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Fish and dragons intermingled in Nightdemon City’s black market.
When the steward of the city lord’s manor, Piao Zheng, led a group of experts and surrounded Su Yi, the atmosphere became tense and stifled.
Many of the onlookers watched gleefully, while others looked at Su Yi and his companions with pity.
It was obvious at a glance that these three were newcomers!
However, when they noticed Cui Jingyan, they were more dazzled than ever before.
Her appearance was extraordinary. Even just standing there, the lamplight illuminated her matchlessly beautiful face, making her seem like an immortal beauty amidst mortal dust.
This drew numerous ill-intentioned gazes. Nightdemon City was a dangerous, debauched place, and it had never lacked for gutsy, brazen crooks.
Su Yi paid this no heed.
Instead, he looked at Piao Zheng thoughtfully. “So you’re saying the city lord ordered you to gather the Starmark Worms?”
Piao Zheng nodded. “So long as you’re willing to part with them, you’ll have established positive karma with the city lord’s manor. With the city lord’s protection, the city’s riffraff won’t dare touch you.”
As he spoke, he swept his gaze across the crowd. Who knew how many evildoers were spread throughout the surrounding area?
Piao Zheng could tell at a glance that Su Yi and his companions were new arrivals, and newcomers were the most likely to encounter accidents in Nightdemon City.
After a moment’s thought, Su Yi said. “Alright, lead the way. We’ll accompany you to the city lord’s manor.”
Piao Zheng furrowed his brow. “What do you mean by this, Fellow Daoist?”
Su Yi said calmly, “If you want the Starmark Worms, do as I say. Also, I don’t like wasted words, and I’m not the patient type. One word out of turn, and someone’s going to die.”
His words were light and airy, but their meaning left the nearby onlookers astonished.
Where had these newcomers come from? Who were they, that they dared threaten members of the city lord’s manor!?
After all, Nightdemon City was a gathering point for fiends and heretics, but no matter how vicious they were, none of the inhabitants would offend the city lord lightly!
Piao Zheng’s brow was tightly knit, and he couldn’t help but re-evaluate Su Yi and his companions.
It was then that a silver-robed man holding a feather fan emerged from the crowd and laughed, “Little guy, offending the city lord’s manor is tantamount to offending the entire city. It doesn’t matter if you die, but the beauty beside you… hehehe.”
He left the rest unsaid, but his licentious, ill-intentioned laughter made his meaning perfectly clear.
This provoked a burst of uproarious laughter.
Cui Jingyan’s expression instantly frosted over, but before she could respond, Su Yi flicked his fingers.
Splurt!
A bloody hole formed between the silver-robed man’s eyebrows. His eyes widened, and he toppled over backward.
His body thudded to the ground, then transformed into a wolf roughly ten feet long. The wolf lay in a puddle of blood, dead.
The crowd’s expressions shifted, and startled cries rang out on all sides. The way they looked at Su Yi had changed.
However, their expressions weren’t awed or respectful, but rather, vicious and hateful.
In Nightdemon City, little provoked others’ ire and enmity more than killing people in the streets!
“Little whelp, are you sick of living!? Nightdemon City is no place for you to act up!” shouted a yellow-robed elder.
When they saw who’d spoken up, there was yet another disturbance amongst the crowd.
Old Monster Yellowbeard!
This was an old devil of the heretical path, and he was in the late-stage Spiritual Incarnation Realm. In Nightdemon City, he was a well-known old monster with a deep, firm cultivation base. He was ruthless, too.
Rumor had it that he’d come to Nightdemon City to seek refuge after using poisonous devilworms to kill more than ten legacy disciples of a certain prominent faction. In response, said faction chased him with all its might.
But in the end, he fled to Nightdemon City, and the faction in question was helpless against him.
The crowd initially assumed that now that he’d gotten involved, he’d be able to intimidate Su Yi, but…
Su Yi stretched out his hand, and although Old Demon Yellowbeard was over a hundred feet away, Su Yi grabbed him as easily as he might grab a chicken.
Crunch!
Su Yi squeezed, breaking Old Monster Yellowbeard’s neck. As he convulsed, he transformed into a sleek-furred Yellow Marten.
Su Yi then flung the marten to the old blind man and casually ordered, “Skin him for me. All I need is the soft patch of fur at his throat; I can use it to clean my wicker chair. You can do whatever you like with the rest.”
The old blind man hurriedly nodded.
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Yellow Martens were rare, and Spiritual Revolution Realm Yellow Martens were even rarer. The beast’s entire body was a treasure, especially its hide; it was invulnerable to both flame and water, and it could repel both wind and dust. It was a first-rate divine material.
The entire area fell deathly silent.
Everyone’s eyes widened, and cold sweat poured down their backs.
In the blink of an eye, Old Monster Yellowbeard had been crushed like an ant!!
This left even the most ruthless and vicious of the onlookers stunned, and goosebumps rose on their skin.
This young man seemed elegant and transcendent, but in reality, he was the type to kill a man without so much as blinking!
The steward’s eyelids twitched.
These three were incomparable with the typical outlaws seeking refuge in Nightdemon City.
The other experts of the city lord’s manor all had grave looks on their faces.
“Steward Piao, why not bring them with us?” Suddenly, a clear voice emanated from above the eaves of a distant pavilion.
When the crowd looked over, they saw a graceful woman in white standing there. Her black hair flowed like a waterfall, and a silver mask obscured her face, revealing only her bright, profound gaze.
Before her voice had even finished echoing through the air, she transformed into a beam of flowing light and disappeared.
Piao Zheng took a deep breath, then faced Su Yi and clasped his fist. “Everyone, if you please!”
……
The city lord’s manor, inside a grand, lamplit hall. The light was dazzling, and it was extraordinarily lively.
City Lord Wei Yun sat in the elevated, centermost seat, sipping wine.
He was tall, stalwart, and dressed in a warrior’s robes. His mustache was shaped like a halberd, and his features were rugged and steely. Even just sitting there casually, he was like a crouching tiger or coiled dragon.
Three hundred years ago, Wei Yun of the Demonic Wei Family had taken over as lord of Night Demon City.
In the three hundred years of his administration, no heretical or demonic cultivator had dared cause trouble within city limits!
However, Wei Yun was well aware that the city’s monsters and demons weren’t afraid of him and his late-stage Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivation, but rather, the clan behind him!
“City Lord, dare I ask what you’re gathering Starmark Worms for?” asked a kindly-looking, smiling elder in long robes.
Wei Yun smiled. “Everyone, please forgive me for keeping you guessing. We’ll leave shortly after midnight. All will become clear then.”
“Oh?” The long-robed Daoist smiled. “It seems you’ve made ample preparations for tonight’s operation.”
Numerous guests laughed and chimed in their agreement.
Wei Yun said nothing. He just raised his cup and took a sip.
The long-robed elder was called Huan Wutong, but his nickname was far better known—The Jade Heaven water Monarch!
He might look benevolent and amiable, but everyone in Nightdemon City knew how ruthless the old devil really was.
In truth, practically everyone gathered here was an elite figure of the heretical path.
Pick any of them at random, and you’d have someone capable of terrifying the vast majority of the world’s cultivators out of their wits!
Like the Heaven-Slaughtering Ghost Monk, the One-Armed Demon, the Thousand-Faced Yao, and the White-Faced Daoist. These were elites of the heretical path, and all of them had committed heinous sins!
The long-robed, benevolent-looking Jade Heaven Water Monarch spoke once more. “City Lord, if we’re leaving shortly after midnight, why not use this time to tell us your plan for our upcoming expedition?”
All eyes were instantly upon Wei Yun.
A few days ago, something had changed deep within the wilderness of Yama’s Floating Mountains. An unmatched strange phenomenon had appeared; rumor had it that nine-colored immortal light took to the skies, and a mysterious bell rang for three days and three nights.
This was interpreted as signs of the imminent arrival of a grand stroke of fortune.
Shortly afterward, City Lord Wei Yun sent out invitations, summoning those present to a banquet to discuss vying for good fortune.
But even now, Wei Yu had yet to disclose the nature of this good fortune, nor had he divulged anything about tonight’s operation. His lips were sealed tight.
Wei Yun smiled faintly. “Everyone, please don’t be in a rush. When Piao Zheng returns, I’ll resolve your doubts.”
“Don’t tell me the Starmark Worms you sent Steward Piao to collect have some important use?” the Jade Heaven Water Monarch asked with a smile.
The steward had left earlier on Wei Yun’s orders. He’d gone to the city in search of Starmark Worms.
This told everyone present that the worms would play a crucial role in tonight’s operation.
“That’s right,” said Wei Yun. “These worms aren’t all that precious, but they’re extremely rare. I’ve already gathered a portion of what we need, but I don’t have enough of them yet.”
A monk with the countenance of a Buddhist statue suddenly asked, “City Lord, dare I ask what the worms are used for?”
The monk had fair, smooth skin, and he sat cross-legged. His entire body emanated faint holy light; he seemed like a noble, enlightened monk.
However, when he spoke, the other old monsters’ expressions revealed varying degrees of dread.
This was the Heaven-Slaughtering Ghost Monk!
He was a ghost cultivator guilty of far-reaching, heinous crimes!
Rumor had it that over the past hundred years, the cultivators he’d brutally murdered numbered in the hundreds of thousands!
Some were refined into Yin Weapon Demon Puppets, while others, he devoured alive, body and soul. Others still were subjected to malevolent secret arts and refined into his Natal Spirit Treasure.
In short, although the monk had the countenance of a Buddhist statue, he was actually an old devil who struck fear into the hearts of even prominent heretical cultivators like the other attendees!
Wen Yun pondered briefly, then said, “Starmark Worms aren’t particularly valuable, but they can be used as bait to capture a certain type of spirit fish, the Pure Yang Fire Perch. This fish will play a crucial role in our upcoming expedition.”
He paused, then added, “Rather, without a Pure Yang Fire Perch, we’ll find it difficult to make any progress whatsoever.”
The group couldn’t help but be stunned, and their eyes flashed.
But it was then that someone scurried into the grand hall. This was none other than the steward, Piao Zheng.
He arrived at Wei Yun’s side and transmitted something to him. Wei Yun frowned in response, but after a moment’s thought, he nodded.
Piao Zheng turned, then faced the doorway of the grand hall. “My three fellow Daoists, please, come in!”
The crowd instantly stopped what they were doing and looked over.
Before long, one young man, one young woman, and an elder strode in.