Chapter 1269: A Voice in the Mist

"Alright, I'll send someone to fetch it immediately!"

The market master paused, then hurriedly said.

Though this item was precious, it was merely one artifact in the underground market. Compared to life, it was far less valuable. With the blade at his neck, he naturally knew how to choose.

After giving the order, the old man from before hurried away. Before long, a wide jade box was handed over.

He casually opened it and indeed saw an ancient book inside, its pages slightly yellowed, the characters bearing a special spiritual aura.

"Mm."

After confirming it was indeed the genuine Tayan Ancient Book, Zhang Xuan nodded and put it into his ring. "Let's go!"

With a flicker of his body, he flew outward.

Zhang Jiuxiao and the many longblades followed closely behind.

Watching the direction they disappeared, the hatred in the market master's eyes flowed like river water.

"Market master, are we just letting this go?"

The old man from before walked over.

Their underground black market had been established for over ten thousand years, and never had they suffered such a loss.

"Let it go? My Ji Lingfeng's things are not so easily taken!"

His eyes narrowed, and the market master's fists clenched with a cracking sound.

This time, it wasn't just the loss of spirit stones. Most importantly, if they swallowed this insult, how could their black market continue to stay in Qianchong City?

"Then... what do we do?"

The other party's strength had even suppressed the market master. Even if they were unwilling, what could they do?

"Go fetch my [Light Whisper Sword]!"

The market master waved his hand.

"Light Whisper Sword? Market master, do you intend to..."

His pupils contracted, the old man seemed to understand something, full of disbelief.

"That's right, I'm going to that place and have him make a move!"

His gaze turned cold, the market master gritted his teeth.

"Yes!"

The old man hurriedly withdrew. Before long, he handed over a longsword.

It looked no different from an ordinary sword, but as soon as it was drawn, sword aura swirled around, as if falling into deep winter. Especially in the ears, a murmuring voice would sound, causing one to be slain without realizing it.

The Light Whisper Sword, a mid-grade peak saint artifact, comparable to a peak Nascent Soul realm expert!

One of the most powerful weapons in the Qianchong Empire!

"Investigate this Zhang Xuan's background thoroughly!"

With the longsword in hand, the market master's aura changed, becoming many times stronger than before.

"Yes!"

The old man withdrew to arrange for information gathering, while the market master took healing medicine and sat down to treat his injuries.

Before long, a jade slip was handed over: "This is all the information on this Zhang Xuan. He came from the Qingyuan Empire, successfully passed the Hall Trial, and passed the preliminary test of the Saint Hall..."

As expected of the black market, their information network was dense. In such a short time, they had thoroughly investigated Zhang Xuan's affairs.

"So he's a genius master teacher. No wonder he dared to come here and cause trouble..."

The market master stood up.

After this period of adjustment, although his injuries were severe, he could now control them.

"You stay here and hold the fort. I'm going out for a while."

Waving his hand, the market master walked out, holding the longsword.

Leaving the black market, he flew all the way. After an unknown amount of time, he arrived outside a patch of mist.

"You're here..."

A faint voice came from within the mist.

"Yes, I want you to help me kill someone!" The market master gritted his teeth.

"The price?"

"The Light Whisper Sword is yours!" With a flick of his wrist, the longsword in the market master's palm floated up.

"Are you sure?" The voice in the mist carried excitement.

"Indeed!" The market master's eyes narrowed. "You've been guarding here for that legend, but you should know that without the Light Whisper Sword, you can never complete it..."

"Who do you want to kill?"

After a moment of silence, the voice in the mist continued.

"His name is Zhang Xuan. He's a master teacher who passed the preliminary test of the Saint Hall. Here's the information."

With a flick of his wrist, he threw the collected information into the mist.

"A master teacher who passed the Hall Trial? Looks like a super genius."

The voice in the mist was slightly hesitant.

A master teacher who passed the Hall Trial would surely be highly valued by the headquarters. Killing him, if news leaked, the consequences were known to all.

"Just say whether you agree or not."

Not bothering with nonsense, the market master said.

"My lifespan is short. If I can't open that place, I'll likely die within three years... In that case, killing a genius is nothing. However, this matter needs careful planning to leave no flaws..."

The voice in the mist came slowly.

"I know that much."

The market master replied.

Whether he acted personally or not, murdering a super genius of the Master Teacher Pavilion, even as the black market master, would result in his annihilation.

Because of this, no one dared to touch the geniuses of the Master Teacher Pavilion!

The deterrent power of the continent's number one profession.

Just like the disciples of major sects.

Even if you knew they were weak in cultivation and carried heavy treasures... would you dare to act?

"Alright, you go first. I'll find a way to handle this and give you an answer within three days."

After a moment's hesitation, the voice in the mist seemed to think of something and said.

"No need to give me an answer. I'll wait here and see you kill him with my own eyes. As soon as he's dead... I'll give you the Light Whisper Sword immediately!" The market master said.

"Fine."

The voice in the mist paused. "Then come in."

"Mm."

Holding the longsword, the market master strode into the mist and soon disappeared.

...

"I didn't expect this underground black market wasn't in the manor I saw earlier, but hidden inside a mountain range..."

Leaving the black market, Zhang Xuan put away the many longblades following behind and looked down from a height. Only then did he realize that the place he had been in was not underground, nor had much to do with that manor, but was hidden inside a large mountain.

The manor was just a decoy.

No wonder they had to cover their eyes when entering. It was likely that the black market was also worried that the Master Teacher Pavilion would not tolerate it and would act directly.

"Thanks for your help this time. Here's a thousand spirit stones for you."

With a flick of his wrist, he took out a pile of spirit stones and handed them over.

"This... how can I accept this..." Zhang Jiuxiao was startled.

A thousand high-grade essence spirit stones—even he had never seen such a number.

"Take them. Improve your strength quickly and pass the re-examination first." Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

If not for the other party telling him about the black market and continuously betting, he wouldn't have earned so much.

In other words, of the nearly twenty thousand spirit stones, half the credit went to the other party. Giving a thousand was already taking advantage.

"Then... thank you, Teacher Zhang!"

Knowing that the other party had worked hard to secure a spot for him, Zhang Jiuxiao no longer refused. He put the spirit stones into his ring, his eyes full of gratitude.

The person before him, though younger than himself, naturally inspired a drive to cultivate diligently without rest when around him.

Because of this, whether enemies or friends, they were willing to stay by his side and reluctant to leave.

He himself had once been filled with jealousy and resentment toward him, but now those emotions had vanished without a trace...

"You're welcome."

Unaware of the other's thoughts, Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

...

Returning to the Master Teacher Pavilion residence, it was already completely dark.

He entered the Thousand Ant Hive again and took out the spirit stones.

Adjusting his state, he began to cultivate. Before long, his cultivation broke through again, reaching the peak of the Primordial Spirit realm as desired.

"Cultivate the Witch Soul!"

With sufficient spirit stones, Zhang Xuan continued to circulate the Heavenly Dao technique for the Witch Soul.

Two hours later, the power of the Witch Soul also reached the peak of the Primordial Spirit realm.

"My current combat strength is probably not weaker than a half-step Domain realm expert..."

True qi flowing through his body, feeling his control over space and power, Zhang Xuan was filled with joy.

At the late Primordial Spirit realm, ordinary Nascent Soul realm experts were no match for him. Now, not only had his true qi cultivation broken through, but the Witch Soul had also advanced two levels. His combat strength had more than doubled!

In other words, with his current strength, even without using the puppet, Yue Yiquan would probably not be his opponent and would be directly defeated.

"Having reached the peak of the Primordial Spirit realm, the effect of high-grade essence spirit stones is almost gone..."

Although his cultivation and combat strength had improved greatly, the effect of high-grade essence spirit stones on him had become negligible.

Previously, one spirit stone could bring him great progress, but now, even a hundred stones had little effect.

It was foreseeable that even though he still had over ten thousand spirit stones, using them to break through to half-step Nascent Soul, or even Nascent Soul, would still be difficult.

Heavenly Dao true qi had too high a demand for spiritual energy. This situation was expected, but... confirming it still felt somewhat frustrating.

Having finally gathered enough spirit stones, their effect was insufficient again...

It seemed he would still have to struggle endlessly for spirit stones!

"Clone, this is the Heavenly Dao Witch Soul technique. Cultivate it quickly."

Casually tossing the technique and spirit stones to the clone, Zhang Xuan said.

The clone had by now completely devoured Qing Tianhuang, and its strength had reached an astonishing level.

"Alright."

Without further ado, the clone began to cultivate.

Because they were split from the same soul, their cultivation speeds were similar. A few hours later, the clone finished cultivating the Heavenly Dao technique. Combined with having devoured Qing Tianhuang's Witch Soul, its strength had surpassed Zhang Xuan's, reaching the pseudo-Nascent Soul realm.

Once it passed the lightning tribulation, it could become a true Nascent Soul realm expert!

"How strong are you now?"

Seeing his cultivation had improved so much, Zhang Xuan couldn't help asking.

"I can probably crush a half-step Domain realm expert with a flick of my fingers. I might even be able to fight an early Domain realm expert."

The clone said proudly.

Zhang Xuan's face twitched.

Domain realm and half-step Domain realm, though only a small level apart, had a world of difference in combat strength.

The Domain realm, also called the Invincible realm, when the domain was released, within a certain range, one was practically the master. No matter how many people, as long as their level didn't exceed, they couldn't be defeated!

The clone being comparable to an early Domain realm expert... just this alone made it many times stronger than himself, the original body.

With this strength, plus its monstrous defense and power... if it really fought, it would probably be unmatched in the Qianchong Empire!

Sigh, after cultivating for so long, he was still inferior to the clone...

This original body was truly filled with shame, almost wanting to kill himself.

"My cultivation speed is still too slow..."

Zhang Xuan couldn't help sighing, feeling utterly disgraced.