388: Black market flag swap

The bronze lamps in the Hanyue Valley Underground Palace flickered with ghostly light. Jun Xiaoyao traced his fingertip along the edge of the water mirror, reflecting the ruins of the Shadow Pavilion's headquarters.

The fires from last night had extinguished, leaving only charred fabric scraps drifting among the broken walls and ruins. The Men in Black from The Net were stepping over the rubble, counting severed heads. As they picked up each one, they crossed off a name on the roster with cinnabar.

"Young Lord, seventy percent of the Shadow Pavilion's remnants have been cleared." Zhao Gao stood bowing at the foot of the stairs, holding the blood-stained roster with a few secret letters tucked between the pages.

"However, Lin Xiao's lieutenant, 'Ghost Hand,' has fled into the Black Wind Stockade with three Heavenly Human Realm Martial Artists. Reports indicate that the Black Wind Stockade Master is an old acquaintance of Ghost Hand and has hidden them in a secret passage within the stockade."

Jun Xiaoyao's gaze fell to the corner of the water mirror—a blurry shadow was darting into the dense forest behind the Black Wind Stockade, its movement as eerie as a wildcat. He tapped his fingertip three times on the summoning array. The array patterns rippled with pale gold, revealing a line of text: [Stealth-type target detected, targeted summoning can be triggered]

"Summoning conditions?" Jun Xiaoyao asked in a low voice, his fingertip hovering above the array eye.

[Requires sacrificing three Beyond Heaven tokens: The Net token, Shadow Pavilion secret letter, Black Wind Stockade map] Zhao Gao immediately pulled these three items from his robes and placed them into the grooves of the array eye one by one. The moment the token touched the bottom, the array patterns suddenly erupted with blinding white light. A figure in a green shirt gradually condensed within the light and shadow, with a rusty iron sword hanging at his waist.

[Character Panel: Star Plucker]

[Origin: legend of lu xiaofeng world]

[Realm: Late Stage Great Grandmaster]

[Martial Skill: Heaven-Stealing and Sun-Changing (Transcendent level Stealth Technique), Spirit Rhinoceros Finger (can catch any hidden weapon)]

[Expertise: Tracking (100% tracking success rate after locking onto a target), Array Breaking (proficient in cracking secret passage mechanisms)]

[Loyalty: 85%]

[Current Status: Standby]

Star Plucker cupped his hands toward Jun Xiaoyao with a cynical smile on his face: "With the Young Lord's command, even if I have to crawl through a dog hole, I will drag that Ghost Hand out for you." His figure flickered, turning into a wisp of green smoke, and he slipped out through a crack in the underground palace, leaving behind only a light sentence: "Half an hour, I guarantee a reply."

The image on the water mirror changed, switching to the entrance of the Black Wind Stockade's secret passage. Star Plucker was squatting in front of a loose stone slab, tapping the stone wall with his fingertips. Suddenly, he pulled out a blade as thin as a cicada's wing and sliced along the stone seam—the slab opened in response, revealing a bottomless dark passage below.

"This mechanism is much cruder than the tunnels in the Imperial Palace." He scoffed, leaped in, and his figure quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Black Market Changes Hands, Rules Re-established. On the sand table on the other side of the underground palace, Fan Zeng was sketching the map of the Black Market's power distribution with an ivory pen. The black chess pieces representing the Shadow Pavilion had been completely removed, replaced by the cloud-patterned flags of Beyond Heaven. He bowed to Jun Xiaoyao and said: "Young Lord, the seventeen strongholds of the Shadow Pavilion in the Black Market have been taken over by The Net, but three old-established merchants are relying on the backing of Holy Lands and refusing to change their flags."

On the sand table, next to the three markers for "Treasure Gathering Pavilion," "Hundred Herbs Hall," and "Iron Sword Shop," were tokens representing "Xuantian Sect," "Pill King Valley," and "Sword Forging Manor." Jun Xiaoyao tapped his fingertip on the Treasure Gathering Pavilion marker: "People from the Xuantian Sect?"

"Yes, the owner of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion is the younger brother of an outer Sect deacon of the Xuantian Sect," Fan Zeng opened the account book, "For the past three years, relying on the Sect's protection, they have monopolized thirty percent of the Black Market's Spirit Stone trade. It is said that they have also privately hidden a High Grade Spirit Crystal."

A trace of coldness flashed in Jun Xiaoyao's eyes: "Marshal of the Unruly."

In the shadows, the Marshal of the Unruly appeared with ten of The Unruly, the frost on their armor not yet faded: "Young Lord."

"Go 'visit' the Treasure Gathering Pavilion," Jun Xiaoyao's voice was calm, "Tell the owner, either change the flag, or... let the Xuantian Sect come to collect the corpses." He paused and added, "Don't break the Spirit Stones in the pavilion; they are ours."

The Marshal of the Unruly received his orders and left. The water mirror immediately switched to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion. The owner was sitting behind the counter counting Spirit Stones. Seeing The Unruly break in, he slapped the table and shouted angrily: "How dare you! Do you know who is backing me?"

The Marshal of the Unruly took off the wine gourd from his waist and took a slow sip of wine: "Xuantian Sect? The Elder they sent to support the Shadow Pavilion last night still has his corpse hanging on the stockade gate tower." He slapped a blood-stained Xuantian Sect token onto the counter, "Change the flag, or shall I add a new mark to this token?"

The owner's face turned pale instantly. Looking at the familiar Sect emblem on the token, his hands shook so much that he couldn't even hold the abacus. Half an incense stick later, the black flag of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion was lowered, and the Beyond Heaven flag embroidered with cloud patterns was raised.

Capturing the Culprit in the Secret Passage, Spirit Crystal Appears. Star Plucker's message talisman suddenly lit up, and the water mirror image jumped—deep in the secret passage, he was using his Spirit Rhinoceros Finger to catch a poison needle stabbed by Ghost Hand, while his other hand grabbed the opponent's hair, pinning the person against the stone wall.

"Stop struggling. The mechanism in your secret passage is not even as complex as the one I used to steal Lu Xiaofeng's boots back in the day." Star Plucker smiled as he fished a brocade box from Ghost Hand's robes. Opening it, he saw a Spirit Crystal the size of a pigeon egg lying inside, its spiritual light flowing, illuminating the surprise in his eyes: "Good fellow, the treasure hidden by the Shadow Pavilion is actually with you."

Ghost Hand was pinned to the ground, roaring: "That was given to me by Lin Xiao! The Xuantian Sect promised that as long as I brought the Spirit Crystal, they would accept me into the inner Sect!"

"Enter the inner Sect?" Star Plucker scoffed, "Do you know that the Spirit Crystal in your hand was something the Young Lord lost in a Secret Realm years ago?" He backhanded a strike to the back of Ghost Hand's neck, dragging the man toward the outside of the secret passage, "Now it is being returned to its original owner, you can consider it your fortune."

Outside the water mirror, Jun Xiaoyao took the Spirit Crystal handed over by Zhao Gao, his fingertips brushing over the familiar crack on the crystal surface—three years ago in the Falling Star Secret Realm, this Spirit Crystal had helped him Breakthrough to the Heavenly Human Realm. Later, it was accidentally lost in a fierce battle. He did not expect it to have been picked up by the Shadow Pavilion.

"Fan Zeng," Jun Xiaoyao tossed the Spirit Crystal to Fan Zeng, "Use this Spirit Crystal to establish a rule in the Black Market: All items belonging to Beyond Heaven, anyone who dares to privately hide them will be killed without mercy."

Fan Zeng caught the Spirit Crystal, bowed in acknowledgement, and turned to add a new marker to the sand table: [Rule One: Beyond Heaven tokens, to see the item is to see the master; those who privately hide them will be executed.]

Holy Land Applies Pressure, First Clash. At 1:45 PM, waves of Spiritual Pressure suddenly rolled over the Black Market, and three figures hovered above the roof of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion. The leading Xuantian Sect Elder's beard and hair stood on end, pointing at the cloud-patterned flag outside the building and shouting angrily: "Who dares to touch my Xuantian Sect's subsidiary industry? Come out and die!"

The Marshal of the Unruly walked out of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion carrying Ghost Hand's corpse, looking up with a cold smile: "Xuantian Sect? An accomplice of the Shadow Pavilion, and you dare to clamor here?" He circulated the Tiangang Art, red flames burning on his body surface, and he actually took the Elder's palm strike head-on.

"A mere Great Grandmaster dares to stop me?" The Elder laughed out of extreme anger and was about to strike, but he saw two figures suddenly appear beside the Marshal of the Unruly—Yue Fei stood holding his spear, the spear tip pointing at the Elder from afar; Zhang Sanfeng swept his whisk lightly, his whole body's Pure Yang True Qi blazing like a scorching sun.

[Character Panel: Yue Fei]

[Origin: the complete story of yue fei world]

[Realm: Middle Celestial Realm]

[Martial Skill: Li Quan Spear (Perfection), Yue Family Spear Technique (Military Formation Killing Art)]

[Current Status: Preparing for Battle]

Zhang Sanfeng spoke indifferently: "The Xuantian Sect indulges its subordinates in privately hiding others' tokens. According to the new rules of the Black Market, their cultivation should be abolished and they should be expelled from the Black Market."

The Elder's face changed drastically: "Land Immortal Realm? Beyond Heaven actually has such figures!" Seeing that the situation was bad, he turned to flee, but was intercepted by Yue Fei, whose spear sliced through his robes, the tip of the spear resting against his throat.

"Want to leave?" Yue Fei's voice was like a booming bell, "Leave behind the Sect's official seal, and I can spare your life."

Looking at the military malevolence flowing on the spear tip, the Elder tremblingly untied the Xuantian Sect's official seal from his waist. The Marshal of the Unruly took the seal and threw it to the Luowang Assassins behind him: "Remember, within three days, if the Xuantian Sect does not send someone to Beyond Heaven to apologize, we will trample your mountain gate flat."

Night Interrogation of Remnants, Placing New Pieces. At 9 PM, the underground palace torture chamber was brightly lit. Ghost Hand was hung from the rafters by iron chains. Star Plucker was using a blade to scrape the dirt from under his fingernails, saying nonchalantly: "Where are the transaction records between the Shadow Pavilion and the Pill King Valley hidden? If you don't speak, I don't mind letting you taste another use of 'Heaven-Stealing and Sun-Changing'—for example, changing your ten fingers."

Ghost Hand trembled with pain, saying intermittently: "In... in the dried well in the backyard of the Hundred Herbs Hall... there is an iron box..."

Jun Xiaoyao watched the iron box being dug out by the Luowang Assassins in the water mirror. Sure enough, it contained secret letters between the Pill King Valley and the Shadow Pavilion, recording the transaction details of using inferior Medicinal Pills to pass off as precious items. Fan Zeng added from the side: "In recent years, the Pill King Valley has made a lot of black-hearted money relying on these fake Medicinal Pills, and their subsidiary, the Hundred Herbs Hall, has monopolized the Medicinal Pill trade in the Black Market."

Jun Xiaoyao tapped his fingertip on the summoning array, and the array patterns lit up again. This time, a figure in white appeared, with strange fragrances wafting from a medicine basket.

[Character Panel: Green Ox]

[Origin: the heaven sword and dragon saber world]

[Realm: Mid-stage Grandmaster]

[Martial Skill: Medical Skill (can identify all poisonous herbs in the world, can cure rare poisons in the world), Golden Needle Salvation (Saint hand for healing)]

[Expertise: Medicine Identification (100% success rate in identifying fake Medicinal Pills), Medicine Making (can refine detoxifying pills to counter Pill King Valley's pills)]

[Loyalty: 80%]

Green Ox performed a physician's salute to Jun Xiaoyao: "If the Young Lord wishes to reorganize the Medicinal Pill market, this old man is willing to exert himself for you. In just three days, I will surely make the fake Medicinal Pills of the Hundred Herbs Hall have nowhere to hide."

Jun Xiaoyao nodded: "Starting tomorrow, let Green Ox sit in the Black Market pharmacy. All Medicinal Pills must be verified by him before they can be put on shelves." He looked at Fan Zeng, "Make a hundred copies of the Pill King Valley's secret letters and post them all over every town and city. I want everyone in the world to know about their dirty dealings."

Fan Zeng bowed and noted it down, then turned to make arrangements. In the torture chamber, Star Plucker had already asked the last piece of information from Ghost Hand—the Sword Forging Manor had forged a batch of poisoned weapons for the Shadow Pavilion, and the weapon blueprints were hidden in the backyard of the Iron Sword Shop.

"It seems that the Sword Forging Manor also needs to change its rules." Jun Xiaoyao watched the flickering Iron Sword Shop marker in the water mirror, gently pressed his finger on the sand table, and moved the red chess piece representing Yue Fei over.

The night deepened, and the wind in Hanyue Valley rolled snowflakes against the windows of the underground palace. Jun Xiaoyao looked at the cloud-patterned flags gradually connecting into one piece on the sand table, his eyes without ripples—the Shadow Pavilion had been removed, the Black Market was initially settled, but this was just the beginning. The Xuantian Sect, the Pill King Valley, the Sword Forging Manor... those forces hidden in the dark would soon understand that the rules of Beyond Heaven would be the new order of this continent.

The light of the summoning array gradually subsided, and the Spirit Crystal at the array eye emitted a warm light, reflecting the cold smile on Jun Xiaoyao's lips. The Net had been spread, and next, it would be the turn of those high and mighty Holy Land Sects to taste the feeling of being hunted.