The Path to Immortality: Starting with an Analysis of Basic Concepts

Chapter 459 Strange Things, No Human Rights, Moonlit City, Kowloon Black Market (Please Subscribe)

The words fell.

The strange creatures present all froze, their grotesque faces contorting into fawning expressions. They turned to the newcomer and said respectfully, "Manager Zheng, what brings you here?"

The man addressed as Manager Zheng was a middle-aged man with a ruddy complexion, wearing a blue short jacket.

Behind him followed four burly men, each as strong as a bear and as heavy as a copper bell, clearly thugs.

Manager Zheng ignored the greetings from the other monsters and instead looked at the indigo-faced, emaciated monster who had spoken of "paying a life tax when alive, and a blood tax when dead," and said with a forced smile, "Qiu San, you've got it! Quickly open your eyes for me and tell me what your plan is?"

Manager Zheng seemed to have a wide-ranging fearsome reputation. When the strange man named Qiu San heard him ask, his body trembled like a leaf and his lips quivered.

"I...I..."

He stammered and couldn't utter a single coherent sentence.

"You won't tell, huh? Then let me guess. But if I'm wrong..." Steward Zheng narrowed his eyes, saying indifferently, "Don't blame me for being too calculating..."

Before Qiu San could reply, he suddenly shouted, "I see you're still up to your old tricks, wanting to join the wicked! Seize this treacherous villain!"

Qiu San was shocked and looked at Steward Zheng in disbelief. Seeing the burly man glaring at him as he approached, he hurriedly shouted, "Steward, I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare..."

This time it didn't stutter, but Steward Zheng ignored it completely and waved his hand.

Four burly men, as strong as bears, pounced on Qiu Sanfei. Qiu Sanfei tried to fight back, but instead used a trick, and streaks of dark blue light condensed into several snake-like beasts that looked like they were highly venomous, which lunged at the men.

Although Qiu San was a monster, he had never experienced fighting, whether in life or after death. How could he be a match for a martial artist who fought against monsters and rose from the bottom in the market?

In no time at all, Qiu San was dragged away like a dead dog.

Manager Zheng's cold gaze swept over the monsters present, and he sneered, "Don't think that just because the gang charges you a high blood tax, you don't know that if it weren't for the protection of the Sea Dragon Gang, would a bunch of trash like you have been able to transform into monsters after death and survive unscathed?"

"Ha, it's probably been eaten by some weird thing that popped out from some remote corner long ago..."

"Yes, yes, you're right, Steward."

Seeing Qiu San leave the scene, the monsters dared not say another word and all agreed.

Manager Zheng's expression softened slightly. He nodded and smiled again, "Focus on cultivating your monsters. The gang won't treat you unfairly." As he spoke, he glanced at Bai Jingjing, who had her hair disheveled, as she rowed the boat ashore, waved his hand, and turned to leave.

After the group disappeared into the darkness.

The monsters looked at each other in bewilderment, and one of them sighed, "Qiu San is probably finished."

"Serves it right. It didn't know it would get into trouble before it died. Dying again is too good for it."

"Sigh, I just hope Steward Zheng doesn't pass on Qiu San's blood tax to me. I'm counting on selling these monsters to buy resources for my son to break through to the next level of martial arts..."

"It's tough..."

"Ghosts have no human rights—"

The monsters chattered amongst themselves, sighing and lamenting incessantly.

Upon seeing Bai Jingjing come ashore—the strange woman who claimed to be buying resources for her son to break through to higher realms, but who looked like a middle-aged woman with seaweed-like hair and no pupils—he asked with concern, "Sister Bai, were the losses at the ghost field significant?"

Bai Jingjing was silent for a moment, and the flowing water quickly wet the beach before a hoarse voice came out.

"Seven or eight out of ten are gone."

"hiss.."

Upon hearing this, the monsters gasped in shock.

"Seven or eight out of ten? How is that possible?"

"Did the ghost field leak? Or did a huge thing get in?"

Bai Jingjing remained silent.

The monsters looked at each other in bewilderment and then began to speak.

"No, I have to go back and check on the haunted place right away."

"Let's go, let's go, we've worked so hard all year, we can't let it go to waste."

'

""

In the blink of an eye, all the strange things in the room disappeared.

Even the older women who had previously shown concern for Bai Jingjing, upon hearing that seven or eight out of ten had left, hurriedly turned into black smoke and fled as if avoiding a plague.

Bai Jingjing raised her head, her wet hair shifting to reveal a pale, bloodless face. She turned to look at the surging sea, her sparse brows furrowed.

She had just checked the enclosure of the haunted area and found no damage, so the monsters inside must not be able to get out.

If the monster can't get out, then something must have entered the haunted area.

But in less than half a day, she ate 200,000 black-level monsters.

That makes absolutely no sense.

Even monsters at the "Blood Fiend" level cannot do that.

Unless they are a group of strange creatures from the "Blood Realm" who have strayed into the hunting grounds—

Is it possible?

Bai Jingjing fell silent again. After a long while, she sighed softly, "It seems this is fate—"

She risked her life savings to buy 500,000 monster seedlings, waiting for them to reach the Black level before selling them. She would then use the "blood money" she earned to buy monsters and monster pills from the "Sea Dragon Gang" to break through to the "Blood Realm".

But now everything is over.

Let alone breaking through the "Blood Realm," with the number of monsters left behind, they wouldn't even be able to pay the remaining blood tax.

What awaits her is either becoming a tool for evil spirits or being sold to a brothel in "City of Shadows" to be played with by humans with unusual fetishes.

This is still a good result.

The worst outcome was being sold to the "army camp" to be used as a trial for newly recruited soldiers, to cultivate their killing intent—that was truly tragic.

"Why don't we run? At worst, we'll be killed by the 'Moon-Covering City' patrol guards. That's better than waiting to die—"

Bai Jingjing had a thought, but then she remembered that the ghosts she had left would quickly spread the information about her ghost field, and once Steward Zheng found out, she probably wouldn't be able to escape even if she wanted to.

With this thought in mind, she made up her mind, left her belongings behind, turned around and boarded the boat, sailing against the waves towards the depths of the sea.

Ocean trench.

A rocky cave.

"We're running out of money—"

Zhu Yu looked at the altar, which was mostly completed, and then at his empty wallet. He then used the Ghost Domain to release and retract the altar into his Ghost Domain.

He paused for a moment to ponder.

He planned to find a ghost to learn about the area, and then see if he could enter the ghost realm to exchange some "blood money" and a sea map at the black market run by humans.

The Black Sea is in chaos, with numerous conflicting factions.

He didn't want to wander into the territory of a great monster and lose his life for nothing.

Having made up his mind, Zhu Yu stood up, the long banner swaying, and took the water ape and the ghost infant guarding outside into the "Ten Thousand Souls Banner". He took a step and disappeared into the cave.

As soon as he surfaced, he saw three octopus-like black-fiend monsters attacking a boat.

To his surprise, the boat owner was also a ghost.

"It's like searching high and low without finding it—"

Zhu Yu chuckled, took a step forward, and in a few flashes, arrived in front of the boat. Without saying a word, he gently shook the "Ten Thousand Souls Banner".

A blue ape arm emerged from the boat, growing to the size of a small mountain. It grabbed the monster that was manipulating hair and the three octopus-like creatures with their dense, menacing fangs, and pulled them back into its grasp.

"Senior, spare my life—"

The disheveled monster struggled and let out a hoarse roar.

Zhu Yu ignored it and stepped onto the boat. Suddenly, he let out a soft "Eh" and turned his head to look. He saw the disheveled monster clinging to the "Ten Thousand Souls Banner," its body emitting billowing black smoke as if it were burning. Despite its great pain, it could not enter the banner.

"This is--"

A glint flashed in his eyes, and he instantly discerned that at the core of this bizarre creature was a crimson mark resembling a serpent.

"The bloodline imprint of a human martial artist? —"

Moreover, in his perception, the aura emanating from this mark was only slightly inferior to that of the "Fire Palace Flower Lord".

A martial artist at the "Radiant Sun Realm" level?

Coming to his senses, Zhu Yu gently shook the "Ten Thousand Souls Banner" and took it down.

"Thank you, senior! Thank you, senior!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Bai Jingjing knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

At this moment, she vaguely realized where the more than 200,000 monsters in her monster field had gone; most likely, they had been eaten by the "Blood Realm" monster in front of her, which possessed a terrifying magical artifact.

But before she could think it through...

Suddenly, he felt unable to move. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a fair finger reaching out towards him. Then, he felt a sharp pain between his eyebrows and fainted.

a long time.

Zhu Yu withdrew his finger, looking thoughtful.

Based on the memories he explored, named "Bai Jingjing".

He was currently located in the inner sea of ​​"Moonlight City," one of the hundred major cities on the Black Sea coast.

The so-called "inland sea" is not the deep part of the Black Sea.

Instead, it was an adjacent sea area that had been cleaned up by "Covering Moon City".

The good news is.

The atmosphere in "City of Covered Moon" is relatively open. Although humans and monsters do not live together, they are friendly to monsters with independent logical memories.

There are many black markets outside, frequented by people of questionable character.

of course.

The prerequisite is that the monster has committed few murders and possesses a certain level of strength.

Otherwise, they would either be used as spies or captured and enslaved.

As for killing.

It's the aura that comes with having devoured so many humans.

The bad news is...

"City of Shadows" is among the top ten of the top 100 major cities.

The coastline stretches for thousands of miles into the sea, all belonging to the territory of "Covering Moon City". It is constantly patrolled by "Sea Patrol Guards", where warriors and monsters fight and confront each other.

If this unregistered monster were to reach the front lines of a battle, both the monster side and the human side would most likely consider him a traitor, a double agent, and eliminate him as soon as possible.

"Sea Dragon Gang—"

Zhu Yu's gaze was enigmatic.

According to Bai Jingjing's memory, the "Hailong Gang" was one of the many small gangs in "Zheyue City," and its main business was espionage.

Similar to a fish stall.

Specializing in ghost materials, black crystals, ghost pets, and more.

The gang members are cunning and deceitful. They have contracted tens of thousands of acres of shallow sea and turned it into a special breeding ground for monsters.

The monsters are transformed from people like "Bai Jingjing" who died violently or from serious illness and were unwilling to die.

The "Sea Dragon Gang" provides the strange seedlings and blood food.

The monsters, including Bai Jingjing, need to spend "blood money" to buy monster seedlings and blood food, and the proceeds are split 50/50 with the "Sea Dragon Gang".

Furthermore, under the guise of providing protection, the "Sea Dragon Gang" also set up a separate protection fee, demanding 10% of the profits from keeping the monsters instead of "blood money".

One percent doesn't seem like much.

But the ten percent they want is the ten percent of the strange seedlings, not the ten percent of the mature, strange creatures.

Take Bai Jingjing as an example.

She purchased 500,000 Ghost Seedlings and carefully tended to them, with the ideal outcome being that 250,000 Ghost Seedlings would mature.

Of these, 50% of the rentals for the haunted venues amounted to 125,000.

The protection fee is 50,000.

In other words, even if Bai Jingjing works hard for a year, she can only obtain a maximum of 75,000 mature monsters.

The Sea Dragon Gang buys a low-level black monster for ten "blood coins," so 75,000 monsters would cost 750,000 "blood coins."

It seems like a lot.

But ten strange seedlings cost one "blood money".

Five hundred thousand of these strange creatures cost fifty thousand "blood money," and with the cost of feeding them, the total cost is nearly two hundred thousand "blood money."

In other words.

After a busy year, Bai Jingjing has earned approximately 500,000 yuan in "blood money".

But all of this is based on the premise that no mistakes can be made.

If something goes wrong.

It's very likely that you'll end up like Bai Jingjing, unable to even turn over.

Zhu Yu sighed inwardly, "The humans on the border are really playing tricks, keeping monsters in captivity—"

No wonder hundreds of thousands of low-level monsters gather in one place.

He thought the Black Sea was just like that, but little did he know that he had entered a bizarre place where Bai Jingjing kept strange creatures.

Coming to his senses, Zhu Yu looked at Bai Jingjing, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and said calmly, "Get up now that you're awake. Take me to the 'Kowloon' black market."

Bai Jingjing, who was lying on the ground, suddenly stood up and bowed repeatedly, saying, "Yes, yes, this servant will take you there right away."

As he spoke, he channeled his supernatural power into the boat beneath his feet, steering it toward the shore.

There were no major setbacks on the road.

After docking.

Bai Jingjing dared not say more and led the way.

The "Kowloon Black Market" is a black market run by nine gangs, including the Hai Lung Gang, and is one of the largest black markets in the area.

It is less than a hundred miles from the haunted place.

soon.

The world ahead is shrouded in darkness.

A cluster of buildings, comparable to a town, appeared. There was no "sunlight," only specks of phosphorescent light flickering in the wind.

soon.

Led by Bai Jingjing, the two ghosts arrived at the Black Market Archway.

Bai Jingjing lowered her eyes and walked straight into the black market.

Zhu Yu gave her a half-smile and said calmly, "Wait a moment, I'll go get an identity token."

After saying that, ignoring the stiff Bai Jingjing, he walked to the eerie green phosphorescent fire burning on the side of the archway, took out a hundred low-grade black crystals, and threw them in.

The eerie green phosphorescent flames surged, transforming into a human face, which swallowed the object whole. Then, it opened its mouth and spat out a wooden plaque, which flew down.

Zhu Yu raised his hand and took it into his palm, examining it closely. It was marked with a string of characters and contained a hint of "mysterious realm". He put it into his sleeve and stepped into the archway.

He felt as if he had passed through an invisible barrier, and his vision suddenly brightened. Under the illumination of the phosphorescent lights, an ancient and mottled road came into view.

It is evident that there were people among them, and they were walking on foot in a strange manner.

"Sir, slave—"

Bai Jingjing followed, opening her mouth to explain.

Zhu Yu raised his hand to stop him, and as he walked into the black market, he said, "Do you think the 'Sea Dragon Gang' would agree if I rented the haunted arena?"

"ah?--"

Bai Jingjing was stunned and looked at his back with confusion. Who would raise a monster in the "Blood Realm"? They could keep it in check at the black market or take on some missions. Wouldn't that be more profitable than raising a monster?

But she quickly dismissed the thought and replied respectfully, "The 'Sea Dragon Gang' is naturally willing—"

She paused, glanced around, and whispered, "Sir, the Sea Dragon Gang's blood tax is too heavy. If you want to keep monsters, why not go somewhere else? The Black Dragon Gang's monster arena hasn't been open for long, and the treatment is much better than the Sea Dragon Gang's—"

"Oh?"

Zhu Yu hadn't paid attention to her memories in this regard. After a moment of surprise, he asked with great interest, "Tell me about it."

Bai Jingjing hesitated for a moment, then said, "The Black Dragon Gang—"

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