53: rule

The golden light on the System interface flashed and vanished, the words "Task Updated" etching themselves into Zhang Xuanyi's mind like a brand.

A surge of blood boiled in his chest as he forcefully suppressed the metallic sweetness in his throat, his gaze fixed intently on the illusory ledger that had just materialized in his consciousness.

The ledger was ancient and simple, its cover made of an unknown beast skin; the four gold-embossed characters "dao market ledger" seemed to contain a majesty that commanded reality itself.

The moment his mind sank into the ledger, Su Qingzhu stepped forward to support his swaying body. Feeling the chaotic Qi within him, her face turned cold as frost: "Do you want to die? You exhausted your mind to open the Dao Market last night, and today you're forcibly summoning such unheard-of guardian spirits!"

There was a hint of concern and anxiety in her voice that even she hadn't noticed.

The appearance of those three ghostly shadows earlier had been so fast she barely had time to react.

The "Market-Breaking Talisman" held by the opponent emitted a destructive aura that instinctively made her heart palpitate. It was a vicious Magical Artifact specifically designed for such Grotto-Heavens and Secret Realms; once detonated, not only would this newly erected bronze stele be destroyed, but the earth veins for a hundred miles around would likely suffer.

But before she could even draw her sword, Zhang Xuanyi's stall had already "come to life" on its own.

The appearance of those three Void Market Guardians was not a simple manifestation of energy; what flowed through them was a cold, harsh, and indisputable power of "rules."

Especially that phrase, "Those who deceive the market shall have their Dao seized; those who destroy the stele shall have their souls extinguished." Rather than a threat, it was more like a proclamation of a heavenly contract.

The moment the voice rang out, Su Qingzhu clearly saw the protective Qi shields of the three Market Heart Association remnants vanish soundlessly like popped soap bubbles. Their own Dao Foundations seemed to be forcibly stripped away by an invisible hand, leading to their screams and frantic flight.

This had already exceeded her understanding of the cultivation System.

Ordinary magical combat was nothing more than clashes of Qi, competitions between Magic Treasures, and tests of divine abilities.

Yet Zhang Xuanyi's stall actually delivered a dimensional strike directly from the level of "rules."

Zhang Xuanyi waved his hand to indicate he was fine. Leaning against the bamboo chair, he greedily breathed in the crisp morning mountain air, trying to calm his boiling blood.

Seeing Su Qingzhu's shocked expression, he grinned, a hint of playfulness appearing on his pale face: "I had no choice. It's just opened, so there are always some rule-breakers who want to cause trouble. I'm lazy, so I hired security in advance to save myself the trouble."

The Old Earth Vein Turtle poked its wrinkled head out from a crack in the stele and said in a booming voice, "Little girl, what do you think the Dao Market is? Do you think this kid just made it up out of thin air? Wrong! He's just the catalyst, the one who lit the fuse. The Dao Market is a manifestation born when the concept of 'trade' in the world reaches its extreme. All things can be traded, and where there is trade, there are rules. These rules are the 'Laws' recognized by the Heavenly Dao. The stele is the root, the Law is the soul, and the guardians are merely the executors of those Laws."

The old turtle's words were like a thunderclap exploding in Su Qingzhu's heart.

She stared blankly at that unremarkable bronze stele, then at the slovenly Zhang Xuanyi, who looked like he might stop breathing at any moment.

So, he hadn't created a city, but had invoked a supreme Law of heaven and earth?

The midday sun grew harsh, and a faint smell of burning began to permeate the air.

Rapid footsteps approached from afar as Liu Qingyi's figure appeared at the end of the forest path.

Usually steady and calm, she now arrived with her robes fluttering in the wind and her hair slightly disheveled, clutching a roll of medical records stained with a few shocking spots of dark red blood.

"Zhang Xuanyi!" Her voice arrived before she did, her tone heavier than ever before. "Something has happened! In the Liquid People district in the south of the city, thirty-six 'Liquid People' who rely on Earth Vein True Liquid year-round have had their Meridians turn black and their Qi cut off overnight! I just examined them and found that what's flowing in their bodies isn't Earth Vein True Liquid at all, but a kind of... 'Inverted Liquid' that looks like Three Caverns True Qi Liquid but contains the poison of death and filth! Some have already begun coughing up black grit—that's their eroded Dao Foundations manifesting!"

She rushed to the stall in a few steps, her beautiful eyes staring fixedly at Zhang Xuanyi like a lioness protecting her cubs: "They all say the appearance of your stall has contaminated the source of the earth vein! You said 'True Liquid is born from cloth'—do you have proof that your stall is innocent? Can you take responsibility for these thirty-six lives and the safety of the entire Qingzhou City?"

More and more onlookers gathered as news spread. Hearing Liu Qingyi's words, they immediately began whispering, their gazes toward Zhang Xuanyi filled with suspicion and fear.

Faced with the questioning, Zhang Xuanyi didn't argue; his face looked even worse than before.

He knew this was no coincidence.

The poison of the Gui Xu Well, the attack from the Market Heart Association, and now the poisoning of the Liquid People—all fingers pointed at his newly opened Dao Market.

The enemy clearly didn't intend to give him any breathing room, wanting to thoroughly nail him to the pillar of shame as an "evil entity" in one go.

He remained silent, slowly pulling a piece of blank yellow paper printed with complex runes from his robes.

This yellow paper was no ordinary object; it was a "Contract Paper" generated alongside the stall when the Dao Market first opened, inherently containing a trace of the Dao Market's Origin rules.

Under the suspicious gazes of the crowd, Zhang Xuanyi extended his right index finger and squeezed out a drop of heart's blood that was deep red with faint golden threads.

The moment this drop of blood appeared, the surrounding air seemed to freeze for an instant.

Using blood as ink and his finger as a brush, he quickly began to draw on the yellow paper.

His movements seemed weak and powerless, yet the strokes moved like dragons and snakes, each turn containing an indescribable rhythm.

"Origin-Tracing Talisman!" the Old Earth Vein Turtle whispered, its eyes filled with shock.

This was no ordinary Talisman, but a top-tier rule-based Talisman that required the power of the Dao Market's Origin to draw. The cost was unimaginably high!

The Talisman was completed, and the bloody light withdrew inward.

Without even looking, Zhang Xuanyi slapped the Talisman paper onto the cold surface of the bronze stele.

Buzz—!

The bronze stele emitted a long hum. Golden light lit up from the "Origin-Tracing Talisman" and, like a living thing, spread rapidly along the ancient patterns on the stele before finally seeping entirely into the ground and vanishing.

The whole process took only a few breaths. Everyone held their breath, staring fixedly at the Talisman paper.

A moment later, the yellow paper stuck to the stele actually began to ripple like a water mirror, and a blurry image slowly emerged.

The image grew clearer and clearer until it finally stabilized.

In the image was a deep, eerie ancient well—it was exactly the Gui Xu Well!

The walls of the well were covered in strange runes, and the bottom was wreathed in black mist, making one's skin crawl.

What was most chilling was that at the bottom of the Gui Xu Well, it was actually connected to a black vein as thick as a baby's arm!

This black vein, like an evil parasite, pierced through layers of rock and wound its way along, its final destination being directly beneath Zhang Xuanyi's stall!

The image zoomed in, and everyone clearly saw a black liquid gurgling within the black vein. The aura emitted by that liquid was identical to the "Inverted Liquid" Liu Qingyi had mentioned!

This black vein was like a poisonous needle, precisely piercing the originally pure main trunk of the earth vein, contaminating and transforming the "Three Caverns True Qi Liquid" within, and then flowing through the earth vein branches to the Liquid People district in the south!

"Look!" someone in the crowd cried out. "The source of that black vein... it seems the Gui Xu Well is extracting the scraps dissipated from the Dao Market and refining them itself!"

In the image, one could vaguely see traces of faint golden Qi dissipating from the Dao Market's Foundation beneath the stall, being greedily absorbed by the black vein. It then mixed with the Gui Xu Well's own filthy Qi, ultimately forming that lethal "Pseudo-Three Caverns True Qi Liquid"!

The truth was out!

It wasn't the Dao Market that contaminated the earth vein; it was the Gui Xu Well "stealing" the Dao Market's Origin Qi to manufacture poison and frame him!

Liu Qingyi's body swayed as she looked at the image, her eyes full of disbelief.

She opened her mouth to say something to Zhang Xuanyi, but found her throat dry, unable to utter a single word.

During the Hour of the Monkey, the mountain wind grew fierce, bringing with it a heavy scent of blood and rot.

While everyone was still immersed in the shock of the truth, a middle-aged fat man dressed in luxurious clothes, claiming to be a medicinal merchant manager of the "Under Heaven Society" stationed in Qingzhou, stepped forward from the crowd, surrounded by guards.

He was all smiles as he cupped his hands to Zhang Xuanyi: "Stall owner Zhang truly has extraordinary methods! I'm impressed! Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, why don't we talk business? Your Dao Market is uniquely miraculous, especially that 'Dao Market Projection' which can trace Origins. My Under Heaven Society is willing to pay a high price to purchase the exclusive usage rights for this projection ability. The price is negotiable!"

As he spoke, he handed over a pre-drafted contract mounted on gold-threaded brocade.

However, before he could finish, the Old Market-Stall Dog that had been dozing at Zhang Xuanyi's feet suddenly opened its eyes.

Those eyes, which should have been cloudy, now shone with a piercing golden light, his golden pupils locking onto the fat manager.

"Woof!"

A low growl, not like a bark, but more like a warning from some ancient creature.

A cold arc curled at the corner of Zhang Xuanyi's mouth.

He didn't even look at the contract, simply spitting out two words coldly: "Idiot."

The moment the words fell, the three Void Market Guardians materialized soundlessly before the stall once again.

But this time, they didn't recite the Law. Instead, the guardian holding the steelyard took a step forward and made a measuring motion with the bronze steelyard toward the fat manager.

One end of the steelyard suddenly sank while the other end tilted high.

The smile on the fat manager's face froze instantly, replaced by extreme terror.

He felt something invisible within him being frantically stripped away!

The cultivation he was so proud of, the "Dao power" he had built with money and resources, seemed to become goods that could be valued at will in this moment!

"No... No!" he screamed in terror.

The guardian holding the Law Scroll expressionlessly flipped open the book and proclaimed in a tone devoid of any emotion: "Under Heaven Society, disguised as merchants with the intent to steal the Dao Market's authority, their heart is damnable. Judgment: dao price cleared to zero, suppressed to a negative value!"

"dao price"? What was that?

No one understood, but everyone saw the result.

The fat manager trembled violently as the Qi Meridians in his body were like popped balloons, the True Qi he had cultivated for years leaking out frantically.

He withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning from a plump man into a gaunt, withered figure.

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood and flew backward like a broken kite, caught clumsily by his guards as they fled in disgrace.

Zhang Xuanyi slowly stood up and picked up the ornate contract that had fallen to the ground.

He looked around at every fearful spectator, his voice not loud but clearly reaching everyone's ears: "This stall of mine doesn't sell usage rights, operating rights, or any special privileges. I only sell one thing—rules! Anyone who wants to do business here must follow my rules. Anyone who wants to break the rules will end up just like him!"

With that, a wisp of golden flame ignited at his fingertips—the purifying fire transformed from a "Source-Cleansing Talisman."

He threw the contract into the flames, and the brocade and paper instantly turned to ash.

But in the center of the flame, the green smoke curled and didn't dissipate, eventually condensing into two twisted black characters—

"Gui Xu"!

Gui Xu again! The Under Heaven Society was actually connected to the Gui Xu Well as well!

The Old Earth Vein Turtle's voice rang in Zhang Xuanyi's mind, carrying a hint of gravity: "Kid, things have gotten troublesome. Someone is using the Gui Xu Well to systematically steal your Dao Market's scraps, refining 'Inverted Liquid' to cause chaos in Qingzhou. Their goal is to destroy your Foundation."

During the Hour of the Dog, nightfall was approaching. The last trace of sunset faded behind the mountains.

Without warning, the entire stall shook violently!

Rumble—!

A muffled, thunderous sound came from deep underground, as if an ancient giant beast was awakening in the earth's core.

The four characters "all laws return to the market" on the bronze stele, which had been standing quietly, suddenly flared with golden light. The light was as bright as day but flickered violently, alternating between light and dark.

Simultaneously, cracks split open in the ground at the base of the stele. Thick, ink-like black Qi surged out, carrying a bone-chilling cold and resentment. Like black arms, they tightly coiled around the bronze stele, intending to drag the entire stone monument underground and Seal it completely!

"Not good!" The Old Earth Vein Turtle was shaken out of the crack in the stele. Looking at the soaring black Qi, it let out an angry roar, "The Gui Xu Well is counter-attacking! It's trying to forcibly sever the connection between the Dao Market and the earth vein!"

When one plan failed, the enemy devised another, intending to pull the rug out from under him!

Zhang Xuanyi's face was as white as paper; the succession of events had already pushed him to his limit.

But there was no retreat in his eyes; instead, a raging fire was ignited.

He forcibly raised the last trace of Qi in his Dantian, formed hand Seals, and struck the void.

"The Law is as firm as a mountain! Summon the guardians again! Suppress!"

Golden light flashed again, and three more Void Market Guardian figures rose from the stall.

This time, six guardians appeared together. The guardian holding the Law Scroll stepped forward and slammed the bronze Law Scroll downward!

The Law Scroll expanded in the wind, transforming into a golden giant stele phantom that covered the sky, pressing down heavily onto the bronze stele in an attempt to suppress the surging black Qi.

In an instant, the moment the Law Scroll phantom made contact with the black Qi, another change occurred!

Inside the bronze stele, that wisp of Dragon Qi, which had swum back into the stele after reshaping Zhang Xuanyi's Meridians earlier, seemed to have received an ultimate provocation and suddenly erupted completely!

Roar—!

A high-pitched, resonant dragon roar echoed through the clouds!

A dazzling golden dragon shadow soared from the crack in the stele. It was a hundred times more solid than before, with dragon scales, claws, and whiskers clearly visible, radiating Divine Might!

It didn't attack anything; instead, it dove down, its massive dragon body transforming into thick golden chains. With unstoppable force, it tightly coiled, bound, and strangled the black Qi surging from the ground!

Golden light and black Qi frantically intertwined and collided, making a sizzling sound of corrosion.

The Old Market-Stall Dog stood before Zhang Xuanyi, bloodshot threads appearing in its golden eyes and the cracks at the corners of its eyes deepening. Yet it still arched its back, letting out threatening low growls from its throat, not retreating a single step.

Zhang Xuanyi barely supported his body, looking up toward the direction of the Tianshi Mansion in the night sky. It was peaceful there, as if nothing had happened.

He murmured to himself, his voice carrying a hint of exhaustion and confusion: "Xuan Weizi... what exactly are you waiting for?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the System interface, which had been silent for a long time, flashed suddenly before his eyes without warning.

A new line of urgent, blood-red text replaced all previous information.

Task Updated—"Protect the Dao Market Stele" (Reward: Unlock "dao market ledger").

The midnight bell seemed about to toll. The golden Dragon Qi locks entwined with black Qi flickered, and after the violent fluctuations, the golden light on the stele's surface finally seemed to show signs of stabilizing.

The Old Earth Vein Turtle dragged its tired body, slowly crawling to the base of the bronze stele. It raised its front claw and lightly tapped the corner of the stele with its hard shell.

A crisp yet muffled sound rang out, particularly abrupt in the silent night.