Chapter 812 The Underground Yinan Market
After Ye Xuanyue parted ways with Leng Moran and the explorer, the young girl's eyes faintly brightened. Then she spoke.
"Let's go. Let's have a look."
...
Two days later.
The sun baked the earth, and the scorching airflow made breathing uncomfortable. The blazing sun made one's mood turn gloomy.
Ye Xuanyue raised her head. The young girl's gaze, however, was clear and cold, like a wisp of ice and snow in the sky. Seeing it immediately made one's heart feel cool.
The sunlight was glaring. Ye Xuanyue walked forward a few steps, then spoke.
"Choosing a place like this for the Human Race's trading spot was for caution's sake."
"After all, the environment here is harsh. Apart from a very few Spirit Beasts like sand ants, others generally do not pass through here. The chance of being discovered is greatly reduced."
This was a stretch of Gobi that looked extremely desolate. In the distance lay golden, scalding sands. The soil underfoot was blazing hot. This environment was indeed extremely harsh, somewhat like the Village of the Condemned where Ye Xuanyue had stayed when she first entered the Lingtian Continent. It truly was not suitable for humans to live in.
Mu Yeqing was a straightforward person.
He had explained everything about this place to Ye Xuanyue very clearly, including how to enter.
Ye Xuanyue's gaze swept the surroundings. Suddenly, it brightened slightly, and her tone carried a faint trace of excitement.
"We're here... I found it. It should be right there."
She looked at a huge, lonely black stone standing before her. A faint smile appeared on her face. Then she walked towards the back of that stone.
Carefully brushing away a layer of shifting sand on the surface, her palm felt scorching. However, given Ye Xuanyue's current cultivation strength and physical toughness, she could still withstand it.
Gradually, a Stone Slate appeared underneath. Leng Moran stepped forward, reached out his hand, and used Spiritual Power to open the Stone Slate. Below, a pitch-black opening immediately appeared.
...
The two of them walked inside the underground cavern. Mu Yeqing had explained that there was a small city-like place used by humans for trading underground. Its scale wasn't large, but it was enough to hold several thousand people. It was probably located within the vast Beast Alliance—one of the biggest secret underground bases of the Humans.
This place hadn't been built by humans. Instead, they had utilized an underground relic and converted it. There were even permanently stationed shops inside, where one could purchase basic supplies needed by explorers, such as Elixirs. It was quite marvelous.
Several thousand people sounded like a lot, but thinking carefully, the number of explorers venturing outside for the Imperial Dynasty was extremely huge. This was merely a drop in the ocean.
Mu Yeqing was an explorer who traveled outside year-round. When he talked about these aspects, he was very thorough. He said that he had heard the area with the most Imperial Dynasty explorers was actually the Endless Sea to the east.
Although that area nominally belonged to the Imperial Dynasty, it was too far away. In reality, the Imperial Dynasty couldn't control it at all. Countless small forces stood side by side. One could even occupy an island there and rule it themselves.
Therefore, many cultivators from the Imperial Dynasty flocked there. There were even entire families who moved to those islands. The number of Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Riches there was countless. The biggest threat was Sea Beasts.
But the spiritual intelligence of Sea Beasts generally wasn't very high. Adventurers who came from the Imperial Dynasty, if united, could still control the situation.
The reason Mu Yeqing didn't go to the Endless Sea had some personal causes. He still tried to persuade Ye Xuanyue and Leng Moran that if they must take risks, rather than choosing a place with extremely high danger like the Beast Alliance, they might as well go far away and try their luck on those islands.
But Ye Xuanyue refused. She couldn't leave the Beast Alliance right now.
She instinctively looked around and faintly heard noises coming from the depths. Ye Xuanyue's eyes brightened. She immediately became interested and walked several more steps forward.
...
What appeared before Ye Xuanyue was indeed an extremely lively scene. There were people holding lanterns, hawking directly in the huge cavern ahead. Inside, all sorts of messily built houses stood, and the cries of hawkers never ceased.
For a moment, it made Ye Xuanyue feel as if she had returned to the Imperial City. She and Leng Moran walked down, only then realizing there really were many people inside. Many gathered in groups, trading who knew what.
And as soon as she walked down, she was immediately noticed.
An old man, hunched over at the very edge, looked at Ye Xuanyue with a full-faced smile.
"Is this your first time coming to our Yin'an Market?"
Ye Xuanyue didn't show any particular expression. She spoke.
"Among your shops here, which one is the fairest?"
The old man rubbed his nose. His cultivation strength seemed not even to have reached the Martial Emperor Realm. Someone like this must have had quite ordinary talent. But precisely because of this, it was somewhat peculiar.
This old man was probably extremely slick; otherwise, he couldn't have survived here. With just a light glance, Ye Xuanyue felt that the auras of several people gave her an obscure feeling. They had probably all broken through to the Martial Emperor Realm. The cultivation strength of the people here was generally very high. None were below the Martial King level. It truly was a state where Martial Venerables were as common as dogs, and Martial Kings walked everywhere.
But this was a special case. Because this place was too dangerous. To put it bluntly, if one was at the Martial Venerable Realm here, one probably couldn't survive three days. Without some confidence, one couldn't get by here.
The old man grinned and spoke.
"A fair shop's prices are always a bit higher."
"I do know of a shop with very good things. But..."
He rubbed his fingers together gently. The smile on his face grew more distinct.
This old man's clothing looked quite ordinary. He wore a padded jacket. Apart from that, he was bare, with no jewelry or ornaments, only a ring on his left hand, which should have been a Spatial Ring. The old man was missing a tooth, so he spoke with a slight lisp. Moreover, sharp lights flashed repeatedly in his eyes.
Ye Xuanyue's expression was extremely aloof. She no longer paid attention to the old man and was just about to bypass him to continue exploring deeper inside when she heard a seemingly mocking laugh.
"Ge Lao Ba, fooling newcomers again?"
"Our Yin'an Market has some rules too. Your set of cheating and tricking—using it here—aren't you afraid of losing face?"
"Don't you know, those who can find their way here mostly have someone guiding them from behind?"
"Where would so many fat sheep come from for you to slaughter?"
"You probably forgot how that tooth of yours got knocked out, right?"
Upon hearing this, a flash of resentment appeared in the old man's eyes, but he changed his expression very quickly, soon turning back into a smile.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. I had some grievances with him before."
"That's why he insists on spreading rumors to smear me."
"I won't say any more. Look for yourselves, look for yourselves."
After saying this, the old man turned and disappeared into the crowd. He used his "slippery feet" trick quite adeptly.