59: 'Ownerless' state

Talisman flames, like rain, erupted from the center of the hundred-zhang light screen, transforming into a scorching torrent that poured entirely into Zhang Xuanyi's chest.

His body trembled violently, and he suddenly dropped to one knee, a sweetness rising in his throat. He coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with golden threads onto the scorched earth before him.

Excruciating pain swept through his entire body like a tide, as if to melt his bones inch by inch. Yet, instead of crying out in agony, he lowered his head, his shoulders shaking violently, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Heh... Heh heh... Hahahahaha!"

The laughter transitioned from low and hoarse to wild and unrestrained, echoing before the silent mountain gate.

At the same time, within his Sea of Consciousness, the long-dormant system interface, accompanied by a thunderous roar that pierced the clouds and split rocks, unfolded with a crash!

On the light blue screen, a line of unprecedented golden characters glowed brilliantly:

"[Lv.7 — Myriad Laws Edict Activated!]"

"[Permission Description: You can issue a publicly visible command to the Three Realms and Six Paths. This command possesses the Mandatory of "Dao" and remains effective for twelve hours.]"

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his fingertips lightly touching the still faintly trembling stall cloth beneath him. The cloth surface was scorching hot, yet it conveyed an unprecedented sense of emptiness.

The endless spirituality flowing on the stall was dissipating at a visible rate, like an ancient lamp whose oil had burned out, about to fall into eternal slumber after completing its final mission.

"The Cloth Master isn't human, but a spark?" He murmured, feeling the fading spiritual essence, a preposterous yet incredibly close-to-the-truth thought surfacing in his mind, "So... I'm not its owner, just the... fuse that lit it?"

"Zhang Xuanyi!" Su Qingzhu cried out, rushing forward and supporting his teetering body. Her eyes were filled with lingering fear. "You're crazy! That last hit, you almost got burned to ashes!"

He raised his head, his face as pale as paper, but his eyes were astonishingly bright. He grinned, revealing blood-stained teeth: "But now, I am the Bell Ringer of the Wan Fa Dao Market."

As soon as his voice fell, outside the mountain gate, the three hundred law enforcement Dao soldiers who had miraculously survived were still prostrate on the ground, trembling like sieves, having lost even the courage to stand.

The leader of the Nine Palaces Formation Master was ashen-faced; the Qi meridians in his body had been damaged by the pressure when the Dao Market's phantom descended, breaking inch by inch, making it impossible for him to form a formation again in this life.

Cui Wujiu propped himself on one knee, struggling to stand. The "Orthodox Talisman Blade" in his hand had broken into two, and the remaining half of the blade was covered in spiderweb-like cracks.

The towering rage in his eyes had not extinguished, but it was now tinged with an unbelievable wavering and fear.

"That light screen... wasn't an illusion..." He stared intently at Zhang Xuanyi, his voice hoarse, "It's the 'Dao Market'... It's really alive?"

As if recalling some terrifying past, his gaze grew complex: "You have no idea what you've awakened! Three hundred years ago, Li Wujiu's mind was devoured by this thing, which is how he became that madman who only knew how to kill!"

Zhang Xuanyi, hearing this, raised an eyebrow contemptuously: "So, you sealed him and this stall together for three hundred years? Quite the feat. But I'd like to ask, you can seal people, you can seal laws, but can you seal the 'Dao'?"

"Dao?" Cui Wujiu seemed to have heard the biggest joke and was about to retort.

Just then, Su Qingzhu, off to the side, suddenly lowered her voice and exclaimed urgently: "Underground! Zhang Xuanyi, look!"

She quickly pulled up the real-time monitoring data on her tablet computer. On the screen, the red dot representing the depths of the underground palace was now flashing at an eerie frequency.

"Xuan Mingzi's bronze coffin... the life signs inside, the blood flow speed is geometrically increasing!" She pointed to a soaring data curve, her tone extremely grave. "It's responding to you! Every golden pattern that lights up on your chest, its awakening progresses by a fraction! That last hit... it almost completely woke up!"

Zhang Xuanyi's smile stiffened slightly.

He looked down at his chest. Through the torn fabric, twelve golden patterns slowly moved like living things, forming a deadly resonance with the faint, terrifying aura deep underground.

So, this was the true killing game.

The stall was the key, he was the fuse, and what they truly wanted to release was the monster suppressed for countless years beneath the earth.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Xuanyi suddenly laughed again, laughing even more unrestrainedly than before.

"Since that's the case," he slowly straightened his body, patting the dust off his clothes, "then I'd better hurry up and do some business while this stall isn't completely dead."

With that, he turned and walked towards the stall, whose spirituality was about to dissipate, under the astonished gazes of Cui Wujiu and Su Qingzhu.

He squatted down, his slender fingers tracing the rough cloth surface. Without a trace of hesitation in his heart, he silently issued his first command as the "Bell Ringer" to the system interface in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Issue Myriad Laws Edict —"

"Today, all talisman papers are half price."

"[Edict Confirmed, Effective Immediately.]"

The system interface vibrated violently. The twelve golden patterns on the stall cloth suddenly burst into their final radiance. Then, as if all power had been drained, the light flashed and vanished, dimming by at least a third.

In an instant, an anomaly appeared again!

This seemingly absurd edict, in a form transcending space and laws, instantly swept across the entire Yanhuang land!

In three thousand Stranger strongholds across the country, whether in secret clubs in bustling cities or ancient Daoist temples in deep mountains and old forests, wherever talismans were traded, all blank talisman papers on shelves, before altars, and even in personal Qiankun bags, spontaneously ignited without wind, rising into a cluster of gentle golden flames!

Within the flames, a line of golden seal script, flowing like dragons and phoenixes and imbued with supreme Dao rhyme, slowly emerged, clearly imprinted in the eyes of every Stranger:

"Today's talisman paper, half price."

In the black market, a grandmaster, who was vehemently hawking "Thunder Law True Talismans" to a buyer, watched with wide eyes as a golden light flashed on the specially made jade talisman paper in his hand, worth thirty thousand a piece. His mind reeled, and he spat out a mouthful of old blood on the spot: "My talismans... How is this possible?! These are secretly made by the Tianshi Mansion! Who dares touch my goods?!"

In the streets and alleys, a small vendor who relied on selling photocopy yellow paper to fool newly initiated rookies was about to close his stall. He saw a stack of his yellow paper, which cost less than five mao, suddenly emit golden light. A customer beside him exclaimed, pointing at the words and reading them aloud.

The vendor was completely dumbfounded: "This... this stack of mine only sells for ten yuan, and now it's five yuan with free shipping?!"

The Stranger world completely erupted!

Countless forums and internal communication channels were instantly flooded.

Some burned incense and kowtowed, shouting, "The Wan Fa Dao Market has descended, the Great Dao is fair, blessings from heaven!"; others cursed loudly, denouncing it as "vulgar market laws disrupting our Daoist tradition, evil demons disturbing the market!"

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, on Mount Longhu, within the secret hall of the Tianshi Mansion, several white-haired elders looked at the golden edict flashing on an ancient talisman suspended before them, their faces all ashen. One elder, trembling with rage, slammed his palm down, shattering the rosewood table beside him.

"Impudent fellow! How dare he!" he roared. "Myriad Laws Edict, ancient divine authority! He... he actually used this supreme authority... for a promotion?!"

The aftershocks of the edict still reverberated between heaven and earth, but the stall in front of the mountain gate let out a groan of unbearable strain.

It began to convulse violently, like the final spasms of a dying person.

The twelve golden patterns, which had just dimmed by a third, now extinguished one after another, like candles snuffed out.

The originally spiritually flowing cloth surface, within a few short breaths, became dry and scorched, like rotten paper weathered for a thousand years, ready to crumble into dust at any moment.

In Zhang Xuanyi's Sea of Consciousness, the system's cold prompt sounded:

"[Warning: Myriad Laws Edict has taken effect. Stall cloth spirituality exhausted, entering 'unowned' state. This state will last for 48 hours.]"

Zhang Xuanyi's heart suddenly tightened.

The old dog that had always faithfully guarded the stall in the corner let out a long and mournful whine. Its aged body transformed into a faint golden light, slowly merging into the withered cloth surface and disappearing.

Beneath the stone stele that suppressed the earth pulse, the sleeping old turtle also slowly sank back into the ground, leaving only a whisper, as if from ancient times, echoing in Zhang Xuanyi's ears:

"The spark has ignited, the way back is cut off..."

Just then, Su Qingzhu, who had been staring intently at the monitor, suddenly looked up, her voice tinged with an unprecedented horror: "Underground... it's gone!"

She turned the tablet computer towards Zhang Xuanyi. On the screen, the red dot representing Xuan Mingzi's bronze coffin and all related energy fluctuations had completely vanished.

Not weakened, not moved, but vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed.

Zhang Xuanyi stared intently at the lifeless stall before him, an indescribable chill rising in his heart.

The stall was dead, but the monster... was free.

He was about to reach out and touch the withered cloth when he saw the cloth surface move slightly.

A wisp of crimson blood, without warning, seeped from a corner of the cloth surface, like a living, blood-colored snake, slowly slithering across the dry cloth, eventually, with difficulty, forming two crooked characters.

The handwriting was written in blood.

The handwriting carried a sense of relief and joy.

— Thanks.

Zhang Xuanyi's pupils suddenly constricted to the size of a needle tip.

It... woke up on its own? It's thanking me... for breaking its chains?