Two days later, Yu Tian floated in the air above the Snow Heaven Sect.

Xueling flew over, floating behind him. "How is it going?" she asked.

Yu Tian turned around with a smile. "It's done."

He had been installing sixth grade defensive and attacking formations around the sect.

The sixth grade defensive formation guaranteed absolute safety against a hundred Core Formation experts for an entire week. For Golden Core experts, it could withstand their attacks for a full day. For Nascent Soul experts, it could endure ten full power strikes before breaking.

As for the attacking formation, it could deliver ten Nascent Soul level full power strikes.

Although it seemed quite strong, it wasn't really all that impressive. In perfect conditions, the full power strikes would be at peak Nascent Soul realm. But this required perfect conditions - like having enough spirit stones to fuel it.

With the amount of stones they had, they couldn't produce attacks of that magnitude. And even if they did, they didn't have soul stones to reinforce the formations, so any Nascent Soul expert would still preserve their soul.

Well, Yu Tian didn't care much about this. He just needed it to be able to fend off all Golden Core realm attackers while they were away.

He had sent a similar formation to the Eastern Valley. Since they were leaving, they wouldn't be able to prevent experts from the Dark Moon Hall from going to the Eastern Valley.

This was actually quite beneficial for their sect.

Every Dark Moon Hall member that had been sent this way was always completely annihilated.

Eventually, the ancestor might get suspicious and decide to come this way to check what was happening. That would be really bad for them.

But now, with them gone, the Dark Moon Hall should be able to reach the Eastern Valley. When they did, they would be attacked by the formation, and some would manage to escape. If they reported back to the ancestor, the ancestor would finally understand why his forces were always completely annihilated.

He would think it was all because of the formation and not suspect anything else - just prepare to account for that.

"What about you?" Yu Tian asked.

"I'm also done on my end," Xueling said. She had instructed the sect not to attack people with formations and remain low-key until they returned.

"Good. Let's go then," Yu Tian said, and the two flew away.

A few hours later, the two descended on an unassuming clearing.

"Is this the place?" Yu Tian asked. Although it was already dark, the two could see clearly.

"Should be," Xueling said as she looked around. She had gotten information from her people that a black market auction would be taking place near this location.

At that moment, they heard a figure walking up to them and they turned around to face them.

Yu Tian observed the figure before them. He had detected him with his spiritual sense long ago but ignored him. The man seemed to be using a fairly good concealment technique. His cultivation was at the early stage of Golden Core realm.

The black market had quite deep roots to use Golden Core realm experts as mere receptionists.

The man walked up to them and stopped when he was about ten meters away.

"Fellow Daoist, may I borrow the moon tonight?" he spoke.

"I'll repay the moon with my sword," Xueling responded, stepping up in front of Yu Tian defensively.

The man looked at the two for a few seconds before turning away and flying off without saying a thing. Xueling and Yu Tian glanced at each other before following the man.

…

A few minutes later, Yu Tian and Xueling found themselves in a bright city.

The two looked around them like kids seeing the world for the first time.

"I didn't expect the black market to look like this," Yu Tian said.

"Me too," Xueling replied as she looked around.

The place was filled with lanterns floating in the air and stalls on the ground, making it look like some sort of festival was going on. To think that this entire thing was underground, Yu Tian thought, remembering how they had entered this place through a cave.

"Young Master, Young Lady, come!" someone shouted to get the attention of the two. He then waved at them to come over to his stall.

The two walked over to his stall.

"What a beautiful couple. May I interest you in concealment masks?" the man asked, rubbing his hands together and observing them with a smile. He felt today would be his lucky day. He had noticed this newbie couple looking around cluelessly. It seemed like it was their first time.

Well, they shouldn't blame him for teaching them the way of the black market.

"Are you two new here?" he asked.

"Although this place looks beautiful, you should still be careful," the man continued without waiting for them to respond. "This mask here can help conceal not only your identity but also your presence." He picked one up to show them.

"Since it's your first time here, I'll give you a discount and sell it to you for only one thousand coins."

Coins were the currency used in the black market. A single coin was worth about the same as a single high grade spirit stone. Yes, spirit stones had grades too. A high grade spirit stone was worth a hundred mid grade spirit stones, and a mid grade spirit stone was worth ten low grade spirit stones.

With the one thousand high grade spirit stones this guy was asking for, Yu Tian could buy a high tier spiritual weapon. Well, at least that was the worth on paper. There was also the matter of availability and whether someone was willing to sell, so in reality, the actual price was much higher.

Even so, Yu Tian didn't think this mask this guy was selling was actually worth that much.

He observed the masks the man was selling. They seemed to have a concealment rune on them, but it was just an eighth grade one. Anyone in the Golden Core realm and above should be able to see through them easily, and a Nascent Soul expert could even see your appearance through the mask using their divine sense.

In conclusion, it was a total scam.

Still, it would be good for hiding their appearance. He looked at the seller with a smile, causing the man to get nervous.

…

Author's Corner

For those interested

Receptionist: 今夜可借月? - "May I borrow the moon tonight?"

Xiuying: 以剑偿月.- "I'll repay the moon with my sword."

It's just a passphrase. I tried to make it sound poetic…like acting under the moon cover "tonight" meaning temporarily and the sword phrase meaning one is prepared…idk

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