Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The outer sanctum’s plaza was the most frequented place by the outer sanctum disciples, besides the fighting room. Not only were the people who offered loans with high interests here, but there were also black merchants, who sold many objects of unknown or suspicious origins, like elixirs, cultivation techniques, magical treasures and even some news.
In fact, you could get everything here, apart from activities that were prohibited by the sanctum, like assassination, robbery, human trafficking and some matters of the like. Today, the black market was even more bustling than usual.
This was because one of the black market’s great factions was carry out an extremely cruel matter. It was the crippling of a disciple, who owed them merit points, yet still hadn’t paid them back.
Such a matter hadn’t occurred for a long time, as all those who borrowed money would sign an ironclad agreement with Heart Oath Scrolls, and if they didn’t pay them back in time, their cultivations would be crippled, according to the agreement set in the Heart Oath Scroll.
The outer sanctum turned a blind eye to such a matters and didn’t meddle with them. Instead, it would only warn people to be careful when taking out high-interest loans. The people whose cultivations were crippled wouldn’t have any standing in the outer sanctum. As such, they could only become one of the mortals, taking care of outer sanctum disciples, or they would have to leave the sanctum entirely.
There were even those who were in even worse states. If these people had enemies, then their future days would be terrible, and they wouldn’t dare to leave the sanctum at all, as they would be worried that they would be hunted down!
Their miserable fates were a warning to all people who came after them, and because of this, no one dared to take out loans rashly. In fact, they would only take them out if they had great confidence that they could immediately pay them back.
As it was such a weighty matter, it was only natural that this occurrence had caught so many people’s attention. It was especially the case since the person whose cultivation was about to be crippled was a disciple of the Shangguan family, Shangguan Yunque!
The Shangguan family was ranked second among all of the factions besides the eighteen great factions. The fact that even such a great faction’s young master wasn’t spared from the terrifying consequences of not complying with the agreement caused people to shudder in fear.
The plaza was packed with people. In fact, it was so overcrowded that they spilled out of the entrance!
There were fifty disciples, all of whom had high cultivations, there. They were led by Shao Qingfeng.
The weakest among them was still a Level Three Fairy, while the strongest were Level Seven Fairies. They were familiar faces to all of the people here, as they were frequently seen by the black market’s members, all of whom held control over half of the market. Now, they were all gathered behind Shao Qingfeng, like an organized crime syndicate.
At the very front, a person was being guarded by two Level Seven Fairies. He was an immaculately dressed youth, whose cheeks were blue and purple. His hands were tied and he was bound to a cross. The crowd all started whispering…
“Shangguan Yunque… I knew him. He had already entered the inner sanctum and started cultivating within it, yet he still loved to hang around the outer sanctum with his friends. Who would expect that he would fall into such a trap?”
“I can’t agree more. In the past, he was quite well-off and grand. He had a very prominent family background and possessed an inexhaustible amount of merit points. But, it was a pity that he provoked some people, who mustn’t be offended, and even if the Shangguan family was more amazing, they would still be insignificant in front of the Right Palace Master.”
“Hehe, what could his family really amount to? His sister, Shangguan Qinger, is the Red Blood Palace’s Master unofficial disciple, but the Right Palace Master still dared to target her brother.”
“It’s because the Red Blood Palace’s Master didn’t care about the sanctum matters in the past hundred years, so the Right and Left Palace Masters, who managed all of the sanctum’s matters, became its true rulers. If she was the last disciple of Mo Tianxuan, then they wouldn’t dare offend them.”
An unofficial disciple was often just a mere title. It could seem illustrious in an average people’s eyes, but it was nothing in the eyes of well-informed people. Shangguan Qinger was considered as one of Mo Tianxuan’s unofficial disciples, while in fact, she didn’t get to meet Mo Tianxuan more than a few times.
While the people here were discussing the matter, some were rejoicing in the misfortune, while others wrung their hands and sighed. Shao Qingfeng waited patiently as he wore a mocking smile at the corners of his mouth. He wanted to see whether Su Yu would come to save him or not.
It would be best if he could find a way to cause a conflict. Then, among the chaos and confusion, Lao Ai could attack Su Yu and take his life with one strike!
Swoosh!
A disturbance rose among the people, while they all made way suddenly for a group of people. The one who took the lead was a sloppy-looking person, who was followed by around 50 ferocious-looking people.
“Ruffian Long and his group have come here!” someone in the crowd exclaimed in astonishment. Everyone wondered…
The Right Palace Master’s black market’s people were crippling a violator, so why did the Left Palace Master’s people come here to pick a fight?
Both of them were members of the black market, and each of them occupied half of the market. They rarely fought each other because the outer sanctum had strict rules that forbid large-scale fights. Hence, their sudden appearance dumbfounded all of the people present.
Shao Qingfeng was startled, and he furrowed his brows slightly. “Why did you come here?”
Su Yu didn’t come here, yet their sworn enemies had come!. This was beyond his expectations.
Ruffian Long then asked, “Was this place built by you? I can come here anytime I want! I don’t need your permission!”
Ruffian Long was much weaker than Shao Qingfeng, but he could depend upon the great number of people in his group to face Shao Qingfeng alongside him.
Shao Qingfeng snorted coldly, “Let someone who can speak properly come here. Someone like you doesn’t deserve to speak to me directly.”
“Is that so? Then… Do I deserve to speak or not?” A woman, who possessed a charming and alluring body, appeared among the crowd. She attracted many ardent gazes.
“She’s the inner sanctum’s vixen, Xue Qi!” someone shouted. She had great fame, even in the outer sanctum, so many disciples knew her.
“Who would have expected that even the inner sanctum disciples would intervene in such a matter? It’s really surprising!” someone else commented.
Shao Qingfeng’s expression became somewhat nervous. “Xue Qi? What did you come here for?”
Xue Qi wore a bright and charming smile. “Hehe, I obviously came here to take young master Shangguan. I’m sorry to inform you that he also owes us a debt, so we couldn’t let you cripple him before he paid us back. We still need him to be able to work to gain merit points.”
The crowd suddenly realized what was happening, and they all started discussing it…
“It’s really odd! Why would the Left Palace Master’s black market members stand up for Shangguan Yunque? Moreover, they mobilized all of their black market’s members, and it seems like they want to start a fight!”
“It seems quite fishy! The Shangguan family shouldn’t have any opportunity of currying favor with the black market’s members!”
“Indeed, even Xue Qi participated in such a matter. This woman has a high position in the Left Palace Master’s faction and is proud and haughty, so why would she condescend herself to save this insignificant Shangguan Yunque?”
Shao Qingfeng’s expression became somewhat gloomy. “As Su Yuxian has somehow gotten you to intervene… You must really value him greatly.”
The Left Palace Master’s faction’s care of Su Yu had far surpassed his expectations. However, he was still obliged to kill Su Yu.
After he spoke, the people were startled by his words…
“What? Senior sister intervened because of Su Yuxian?”
Some people didn’t know about him…
“Who?”
“You don’t know about Su Yuxian? The new demon, the fifth demon, the central supreme demon? He’s a terrifying man, who assaulted Bing Wuxin on the first day that he joined the Demon Mountain, and he conquered both her body and heart. It’s rumored from that day onward, Bing Wuxin became submissive and was even jealous and fought against the Raging Flame Cabinet’s Master in the street!”
“It’s rumored that some people saw him consecutively entering the Raging Flame Cabinet’s Master residence for a whole month, so she should have already been conquered by him!”
“Hiss! So, it was him!”
Many people were astonished, as they knew that a new central supreme demon had appeared, but they didn’t know his name.
“Well… Was senior sister Xue Qi also conquered this central demon?” a quick-witted person asked, while many gazes immediately fell on Xue Qi.
Xue Qi didn’t care about Shao Qingfeng’s mockery, so she chuckled charmingly. “As long as Su Yuxian asked it of me, then I’d be willing to even climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of flames for him.”
“It’s really hateful! The central demon took advantage of Bing Wuxin, yet he was still not satisfied, so he even took the Raging Flame Cabinet’s Master! Now, he has conquered even Xue Qi! He’s really a b*stard!”
“Yes! He’s really repulsive. He took for himself three of the Red Blood Palace’s famous beauties!”
“Da*ned central demon! When I get strong enough, you will be the first person I will look for, and I will beat you until you kneel before me.”
Su Yu had already become the public enemy of all of the male outer sanctum disciples after such exaggerated stories had spread.
“Shao Qingfeng, hand him over, or I will teach you a lesson on behalf of the Right Palace Master,” Xue Qi said.
Ruffian Long chuckled sinisterly. “Brothers, you shouldn’t go easy on them! Go ahead and break their balls!”
Hoots of laughter resounded from the crowd. However, at such a moment, an ice-cold and disdainful shout transmitted from among the people behind Shao Qingfeng, “I really want to see who would dare to do such a thing?”
As his ice-cold shout echoed out, a fair-faced man, whose whole body emitted an ice-cold aura, walked out. Ruffian Long and the others held their breaths, while their sinister laughter came to an abrupt end.
Xue Qi squinted her eyes. “Lao Ai, you didn’t stay in the inner sanctum, but came here to make a disturbance. Aren’t you worried that you would be condemned by your Left Palace Master for violating the outer sanctum’s black market’s rules?”
Lao Ai chuckled coldly. “Isn’t that the case for you, too?”
“Lao Ai, if you don’t want to cause a disturbance in the outer sanctum, then you should hand him over to us now. Otherwise, the news of such a large-scale private fight will surely reach the inner sanctum’s Palace Masters’ ears, and even though I would be punished for it, you would also be punished as well.”
Lao Ai’s pupils contracted, as what he didn’t want to happen the most was for this matter to reach the inner sanctum’s people’s ears. “Are you threatening me?” Lao Ai asked with squinted eyes.
Xue Qi stuck out her chest. “Yes! I’m threatening you! So, will you hand him over or not?”
A cold glint flickered in Lao Ai’s eyes. “I will obviously hand him over to you, but you still need to wait for a short while.”
He then swept his gaze over Shao Qingfeng and said, “It seems like Su Yuxian is just a coward, so there is no need for keeping this person. Go ahead and cripple his cultivation.”
Shao Qingfeng was also disappointed. They had gone to a lot of trouble to arrange such a matter, yet Su Yu didn’t fall for it.
The resentful Shao Qingfeng walked toward Shangguan Yunque and shouted coldly, “Your good brother is shameless! He knows clearly that you are in danger, yet he still didn’t dare to show himself. I’m really feeling sorry for you right now.”
When Shangguan Yunque heard that Su Yu hadn’t come here, not only didn’t disappointment appear on his swollen face, but a relieved look appeared on it instead. “Brother Su already warned me to not trust my drinking buddies, so it’s my fault that I ended up in such a state. I can’t blame him for anything, and I also wouldn’t drag him down with me!”
He then added, “Moreover, since he didn’t come here, then it’s obvious that he saw through your plot!I’m greatly relieved by this, too! Hehehe.”
Shao Qingfeng’s expression became gloomy. “You must die! I will immediately cripple you!”
