Chapter 84: Chapter 65 Iron Beast Armor! The Storm is Coming!_3
Su Changkong was shrouded in a dark silver set of thick battle armor, with only his eyes exposed.
The armor was considerably thick, making Su Changkong, who was already tall, appear much larger, making ordinary people look as small as children in front of him!
Moreover, there were metal spikes half a foot long on his head, chest, spine, knuckle joints, knees, and elbows, all flickering with a cold light!
Su Changkong stood there motionless, making one’s scalp tingle and heart tremble just by looking at him. The battle armor he had crafted was entirely for slaughter, for real combat, with both offense and defense—it looked like a metallic ferocious beast, a cold-blooded killing machine!
“Clang!”
Su Changkong moved his body, and the heavy footsteps echoed on the ground, creating clanging sounds as the armor rubbed together.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”
Wearing the armor, Su Changkong performed the Five Animal Frolics, looking like a metallic behemoth dancing, the strong wind from his movements scattering the weeds inside the cave everywhere, and the whining sound of the metal spikes cutting through the air made it impossible for anyone to even get close!
“The whole set of battle armor weighs about 140 kilograms, which is bearable… It distributes the weight across my body, the burden isn’t too heavy, and it doesn’t drastically affect my speed and agility!”
Su Changkong tested it and nodded in satisfaction.
The entire set of battle armor weighing 140 kilograms would immobilize ordinary people and would definitely affect martial artists at the Divine Strength Realm, but only those who have achieved Body Refinement Great Achievement at the Divine Bravery Stage could wear it without much impact!
“This set of armor shall be named Iron Beast, and I also need to get used to moving in it.”
Su Changkong named the battle armor Iron Beast!
In the following days, in order to get accustomed to the Iron Beast Armor, Su Changkong practiced the Five Animal Frolics wearing it every day in the cave.
With the newly crafted Iron Beast Armor, made specially for killing enemies, Su Changkong felt somewhat relieved.
“The Ghost Market opens in two days this month, I can’t miss it!”
Su Changkong hadn’t forgotten about the Ghost Market.
In a blink of an eye, two days had passed, and Su Changkong set out for the barren mountain where the Ghost Market in Clearwater City was located.
This time, Su Changkong had a different disguise, not wearing the red Ghost Face, but instead wearing a monkey mask.
At night, with the full moon hanging high, its light shining down, the barren mountain appeared even more desolate, and an old village in ruins shone with dim lights, signaling the Ghost Market had opened as scheduled!
One after another, people in various outfits and masks, hiding their identities, came and went with their individual purposes, whether to sell some ill-gotten goods or buy something unavailable in the regular market.
Su Changkong sat down on the roadside, placing a wooden sign next to him with the words written for the severely poisonous herbs he wanted to purchase.
The streets of the Ghost Market were busy with people choosing the items they needed, there were many people, but it was quite quiet.
Waiting in silence, soon, a man wearing a dog face mask stopped in front of Su Changkong and spoke in a low voice, “The Blood insect grass you want to buy, I have some.”
Delighted inside, Su Changkong knew that Blood insect grass was one of the herbs he needed for the Boiling Blood Scatter, quite rare and not to be found in the Clearwater City area.
However, Su Changkong pressed his voice low, sounding hoarse, “Name your price, if it’s right, I’ll take as much as you have.”
“Four Blood insect grass in total, ten taels of silver each, no bargaining,”
said the man with the dog face mask in a low voice.
Four Blood insect grass meant forty taels total, quite an expensive price, but rarity commands value, and few dozen silver taels weren’t much for Su Changkong, who didn’t haggle and straightforwardly said, “Deal!”
Su Changkong paid forty taels of silver, and without any chitchat, the dog face masked man took out a cloth bag from his bosom and handed it to Su Changkong.
Su Changkong opened and checked it. The cloth bag contained four blood- colored worms, each about the thickness of a little finger, looking like grass, motionless, and emitting a faint scent of blood.
“Mhm.”
Su Changkong nodded, indicating no issues, and the man with the dog face mask went off elsewhere.
Having successfully acquired a rare medicinal ingredient needed for the Boiling Blood Scatter, Su Changkong waited quietly.
Shortly after, a second person approached with another toxic ingredient required to concoct Boiling Blood Scatter, which Su Changkong acquired by spending some silver.
As the time reached midnight, many of the visitors to the Ghost Market had already set out to leave, and the streets became even less crowded, with only dim lights flickering.
Beneath his mask, Su Changkong’s eyebrows were tightly knit together, “I still need Red-bellied snake blood.”
The collection of ingredients was nearly complete, but there was still one item he had not been able to buy. If he couldn’t acquire it this time, he would have to wait until the next month’s Ghost Market, which would undoubtedly be timeconsuming and effort-intensive, with no guarantee of success!
Just as Su Changkong was feeling vexed, a man with a black veil covering his face approached him. After glancing at the sign in front of Su Changkong, he spoke in a gruff voice, “You need Red-bellied snake blood?”
“Yes, do you have it?” Su Changkong asked, his heart lifting at the question, though he maintained a calm tone.
“No, but a few days ago, I saw Red-bellied snakes on a certain mountain. Where there is one Red-bellied snake, there’s usually more. Give me 5 taels of silver, and I’ll tell you where.”
The man with the black veil spoke calmly.
Su Changkong was somewhat speechless— 5 taels of silver just for a piece of information? And he would still have to go into the mountains and catch the snake himself?
However, after pondering for a long time, Su Changkong considered that if the man with the black veil was not looking for money and told him for free, Su Changkong might actually become suspicious of his motives. Rather than waiting for next month’s Ghost Market, where success was not guaranteed, it would be better to go and catch a snake or two himself!
Of course, it was also possible that the man with the black veil was deceiving him, but those who frequented the Ghost Market were not ordinary people and should not lack four or five taels of silver anyway.
“Okay,” Su Changkong replied tersely, taking out five taels of silver and handing them to the man with the black veil.
After taking the silver, the man with the black veil spoke, “Green Bamboo Mountain, I saw Red-bellied snakes there half a month ago.”
Having given the location where Red-bellied snakes were spotted, the man with the black veil turned and left.
Su Changkong continued to wait, but as the sky gradually lightened and the Ghost Market closed, he still had not been able to buy Red-bellied snake blood.
“I’ll have to catch it myself.”
With no other option, Su Changkong, still missing that one ingredient for the Boiling Blood Scatter, left the Ghost Market and embarked on a trip to Green Bamboo Mountain.
Green Bamboo Mountain, located within the territory of Clearwater City, was overgrown with green bamboo and was a typical habitat for snakes and insects!
Su Changkong had little experience with catching snakes, but he knew that snakes were yin creatures that liked to lurk in dark and damp places. Given that Green Bamboo Mountain wasn’t very large, a systematic search should yield results within a day or two!
Su Changkong’s snake hunting in Green Bamboo Mountain meant that he could not return to Black Iron Manor on time, but fortunately, he had requested leave in advance.
Meanwhile, at Black Iron Manor, a significant event had taken place!
“Da da da!”
Outside Black Iron Manor, a group of knights charged forward on their horses, each clad in black and exuding formidable auras!
“The Black Cavalry Gang… The Black Cavalry Gang has come!” At the high walls of Black Iron Manor, a member responsible for guarding and keeping watch widened his eyes and shouted, recognizing the riders as members of the Black Cavalry Gang!
“Dang dang dang!”
Inside Black Iron Manor, a series of warning bells rang out, alerting all members that something significant was happening!
“What’s happening? The Black Cavalry Gang has arrived?”
“Isn’t it too early for that? Have they come to collect annual tribute already?”
The entire Black Iron Manor was shocked to hear of the arrival of the martial artists from the Black Cavalry Gang, puzzled as to why they would come before the new year had even arrived.
But no one dared to take the situation lightly. They all grabbed swords, hammers, and other weapons, and positioned themselves at the walls and gate of the manor, ready to defend.
The leader of the hundred or so knights who had come to Black Iron Manor was none other than Chen Zhuang, the third master of Black Iron Manor!