Has Ye Xuan gone mad? Taking orders on the black market, risking his life to upgrade!

Lin Yuan woke up from his large bed feeling refreshed, sensing that the entire world had become different.

Although he was still lying in the same spot.

But his Divine Sense could clearly "see" countless sharp auras floating in the air that were invisible to the naked eye.

That was Sword Intent!

Sword Intent was everywhere!

With a single thought.

A wisp of invisible Sword Qi condensed at his fingertips, cutting a tiny spatial crack in the air before him.

Cangming Sword Intent, Heaven Rank Peak Grade!

Another divine technique that required no Cultivation and was directly at max level!

"Young Master, you're awake."

A beautiful maid pushed a dining cart in and laid out an outrageously lavish breakfast on the table.

There was Eight-Treasure Spirit Porridge radiating dense Spiritual Qi, fried eggs made from the eggs of the Rank 4 Vicious Beast "Golden Silk Bird," and a glass of juice squeezed from dozens of rare spirit fruits.

Any one of these items taken outside would be enough to make ordinary Martial Artists fight to the death for them.

Yet here, it was merely an ordinary breakfast for Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan lazily enjoyed being fed by the maid, unable to help but sigh in his heart.

Sigh, being invincible... sometimes it's just this simple, unpretentious, and boring... In stark contrast to the luxury and comfort of the Lin Family Manor was another world beneath Yan Jing City.

This was the Black Market.

An outlaw land filled with sin, desire, and bloodshed.

In the dark and damp passages, people from all walks of life mingled together, and the air was thick with the unpleasant smell of rust, alcohol, and low-grade potions.

Ye Xuan covered his face with a hood and walked quickly through the noisy crowd.

Like a lone wolf, he entered the Black Market's mission hall.

In the center of the hall, a huge light screen was scrolling through various shady missions.

From finding people and items to assassinating enemies, it had everything.

His gaze skipped directly over those ordinary Rank 1 and Rank 2 missions, locking firmly onto the very top of the mission board.

There was only one mission there.

Written in blood-red font, it was marked with the highest danger level an ordinary person could take: Rank 6!

【Mission Name: Hunt the Nether Leopard】

【Mission Objective: Enter the core area of the Black Wind Mountain Range, hunt an adult Rank 2 Vicious Beast 'Nether Leopard', and bring back its spirit core.】

【Mission Reward: One million Longxia coins, or equivalent Cultivation resources.】

"Hiss—"

Seeing this mission, many desperate outlaws nearby looking for work gasped.

"Nether Leopard? That's the most troublesome kind among Rank 2 Vicious Beasts! It comes and goes without a trace, mastering shadow assassination. It's said that even experts at the Early Stage of the Qi Sea Realm have fallen to its claws!"

"This mission has been hanging here for nearly a month. Seven or eight people who took it have died. Who else would dare go to their death?"

"One million? You have to be alive to spend it!"

While everyone was discussing it.

Ye Xuan stepped forward without a word and pressed his finger heavily on that blood-red Rank 6 mission.

【Ding! Mission accepted!】

The entire hall instantly went silent.

Everyone's gaze focused on this fellow who didn't know the meaning of death, as if looking at a madman.

"Kid, don't be impulsive! It's not too late to cancel!" a kind-hearted one-eyed brute nearby couldn't help but advise.

Ye Xuan didn't even turn his head, only coldly spitting out two words.

"No need."

After speaking, he turned and left without any hesitation.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the Ultimate Ancestor's anxious voice rang out: "Kid! You're crazy! With your current strength, what's the difference between challenging a Rank 2 Vicious Beast and seeking death?!"

"Teacher, I have no choice."

Ye Xuan's tone was calm yet carried a hint of madness.

"Lin Yuan is like a great mountain, pressing down on me until I can't breathe! If I don't risk my life, I'll spend my whole life living in his shadow! I would rather die on the path of a charge than live on in humiliation!"

Ultimate Ancestor fell silent.

He could feel Ye Xuan's resolute will that was almost burning.

After a long time, he sighed.

"So be it! The path of martial arts is inherently about contending with heaven, fighting with earth, and risking one's life against others! Since your mind is made up, then this old man shall accompany you in this madness!"

...Black Wind Mountain Range, core area.

Ancient trees reached the sky here, and miasma was everywhere, so thick that even sunlight couldn't penetrate it.

The air was filled with the aura of danger and death.

Ye Xuan was like a seasoned hunter, carefully moving through the dense forest, restraining his aura to the extreme.

Suddenly!

His hair stood on end as a fatal sense of crisis came from behind!

"Watch out!"

Ultimate Ancestor's voice exploded in his mind.

Without thinking, Ye Xuan performed a clumsy roll on the ground, lunging forward desperately.

Screech!

A black claw shadow, carrying a sharp whistle that tore through the air, passed almost flush against his back.

The clothes on his back were torn into five deep gashes that revealed bone, and blood instantly stained his garments.

Ye Xuan endured the sharp pain and looked back.

In the shadows of the trees not far away, a leopard that was pitch-black all over, agile, and seemingly composed of shadows was staring at him coldly with a pair of deep purple eyes.

The Nether Leopard!

It moved!

Without a sound or warning, its figure instantly merged into the shadows and vanished!

Ye Xuan's pupils shrank as he circulated his spiritual energy to the limit, staying alert to his surroundings.

But he couldn't catch the opponent's tracks at all!

"Puchi!"

Another claw shadow struck from an incredibly tricky angle, leaving a bloody gash on his thigh.

"Damn it!"

Ye Xuan roared, but he could only passively take the hits.

This Nether Leopard was too cunning!

It didn't collide with Ye Xuan head-on at all, instead using its ghost-like speed and stealth ability to constantly exhaust and toy with him.

In just a few minutes, Ye Xuan's body was covered in wounds, and his spiritual energy was mostly depleted.

"Teacher! What should I do?"

He asked anxiously.

"Don't panic!"

"This beast's greatest strength is its stealth, but every time it attacks, it must use the shadows! See the movements of all shadows clearly!"

Ultimate Ancestor shouted in a low voice.

Under the Old Ancestor's guidance, Ye Xuan forced himself to calm down.

He closed his eyes, gave up on his vision, and submerged his entire mind into the perception of his surroundings.

The sound of the wind, the swaying of the leaves, the flow of the miasma... Now!

The shadow to his back-left had an abnormal distortion!

Ye Xuan snapped his eyes open, and instead of retreating, he advanced, gathering all the remaining spiritual energy in his body into his fist and slamming it fiercely toward that patch of shadow!

"Mountain Collapsing Punch!"

Aow!

A shrill scream rang out as the Nether Leopard's figure was forcibly smashed out of the shadow, blood overflowing from its mouth.

It clearly hadn't expected that this prey could actually see through its movements.

Having landed a successful hit, Ye Xuan didn't dare relax in the slightest. He closed in and unleashed a storm-like barrage of attacks.

One man and one leopard engaged in the most primitive and bloody life-and-death struggle in this dense forest!

Finally, when Ye Xuan used his last bit of strength to plunge a dagger into the Nether Leopard's heart, he himself was on the verge of total exhaustion.

Covered in blood, he lay beside the Nether Leopard's warm corpse, gasping for air, without even the strength to move a finger.

But he was laughing.

Laughing incredibly heartily, incredibly crazily.

With a trembling hand, he dug out a fist-sized spirit core radiating a deep purple light from within the Nether Leopard's body.

High Grade Nether Spirit Core!

Feeling the pure and vast energy within the spirit core, the flames of hope were rekindled in Ye Xuan's eyes.

He used this spirit core to exchange for a massive amount of Cultivation resources on the Black Market.

Then, dragging his heavily injured body, he found a secluded cave and began his closed-door Cultivation.

"Lin Yuan..."

"You just wait for me!"

"I, Ye Xuan, will not be defeated!"