199: Murder, we're professionals.

The golden light of the word "Law" in Blade Sword City had not yet dissipated amidst the shock of the Immortal Realm's Cultivators.

Meanwhile, in another equally chaotic border town, Black Forest City, new rules were also being established.

However, the method was completely different.

In the south of the city, the former headquarters of the "Black Wind Stockade" now bore a plaque that read "Myriad Dao Merchant Guild Branch."

Inside an elegant room.

Chen Qianhuan was looking down at an account book, his brows furrowed tightly.

Beside him, Hua Ying was using a soft piece of deerskin to repeatedly wipe a short blade that was as thin as a cicada's wing.

Neither of them spoke.

The atmosphere in the room was quiet and somewhat oppressive.

They were the eighth and ninth Personal Disciples, Chen Qianhuan and Hua Ying.

Their cultivation was at the Late Stage Earth Immortal level.

Under the halo of their Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, who would destroy Immortal King Holy Lands at every turn and stir up the winds and clouds of the Immortal Realm, their existence seemed somewhat insignificant.

Revered Master had not given them any world-shaking tasks.

Grand Elder Mo Yuan had only given them a set of coordinates and a letter of appointment.

He had sent them to take over this Black Forest City, which had just been persuaded by the Guild using "reasoning."

"The accounts still don't add up."

Chen Qianhuan finally spoke, his voice raspy.

"The mess left by the Black Wind Stockade is even greater than imagined."

"There are three mines whose output this month is down by thirty percent."

Hua Ying's movement of wiping the short blade paused for a moment.

"Someone is stealing."

Her voice was very soft and cold, like a blade edge sliding across ice.

"Mhm." Chen Qianhuan closed the account book. "I'm more inclined to believe that someone is robbing us."

He stood up and walked to the window, looking down at the Cultivators on the street whose eyes still carried a sense of wildness.

"They haven't gotten used to the new rules yet."

Hua Ying also stood up and tucked the short blade into her sleeve.

"I'll go kill them."

Her logic was simple.

Disobey the rules, and die.

This was the first lesson they had learned in the "Shadow" organization.

"No rush."

Chen Qianhuan shook his head.

"Even killing must take cost into account."

"We are now members of the Sect."

He looked at Hua Ying, a trace of softness appearing in his eyes that even he hadn't noticed.

"In business, one should try courtesy before force."

Hua Ying nodded, half-understanding.

She didn't understand what business was.

But she understood that what Chen Qianhuan said was always right... Night fell.

West of the city, Spirit Mine No. 3.

Deep in the mine, a group of ragged mine slaves were numbly swinging their pickaxes under the overseer's whip.

A burly head overseer with a face full of scars was stuffing pieces of newly excavated High Grade Immortal Stones into his Storage Pouch.

"Hurry up! All of you fucking hurry up for me!"

"If we can't gather the tribute for the 'Blood Hand Society' tonight, I'll throw every one of you into the Soul Refining Banner!"

The head overseer grinned hideously.

The Black Wind Stockade had fallen, and the Myriad Dao Merchant Guild had arrived.

But for those at the bottom like them, there was no difference.

It was nothing more than changing Revered Masters and continuing to pay protection money.

Just then.

A dark shadow appeared behind the head overseer like a ghost.

"Blood Hand Society?"

The voice was very soft, like a whisper of the night wind.

The head overseer stiffened and spun around.

He only saw a pair of pitch-black eyes that were so calm they were heart-stopping.

The next second.

He felt a chill on his neck.

The world began to spin.

Hua Ying's figure appeared at the mine entrance.

She flicked the non-existent blood off her short blade and shook her head at Chen Qianhuan, who was in the shadows of the corner.

"Too weak."

"Just some low-life thugs."

Chen Qianhuan stepped out from the shadows.

He looked at the mine slaves who were in a panic due to the head overseer's death, then at the still-warm corpse on the ground.

"It seems someone doesn't want to accept our 'courtesy'."

He walked up to an old mine slave who looked the eldest, his voice gentle.

"Old man, do you know where the Blood Hand Society is?"

The old mine slave trembled all over, looking at them with fear, not daring to speak.

Chen Qianhuan sighed.

He took out a healing Medicinal Pill from his robes, engraved with the insignia of the Myriad Dao Divine Sect.

This was the lowest-grade pill refined by Fifth Senior Sister Gongsun Yan.

But in the outside world, it was still a sacred medicine hard to find even for a thousand gold.

He pressed the pill into the old mine slave's cracked hand.

"Eat it, and your old injuries will heal."

The old mine slave looked at the pill in his hand, which radiated a majestic aura of life; for the first time, an expression of disbelief appeared in his cloudy eyes.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally swallowed it in one gulp.

A warm current instantly spread through his entire body.

His muscles and bones, twisted from years of labor, were actually returning to normal at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"Sa... Sacred medicine!"

The old mine slave was so moved that tears streamed down his face; he was about to kneel to Chen Qianhuan.

Chen Qianhuan supported him.

"Now, can you tell me?"

... Half an hour later.

Black Forest City, Blood Hand Society headquarters.

Inside a brightly lit restaurant.

The leader of the Blood Hand Society, a scarred man at the Early Stage Heavenly Immortal level, was holding two glamorous female Cultivators and drinking heavily.

"Hahaha! Those idiots from the Black Wind Stockade have fallen. From now on, this Black Forest City belongs to our Blood Hand Society!"

"Big Brother is right!"

"A toast to Big Brother!"

A group of gang members raised their glasses in agreement.

Just then.

The restaurant door opened with a "creak."

A young man dressed in grey cloth clothes with an ordinary face walked in.

Behind him followed a petite young girl with her head lowered.

"Hmm?"

The scarred leader frowned.

"Where did these random nobodies come from? Don't you know we've booked this whole place!"

"Get out!"

Chen Qianhuan ignored him.

His gaze swept over everyone present.

Then, he smiled.

"Good evening, everyone."

"Myriad Dao Merchant Guild, auditing the accounts."

"Auditing the accounts?" The scarred leader was stunned for a moment, then burst into wild laughter. "Kid, are you fucking out of your mind!"

"I am the law here! Who the hell do you think you are, daring to audit my accounts!"

He slammed the table, and the pressure of the Heavenly Immortal realm erupted!

"Kneel down now and give me a hundred kowtows!"

"Otherwise, die!"

The smile on Chen Qianhuan's face didn't change at all.

He just lightly snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The crisp sound echoed in the restaurant.

The wild laughter on the scarred leader's face froze.

He discovered in horror that the scene before him had changed.

He was no longer in the restaurant.

Instead, he was in the middle of an endless sea of blood and mountains of corpses!

Billions of resentful souls shrieked shrilly in his ears!

Countless rotting hands reached out from the sea of blood and firmly grabbed his ankles!

"An... an illusion!"

The scarred leader was a Heavenly Immortal after all and reacted instantly, his immortal essence circulating wildly as he tried to break free.

But this illusion was terrifyingly real!

The bone-chilling cold and the pain of his Divine Soul being torn apart were all incredibly clear!

"Ah—"

He let out a scream that didn't sound human.

And in the eyes of the others in the restaurant.

Their leader had suddenly clutched his head after the young man snapped his fingers and was now rolling frantically on the ground, foaming at the mouth and soiling himself.

As if he were experiencing the most horrific torture in the world.

The restaurant instantly fell into a dead silence.

All the gang members looked at the smiling young man as if he were a devil.

"Now, can we have a proper talk about the accounts and the rules?"

Chen Qianhuan's voice was like a demon's whisper.

No one dared to answer.

Just then.

A dark shadow crossed the entire hall like lightning.

Puff, puff, puff—

A series of soft sounds of blades entering flesh.

The dozens of Blood Hand Society members present all had a small red mark appear on their foreheads at the same time.

Then, their bodies went limp as if all their strength had been drained, and they slumped to the floor.

Their life force was severed.

Hua Ying's figure reappeared behind Chen Qianhuan, as if she had never moved.

The short blade in her sleeve was still clean enough to reflect a person's image.

Chen Qianhuan walked up to the scarred leader, who was still struggling in the illusion, and crouched down.

He released the illusion.

The scarred leader looked at him with hollow eyes, his body shaking like a sieve.

"I... I'll talk... I'll say everything..."

Chen Qianhuan nodded with satisfaction.

He took out an "Affiliation and Cooperation Agreement" that had been personally drafted by Third Senior Brother Wang Duojin.

"Come, leave a thumbprint."

He smiled.

"From today on, your Blood Hand Society will officially become the 'Debt Liquidation Department' under our Myriad Dao Merchant Guild."

"In the future, whoever dares to owe the Guild money."

"You will be the ones to help us 'reason' with them."

He patted the scarred leader's shoulder and said in a gentle tone.

"After all."

"When it comes to killing."

"You are more professional than us.""}],