A ruthless bandit from the celestial realm, he began his cultivation journey after kidnapping the Em

"Alright, you guys can get lost!"

"Take that one away too..."

He waved his hand and said in a deep voice.

"Yes... thank you, senior brother..."

Feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, the group scrambled to their feet and fled as fast as they could...

They were afraid that if Ye Chen changed his mind, they wouldn't be able to leave...

The bearded man, showing some loyalty, ran a short distance, carried the unconscious, aloof man on his back, and then hurriedly left...

Ye Chen glanced at them, put the IOU in his pocket, and turned to Lin Ningxue and Lin Wanli beside him.

"Let's go, let's see if there's anything good in the black market..."

As he spoke, he took out a mask from his storage bag and put it on...

"good..."

Lin Ningxue and Lin Wanli nodded expectantly, each putting on their masks, and followed Ye Chen into the valley ahead...

The moment you turn into the valley, the scene transforms from a dark, desolate landscape into a brightly lit night market...

The disciples coming and going all wore masks, and no one knew the other's identity.

Vendors on both sides of the street hawked their wares, and occasional shouts of argument could be heard, but they quickly subsided...

Ye Chen and his two companions plunged into the crowd, drifting past each stall as if carried by the tide.

Perhaps it was due to the price-cutting last night, or perhaps Ye Chen had robbed all the merchants who were speculating on the Spirit Replenishing Pill, but for a while, there were no stalls selling Spirit Replenishing Pills left in the black market...

Seeing this, Ye Chen was somewhat disappointed. He had a large amount of spirit stones in his hands and had originally planned to come and purchase more goods.

"Senior brother, there are some decent magical artifacts over there... Let's go take a look..."

Lin Wanli pointed to a stall not far away and said.

A large crowd had gathered nearby, but almost no one made a purchase...

After all, most disciples are still quite strapped for cash and can't afford to spend too many spirit stones.

Ye Chen looked in the direction Lin Wanli indicated, and a strong longing welled up in his heart...

This is...

He frowned slightly and said calmly.

"Let's go take a look..."

As he spoke, he quickly walked over...

"This is a high-grade magic artifact. Anyone who wants it, feel free to make an offer. Only serious bidders should make a move. If your offer is too low, don't bother..."

"This kind of good stuff is rare; once it's gone, it's gone forever..."

The stall owner was a thin young man, so thin he looked like a skeleton, as if he could be blown away by the wind.

He was shouting loudly at this moment, attracting a crowd of customers to watch...

He attracted almost all the surrounding customers, and within moments, hundreds of people had gathered...

"A high-grade magic artifact? This is a real treasure! I wonder how much he's asking for..."

"A high-quality magical artifact costs at least a thousand spirit stones, which we can't afford..."

"How did he get this precious magical artifact? His luck is just too good..."

"I really want it... The stall owner seems to know his stuff, so it's not easy to fool him..."

"I don't have that many spirit stones on me... I can only look, I definitely can't afford to buy them..."

......

The onlookers buzzed with discussion, their eyes fixed on a shield-like magical artifact displayed on the stall, radiating a soft glow...

After quite a while, someone in the crowd finally made an offer...

"I'll offer 1,500 spirit stones..."

Upon hearing this, the lean stall owner was clearly not satisfied with the price and pursed his lips.

"Look closely, this is a high-grade treasure-level magic weapon. You can't even buy a low-grade treasure-level magic weapon for 1,500..."

"Those who are truly interested should make an offer quickly, or you'll miss out..."

"Let me state the price first: I won't sell it for less than three thousand spirit stones..."

......

These words immediately caused an uproar among the crowd...

"What! Three thousand spirit stones? Even if I were sold, I wouldn't have that many spirit stones..."

"The price is about right, but how can we afford it..."

"I can't even earn this many spirit stones every day I go on missions, so I guess I should just give up..."

"If only I could find a high-grade magic weapon, I could earn several thousand spirit stones and wouldn't have to worry about cultivation resources anymore..."

......

Everyone gasped in surprise, shocked by the price of three thousand spirit stones...

For a high-grade magic weapon, this price is reasonable; however, for an outer sect disciple, it is undoubtedly an astronomical figure...

Most people don't even have enough resources for cultivation, let alone accumulate so many spirit stones...

Now they could only stare helplessly, drooling over the precious magical artifact on the stall...

Even the disciple who had previously offered 1,500 spirit stones remained silent, clearly feeling the pressure of the starting price of 3,000...

"Senior brother, this high-grade magic artifact looks pretty good..."

"This should be a defensive magic artifact; if activated, it could even withstand attacks from a Golden Core cultivator..."

Lin Ningxue followed Ye Chen into the crowd, and looked at the precious magic artifact on the stall with amazement.

She rarely even comes into contact with ordinary-grade magical artifacts, let alone treasure-grade ones. The only thing she's ever seen is probably Ye Chen's immortal sword...

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen's gaze swept over the treasured shield on the stall, sensing a powerful force within it, and he nodded slightly...

"It's not bad..."

He wasn't particularly interested. Such a magical artifact, though impressive, was useless to him. His full-force attack would likely have been enough to shatter the precious shield...

"How do you like it?"

Ye Chen turned to look at Lin Ningxue beside him and asked casually.

"what?"

Lin Ningxue was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a wry smile.

"Senior brother, that's a high-grade treasure-level magic weapon, only one step away from a spirit-grade magic weapon. Who wouldn't like such a treasure..."

Let alone outer disciples, even inner disciples might not possess a treasure-grade magic weapon; in Lin Ningxue's eyes, such a thing was an unattainable treasure...

"If you like it, that's all that matters..."

Ye Chen nodded, then turned to the stall owner in front of him and said.

"Three thousand spirit stones, I'll buy it!"

As soon as he said this, all eyes turned to him...

"Hiss! Who's this kid, so arrogant?"

"Buying three thousand spirit stones like that? Are you that rich?"

"Could it be a young master from some powerful family? No one else could possibly have so many spirit stones..."

"Could he be a senior disciple from the inner sect? The monthly salary for inner sect disciples is indeed much higher than that for outer sect disciples..."

"Wow, someone's actually willing to buy it? Three thousand spirit stones for a high-grade magic weapon, that's a steal..."

"What a pity, if I had that many spirit stones, I would definitely buy it too..."

......

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, their hearts filled with envy. They all wished they could be as extravagant as Ye Chen, buying the magical artifact with such gusto, but alas, their pockets were emptier than their faces...

Pairs of eyes scrutinized Ye Chen, trying to guess his identity...

However, with over two hundred thousand outer disciples, almost all of them were strangers to each other, and now that they were wearing masks, they were completely unrecognizable...