Chapter 167 : Something Happened

Chapter 167: Something Happened

The days passed one after another.

Under the blazing summer heat, Tianxuan City was brimming with activity.

Nearly a year of beast tides had accumulated an abundance of demon-beast resources, attracting trade from major merchant guilds across the Seven Kingdoms.

Although the beast tide had passed, its aftermath still lingered.

Within a hundred miles of Tianxuan City, there were still many demon beasts roaming.

Many demon-hunting squads were now eagerly hunting demon beasts.

If they did not seize the chance now, after another year or so, they would have to venture deep into the Yunwu Mountain Range to hunt again.

The difficulty would increase severalfold, so naturally, everyone knew what needed to be done.

This led to an extremely abundant stage for demon-beast resources within Tianxuan City.

“This sun is nice.”

Inside a pavilion by the training grounds, under the scorching summer heat, the Azure-Horned Bull lay lazily in the pond, basking in the sunlight, finally free from days of risking its life.

Meanwhile, the Wind-Chirp Bird was inside the pavilion, flapping its wings to pour tea and water, looking every bit the attentive little servant.

Lin Chang’an only smiled without speaking. He understood well the thoughts of this Wind-Chirp Bird—it was clearly eyeing his Spirit Tea.

“If only Yue Kingdom could remain this peaceful.”

Holding a Broken Formation Insight in his hand, Lin Chang’an fell into a state of comprehension. The golden bird, the size of a palm, perched on the stone table, watched him.

Its pale golden eyes revealed a hint of slyness. Seizing the chance, it secretly poured itself a cup of Spirit Tea and gulped it down greedily.

Not until the teapot was nearly empty did the Wind-Chirp Bird suddenly realize something. Lifting the teacup, it flew straight toward the Azure-Horned Bull.

“Moo!”

The Azure-Horned Bull still wore a look of bliss, enjoying the bird’s feeding, completely unaware that this cunning Wind-Chirp Bird had placed the teacup right at the edge of the pond.

The evidence was undeniable.

【Second-rank Low-grade Formation Master +3 (Beginner 2/100)】

As his formation comprehension deepened, Lin Chang’an slowly let out a long sigh. His eyes regained clarity.

“After years of bitter study, I’ve finally broken through to second-rank in formations.”

Once he pierced through that barrier, many unclear aspects became instantly clear, and Lin Chang’an could not help but smile.

“Though just a low-grade Second-rank Formation Master, it still gives me greater confidence in exploring relic cave abodes.”

For a drifting cultivator like him, to have reached mid Foundation Establishment before a hundred years of age, and even mastered three out of the four cultivation arts, was no small feat.

A second-rank Talisman Master, Alchemist, and Formation Master—he only lacked Artifact Refinement.

“With such talent, if outsiders knew, who would still dare to belittle me for my low-grade Spiritual Root?”

At this moment, Lin Chang’an could not help but smile faintly. The hardships of his low-grade Spiritual Root cultivation path were something only he himself knew.

Fortunately, the heavens were fair. While granting him a low-grade Spiritual Root, they also gave him extraordinary talent in the Hundred Arts of Cultivation.

Just then, a Voice-transmission Talisman lit up.

“Oh, are they getting impatient already?”

Glancing at the glowing talisman, Lin Chang’an smiled faintly.

“It should be about time.”

In the pavilion, one talisman, two, three… more than ten talismans were glowing all at once. Clearly, the other side was anxious.

……

In the Western District Marketplace.

The ten Foundation Establishment cultivators who had once brimmed with ambition, eager to replace the Eastern District Black Market, now all wore extremely grim expressions.

Some even broke into cold sweat, nervously staring at the Voice-transmission Talismans.

At the head of the group, Qin Feng’s eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the talismans.

“Fellow Daoist Alchemist, didn’t we agree? We paid the penalty Spirit Stones for breaching contract with the Eastern District Marketplace. This time the profits are all yours. We even offered you…

If you feel the price unfair, we can even give you ten percent of future marketplace profits. But it’s been months—every time it’s either closed-door cultivation or some sudden epiphany. This is endless!”

His hoarse voice echoed, but one, two, three… over a dozen talismans all sank into silence, with no response at all.

In the end, they only managed to contact two who traded properly, but that was a mere drop in the bucket.

They were dumbfounded.

“Damn it!”

“I told you this was far too risky.”

“Cursed be those cowardly bastards hiding in the shadows!”

As curses rang out, suddenly one of Qin Feng’s talismans lit up with a response. Everyone looked on with desperate hope.

They had wagered their entire fortunes on this. If the worst came true, they would lose everything.

“Fellow Daoist Qin, after much thought, we still feel your Western District Marketplace carries too much risk. We’ll stop trading these goods.

Please, for the sake of friendship, don’t tell the Eastern District Marketplace. I fear those Daoist friends might misunderstand…”

The voice cut off abruptly. Qin Feng’s eyes grew bloodshot, filled with a murderous glare.

Damn them, these faithless traitors.

At the same time, the other talismans began replying one after another.

“Fellow Daoist, best not to contact me again. I fear the Eastern District Marketplace may misunderstand.”

“Thank you for your generous gifts, I’ll remember your kindness.”

“Fellow Daoist, I am about to go into closed-door cultivation for a breakthrough, I may not emerge for three to five years.”

“Damn it! Was this your trap? I was tailed on the way here. I’ll never deal with you Black Market people again!”

“Haha, thanks to the generosity of Yue Kingdom Daoist friends. I’ve already returned to Dongyu Kingdom. I hope we can meet again in the future…”

Every reply was different, full of excuses.

But none mentioned the goods.

Even the deposits and the gifts they had given earlier to recruit them were now treated as if they had been “gifts of friendship.”

“Ah! Ahhh…”

From within the room came Qin Feng’s beast-like roar. Some Foundation Establishment cultivators turned pale, ashen-faced, their souls lost.

Others had bloodshot eyes and cursed furiously.

In an instant, the ten high-standing Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Western District were all utterly broken.

“Damn it! Those despicable, shameless villains!”

“Two of them still remain! They must be accomplices—if we seize them, we can uncover the rest!”

Their eyes turned red. This time, they had staked everything they owned.

But the suppliers of high-grade resources had all vanished. They had already paid deposits and delivered gifts.

Although some resources remained in the marketplace, awaiting final exchange, what use were they now?

The merchant guild’s delivery date was imminent. How would they cover this hole?

It wasn’t just one trade at stake—it was the future of their marketplace.

For a Black Market, the most important thing was reputation. Without reputation, everything collapsed.

……

Meanwhile, after burning those dozen Voice-transmission Talismans of different identities, Lin Chang’an leisurely took out a fishing rod in the pavilion, rarely indulging in fishing.

“Old Lin, something happened!”

At that moment, Old Hu came shouting, his face glowing with excitement as he walked in.

Without giving Lin Chang’an a chance to ask, Old Hu laughed heartily and exclaimed:

“Old Lin, you won’t believe it! That Qin fellow from the Western District—he was conned by cultivators from who knows which kingdom. Ten Foundation Establishment cultivators! They tried to seize two scattered Foundation Establishment cultivators inside Tianxuan City.

They wanted to force out the rest of their accomplices. But those two scattered cultivators had guts—they fought back with everything they had! The battle grew so fierce even the city’s patrol squad was alarmed. Guess what happened in the end?”

Old Hu’s loud laughter frightened away all the Spiritual Fish in the pond. Lin Chang’an put away his fishing rod with a smile and teased:

“Then Old Hu, what happened afterward?”

Flushed with excitement, Old Hu slapped his thigh and laughed even louder:

“The result was that both sides accused each other. In the end, it was discovered that this Qin fellow and his group of Foundation Establishment cultivators had secretly been poaching people. In the end, they were set up.”

“And when the identities of those two scattered cultivators were exposed, they were furious, cursing them as dishonorable villains. Moreover, those two were cultivators from another kingdom…”

As Old Hu laughed while recounting, the two scattered cultivators were severely injured, their identities exposed. Ashamed and enraged, a grudge was formed.

More importantly, once this matter was exposed, merchant guilds and cultivators within Tianxuan City all avoided them.

The Black Market was already filled with shady dealings, and credibility was of utmost importance.

If the Western District Black Market had been set up, they could only admit defeat. But they had even made a spectacle out of it.

“Now, not only have the merchant guilds who traded with the Western District come demanding their goods, but more importantly, I, Old Hu, went to take a look myself. Tsk tsk, the entire marketplace didn’t even have a single Qi Refining cultivator left.”

Empty!

A Black Market that could not even provide trust or safety—who would still go there?

When Lin Chang’an heard this, he revealed a smile.

“That truly is reaping the consequences of one’s own sins.”

“Who says otherwise? When I went there, that Qin fellow’s eyes were bloodshot. He pointed at me in anger, saying it was us who had plotted against them together.

I spat! If they hadn’t come to our side to poach people, would they have been set up? Serves them right.”

Old Hu cursed, feeling that Qin’s misfortune was nothing but bad luck.

He had simply run into it.

After all, the past two years of unrest in Tianxuan City had attracted many cultivators from the Seven Kingdoms.

These outsiders and robber cultivators had all sorts of schemes, endless and unpredictable.

But to pull off something this big—setting up an entire Black Market—this was the first time anyone had heard of such a thing.

Normally, schemes targeted acquaintances, or robber cultivators preying once on someone they knew.

The higher-level ones were like this—setting up elaborate traps to deal a heavy blow.

“Recently, there’s been too much of this. I heard of a late Qi Refining cultivator who finally gathered enough Foundation Establishment resources and hired an alchemist to refine the pill. But that alchemist took the resources and vanished the next day.

That cultivator wasn’t even from Yue Kingdom. The man could only regret bitterly, but upon investigating, he found that his supposed companion in refining the Foundation Establishment Pill had been taking kickbacks—he was an accomplice.”

Listening to Old Hu, Lin Chang’an sighed heavily.

“In troubled times, the word ‘friendship’ is the least valuable of all.”

Hearing this, Old Hu also felt the same. The smile on his face gradually faded, and he shook his head.

“But friendship is also the most precious.”

With Yue Kingdom in turmoil, all sorts of sinister figures had emerged.

Being set up and cheated—such cases were all too common in the cultivation world.

Tianxuan City only had a few Black Markets. Now that the Western District Black Market had been set up, many were watching with amusement.

But after this incident, many cultivators in Tianxuan City became even more cautious.

……

“Damn it, even the Black Market has been set up. We ordinary scattered cultivators must be careful.”

“Sigh, when will this chaotic world ever come to an end?”

“Enough, you’re just at the seventh level of Qi Refinement. Would they really waste effort setting you up? Just to scam a few Spirit Stones from your Storage Pouch?”

“Still, better to be careful.”

The Western District Black Market run by Qin Feng had caused a stir, but it also served as a warning to countless scattered cultivators.

Other Black Markets also quietly raised their vigilance, wary of being set up by outsiders.

After all, such people would vanish after their schemes, impossible to track down.

Eastern District Black Market.

At the top floor of a loft, Lin Chang’an, Yun Yao, Old Ghost, He Yan, Old Jia, and Old Hu gathered together because of this incident.

“Fellow Daoists, let’s just run our Black Market step by step. For any future large-scale trades with merchant guilds, we’ll first prepare resources in advance.”

“Indeed. This time, I even suspect the merchant guilds themselves played an unsavory role behind the scenes.”

The cautious Old Jia couldn’t help but feel a chill. Fortunately, this matter had targeted the Western District Black Market instead.

Old Hu, seeing Old Jia’s worry, waved his hand with a laugh.

“Old Jia, these scheming cultivators are all crafty. They clearly targeted the Western District’s eagerness to rise again. If not for their greed, how could they have been cheated?”

Lin Chang’an shook his head with a smile. None of the others suspected him in the slightest.

After all, to pull off such a massive scheme, with nearly twenty second-rank skill cultivators working together, was beyond what ordinary forces could manage.

Because of this, vigilance throughout Tianxuan City had heightened greatly.

As they were discussing the matter, suddenly a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived at the marketplace seeking audience.

At their head was none other than Qin Feng, his expression grim as he came straight to them.

“Seems someone can’t hold back any longer.”

Old Hu sneered, while the others all showed cold light in their eyes.

Lin Chang’an and Yun Yao exchanged a glance, then ordered them to be let in.

Immediately, Qin Feng and the other nine Foundation Establishment cultivators entered.

“Well, if it isn’t the Patriarch of the Qin Family. I remember not too long ago, someone was still full of swagger and prestige.”

As soon as they met, Old Hu mocked harshly. He was one who always repaid grudges.

Lin Chang’an and the others merely smiled faintly, not stopping Old Hu’s attitude.

“Fellow Daoist Qin, what wind blows you here? Could it be your marketplace troubles are resolved?”

Though the other side had ten Foundation Establishment cultivators, in the cultivation world, it was strength that mattered, not numbers.

Here, Yun Yao, radiating the powerful aura of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, was enough to suppress the entire scene.

Qin Feng’s face was ugly, but he knew this was not the time for petty disputes. The key now was salvaging the marketplace.

As long as they could save the Black Market’s business, earning Spirit Stones slowly would still be possible.

Otherwise, they would all be ruined.

“Fellow Daoists, you jest. To be set up jointly like this was truly humiliating.”

Qin Feng held back his fury, wearing an expression of sincere sorrow.

The next moment, to everyone’s shock, tears streamed down his face without restraint.

A mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, over a hundred years old, head of a family, crying openly before them.

“Fellow Daoists, we truly have no way out. In all of Tianxuan City, only Fellow Daoist Lin and Fellow Daoist Yun possess such strength.

I beg you to lend us some resources and Spirit Stones to tide us through this crisis. In the future, our Western District Marketplace will surely follow the lead of your Eastern District Marketplace.”

Tearfully and mournfully, Qin Feng lowered his stance completely.