Chapter 75: Encountering a Murder

Jiang Xu was piloting the Ten Thousand Laws Gourd, heading toward the Marketplace.

To conserve Magical Power on his journey, Jiang Xu only activated the Concealing Breath Ability of his Concealing Breath Spell, and did not engage its Stealth.

As he passed a forest, Jiang Xu habitually used the Spiritual Eye Technique to scan the area ahead.

"How could you—AH!"

An intense surge of Magical Power erupted from within the forest, followed by a blood-curdling scream!

Jiang Xu was startled. His Spiritual Eye Technique had already spotted two experts, clearly at the Qi Cultivation Late Stage, engaged in Magical Combat up ahead.

He immediately activated his Stealth, turning himself invisible. Only then did his wildly pounding heart begin to settle.

The two of them were right on the path he needed to take.

Though they blocked his path, Jiang Xu had no intention of relying on his Concealing Ability to force his way past them.

If he were accidentally hit, his stealth would break.

And that would be a disaster.

Jiang Xu had no intention of meddling—nor did he have the power to. He carefully began to detour, intending to leave the area.

"You despicable scoundrel! To think I trusted you, became sworn brothers with you! You actually poisoned me when my guard was down!!!"

A voice drifted from up ahead. From the sound of it, a man had been ambushed by his own companion.

"Pah! Did you really think you were worthy of being my brother? If your Dao companion wasn’t such a catch, do you think I’d have ever bothered with you? But don’t you worry, you can rest in peace. I’ll take good care of your wife for you. HAHAHA!!!"

CRACK—!

SPLAT—!

After the protective shield shattered, the sound of splattering blood immediately followed.

Although Jiang Xu couldn’t see what happened, he could guess that the poisoned man had just been decapitated.

’Holy hell, that’s ruthless!’

Cold sweat streamed down Jiang Xu’s back. He mentally filed away the sound of that voice and immediately urged his Ten Thousand Laws Gourd to get him away from that troubled place.

’It really is damn dangerous outside the Sect. I’m just trying to get somewhere and I stumble right into a murder scene.

Seriously, in this Cultivation Realm, you really can’t trust anyone. Otherwise, you’ll be dead before you even know what hit you.

No matter how close you are with someone, you’ve got to keep your guard up from now on!’

...

A majestic ancient city stood silhouetted against the night sky.

Because of the detour, it was now quite late.

The moment Jiang Xu caught sight of the Marketplace, he was stunned by the long queue snaking out from its entrance.

On his last visit, Jiang Xu had thought the queue was long.

He never expected it would be so much longer this time.

Jiang Xu swept the area with his Spiritual Eye Technique.

The sight was practically blinding.

Most of the people were at Qi Cultivation Middle Stage or higher, with even a few Foundation Establishment experts present.

This made Jiang Xu wonder.

’What’s so tempting about this Secret Realm that it’s drawn so many Cultivators? I heard from Zong Ziqi that the Profound Origin Sect shared some of the entry quotas with other Sects and Loose Cultivators. But with this many people here, are there really enough slots to go around?’

Still, none of this had anything to do with Jiang Xu.

He had no intention of entering the Secret Realm, after all.

His sole purpose for coming to the Marketplace was to sell all the Talismans and other items he had for Spirit Stones.

Then, he’d see if he could find any life-saving treasures.

’Well, nothing to do but wait.’

Jiang Xu had already altered his appearance. He wore a bamboo hat and, without activating his Concealing Breath Spell, let his Cultivation show at the level of the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer as he joined the queue.

「Time trickled by.」

Waiting in line took a very long time, and it was nearly the early hours of the morning.

The main issue was the constant line-cutting.

It was either the direct disciple of this Sect or an Elder from that one.

One after another, they relied on their powerful backgrounds, walking straight to the front of the queue and into the Marketplace.

Jiang Xu grumbled internally, completely forgetting that when he’d come with Yan Chunyu, he had been one of those privileged few himself.

As the line crept forward, a Cultivator ahead of Jiang Xu heard the guard’s words during registration and cried out in disbelief:

"Two Spirit Stones! Wasn’t it always just one before?"

The guard shot him an impatient look.

"That was then, this is now! Don’t compare the two! Can’t you see the Marketplace is practically bursting at the seams? If you’re too poor, then don’t go in. Go earn some more Spirit Stones and come back! Next!"

The Cultivator’s face flushed bright red, but he didn’t dare say another word. He hastily paid the two-Spirit-Stone entrance fee and entered the Marketplace.

Soon, it was Jiang Xu’s turn.

He said nothing, simply paid the fee and entered the city.

...

’It really is crowded. I can’t even find a room to book.’

After entering the Marketplace, Jiang Xu’s first priority was to find a room.

But to his dismay, he searched all over and couldn’t find a single vacancy.

Even the ones that were available were reserved exclusively for Foundation Establishment Cultivators, a qualification Jiang Xu obviously didn’t meet.

No room meant no safe place to meditate, cultivate, or sleep.

While a Qi Cultivation Cultivator wouldn’t die from a few sleepless nights, their mental state would deteriorate, and their Spiritual Power would weaken along with it.

Under certain circumstances, this could be extremely dangerous.

’I need to get my business done quickly. In three or four days, I’ll find one of the Profound Origin Sect’s businesses and prove my identity.’

Jiang Xu glanced at the Talismans in his Storage Bag and stepped into a shop.

During his past several months in the Sect, Jiang Xu had accumulated nearly three hundred Tier One Lower Grade Talismans.

They weren’t all Cold Ice Talismans; he had also crafted a good number of the other three types of Tier One Lower Grade Talismans.

With such a large quantity, Jiang Xu naturally planned to sell them in batches again, rather than all at once.

As he was wandering around, Jiang Xu suddenly spotted the Wanxiang Tower, the same place he had done business before.

Jiang Xu felt a pang of regret.

His last transaction at Wanxiang Tower had actually gone quite smoothly.

It was only the final "incident" that had ruined the experience.

To this day, Jiang Xu still didn’t know if the person who had marked him was a Tribulation Cultivator or someone sent by Wanxiang Tower itself.

An idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and Jiang Xu stepped into Wanxiang Tower once again.

...

After leaving the reception room of Wanxiang Tower.

THUD—!

Just like last time.

Someone "accidentally" bumped into Jiang Xu.

But unlike last time, Jiang Xu had deliberately left an opening for the man to run into him.

The moment they collided, Jiang Xu condensed his Magical Power into a razor-sharp point, slicing off a thread from the man’s clothing and stashing it in his Storage Bag.

’So he thinks I’m just a Little Qi Cultivation practitioner at the fourth layer. Well, I’ve locked onto you now. With this thread from your clothes, I can use the Seeking Technique to find you easily. You’re the one who picked this fight, so don’t blame me for being ruthless!’

Jiang Xu walked out of Wanxiang Tower, found an empty corner, and used his Spiritual Eye Technique to inspect the spot where the man had bumped into him.

Just like last time, an extra mark had appeared there.

But this time was different. Jiang Xu activated his Concealing Breath Spell and entered Stealth mode.

Instantly, a faint, rippling energy enveloped him.

Jiang Xu guided that energy to slowly cover the mark.

"POP!"

After a nearly imperceptible sound,

Jiang Xu discovered to his amazement that he could actually pull the mark right off his body!