Chapter 15 - Entering the Market

Crouching Dragon Domain, Bright Cloud City

Within the main road of Bright Cloud City, a cultivation city led by a City Lord at the Peak of the Golden Core Realm, a majestic carriage pulled by a resplendescent Luan Bird proceeded forward.

Yet, such a majestic-looking carriage seemed to be ignored by the surrounding people. It was as if they subconsciously avoided looking at it, turning their gazes aside without hesitation.

If a Divine Transformation closely examined the carriage, they would discover a thin film condensed out of the power of Heaven and Earth obfuscating what was within to the eyes of cultivators of the Golden Core Realm and lower.

Meanwhile, within the carriage, Lu Ai expressed her amazement: "Elder Liu, your concealment techniques are splendid."

"Such arts of turning the real into falseness are rarely seen..."

Yu Weiyuan who sat next to her raised his brows in amusement. 'Is she pretending to be knowledgeable? I bet she's trying to restore her image as my big sister...'

He restrained a chuckle as Elder Liu answered Lu Ai, her eyes like pure lakes:

"My [Phantom Mirage Technique]'s main principle consists in shifting the heavenly forms, transforming the physical into spiritual, the real into unreal and the tangible into illusion."

"Although its offensive capabilities are nearly nonexistent, it does remain peerless in escapes, concealment and infiltration."

Lu Ai, having originally begun the conversation to act mature, couldn't help but becoming interested in Elder Liu's techniques and story.

Even the calm Elder Liu let out a little smile under Lu Ai's eagerness and indulged her, slowly narrating parts of her journey as a cultivator, still obviously keeping some details to herself.

The two women talked together until the concealed carriage entered a large plaza having at its center a platform engraved with circular patterns.

Next to the platform, an armored guard stood before a line of people, obviously being cultivators from their auras full of spirituality.

Each time one person faced the guard, they gave him five Spiritual Stones before he let them stand on the platform.

Then, the guard activated a device he held in his hand, making the patterns on the platform shine in a purplish light before they dimmed after the people had disappeared.

Spiritual Stones were amalgamations of Spiritual Qi congealed into minerals. They were the usual money of exchange between cultivators.

Spiritual Stones had four different grades depending of their density, concentration and purity: Low-Grade, Middle-Grade, High-Grade and Supreme-Grade.

Yu Weiyuan descended from the carriage with his companions before waving his hand, the black ring on his index finger flashing, bringing the carriage into the space refined inside the ring.

Elder Liu took out a bag from her robes opening it, releasing a spatial fluctuation that drew the Luan Bird inside it.

"When did you take a Beast Holding Pouch, Elder Liu?" Lu Ai asked in curiosity.

Elder Liu eyes stayed peaceful as she answered. "I always have one on me, Young Mistress. As the Elder charged of the information gathering of the sect, I am usually the first to encounter or discover rare Spiritual Beasts. How can I carry the beasts I capture without the Beast Holding Pouch?"

Lu Ai nodded, only saying: "We wasted enough time, let's go to the Teleportation Formation."

The group then advanced towards the line, obviously cutting it.

Yet, despite this obviously rude behaviour, the cultivators waiting for their turns showed no dissatisfaction as they looked at the black-gold robes typical of the Elders and Core Disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect.

They didn't dare to offend them. The difference in both strength and status was obvious just by observing their respective clothing.

The guard smiled as Yu Weiyuan threw twenty Low-Grade Spiritual Stones he had taken out fron his Spatial Ring towards him.

But his face completely shifted, becoming emotionless, as he looked at a shadowy Qi, hidden within one of the Spiritual Stones.

' A hidden shadow...' He thought, his face still impassible as he activated the tool in his hand, making another array of patterns appear on the platform, superposing with the other as Yu Weiyuan and the others stood within.

The patterns shone before the scenery before the group shifted completely, slowly transforming before the group appeared before another platform.

What graced their eyes was another city. Except both the ground and the skies were dark, dark like the most somber of nights. Even a slight shadowy mist emanated from the ground, staying at only a foot above it.

Only the various buildings and many shops retained their normal colors as street lamps holding blue flames shone upon them.

Many cultivators coming from all kinds of places crowded the streets as they discussed deals, walked to taverns, promoted shops or went to the brothels.

Yu Weiyuan took in the sight, announcing:

"Welcome to the Hidden Shadow Market!"

Hearing her little brother's words, Lu Ai came out of her daze.

"When Father told me the Hidden Shadow Market was located in a space integrated within a shadow, I thought it was a joke, but now..." She stepped in the shadowy mist which rose above her ankles. "Looking at all this, it doesn't seem like a joke anymore..."

Yu Weiyuan shook his head. "It was never a joke. One of the sub-abilities of a Void Amalgamation powehouse is to control space."

"With enough resources and time, they can create and refine enclosed Secret Realms."

"The Hidden Shadow Market is definitely a space formed within a shadow." Elder Xia Fang nodded his head in approval. "But absolutely no one knows which. An outsider can only enter it through very particular Teleportation Formations disseminated at all corners of the Crouching Dragon Domain."

"Some legends relate that the Hidden Shadow Market was created inside the shadow of a True Dragon constantly flying in the skies of the Five Saints Realm, projecting its shadow onto the Earth from the Heavens."

Lu Ai's eyes shone in admiration. "Is it true?"

"Most likely not." Yu Weiyuan answered immediately.

Lu Ai complained a bit hearing her fantasies being broken. "But why?"

"Do you really believe the Hidden Shadow Market, of which the present Market Head is only at the Peak of the Divine Transformation Realm, can occupy the shadow of a living True Dragon, a Divine Beast having reached the realm of Immortality?"

The young swordswoman sighed in defeat.

'My dreams of finding the draconic shadow and slaying the dragon can be forgotten then..."