Chapter 429: Blood Man

An elder sat in the stone house.

The elder didn't conceal his identity. In fact, most participants at the trade fair, unlike Qin Sang who was thoroughly concealed from head to toe, did not hide their appearance.

The elder, whose hair and beard were white, had a kindly appearance. Seeing Qin Sang enter, he immediately stood up and asked, "Daoist friend, please come in. What would you like to purchase?"

The stone house where the elder was situated appeared empty, with nothing inside, but this was only an illusion.

Qin Sang sat before the elder, opening his palm to reveal a token.

This token was a credential from the Heavenly Halberd Tower.

"Have you brought the items I ordered last time?"

"So it's Daoist Master Qingfeng!"

The elder's face lit up with joy, then turned cautious. He waved his hand to activate the stone house's protective enchantments. Only then did he retrieve a mustard seed bag from behind him, take out two jade bottles, and hand them to Qin Sang.

"Daoist Master, please take a look. Do these two bottles of elixirs meet your requirements?"

Qin Sang opened the jade bottles, and the fragrant scent of elixirs wafted out. These were exactly the foundational strengthening elixirs he needed, though their quality was slightly lower than Spirit Gathering Elixirs.

Qin Sang nodded slightly, then took out a spiritual sword and handed it to the elder.

"This is the spiritual sword that was reserved last time. Daoist friend, please take a look."

This spiritual sword, infused with cold gold, was a loss for Qin Sang in exchange for these two bottles of spiritual medicine. However, with the current unstable situation, he couldn't afford to be too concerned about it.

The spiritual swords he had accumulated were originally meant to be kept and sold for a good price when the opportunity arose.

Now, most of them had been exchanged for medicine. Although the efficacy of these medicines was only barely satisfactory, Qin Sang tolerated it, believing that quickly improving his strength was paramount. It would be best if he could reach the Pseudo-Core realm before the great upheaval.

After the elder confirmed, Qin Sang put away the elixirs and stood up to leave.

Seeing this, the elder quickly stood up. "Daoist Master, wait!"

Qin Sang's tone grew firm. "What else do you need, Daoist friend? Are you dissatisfied with the spiritual sword?"

"No, no..."

The elder waved his hands repeatedly. "Daoist Master, please don't misunderstand. I am relaying a message from above. Your sword-forging technique is so exquisite; wouldn't it be a pity to let it go to waste? I wonder if you still have any intention of opening your furnace to forge swords? We can deliver the spiritual materials here, and you only need to focus on forging. The remuneration will be the same as before."

Qin Sang pondered upon hearing this, then shook his head. "This poor Daoist has wasted much time on artifact forging. Now, cultivation must take precedence, so I have no intention of opening my furnace for the time being. However, once my cultivation improves and I no longer need to worry about it, I will resume artifact forging. My cooperation with your Heavenly Halberd Tower has been pleasant, and I will contact you then."

What he said was not false. Over the years, he had been distracted by learning artifact forging; had it not been for the Blood-dripping Ghost Mushroom, his cultivation speed would have been even slower.

At least, before reaching the Pseudo-Core realm, Qin Sang had no intention of forging swords again.

Receiving Qin Sang's reply, the elder's face lit up with joy, and he no longer pressed the matter. He cupped his hands in farewell, saying, "Then we await your good news, Daoist Master."

Qin Sang nodded slightly and turned to leave the stone house.

At this time, a few more people had arrived in the main hall.

Seeing that it was still early, Qin Sang patiently walked around the hall. There were indeed some good treasures, but they were too expensive and not worth such a high price.

Qin Sang casually browsed for a while. Just as he was about to leave and return to the medicine garden, he suddenly heard a loud "bang!"

Swish!

The hall suddenly fell silent. Everyone's expressions changed, and all eyes simultaneously turned towards the source of the loud noise.

The door of the stone house at the hall's exit was forcefully pushed open by a blood-soaked figure. This person collapsed onto the ground, curling into a ball and emitting painful groans.

Following this, the gatekeeper, wearing a tiger-head mask, swiftly flew out from behind.

Witnessing this scene, the trade fair participants assumed that this person had forcibly trespassed and offended the gatekeeper, resulting in such a severe beating. Their gazes towards the gatekeeper couldn't help but be filled with deep awe.

The blood-soaked figure was severely injured, his aura weak. His cultivation base could not be concealed; he was actually a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!

A dignified late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was severely injured by the gatekeeper, and there had been no warning signs beforehand. This indicated that the battle had ended very quickly, and the gatekeeper's strength far exceeded imagination.

How could the crowd not be horrified?

Unexpectedly, just as everyone was reacting, the blood-soaked figure struggled to get up, hoarsely shouting: "The Heavenly Roaming Alliance scoundrels are launching a major attack, ambushing us! Quick... go save them..."

Mid-sentence, the blood-soaked figure suddenly fainted and fell to the ground.

This person was already at the end of his strength, having endured until he reached this place.

"What!"

"The Heavenly Roaming Alliance is launching a major attack!"

"How is that possible? There were no signs whatsoever before!"

As soon as the blood-soaked figure uttered these words, the hall erupted in an uproar.

Everyone was caught off guard. No one expected the Heavenly Roaming Alliance to suddenly attack at this moment. Although the trade fair was hidden, the sudden appearance of the blood-soaked figure here indicated that the battlefield was not far away, and they would surely be caught in the crossfire.

Although dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators had gathered at the trade fair, if the Heavenly Roaming Alliance launched a major attack on the Minor Cold Domain, they would certainly not send only Foundation Establishment cultivators. How could the crowd not panic?

Just then, the gatekeeper swept to the blood-soaked figure's side, lifted him, and loudly declared, "It may not necessarily be an attack by the Heavenly Roaming Alliance; there might be hidden circumstances. Daoist friends, please remain calm..."

As he spoke, the gatekeeper's figure flickered repeatedly, sweeping to a stone house and shouting loudly, "Quick, save him!"

A middle-aged woman in palace attire quickly emerged from the stone house. She knelt beside the blood-soaked figure, examined him briefly, then took out an elixir from her mustard seed bag and fed it to him.

At the same time, the woman in palace attire extended her palm and tapped the blood-soaked figure several times, channeling streams of subtle spiritual energy into his body.

As the elixir was consumed and the woman in palace attire employed her mysterious techniques, the blood-soaked figure's aura quickly stabilized.

The crowd suppressed their unease, nervously watching the woman in palace attire's actions, hoping the spiritual medicine would take effect quickly, allowing the person to awaken and explain the situation.

At this moment, no one dared to leave rashly. Not knowing the direction of the Heavenly Roaming Alliance's army, they feared that if they blindly walked into it, it would be a dead end!

Qin Sang, hidden in the crowd, felt his heart suddenly clench, wondering if this turn of events was a blessing or a curse.

Although he had stumbled upon an unexpected event, being able to learn of the anomaly in advance might not be a bad thing. Otherwise, if he were to realize something was wrong later in the medicine garden, he would already be trapped like a turtle in a jar.

Qin Sang glanced left and right, subtly shifted his position, moving closer to the stone house door. He prepared to escape immediately after learning the full story.

He had already clutched the Ten Directions Yama Banner in his palm, and his ebony sword was also secretly prepared.

He did not intend to mix with these people; moving as a group would make them too conspicuous. He carried valuable treasures, and as long as he acted discreetly and avoided attracting the attention of the Heavenly Roaming Alliance's Golden Core cultivators, escaping wouldn't be difficult.

The question was, how grand was the scale of the Heavenly Roaming Alliance's attack this time?

At this moment, time seemed to stretch infinitely, and everyone watched the blood-soaked figure with extreme tension.

After the woman in palace attire performed her actions, beads of sweat covered her forehead. A moment later, she exclaimed with delight, "He's awake!"