Chapter 214: Under Surveillance

After passing through the corridor, he found himself in a vast underground river. The river’s surface was incredibly wide, stretching as far as the eye could see. A dense mist roiled over the water, with fishing boats drifting on its surface, each bearing a strange paper figure. Looking up, Chen Luo saw a myriad of magical prohibitions and constantly shifting formations above, along with aerial exclusion spells that forbade anyone from flying.

A wooden boat drifted over. It was only about four or five meters long, with a bamboo deckhouse in the middle hanging a swaying eight-sided lamp. The lamp inside flickered, its light particularly noticeable amidst the foggy river.

“Passengers, please board.”

The paper figure on the boat emitted a tender voice. Chen Luo cast a glance, then stepped onto the wooden boat. With a push of the bamboo pole, the boat left the shore and headed towards the center of the river.

This place seemed to be inside a mountain, Chen Luo thought.

Standing at the very front of the wooden boat, Chen Luo watched as the mist retreated continuously on both sides. Looking back, his starting point had disappeared, and even the surrounding boats had lost their traces. All that remained was the pitch-black river water.

The paper figurine propelled the wooden boat with stiff motions. Each movement perfectly overlapped the previous one, giving the illusion that they weren’t moving at all. However, Chen Luo knew this was merely an optical trick. The river below was a three-dimensional spell formation, so complex that even Old Brother Shangyao’s mind couldn’t fully comprehend it.

After about the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, the scenery began to change gradually. Other wooden boats similar to Chen Luo’s started appearing around them. Most were empty, but a few carried living passengers—like Chen Luo, all Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Cultivators at the Qi Refining stage hadn’t yet earned the right to enter this realm.

They continued for some time before the boat’s speed slowed, and lights multiplied around them. Finally, the wooden boat came to a stop. Chen Luo saw a floating platform with a thatched hut in the middle. This platform was actually another boat, its hull shaped like a small house, with a swinging signboard hanging above.

“Here we are, dear guest,” announced the paper boatman. The figure then froze in place, its spiritual energy dissipated.

Chen Luo didn’t linger. He stepped onto the water’s surface and walked steadily to the wooden platform in the center.

Not long after Chen Luo arrived, two more boats approached, and two additional individuals disembarked.

Including Chen Luo and the people who were already on the wooden platform, there were now five people in total.

“Ah, Lai the Ghost, you again?” The person to Chen Luo’s left spotted the middle-aged man who had initially stood on the platform. “What rotten luck! I can’t believe it’s you, you monkey!”

Recognizing the voice, Lai the Ghost turned around. Upon seeing the speaker, his face twisted with disdain—as if they had been acquainted for quite some time.

“This time, it’s just the two of us old-timers. Who knows? Our chances of success might be higher this time,” the wiry cultivator chuckled, approaching Lai the Ghost.

The other two individuals and Chen Luo remained silent. In fact, they didn’t even bother to glance toward the newcomers. Most people who came here were after cultivating corpses. Raising corpses had long been a business in Blackstone City. However, high-quality corpses were exceedingly expensive. Some discerning cultivators had come here multiple times, only to leave without finding the right corpse for their needs. Over time, these persistent individuals had congregated, waiting for the next opportunity.

Apart from buying cultivated corpses, this place also facilitated various shady transactions— deals that couldn’t be openly discussed elsewhere often found their way here.

For instance, securing membership into Blackstone City or trading goods banned by the Blackstone Ancestor’s embargo.

Tap-tap

The sound of a wooden rod striking resonated through the air, and everyone quietened down. A hunchbacked old woman emerged from the log cabin up ahead.

“Those joining Blackstone City, step forward. Those buying cultivated corpses, remain here.”

After dropping her message, the old woman turned and headed back inside. One of the group immediately rose and followed her.

“Once you join Blackstone City, the karmic consequences on your head will be borne by us. Your future cultivation resources and techniques will all be taken care of. But from then on, you’ll be bound to Blackstone City. This blood pact…”

The voice trailed off as Chen Luo retracted his divine sense.

You can actually join Blackstone City here?

Don’t Foundation Establishment cultivators just walk in and say they want to join? At most, there might be differences in status. If this was how it looked, Blackstone City’s influence was even greater than he’d anticipated. The Blackstone Ancestor, with his grasp on the third-order spiritual veins, was far more formidable than he’d imagined.

To Chen Luo at this point, Core Formation cultivators were still lofty figures. Throughout his cultivation journey, he had encountered only a handful of such beings. Among them, the leaders of Sacred Lake Immortal Sect and Ancestor Blackstone were known to him only by reputation; he had never seen their true forms. The only Core Formation cultivators he had actually met were the two he encountered in the Hu Clan incident.

Grandmother Hu and Senior Gu of the Hu Clan.

They were the only Core Formation cultivators Chen Luo had ever interacted with, and the impression they made on him at the time was profound.

Soon, another figure emerged.

“Those buying animated corpses, please register and pay your deposit. You may then return to your tents.” This person was a bald cultivator with a gleaming head. His face was covered in black script, which writhed and distorted as if alive when one looked upon it.

Curse marks! Chen Luo realized instantly. This man was a menace. By tattooing curse marks on his face, he ensured that anyone who laid eyes on him would be drawn into his cursed influence.

“Wait! I brought this with me this time.”

As the bald cultivator was about to leave, the skinny monkey-like cultivator who had spoken earlier suddenly called out to him. He then took something out from his robe and handed it over.

The bald cultivator glanced at it, then pointed towards one of the log cabins.

“You can go inside and choose. The third casket contains an iron corpse.”

Seeing this, Chen Luo also immediately called out to the bald cultivator.

“Hey there, Daoist friend, I—”

“Don’t you understand what I said? You’ve paid the deposit, now go back and wait your turn.” The bald cultivator interrupted Chen Luo impatiently before he could finish his sentence.

“How can he buy one then?” Chen Luo protested, clearly displeased.

He had already walked to the doorway; no one could brush him off with just a few words. Besides, that skinny monkey cultivator had come with him—why should the other guy get to buy an undead while he couldn’t?

“He has the Blackstone City Elder’s Token. Do you have one?” The bald cultivator replied more patiently, perhaps sensing Chen Luo’s cultivation base.

“The Elder’s Decree?”

“There are three elders in Blackstone City, all at the peak of Foundation Establishment stage, major cultivators. If you’re skilled enough, go ahead and request the token from them. Wasting my time here won’t get you anywhere.”

“If I queue up now, how long would I have to wait?”

“Who knows? Lucky ones might get it next day, unlucky ones might wait three years and still won’t.”

With that, he turned without any further ado and went back into his log cabin.

RукoosisRequired*!***

Late Foundation Establishment was indeed powerful, but it depended on where you were. This was Blackstone City, the cultivation ground of the Blackstone Ancestor. Even peak Foundation Establishment cultivators had to follow the rules and queue up here.

“Let’s go. We’ll just have to wait for next time,” said Lai the Ghost beside him.

He had been waiting for good months already, long accustomed to Blackstone City’s ways. Unless you had enough power to overshadow the Blackstone Ancestor, you had no choice but to play by his rules.

Watching the skinny monkey enter the log cabin, Chen Luo had no choice but to join Lai the Ghost in paying the deposit and leaving on the ferry.

“Good cultivating corpses are hard to come by. For corpse cultivators like us, having a good trained corpse can greatly increase our battle strength. A powerful trained corpse cultivator can refine several corpse puppets. There are even some old demons with strong divine sense who can train over a hundred jiangshi at once. Just imagine—”

Lai the Ghost chatted idly with Chen Luo nearby.

The ship wouldn’t leave the lake for some time yet. Better to chat than waste the idle moments.

“Who’s this ‘Old Demon’ who’s been cultivating over a hundred zombies?” Chen Luo asked.

He couldn’t buy corpse puppets, so networking with fellow corpse cultivators might work too.

As if a mighty Foundation Establishment cultivator like me could be stymied by such a trifling obstacle!

“Who else could it be? Naturally, it’s the Leader of one of the three major forces in Blackstone City, Taoist Priest Hei,” Lai the Ghost answered, his eyes gleaming with envy at the mere mention of the name.

Taoist Priest Hei of the Loose Cultivators Union.

Chen Luo nodded, letting the matter drop.

Moments later, the wooden boat returned them to the corridor. Lai the Ghost didn’t speak further to Chen Luo and left first through the passage. Chen Luo followed behind.

After exiting the Puppet Pavilion, Chen Luo didn’t linger in Blackstone City. Instead, he followed the mountain path out of town.

Upon returning to the Outer City, Chen Luo found an inn to stay the night.

The Inner City was too close to Ancestor Blackstone. With a Core Formation patriarch around, many things would be too difficult to pull off. The Outer City was more accommodating. Many Foundation Establishment cultivators like Chen Luo resided there, and the regulations were far less stringent than in the Inner City.

Seated cross-legged within his room, Chen Luo closed his eyes, attempting to sense the pale-faced cultivator he had encountered earlier in the corridor. He wanted to determine the stranger’s origins and understand why he carried the aura of Madam Bai Gu.

Reaching into his sleeve, Chen Luo produced a black beetle no larger than his thumb. This beetle was a tracking device; it could trace the movements of the pale-faced cultivator. As Chen Luo prepared to command the bug, a sudden fluctuation in spiritual energy caught his attention.

Another cultivator?

Chen Luo instantly suppressed his presence and stilled his hand. His first thought was that someone from the Demonseed Sect had found him. He hadn’t made many enemies among the cultivators, but the Demonseed Sect leader was certainly at the top of the list. After all, Chen Luo had recently bestowed a significant “gift” upon him, so it was only natural to be under scrutiny.

A soft rustling echoed through the room.

“It’s a Qi-Consuming Insect!”

“There’s a tribulation cultivator nearby.”

Wang Cangxiao and the Shan City insect cultivator woman’s brains processed the information simultaneously.

Chen Luo’s divine sense expanded, quickly pinpointing the anomaly. Outside his window, a sesame-seed-sized insect clung to the pane. Like his own beetle, this creature emitted no cultivation ripples—it was a common tool used by insect cultivators to capture traces of energy. Most ordinary cultivators would overlook such a tiny bug, but Chen Luo, having studied the Mystic Insect Manual, instantly recognized something was amiss with the help of these two insect cultivators’ external brains.