Chapter 333 - 161: The ’First in Qi Dao’ Purple Mist Sect Leader; Ancestral Master Wang Xuanyang, the Blazing Sun of Half a Jiazi Ago

Hmm?

'The Wanted List for Ji the kid was taken down?'

In the Black Market, a look of astonishment appeared in Duan Chenzhou's eyes.

Every time a Celestial Spirit or Earthly Fiend Assassin from the Jiangyin Black Market was dispatched, they would leave behind a wisp of their Divine Soul to create a Life Lamp.

These Life Lamps lasted for only a very short time, generally dissipating on their own after ten days to half a month. Moreover, they posed no threat to Assassins of the Celestial Spirit Level.

Their only purpose was to determine whether these Assassins had completed their bounty, or how many of them had fallen because of it.

Thus, as of yesterday, the Black Market already knew that two from the ranks of their Celestial Spirit Assassins—Dark Star and Celestial Sword Star—had perished.

Duan Chenzhou was not surprised by this.

But what he had not expected was...

...that the Black Market, with its heaven-defying background, had not only failed to double down after losing two Celestial Spirit Level Assassins, but had instead taken down the bounty entirely!

As Duan Chenzhou was pondering this in the Gold-Selling Cave, he switched to a different mask.

He had been wondering how he could get closer to investigate the reason, and to see if he could still continue using his identity as the Celestial Killing Star...

In the Gold-Selling Cave.

Watching as the reward list for 'Ji Xiu' was taken down, a figure hidden within robes, wearing a mask and speaking with a disguised voice, couldn't contain their anger and spoke hoarsely:

"Friend, isn't the rule of the Black Market that 'no one is unkillable'!?"

"As long as a bounty is posted, with sufficient information and adequate reward, and the Gold-Selling Cave takes its thirty percent cut, there will always be Celestial Spirit and Earth Demon Level master Assassins to take the job!"

"But this reward list—I only increased the stakes a few days ago! I've already thrown in a suit of Sixth-Grade Spirit Armor! With the contributions from others who put up reward lists, the accumulated rewards are more than enough to claim the life of even a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster!"

"So why take this Wanted List down?"

Zhou Changming, the resident Hall Master from the Purple Mist Daoist School, recalled how that kid Ji Xiu had single-handedly withstood the mental pressure of sixty-three Daoist Schools and destroyed his own direct disciple.

Among the six Daoist Schools of the High Mountain Schools, which were backed by 'Dragon and Tiger' experts...

...their Purple Mist Daoist School was the only one whose standard-bearer had his foundation utterly destroyed by him!

What a monumental humiliation!

Even if this standard-bearer only had the potential for the True Inheritance within the School—far from the Sect Leader's direct lineage or the Ancestor's personal disciples—still...

Counting this disciple of his, his junior martial brother Ren Canghai who died a violent death at home a month ago after a debt-collection trip to Anning County, and the previous Daoist School Master who was killed by Duan Chenzhou over a decade ago and had been held in high regard by the Ancestor...

Piece by piece, incident by incident, it all added up to a blood feud spanning three generations!

Although most of the blame lay with his own Master, and everything the kid did upon entering Daoist School Street was reasonable and justified.

Even though he had destroyed his disciple's foundation in his bid to challenge the No. 1 Celestial Blade Plaque...

...it was tantamount to having signed a Life and Death Contract beforehand. It was the rule of the Martial Dao, and no one could find fault with it.

But how could he swallow this indignation! He had immediately used his connections to enter the Black Market, go to the Gold-Selling Cave, and post this reward list.

Once it was posted, not only did he place a bounty, but other unknown parties also added to the pot. One of them was so wealthy they even threw in an Earth Treasure!

An Earth Treasure, a suit of Spirit Armor, and three hundred taels of Red Gold...

Forget killing a mere True Gang Realm Martial Artist; with such a hefty reward, even a highly advanced Qi Cultivation Grandmaster who had yet to reach the Leakless Realm would be doomed!

It was clear how many people in the Prefecture City wanted to see that kid fail!

If not for the restraining influence of organizations like the Great Xuan Prefecture Yamen, the Northern Garrison Command, and the Garrison Mansion.

And if that kid didn't have some background—having earned the favor of Garrison Commander Luo Daocheng and being on good terms with Prefecture Commander Gu Baichuan of the Northern Garrison Command...

...then even with the rules in place, if anyone got a chance, the boy probably wouldn't have lived to see another day!

Who would have bothered going to the Jiangyin Black Market to offer a huge reward for a Celestial Spirit Blade Catcher to take his head, all because they were afraid of getting caught and couldn't act themselves?

Normally, with such a grand gesture, especially in a place like the Black Market, the matter should have been resolved in two or three days.

But it had been nearly a month, and just as the Daoist School Master was growing frantic from the wait, even coming personally to check on the progress...

...he was struck by a bolt from the blue. Not only did he not see the kid's head, but the bounty had been canceled!

How could he hold it in? Unable to restrain himself any longer, he spoke up.

"You must be the one who posted this bounty, I presume?"

The Black Market's list manager, who was taking down the bounty, gave Zhou Changming a deep look. After sizing him up and seeing that his mask matched the records, the manager couldn't help but smile.

"Then it is you."

As his smile slowly faded, an aura of Leakless Level power erupted from him—a Martial Artist's might comparable to that of a Sect Leader Level expert. The wave of power was like a splash of cold water on Zhou Changming's smoldering rage, forcing him to calm down.

'In my anger, I almost forgot just what kind of place this is!'

The Black Market was full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons!

The Assassins who wore the Celestial Spirit Masks year-round were, at the very least, elites among Qi Cultivation Grandmasters. The top-ranked among them were even Leakless Martial Artists!

No one knew the true depth and details of the Black Market; they only knew that even for the Great Xuan Prefecture Yamen, uprooting it would be an incredibly difficult task.