Fantasy, starting with a treasure bowl

...

Blackrock City, an alleyway in the inner city

The area on both sides was unusually quiet, with few people walking around. At the deep end of the alley entrance stood a gate with eight large characters that read "No unauthorized personnel allowed," adding to the mystery.

"If that old beggar wasn't lying to me, this should be the place..."

After glancing around, Lu Feng composed himself and immediately headed deeper into the alley.

Although it was his first time in Blackrock City and he didn't know the exact location of the underground black market, as the saying goes, money makes the world go round, and the streets were full of beggars and vagrants, so it wasn't too difficult to find out some information.

As for Lu Feng, he was no exception. He had spent more than ten taels of silver to find out the location of this underground black market from an old beggar.

"Stay, secret signal."

Before Lu Feng could even get close to the alley entrance archway, a deep, hoarse male voice suddenly came from within, as if Lu Feng's every move was within his sight.

"May wealth and fortune flow in from all directions."

Lu Feng paused slightly and said in a deep voice, as if he had expected this.

"Go in."

Seeing that Lu Feng had successfully answered the code, the hoarse man hiding at the alley entrance didn't ask any more questions. He simply said coldly, as if he was already used to questioning visitors, "Entry fee: five hundred low-grade spirit stones."

Thank you.

Faced with the hoarse man's reminder, Lu Feng had some objections, but he didn't dare to question it and eventually paid up the money.

After all, this underground black market is the largest martial arts trading place in Black Rock City, and its background is not simple. Even though Lu Feng's strength has greatly increased and his cultivation has reached the first level of the Meridian Opening Realm, he is not too bold to cause trouble here alone.

Besides, the underground black market is a mixed bag of various forces, including all sorts of people. It would be unwise and unnecessary to create unnecessary trouble over a small entry fee.

"Damn it, just to come in and browse, they charge five hundred low-grade spirit stones! No wonder it's an underground black market, it's really outrageous!"

Lu Feng pulled out a small cloth bag full of spirit stones from his pocket, flicked it with his finger and sent it into the depths of the alley. The next moment, he leaped into it, muttering to himself.

...

Upon entering the underground black market, the scene was slightly different from what Lu Feng had imagined. It wasn't as mysterious and unpredictable as rumored; instead, it was filled with the lively atmosphere of everyday life.

All along the way, there were vendors hawking their wares, and every now and then a heated argument would break out, like old women and young wives haggling over prices when buying vegetables, which felt very familiar.

If it weren't for the fact that most of the stall owners were martial artists, exuding a powerful aura of Yuan energy, and carrying their own natal spirit treasures and weapons, it would be no different from a commoner's market in the outer city.

...

"Take a look! Top-grade Rank 3 'Mysterious Scale Poison-Breaking Pill,' capable of curing all poisons and strengthening the body's foundation, is only priced at two thousand low-grade spirit stones. You won't regret it!"

"A massive clearance sale! This sword is called 'Soul Severer.' Not only can it cut through iron like mud, but its power is also comparable to a quasi-fourth-grade spiritual treasure. It's the masterpiece of Master Zhou, the blacksmith of Black Rock City. Now you can get it for only 50,000 low-grade spirit stones—a real bargain!"

"Fellow Daoists, come and see! I'm releasing a batch of top-quality low-grade Xuan-rank demon cores. Excellent quality, no deception!"

Walking along the black market street, one could hear hawkers calling out their wares from time to time, but most of them were low-grade pills, spiritual treasures, or materials from demonic beasts, which were of no use to Lu Feng at the moment and did not catch his eye.

"Young Master Lu, there's treasure in the upper right corner at twelve o'clock!"

Just as Lu Feng was wandering around inside the black market, Gu Canyang's voice suddenly came from inside the treasure basin, causing him to pause in his tracks.

"What?"

"Heh, I never expected that such a small town's underground black market would actually sell 'Soul Strengthening and Heart-Stabilizing Pills.' That's quite rare."

Gu Canyang's voice came again, seemingly surprised, "Hurry and follow, lest you miss this opportunity. Besides, this elixir will be of great use to you!"

Following Gu Canyang's reminder, Lu Feng then noticed that there was another stall in the corner to his right at the twelve o'clock position.

However, the stall here had very few treasures, and most of them were demon cores below the Xuan rank and ordinary medicinal herbs, which were of average value. Only a fist-sized glass bottle stood out, inside which lay a perfectly round, light purple pill.

"Ancient, what exactly is the Soul-Strengthening and Heart-Consolidating Pill?"

His gaze swept over the glass bottles on the stall, and Lu Feng asked again.

Although he now possesses a fragment of the Medicine King's Manual, he has not yet thoroughly studied and mastered it. Moreover, Lu Feng himself is not an alchemist and has no understanding of the Dao of Alchemy or the effects of various medicinal properties.

"The purple pill in that small glass bottle is the Soul Strengthening and Heart-Consolidating Pill. This pill is not only of excellent quality, being a genuine sixth-grade pill, but it also incorporates the essence of many high-level spiritual herbs and demon cores."

"Even ordinary mortals with no cultivation foundation and negligible soul power can be reborn after consuming this pill, and may even directly give birth to the budding of soul power."

Gu Canyang's tone was one of感慨 (gan3kai3, deep emotion), even a hint of surprise, "Young man of the Lu family, didn't you want to improve your soul power and become an alchemist in the future? Now the opportunity is right in front of you, it's like you've got exactly what you're looking for."

"A pill that can enhance soul power?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Feng's eyes lit up, revealing an excited expression.

Unlike the cultivation of Yuan power by ordinary martial artists, the cultivation of soul power is not only more difficult, but also highly dependent on talent and comprehension. Most martial artists are limited by their low natural talent, and even if they bury themselves in hard work for a lifetime, they may not be able to awaken the budding of soul power.

This is one of the reasons why alchemists and weapon forgers are so scarce and are treated as honored guests by many forces on the continent.

To put it simply, anyone who can awaken the budding of soul power, even the worst one, can become a first-grade alchemist or weapon forger.

Therefore, the efficacy of this sixth-grade "Strengthening Soul and Firming Heart Pill" is evident!

Besides, Lu Feng's own cultivation talent and aptitude were indeed not very good. Even the fact that he was able to successfully condense the Yuan Power Seed was entirely thanks to the Treasure Basin.

If it weren't for the time he underwent a baptism of fire at the Treasure Basin, Lu Feng might still be a lowly tomb raider in the Mojin Sect, struggling to survive and enduring humiliation.

"As the saying goes, 'Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure,' and this is truly true!"

Containing his joyful expression, Lu Feng quickly strode towards the stall opposite.

If it weren't for the presence of Gu Canyang, a spirit that had lived for tens of thousands of years, he would have almost missed out on this sixth-grade pill, "Strengthening Soul and Firming Heart Pill." With Gu Canyang's reminder, Lu Feng's success rate in finding bargains in the future will undoubtedly be greatly increased!

"Young friend, is there something you need?"

Seeing Lu Feng standing in front of his stall, the stall owner merely raised his eyelids slightly, glanced at him, and did not call out to sell his wares. His tone was also very indifferent, as if he was not there to do business, but rather to kill time by idling around.