Three days later, one clear morning.

Yuan Ming casually accepted a task to find spiritual materials at the Execution Hall, then bid farewell to Fang Ge and left Biluo Cave's gate, heading toward the northeast.

After he was far from the gate, he murmured incantations, and a layer of air-like azure light surrounded his body, making him exceptionally light. With a gentle touch on the ground, he could leap forward several meters.

This was the Wind Swift Skill he had acquired from the Fire Summoning Place. He had practiced it during his spare time in the past two days and had already grasped the basics.

Such spells were generally not something one would spend time mastering thoroughly; instead, they could gradually improve proficiency through daily use while traveling.

With this skill, Yuan Ming's traveling speed had significantly increased. He could now travel nearly 300 li a day, and at night, he would simply find a nearby mortal town to stay, meditate, and cultivate.

A few days later, at noon, he arrived at the entrance to a remote valley located about a hundred li from the nearest mortal town.

The valley looked lush and verdant; a thick white mist permeated the entrance. Perhaps because the mountains on either side were too tall and blocked out the sunlight, looking from afar, the valley was always shrouded in a large shadow. Besides this, there was truly nothing remarkable about it.

Yuan Ming arrived at the entrance of the valley, paused briefly, then stepped forward and plunged into the white fog.

After progressing for only 15 minutes, the scene before him suddenly cleared, and a fairly large town appeared before his eyes. The fog that had been pervasive earlier had already dispersed.

The buildings in this town were all constructed of a type of black rock. At first glance, they seemed somewhat disordered, but they faintly centered around the valley, clustering into a circular formation resembling a giant black boulder.

Seeing this, a slight smile appeared on Yuan Ming's face.

This was the Black Rock City that Wulu had mentioned, not an ordinary mortal town but a town of cultivators. The mist outside the valley was to prevent ordinary mortals from mistakenly wandering in.

Before setting out, he had even taken some time to consult the Gui Cang Pavilion for records about this town, knowing that its location was quite special, situated at the intersection of the territories of Biluo Cave, Green Rock Association, and Black Fire Sect, and at a respectable distance from the other two sects; thus, it was initially established to facilitate the commute of cultivators from various sects.

Over time, as cultivators from the Southern Domain and Central Plains, as well as some loose cultivators, came here, the town gradually flourished, becoming a rather famous market in the Northern Territory.

It was said that this market currently did not belong to any of the Five Sects of the Northern Territory; instead, it was owned by an ancient cultivation family which dispatched a city lord to govern it.

This family was very mysterious and low-profile, so much so that few in the Northern Territory knew where it hailed from, but people from the Five Sects dared not show the slightest disrespect and conducted their business in the city earnestly.

At this time, Yuan Ming was not dressed in the robes of a Biluo Cave disciple but wore a set of common attire from the Southern Border and a hat with a veil to cover his face.

The mix of characters inside Black Rock City meant that many, especially loose cultivators, dressed this way. He was simply following the crowd while also avoiding some troubles.

At the entrance of the town stood two guards, one tall and the other short, both clad in black armor and exuding a mana presence. Both were at least at the Qi Refining Fourth Level.

"Would you like to enter the city, sir? Please provide a spirit stone as the entry fee," the short, round-faced guard in black armor stopped Yuan Ming and politely said.

"Why is there an entry fee now?" Yuan Ming frowned slightly upon hearing this.

He did not have many spirit stones on him, and yet he was required to give one up before he had seen anything inside.

"Recently, the number of cultivators coming and going has increased. To reduce the chaos caused by idle folks in the city, we have temporarily required an entry fee. If you're unwilling, please turn back," said the tall, thin guard who resembled a bamboo pole, speaking indifferently.

"It's just one spirit stone, take it," Yuan Ming snorted and handed a fire attribute spirit stone to the round-faced guard.

The guard accepted the spirit stone and stepped aside, allowing Yuan Ming to enter the city.

He hadn't felt it from outside, but upon entering, Yuan Ming could sense the unique bustling atmosphere of Black Rock City.

Ahead was a slightly empty but wide black stone street that could accommodate three chariots from the mundane world abreast. The shops by the street had an ancient design, with very small doors and windows, resembling small fortresses.

It seemed these were shops selling goods, mostly mundane items like rice and flour, as well as insect food from the Southern Border. Many people were busy inside, all of them ordinary mortals without mana.

Every now and then, a beast cart would leave a shop, carrying various kinds of food supplies into the city.

Yuan Ming was not surprised by this; cultivators are essentially beings of flesh and blood too. Before reaching the stage where they can fast, they also need to eat and drink; especially low-level cultivators who had just reached the Qi Refining Tenth Layer and could only maintain fasting for a month or so.

The ordinary people on the street seemed accustomed to the presence of cultivators and ignored Yuan Ming's arrival, continuing with their activities.

Yuan Ming walked to the end of Black Stone Street, where a broader street appeared before him.

The shops on both sides were also lined up here, larger than those at the entrance, with windows and doors proportioned almost normally. At first glance, it was evident that the shops here sold cultivators' items.

There were quite a few cultivators coming and going, but the street was spacious and did not feel crowded. The sounds of talking and hawking rose and fell, mingling into waves of noise that stimulated one's ears.

"Come and see, Blackback Lizard brains, one spirit stone per bottle!"

"Selling green jade, two spirit stones per catty!"

"Bloodwing Bat livers, eating them enhances eyesight, only two spirit stones per catty!"

Almost every shop had an attendant standing at the doorway calling out to passersby, no different from the vendors in the mundane world.

Yuan Ming looked around curiously, especially at the items inside the shops on either side.

He had been in Biluo Cave for some time, and along the way, he had some opportunities, obtaining classics on spiritual materials such as "Herborist" and "Record of Strange Stones," and he was quite confident in identifying spiritual materials. However, the variety of goods in the Black Stone Street Market was vast, and many of them were still unheard of, which opened his eyes considerably along the way.

"It seems I should visit such markets more often, if only to broaden my knowledge," Yuan Ming thought excitedly.

"Selling spiritual beasts! We have flying spiritual beasts, water element spiritual beasts, don't miss out!" a voice as loud as a cracked gong came from ahead, brimming with enthusiasm and drawing sideways glances from nearby people.

"That voice..." Yuan Ming looked startled and looked ahead.

Not far ahead, a large shop appeared, occupying a substantial space, featuring white walls and green tiles, standing out from the surrounding shops like a crane among chickens.

Through the wide-open doors, a portion of the interior could be seen. Many cages housed various fierce beasts, and the one calling out at the doorway was a round-faced youth with bushy eyebrows and big eyes—his old acquaintance, Zhao Tong.

"Is that him? What's he doing running a shop in Black Rock City?" Yuan Ming was quite surprised.

His gaze then moved upward to the shop sign above the door, which bore three large characters in gold on a white background: "Biluo Shop."

"Biluo Shop? They're selling spiritual beasts, and with Zhao Tong attracting business, this shop must be an official enterprise of Biluo Cave," Yuan Ming thought to himself, his heart still not quite settled.

He had known that Biluo Cave had businesses in Black Rock City, but he hadn't expected them to be selling spiritual beasts.

The Biluo Cave was renowned in the North Territory for beast taming. Spiritual beasts were fundamental to the Biluo Cave, yet they were also willing to sell them in Black Rock City?

Yuan Ming, of course, didn't know that the daily expenses of the sect were substantial, and the various resources and spiritual materials needed were not minor. Biluo Cave could not be completely self-sufficient; it needed frequent interactions with the outside world, and the shops set up in various markets were among its significant channels and sources of income.

In the face of absolute benefits and needs, selling the sect's foundational spiritual beasts was quite normal, albeit not cheap.

Spiritual beasts from the Biluo Cave were very popular, and people were frequently drawn inside. Most of those who came out were smiling, with an extra Spiritual Beast Bag at their waist.

Yuan Ming already had a Black Toad and had no intention of buying another spiritual beast. Under these circumstances, he had even less intention to catch up with Zhao Tong and passed by as if nothing was unusual.

After a few medium-small shops, another large shop appeared ahead. The doorway was deserted, hanging a signboard that read "Black Fire Pavilion" in three large characters.

"Black Fire Pavilion? Could it be like the Biluo Shop, a property of Black Fire Sect in this city?" Yuan Ming looked inside the Black Fire Pavilion.

The layout inside the Black Fire Pavilion greatly differed from ordinary shops. Looking in through the door, only a few cabinets could be seen, and it wasn't clear what the shop was selling.

Yuan Ming summoned his Divine Sense and quickly scanned the inside.

Inside the Black Fire Pavilion, like the Biluo Shop, there were many sealed cages and cabinets, not enclosing spiritual beasts, but refining corpses and housing ghosts.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming had no more doubts.

The Black Fire Sect excelled in controlling refined corpses and nurturing ghosts; this Black Fire Pavilion must undoubtedly be a property of the Black Fire Sect.

"Biluo Cave and Black Fire Sect both have shops here; the other three sects of the Southern Border and Northern Territory—Hundred Poison Cave, Beast King Sect, and Green Rock Association—probably also have shops here," Yuan Ming thought to himself.

From the information he had hastily reviewed before leaving about the Five Sects of the North Territory, the Black Fire Sect, adept at controlling refined corpses and banishing ghosts, was the strongest. The strength of the other four sects was comparable.

The Hundred Poison Cave specialized in using poison, particularly skilled in taming various poisonous creatures, which had some similarities to the beast-taming skills of the Biluo Cave.

The Beast King Sect excelled in tattooing secret techniques that enhanced physical strength, favoring close combat.

As for the Green Rock Association located in the Kasi Clan's territory, it was quite special. This sect occupied the largest spirit stone mine in the Southern Border and Northern Territory and was the wealthiest among the Five Sects.

The Green Rock Association was the newest among them, initially a large trading company that maintained a long-term trade relationship with sects like Biluo Cave. After forming a sect, it expanded its spirit stone business to other regions of the Southern Border and even to Central Plains Da Jin.

In terms of cultivation techniques and secret skills, the Green Rock Association had nothing unique. The cultivation methods practiced by the disciples of the association were all focused on utilizing spirit stones, either bought or secretly learned from the other four sects. Since they started trading with Da Jin, they also learned the spells of Central Plains, making it a sect with a mixture of various traditions.

Although the other four sects were not pleased with this, they all needed the spirit stones from the Green Rock Association, so they turned a blind eye, maintaining a peaceful coexistence over the years.

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