The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

When Wu You stopped, everyone followed his gaze.

It was a street lined with stalls, one after another, stretching along both sides of the road like a winding market.

Behind each stall sat a person wearing a black trench coat; some had their eyes closed in rest, some were fiddling with the items in their hands, and some were chatting in small groups.

But the aura emanating from those people was calm and reserved, like a deep pool of water, its depths unfathomable.

"Shall we go take a look?" Xia Wan suggested, somewhat curiously.

Wu You nodded, and the group headed toward the fork in the road.

The stalls were filled with all sorts of things: strangely shaped medicinal herbs, ores of various shapes, energy stones of different sizes emitting various auras, and a few pure black kittens and puppies huddled listlessly in specially made light cages.

Wu You stopped in front of one of the stalls.

Behind the stall was a deck chair. The owner, who was wearing a black trench coat and had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them.

His gaze swept across everyone's faces, lingering a little longer on Wu You's face.

Then he noticed the double-stripe epaulettes with small wings on Wu You's shoulder, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Oh, looks like another extraordinary genius has emerged this year." His tone was languid, as if he were talking about something unimportant. "Let's see if you need anything."

As he spoke, he took out an epaulette from a cloth bag next to the recliner and slowly put it on his shoulder.

The next moment, everyone's pupils contracted slightly at the same time.

Three golden bars!

Ninth Rank! The Realm of Illusion!

This ordinary-looking vendor squatting by the roadside was actually a ninth-level expert.

Seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, the boss seemed to have finally waited for this moment. He let out a long sigh of relief, a look of indescribable satisfaction on his face: "That feels good. It was worth taking the day off to come up here!"

The other street vendors nearby sighed when they saw this.

"Damn it, this guy tricked us first." A burly man with a thick beard and a black trench coat gritted his teeth.

"Sigh, I didn't choose a good location this year. I should have set up my stall outside." Another boss in a black trench coat slapped his thigh, looking regretful.

"Damn it, does that mean the ore I mined and the herbs I just dug aren't good enough?" A tall, thin man in a black trench coat rolled his eyes, his tone full of resentment.

The corners of everyone's mouths twitched slightly.

So these bosses were just waiting here for these newbies to come so they could show off?

This is so... down-to-earth!

Seeing the expressions on Wu You's face, the shopkeeper smiled and waved his hand, "Don't mind them. Spending too much time in the deep dark realm can lead to some strange hobbies. You'll understand later."

His tone was casual, but the words "Deep Dark Domain" still caught the attention of Wu You and the others: these people were all powerful figures stationed on the front lines of the Deep Dark Domain.

Before anyone could speak, the shopkeeper continued, "Just buy whatever you need. Things here are definitely cheaper than at the logistics department."

"It's not that the logistics department is expensive, but when new employees come for training, setting up a stall here is basically like giving things away for free."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the young faces of the group: "You've just arrived, your strength is not great, and you're not familiar with the deep dark domain. This is precisely the time when you urgently need resources to improve your strength."

"Although you will receive some contribution points, it certainly won't be enough. And we old guys have been working down there for so long, we always have some unused reserves."

Upon hearing this, Wu You and his group understood that the seniors were taking care of the new juniors, not showing off—okay, they might show off a little, but ultimately, they were there to deliver something.

The shop owners nearby nodded slightly in agreement, saying, "Take a look, see if you need anything. We have plenty of energy stones with special attributes and medicinal herbs that can help accelerate energy absorption."

As they spoke, one of the shopkeepers, who had a long beard, looked at Xia Wan and said, "Little girl, you should have wind-attribute abilities, right? I have a piece of ice-blowing ore here. If you forge it into a weapon, your wind-attribute attacks will be imbued with icy power."

Xia Wan's eyes lit up immediately.

She glanced at Wu You, and seeing him nod slightly, she walked straight to the stall owner, squatted down, and began to carefully examine the cold-looking ore.

Wang Qi, who was standing to the side, was also somewhat tempted by this scene.

He subconsciously raised his hand, a blue flame appearing between his fingers, as if he wanted to light a cigarette, but he immediately realized that the place was wrong and quickly put the flame away.

Upon seeing this, another boss's eyes lit up, as if he had discovered some treasure: "This young man's ability is quite interesting, a flame that combines extreme cold and intense heat. I have some Crimson Flame Ice Shard Grass here, just soak it in water and drink it, along with some ice and fire attribute energy stones, and I guarantee you'll reach the sixth rank within a month."

Wang Qi stood there, stunned: Huh? Advancing to the sixth rank within a month? Really?

Seeing his suspicious expression, the boss smiled and put a three-gold-bar epaulette on his own shoulder: another Void Realm expert. He didn't say much, just patted the epaulette on his shoulder, his expression as if to say: I am a dignified ninth-level expert, would I lie to you?

Wang Qi's lips twitched, then he forced a smile and scurried over: "Senior, could you tell me how many ice and fire attribute energy stones I need given my current abilities?"

Seeing this, Wu You smiled and shook his head.

Huang Shaolin and Lu Chenzhou were also called over by the two senior bosses.

Huang Shaolin was pulled to a stall selling medicinal herbs. The stall owner pinched his wrist as if taking his pulse, muttering incantations.

Lu Chenzhou was led to a stall piled with ores. A burly man with a fierce face held up a golden stone on his body, saying things like, "This is suitable for you."

For a moment, Wu You was the only one left in the place.

The boss in front of him leaned back in his recliner, looking at him with a more serious expression.

"I can sense some of the strength of their abilities and their attributes," the boss lowered his voice, "but you are the only one—I can't sense anything at all."

"Logically speaking, even if you are at the eighth level, I should be able to sense something."

He paused, his gaze lingering on Wu You for a long time.

"It seems your ability is quite special, little guy."

Wu You nodded without explaining anything.

He has no special abilities; his strength comes from the Sword Manual, so it's normal that he can't sense it.

He shifted his gaze to the few listless, all-black kittens and puppies on the stall.

They huddled in specially made cages, their fur dull, their eyes half-open, looking sickly, as if they might die at any moment.

But if his intuition is correct, these should be... corpse species, right?

The shopkeeper followed his gaze and smiled, "These are newly born canine and feline beast carcasses. I found them by chance in the deep dark realm."

"What, you're interested in this?"

Wu You nodded, then asked with some doubt, "Senior, is it really okay to bring the Corpse Seeds into the real world? Although they are all newly born and only have the strength of less than the first-tier Ding level, they are still Corpse Seeds, right?"

The boss smiled again, this time with a different meaning: "So that's the problem."

"If it were before, that definitely wouldn't have worked."

Then he changed the subject.

"But now—"

"No problem."

"The current Beast Corpse Clan is in serious trouble."

"The hierarchical order within their tribe has almost completely collapsed."

Within the Corpse Clan, there is a strict hierarchy.

But this Senior Jiuli actually said that the hierarchical order within the Ten Thousand Beast Corpse Clan has almost completely collapsed?