a while now!"

A wisp of black light flashed across the face of the Green Lamp Arhat, and his speech became incoherent, indicating that he was already somewhat mentally confused.

(End of this chapter)