"Void Stone?"

Zheng Tieshou was momentarily stunned, then shook his head with a bitter smile. "Brother Su, your appetite is truly not small. That thing is the core material for forging storage magical treasures and spatial formations, classified as a strategic resource of the sect. Forget about me, even if Elder Mo wanted to mobilize it, he'd have to go through dual verification by both the Internal Affairs Hall and the Enforcement Hall."

A flicker of disappointment flashed in Su Ming's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.

It was expected.

Lin Yu's soul body's recovery required Void Stone Powder. It seemed the official channels were impassable.

"However..."

Zheng Tieshou lowered his voice, tilting his chin towards the north. "We don't have it here, but that doesn't mean other places don't. Although Iron Wall Pass is strictly managed, there are always some things that can't see the light of day. On the first and fifteenth of every month, at the 'Ghost Market' behind the Supply Camp, you might get lucky." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Ghost Market?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow.

"Calling it a Ghost Market, it's actually just a place where various wandering cultivators and us sect disciples privately exchange goods," Zheng Tieshou chuckled. "Some spoils of war, the higher-ups either can't officially accept or offer too low a price, so everyone unloads them there. As long as no trouble breaks out, the Enforcement Team turns a blind eye."

As he spoke, Zheng Tieshou fished out a black iron token from his waist and tossed it to Su Ming.

"Take this. Go to the Ghost Market and find someone called 'Old Blind Man.' Tell him I sent you. He has some connections there."

Su Ming caught the token. It felt icy cold to the touch, engraved with a faint hammerhead mark.

This was the biggest gain of the night.

"Thank you, Brother Zheng." Su Ming changed his form of address.

"Thank my ass, drink!" Zheng Tieshou waved his hand. "Besides the Void Stone, take whatever else you want."

Su Ming didn't stand on ceremony either. He got up and walked out the door.

He didn't touch the shiny, glamorous refined gold and secret silver displayed openly. Instead, he went straight to the scrap area in the corner.

There, piles of various artifact forging failures, slag, or fragments of damaged magical implements recovered from the front lines were stacked.

In the eyes of others, this was all garbage. But in Su Ming's eyes, equipped with the "observation micro state" vision and Lin Yu as a knowledge repository, this place was practically a treasure mountain.

"That black jar on the left, take it," Lin Yu directed from within the Consciousness Sea. "That's waste liquid from 'Thunder Fire Sand' refinement. The 'Thunder Mercury' settled inside is a high-explosive material. With a bit of processing, its power is three times stronger than your Bumper Harvest No. 2."

Su Ming complied, collecting that unattended jar of black sludge.

"And that one, that piece that looks like a rusted copper plate." Lin Yu's voice carried a hint of excitement. "Don't judge it by its ugliness. That's the oxidized crust of 'Star Pattern Steel.' Just wash off the oxidation layer with strong acid, and what's left is the best spiritual energy conducting material, perfect for making formation plates."

Su Ming picked through the scrap pile like a scavenger.

Before long, a small pile of grayish, grimy-looking "junk" had accumulated at his feet.

Zheng Tieshou, who had followed him out, clicked his tongue in amazement.

"Brother Su, you're... done picking?" Zheng Tieshou was somewhat puzzled. "There's top-quality Crimson Refined Copper on that shelf over there. Don't you want some?"

"It's enough."

Su Ming patted the dust off his hands, pointing at the pile on the ground. "Brother Zheng, in others' hands, these things are scrap. But for me, they're just right for repairing those low-grade formation plates. Crimson Refined Copper is good, but too conspicuous. I'm a timid person, afraid of attracting unwanted attention."

Zheng Tieshou was stunned for a moment, then gave a thumbs-up. "Perceptive! Brother Su, your temperament is steady!"

With a flourish of his pen, he signed an inventory release form. "This junk isn't worth much. Count it all as loss. Take it, take it!"

Su Ming packed the items away but didn't leave in a hurry. Instead, he took out a huge bundle from his own storage pouch.

When the bundle was opened, a strong, heavy smell of blood wafted out.

It was dozens of complete Crimson-Eyed Wolf Demon pelts, along with a pile of processed wolf fangs and claws.

"Brother Zheng, these are the gains from today's daytime battle," Su Ming pointed at the items on the ground. "The brothers gave all these to me. I know the Vessel Hall also collects materials. Rather than going to the Administration Hall and getting lowballed, it's better to give them directly to you, Brother Zheng. You decide on a price, whatever's fair."

Zheng Tieshou crouched down, examining the quality of the pelts.

"Good craftsmanship."

Zheng Tieshou praised. "The pelts are skinned completely, no extra cuts. These wolf fangs also retained the spiritual marrow at the roots. Those bloodsuckers at the Administration Hall would give you thirty contribution points per pelt at most for this quality."

He stood up, pondering for a moment. "Alright, I'll take them at fifty points per pelt. Wolf fangs and claws calculated separately. I'll convert it all to two thousand contribution points for you. Or if you want spirit stones, fifteen hundred spirit stones."

This price was at least twenty percent above market rate.

Su Ming was secretly delighted, but his expression remained unchanged. "Then I thank Brother Zheng for your consideration. I'll take the spirit stones."

Contribution points were good, but in a place like the Ghost Market, hard currency like spirit stones was more useful.

The transaction completed, both host and guest were satisfied.

When Su Ming walked out of the Vessel Hall, the wind and snow outside had stopped.

The cold air drawn into his lungs instantly cleared his head, which had been somewhat heated by the alcohol.

He glanced back at the massive hall belching flames into the night behind him, his fingers gently rubbing the black iron token inside his sleeve.

"Master." Su Ming called out in his mind.

"Hmm?"

"If the marks on that drill bit were really left by those insects..." Su Ming looked up at the pitch-black night sky. "Then their bite must be even better now than thirty years ago."

Thirty years ago, they could already gnaw through Mystic Iron essence.

"So we need to hurry."

Su Ming nodded, tightened his robe, and quickly strode into the darkness.

...

Three days later.

The waning moon offered no light. The night was like a tightly sealed black pot, completely covering the continuous camp layout of Iron Wall Pass.

Behind the Supply Camp, mountains of dried fodder grass emitted a stale, musty smell.

This was the most inconspicuous corner of the entire Iron Wall Pass, usually only passed by menials responsible for feeding the scaled horses.

A dark shadow slid out from the shadows like a civet cat, its toes lightly tapping on the soft haystacks without making a sound.

Su Ming was wrapped in a wide black robe, a plain bronze mask covering his face.

This mask was pressed from scrap leftover from discarded formation plates. Inside, a simple "breath-concealing array" was engraved, capable of blurring facial contours. Even if scanned by divine sense, one would only see a hazy mist.

"Master, this place is chosen to be quite remote," Su Ming murmured in his mind, his gaze warily sweeping the surroundings.

"Remote is right," Lin Yu's voice sounded in the Consciousness Sea, carrying the certainty of an expert. "That's where the good stuff is."

Su Ming lowered his posture. Following the location given by Zheng Tieshou, he circled around two massive hay mountains and stopped before a wind-sheltered cliff face.

The cliff face appeared smooth, but in Su Ming's "observation micro state" vision, there was an extremely faint layer of spiritual energy fluctuation there, gently rippling like water waves.

Two guards in gray clothes, their auras cold and gloomy, were integrated into the shadows like rocks. If not for Su Ming's keen divine sense, he might have overlooked their presence.

"Halt."

The guard on the left didn't draw his blade, merely lifting his eyelids. His pupils glinted with a cold light in the darkness, eerily reminiscent of some cold-blooded reptile.

Su Ming didn't speak. With a flip of his wrist, the black iron token engraved with the hammerhead mark appeared in his palm. He presented the token forward, his movements steady, without any unnecessary probing.

The guard glanced at the token, and his previously tense muscles relaxed slightly.

He extended a thin, withered finger and tapped three times on the cliff face behind him in an extremely subtle pattern.

Two long, one short.

*Screech—screech—screech—*

A grating, teeth-grinding friction sound rang out. The originally seamless cliff face actually recessed inward, revealing a deep, narrow opening only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways. A turbid airflow, mixed with the smell of blood, decay, and some strange incense, instantly rushed out.

"Enter." The guard coldly spat out a single word before receding back into the darkness.

Su Ming put away the token, took a deep breath, adjusted the circulation route of his "Like Water Art" within his body, suppressing his own aura to the extreme. Only then did he step into that light-devouring "beast's maw."