The layout of the Void Black Market was simple.
It was divided into two areas, splitting the space in half.
One half was dedicated to the shop-style businesses, like the one Li Qi and his companion had visited previously.
The other half was a more chaotic, a melting pot of a public trading area.
Anyone could set up a stall to sell or buy goods freely.
But as for the quality of the items...
In a single word... chaotic.
After all, this was still a black market. The shops at the Cangyan Medicine Pavilion, at least, occupied fixed locations and couldn't just disappear. They also had their reputations to consider.
In contrast, this public trading area housed all sorts of unsavory characters. If you were cheated while buying something,
the seller could simply vanish into thin air, leaving the victim to suffer their losses in silence.
As for outright murder and treasure hunting, such incidents were actually rare within the Void Black Market.
This wasn't because the various powers and cultivators there possessed particularly high moral standards.
The primary reason was the shops in the other section of the market.
These shops generally had significant backing behind them.
To encourage more people to conduct transactions in the black market,
the owners behind these establishments had provided considerable security, with numerous powerful individuals guarding the black market.
In short, while they might not be able to intervene with issues outside the Void Black Market, there was a semblance of order within it.
However, the Heavenly Dao Will that Li Qi intended to purchase was different from elixirs. There were no fixed shops selling it.
Therefore, he planned to head to the public trading area.
This was because anything and everything was sold there, and Heavenly Dao Will was no exception.
After all, during his previous conversation with Huang Hao, the manager of the Cangyan Medicine Pavilion, Huang Hao had mentioned that
if one were to try their luck, even other Dao Integration Pills had appeared here before. This was enough to illustrate the sheer diversity of the public trading area.
However, Li Qi, being an old hand at caution,
did not intend to visit the public trading area with his main body.
Finding a secluded spot,
Li Qi once again activated his Innate Spirit Puppet talent.
Before long, a spirit puppet with the cultivation of the first level of Dao Integration stood quietly before Li Qi.
As for the appearance of this spirit puppet,
Li Qi had set it to a random middle-aged male appearance.
Li Qi then hid himself in a black market inn located outside the public trading area.
He then quietly settled his mind and began to control this spirit puppet to head into the public trading area.
...
Before long, the spirit puppet had entered the public trading area.
As soon as it stepped into the zone, numerous gazes immediately fixed upon it, scrutinizing the spirit puppet from head to toe.
As if sensing the surrounding gazes,
under Li Qi's control,
the spirit puppet let out a cold snort from its mouth. Immediately, the aura of a first-level Dao Integration cultivator flowed out.
In an instant,
the surroundings fell silent for a moment, and all the discreetly observing gazes vanished.
The spirit puppet walked into the public trading area.
Along the way, countless cultivators had set up their goods for sale before them.
However, the strength of these cultivators was mostly in the Void Return stage. As for those in the Dao Integration stage, Li Qi had only seen a few after walking for a long time.
And the items displayed by those Void Return stage cultivators were even more trash.
In short, to Li Qi, they were all low-grade elixirs, low-grade spirit artifacts, and various other low-grade items that Li Qi couldn't be bothered with.
Li Qi controlled the spirit puppet, browsing for about half a day.
He finally found a stall with a piece of incomplete Heavenly Dao Will displayed.
However, to Li Qi's disappointment, the quality of this incomplete Heavenly Dao Will was very low; it wasn't even at the Void Return stage.
It was likely that even in its complete state, it would only be able to accommodate cultivators at the eighth level of Nascent Soul.
Li Qi frowned slightly, but at least he had found his target.
He stepped forward and asked the Void Return fifth-level cultivator manning the stall,
"How much are you selling this incomplete Heavenly Dao Will for?"
The Void Return fifth-level cultivator's heart leaped with joy upon hearing someone inquire about the price, thinking he could exploit the buyer.
But when he looked up, he saw Li Qi, who was at the Dao Integration stage. His heart immediately startled, and he quickly suppressed any excessive thoughts.
"Heh heh, this Heavenly Dao Will is incomplete. It's only half the amount of the complete Will. If you wish to purchase it, sir, it will be two hundred thousand spirit stones."
Li Qi pondered for a moment.
The complete Heavenly Dao Will for the eighth level of Nascent Soul should be around four hundred and fifty thousand. Half the amount for two hundred thousand wasn't a bad deal.
Without much hesitation, he immediately paid the money and decisively bought it.
After purchasing this half-piece of Heavenly Dao Will,
Li Qi continued his search. Half a day passed in the blink of an eye.
He didn't let a single stall selling Heavenly Dao Will slip by.
The weakest Heavenly Dao Will he bought could only accommodate cultivators at the second level of Nascent Soul.
The strongest Heavenly Dao Will he purchased could accommodate cultivators at the sixth level of Void Return.
Then, Li Qi controlled the spirit puppet to roam the public trading area for several days before finally stopping.
However, this didn't mean Li Qi had bought enough.
It simply meant that the approximately twenty million spirit stones he had brought with him on this outing had been entirely converted into Heavenly Dao Will.
Having spent all his money,
Li Qi immediately prepared to leave the public trading area.
But then, Li Qi's gaze flickered slightly.
Despite his spirit puppet being at the first level of Dao Integration, the substantial expenditure of spirit stones over these few days had still attracted the attention of some interested parties.
The controlled spirit puppet continued to walk out as if nothing had happened.
However, it wasn't heading in Li Qi's direction but towards the outside of the Void Black Market.
At the same time, as the spirit puppet was heading out of the Void Black Market,
two more spirit puppets were generated by Li Qi.
These two spirit puppets also headed towards the outside of the black market.
Simultaneously, Li Qi, the main body, followed at a distance behind the two spirit puppets.
If they wanted to commit murder and steal treasure, they would have to contend with Li Qi's two other spirit puppets and his main body.