Chapter 17: Initial Appearance of Demons, Major Upgrade of Destiny

The main gate of Jinzhou City.

Two figures wearing black bamboo hats passed through the gate and stood at the entrance. Judging from their back, one was fat and one was skinny.

The skinny man was bone-thin, frail-looking with delicate fingers tightly clutching a feather fan.

The other man was burly, with a strong presence. A knife hung from his waist, and his arms adorned with numerous chains.

The two men silently exchanged glances before nodding to each other.

They were the two preeminent assassins sent by King Qin's Mansion in response to a bounty reward. Despite their young age, they had reached the eighth stage of refining qi, showing extraordinary talent.

The skinny man was known as the Life-taking Scholar, while the burly man was known as the Butcher.

Both of them looked to be in their early twenties.

They were members of the Shadowless Assassin Pavilion, nurtured within the black market.

The black market was distinct from regular business associations like the Heavenly Treasures Trade Association. It leaned on the extreme side, dealing in gambling and the sale of slaves, reselling resources, human trafficking, and assassination. It was an underground platform in a gray area of morality.

The Butcher had participated in underground rings organized by the black market.

As a slave, he won 28 consecutive fights in the ring and was spotted by the Shadowless Assassin Pavilion because of his skills, and was recruited as an assassin.

The Life-taking Scholar, on the other hand, was a student expelled from his academy.

The reason he was expelled was simple. He often got in fights and kills, which was a crime against humanity, but it also went against school's Confucian teachings. Thus, he was expelled, leading to his jailing.

After being released from prison, the Life-taking Scholar was recruited by the Shadowless Assassin Pavilion and became an assassin.

With considerable resources invested in his cultivation, his skill advancement was rapid, and he became a distinguished character in the Refining Qi Realm.

They became leading figures among assassins and were considered strong individuals within their realm, even capable of crossing realms to kill.

The moment they saw the bounty, they were stunned.

This was because the woman in question had a very high-status, and a significant reputation. It would be difficult not to know of her.

Three years ago, after a decisive battle between Yan Country and the Rebel Army, it was she who put down the last breath of the Yan Kingdom.

However, they still accepted the task without hesitation.

As for the consequences of the assassination, they didn't care. The reward was enough to cover their cultivation expenses for half a lifetime.

If she died, the entire Xia Country would surely be rocked.

"I heard she recently married a man who runs a pawnshop?"

"Let's go, it's time to kidnap."

...

Meanwhile, the auction was still ongoing, and it was in its most heated phase.

The expression of the masked youth was extremely unpleasant, his eyes seemingly about to spit out flames.

The voice from the open single-room hadn't echoed for a while. He'd thought he'd almost certainly won, but who would have guessed someone else had raised their hand in another room?

This was a blatant disrespect to his patience!

"Is there anyone else who wishes to bid? If not, we are ready to conclude the auction," Li Yuanxing called out from the stage.

"Three thousand lower-grade spiritual stones, once!"

"Boss, we have only 500 spiritual stones left. Do you want to continue with the bid?" asked the masked man beside him.

"Forget it, it isn't worth it."

The masked youth knew that it wasn't possible to spend all of their money at once, but it was still a big loss this time.

"When we go out later…" he began, and then made a chopping motion with his hand.

"Understood."

The henchmen around him revealed knowing smiles, their eyes filled with the intent to kill.

Meanwhile, Zhao Huai on the high floor, with the assistance of the young man in the dark green robe, was watching the four people below with a thoughtful look on his face.

He felt something was off about these men.

"Three thousand lower-grade spiritual stones, twice!"

"Three thousand lower-grade spiritual stones, thrice!"

"Three thousand lower-grade spiritual stones, sold!"

Following Li Yuanxing's high shout, everything was decided – the Insanity Technique was off the table.

"Senior, we've successfully bidden for it."

The young man in the dark green robe was giggling as he spoke.

It was indeed not easy for him to find a senior who could guide him.

To him, these three thousand lower-grade spiritual stones were nothing. But they were definitely worth spending!

"You're called Li Yanqing, right?" Zhao Huai broke the silence."Yes."

Li Yanqing smiled slightly.

He was quite delighted, because the senior had remembered his name.

"When the auction is over, come with me."

Zhao Huai turned his head and said seriously.

Although Li Yanqing's behavior seemed a bit foolish, he actually provided substantial help.

He is not one to meddle in other's affairs unnecessarily, but first and foremost, he has to be one who knows to return a favor.

"Alright, I understand."

Li Yanqing nodded honestly, just like a chick pecking at rice, without questioning the reason.

The auction was coming to an end, and Zhao Huai no longer needed to worry about anything else. Just this one cultivation technique, along with a large number of destinies, had made him plenty of gains.

Now, the only thing to worry about was what happens after leaving the auction.

With that thought, Zhao Huai tossed up the copper coin again.

"Let me see, the situation I will be in half an hour from now."

[Misfortune and fortune are interdependent, let's see]

[Hexagram one: controlling motion with stillness, changelessness becomes the only constant. You stay in the auction and don't move, the indication you get is "Misfortune".]

Trace Guidance: External danger, immobility signifies adversity.

[Hexagram two: Active assault, breaking the deadlock. You take the initiative to break the deadlock, the indication you get is "Misfortune".]

Trace Guidance: Beware again and again, there are many enemies, not being human-like.

[Hexagram three: Responding stably, having careful plans. You make ample preparations, waiting for the crisis to come, the indication you get is "Fortune".]

Trace Guidance: There still exist retreat routes, being stable brings life chances.

After seeing the last result in front of him, Zhao Huai also breathed a sigh of relief.

He still has a considerable chance of winning.

But now it seems that he has more than one enemy.

There are unknown entities outside that want to take action against him.

As for this non-human-like entity, it deserves some pondering.

Zhao Huai thought.

He had thought about it early on, the four people in front of him, all masked and behaving strangely, did not look like human beings, could they possibly be demons disguised amongst humans?

You should know, this world is a world of Immortal Cultivation, and naturally, there will be demons.

As far as Zhao Huai knows, demons disguising as people will definitely leave the characteristics of demons on their bodies, these characteristics cannot be completely removed, this is perhaps the reason why they cover their faces.

While demons hiding amongst humans may not dare to confront the human race head-on, they absolutely cannot be underestimated.

"Whoosh!"

While checking the result, a blue destiny light group entered his mind.

[Wolf In Sheep's Clothing (High Class Mysterious): Possessor of this destiny can hide cultivation, those below the Rebirth Realm can't see your real strength.]

Seeing this line, Zhao Huai couldn't help but laugh.

"This destiny is interesting, hiding cultivation, it's absolutely necessary for the old six!"

Imagine for a moment, one day, a devil at the Golden Core Stage goes to ambush a merchant team, there's a row of bodyguards at the Qi-refining phase protecting them, thinking they have it under control, but then a giant disguised as Metamorphosis Stage slips out from the middle.

A direct show of flying moth rushing into the fire.

Taking advantage of the last bit of time, Zhao Huai began absorbing the destinies he had gained.

[Sword Heart as Firm as a Rock] and [Alchemy Maniac] are absolutely ones he doesn't need, or rather he has better alternatives.

The same goes for[Scholar of Wood Plants], he does not plant anything. If it could cultivate immortal medicine or spiritual grass, it might be worthy to cultivate a little to earn some silver, but for now it can only raise some low-grade spiritual grasses and the cost of upgrading is too large, so he chooses to abandon it.

Better to break them down and use it to upgrade better destinies.

As for which destiny to enhance, there is a knack. Best to upgrade those that can improve his strength in the short term.

After much deliberation, Zhao Huai felt that [Peak Ultimate's Intention]was the most appropriate.

Increasing the power of the cultivation technique, can there be anything more against the heaven than this?

Next is [Diamond Body], which concerns defensive power, but it only resists ordinary swords, it's certainly not enough, it needs to be strengthened.

"Decompose [Sword Heart as Firm as a Rock], and [Alchemy Maniac], all to be absorbed into [Peak Ultimate's Intention]."

Upon Zhao Huai's words, the light group in his mind began to operate.

The two clusters of small yellow light became a dust of stars, all absorbed into the light group where the [Peak Ultimate's Intention] resides.

The bright yellow light gradually dimmed, with dazzling dark blue light blooming in its place, a larger light group appeared.

[Ultimate's Peak (High Class Mysterious)]:The techniques and measures you deploy with your physical body, their power will all get a four times increase. (Special Effect) Physical body receives the blessing of intention, reaching its peak, the strength gets doubled, lasts for one hour, once a day.

...