89: Chapter 89 Undercurrents

Liu Ruyan left the group the moment Wang Sheng entered the Myriad Races Market.

The Phantom Assassin's concealment arts were just like her, like smoke and mist, silent and traceless.

She had changed into a gray, coarse linen short shirt, hiding her smoke-like, misty eyes behind messy hair, making her entire person resemble the most inconspicuous shadow in the market, blending into the crowd.

She discovered two things.

First, an abandoned stone house in the northeast corner of the market was a contact point for the Shadow Clan.

From the outside, the stone house looked no different from other abandoned buildings; the stone walls were mottled, the windows broken, and the door panels crooked.

However, Liu Ruyan's phantom perception was like the most precise radar. When she approached within three zhang of the stone house, she captured a trace of extremely faint shadow spiritual energy fluctuation.

She crouched beneath the stone house's window, her fingers touching the window frame. The dark purple spiritual energy traces were fresh, no more than six hours old.

Someone had transmitted information from here toward the Savage Beast Forest not long ago.

She extended an extremely thin spiritual thread through a crack in the window, which picked up a small residue on the windowsill just like a spider web—a fragment of a shadow crystal, exactly the same as the one found in the Savage Beast Forest.

Liu Ruyan tucked the fragment into her bosom, her figure silently disappearing into the shadows.

Second, several Barbarian Warriors from the Black Stone Tribe were in a tavern on the south side of the market.

Liu Ruyan sat in a corner of the tavern with the posture of an ordinary traveler, her smoke-like, misty eyes looking out the window as if absent-minded,

while in reality, her phantom perception was like the most hidden eavesdropping device, precisely capturing every word spoken by those Black Stone Barbarian Warriors three zhang away.

"The Chief said that at the gathering in three days, he wants to make the new Chieftain of Guangming Village kneel in public."

"Hehe, I heard their village is full of women. Chief Shi Ba has been salivating over them for a long time."

"The Chief said there's one among those women wearing silver armor who is fierce and attractive. When the time comes..."

The vulgar laughter scraped across Liu Ruyan's eardrums like a blunt knife.

The Phantom Assassin's smoke-like, misty eyes were as cold as blades, but she did not move, merely carving every single word into her mind.

Then she silently exited the tavern, just like a wisp of smoke scattered by the wind.

When Liu Ruyan returned to report, a boorish group of people arrived on the main road of the market.

Leading them was a giant over two meters tall.

His entire body's muscles bulged like rock, with grayish-brown stone skin covering his exposed arms and chest, akin to natural armor.

His face was rugged and fierce, his eyebrows like two stone ridges, and his eyes were murky, earthy yellow,

resembling two stones soaked in muddy water—no luster, no warmth, only the numbness left behind after brute force crushed everything.

Chief Shi Ba, Chief of the Black Stone Tribe, a Warrior Tier 6, a Barbarian Warrior.

His Barbarian Warrior profession granted him pure strength far exceeding those of the same tier; every punch felt like a mountain pressing down.

Behind him followed over a dozen Black Stone Tribe Barbarian Warriors, each burly and fierce-eyed, like a pack of wild boars fed on brute force.

When Chief Shi Ba walked into the market, the merchants from surrounding small tribes stepped aside, like river water parting before a giant rock.

His footsteps were heavy and slow, each step carrying the unique pressure of a Barbarian Warrior, like a moving mountain.

Then, his gaze stopped on Murong Xue.

The moment those murky, earthy yellow eyes touched Murong Xue, it was as if a glimmer of light burst from the stone—

not a light of appreciation, not a light of admiration, but the naked, unmasked greed of a beast eyeing its prey.

"Ho," Chief Shi Ba let out a vulgar exclamation, his voice sounding like stones grinding on a millstone, "What a fiery little mare. Which tribe is she from?"

Murong Xue's brown eyes turned icy cold instantly.

Her hand gripped the hilt of the holy light spear at her waist, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

Silver Power of Holy Light surged slightly in her palm, like a suppressed flame, ready to erupt at any moment.

But she did not move.

The peace barrier of the Myriad Races Market did not allow for violence; that was the rule.

More importantly, her reason told her that now was not the time.

Wang Sheng stepped out.

He blocked the way in front of Murong Xue.

The movement was not complex, not even deliberate; it was just a very natural step forward, as natural as breathing.

Yet this single step placed Murong Xue entirely behind him, like a shield blocking in front of a spear.

The Power of Holy Light surged slightly, golden light flowing at his fingertips—not an attack, but a declaration, like a predator leaving its scent at the edge of its territory, silent but clear.

"Guangming Village, Wang Sheng."

Chief Shi Ba looked down at Wang Sheng.

He was nearly thirty centimeters taller than Wang Sheng, his stone-skinned muscles as hard as rock, and the aura of a Warrior Tier 6 pressing down like a mountain.

That pure, brute-force pressure made the surrounding air heavy, as if standing beneath a cliff about to collapse.

"You are that mysterious new chieftain who just popped up?" He sneered, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth, "I heard you killed a Warrior Tier 5 Savage Beast python?"

He pressed forward a step, the aura of a Warrior Tier 6 pressing over like a physical force.

"I kill Warrior Tier 5 Savage Beasts," Chief Shi Ba's mouth split open like a crack in a rock, "just like crushing an ant."

He extended his fist and gently pressed it against a giant rock three people high beside the market.

"Crack."

A crack appeared on the surface of the giant rock, extending from the top to the middle, about one person's length. Fine stone powder drifted from the crack like dust.

"See you at the gathering in three days." Chief Shi Ba retracted his fist, his gaze passing over Wang Sheng's shoulder and landing on Murong Xue again. That gaze was like a beast examining prey—greedy, vulgar, and unmasked.

"At that time, let me see how bright your 'light' is."

He turned and strode away, and the Black Stone Barbarian Warriors behind him burst into laughter. The laughter sounded like stones colliding, rough, harsh, and making one want to smash a fist into it.

Murong Xue's hand was trembling slightly.

It was not fear.

It was anger.

The anger of being examined like prey, the anger of the logic of brute force supreme running rampant before her,

the anger of clearly being able to draw her spear but not being able to, like silver Power of Holy Light burning in her palm, scorching her entire arm.

Then she felt a hand.

A warm, thick, calloused palm covered her cold, trembling knuckles.

"Three days later." Wang Sheng's voice was as calm as water, but Murong Xue could feel that his hand was hotter than usual. It was not the temperature of the Power of Holy Light,

but a deeper, more profound... rage, like magma surging beneath the earth.

"I will let him know how bright the light is."

Murong Xue did not speak, simply slowly loosening her hand gripping the spear hilt, letting his palm cover the back of her hand.

The warmth traveled from his palm to her knuckles, as if a thread of golden warmth had merged into the silver Power of Holy Light.

Her heartbeat was chaotic again.

Just like when they shook hands at the drill ground in the morning, no... even more chaotic than that.

Because that step he took in front of her just now, that movement as natural as breathing, made her suddenly realize something:

She had always thought she was the one who protected others, the cavalry commander who charged at the front, the person who would never be blocked behind anyone.

But the moment Wang Sheng stood in front of her, she did not feel slighted, did not feel looked down upon.

She only felt...

Peace of mind.

The peace of mind like silver armor warmed by the sun.

Night fell.

The Myriad Races Market became much quieter after dark. The pale blue shimmer of the peace barrier covered the entire market like a giant dome, shutting out the hustle and bustle of the day.

Wang Sheng's group rested at a temporary camp near the market, the glimmer of the campfire flickering in the night wind.

Liu Ruyan reported her findings.

"The Shadow Clan has a contact point in the northeast corner of the market. The dark purple spiritual energy traces are no more than six hours old, and the shadow crystal fragments are the same as those in the Savage Beast Forest."

Her voice was as ethereal as smoke, but every word was like a cold blade,

"The Black Stone Tribe Barbarian Warriors were talking about the gathering in three days in the tavern. Chief Shi Ba wants to make Wang Sheng kneel in public, and he covets Murong Xue."

Murong Xue's expression was as cold as ice, but she did not speak.

Heavenly Strategist Shangguan Xuan pushed up her non-existent glasses, a hint of gravity flashing in her beautiful eyes:

"The Shadow Clan setting up a contact point in the Myriad Races Market means their reach has already extended to the core of the Central Wasteland Region.

The relationship between Chief Shi Ba and the Shadow Clan is likely not just a coincidence."

"There is one more thing." Liu Ruyan's voice was lower, her smoke-like, misty eyes resembling two stars shrouded in mist under the firelight,

"Those Black Stone Barbarian Warriors mentioned that Chief Shi Ba 'has long been salivating' over the women of Guangming Village... 'long been'.

This means Chief Shi Ba was already paying attention to Guangming Village before we came to the Myriad Races Market."

"How did he know?" Xiao Yuqing frowned.

"Zhao Mang." Wang Sheng's voice was calm, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes,

"Zhao Mang's Blood Wolf Tribe and the Black Stone Tribe are both in the Central Wasteland Region; there is a connection between them.

Zhao Mang saw our people at the Myriad Races Market; he very likely sold the intelligence about Guangming Village to Chief Shi Ba."

The communication spirit stone in Wang Sheng's bosom vibrated slightly.

A silvery-blue shimmer spilled from the spirit stone, like moonlight falling into the night, and Zhao Linger's voice came from the spirit stone, no longer playful, but unprecedentedly tense:

"Wang Sheng!"

Her voice was hoarse; the cost of keeping Spirit Sound Master affinity operating was a drain on her spiritual power. She must have been monitoring for several hours continuously.

"The Shadow Clan's communication has suddenly been encrypted. I heard one word, 'Chief Shi Ba', and then, another word, 'act'."

The voice in the spirit stone trembled slightly, like a Spirit Sound Master missing the note at the most critical moment.

"The Shadow Clan is giving orders to Chief Shi Ba!"

The night wind blew through the temporary camp, and the embers of the campfire drifted in the air like red fireflies.

Wang Sheng's fist slowly tightened under the moonlight, golden light spilling from between his fingers like a suppressed flame.

Chief Shi Ba's brute force was not just his own; there was a mastermind behind him, the Shadow Clan.

The gathering three days later was not a simple diplomatic event;

it was a storm.

And he was walking into the eye of the storm.