Chapter 334 - 161: ’Number 1 in Qi Dao’ Purple Mist Sect Leader, Half a Jiazi Ago, Ancestral Master Wang Xuanyang, Brilliant as the Blazing Sun

Before him stood the Captain of the Black Market's "Gold-Selling Cave," second only to the elusive Black Market Master who stood at the apex of Jiangyin Prefecture's underworld!

'Even though I'm a pillar of my School, a Daoist School Master, to act so presumptuously in a place like this, before a figure like him...'

'...is truly courting death.'

Zhou Changming calmed himself, and with a newfound caution, he ventured,

"Friend, I was just asking a question, all according to the rules. Why did you suddenly..."

The black-robed Captain in charge of the "Gold-Selling Cave's" bounties couldn't be bothered to listen to Zhou Changming's nonsense. He simply held out his palm.

"Do you have any idea how much this bounty of yours has cost our Black Market?"

"Three Celestial Spirit Level Assassins—Dark Star, ranked thirty-first, and Celestial Sword Star, ranked twenty-ninth—were both defeated, falling at the hands of that kid."

"Even Celestial Killing Star, who was riding high after slaying Duan Chenzhou, has now vanished without a trace..."

"Since you know the rules, you should know this."

"If the intelligence provided is grossly inconsistent with reality, leading to excessive losses for the Black Market, we reserve the right, after re-evaluation, to seize your reward as compensation to cover our deficit!"

"That young Martial Artist, Ji Xiu, is unfathomably skilled. Of three Grandmasters with vast Qi Seas, two are dead and one is missing!"

"How is that an ordinary Power Barrier? He's clearly a Leakless Level threat!"

"So don't even bother trying to argue."

"Just follow the rules and hand over the reward."

At these words, Zhou Changming's heart sank.

To the side, Duan Chenzhou stood with his arms crossed, secretly listening in. His ears perked up.

The man in charge of the Gold-Selling Cave stared intently at Zhou Changming and said,

"This order came from the Black Market Master himself. You, of all people, should know how much weight his words carry."

"So... don't make a fatal mistake."

The Black Market Master!

Hearing this title.

Zhou Changming's heart felt as if it had been seized in a vice. He wanted to argue, but though he opened his mouth, no words came out.

In the end...

...he just managed to choke out the words in a strained, disguised voice:

"Since it's come to this, please assure the Black Market Master... I will deliver the Sixth-Grade Spirit Armor in full."

"My apologies for the disturbance."

With that, the Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, a man whose fame was at its zenith on Daoist School Street, clenched his fists in his sleeves, seething with resentment. But not daring to utter a single word of protest, he beat a hasty retreat.

Only after he had walked out of the Gold-Selling Cave and left the Black Market through a special passage...

...did fury finally erupt in his eyes.

"This is outrageous! Utterly outrageous!"

'In decades, I've barely heard of this rule being enforced more than a few times. Why the hell does it have to come true for this Ji Family's Son?!'

'The heavens must be blind! Bullying my Purple Mist Daoist School! Bullying the entire Purple Mist School lineage!'

But after venting his anger, Zhou Changming deflated like a punctured ball, his temper vanishing completely.

The Black Market protects the privacy of every single person who enters, regardless of what treasures they auction or buy, or whose bounty they post in the Gold-Selling Cave.

But that was all on one condition: you didn't break the Black Market's rules.

If you did...

...then all the Black Market Master had to do was issue a top-level bounty, ordering all Celestial Spirit and Earth Fiend Assassins to mobilize. In all of Jiangyin Prefecture, save for a scant few individuals, no one could possibly withstand such an assault.

Thirty years ago, the landscape of Schools in Jiangyin Prefecture was not what it is today, dominated by the "Six Great Mountains," each presided over by a Dragon Tiger Expert.

Back then, a flourishing School called the Three Yang Sect possessed three Dragon Tiger Experts. Their power was at its zenith, dominating the entire One Mansion like a raging fire fueled by oil.

Even the Great Xuan Prefecture Yamen had to yield to them.

Back then, Wang Xuanyang had not yet risen to prominence, and throughout all of Jiangyin Prefecture, the Three Yang Sect reigned supreme.

The three Sect Leaders were at the zenith of their power and their momentum was unstoppable. Had they simply stayed their course, they might have had the chance to advance even further.

However... they developed an ambition they should not have. They plotted to get their hands on the Black Market, to strip it of its immense resources and funnel them into one person, hoping to create a titled Martial Saint and break through the Shackles of the One Mansion!

There was nothing inherently wrong with the Three Yang Sect wanting to become a True Sect, to be mentioned in the same breath as the Dragon Elephant True Sect—a power that spanned the Three Mansions' Land and held great prestige even in Cangdu, the state's Vassal Town.

But this single, ambitious gambit led to the complete and utter ruin of their entire School.

No one knows the full story of what happened thirty years ago.

They only knew that the Three Yang Sect had collected dozens of tokens from within the Black Market, gathered their sect's elite, and launched an assault on the Black Market with their three Sect Leaders...

...The next day, their School was empty.

Meanwhile, the Black Market's auctions, consignment shops, and the Gold-Selling Cave all continued to operate as if nothing had happened.

Since that day, the only power that continued to oppose and boycott the Black Market was the Government Office, which had the backing of the Great Xuan and wielded the authority over the Government Soldiers and the power of life and death.

The other major Schools and Grand Lineages no longer dared to covet a single thing from it. In fact, many of their core members secretly acquired identities as Celestial Spirit Level Assassins to earn some money on the side.

It was a tacit understanding among them all.

That was why Zhou Changming didn't dare to defy the Black Market's command.

If he didn't hand over the Spirit Armor...

...then tomorrow, he feared.

'...my own head would likely be hanging in the halls of the Purple Mist Sect. Even the Purple Mist Sect Leader, the one hailed as "Jiangyin's First in Qi Dao True Skill"...'

'...probably wouldn't spare my corpse a second glance.'

He couldn't afford to provoke the Black Market.

But could he really let this matter go?

His Purple Mist Daoist School, backed by the entire Purple Mist School, was one of the "Six Great Mountains" of Jiangyin!