12dz Chapter 104 The Price of Survival
Chapter 104 The Price of Survival
Chapter 104 The Price of Survival
The call that seemed to come from the depths of the earth gradually subsided as Gu An forcibly severed it with his divine sense.
But the cost was devastating.
"Well----"
In the dim and damp stone chamber, Gu An suddenly arched his body, pressed his hands tightly against his dantian, veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat poured out like a torrent.
The dormant dragon soul essence within him seemed to have been completely enraged by the mysterious resonance just now. It churned wildly in his dantian, each impact like a red-hot awl churning Gu An's internal organs. That domineering dragon might was something he couldn't easily control in his current state.
"Give me—the town!"
Gu An gritted his teeth and let out a low growl.
He frantically activated the "Azure Sea Dragon Wood Technique," mobilizing all the mutated spiritual power within his body to transform into layers of thick, watery evil energy, tightly enveloping the restless golden thread.
A full cup of tea's time passed.
The dragon energy, finally eroded and soothed by the water's malevolent energy, curled back into the depths of the dantian, transforming into a barely perceptible golden light and falling into slumber.
"Whoosh—whoosh—"
Gu An collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, his whole body looking as if he had just been pulled out of the water.
He looked down at the broken jade pendant in his hand. The scalding heat had subsided, and it had become icy cold again. The mysterious guiding feeling had also vanished without a trace.
"What's down there?!"
Gu An was filled with doubt and uncertainty.
But he quickly suppressed his curiosity.
Neither the secrets beneath the Tower of Babel nor the origin of this jade pendant are matters beyond his current comprehension. The backlash from the dragon energy just now nearly killed him; if it had occurred when he encountered an enemy outside, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"No matter what happens, save your life first."
Gu An carefully put the jade pendant away and struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.
By this time, the sky was beginning to lighten, and noisy voices could be heard coming from the rat alley outside.
He glanced back at Shen Wan, who was lying on the bed. She was still unconscious, and although her face, covered in disguise mud, showed no expression, her tightly furrowed brows indicated that she was not feeling well.
Although those few Blood-Exploding Powder pills brought in some spirit stones, most of them were used to pay rent and buy basic materials. Without continuous medication to suppress the poisoning and depletion in Shen Wan's body, a rebound could occur at any time.
Moreover, they are now practically penniless.
"Stay home and don't go out no matter what noise you hear."
Gu An left behind a message, but it's unclear whether the unconscious Shen Wan heard it.
He straightened his gray Taoist robe, pulled his straw hat down, pushed open the dilapidated wooden door, and stepped into the morning mist.
The outer district of the city that never sleeps, despite its name, is still incredibly bustling.
Even in the dirtiest and most chaotic western district, the streets are lined with shops, and cultivators come and go in an endless stream.
Gu An mingled in the crowd, seemingly wandering aimlessly, but in reality, his ears were perked up, gathering information from his surroundings—
All information.
Not long after, he noticed something was wrong.
The atmosphere on the street was much more tense than it had been three days when he first arrived.
At almost every intersection and in front of every large shop, a brand-new bounty poster was displayed. Many cultivators were gathered there, pointing and discussing it animatedly.
Gu An adjusted his straw hat, pretending to be passing by, and glanced at the notice without making a sound.
With just one glance, his pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.
That was a Class B bounty order personally issued by the City Lord's Mansion of the City Never Sleeps.
The portrait doesn't depict a specific human face, only a hazy, gray mist and a blurry figure.
A figure radiating golden light.
Below the portrait, several lines of blood-stained characters were written in bold, graphic detail:
[Bounty: Find the person responsible for the "Dragon's Roar Phenomenon" in the Ghost Mist District.]
[Description: Three days ago, someone triggered a celestial phenomenon deep within the Ghost Mist Zone of the Chaotic Star Sea, accompanied by the sound of a dragon's roar, suggesting they possess a powerful treasure or have awakened a special bloodline. This person has most likely infiltrated the City That Never Sleeps.]
[Clue: This person had a conflict with the Black Shark Gang in the Ghost Fog District; he is ruthless and skilled in stealth.]
[Reward: Anyone providing valid clues will be rewarded with 500 spirit stones; anyone assisting in the capture will be rewarded with one Foundation Establishment Pill, plus the position of Guest Elder in the City Lord's Mansion!]
"Foundation Pill----"
Gu An heard the sound of several rogue cultivators beside him swallowing as they recited those three words.
"Goodness gracious, the City Lord's Mansion has really gone all out this time! That bounty was personally issued by the young master!"
"Of course! I heard that the young master is cultivating the 'Dragon Transformation Technique,' and is currently stuck at the bottleneck of the late Foundation Establishment stage. If we can capture the person who triggered the dragon's roar and extract his bloodline to refine pills, perhaps we can hope to form our core!"
"Tsk tsk, this guy is really unlucky. Of all people to mess with, he had to be targeted by the young master. This city that never sleeps may be big, but even if you dig three feet into the ground, you probably can't hide him."
The whispers of those around him were like steel needles piercing Gu An's heart.
A layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out from his back.
Sure enough, the dragon roar that erupted when he forced back the second-tier demonic beast in the Ghost Mist Zone that day still caused a lot of trouble.
He thought that no one would notice such a remote place, but he forgot that the cultivation world is never short of those with extraordinary abilities to spy on others.
"Young Master—Dragon Technique—Blood Extraction for Alchemy—"
A chill ran through Gu An's heart.
If it were a local tyrant like the Black Shark Gang, he might be able to maneuver around using his methods. But if he were targeted by the true ruler of this Never-Sleeping City—the City Lord's Mansion—then he would truly have nowhere to turn.
It must be hidden!
Hidden deeper, in a worse state, and more inconspicuous!
Gu An forcibly controlled his heartbeat, showing no sign of anything amiss. He remained hunched over, taking stiff steps, like an insignificant, down-on-his-luck poison cultivator, slowly squeezing out of the crowd.
He didn't go straight back to Rat Alley; that would have been too unusual.
He continued to wander around the market in the western district as originally planned.
This is the largest trading place for independent cultivators in the entire city that never sleeps, and also a distribution center for various low-level materials.
Gu An squatted down in front of a shop called "Jubaolou" (Treasure Pavilion), pretending to look at the junk on the street stalls, but actually observing the rogue cultivators coming and going.
He discovered that most of the independent cultivators in this western district made a living by hunting monsters at sea.
Although the Chaotic Star Sea is dangerous, it is also rich in resources.
Every now and then, small teams of wounded cultivators would return carrying back all sorts of strangely shaped sea beast corpses to sell.
"Shopkeeper, look at this 'Rotting Bone Sea Serpent,' it's freshly killed and still warm!"
A burly man with a face full of scars threw a dead snake, as thick as a bucket and oozing black liquid, onto the counter, shouting, "This snake gall is an excellent antidote; you should at least give me fifty spirit stones, right?"
The shopkeeper behind the counter was a lean old man who just smiled dismissively when he heard this.
He took out a silver needle and poked it into the snake. Watching the needle turn black instantly, he shook his head.
"Fifty dollars? Are you robbing me?"
The shopkeeper pointed at the snake and said, "Although this snake is a first-grade high-quality snake, it has been soaking in this underground sea for a long time, and its whole body is full of corpse poison and evil energy. Especially the gall bladder, the poison has already seeped in. To extract clean bile, we need to ask a special alchemist to do it, and we also need to use several kinds of auxiliary medicines to neutralize it."
"The cost is more expensive than buying ready-made antidotes. Taking them would just be a hassle."
"How much will you give me?" The burly man's face stiffened.
"Ten spirit stones, I'll take the whole snake. Take it or leave it." The shopkeeper held up one finger.
"Ten dollars?! I lost two brothers trying to kill it! I spent twenty dollars just on antidote pills!" The big man's eyes turned red with anger.
"That's your problem." The shopkeeper shrugged. "That's just how the monsters in this underground sea are. They have a lot of materials, but most of them are just waste. If you don't have the skills to process them, they're just a pile of rotten meat."
The burly man argued with gritted teeth for a long time, but in the end, he had no choice but to leave with the ten spirit stones.
Gu An squatted in the corner, watching this scene, and a lightning bolt seemed to strike his heart.
"Waste — Toxicity — For Refining —"
His eyes gradually brightened, a look of someone who had seen a way out of a desperate situation.
For ordinary cultivators, and even low-level alchemists, these demonic beast materials, tainted with the unique corpse poison and baleful aura of the underground sea, are indeed a troublesome and undesirable commodity. Purifying them is not only time-consuming and laborious, but could also lead to poisoning if handled improperly.
But he's different!
What is he cultivating?
The "True Solution to All Poisons" is the foundation, supplemented by the mutated "Azure Sea Dragon Wood Technique"!
His spiritual power inherently includes "water evil" and "wood poison".
What others would avoid at all costs—corpse poison and malevolent energy—are to him a great tonic, an energy that he can manipulate and separate at will!
In addition, there was the surgical precision he had honed by dissecting the Tai Sui in Youying Valley—
"Materials Processing Specialist —"
Gu An silently repeated these words in his heart.
This is a profession that exists in a gray area. It's dirty, tiring, and toxic, and is despised by most respectable monks.
But that's precisely why it's so low-key and inconspicuous.
A poison cultivator with a face covered in sores and a body stench of corpses, dealing with a pile of rotting monster entrails all day long—who would give him a second glance? Who would associate him with that mysterious person who triggered the dragon's roar phenomenon and was suspected of possessing a great treasure?
Moreover, the profits from it —
Gu An glanced at the rotten bone sea snake that the shopkeeper had taken in.
If the snake gallbladder could be perfectly purified, it would be worth at least eighty spirit stones. Buying it for ten and selling it for eighty, the profit margin is simply astonishing.
"This is it."
Gu An made up his mind.
He stood up but didn't rush to take on any work. He was a newcomer, and if he rashly went up to people and said he could handle it, he would only be seen as a swindler or someone with ulterior motives.
He needs to prove himself first.
Gu An wandered around the market and finally stopped in front of a stall selling scraps of monsters.
The stall owner was a listless young man. In front of him was a pile of foul-smelling entrails, broken poison sacs, and some unidentified bones. This was all the junk that the big shops had rejected, which he was preparing to sell at a low price to the cultivators who fed their spirit beasts.
"How much are these?"
Gu An pointed to one of the dark, pus-covered tumors and asked.
Those were the "Ghost Face's" poison glands. Because they were severely damaged, the venom inside had begun to leak out, corroding the surrounding air.
The boy looked up at Gu An, startled by his face, and quickly said, "Two—two spirit stones. If you're buying them all, five will do."
Gu An didn't haggle. He took out his last five spirit stones and threw them over, sweeping the pile of stinking "garbage" into his broken bamboo basket.
Under the boy's gaze, which looked at him as if he were a fool, Gu An picked up his basket, turned around, and disappeared into the alley leading back to the rat-infested lane.
Back in the stone chamber, Shen Wan was still fast asleep.
Gu An closed the doors and windows tightly, creating several barriers to block out the smell.
He placed the venom gland of the ghost-faced ray on the stone table, and then took out his simple dissection tools—
A rusty boning knife, a few silver needles, and several empty jade bottles.
-
"call----"
Gu An took a deep breath and composed himself.
He stretched out his withered right hand, hovering it above the poison gland.
With a thought, a dark blue aura of spiritual energy appeared in his palm.
This is his mutated Azure Dragon Wood spiritual power.
"rise."
Gu An gave a soft shout.
The spiritual energy, like fine threads, seeped into the damaged poison gland.
If ordinary spiritual energy comes into contact with this highly toxic substance, it will be instantly corroded and contaminated.
But Gu An's spiritual power was different. It seemed to be alive, greedily enveloping the black venom and peeling it away from the surrounding rotting flesh bit by bit.
At the same time, the water-based aura contained within the spiritual energy began to neutralize the unstable and violent factors O in the venom.
"Sizzle s ...————"
After a slight sound.
The once disgusting tumor shrank visibly, turning into a pile of grayish-white residue.
In Gu An's palm, however, floated a cluster of crystal-clear, dark green droplets, about the size of a fingernail.
The droplets emitted a faint glow, were so pure that they were free of any impurities, and even carried a faint, exotic fragrance.
【Ghost Ray Venom】
First-grade high-quality poison is an excellent main ingredient for refining "corpse-dissolving water" or certain insidious talismans.
The market price is at least fifteen spirit stones.
Its cost is only a small fraction of that pile of five pieces of broken spirit stones.
"It's done."
Gu An looked at the poison in his hand, a satisfied smile curving his lips, which made the scars on his face look particularly ferocious.
This ability to turn the rotten into the miraculous is his greatest asset in surviving in this cannibalistic city that never sleeps.
He carefully poured the poison into the jade bottle and sealed it.
Then, he did the same thing again, processing all the remaining scraps one by one.
Two hours later.
Three jade bottles appeared on the stone table, containing poison essence, animal bone powder, and the coagulated blood of some kind of demonic beast, respectively.
Although they are all first-tier materials and not exactly rare treasures, their purity is extremely high.
Gu An roughly estimated that if these items were sold on the black market, they could be exchanged for at least thirty low-grade spirit stones.
This is not just double or triple the profit, it's practically risk-free profit.
"Cough cough————"
A suppressed cough came from the bed.
Shen Wan woke up.
She propped herself up and sat up, her face even paler than before, her lips devoid of any color.
"What did you do? There's a strong fishy smell!"
Gu An turned around, put away the three jade bottles, and cleaned up the crumbs on the table.
"It's nothing, just found a way to make a living."
Gu An walked to the bedside, poured her a glass of water, and handed it to her. "I'm going to the ghost market in the West District tonight. If all goes well, your medicine will be ready tomorrow."
Shen Wan took the water glass and gave him a deep look.
Although she didn't know exactly what Gu An had done, she could sense that the man's aura had changed.
If he was once a mouse being chased and fleeing in panic...
So now, he's like a venomous snake sharpening its teeth, preparing to build its nest in the gutter.
"Be careful," Shen Wan said softly. "I've heard that the ghost market is even more chaotic than the outside world."
"I know."
Gu An pulled at his foul-smelling Taoist robe, then pulled his tattered straw hat over his head, obscuring the eerie light gleaming in his eyes.
"Chaos is good."
"The more chaotic and murky the water, the safer we are."