19: The spirit coins have arrived, but the debt has also come

The day after the plane crash, in the mountain forests on the southern foothills of Mount Longhu, the scorched earth was still warm, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of burnt metal and vegetation.

Zhang Xuanyi sat cross-legged in front of the tattered stall cloth, his expression calm, as if the earth-shattering plane crash of yesterday had nothing to do with him.

His consciousness sank into his mind, looking at a line of golden characters flickering on the system account interface.

spirit coin + 300.

This was the final payment from the Su Family transaction last night, which had arrived.

Just as a satisfied smile was about to form on his lips, the seemingly ordinary stall cloth trembled ever so slightly.

Almost at the same instant, the system's cold prompt sounded in his mind: “Warning! Tracking talisman energy residue detected, source: Mysterious Bird Totem mark. Analyzing talisman structure... Analysis complete, this talisman possesses high-strength stealth and continuous tracking capabilities.”

Zhang Xuanyi's smile instantly froze, and his eyes suddenly sharpened like an eagle's.

The Mysterious Bird Totem, that was the mark of the Under Heaven Society!

Chairman Yan, that old fox, had indeed left a contingency plan.

His face sank, and without the slightest hesitation, he immediately whispered to A Che, the young Daoist priest who was organizing talismans beside him: “A Che, take all our draft records of transactions to the alchemy furnace and burn them with Samadhi True Fire, leave no ashes behind!”

Although A Che didn't understand why, seeing his Senior Brother's unprecedentedly grave expression, his heart tightened, and he nodded heavily, then ran towards the alchemy room, clutching a stack of papers.

“It's still not enough,” Zhang Xuanyi muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

This was the outer area of Mount Longhu, and although it was protected by a mountain-guarding array, it was not absolutely safe against a behemoth like the Under Heaven Society.

He rolled up the stall cloth, his figure darting out like a civet cat, and in a few leaps, he arrived at the outermost edge of the mountain-guarding array.

This place was adjacent to the earth pulse node of Mount Longhu, where the majestic earth energy lay dormant like a lurking dragon, most capable of confusing heavenly secrets and obscuring auras.

He spread out the stall cloth again, sat down on it, and with a thought, he urged the aura of the stall cloth to slowly blend with the earth pulse beneath his feet.

Only after completing all this did he finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

Just then, a graceful figure rushed over, it was Su Qingzhu, the eldest young lady of the Su Family.

Her pretty face was pale, and she was slightly out of breath, clutching a blurry photo taken with a phone.

“Mr. Zhang! Look!” She handed over the phone, “Our people found suspicious figures in the dense forest in the core area of the plane crash on the south side of the mountain. They acted extremely professionally, wearing black tight-fitting combat suits, and... they had this kind of tattoo on their backs.”

Because the distance was too far, the picture was severely shaken, but it was still clearly visible that on the back of a black-clad figure, there was a V-shaped pattern composed of countless dense runes, shaped like wings beating in a fierce wind.

Zhang Xuanyi's eyes narrowed into a dangerous slit, and he said coldly: “Wind Rune Tattoo, these are the most elite 'Wind Division' operatives of the Under Heaven Society. It seems Chairman Yan hasn't given up, and has sent experts to collect his body, or rather... to retrieve the 'remains'.”

Su Qingzhu's heart tightened: “Then will they find their way here?”

“They will,” Zhang Xuanyi's tone was so certain it was unsettling, “If they can't find the 'system core' in the plane wreckage, they will definitely come looking for me, the only survivor. You go back first, restrain the Su Family members, and don't come near me these next few days, so as not to get implicated.”

Su Qingzhu wanted to say something more, but seeing Zhang Xuanyi's undeniable gaze, she could only bite her lip and retreat with worry.

The night was like ink, silently enveloping the entire mountain forest.

The mountain wind suddenly became taut and sharp, scraping across one's face like a knife.

Just then, a dark shadow, as if integrated with the night wind, arrived silently, treading on the wind.

She landed without a sound, each step precisely placed on the nodes of the wind, without causing the slightest extra movement.

The newcomer was tall and slender, it was the Iron Lady of the Under Heaven Society, Luo Shisan.

Her left arm was wrapped in thick bandages, with faint dark red bloodstains seeping through, clearly a survivor of the plane crash.

But her aura was still powerful and steady, her eyes shining astonishingly in the night, like two unsheathed sharp blades, locking firmly onto Zhang Xuanyi in front of the stall.

“Zhang Xuanyi,” her voice was cold, devoid of emotion, “Chairman Yan was harmed by you, all the Qi pulse he cultivated over years were destroyed, and he is now a cripple. The Under Heaven Society gives you two choices: hand over the core of that 'system', or pay with your life.”

Zhang Xuanyi seemed not to hear the killing intent in her words, slowly pulled out a handful of melon seeds from his pocket, and cracked them with a “crunching” sound.

He raised his eyelids, and said lazily: “Beauty, my stall only sells goods, not lives. If you want spirit coins, I have them; if you want high-grade talismans, I sell those too. But as for the 'system' you mentioned? For that thing, you'll have to ask it if it agrees first.”

“You're courting death!”

Luo Shisan's patience ran out, she let out a sharp cry, and before her voice faded, three thin, cicada-wing-like azure light blades shot out from the sleeve of her intact right arm!

Wind Blades!

Wind Blades, condensed from the Qi of an expert, were silent yet as fast as lightning, and the piercing shriek they made when cutting through the air was enough to tear steel!

The three Wind Blades formed a triangular pattern, slashing directly at the stall surface in front of Zhang Xuanyi, intending to cut him and his stall into four pieces!

However, facing this deadly attack, Zhang Xuanyi did not dodge or evade, not even stopping his action of cracking melon seeds.

He merely reached under the stall cloth with his backhand at the moment the Wind Blades reached him, pulling out an inconspicuous small porcelain bottle, and with a flick of his thumb, he crushed it with a “snap”!

A drop of golden liquid, as viscous as mercury, was instantly sucked into his mouth from the bottle!

“Pseudo-Three Caves True Qi Concentrate”!

In an instant, a majestic surge of Qi, far exceeding his own cultivation, erupted from his Dantian like a volcanic explosion, frantically washing over his limbs and bones!

His aura climbed steadily at a visible speed, breaking through the Inner Scenery, surpassing the Celestial-Human, and in just a single breath, he briefly stepped into the legendary Grandmaster realm!

“Rise!”

Zhang Xuanyi let out a low shout and raised his hand to guide it.

The tattered stall cloth spread on the ground, as if endowed with life, instantly “came alive”!

The runes on its edge lit up one by one, like stars in the sky, and the entire cloth suddenly expanded, forming a translucent rune light shield in front of him!

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Three crisp sounds of metal clashing, those three indestructible Wind Blades were all deflected by this seemingly fragile light shield, flying backward and embedding themselves deeply into the distant mountain rocks!

For the first time, Luo Shisan's perpetually icy face showed a look of horror, her pupils suddenly shrinking: “You... you took a forbidden drug?! Forcibly raising your cultivation, aren't you afraid of your foundation being completely destroyed and dying on the spot?!”

“Forbidden drug?” Zhang Xuanyi sneered, feeling the surging power within him, a delusion of controlling everything.

He deliberately extended his finger, and a golden spirit coin bounced playfully on his fingertip, emitting an alluring glow in the night.

“The Under Heaven Society is a big organization with a big business; if you can afford the price, I can sell the goods. Elixirs, magical artifacts, divine talismans—as long as your spirit coins are sufficient, I can even stack up Grandmasters for you. But...” he changed his tone, his eyes becoming playful, “You want the 'system'? Sorry, that's not for sale. It doesn't sell, it only recognizes 'sincerity'.”

Luo Shisan's offensive paused.

Her gaze was fixed on the tattered stall cloth floating in mid-air, its runes flowing ceaselessly.

In her mind, a long-sealed memory was awakened—she had once seen a fragmented ancient painting in the Under Heaven Society's most core secret archives, depicting the grand scene of the ancient “Dao Market,” and the most striking feature was a mysterious cloth suspended in the void, drawing all laws to it.

Could it be... this was the legendary, long-lost cornerstone of the Dao Market—the Myriad Law Cloth?!

This thought exploded in her mind like a thunderclap, shaking her entire body.

She knew that she couldn't kill Zhang Xuanyi today.

With this supreme treasure protecting him, plus his endless array of “goods,” she might even end up perishing here if she was not careful.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent waves in her heart, let out a low growl, and retreated rapidly, rising with the wind again and merging into the night.

“Zhang Xuanyi, Chairman Yan said you would regret it.”

A cold voice came from afar, and at the same time, a jet-black jade talisman flew through the air and embedded itself in the ground in front of Zhang Xuanyi.

On the jade talisman, a lifelike Mysterious Bird was carved.

Zhang Xuanyi waited until Luo Shisan's aura completely disappeared before slowly dispersing the Grandmaster aura from his body, a strong sense of weakness washing over him, making his face turn a few shades paler.

He picked up the Mysterious Bird Jade Talisman, casually placed it under the stall cloth, and ordered the system in his mind: “Scan this item, bind the tracking source, and mark it in reverse.”

The tattered stall cloth glowed faintly, and an extremely subtle “Qi frequency imprint” inside the jade talisman was instantly copied and analyzed.

The system prompt sounded again: “Marked 'Under Heaven Society · Southern Contact Point' successfully. New function module enabled: Can perform targeted product delivery to marked targets.”

Zhang Xuanyi looked at this prompt, targeted delivery? That's quite interesting.

Daylight broke, and the young Daoist priest A Che, with two dark circles under his eyes, rushed over, clutching a stack of ancient books smelling of mildew.

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother! I found it! I searched through the obscure texts in the Scripture Repository and finally found a clue in this <Records of Dao Market Legends>!” He excitedly spread open a yellowed book in front of Zhang Xuanyi.

“The book says that the foundation of the ancient Dao Market, the 'Myriad Law Cloth,' actually originally came in a pair! One piece presided over 'transactions,' where all things could be valued; the other... presided over 'judgment,' adjudicating all actions that violated the Great Dao's contract! And the last place where that judgment-presiding Myriad Law Cloth appeared... was in 'Kunlun Ruins'!”

Zhang Xuanyi suddenly froze.

Kunlun Ruins?

Just then, a brand new prompt appeared from the system without warning, the font even carrying a hint of crimson warning.

“Detecting fluctuations from a similar Dao Artifact... Frequency match 73%... Warning: Non-origin holder forcibly contacting another Dao Artifact will trigger an irreversible 'Dao Conflict.' The victor integrates, the loser is annihilated.”

Zhang Xuanyi's gaze slowly fell on the Mysterious Bird Jade Talisman that he had pressed under the stall cloth, and he recalled Chairman Yan's madness in wanting to obtain the “system” at all costs.

A terrifying thought gradually formed in his mind.

He muttered to himself: “What Chairman Yan wants is not some black technology at all... He wants to use the 'capital' of his Under Heaven Society to forcibly merge with the other Myriad Law Cloth, to create a 'new Dao Market' exclusively for himself!”

As his voice fell, the Myriad Law Cloth beneath him trembled slightly, as if silently responding to his conjecture, an ancient and vicissitudes of life intention, transcending time and space, quietly emerged in his heart:

The true Dao Market never trades Dao Hearts.

Zhang Xuanyi took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

He looked at the lonely “300” spirit coins in his system account, and then looked at the distant direction where the Under Heaven Society might exist.

Want to play a takeover game with capital?

That depends on whose capital is more abundant.

He spread his palm, and the 300 spirit coins transformed into a soft golden light, swirling in his palm.

This meager capital was like a drop in the ocean against a behemoth like the Under Heaven Society.

He had to find a way to make this snowball grow as quickly as possible.