386: Tianwaitian Black Market Becomes Famous

Jun Xiaoyao sat in the shadows of the Tianwaitian Headquarters, tapping his fingers on the armrest. A bronze mask covered most of his face, revealing only the hard lines of his jaw.

A black market map lay open on the table, densely marked with red dots indicating The Net's recent missions. Three of these red dots were circled in vermillion—these were special missions with rewards exceeding ten thousand taels of gold.

"Zhao Gao," his voice was low, with a metallic, grinding quality, "The Net's recent mission completion rate has dropped by thirty percent. What's going on?"

Zhao Gao emerged from the shadows and bowed, presenting a scroll: "Reporting, Young Lord, a new organization called 'Shadow Pavilion' has appeared in the black market recently, snatching a lot of our business. Their assassins are wild, they don't play by the rules, and they've intercepted our targets several times."

Jun Xiaoyao's fingertip traced the map, stopping at the location of the slums in the south of the city: "Shadow Pavilion's lair is here?"

"Yes," Zhao Gao nodded, "They operate mysteriously, and their leader has never shown their face. We only know they have an assassin named 'Blood Crow,' whose Flying Dagger skill is superb and has ruined three of our missions."

Jun Xiaoyao lifted a corner of his mask, revealing a cold glint in his eyes: "For the special mission 'Intercept and Kill the Salt and Iron Commissioner,' send Marshal of the Unruly."

Zhao Gao was stunned: "Marshal of the Unruly has been in seclusion for three months, should we..."

"Make him come out of seclusion," Jun Xiaoyao interrupted, "If Shadow Pavilion dares to touch Beyond Heaven's cake, they'll have to taste the power of The Unruly."

Three days later, in the alley behind a black market tavern, Marshal of the Unruly leaned against a wall with three members of The Unruly, twirling a copper coin between his fingers.

Footsteps came from the alley entrance. Blood Crow, dressed in black with his hat brim pulled low, was exchanging a secret letter with his employer—the employer was precisely the deputy of the Salt and Iron Bureau, who wanted to use Shadow Pavilion to eliminate his superior.

"The transaction is complete, where's the money?" Blood Crow's voice was hoarse, his hand on the Flying Dagger at his waist.

Just as the employer took out the banknotes, Marshal of the Unruly suddenly whistled. The copper coin "clanged" as it sprang up, precisely hitting Blood Crow's wrist. Blood Crow cried out in pain, and the Flying Dagger flew out of his hand, grazing the employer's ear and embedding itself in the wall.

"You little brat from Shadow Pavilion, daring to run wild on grandpa's turf?" Marshal of the Unruly slowly walked out. The Unruly members behind him immediately surrounded Blood Crow, the sound of iron chains dragging on the ground particularly harsh in the alley.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, Blood Crow turned to flee, but Marshal of the Unruly's thrown iron chain wrapped around his ankle, sending him crashing to the ground. He struggled to pull out a final Flying Dagger, but an Unruly member stomped on his wrist, leaving him to watch helplessly as the secret letter was confiscated.

"Go back and tell your leader," Marshal of the Unruly used the iron chain to lift Blood Crow's chin, "Beyond Heaven's business is not something just anyone can snatch."

As Blood Crow was dragged away, his eyes were filled with venom. Jun Xiaoyao sat before the water mirror in the Headquarters, watching this scene, and tapped his finger on the summoning array diagram on the table—on the diagram, the light spot representing Marshal of the Unruly slowly lit up, and a line of small text appeared beside it: [Marshal of the Unruly Yuan Tiangang, Realm: Land Immortal, Martial Skill: Tiangang Art, Soul-Reaping Chain].

"Next," Jun Xiaoyao said indifferently.

Zhao Gao handed over another scroll: "Shadow Pavilion has recently been snatching our escort business. The Caobang in the west of the city wants us to escort a batch of birthday gifts, and Shadow Pavilion has threatened to intercept them midway."

Jun Xiaoyao's fingertip traced the summoning array, and the array patterns lit up, revealing another name.

[Summoning Successful: Zhan Zhao, from the world of "three heroes and five gallants," Realm: Great Grandmaster, Martial Skill: juque sword Art, Sleeve Arrow]

In the water mirror, Zhan Zhao, in red robes with the juque sword at his waist, cupped his hands in the direction of Jun Xiaoyao: "Zhan has met Young Lord."

"The Caobang's birthday gifts, I leave them to you," Jun Xiaoyao's voice was flat, "If Shadow Pavilion's people dare to make a Move, show no mercy."

Zhan Zhao took his leave. Zhao Gao watched Zhan Zhao's swift movements in the water mirror and said in a low voice: "Young Lord, should we summon more people? Shadow Pavilion's power is expanding rapidly, and I hear their leader can summon Martial Artists from other worlds."

Jun Xiaoyao gently tapped the summoning array, and the array patterns glowed faintly: "No rush. Let's see their trump card first."

Seven days later, when the Caobang's fleet reached the Huai River, Shadow Pavilion indeed sent people to intercept them. The leader was a masked woman, wielding twin swords with tricky swordplay, actually forcing Zhan Zhao to retreat repeatedly.

"It's Shangguan Jinhong's 'Dragon Phoenix Rings'!" Zhan Zhao recognized the opponent's Move, and with a horizontal sweep of his juque sword, exclaimed, "Shadow Pavilion can even summon figures from "sentimental swordsman, ruthless sword"!"

The masked woman sneered, and her twin rings clashed with a piercing sound: "Zhan Zhao? Nothing special."

Zhan Zhao no longer held back. The juque sword erupted with brilliant light, and the sword light, like a bolt of silk, swept towards the woman. At this moment, Jun Xiaoyao, in front of the water mirror, suddenly activated the summoning array, and a golden light shone within the array patterns.

[Emergency Summoning: Ye Gucheng, from the world of "legend of lu xiaofeng," Realm: Land Immortal, Martial Skill: Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens]

Ye Gucheng arrived on his sword, his white robes whiter than snow, his Sword Qi like frost: "You scoundrels from Shadow Pavilion, dare to be presumptuous in the Central Plains?"

Seeing Ye Gucheng appear, the masked woman's expression changed drastically: "Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens... how are you here?"

Ye Gucheng did not reply, his Sword Qi had already arrived. With just one sword strike, he broke her twin rings, and the sword light swept past the woman's veil, revealing a face remarkably similar to Shangguan Jinhong's.

"So it's a descendant of Shangguan Jinhong," Zhan Zhao sheathed his sword, "Take her back to the Headquarters."

Jun Xiaoyao watched the woman being escorted away in the water mirror, tapped his finger on the summoning array, and another name appeared.

[Summoning: Fragrant Bat, from the world of "legend of chu liuxiang," Realm: Great Grandmaster, Martial Skill: Qinggong, Disguise Technique]

"Go investigate Shadow Pavilion's background," Jun Xiaoyao commanded, "I want to know the true identity of their leader."

Fragrant Bat chuckled, closing his folding fan: "Leave it to me."

Zhao Gao watched the continuously lighting up summoning array, a hint of awe flashing in his eyes. The Young Lord never fought unprepared battles; each summoning precisely targeted Shadow Pavilion's vital points. Such meticulous planning, no wonder Beyond Heaven could be established in just a few years.

In the water mirror, Zhan Zhao escorted the woman away, and Ye Gucheng's Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens Sword Qi had not yet dissipated, the moisture on the Huai River condensed into frost flowers by the Sword Qi. Jun Xiaoyao looked at the sword marks, and gently drew a circle on the table with his fingertip—the existence of Shadow Pavilion had, instead, become a whetstone for his expansion of power; each confrontation sharpened The Net's claws a little more.

"Zhao Gao," Jun Xiaoyao suddenly spoke, "Leak information about Shadow Pavilion to the imperial court, say they are colluding with the demonic cult."

Zhao Gao was startled, then quickly understood: "Young Lord wants to use the imperial court's hand..."

"Hasn't the imperial court always wanted to find an opportunity to clean up the black market?" Jun Xiaoyao's lips curled into a cold smile, "Give them a favor."

In the water mirror, Fragrant Bat had already infiltrated Shadow Pavilion's stronghold, disguised as a Shadow Pavilion member using the Disguise Technique. Jun Xiaoyao looked at the images he sent back; Shadow Pavilion's secret chamber actually contained a larger summoning array, and the light flickering within the array was even more bizarre than Beyond Heaven's summoning array.

"Interesting," Jun Xiaoyao tapped the summoning array heavily with his fingertip, "It seems this game is getting more and more fun."

Within the array patterns, another name slowly lit up—that was the "surprise" he had prepared for Shadow Pavilion's leader. And in the corner of the water mirror, The Net's assassins were silently and efficiently clearing out Shadow Pavilion's peripheral strongholds, each strike clean and decisive—this was Jun Xiaoyao's rule: either don't Move, or if you Move, eradicate the root.

The wind from the Huai River, carrying moisture, blew into the water mirror. Jun Xiaoyao looked at the sword marks left by Ye Gucheng and suddenly remembered that three years ago, when he first established Beyond Heaven, he also eliminated dissidents step by step using the summoning array. It was just that back then, The Net was still a small organization, but now, it had grown into a giant net capable of devouring everything.

"Shadow Pavilion..." He murmured the name, a cold arc forming at the corner of his mouth beneath the mask, "Soon, you will know what these three words, Beyond Heaven, mean."

In the water mirror, Fragrant Bat had already found a portrait of Shadow Pavilion's leader and was sending it back via message talisman. Jun Xiaoyao looked at the familiar outline in the portrait, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, which then turned into a deeper chill—it turned out that Shadow Pavilion's leader was actually the traitor he had expelled from Beyond Heaven back then.

"Truly... courting death." He pressed his fingertip heavily on the summoning array, and the array patterns burst forth with dazzling light. This time, what he was going to summon was an existence that would make the entire Jianghu tremble.

The Net's assassins received the news and began spreading rumors in the black market that Shadow Pavilion was colluding with the enemy. Wanted posters covered the city walls.

Jun Xiaoyao sat in the shadows, listening to Zhao Gao report Shadow Pavilion's panic, the bronze mask on his fingertip gleaming coldly. This game, he was going to personally reel it in.