The burly man's front, Zhang Ergou immediately unleashed the Lion's Heart Fury, a close-quarters combat skill.
The burly man was already in dire straits, caught between the pincer attack from three directions.
Zhang Ergou's close-quarters combat skill further threw the burly man into a panicked defense.
Strike him while he's down!
Xiong Bao and Zi Lin also joined the fray. Seeing the burly man being overwhelmed by Zhang Ergou, they immediately charged into the battle. The burly man, fighting and retreating, thought, "These three little brats are too strange!" and a desire to retreat began to form.
He swung his large saber wildly, unleashing countless blade energies that rushed towards Zhang Ergou and the others.
Fortunately, Ghost Spear Tian Wen blocked in front of him, and Zhang Ergou narrowly escaped a fatal blow.
Indeed, a Golden Core stage cultivator was not comparable to someone in the Foundation Establishment stage.
The burly man, who had been at a disadvantage earlier, instantly reversed the situation with his fierce onslaught.
Shadow Phantom!
Suddenly, Zhang Ergou pushed his speed to the extreme, leaving behind streaks of afterimages.
Lion's Heart Fury!
A punch directly smashed towards the burly man's chest.
Pfft!
A splash of blood erupted as Zhang Ergou forcefully plunged Ghost Spear Tian Wen into the burly man's thigh.
The burly man's movement speed plummeted, and his body began to sway. From behind him, Xiong Bao brought down a heavy blow with his club.
Bang!
The iron rod, infused with spiritual energy, smashed directly onto the burly man's skull.
Crack!
The burly man's sturdy body collapsed to the ground. To his death, he never imagined he would die such a suffocating death, at the hands of three little children.
Where could he even begin to complain!
As the burly man fell, he kicked up a cloud of dust. When the smoke cleared, the trio approached.
The burly man's eyes were wide open, his unblinking stare extremely ferocious.
"Let's go, we shouldn't linger here!"
Zhang Ergou and Xiong Bao quickly searched the burly man for anything valuable.
The three of them disappeared without a trace.
By the time they stopped again, they had already reached the depths of the jungle.
With Zi Lin keeping watch, Zhang Ergou and Xiong Bao spent about an hour recovering from their injuries.
Then, they took out the burly man's storage ring and the treasures he carried.
"Holy cow, this guy was loaded!"
"This is a rich haul!"
Exclamations of surprise immediately echoed through the depths of the jungle.
"How do we split it?"
"Of course, we split it equally, everyone gets a share!"
The three squatted on the ground, heads together, shamelessly dividing the spoils.
The burly man's storage ring contained over three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, along with various medicinal herbs, treasures, and elixirs.
The three of them divided everything cleanly.
Only two ancient books remained. Zi Lin was not interested in them.
Xiong Bao and Zhang Ergou each picked up one.
"Fire Spirit Fist, a fire-attribute skill. It seems unsuitable for me!" Xiong Bao glanced at it and handed the ancient book directly to Zhang Ergou.
He then looked at the book in Zhang Ergou's hand. "What's yours?"
Zhang Ergou flipped over the ancient book. "True Yang Art!"
Zhang Ergou was stunned. What was this?
Xiong Bao's eyes lit up. He snatched it and stuffed it into his storage ring.
"True Yang Art, it complements my cultivation technique perfectly! This skill is mine!"
Xiong Bao, with a serious expression, was trying to fool Zhang Ergou.
"Peh! Disgraceful!" Zi Lin spat out directly.
Seeing Zi Lin's reaction, Zhang Ergou understood what the True Yang Art was.
His mouth twitched. Of course, he didn't ask for it back from the chubby Xiong Bao.
He just didn't expect the little fatty to have such a peculiar hobby.
Obtaining a practical combat skill was the best outcome for Zhang Ergou.
Although he had already cultivated to the early Foundation Establishment stage, the skills he could actually use were very few.
After a brief perusal of the ancient book, Zhang Ergou discovered that Fire Spirit Fist, when combined with spiritual fire, would have unexpected effects.
Fire Spirit Fist was suitable for cultivators with fire-attribute spiritual roots. When a cultivator channeled their true qi, the punches not only took on animalistic forms but also became solid flames.
The destructive power was immense.
As Zhang Ergou, who possessed five-elemental spiritual roots, he was naturally qualified to cultivate such a skill.
After a short rest, the three of them set off again, heading towards the black market.
This time, they encountered no further obstacles on the road. They traveled unimpeded, and by the time they reached the black market, it was already getting dark.
"The black market is ahead. It's crowded and dangerous, so be extra careful," Zi Lin pointed ahead and deliberately cautioned them.
The black market before them covered an area of dozens of miles, surrounded by a city wall. Two prominent characters were written on the city gate: Black Market!
"Let's go in and take a look!" Zi Lin tugged Zhang Ergou's sleeve and led the way towards the city gate.
Zhang Ergou and Xiong Bao followed closely behind.
As soon as they entered the city gate, Zhang Ergou felt a special power. His cultivation was immediately suppressed to the Qi Refining stage.
"What's going on?" Zhang Ergou asked in surprise.
"Don't panic," Zi Lin nodded calmly. "Every time there's a black market auction, powerful beings set up strong restrictions."
"They suppress the cultivation of everyone entering here to the Qi Refining stage."
"Even Golden Core stage cultivators are suppressed?" Zhang Ergou asked, his eyes full of doubt.
"Of course. There are many beings more powerful than Golden Core stage cultivators; you and I just haven't reached the level to interact with them yet," Xiong Bao replied.
"That powerful!" Zhang Ergou surveyed his surroundings, a sense of awe for the powers behind the black market dawning on him.
"Black Pavilion!" Zi Lin pointed to a towering building ahead.
"That place is where this auction will be held."
Zhang Ergou followed Zi Lin's gaze and saw a towering pavilion in the center of the black market.
It stood more than ten zhang taller than the surrounding buildings, magnificent and grand, clearly a symbol of the black market.
Even from a distance, Zhang Ergou could feel a terrifying pressure.
"What's the origin of this Black Pavilion, and how can it exist peacefully in the black market?" Zhang Ergou asked, his face filled with confusion.
Xiong Bao rolled his eyes, looking at Zhang Ergou as if he were an idiot.
"The history of the Black Pavilion on the Yin Continent is even longer than that of our Misty Sect. Long before the Misty Sect was established, the Black Pavilion was already renowned. Yet, the Black Pavilion doesn't belong to any sect."
"The Black Pavilion is incredibly mysterious, its members are all enigmatic and powerful. Rumor has it that their Pavilion Master is a Nascent Soul stage cultivator."
"Nascent Soul stage!" Zhang Ergou gasped.
Since he began his cultivation journey, the highest level cultivator he had ever met was his master, a peak Golden Core stage cultivator.
There were still two major realms to go to reach the Nascent Soul stage.
He hadn't even encountered a Nascent Soul stage cultivator yet, and now he heard that the Black Pavilion Master was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
How could he not be astonished?
"Although the Black Pavilion is located within the black market, it never interferes with the disputes among cultivators in the market," Xiong Bao continued to educate Zhang Ergou.
"Only when auctions are held here does the Black Pavilion send powerful individuals to intervene, strictly prohibiting any killing among the cultivators entering the black market."
"Even the notorious Poison Sect from the north suffered a great loss here in the past, so no one dares to challenge the majesty of the Black Pavilion anymore."
Zhang Ergou quietly looked up at the towering building in front of him, a sense of reverence rising in his heart.