Record of a Demon's Cultivation Chapter 1526: Exposing Their Location

Translator: CinderTL

Northern Region, Yu Territory.

Song Wen and Rong Shao stood hovering above a desolate wilderness.

This location was less than 100,000 li from Tianshan City, the Lin Clan’s core stronghold.

“Fellow Daoist Rong Shao, since you know the Lin Clan possesses Purifying Fire Talismans, you must have already devised a plan to acquire them. Why not share it with me?” Song Wen said.

Rong Shao replied, “The Rong Clan controls the Western and Southern Regions of the Yu Territory. Though we are at odds with the three great families of the Northern and Eastern Regions, we maintain a facade of peace and have some dealings with them. I have met Lin Feng, the Lin Clan’s head, several times. My plan is to privately visit him and attempt to purchase a Purifying Fire Talisman. While these talismans are difficult to refine and scarce, as the clan head, Lin Feng could likely spare a few for a transaction. However, it will likely cost you and me a considerable price.”

A peculiar glint flashed in Song Wen’s eyes.

Purifying Fire Talismans were exceptionally rare, almost never appearing on the market. The Lin Clan strictly guarded these talismans, rarely allowing them to leave their possession.

Rong Shao’s idea of acquiring one through normal trade seemed rather fanciful.

Seeing Song Wen’s silence, Rong Shao pressed on, “Fellow Daoist Gu Huang, do you find this plan unsuitable?”

Song Wen shook his head slightly.

“As you suggest, fellow Daoist, let’s give it a try. However, it’s best not to let anyone know about your dealings with Lin Feng and the Purifying Fire Talisman. If Lin Feng refuses and the matter leaks out, we’ll both be in a very difficult position.”

“Naturally,” Rong Shao replied. “Then I shall head to Tianshan City.”

“Take every precaution, fellow Daoist,” Song Wen advised.

Without another word, Rong Shao produced a mask, donned it, and vanished in a blur of motion, streaking away at high speed.

After Rong Shao had departed, Song Wen descended and landed among the dense branches of a tree.

After disguising himself as an early-stage Divine Transformation cultivator, he also flew toward the city.

Notably, Zhu Mei and Yan Yuyan were not with him.

Song Wen believed this journey might be dangerous, and having Yan Yuyan along would hinder his actions. When they passed a medium-sized market over a million li away, he left her there.

As for Zhu Mei, though she hadn’t received explicit instructions from Song Wen, she seemed to understand the situation after Yan Yuyan disembarked and voluntarily departed on her own.

Whether Zhu Mei would join forces with Yan Yuyan, Song Wen neither asked nor cared to know.

Tianshan City was vast, stretching for over a thousand li.

Yet the entire city lay remarkably flat, with not a single undulation in the terrain.

Song Wen wandered through the streets, looking like a casual, idle rogue cultivator.

After wandering for half a day, as the sun approached the western horizon, he arrived at a bustling area where numerous rogue cultivators had set up stalls.

Perhaps due to the approaching darkness, many stall owners were already packing up their stalls, preparing to leave.

Song Wen’s gaze swept across the stall owners. When he spotted one at the Nascent Soul Stage, he stepped forward and placed ten high-grade spirit stones on the stall.

The stall owner was a middle-aged male cultivator with shrewd eyes.

He didn’t immediately reach for the spirit stones but instead wore a suspicious expression.

“Senior, this is…”

“Do you know where to buy information?” Song Wen didn’t speak aloud but transmitted his voice using his divine sense.

“Reporting to senior, the largest shops in the city all sell information,” the stall owner replied via divine sense.

“I couldn’t find what I needed there.” Song Wen took out another hundred high-grade spirit stones and placed them on the stall. “Answer my question satisfactorily, and all these spirit stones are yours.”

Song Wen didn’t visit all the shops the stall owner mentioned, but he did browse two of them.

All these shops belonged to the Lin Clan, and the intelligence they sold was limited to news about heavenly materials and earthly treasures, or information about rogue cultivators and other factions. There was not a shred of information about the Lin Clan itself.

Even intelligence that didn’t involve secrets, if it concerned the Lin Clan, was completely absent from these shops.

This surprised Song Wen.

The Lin Clan’s protection of their own information was so watertight.

Therefore, Song Wen couldn’t be bothered to try the other large shops. He could only try to gather information about these intelligence shops through well-connected rogue cultivators.

The stall owner lowered his gaze and glanced at the hundred-plus spirit stones on the stall.

This wasn’t a small sum. After all, the man had only inquired about a relatively non-secretive piece of information.

He immediately realized that the man was likely new to Tianshan City.

As for why he was asking about those shady intelligence shops, that was worth pondering.

The stall owner raised his hand and waved it over the spirit stones.

All the spirit stones vanished instantly.

“Ten thousand li southeast of the city lies a ghost market that opens only during the Zi and Chou hours of the night. You should find what the senior is looking for there.”

Song Wen nodded slightly and turned to leave.

After walking several hundred zhang, he employed the same tactic again, finding another stall owner to question. This time, however, he didn’t ask about information shops but about the ghost market.

Only after receiving the same answer did Song Wen take to the air and fly out of the city.

Once outside the city, he sped for hundreds of thousands of li, changing direction multiple times to throw off any potential tail. Only when he was certain he was unobserved did he land on a mountain peak.

He sat in meditation for over two hours, the time nearing the Zi hour. Song Wen then altered his appearance, rose, and set off toward the ghost market mentioned by the stall owner.

The ghost market was nestled within a mountain valley, shrouded in mist that even shadow void cultivators couldn’t penetrate to discern the reality within.

With no other choice, Song Wen landed at the valley entrance and followed a Blue Stone path into the mist.

The mist was thick, obscuring everything beyond a few feet and interfering with divine sense.

Fortunately, the mist-shrouded area wasn’t too wide. After walking two li, the mist abruptly vanished, revealing a sudden, open vista.

However, Song Wen’s attention wasn’t on the rows of houses and scattered crowds ahead, but on the figures at the end of the blue stone path.

These were the ghost market’s guards, their cultivation ranging from Divine Transformation to Void Refinement.

But behind the guards stood an incongruous figure: a middle-aged male cultivator at the Nascent Soul Stage.

This man was none other than the first stall owner Song Wen had questioned about information in Tianshan City that evening.

The stall owner’s eyes were fixed on the path extending from the mist, as if he feared missing even a single person entering the ghost market.

At that moment, his gaze landed on Song Wen.

Seemingly confirming that the person before him wasn’t the one he sought, a flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes before he turned his attention back to the mist behind Song Wen.

(End of the Chapter)

—————————

📖 You are reading [350] Chapters behind with [142] Free Chapters available on site.

🔥 Read up to Chapter [1876] now, only on ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀᴛʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ.

📊 [17] Novels, [14.4K+] Chapters with [11.2K+] Free Chapters!, [23M] Words on ℂ𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕋𝕃.𝕔𝕠𝕞