Chapter 2202: Setting up a Stall

Zhao Hai is currently drinking in a restaurant located inside a city within the Whispering Ghost Sect’s territory. While drinking, Zhao Hai’s ear was working hard listening to the conversations of the people inside the restaurant.

The restaurant was the most popular establishment in the city. Cultivators frequent the restaurant, of which majority of them were rogue cultivators. 

There were times where Zhao Hai envied the rogue cultivators. In the underground world, Ghost Cultivators weren’t short of money to spend. When they head out the cities, they could find a place owned by nobody and call it their own. As long as they paid taxes to the city that managed the land, then all of the income from the land would be theirs. They could also catch red goblins to cultivate the land. They didn’t need to do any heavy lifting at all. They can just lie at home and count their money.

Such a life was quite enviable. In the True Spirit Realm, cultivators almost had no income if they didn’t go out to do missions. Those who have no income could only starve to death. The same was true for the people in the underground world’s sects.

The sect disciples of the sects in the underground world were also envious of the rogue cultivators. Rogue cultivators don’t need to work hard to survive. They don’t worry about clothes or food. On the other hand, sect disciples had to rush in all directions to survive.

What sect disciples didn’t know was that the same was also true for the rogue cultivators. Rogue cultivators envied sect disciples because those in the sects have access to high-level cultivation methods as well as endless resources. Compared to rogue cultivators who could only eat ordinary food and own ordinary items, sect disciples could reach farther in the road to cultivation. As a cultivator, this was what they should be doing.

The reason why rogue cultivators were concentrated on this particular city was because it was going to be the city’s annual trading conference. All items in the city would be sold at a lower price than they should be selling. Moreover, most of the items to be sold in the conference were cultivation resources. Because of this, rogue cultivators would gather in the city every year, hoping to buy cheap cultivation resources to get them through the entire year.

 The conference would last for ten days. It wasn’t only rogue cultivators who would trade in the conference, sect disciples would be here as well. Like the rogue cultivators, they also want to buy cheap cultivation resources.

Although the trading conference had begun, the rogue cultivators weren’t anxious to grab resources. They knew very well that the truly good things wouldn’t appear on the first day. People who purchased items on the first days were the weaker cultivators. These people didn’t need overly powerful resources. Therefore, they could purchase all they could in the first two days of the conference.

Since cultivators gathered in the popular restaurant, it also became the biggest source of information in the city. Therefore, Zhao Hai came to gather information.

Zhao Hai was already aware that his target was named Liu Ze. He was the youngest genius of the Whispering Ghost Sect and also the target of the sect’s resources. Almost all of the Whispering Ghost Sect’s resources were practically owned by Liu Ze. This showed how much importance the Whispering Ghost Sect placed in him.

To be honest, Zhao Hai wasn’t used to people like Liu Ze. Such a person was akin to a flower raised in a greenhouse. They were unlikely to bear fruit,

However, Zhao Hai also believed that a strong sect such as the Whispering Ghost Sect wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake. They would certainly send Liu Ze out for trials in the future.

As Zhao Hai was thinking about this, a voice suddenly came, “Senior Brother, did you say that Senior Brother Liu was allowed by the sect to come out for a trial? I can see how precious Senior Brother Liu is, how could he be sent to such a place filled with people with bad intentions? I heard that the other sects are already eyeing Senior Brother Liu’s head. They want to get rid of him.”

Another cultivator sighed and said, “Speak more quietly. If someone else hears you, Senior Brother Liu will be in danger. Alright, let’s eat our food quickly and leave. Protecting Senior Brother Liu’s safety is most important.”

The cultivator who spoke out couldn’t help but sigh as he said, “Why don’t we have innate talents? If we have good talents, we can also be like Senior Brother Liu. We will have protection wherever we go.”

The other cultivator replied, “Say fewer words. We don’t have the strength to speak our thoughts. Go and eat. After eating, we’re going to change shifts. Actually, our presence is just for show. If an expert really came, we won’t have any use. I heard that the sect has sent elders to stay hidden. They will come out when Senior Brother Liu is in great danger.”

The cultivator nodded and no longer spoke. Before long, the two finished their meal. After paying the bill, they left the restaurant. Zhao Hai was also keen to notice that several cultivators left with the two.

After the two groups left, two more cultivators left the restaurant and went the same direction. From beginning to end, Zhao Hai didn’t look at them. He leisurely ate and drank his food.

Zhao Hai wasn’t anxious. All the cultivators that left had a bit of liquid silver dust in them. With the strength these people have, they couldn’t discover liquid silver.

Zhao Hai has already touched the threshold of the Earth Monarch stage. He also knows what Earth Monarchs are capable of. Although Earth Monarchs could feel a grain of dust touching their bodies, it wasn’t possible for them to maintain this all the time. Only when they command their body to be alert would they detect dust.

It was also because of this that Zhao Hai confidently used liquid silver for tracking. He was now waiting to see what these three groups of people were up to.

It didn’t take long before Zhao Hai received his answer. Of the three groups, the first group were from the Whispering Ghost Sect. However, those two cultivators were merely small fry. Therefore, nobody paid attention to them.

As for the second group of people, they were people sent by the sects to assassinate Liu Ze. Their goals were aligned, yet they didn’t collaborate. From how they acted, Zhao Hai knew that they would die. It’s impossible for them to succeed by acting individually.

The third group seemed to be a mystery. But they might not be another group of people sent to assassinate Liu Ze. Instead, it’s likely that they were from the Whispering Ghost Sect. They wanted to track those who wanted to kill Liu Ze. It was clear that the people in the second group were seen by those in the third group.

Zhao Hai didn’t mind what happened after. After paying for his meal, he went to the trading grounds to take a look. The trading grounds were the central square of the city. There were plenty of stalls lined up selling cultivation items. There were talismans, pills, and other resources.

Sure enough, since it was the first day of the conference, there were no notable items on display. After going around the square, Zhao Hai returned to his hotel.

Zhao Hai didn’t hide his strength. He was a Soul Fusion cultivator, so it would be embarrassing for him to haggle with a Clone Stage cultivator. Therefore, Zhao Hai didn’t buy anything from the stalls.

After returning to his hotel, Zhao Hai didn’t immediately sleep. Instead, he observed the three groups of people through the Space.

The first group were low-level cultivators from the Whispering Ghost Sect. There was nothing to say about them, they were simply bait. After returning to Liu Ze’s place, they watched the gate.

Whispering Ghost Sect also has its subordinate gang in the city. However, Liu Ze didn’t stay with the gang. Instead, he lived in the city’s best hotel. It seemed like he was on vacation instead of on a trial.

However, Zhao Hai was also aware that if Liu Ze stayed with the subordinate gang, it would only paint a larger target on his back. Moreover, people from the subordinate gang weren’t necessarily loyal. It was better to stay in the hotel.

The Whispering Ghost Sect rented an entire floor of the hotel. Everyone else could go out and eat, but Liu Ze can’t. Moreover, everything that Liu Ze consumed was brought over from the Whispering Ghost Sect and prepared by the sect’s people. Liu Ze never ate anything outside, not even a sip of water. This eliminated the possibility of him being poisoned.

Thanks to the two cultivators from the Whispering Ghost Sect, Zhao Hai knew a lot about Liu Ze’s living condition. The two originally guarded Liu Ze’s door, so they knew him very well. And with liquid silver’s range being 10 thousand meters, Liu Ze’s living quarters were also within Zhao Hai’s range of surveillance. Zhao Hai even saw Liu Ze.

Seeing Liu Ze, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but be disappointed. Liu Ze looked terrible. He had a long monkey-like body and was very skinny. Looking at Liu Ze’s appearance, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but feel sorry for anyone looking at him.

However, Zhao Hai was certain that this person was Liu Ze. This was because there were two Teleportation Stage cultivators beside him. These two stuck very close to Liu Ze’s side. Liu Ze seems to be used to this setup. Zhao Hai couldn’t see any discomfort from his face.

Just like Zhao Hai thought, the second group of cultivators were assassins after Liu Ze’s head. Knowing where Liu Ze stayed, they left as if nothing was wrong. They didn’t even know that they were already being observed.

The second group of cultivators returned to their rooms. There were even some of them who stayed in the same hotel as Zhao Hai. This came as a surprise to Zhao Hai. However, Zhao Hai didn’t plan on leaving. Leaving the hotel at this time would be suspicious.

The third group of cultivators were indeed from the Whispering Ghost Sect. They followed the second group of cultivators. Upon finding out where the cultivators lived, they also left.

The groups coming and going looked like a scene from a spy movie. Zhao Hai also understood that assassinating Liu Ze would be difficult. However, he wasn’t worried. He knew that being anxious wouldn’t do him any good. As long as he was patient, he would find an opportunity. If he was anxious, he might reveal some flaws.

Zhao Hai rested in his hotel the entire evening. The next morning, he returned to the trading square after eating breakfast. This time, there were more people looking at the stalls. Moreover, the items being displayed have increased in level. Seeing this, Zhao Hai looked for a space in the square and laid down a square piece of cloth. Then he placed a pile of talismans on the ground before sitting silently down.

There were plenty of stalls like Zhao Hai in the trading square. Cultivators would create talismans, pills, or other items the entire day and then sell them off in the trading conference. Although the prices of items weren’t high, the volume of trade made up for it. Most importantly, they could also use their earnings to buy what they want at a cheaper price.

The talismans that Zhao Hai took out weren’t high-level. However, their quality was very good. The moment he showed his talismans, a cultivator immediately went to his stall. The cultivator wore gray robes and had a cold face. One could see at a glance that he was a rogue cultivator.

Looking at the talismans in Zhao Hai’s stall, the cultivator’s eyes couldn’t help but turn bright. Rogue cultivators might have trouble finding cultivation resources, but this also made their eyes very skilled in looking for value. The rogue cultivator could see that Zhao Hai’s talismans were quality.

The rogue cultivator looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Friend, how much for your talismans?”

Zhao Hai replied, “I’m not selling these talismans for money. I only exchange for materials. I have a particular list of materials I want. If you have them, you can exchange them with me. If you don’t, you can take out other things. But they need to be rare or something I haven’t seen.” Then Zhao Hai took out a piece of animal skin and wrote a list of materials.

This was one of Zhao Hai’s goals in this mission. He plans to collect unique materials of the underground world. Even if he doesn’t get any treasures, he wouldn’t suffer any loss. The talismans he took out could be made by the Space in a blink of an eye.

The cultivator looked at the animal skin that Zhao Hai took out and read through the materials listed. Seeing the materials, he couldn’t help but nod. The materials weren’t hard to get. Moreover, Zhao Hai’s exchange rate was reasonable; even cheaper than usual. However, he wasn’t prepared to exchange these materials for Zhao Hai’s talismans. Instead, he flipped his hand and took out an item. He handed it to Zhao Hai and said, “Look at this. I haven’t seen anything like it before. I don’t know if I can exchange it for your talismans.”