Chapter 1269: The Voice In the Mist

The Boss hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding, "Fine. I'll get my men to bring it over to you now."

As valuable as the Annal of the Bedstead Disquisition was, it was just another artifact to him. If he were to weigh it against his life, it was obvious that his life was way more valuable. With a guillotine right above him at this moment, it was obvious what he should choose.

After making a few instructions, it didn't take long for an elder to arrive at the scene with a considerably large jade container in hand.

The elder opened the jade container, revealing an ancient book within. The yellowish pages were evidence to the long history behind the book, but it was still generally well-preserved. The words on the pages were also pulsating with spiritual energy.

"Un." Zhang Xuan took a closer look, and after confirming that it was the Annal of Bedstead Disquisition, he finally nodded before keeping it into his storage ring.

Turning to Zhang Jiuxiao, he said, "Let's go!"

Then, with a powerful leap, he began flying away from the scene.

Zhang Jiuxiao and the hundred sabers behind him quickly followed suit.

Staring in the direction where they disappeared at, hatred began flooding into the eyes of the Boss.

"Boss, are we going to let them off just like that?" an elder walked forward and asked.

It had been more than ten thousand years since their black market had been established, and they had never suffered such a huge setback!

"Let them off? How can I, Ji Lingfeng, allow others to take my items so easily?" The Boss narrowed his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly together.

What he had lost this time around weren't just spirit stones but his pride as well. If they were to take this lying down, how could the black market uphold its prestige and authority in Qianchong City?

"Then... What should we do?"

The young man was strong enough to even overpower their Boss, so even if they wanted to exact vengeance, what could they possibly do?

"Fetch me my [Sword of Faint Whispers]!" The Boss flung his sleeves furiously.

"Sword of Faint Whispers? Boss, you can't be thinking of..." The elder narrowed his eyes in disbelief as something surfaced in his mind.

"That's right! I'm going to head there and have him make a move in my stead!" A cold glint flashed across the Boss' eyes as he gritted his teeth in fury.

"Yes!"

The elder hurriedly rushed off, and not too long later, he returned with a sword in hand.

At first sight, there was nothing that set the sword apart from the others. However, with just a slight flick of it, an incomparably chilling sword qi would shroud its blade, leaving one feeling as if one had been plunged into the midst of a winter's night. On top of that, one could also vaguely hear some soft mutterings in one's ears, as if the sword was whispering to one.

This was the Sword of Faint Whispers, a top-notch Saint intermediate-tier artifact, possessing a might comparable to a Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle expert!

Without a doubt, it was one of the strongest weapons in Qianchong Empire!

"Look into the background of that Zhang Xuan!"

With the sword in hand, the Boss' disposition immediately changed. In an instant, he appeared to be many times stronger than before.

"Yes!"

The elder quickly backed away to arrange some men to look into Zhang Xuan's background. On the other hand, the Boss consumed several recovery pills and sat down on the spot to recuperate.

Not too long later, the elder returned with a jade token in hand, "This is the information we have gathered on Zhang Xuan so far. He's from Qingyuan Empire, and he has once succeeded in a pavilion crashing. He has also cleared the preliminary selections of the Sanctum of Sages, and he's in Qianchong Empire for the secondary selections..."

The black market was also known for its outstanding intelligence network as well, so it didn't take long for them to uncover Zhang Xuan's background.

"So he's a talented master teacher, eh? No wonder he dares to cause trouble here..." the Boss stood up and uttered menacingly.

After a moment of recuperation, even though his wounds were still severe, he was at least out of danger for the time being.

"You, stay here and keep the situation in check. I'll head out for a moment." Flinging his sleeves, the Boss began walking away with the Sword of Faint Whispers in his hand.

After leaving the black market, the Boss flew for quite some time before he reached the boundary of a land completely shrouded in mist.

"You have come..." From the midst of the mist, a faint voice sounded.

"Yes, I want you to kill someone for me!" the Boss spat coldly.

"Price."

"I'll give you the Sword of Faint Whispers in exchange!" With a flick of his wrist, the sword in the Boss' hand slowly floated up.

"Are you certain?" A trace of agitation could be heard in the voice from the mist.

"I'm certain!" the Boss replied in resolution. "I know that you are camping here for the legend, but you should also be aware that it's impossible to accomplish it without the Sword of Faint Whispers!"

After a moment of silence, the voice in the midst asked, "Who?"

"His name is Zhang Xuan, a master teacher. He has cleared the preliminary selections of the Sanctum of Sages. Here is his information!" With a flick of his wrist, the Boss threw the jade token he had received from the elder earlier into the mist.

"A master teacher who has successfully crashed the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion? It seems like he's quite a prodigy." the voice in the mist sounded a little hesitant.

A master teacher who had successfully crashed a Master Teacher Pavilion would surely be highly-regarded by the headquarters. If it were to be known that he had killed such a prodigy, the rage of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would be one he wouldn't be able to withstand.

"Cut the nonsense and tell me whether you are willing to accept the deal or not!" the Boss asked impatiently.

"I don't have much time left. If I still can't open that place, I reckon that three years will be my limit... Killing a prodigy in exchange for an opportunity for a breakthrough doesn't sound that bad. However, this matter must be carefully planned so as to ensure that no one finds out about it..." the voice in the mist spoke slowly.

"I know that that much too!" the Boss replied coldly.

Regardless of whether he was the one who had done it personally, the crime of plotting the death of a prodigy of the Master Teacher Pavilion was grave. The Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters had to make a firm stand on the matter so as to deter others from doing the same and ensure the safety of their younger talents. Even if he had the entire black market behind him, the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters still wouldn't hesitate to smash him into the ground.

The might of the number one occupation on the Master Teacher Continent was not to be underestimated!

Any power would have to think twice before laying its hand on the young talents of the Master Teacher Pavilion!

This was similar to the disciples of powerful sects as well.

Even if you were to know that they were weak and carried invaluable artifacts with them, would you still dare to make a move on them?

"Alright, I have received your request, so you can leave now. I'll think over the matter and give you an answer three days later." the voice in the mist hesitated for a moment before replying.

"There's no need for that, I'll wait here for your response. I want to see you kill him with my own eyes. I'll give the Sword of Faint Whispers to you as soon as he dies!"

There was a moment of silence before the voice in the mist spoke once more, "Very well. Come in then."

"Un." Holding the sword tightly in his hand, the Boss walked into the mist, and it didn't take long before his silhouette vanished altogether.

...

"I never thought the underground black market isn't located beneath the manor we saw before but in the middle of a mountain range..."

After leaving the black market, Zhang Xuan swiftly kept the sabers following behind him. Gazing downward, he realized that he wasn't underground, or even anywhere near the manor they had stopped at before they were blindfolded and brought into the black market at that. Instead, the black market was actually located in the belly of a mountain.

The manor was just a method of deception to hide the black market away from prying eyes.

It was no wonder why one would have to be blindfolded before entering the black market. Considering the nature of the black market, it also wasn't surprising why they would go to the extent of making such precautions as well.

Even if the black market had some value of existence to Qianchong Empire, there was no saying when the Master Teacher Pavilion would decide to stop tolerating them and launch a crusade against them. It would be unwise to entrust their safety to the whims of others.

"You have really done me a great favor this time around. Here are a thousand concentrated high-tier spirit stones, take it as a token of appreciation from me." Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and took a pile of concentrated high-tier spirit stones out.

Zhang Jiuxiao was astonished, "How can I take so many spirit stones from you..."

A thousand concentrated high-tier spirit stones—this was a fortune which he couldn't even fathom possessing!

"Take it. You will need it to raise your cultivation as quickly as possible so that you can pass the secondary selection!" Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

Had it not been for Zhang Jiuxiao informing him about the existence of the black market and making the bets in his stead, he wouldn't have been able to earn such a huge sum either.

He had provided the brawns whereas Zhang Jiuxiao had provided the means. In that sense, Zhang Jiuxiao deserved every single one of these concentrated high-tier spirit stones.

"Then... I'll be thanking you for this generous gift then, Zhang shi!" Knowing what Zhang Xuan had said was the truth—it would be a waste if he were to fail at this point after all the trouble they had gone through for him to clear the preliminary selection—Zhang Jiuxiao accepted the concentrated high-tier spirit stones heartily and kept them into his storage ring.

Somehow, being with the young man before him had instilled him with an endless drive for cultivation, and he found himself motivated to work harder than ever to reach greater heights.

Perhaps this was the reason why others would naturally gravitate to him.

He had been filled with envy and grudges for the other party in the past, but in this instant, he found that, at some point in time, those emotions had already disappeared without a trace...

"There's no need to stand on ceremony!" Unaware of the thoughts in Zhang Jiuxiao's mind, Zhang Xuan casually waved his hand.

...

By the time they returned to their residence in the Master Teacher Pavilion, the sun had already set.

Zhang Xuan entered the Myriad Anthive Nest once more and took out the concentrated high-tier spirit stones he had just obtained.

He first conditioned his state to its peak before attempting for a breakthrough. Not too long later, he overcame his bottleneck and finally reached the long-awaited Primordial Spirit realm pinnacle.

"Alright, time for me to cultivate my soul!"

With plenty of concentrated high-tier spirit stones at hand, Zhang Xuan began cultivating his Heaven's Path Soul Art as well.

Four hours later, his soul cultivation had reached Primordial Spirit realm pinnacle as well.

"With this, my strength should be on par with Half-Grand Dominion realm experts..." Feeling the zhenqi rushing through his body, as well as his enhanced strength and grasp over the spatial laws, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

Back when he was at Primordial Spirit realm advanced stage, ordinary Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle cultivators were already no match for him. Now that he had achieved a breakthrough in his zhenqi cultivation and soul cultivation, his fighting prowess had been enhanced by at least twofold at the minimum.

It could be said that with his current strength, even if he didn't use the puppets he had obtained from the Marshlands of the Northern Meadows, he would still be able to overpower Pavilion Master Yue with ease.

"But after my cultivation reached Primordial Spirit realm pinnacle, it seems like concentrated high-tier spirit stones have become completely ineffective on me as well..."

While it was gladdening to see that he had managed to make significant advancements in his fighting prowess and cultivation, the ineffectiveness of the concentrated high-tier spirit stones meant that he would have to start looking for more advanced cultivation resources too.

In the past, just a single concentrated high-tier spirit stone would suffice for him to make multiple breakthroughs, but now, even a hundred of them would barely make a difference in his cultivation.

Even with the ten thousand or so concentrated high-tier spirit stones in hand, it would still be nigh difficult for him to push for a breakthrough to Half-Leaving Aperture realm.

His Heaven's Path zhenqi simply had too high a demand for the purity of spiritual energy he absorbed for his cultivation, and he had also anticipated that this would happen as well. Nevertheless, he still couldn't help but feel a little stifled by the situation.

It wasn't easy for him to earn so many concentrated high-tier spirit stones at once, but in just a few moments, they had already become completely useless to him...

It seemed that if he wanted to make progress in his cultivation, he must continue fighting on and forge his path forward.

"Clone, this is the cultivation technique for the Heaven's Path Soul Art. Hurry up and cultivate." Zhang Xuan said as he sent the content of the Heaven's Path Soul Art to his clone telepathically and tossed a pile of concentrated high-tier spirit stones over.

At this moment, his clone had already finished consuming the Qingtian Emperor's soul, and his fighting prowess had also risen to an incredible level as well.

"Alright." Without wasting any time, Zhang Xuan's clone began on his cultivation.

As they had originated from the same soul, their rates of cultivation were nearly the same. In a few hours, his clone had already finished cultivating the Heaven's Path Soul Art. Through assimilating the energy of the Qingtian Emperor's soul on top of that, he managed to surpass Zhang Xuan in terms of soul cultivation, reaching Quasi Leaving Aperture realm.

As long as he overcame the lightning tribulation, he would be able to become a True Leaving Aperture realm expert!

"How strong are you at the moment?" Seeing that his clone had managed to a significant advancement in his cultivation, Zhang Xuan couldn't resist asking.

"I can squash Half-Grand Dominion realm ants with a grasp of my hand, and as for Grand Dominion realm primary stage cultivators... I reckon I should be able to put up a fight." Zhang Xuan's clone replied with his head raised haughtily.

Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan's cheeks twitched.

Even though it was only a small cultivation stage of difference between Half-Grand Dominion realm and Grand Dominion realm, there was a vast gap in their fighting prowess.

At Grand Dominion realm, otherwise known as the Indomitable realm, cultivators would gain the ability to create their Dominion. They would be the absolute dictator within the area of their Dominion. Regardless of how many people were gathered in the area, as long as none wielded strength on par with them, they would be as good as invincible!

For his clone to wield strength on par with Grand Dominion realm primary stage experts... Just on this itself, it was clear that his clone was already many times stronger than him!

Such strength paired with that fellow's monstrous regenerative ability... Was there still anyone in Qianchong Empire who would be a match for him?

Hai, after cultivating for so long, it turned out that he was still unable to keep up with his clone...

How embarrassing!

"It seems like I am still cultivating too slowly..." Zhang Xuan remarked with his face lowered in shame.