The black market beneath Thousand Isle City remained as lively as ever.
Unlike the orderly commercial districts governed by the Jiuding Merchant Alliance, this place possessed a completely different atmosphere. Dimly lit corridors stretched in every direction while cultivators concealed their appearances beneath robes, masks and hoods. Transactions occurred swiftly with very few questions being asked, as everyone understood the unspoken rule.
No one cared where an item came from.
As long as it possessed value...
Someone would buy it.
Among the endless stream of cloaked figures, one man quietly entered through the stone archway before lowering his head and blending into the crowd.
Beneath the hood...
Was a familiar face.
Shen Xiuyong.
Ever since arriving at the Thousand Isles Archipelago several months ago, he had believed fortune had finally smiled upon him.
His original intention had been simple.
He wished to study the famous Water Alchemy Method unique to the Southern Archipelagos before using his own alchemy attainments to establish a reputation within Thousand Isle City.
Instead...
Reality had struck him far harder than expected.
The Southern Archipelagos differed greatly from the Eastern Region.
Owing to the overwhelming concentration of Water Spiritual Roots, the majority of local alchemists specialised in Water Alchemy rather than the traditional Fire Alchemy.
Instead of relying solely upon spiritual flames, Water Alchemy used naturally formed Spirit Lakes or underground Water Veins beneath specially constructed furnaces. During refinement, the gentle nature of water continuously tempered the medicinal ingredients, gradually removing impurities while allowing the herbs to merge together naturally.
The process...
Was painfully slow.
A single batch often required several times longer than ordinary Fire Alchemy.
Even so, countless cultivators willingly paid the additional cost.
The resulting pills contained remarkably few impurities, allowing medicinal power to be absorbed more completely by the cultivator's body.
For that reason alone...
Water Alchemy had remained the dominant method throughout the Southern Archipelagos for thousands of years.
Originally, Shen Xiuyong believed his superior Fire Alchemy techniques would allow him to stand out amongst the slower local alchemists.
Reality proved otherwise.
That cursed Heaven Pill Shop...
The thought alone caused the veins upon his forehead to twitch.
Before he could even establish himself...
The market had already been completely overturned.
New medicinal pills continuously emerged one after another, each possessing astonishing effects that rapidly swept across the entire archipelago.
The Dragon Lock Pill alone had allowed countless Peak Qi Refining cultivators, who had remained trapped for years, to finally attempt Foundation Establishment.
Many had succeeded.
The Crystal Pure Pill had become even more outrageous.
By cleansing Magical Power and strengthening one's cultivation foundation, it directly increased the probability of successfully breaking through Foundation Establishment by nearly twenty percent.
Twenty percent...
Even major clans regarded such an increase as heaven-defying.
Shen Xiuyong could still vividly remember the first day he witnessed the endless queue stretching outside the Heaven Pill Shop.
His own shop...
Had remained completely deserted.
No cultivator wished to purchase ordinary medicinal pills when something vastly superior stood just across the street.
"Damn that Heaven Pill Shop..."
He muttered under his breath.
At first, he attempted lowering his prices.
Then he refined higher-quality batches.
Eventually...
He even accepted losses simply to attract customers.
Nothing worked.
His reputation had been completely overshadowed.
Unable to compete openly, Shen Xiuyong eventually made a decision.
If the surface market no longer welcomed him...
Then he would sell within the black market instead.
At least here...
Competition wasn't quite so brutal.
Unfortunately...
The moment he reached the medicinal trading district, his expression darkened once again.
Several cloaked cultivators stood before one of the largest trading counters while excitedly discussing a newly arrived shipment.
"I managed to buy one bottle!"
"Really?"
"What did you get?"
The man carefully looked around before lowering his voice.
"Qi Origin Pills."
Several people immediately revealed envious expressions.
"I heard they help Foundation Establishment cultivators accumulate enough Spiritual Qi to support an entire minor breakthrough."
"They do."
"My senior brother used one."
"He broke through three days later."
Another cultivator sighed helplessly.
"I wanted to buy them as well..."
"But they sold out before my turn."
Someone beside him chuckled.
"The Boosting Essence Pills disappeared even faster."
"They're practically indispensable during breakthroughs."
"Maintaining one's essence throughout the entire process dramatically reduces the chance of damaging one's foundation."
Shen Xiuyong's expression gradually became uglier.
Another...
Another new pill?
He had barely recovered from the Dragon Lock Pill and Crystal Pure Pill dominating the market.
Now...
More medicinal pills had appeared.
Before he could digest the news, another conversation reached his ears.
"I heard the Niwan Opening Pill has also arrived."
"It assists Purple Palace breakthroughs."
"The quantity is extremely limited."
"Even Purple Palace seniors have started competing for them."
The surrounding cultivators instinctively lowered their voices.
Although they rarely encountered Purple Palace cultivators personally...
Everyone understood what such a medicinal pill represented.
Shen Xiuyong clenched his fists beneath his sleeves.
His breathing unconsciously became heavier.
The Heaven Pill Shop...
Hadn't merely conquered the public market.
Its influence had already spread into the black market as well.
For the first time since arriving at the Thousand Isles Archipelago...
He genuinely wondered whether remaining here had been a mistake.
Several days later...
Deep beneath the island, the ancient Dharma Altar once again emitted a faint silver radiance.
Formation lines that had remained dormant for countless years gradually awakened one after another, their intricate patterns spreading throughout the altar like flowing rivers of light. Hundreds of Mid-grade Spirit Stones embedded around the formation simultaneously released streams of pure Spiritual Qi, feeding the repaired array while the fragment of the Void Stone quietly floated above its centre.
Lin Sheng stood several metres away with unwavering concentration.
This was his first genuine teleportation experiment.
Naturally, he had no intention of risking himself.
Instead, standing upon the centre of the formation was a humanoid puppet that he had refined using Rank Two spiritual materials. Its internal structure had been repeatedly strengthened over the past few days, yet its overall durability still corresponded to the Rank Two level.
The formation reached its peak.
A pillar of silver light suddenly erupted.
The puppet instantly disappeared.
The entire underground chamber trembled slightly before silence returned.
Almost immediately, the brilliant formation lines began fading while the Mid-grade Spirit Stones surrounding the altar visibly dimmed, each having lost a noticeable portion of its Spiritual Qi.
Lin Sheng calmly deactivated the formation.
The silver radiance completely vanished.
He immediately closed his eyes.
As expected...
The connection had been severed.
The distance separating both formations far exceeded the range of his current Mental Perception, making it impossible to directly sense the puppet's condition after teleportation.
Fortunately...
He had anticipated exactly this situation.
Without hesitation, Lin Sheng activated the formation once more.
Only this time...
For merely ten breaths.
The repaired array briefly resonated with its counterpart before Crystal rapidly completed another inspection through the connection.
As soon as the tenth breath elapsed, Lin Sheng immediately shut the formation down once more.
Crystal's report quickly appeared.
•[Inspection complete.
Receiving remote structural feedback...]•
A series of images rapidly reconstructed themselves within Lin Sheng's mind.
The puppet had arrived successfully.
However...
Its condition wasn't encouraging.
Numerous fractures covered the outer shell while several joints had completely ruptured. The internal formation pathways had likewise suffered heavy distortion, with nearly forty percent rendered unusable immediately after teleportation.
Lin Sheng wasn't surprised.
Instead, he quietly nodded.
"So that's the limit."
The teleportation itself had succeeded.
The problem lay within the process.
The tremendous spatial pressure generated during long-distance transmission simply exceeded what Rank Two materials could withstand.
Even though the puppet hadn't been torn apart completely, it had still suffered severe structural damage.
Crystal immediately reached the same conclusion.
•[Rank Two material strength insufficient for long-distance spatial transmission.
Probability of complete failure after repeated teleportation: 97.2%]•
Lin Sheng slowly folded his arms.
Fortunately...
His own Body Refining cultivation had already reached the Rank Three level.
Compared to the puppet, his physique possessed vastly greater durability.
Even so...
He refused to gamble.
Teleportation through an ancient formation whose destination remained unknown wasn't something he could afford to underestimate.
One careless mistake...
Could leave his body shattered across endless spatial currents.
"No."
"I'll perform another test."
His next experiment would use a puppet refined entirely from Rank Three materials.
If even that survived with only minor damage...
Then his own body should have little difficulty enduring the transmission.
Only after every possible uncertainty had been eliminated would he personally activate the formation.
His gaze slowly drifted towards the stacks of Mid-grade Spirit Stones placed nearby.
After several months of operating both the Heaven Pill Shop and his black-market identity, the number of Spirit Stones under his control had grown at an astonishing pace.
Although activating the ancient formation remained incredibly expensive...
His current reserves were finally approaching the minimum amount Crystal had originally estimated.
Perhaps...
Another few months would be enough.
Yet instead of feeling relieved...
Lin Sheng's expression gradually became solemn.
Recently...
An indescribable sense of unease had quietly settled within his heart.
It wasn't fear.
Nor was it ordinary anxiety.
Rather...
It resembled the instinctive warning cultivated through years of surviving life-and-death situations.
As though...
Something was approaching.
Something capable of threatening even his current strength.
Lin Sheng remained silent for a long time before slowly exhaling.
He trusted his instincts.
Especially now that both his cultivation and Mental Perception had advanced significantly.
If such a feeling appeared without reason...
Then there was only one possibility.
Trouble...
Was already on its way.