Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 897 - 762: Gathering (Seeking Monthly Votes at Month’s End)

Chapter 897: Chapter 762: Gathering (Seeking Monthly Votes at Month’s End)

Among the ruins.

A flash of light, and Fang Xi’s figure emerged.

The grand auction at the black market had come to an end.

But this time, although he had purchased several high-grade Spirit Plants and materials, the final result was a great disappointment.

Because the finale of the auction was a ’Nine-six Nirvana Pill’—a boon for those breaking through the integration bottleneck—as well as a fragment of an Immortal Mansion Rare Treasure!

Fang Xi had to admit that these two auction items were significant enough to serve as the finale for any super auction outside.

Unfortunately, they held no attraction for him.

’Black Sky Pavilion even auctioned off spots to enter the ’Seven Treasures Secret Realm’... Most of the bidders were at the seventh rank; it seems that the produce within this Secret Realm is of great assistance even to Integration cultivators...’

Fang Xi flew out of the black market and traveled millions of miles in one breath.

Immediately after, he withdrew his disguise, or rather, donned another one, and boldly re-entered the market city as the Wang Family Ancestor, returning to his cave dwelling.

...

Black Sky Pavilion.

The Eight Hand Clan’s proprietor and the Shadows all stood to one side, paying respects to Fairy Peony along with numerous other proprietors.

"This grand auction has concluded smoothly, especially considering the arrival of many human cultivators recently... You all have been meritorious."

Fairy Peony spoke with a smile.

"To serve the master, we dare not speak of merit."

The Eight Hand Clan’s proprietor and Shadow hastily responded.

"Enough, merit is merit, fault is fault... This Pavilion has always been clear on rewards and punishments."

Fairy Peony said, "Your rewards will soon arrive... the matter of the Seven Treasures Secret Realm, however, requires even more diligence now, as that personage is paying close attention."

"Yes!"

Every proprietor immediately nodded.

"Now, let’s discuss the progress. How many cultivators with Divine Consciousness strong and at the sixth rank or higher have been confirmed?"

Fairy Peony lounged lazily: "I will meet with them later myself and plant the ’Heavenly Fragrance God Restrictions’..."

"The Iron Mountain Branch has one that has already arrived at headquarters."

"The Fragrant River Branch has one, but the person is asking for a ’Heavenly Calamity Pill’ as a deposit..."

A head proprietor stepped forward, a troubled look on his face.

"Give it to him... as long as he dares to come."

Fairy Peony chuckled, then looked at the Eight Hand Clan’s proprietor: "Eight Fingers... what about your side?"

The Eight Hand Clan’s proprietor immediately felt sweat on his forehead, and replied with trepidation: "There is one... but they have not given a definite response to me."

"If there’s no response after the grand auction, either they’ve decided not to attend, or they’ve obtained a spot through bidding..."

Fairy Peony appeared contemplative: "Go and confirm promptly, do you want to be used as fertilizer for me?"

"We will go at once..."

The Eight Hand Clan’s proprietor wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly retreated with Shadow...

...

Outside the black market at this time.

Fang Xi stood shoulder to shoulder with Bai Yusheng.

"Sir seems to be waiting for something..."

Bai Yusheng asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Nothing... just not wanting to make more trouble, let’s go."

Fang Xi turned, his hand twisting a string of prayer beads, a look of compassion on his face.

Originally, he had thought of using the guise of the Wang Family Ancestor as bait to fish for information.

But he now cautioned himself not to be too careless!

What if the master of the black market showed up at his doorstep?

The recent example of Fang Immortal Taoist Master was a stern warning to be even more cautious!

Moreover... Falling Sky Island would eventually be his anyway. Introducing cultivators from the Nine States would allow every resource on the island to be fully utilized when the time came.

With that in mind, why rush too eagerly?

Several days later, the Eight Hand Clan’s proprietor and Shadow found themselves in Fang Xi’s empty dongfu, their expressions becoming extremely unsightly...

...

Springs passed and autumns arrived.

Although there were no distinct seasons atop Falling Sky Island, time still flew by.

On this day.

Outside an ancient Immortal Palace.

Above that palace, as pure as white jade, prohibitions in all colors of the rainbow still lingered, converging into secret runes of the Immortals.

This was one of the few places on Falling Sky Island that the cultivators had not managed to breach.

Boom!

The ground shook violently, and suddenly a giant face appeared; it was the seventh rank individual from the Earth clan.

It opened its mouth wide and spewed out one exotic flower after another.

The largest peony bloomed, and from within, Fairy Peony emerged gracefully.

Then, from the other flowers, various cultivators at the Returning to Emptiness stage appeared.

These cultivators were mostly from alien races, their cultivation around the upper sixth rank, each emanating a chilling aura.

"Haha... I did not expect it to be you, Black Market, who arrived fastest."

A resonant voice came from the high sky.

Then, a ferocious dragon head peeked down, its eyes as big as cartwheels, its scales cold as iron, shining with strong spiritual light.

Indeed, it was a seventh-rank Flood Dragon!

The pitch-black Flood Dragon’s figure emerged from the clouds and mist, then descended upon the ground, transforming into an old man in a black robe with dragon horns.

Behind him followed one Monster cultivator after another.

Whoo-whoo!

In the sky to the west, numerous demon heads converged, forming terrifying dark clouds, dragging behind them a colossal chariot made of bones.

Atop the carriage were various members of the Demon Clan.

"People of the Black Market, and you, old black dragon, have arrived quite swiftly!"

From among the demons, a mature woman clad in black armor walked forth, smiling radiantly as she spoke.

"Lady Demon Sound..."

The name escaped the lips of the old man with dragon horns cloaked in black robes.

"Now that the three factions have gathered, we’re just missing the key in the hands of the human race, right?"

Fairy Peony looked at the old black dragon with a playful smile, then cast a glance at Lady Demon Sound, still smiling.

Even on Falling Sky Island, the forces of the human, Monster, and Demon Clans were not to be underestimated!

Of course, such an alliance was extremely rare.

The only exception was when there was a need to band together to vie for interests.

"Humph... The human race has indeed been stirring up trouble recently... The last time Falling Sky Island opened, it was directly in their hands, and they had deduced its location in advance, allowing many human cultivators to enter. And with the Void storm happening at that time, no one was able to leave."

The black Flood Dragon elder, a seventh level being, wore a look of deep concern on his face: "Recently, the humans on Falling Sky Island have seen a surge of talents... The Blood Hand Sect Master they killed seemed to be a seventh level being from your Alien race, right?"

He turned towards Fairy Peony.

Fairy Peony’s expression shifted ever so slightly before regaining her composure, "That ’Jianzi’ truly is a genius of the human race... But for your Monster Clan to want our Alien race to be the scapegoat just based on a few words, that is indeed too cunning a calculation."

"It’s more than just a few words. Do you know that among the humans this time, there is a cultivator called ’Divine Calculator’ whose cultivation has reached the Middle Stage of Integration and who also excels at divining Heavenly Secrets?"

The old black dragon sneered coldly.

It was unclear whether it had an informant within the human race or had directly extracted the soul of an outsider human cultivator to obtain such information.

"What?"

"Middle Stage of Integration, isn’t that equivalent to a top-tier seventh level... in the same realm as the master of the Black Market?"

The countenances of the many Returning to Emptiness cultivators changed.

On Falling Sky Island, a cultivator at the Middle Stage of Integration was powerful enough to change the rise and fall of a force, even affecting the distribution of interests on a large scale.

"Even though the humans have such a cultivator backing them, they kept it secret, surely they are brewing a conspiracy..."

Lady Demon Sound said cheerfully, "We must be cautious..."

Fairy Peony bit her lip lightly. Although she knew it was a trick by the two clans, she did have some concerns...

Swish!

Suddenly, a beam of Sword Light flashed in the distance.

An Integration Level Sword Qi tore through the air and arrived before everyone in an instant.

The overwhelmingly sharp White Light spread out, crisscrossing the ground, leaving behind trace after trace.

The many sixth level beings of the Alien, Monster, and Demon Clans were intimidated by the Sword Qi, retreating one after another, an indelible shadow carved into their hearts.

Roar-roar!

The roar of a Flood Dragon echoed out as a mystical flower’s Phantom and a wondrous tune of a Sky Demon flashed through the Void.

The Sword Light exploded, revealing the figure of Jianzi.

"Is it you?!"

The old black dragon let out a thunderous roar: "That human swordsman that just ascended to seventh level?!"

"I haven’t killed an Integration Level Flood Dragon yet..."

Jianzi smiled coldly, his gaze fixed on the Flood Dragon elder’s reverse scale: "I wonder if you dare to fight me in a life and death battle?"

The Flood Dragon elder’s expression froze. Even though he was at the Middle Stage of Integration and had been cultivating at this level for many years, he was deeply aware of the terror of Jianzi’s Divine Skills.

After ascending to Integration, he was even more unstoppable!

If you add that one broken sword of the Immortal Mansion Rare Treasure level, he would surely not be a match!

"If you don’t dare, then stop jabbering!"

Jianzi scoffed, his speech sharp like a sword and his demeanor even more so, pressuring those around him.

The Integrating cultivators from the three great forces looked at each other, each harboring a trace of fear in their hearts.

If he is this formidable at the Initial Stage of Integration, what will the future hold?

"For this opening of the Seven Treasures Secret Realm, our human race possesses one key and requires ten spots. Do any of you have any objections?"

Jianzi swept his gaze over the group of Returning to Emptiness cultivators, his heart flashing with a tinge of disappointment.

The figure suspected of possessing a piece of the broken sword was not among these cultivators.

"We... have no issue."

The voice of the old black dragon was dry, as he produced a bronze fragment.

Fairy Peony had a telepathic exchange with someone from the Earth clan, and ultimately deciding the task assigned by the master of the Black Market was more important, she too did not object.

Lady Demon Sound, unable to act alone, also smiled and said, "I shall follow Jianzi’s lead..."

Then she too took out a bronze fragment.

Four bronze fragments came together to form an ancient-looking bronze key, emitting a burst of brilliant light that settled upon the Forbidden Palace restrictions.

Buzz-buzz!

Mist appeared, revealing a passageway.

Within it, countless illusions flashed by, as if there was a small world hidden inside the palace.

"Go ahead!"

Jianzi took out a jade amulet, from which beams of Returning to Emptiness level Escape Light flew out, and this amulet was clearly a Heaven Treasure!

Seeing this, the other demons and members of the Monster Clan also let their Returning to Emptiness cultivators enter one after another.

Fairy Peony exchanged glances with the Earth Race and eyed a few Alien race members for a moment, then motioning for these Aliens to enter.

...

"Good, the Array I set up earlier hasn’t been discovered."

In a cave within a wild jungle elsewhere.

Fang Xi disabled the Array and was greeted by an ancient-looking jade Door, entwined and obscured by countless vines, seemingly abandoned for a long time.