With the ninth star sphere, the speed at which Jiang Yi merged the two flames increased significantly. He did not even have to pay much attention to the process. All he had to do was use his Fire-Cultivating Dao to transform the flames into energy before absorbing the energy into his dantian. The ninth star sphere took care of everything else.
After six hours, the seven or eight hundred balls of flames in Jiang Yi’s Fire Spirit Pearl were all merged together. At the same time, Jiang Yi continued to use his two Chaos Pearls to refine his flames. The ninth star sphere was so big that it seemed boundless. He did not even know how much flame energy it contained. These flames were Jiang Yi’s strongest weapon. Of course, he wanted to store up as much as he could.
He had already deducted the required battle merits. Jiang Yi did not want to waste any more time. As he cultivated, he refined the flames. Fourteen more hours later, hundreds more of balls of flames were added to the ninth star sphere.
“This should last me some time. I’m coming out of seclusion to finish my task!”
Jiang Yi opened his eyes, which were filled with killing intent. He walked out of the Technique Practicing Room and discovered that He Wei had been outside waiting for him the entire time. On seeing Jiang Yi, his eyes hardened. He sent a voice transmission to Jiang Yi: “Brother Jiang, I heard that you’ve accepted a very dangerous mission? I’ve been looking for you for a long time. I thought you already left.”
“Hehe, which mission isn’t dangerous?” Jiang Yi pursed his lips and patted He Wei on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I—Jiang Yi—have nine lives. I won’t die. Wait for me to return.”
“Don’t go all out. Only fifty battle merits will be deducted if you fail the mission. However, if you lose your life… you will lose everything,” He Wei persuaded Jiang Yi. Jiang Yi had no other friends in the Earth Emanations Domain; it was the same for He Wei. For some reason, Jiang Yi gave the latter good vibes. That was why he helped him so many times before. This time, he was persuading Jiang Yi out of genuine concern.
“En, I will take note of it!”
Jiang Yi smiled gently and waved before leaving Demon-Killing Pavilion. He did not leave the pavilion immediately but headed toward the south city instead. In a deserted street, he used his Mirage Divine Ability to disguise himself as someone from the Blue Snake Clan. Then, he walked out of the pavilion’s south gate in broad daylight. After making one huge round around the pavilion, he sprinted toward the north.
The Black Market Castle was only fifty thousand kilometers from Divine Eagle City. Since Jiang Yi could not fly, he sprinted the entire way. After traveling tens of kilometers, he discovered there were no more roads for him to run on. Fifty thousand kilometers was not long for him anyway. He ran in a relaxed fashion. He was not far from the Divine Eagle City; everything within a fifty-thousand-kilometer radius of the city was considered safe. This probably explained why Jiang Yi did not bump into any Chaos Beasts along the way.
“Eh? There’s someone there!”
After running five hundred kilometers, Jiang Yi arrived at the base of a mountain range. He discovered that several caves were in the mountains, and tens of people lived in each cave. His approach had alerted several people inside the caves. However, he guessed that these people could not survive inside the tribe. What’s more, they looked like one family. On seeing Jiang Yi, who was disguised as someone from the Blue Snake Clan, they looked fearful.
Jiang Yi continued running emotionlessly, not paying any attention to those people. Those people did not cause trouble for him either. He cut right across the mountain range and discovered that there were quite a number of people living inside the area. He paused and sensed around. The heaven and earth spirit energy was indeed much richer here. This group of people must have realized this before deciding to settle down here.
Ordinarily, people would not dare to mess with people from the Blue Snake Clan. On the way, Jiang Yi discovered that a God-General-level martial artist quickly retreated after using his divine senses to scan Jiang Yi. Naturally, Jiang Yi did not want to stir trouble as well. He continued on his way.
The purple sun was setting, and two blood moons were rising. Jiang Yi had run for a total of one Lower-Domain day. At last, he found the huge mountain range where the Black Market was supposed to be located. He could not see the limits of this mountain range; he could not even see the mountain peaks. According to the mission brief, the Black Market Castle was located at the peak of the mountain. This Black Market was the biggest one in a five-million-kilometer radius. It was called the Crazed God Castle and was established by one of the great family clans of the Blue Eagle Prefecture.
There were many sentries at the base of the mountain. However, on seeing that Jiang Yi belonged to the Blue Snake Clan, none of them tried to stop him. Jiang Yi easily ascended the mountain.
There was nothing at the peak of the mountain. Just as Jiang Yi was looking around confused, he heard the sound of something cutting through the sky. A Divine Boat was rushing toward him, stopping at the peak of the mountain. Three Battle God Pavilion’s God Generals dressed in golden battle armor flew out, and the Divine Boat disappeared at once.
The three of them scanned Jiang Yi from head-to-toe, their eyes full of contempt. However, they soon turned away and continued walking toward the peak of the mountain. The moment they reached an area three hundred meters in front of Jiang Yi, they suddenly disappeared before his eyes.
There’s an illusion array!
Jiang Yi followed them to the area and indeed found a white light after walking three hundred meters ahead. A huge castle appeared in front of him. This castle was very great and grandiose. Jiang Yi could not see where the castle ended. Along the gates stood a row of martial artists dressed in silver armor. From their auras, Jiang Yi could tell that they were at least equivalent to God Generals.
God Generals are guarding the door?
Jiang Yi’s heart sank. The guards of the castle were already so powerful. He guessed that the leader of this castle was likely either a God King or a God Thearch. Even if he could kill the target, he was not so sure he would be able to escape. If he—an outsider—killed on their turf, he did not believe that they would not step out to intervene. Otherwise, everyone else would think that it would be easy to start fights on this territory. The Black Market Castle could close down if that was allowed to happen.
I’ll go in first.
Jiang Yi walked through the castle gates with his head held high. However, at the gate, he was stopped by two martial artists dressed in silver armor. One of them reached out and said, “You need to pay one divine root to enter the Crazed God Castle.”
“Even I need to pay?” Jiang Yi scanned the two men from head to toe contemptuously. The two men answered confidently, “If you don’t have command tokens, even the City Lord of Divine Eagle City must pay!”
Jiang Yi’s head was beginning to hurt. He did not have a single divine root left on him. If he could not even enter the city gate, how was he to look for his target? Was he to just stand outside and wait like an idiot?
The cogs in his mind kept spinning. At last, he gritted his teeth and pulled out his Thousand Thearch Shield. As he handed it to the guard, he asked, “I’m going to put this divine artifact here as collateral. I’ll turn around and redeem it. Can I do that?”
“Sure, you can!”
The martial artist in silver armor took the Thousand Thearch Shield and kept it in his interspatial ring. Casually, he said, “Once you have divine roots, you can go to side hall number six to redeem your divine artifact. If you don’t redeem it in a month, the spiritual imprint in the divine artifact will be automatically destroyed. This divine artifact will then be put up on sale.”
Jiang Yi nodded. At least this Crazed God Castle had its own regulations. He raised his leg and intended to walk ahead when the other martial artist suddenly handed him a piece of paper. “This is a map of Crazed God Castle. If you need to, you can explore the various side halls. Other than that… don’t try to fight anyone inside or be prepared to bear the consequences.”
That last line caused Jiang Yi’s heart to sink. What kind of stinking mission was this? A thousand battle merits were not easy to earn indeed. If he could not leave this castle within a day, he would have taken on this mission for no reason.
Since he was here, he decided to try his luck. Jiang Yi refused to give up until the final moment. He glanced at the paper and found that it was indeed a map. All the side halls were drawn on it, and each once came with a remark, stating what each of them specialized in.
“Casino, brothel, slave house, warehouse, restaurant, fighting ground, mystic realm, mystical ability pavilion, soldier’s hall, mission pavilion… there was everything here. This was a paradise for the rich.”
Jiang Yi looked around. He was beginning to understand this Crazed God Castle a little bit better. Everything from the legal to the illegal could be found here. It was no wonder this was termed the Black Market Castle.
“Side hall number sixteen!”
He locked his gaze on one of the side halls. The mission brief was clear. His target loved to hang around in the casino in this city. Since the mission brief had been so clear, then his target must be a gambling addict. He must be located in side hall number sixteen, the casino.
“Go!”
No matter what, Jiang Yi had to see the target. He wanted to see if there would be a chance to assassinate him and complete his mission.
