Chapter 00213: A Black Store
# A Black Store
Chapter 213
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 213: A Black Store
After putting away the communication orb, Lan Xiaobu felt a wave of anxiety wash over him.
He was determined to rescue the captured, for it was his fault they were in danger.
However, he was only at the seventh level of the Earth Immortal realm, how could he possibly save Chang Qingshuang and Qi Hanfu from the massive Yan family?
Regardless of whether he could succeed or not, Lan Xiaobu started to duplicate the prepared crystal orbs.
These orbs mainly contained scenes from within the Soul Refining Cauldron, alongside some narratives from Shu Shaoji.
He couldn't release these orbs now; he had to save Chang Qingshuang and Qi Hanfu first, otherwise, the Yan family would kill them at the first opportunity.
As long as he did not appear, they would be fine.
The moment they took Chang Qingshuang's communication orb was when they awaited his appearance.
Naturally, Lan Xiaobu wouldn't show himself.
He hid the communication orb and set up a surveillance array around him.
Once he completed this, he entered the Cosmic Dimension Matrix.
Upon stepping into the Earth Immortal realm, the Cosmic Dimension Matrix flattened significantly.
At that moment, Lan Xiaobu could only attempt to maneuver the matrix to see if it could be detected by the surveillance array outside.
Soon, he discovered through the monitoring array that the seventh-level array couldn't capture the form of the Cosmic Dimension Matrix, and he also realized he had no control over its movement.
In a nutshell, his cultivation level was simply too low to sneak in and access the Qiaofeng Immortal Pond.
What to do?
Lan Xiaobu paced in frustration, unable to find a good solution.
If only his strength wasn't so weak, he could just storm in directly.
In the end, he decided to first head to the Pill Capital Immortal City and sort things out.
……
In the Pill Capital Immortal City, it was Lan Xiaobu's second visit.
This time, he wore a veil-hat that concealed his features; its restrictions meant that unless someone’s divine sense tore through the constraints, it would be impossible to discern his appearance.
In this city, some wore such hats, but they were few.
Most preferred a disguise artifact.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t have a high-grade disguise artifact, and a low-grade one had already been exposed.
Thus, upon arriving in the Pill Capital Immortal City, the first thing he did was visit an artifact shop, intending to buy a disguise mask.
"What do you wish for, Senior?" As soon as he walked in, a young attendant approached him.
Lan Xiaobu spoke with a gravelly voice, "Show me around a bit. I'm looking to buy some high-quality artifacts. By the way, do you have any top-grade artifacts?"
Hearing Lan Xiaobu inquire about top-grade artifacts made the young attendant's heart race with excitement.
Could this be his big break? If someone bought a top-grade artifact from him, how much profit would he make?
"Yes! Yes! Senior, we have three top-grade artifacts in our store. One is a sword, another is a shield, and the most noteworthy is a half-top-grade artifact armor. If you'd like to see it, I can request it right away..." the young attendant exclaimed eagerly.
Lan Xiaobu merely wanted to express that he was a big spender and get the attendant to show him the best items.
So he asked if there were any top-grade artifacts; if the attendant replied negatively, he would feign disappointment.
"Then just show me whatever,” he would say, allowing the attendant to understand he expected only quality.
To his surprise, not only did they have a top-grade artifact, but more than one.
Lan Xiaobu could only play along, sighing, “Alas, those aren’t what I’m looking for. Since I’m here, show me around and see if anything particularly catches my eye.”
Seeing Lan Xiaobu disinterested in the top-grade artifacts, the attendant felt a bit down, but quickly regained his excitement.
He must take good care of this potential big client.
As Lan Xiaobu guessed, the attendant led him to the upper floor's best artifact counter, passionately introducing each artifact.
However, Lan Xiaobu was searching for a disguise artifact; he wouldn’t buy anything else.
“This trident is said to belong to the great general of the Eastern Sea…” As the attendant kept boasting, Lan Xiaobu interrupted him, pointing at a disguise artifact. “How much for this mask?”
“Senior, you have a keen eye! This is a high-quality disguise artifact; it can change your appearance freely, and even a powerful practitioner will find it hard to detect. It's worth eleven thousand high-grade spirit crystals. If you want it, I can check if we can offer a better price,” the attendant said, seeing that Lan Xiaobu finally showed interest.
So expensive? Lan Xiaobu suddenly thought that crafting artifacts might be more profitable than refining pills.
He only had about one thousand one hundred high-grade spirit crystals on him; he couldn’t afford even a part of the disguise artifact.
Lan Xiaobu waved his hand, realizing his approach had been wrong.
The attendant had indeed shown him valuable items, but he had no crystals to spend.
Noticing Lan Xiaobu didn’t intend to buy, the attendant grew suspicious that he was boasting.
His previous enthusiasm started to wane.
Lan Xiaobu dared not inquire about the prices of the following few disguise masks, estimating he wouldn’t be able to afford them.
From the third floor to the second, and then down to the first, he finally pointed at a disguise mask and asked, “How much for this one?”
The attendant had already determined that Lan Xiaobu lacked spirit crystals and was here to act like a big shot.
Lan Xiaobu’s inquiry couldn’t be ignored, so he replied lazily, “This is a low-grade artifact, priced at one thousand seventy high-grade spirit crystals.”
Lan Xiaobu breathed a sigh of relief; finally, he found something he could afford.
“Give it to me; I’ll take this one. The style is good,” he declared confidently.
The attendant internally scoffed, wondering if a disguise artifact even had a style.
At least this tightwad finally decided to spend, so he would earn some commission, however small.
……
An hour later, disguised as a traveler, Lan Xiaobu entered the Colorful Immortal Breath Tower.
He intended to inquire about Chang Qingshuang's whereabouts.
As his divine sense swept across a corner of the tower where two seemed to be discussing something, he quickly changed his mind.
The two men were likely from the Yan family, waiting to ambush him.
“Are you a participating alchemist? Do you wish to stay in the Breath Tower?” A charming woman approached him, extremely polite.
“Oh, no. I heard there’s an auction happening in the Pill Capital Immortal City. I wanted to know when it is?” Lan Xiaobu planned to ask and then leave.
There are countless auctions in the Immortal City; casually asking would pose no problem.
“Haha, brother wants to attend the auction? I’m going too. Let’s go together. This auction has some good stuff...” Before the tower's staff could respond, someone nearby voluntarily answered Lan Xiaobu’s question.
The speaker was a big man with a black complexion and thick brows, speaking boisterously without holding back.
“Thank you, friend!” Lan Xiaobu hurried to express his gratitude, then followed the man outside the Breath Tower.
“No need for thanks. I heard this auction will have Earth Shifts, and I came specially…” The big man had no reservations in his words, showing no signs of wanting to hide anything.
Earth Shift? Lan Xiaobu was filled with excitement upon hearing this.
If he could perform Earth Shifts, why would he need a disguise mask? But then he remembered he had only a few dozen high-grade spirit crystals left, feeling despondent.
How poor he was!
“Is it the Seventy-Two Transformations?” Lan Xiaobu asked, eager.
“Haha, what Seventy-Two Transformations? What’s coming out here are only three incomplete versions,” the man laughed heartily.
Just as Lan Xiaobu was about to ask more, he saw an Immortal City steward approaching, bowing with a celestial salute. “I’m Jiang Fei, and this is General Zhijian. Our city lord, Wu, has requested your presence.”
General Zhijian laughed heartily and waved his hand, “Good, I’ll go have a few drinks and bother him a bit. Lead the way.”
After saying that, he remembered Lan Xiaobu and addressed him. “Just go straight that way, then take a turn to reach the auction. It hasn’t started yet, at least until the evening.”
Once he finished speaking, General Zhijian gave a playful pat on the steward’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
His manner of speaking and acting was energetic and bustling, without a trace of delay.
Once the two were far away, Lan Xiaobu recalled that General Zhijian was one of the Mei Mountain Six Brothers.
No wonder he was so carefree; he had Yang Jian backing him.
Who would dare offend him?
But that didn’t make sense.
With a big brother like Yang Jian, why would he come to buy incomplete versions of Earth Shifts?
Better not to care about others.
If he possessed Earth Shifts...
The more Lan Xiaobu thought about it, the more excited he became, and a preliminary plan started to form in his mind.
At this moment, Lan Xiaobu decided against heading to the auction and instead turned his attention to a nearby Pill Pavilion, named "Dan Yue."
In the Pill Capital Immortal City, there were numerous Pill Pavilions, and just wandering around would show him seven or eight places selling pills.
Lan Xiaobu entered Dan Yue solely because it was the closest one to him.
Despite the abundance of Pill Pavilions in the Pill Capital Immortal City, when he stepped inside Dan Yue, there were still many people coming and going.
The attendants were apparently overwhelmed; Lan Xiaobu took the initiative to pull one aside and presented a small vial of Wuzhi Liquid. “Do you buy Wuzhi Liquid here?”
“Not buying…” The attendant reflexively uttered the two words, but suddenly recalled something and asked eagerly, “Are you looking to sell Wuzhi Liquid, senior?”
Lan Xiaobu raised the jade bottle in his hand. “That’s right; I want to sell this small vial of Wuzhi Liquid.”
“Please wait a moment.” The attendant quickly sent out a message, and after only a few breaths, a skinny man approached Lan Xiaobu with a broad smile and said, “Friend, please follow me.”
Lan Xiaobu followed this man to the second floor.
Before he could speak, he felt a divine sense sweeping over his ring.
Lan Xiaobu cursed inwardly; it turned out to be a black store.
Luckily, his ring only held a few spirit instruments and dozens of high-grade spirit crystals.
“Friend, please come in.” The skinny man gestured.
Lan Xiaobu's face turned sour when he realized the ring had been scanned with a divine sense, and its restrictions breached; it was strange for him to appear calm.
(This chapter ends)