Immortality Cultivation: Fellow Daoists, please live for two more episodes!

Ignoring the pathfinder who was still desperately hawking the "Spirit Gathering Technique," Zhou Youyuan stopped paying attention to the absurd revelry around him, quickened his pace, and walked straight through most of the market.

Until the surrounding noise gradually subsided.

Before him stood a dilapidated black tent, located at the deepest part of the cliff, without even a sign.

Old Wang once boasted to someone in the herb garden that there was also a market within a market, a black market, in this miscellaneous market.

They specialize in taking on dirty work that can't be done in the shady side of the household.

Zhou Youyuan glanced around discreetly, and after confirming that he was not being followed, he lifted the tent flap and slipped inside.

Inside the tent, only a small oil lamp was lit, casting a dim yellow light. Behind a dilapidated wooden table with missing legs sat a gaunt figure completely wrapped in a black robe, making it impossible to distinguish whether he was male or female.

The man in black robes spoke first: "What do you want to buy?"

"I don't want to buy anything, I just want someone to do a small favor for me."

Zhou Youyuan walked to the wooden table, and without any preamble, directly took out two gold beans from his pocket and tossed them onto the table with a clatter:

"I'd like to buy some information, and while I'm at it, could you please help me extract something from someone?"

The man in black merely glanced at it sideways, then shook his head dismissively:

"If you're buying lives, this isn't enough."

"I don't want to buy lives, I want a drop of blood from Zhao Donglai, the manager of the herb garden."

The man in black robes laughed angrily, "You ignorant fool, coming here to toy with me? To steal the blood of the herb garden manager? Do you think everyone in this market has had enough of life? Get out!"

Zhou Youyuan didn't move.

He slowly reached into his robes and flicked his wrist slightly.

"Splash—"

Twenty round, plump golden beans, along with two low-grade spirit stones the size of a fingernail, were rolled all over the table, along with the two beans from before.

The black-robed man's cursing stopped abruptly.

Those eyes, hidden beneath the hood, were fixed on the two low-grade spirit stones. The sound of swallowing, his Adam's apple bobbing, was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent tent.

Zhou Youyuan placed his hands on the edge of the table and leaned forward:

"This is 30% of the deposit."

"I don't care what methods you use, I'm giving you three months. Three months from now, I want to see bloodstained mud or pieces of cloth on this table."

Zhou Youyuan was confident that everyone in this miscellaneous market wanted to obtain the longevity elixir.

Because no matter what kind of chores they do, servants inevitably have to sacrifice their lifespan to fill the holes in the formation.

As for spirit stones, the spiritual energy of a single spirit stone can replace the energy consumed by an array for a person for a hundred days. In terms of lifespan, that's at least two or three years.

In this demonic sect, there is never anything that one is too cowardly to do; it's simply a matter of whether the potential profit is large enough.

The man in black robes stared at the spirit stone for a full five breaths.

A withered hand emerged from beneath the black robe, swept across the table, and all the valuables vanished instantly.

"You just said you wanted to buy intelligence? Intelligence costs extra."

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Youyuan took out half of a low-grade spirit stone with dim spiritual energy from his pocket again, pressed it down with two fingers, and slowly pushed it over:

"Two pieces of information. First, I need to know the name of the guy who sells the 'Spirit Gathering Technique' at the entrance of the market, and where he works in the handyman's garden."

"Secondly... I need to know everything about Manager Zhao, his daily routine, his precautions, and the place he has to spend the most time in every day."

The man in black robes couldn't help but sneer:

"You're a madman. Other servants are trying to avoid the sect leader like the plague, but you're looking for trouble with him."

"However... it would be a fool not to take advantage of spirit stones."

The man in black robes truthfully replied, "I don't know about that guy at Fangshikou, but I'll send someone to find out. As for Zhao Donglai..."

"Hehe, you're lucky. I happen to have a few informants around him. Recently, there have been frequent incidents involving handymen at the Bingzi Herb Garden, and there are even rumors of a handyman assassin."

"Strangely enough, Zhao Donglai, the manager of the medicine garden, not only did not report to the sect, but also unusually sealed off his own cave dwelling."

"My inside sources have spread the word that he seems to have already captured the handyman killer, and even obtained an incredible treasure from him. He's been studying it behind closed doors these past few days, neglecting to eat or sleep."

Heavy treasure?

Zhou Youyuan chuckled inwardly. The incomplete innate Yin-Yang Dao foundation came from Yu Miaoxian, and according to what Chen Changsheng had seen and heard, it was something she had spent countless efforts to cultivate.

It would be difficult for Zhao Donglai, a mere second-level Qi Refining servant, to understand such a rare treasure that requires advanced Foundation Establishment cultivation.

That's why he went to great lengths to investigate whether Li Xiaoyu had someone else behind her.

Everything is going according to plan.

The man in black robes continued, "Because he got the treasure, this old dog is now very suspicious. He sent all the personal servants who used to serve him in the cave to the outer courtyard, because he thought they were not clean and afraid that they would leak the news."

"So where does he live now?" Zhou Youyuan asked casually.

"They're all in his stone building, which is right next to the Jiazi medicinal herb field and built halfway up the mountain."

A stone building halfway up the mountain?

Zhou Youyuan's eyes lit up instantly. If he remembered correctly, the stone building that the man in black mentioned should be located diagonally above the place where the spirit beasts' fermented manure was stored in the Jia-character herb garden.

The distance from the second floor of the stone building to the underground manure cellar is no more than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

According to him, Manager Zhao stayed indoors in the stone building to study the treasure, while he himself only had to volunteer to take over the work of the most smelly and dirty fermentation manure cellar in the entire medicinal garden, a job that no one else wanted to do.

One was upstairs in seclusion, dreaming of becoming an immortal, while the other was in the basement, diligently stirring up manure.

The two will not interfere with each other, as long as they stay together for three months...

The final piece of the puzzle for the next step is complete!

"Thank you, your information is good. I have another deal to make, we'll talk about it in three months."

Zhou Youyuan withdrew his hand with satisfaction and pulled his straw hat down further: "Also, about the blood sample..."

"Although he sealed off his cave, he had an unwavering habit."

Having accepted the money, the man in black robes had no intention of reneging on the debt and offered a solution very readily:

"I have his informants. Every three months, that guy drinks a bowl of tonic soup made with the blood of fresh spirit birds."

"At that time, I will send someone to slip a tiny bit of Po Gang San (a type of poison) on the bottom of the bowl when the servant delivering the soup is not paying attention, and then leave a tiny, barely visible burr on the edge of the bowl to cut his lips and take a drop of blood mixed with the soup. He will only think that the servant did not wash the bowl properly and will never suspect anything."

"Three months from now, at midnight, I will be here waiting for you to deliver the goods."

"happy."

The deal was struck, and Zhou Youyuan nodded in satisfaction. He turned around, lifted the tent flap, and strode out.

After leaving the tent, he originally planned to go to Garlic Li's place, which Old Wang had mentioned, to buy some things, and then leave.

This way, at least no flaws will be left. Right now is the time when Manager Zhao is suspicious and paranoid, and I am a new face in this market.

Although finding a reasonably plausible excuse from Lao Wang might backfire, who knows if it will cause trouble for us?

He had already planned everything. Since the man in black hadn't received the final payment, the possibility of him being double-crossed was unlikely, and nothing should disrupt his plans.

But just before leaving, a casual glance...

A figure shrouded in black robes stood in front of a stall for a long time.

He was dressed in black robes, and although he was well disguised, there was an instinctive urge to shrink behind others and to turn half his body to the side as if he were about to run away.

Is that Li Feiyu? What is he doing here?