"Thank you," Yuan Ming said, walking towards the passage.

"Is this Fellow Daoist's first time at the Ghost Market? Are you planning to just go in like that?" The shadow suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean by that?" Yuan Ming found this person's sudden conversation a bit strange, yet he did not lie and asked.

"Although Fellow Daoist is wearing a hat, such a level of disguise can be easily penetrated by a sweep of Divine Sense. Do you not know that in the Ghost Market, being seen in your true face is extremely dangerous?" the shadow said.

Yuan Ming was taken aback; Gu Yue had not mentioned this.

The shadow's words made some sense, but since the Thousand Mechanism Mask was not yet refined, he could not conceal his face.

"Fellow Daoist need not worry. Here is a Concealment Cloak that can hide your aura and block Divine Sense. Once you wear it, I guarantee no one will recognize you. We met today for a reason. I'll sell it to you for fifty Spirit Stones, or you can rent it for five Spirit Stones for one use. How about it?" The shadow took out a hooded gray-black cloak, his tone becoming eager.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming realized, and couldn't help but feel both amused and annoyed.

This shadow had stopped him because he wanted to do business.

He used his Divine Sense to touch the gray-black cloak and was rudely rebuffed by an invisible force.

Yuan Ming's eyes brightened; this cloak really could block Divine Sense. It was indeed a good item.

However, his Thousand Mechanism Mask would be ready soon, so there was no need to spend a lot of money to buy this item.

"I'll rent it for one use, one Spirit Stone." Yuan Ming took out a Spirit Stone and handed it over.

"Hehe." The shadow chuckled, swept the Spirit Stone with his sleeve, and tossed the cloak over.

Yuan Ming put on the cloak, and his mana aura was completely concealed, with his scent also vanishing without a trace.

He felt the cloak; it was not made of cloth but woven from a soft, black grass stem, which he seemed to have seen somewhere before.

Yuan Ming thought carefully, and the image of Old Smoke Bag suddenly emerged in his Sea of Consciousness.

His memory was mostly restored, and he vaguely remembered being picked up by Old Smoke Bag.

The day he was picked up from the riverbank by Old Smoke Bag, he had used a mat to cover him and other bodies to conceal the smell of decay. That mat seemed to be woven from this type of grass stem, apparently a specialty of the Southern Border.

"Please enter, Fellow Daoist. Remember, do not follow any seller out!" The black shadow reminded and then vanished into the darkness.

Yuan Ming stepped into the wall passage and quickly reached the end. The lighting ahead became normal, and a dim square came into view.

Looking around, he saw that the area was filled with small stalls, each vendor's face covered, looking rather makeshift, nowhere near the scale and grandeur of Black Rock City Market.

In the square, sparse visitors could be seen, each concealing their true faces. Most wore the same black cloak as Yuan Ming, obviously all either bought or rented from the black shadow, looking shadowy and indistinct.

After a brief survey, Yuan Ming casually walked towards the nearest stall.

This stall had nothing else on display, only two corpses lying side by side, their bodies covered in green scale armor and a faint black mist emerging from their surfaces.

"Refining corpses."

From the information Yuan Ming had previously studied in the sect, he recognized the two corpses had reached the "Green Steel Corpse" level, a fairly high-grade level of corpse refining within the Black Fire Sect, not commonly let out of the sect. It was unexpected to find them in the Ghost Market, and even more so to see two at once.

Looking at the two Green Steel Corpses, Yuan Ming was somewhat tempted.

The bodies of Green Steel Corpses were harder than iron, their combat power was comparable to the peak of the Qi Refining, even capable of withstanding attacks from Foundation Establishment Cultivators—much beyond the Human Demons refined by Hu Huo. Having one would be greatly beneficial in combat.

"How much for these two refining corpses?" Just then, another person clad in a black cloak came over and inquired.

"Eight hundred Spirit Stones each, the price is firm," the gray-robed, hooded vendor responded without lifting his head.

"Would you sell for five hundred?" the person asked.

"I said the price is firm. Even if you offer a thousand Spirit Stones outside this place, you won't be able to buy them," the vendor said coldly.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming shook his head and walked away.

The price was too high; better to look at other things.

He continued to look at several stalls. The items were indeed fine, even some suitable for Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Soon, Yuan Ming stopped in front of another small stall.

Behind the stall sat a person in a green robe with a bronze mask, likely a woman by the figure.

Yuan Ming's gaze continued to sweep over the stall.

His eyes shifted and landed on a silver-white bell-shaped magic artifact.

He was more than familiar with this object; it was the same used by Hu Zha and others to collect the souls of Exotic Beasts.

"What is the use of this item, and how much does it cost?" Yuan Ming pointed at the bell, pretending not to recognize it as he asked.

"This Soul-Attracting Bell, though a low-grade magical artifact, possesses soul collection and soul strike effects. When used against mortals, it causes light memory loss, and in severe cases, loss of the soul. Against cultivators, it can cause brief dizziness and memory loss. Despite being low-grade, it is an exclusive magical artifact of Biluo Cave, highly sought after by many cultivators. It sells for sixty spirit stones." the woman in the green robe said in a low voice.

"It can cause mortals to lose their memory." Yuan Ming was taken aback.

He had lost his previous memories when he entered Biluo Cave and had only recalled most of them to date. If this Soul-Attracting Bell had such effects besides soul collection, he suspected he might have been struck by this bell as well.

He had finally found the cause of his memory loss!

Yuan Ming couldn't help but feel inwardly resentful!

He must acquire this bell!

"The effects of this Soul-Attracting Bell are indeed somewhat miraculous, but the spiritual power contained within is weak, and it is a low-grade magical artifact. I fear it might only be useful against low-level Qi Refinement cultivators. As for dealing with mortals, it's a bit of an overkill. Sixty spirit stones are too much; I can only offer twenty," Yuan Ming said.

"Twenty? You must not underestimate this bell. If you were to spend a spring night with a mortal woman you fancy, this magical artifact is most suitable. Fifty-five!" the woman in the green robe said, lowering her voice, "If the Young Master of White Dragon Island had not died, could I sell it to you for cheap?"

"How could I possibly be such a person? Twenty-five, that should suffice!"

"Fifty!"

After some haggling, the stall owner relented to thirty-two spirit stones.

After Yuan Ming left, the woman quickly departed too.

At another stall, there was an antique book displayed, titled "Array Dao Miscellaneous Discussion."

In recent days at the workshop, Yuan Ming had frequently come across matters related to arrays, sparking some interest in them. He wasn't looking to get distracted by learning, but gaining some understanding was essential, so he paid three spirit stones for it.

Having roamed the market for an hour, he stood up from in front of a small stall and spent thirty spirit stones on three somewhat shriveled black fruits.

According to the stall owner, these objects came from a unique tree owned by a family in the Southern Border Southern Domain, which bore this strange fruit every few hundred years. Fierce beasts that ate it could quickly increase their fertility rates. If these fruits were placed in the mountains and forests, even the scent they emitted would attract fierce beasts from hundreds of yards around to vie for them.

Yuan Ming had now visited most of the stalls at Ghost Market. Apart from these three black fruits, he bought a few other items: four talismans, three yellow elixir pills, and over thirty types of spirit wood and grass.

The four talismans were called Four Directions Sealing Spirit Talismans, which had to be used together to form a concealment barrier, hiding all traces of aura fluctuations and concealing actions, suitable for resting in the wild.

Unlike common talismans, this talisman was of a type where its power was slowly triggered, allowing for multiple uses.

The three elixir pills were not ordinary elixirs, but a commonly used poison attack method in the Hundred Poison Cave — upon hitting the enemy, they would burst into a cloud of poisonous dust, similar to the smoke bombs he used frequently before.

As for the spirit wood and grass, they were spontaneous purchases he wanted to experiment with incense making. After this exploration of White Night Scatter Alliance, Yuan Ming had a deep appreciation for the magic of incense burners. However, the duration of Black Incense was too short to bring out the effects of the incense burners, and he had to find a way to prolong it.

His knowledge of incense materials was still insufficient, so he could only use the most straightforward method: buying various spiritual materials and trying them out gradually.

These items all went for somewhat lower than market price, but altogether they still added up to quite a bit, totaling about two hundred spirit stones. Including earlier expenses, he now had just over four hundred spirit stones left in his storage ring.

This trip to Ghost Market had been quite fruitful.

Yet, in one corner, he unexpectedly spotted the Yin Ghost Flag of Kun Tu for sale!

The seller's face was unknown, but was unquestionably an accomplice of Wulu. Yuan Ming was about to approach and strike a conversation when another cultivator beat him to it and bought it, while the seller quickly left the scene. Yuan Ming dared not follow.

Yuan Ming continued onward, and ahead on the edge of the plaza, a black stone pillar appeared, embedded with several pieces of fluorescent stone, illuminating a large area around it.

Such pillars, of which there were four in the marketplace, located at the four corners, lit up the entire plaza with their glow.

With the aid of the light, Yuan Ming looked around. At this moment, there were significantly fewer stalls than when he first arrived.

Below one of the stone pillars was a stall, manned by an old man with one arm, who wore a fox mask and was currently sitting in a rickety bamboo chair with his eyes closed, resting.

The stall had a few items casually displayed, mostly spiritual materials, and one magical artifact, a dark red small shield.

A glint appeared in Yuan Ming's eyes as he squatted in front of the small stall and said, "May I take a look at this magical artifact?"

"Please," the old man said without opening his eyes.

Yuan Ming picked up the shield, channeled his mana into it, and the shield immediately levitated, emitting a red glow. A red rune flashed into existence.

"A low-grade magical artifact, what a pity!" he thought to himself.

With that thought, Yuan Ming set down the dark red small shield, preparing to leave.

The one-armed old man opened his eyes and stopped Yuan Ming, "Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment."

"What is it?" Yuan Ming paused and asked.

"Are you looking to buy a defensive magical artifact? This Fire Rock Shield is still quite decent. If my fellow Daoist likes it, I can offer it for less," the one-armed old man said with a smile.

"I'm not interested," Yuan Ming replied.

"Please forgive my presumption, but do you have any beast eggs or exotic beasts on you?" the one-armed old man asked.

At these words, a sharp light suddenly flashed through Yuan Ming's eyes. He had not only the Black Toad but also a blue beast egg.

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