The Path of the Martial Arts BOSS

"Is this the real Shadow Market?!"

It must be said that despite the marketplace scene, with stalls everywhere, it was seriously a bit low. It left Qing Yu, who had previously overheard a conversation between an uncle and his nephew, somewhat disappointed.

But sometimes, a large crowd is a spectacle in itself. No matter the occasion or place, once people gather, the standard invisibly rises. Though raising the standard of a marketplace would only do so much.

"This isn't the real Shadow Market."

The deep voice came from behind Qing Yu. Without turning, Qing Yu leapt forward instead. The entrance to the cave was higher than the square and required descending stairs to the right. Directly in front of Qing Yu was the end of the entrance platform, hovering in the air.

Qing Yu, in mid-air, tumbled down to the square, and then "Divine Transformation" changed his shape, darting six meters to the left front. Only then did he turn around, curious to see who the owner of that deep voice was.

"Not bad, very cautious. Cautious people, without saying anything else, definitely live longer." The voice was still deep, lightly tinged with approval, yet very clear, as if emanating from right behind Qing Yu.

Qing Yu's pores tightened, and his motion to turn around froze. After a while, he slowly turned back, his expression normal.

The person behind him had approached silently, his presence only noticed when he spoke. And like a shadow, he had followed Qing Yu down to the square unnoticed, without making a sound. His martial arts were so advanced that Qing Yu couldn't confront him at his current level.

So, he had to play the dutiful junior.

Qing Yu's thoughts raced, eventually realizing he had no chance of resisting. He decided he could only face the situation head-on. Now, he understood the thoughts of gang leaders he had previously duped.

"Senior flatters me too much. The path of the worldly society is long. Without extra caution, one might not even have a place to grow grass on one's grave." Qing Yu bowed with clasped hands, still wearing his mask, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes revealed he was smiling.

The owner of the deep voice, dressed in a Mystic Robe with a black veil and Douli hat, was marked by the dark gold patterns stitched on his garments, indicating he was someone expensive and high-ranking.

Moreover, this person was followed by someone else dressed in black tight-fitting clothing, a face shrouded with only two eye holes, without any other features, in a black mask. Qing Yu hadn't noticed this follower before.

From the position a step behind the masked man, it was clear that even this advanced expert was just an attendant. Qing Yu shivered inwardly and became even more cautious.

"You need to not be so formal. We actually have some connections," the Douli Man paused, "Qing Yu."

"..." Qing Yu's mouth beneath the mask opened, but he couldn't utter a word, filled with thoughts of "I'm dead, I'm dead..."

Vendors near the entrance noticed the commotion here and turned to look. The attendant in the black mask silently returned their gaze, making the onlookers quickly retract their heads, as if a moments delay would mean losing their eyes.

"This isn't the place for a conversation," the Douli Man waved his hand, "Follow me."

Qing Yu watched the vendors' reactions and reluctantly followed. There's a saying, life is like that certain thing, if you can't resist it, you might as well close your eyes and enjoy it. Even if it's get violated first and killed later, at least it's enjoying before dying.

On their way, everyone out shopping stepped aside, and vendors also bowed their heads, not daring to look directly at them.

"Disappointed? This scene looks no different from a regular black market, just larger in scale," said the Douli Man ahead.

"A bit. But senior previously mentioned this isn't the real Shadow Market. In that light, this setting does make sense."

"You are quite astute."

The trio continued without stopping, passing the bustling stall area and entering a street paved with blue stone bricks. Yes, a street lined with buildings constructed of black tiles and bricks, similar to those found in ordinary city marketplaces. At the end of the street, a magnificent black temple was visible.

"This area is where the real Shadow Market is located," the Douli Man gestured around.

Qing Yu surveyed his surroundings; the market in front of him was no different from any regular city market, except for maybe the surrounding buildings all being black. But this was in the mountains – the people of the Shadow Market might have even hollowed out part of Lianduan Mountain next to Yang City.

The Douli Man no longer spoke, just kept walking.

Reaching the end of the street, Qing Yu stared at the black temple in front of him. As he had stepped onto the street, he had seen the temple and felt its majesty. Now close at hand, it indeed radiated grandeur. Black is hard to make as glamorous as gold, but the temple stood out by its sheer size. Standing before it, one felt as insignificant as if facing the dark universe.

Qing Yu followed the Douli Man onto the temple stairs, climbing twenty-four steps to the temple doors. Carved on the columns before the temple were unknown ferocious beasts. On the temple's frontal doors, the left door bore a carving of a Demon God holding twin hammers, face fierce, while the right door depicted an armored figure, even the face covered in armor, without a weapon, but metallic gloves extended into long claws.

Very lifelike, the carver must have been a master, that much Qing Yu could say. As for the rest, sorry to say, he didn't know. Qing Yu, only self-taught in reading and still not quite literate, could hardly comprehend; if martial arts weren't system-injected, relying on this world's secret martial arts manuals, he might not even understand them. As for these ferocious beasts and Demon Gods carvings, Qing Yu, almost illiterate in this cultural realm, admitted complete ignorance.

The Douli Man didn't enter the temple but simply sat on the topmost step, "Sit," he patted the spot next to him.

Qing Yu sat about a meter and a half away from him, neither too close nor too far. Sitting here, looking at the street ahead felt different again.

"Pretty impressive, right?"

"Very impressive. It's hard to imagine what the scene would look like when the real Shadow Market opens. And this temple..." Qing Yu turned to look back at the temple behind him, "It's hard to imagine what it looks like inside."

The Douli Man scoffed and said, "If you find it hard to imagine, you could visit the Shadow Markets in other states. As for this place, ever since it was built, the real Shadow Market has never been opened."

"Never? But isn't there supposed to be an auction every three months?" Qing Yu questioned. He had thought that the reason the street area was so deserted was that the tri-monthly auction hadn't started.

"Auction? Who told you that? Me?" As he spoke the last two words, the Douli Man's tone changed, becoming a voice that sounded somewhat familiar to Qing Yu.

Qing Yu suddenly stood up, shocked, "This... you..."

He couldn't help his astonishment. The Douli Man's altered voice was exactly that of the "Third Uncle" Qing Yu had overheard outside the Shadow Market cave when he was keeping watch.