84: They hit it off immediately, and the deal was struck.

"One Top-Grade Spiritual Vein."

The sickly Yu Xuanji spoke indifferently.

"This..."

Li Yudao fell into deep thought.

Misty Rain Tower's prices had always been expensive, but he never thought they would be this outrageous.

One must know that a single Top-Grade Spiritual Vein could support a major Sect, and the Taiyi Immortal Sect only had a mere five Top-Grade Spiritual Veins. This kind of matter that shook the Sect's Foundation was something even he, as the Sect Master, had no right to decide.

"I need to ask for instructions from several Old Ancestors."

"Very well."

Yu Xuanji was in no hurry and leisurely sipped his tea.

Li Yudao left the elegant pavilion and took a step, arriving ten thousand miles away shortly after. He set up a soundproofing Restriction to ensure that no one's Divine Sense could probe the situation inside before sending a voice transmission to the six Old Ancestors to report the matter.

"Give it to him."

The six Old Ancestors didn't consider for long before agreeing.

Misty Rain Tower's reputation was indeed great, but they always hid in the shadows. They had never heard of any extremely powerful Great Emperors among them; even if there were a few Great Emperors, the Taiyi Immortal Sect would not be afraid.

Therefore—

They only needed to agree, pay a bit of a deposit first, and then go back on their word after the deed was done. Misty Rain Tower wouldn't be able to do anything to them.

Anyway... it wasn't the first time they had done something like this.

If the matter wasn't successful, then they wouldn't have to pay at all.

They could even turn around and demand compensation from Misty Rain Tower. Since the Taiyi Immortal Sect was powerful, Misty Rain Tower would inevitably have to bleed heavily to settle the matter peacefully.

Why not do a deal that was guaranteed to make a profit without loss?

"Understood."

A sinister smile formed at the corners of Li Yudao's mouth.

He removed the soundproofing Restriction, the sinister smile vanished, and with one step, he returned to Misty Rain Tower in a short while.

"The Old Ancestors have agreed. We can pay a deposit first, however..."

Li Yudao said in a deep voice, "Misty Rain Tower should show some sincerity, otherwise how would This Sect Master know if Misty Rain Tower has the strength?"

"That is natural."

Yu Xuanji smiled faintly and clapped his hands.

*Buzz—*

Li Yudao suddenly felt an ominous premonition. Before he could make any reaction, he suddenly fell into complete darkness. The pavilion, Yu Xuanji, the two maidservants in red and green, and everything around him disappeared.

It was empty, as if he were in the midst of Chaos and nothingness.

In the invisible void, countless dark shadows seemed to be lurking. Sharp killing intent from all directions locked onto him firmly. Even though he had already stepped into the Great Emperor Realm, he actually couldn't distinguish at all how many enemies were hidden in the void.

If the other party wanted to kill him now, he would have nowhere to run.

"Sect Master Li, how is it?"

As Yu Xuanji's teasing voice sounded in his ear, the darkness and void receded like a tide. Li Yudao was back in the elegant pavilion, still sitting in his seat as if nothing had happened.

"Impressive, truly impressive."

Li Yudao's back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Since stepping into the Great Emperor Realm, he had never felt such a strong crisis of life and death as he did today.

Yu Xuanji laughed and said, "Sect Master Li, this is Misty Rain Tower's Great Emperor Realm assassin, named 'Night Owl'. His Realm is not much stronger than yours, Sect Master Li, but he is extremely skilled in lurking and assassination. Just now, he set up a killing array after you left..."

Li Yudao was shocked.

With his Realm, he actually hadn't sensed anything. He hadn't expected this 'Night Owl' to be lurking right beside him.

How terrifying!

If this 'Night Owl' wanted to assassinate him... Li Yudao was dripping with cold sweat and didn't dare to think further.

He originally wanted to meet this 'Night Owl', but Misty Rain Tower had a rule that those executing the mission behind the scenes could not meet the employer. Li Yudao knew the rules, so it wasn't appropriate to bring it up.

He quickly took out a Spatial Ring: "Inside are one billion Top-Grade Spirit Stones, as a deposit."

A Top-Grade Spiritual Vein would only produce one hundred million Top-Grade Spirit Stones in ten thousand years.

Great Emperor Realm experts could only live for a hundred thousand years.

Giving one billion Top-Grade Spirit Stones at once could be said to be full of sincerity.

"Sect Master Li, how straightforward."

Yu Xuanji smiled. Without needing Yu Xuanji's command, Sweet Potato sensibly stepped forward and collected the Spatial Ring.

After checking it was correct, she nodded to Yu Xuanji.

The two sides hit it off, and a deal was reached just like that.

After Li Yudao left, Qingniao asked, "Young Master, are we really going to kill Wending Sect's Sect Master Lin Chen for the Taiyi Immortal Sect?"

"Where are your manners!"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"

Sweet Potato glared at Qingniao.

Qingniao knew she had misspeaking and quickly apologized. Unexpectedly, Yu Xuanji waved his hand, not minding it.

"Night Owl, you know what to do, right?"

As Yu Xuanji's voice fell, a slightly raspy, low voice from the shadows said, "Your subordinate understands."

"Go then."

Yu Xuanji walked to the window.

The wind and rain outside gradually grew stronger, and pea-sized raindrops hit the plantain trees, making a pitter-patter sound.

"Revered Master, do you think... I can win this game of chess?"

Yu Xuanji murmured to himself, his voice so low it was almost inaudible. Perhaps even if he could peer into the secrets of heaven, there were still some things that were unpredictable... The mountain gate of the Wending Sect stood above a vast sea of clouds. In the center was a huge white jade archway spanning two dangerous peaks. On the archway, three large, elegant ancient characters—'Wending Sect'—were carved with supreme Sword Intent.

On both sides of the mountain gate, nine coiled dragon stone pillars stood, with the faint sound of roaring dragons.

Behind the archway were nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps leading to the sky. Every step was as warm as jade, with a faint flow of Spiritual Qi.

In the entire mountain gate area, the Spiritual Qi was so dense that it turned into a light spiritual rain that never ceased. One breath felt refreshing and invigorating.

At this time.

A spirit dog that looked very much like a Corgi was squatting in front of the mountain gate, scrutinizing everyone entering and leaving with a fierce glint in its eyes.

"Who goes there!"

"...Ah, I am Outer Sect Disciple Huang Li, this is my identity token..."

"This Emperor sees that you are a spy from another Sect who has infiltrated my Wending Sect!"

"...I I I... I... am not!"

"You are!"

..."Who goes there!"

"Outer Sect Elder Meng Changhai! You even dare to block this old man, are you blind!"

"This Emperor sees that you are a spy!"

"You you you!"

"You what you? Believe it or not, This Emperor will bite you!"

..."This Elder has worked his heart out for the Wending Sect, yet you actually call me a spy!"

"This is too much! I, Cai Kun, for the sake of the overall situation, ask the Elder to allow me to duel it!"

"Don't don't don't, it is the gate-keeping Divine Beast personally appointed by the Sect Master. If we injure it and the Sect Master blames us, we won't be able to bear it!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's endure it for now..."

Many Elders and Disciples were extremely angry at this newly arrived gate-keeping Divine Beast.

Calling itself 'This Emperor' was one thing, but its attitude was also extremely arrogant, biting whoever it saw!

Although it seemed to be only a third-rank Yao Beast, unfortunately, it was cared for by the Sect Master, so no one dared to provoke it and could only forcibly endure this anger.

"Come on! Come and duel me!"

The dog continued to clamor, but as it barked, it suddenly smelled a hint of danger. It looked up and stared intently at a position in the distant void.

It watched without blinking, baring its teeth.

But there, no one was visible.

The figure hidden in the void frowned slightly, thinking to himself that this dog couldn't have discovered him... But this dog looked like nothing more than a third-rank Yao Beast. His hidden Divine Ability was something even Great Emperor Realm experts could almost never detect, so how could this low-rank Yao Beast possibly discover him?

It seemed he was being over-sensitive.

However, just as this thought occurred to him, he saw the dog roar: "Hey! You guy in the black clothes! What exactly do you want? Stop hiding, This Emperor has already discovered you—"