I, a prison guard in the Heavenly Prison, secretly became invincible thanks to the system.

Luodu.

A city through which the Grand Canal flows.

According to Xie Yuan's intelligence, the location where the bandits gathered was twenty miles outside Luodu.

This wasn't the first time these bandits had gathered here; they came almost every year and would spontaneously form a black market to exchange their illicit stolen goods.

Over time, even some highly skilled veteran bandits formed an auction house where they could sell their wares.

Of course, only extremely valuable treasures can be auctioned, including divine weapons and martial arts manuals.

When news of the auction of some rare items spreads, not only bandits but also people from other factions will rush to participate.

This even included people in the imperial court.

This time was no different; the news of Yin Bupo's martial arts skills being revealed came from the auction house.

The three top-tier seventh-grade innate experts that Miss Wanyi mentioned were the ones who came here before; their status was far more noble than that of the bandits.

Ye Kang and Xie Yuan rode their horses along the canal.

A few martial artists appeared in twos and threes ahead, and the further you went, the more martial artists there were.

Then a large bridge came into view, and on the artificial riverbank below the bridge, there was a bustling market.

At least several thousand martial artists were crammed inside, their heads thronging together, their various auras impossible to conceal, making it look quite terrifying.

Xie Yuan exclaimed from afar, "How interesting! I visited this Grand Canal Market when I was young, but it was just some low-level bandits and quite boring. I never imagined it would have grown to this scale."

Ye Kang was also surprised and said, "With so many people, and innate masters everywhere you look, if these people join forces, the Azure Scale Guards will have a real headache."

Xie Yuan smiled and shook his head.

"No, no, the Grand Canal Market has been able to exist for so long precisely because they know how to behave and never oppose the imperial court. Otherwise, the Qinglin Guard would have sent people to wipe them out long ago."

As the two walked to the edge of the market, a sharp-eyed young man immediately ran over.

"Seniors, would you like your horses led? I've rented a stable over there; I guarantee it'll be reliable!"

Ye Kang and Xie Yuan looked over and were astonished to find that this young man was also a first-class expert.

Even a top-notch expert can only be a stable boy here.

Seeing that the two did not speak, the young man thought that they did not trust him, so he took the initiative to run to the stables not far away.

The stable wasn't large, with about seven or eight stalls, and five or six good horses were already grazing there.

The young man exclaimed, "Senior, please look! These are all the horses of other seniors; we take very good care of them!"

Ye Kang and Xie Yuan couldn't help but laugh and rode their horses over.

"Excuse me, it's 50 taels of silver per horse."

"So expensive?"

"This must be your first time here, seniors. This is the normal price at the Grand Canal Market. The shops and inns inside are really expensive."

Xie Yuan laughed heartily again and threw over a hundred taels of silver.

The two then entered the market. Because they both used martial arts techniques to conceal their aura, others could neither discern their cultivation level nor sense any threat from them, and treated them as ordinary martial artists.

Ye Kang also quietly took out a small folding fan and hung it on his waist, along with the sky-blue jade pendant that the white-robed man had brought with him.

The area has many small, rough-looking shops, and masked people set up stalls on both sides of the shops and along the streets.

The two strolled around for a while, but Ye Kang showed little interest, while Xie Yuan found it quite amusing.

"Oh my, that guy actually has a thousand-year-old dragon's beard grass. If the people in those dojos find out, they'll probably go crazy."

"Hey! That female thief's skills are so mediocre, I didn't expect to find several innate martial arts manuals on the street stall!"

"This is incredible! Where did this fat guy steal so many evil-repelling fruits?"

Xie Yuan kept exclaiming in surprise as he walked, acting like a complete old child, making it hard to connect him with the identity of the third ancestor of the Xie family.

However, he has a keen eye; the items he points out almost always attract several bidders very quickly, as they are all genuine treasures.

Unfortunately, it was of no use to Ye Kang.

Just then, the system voice suddenly sounded.

【Ding】

[Demon Forge: The Man-Eating Mountain Demon Refining Completed]

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained a refining reward: half a Demon Blood Crystal]

……

Gone?

Is that all?

Ye Kang was speechless.

After waiting for so long and finally completing the refining process, all I got was half a demon blood crystal, without even a trace of demon martial arts, let alone any other treasures.

That useless mountain spirit, all his joy was for nothing.

Ye Kang sighed. Oh well, at least with the Demon Blood Crystal, he could continue to upgrade the Catfish Demon Suppressing Water Technique, so it wasn't a loss.

He composed himself and took a few more steps forward. Suddenly, a strange fragrance wafted into his nose.

Not only him, but almost all the martial artists around noticed the strange fragrance and looked at a small stall next to them.

A short man with a sleazy face and a mustache slowly opened a jade box.

The jade box was opened, and a unique fragrance wafted out; the jade box was closed, and the fragrance disappeared.

The surrounding martial artists immediately rushed over out of curiosity.

"Brother, what's in your box? It smells so good!"

The man with the mustache smiled dismissively and said indifferently, "Thank you for the invitation. I don't know what this thing is either, but it has powerful functions. I'm afraid you'll be scared if I tell you."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

"What a pretentious dwarf! If you don't explain yourself clearly today, we'll make sure you drink this canal dry!"

The man with the mustache showed no fear, instead shaking his head dismissively: "Your strength is too weak, not worthy of this treasure. There's no need to ask any more questions."

"What did you say!"

Immediately, someone rolled up their sleeves, their expression grim.

At this moment, a dignified middle-aged man, wearing a black cloak and carrying a huge judge's pen on his back, pushed through the crowd and walked over.

"Brother, what do you think of my abilities? Am I qualified to know the wondrous uses of this treasure?"

The man's aura surged forth, and his sixth-grade innate strength sent chills down everyone's spines.

Some people were horrified.

"Could it be the Black Judge of Hexi, Senior Yan Rui Tu!"

As soon as the words were spoken, many people secretly retreated, clearly indicating that they had backed down.

Ye Kang, who had been observing from the sidelines, looked puzzled.

Xie Yuan explained to him, "The Yan brothers of Hexi County, one black and one white, both wield the Vajra Judge's Pen. Both are sixth-rank, and it is said that when they work together, they have the combat power of a seventh-rank."

Xie Yuan's voice was very soft, but everyone present was a martial artist with strong senses, and they could hear it if they paid a little attention.

Yan Ruitu wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, he confidently raised his head, his expression showing a hint of arrogance.

The man with the mustache at the street stall no longer dared to pretend and quickly cupped his hands, saying, "Senior Yan is certainly capable. This treasure is nameless, but it emits a strange fragrance. It is useless to people, but it will attract other things."

Yan Ruitu frowned: "Just say what you want to say, stop being so wishy-washy. Do you really want to feed the fish?"

The man with the mustache shuddered and hurriedly said, "Please forgive me, senior! The only purpose of this item is to attract demons!"

"I learned about this by chance. Once, I stayed overnight in a deserted temple in the mountains. I only opened this treasure for a short while, and a huge wolf demon came! I escaped with my life on the line. I tried it a few more times afterward, and sure enough, it attracted another demon. Only then did I confirm the effect of this treasure!"