Su Yanran shot Tang Zhonglou a none-too-friendly glare, clearly convinced he was messing with her on purpose.
The stall owner’s shrewd eyes lit up. “Is this guest telling the truth?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Tang Zhonglou handed the stall owner two pills and transferred another million to him.
“Brother Tang, now that’s what I call generous!” Baili Wenyue gave him a thumbs up while making a funny face at Su Yanran.
“You two are going too far!” Su Yanran fumed, spinning on her heel to leave—but just as she turned, she caught sight of a familiar figure.
In an instant, her aura shifted, and she fixed Feng Qingran with a hateful glare.
Every single time she ran into Feng Qingran, nothing good ever came of it!
Back then, when Sheng Shike had tortured her to the brink of death, her master had rescued her and taken her to Haoling Prefecture. After arriving there, everything had started going smoothly for her. She could step outside and stumble upon fortuitous encounters. Countless admirers willingly lavished her with precious resources. In just six short years, she had gone from the seventh level of Qi Refining to the late stage of Golden Core.
But ever since she came to Huoling Prefecture, things had taken a turn once again.
Now, when Feng Qingran looked at Su Yanran, there was a hint of detachment in her almond-shaped eyes. Her true enemy was the Heavenly Dao behind Su Yanran. As for the grudges from her past life, she wanted to deal with the mastermind first before settling scores with Su Yanran. After all, Su Yanran was still an innocent party at this point—killing her would only invite karmic consequences.
Besides, Feng Qingran knew full well that the Heavenly Dao’s chess pieces were certainly not limited to Su Yanran alone. By keeping Su Yanran alive, she could follow the trail and flush out even more people.
Ning Shiyue, of course, had no clue about the silent war brewing between Feng Qingran and Su Yanran.
Beaming, she waved at Qin Hanyan. “Hanyan! I finally found you guys—thank goodness!”
Ning Shiyue linked her arm through Feng Qingran’s and walked over to where Qin Hanyan and the others stood.
Feng Qingran brushed past Su Yanran, and for a brief moment, their eyes met—both pairs as cold as ice.
Qin Hanyan and Baili Wenyue’s attention were fixed on Ning Shiyue and Feng Qingran.
Only Tang Zhonglou’s dark eyes glimmered with a probing light. Could it be that Feng Qingran, like him, was a reincarnated soul?
But then again, he had been reborn because he was born of heaven and earth and blessed by the myriad realms. Feng Qingran, however, was just an ordinary cultivator—so why had she been given a second chance?
Feng Qingran shot Tang Zhonglou a sidelong glance, a flicker of darkness passing through her eyes. If it weren’t for Li Niang’s sake, she would never have tolerated his presence.
“Fifth Senior Sister, Little Junior Sister, if you’d come a little earlier, you’d have seen Brother Tang’s grand display of generosity!”
“What? Spill it—tell me everything!” Ning Shiyue’s bright eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“Fifth Senior Sister wants to hear it? Then beg me!” Baili Wenyue’s fox-like eyes gleamed with mischief.
“Oh, really?” Ning Shiyue let out a cold laugh, grabbed Baili Wenyue by the ear, and asked again: “Are you going to tell me or not?”
“Oww… Fifth Senior Sister, that hurts! I’m sorry, I’ll tell you right away!” Baili Wenyue begged for mercy.
A faint smile crept across Qin Hanyan’s usually icy face. It was good to see Shiyue coming out of her shell.
Just then—
Tang Zhonglou handed a jade slip to Qin Hanyan. “This Nine Heavens Mystic Fire technique is perfect for you to practice.”
Qin Hanyan didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted the slip. “Thank you. I’ll trade you a bottle of Condensation Pills for it—I’ll give them to you once we’re out.”
“Third Senior Sister, could I take a look at it?” Feng Qingran’s eyes, clear as glass, lit up.
Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Hanyan handed the Nine Heavens Mystic Fire over to Feng Qingran.
Feng Qingran took the jade slip, opened it, and scanned a few lines. Her gaze deepened. The technique looked fine on the surface, but something about it felt off in places.
At an auction a few years back, her master had mentioned that the Heavenly Gang Nine Swords and the Nine Heavens Mystic Fire combined formed the Slaying God Art.
The Slaying God Art—just the name alone sounded formidable. If it could slay gods, maybe it could even slay the Heavenly Dao. So on a whim, she had bought back the Heavenly Gang Nine Swords—the very one she herself had put up for auction.
Ever since, she had been searching for the whereabouts of the Nine Heavens Mystic Fire. Who would have thought it was hidden here in the black market?
Feng Qingran stared at the jade slip in her hand, lost in thought.
Seeing this, the stall owner began to regret not asking for a higher price. This group was clearly loaded—they were prime targets for a good fleecing.
Sensing the stall owner’s resentful gaze, Feng Qingran looked up at him.
A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes. Hu Yunxiang… A few years ago, he had tried to become her senior brother’s disciple, only to end up making her senior brother so angry that he broke through to the next level in cultivation. After the Hu family’s disappearance, Hu Yunxiang had vanished without a trace. She never expected to find him hawking goods at the black market.
Seeing Feng Qingran staring blankly, Hu Yunxiang immediately put on a welcoming smile. “Miss, are you interested in purchasing a jade slip?”
Feng Qingran swept her gaze over the slips laid out on the stall. When she spotted the Heavenly Gang Nine Swords, she thought she must be seeing things.
She picked it up, opened it, and narrowed her eyes. Half of the contents were actually real!
A cultivation technique like this, half-true and half-false, would never raise any red flags for anyone who started practicing it. But if they kept following the technique exactly as written, problems were bound to surface sooner or later.
Feng Qingran casually picked up a few more jade slips and examined them one by one. On the surface, they all seemed flawless. But from the few techniques she recognized, she could tell that not a single one was completely authentic. Some mixed truth with lies line by line; others had the first half true and the second half false…
Hu Yunxiang clearly knew what he was doing. With this approach, he could swindle quite a few people.
Suddenly—
She flipped open a copy of the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual and, to her surprise, found the latter half of the Heavenly Gang Nine Swords tucked away in its second half.
