At dusk, Yuan Tiangang stood in the Rainwatch Pavilion of the Misty Rain Tower stronghold, overlooking Qingzhou City.
Di Yun and Linghu Chong walked in, the spiritual candles burning brightly and casting the three figures onto the wall, flickering in the dim light.
"Lord Yuan," the two immediately cupped their fists toward Yuan Tiangang in salute.
"Mmm."
Then, Yuan Tiangang spread the roster in his hands across the desk.
Di Yun and Linghu Chong leaned in for a closer look, seeing that the names were neatly and clearly categorized by cultivation level.
"One hundred and seven people have been recruited this time." Yuan Tiangang's fingertip rested on the top of the roster, his voice steady.
With a light tap of his fingertip, seven points of light had already appeared on the sand table, corresponding to the positions of the seven individuals.
"These seven are all grandmasters, each with their own strengths and their own obsessions."
Yuan Tiangang's voice was calm. "I have already resolved their obsessions, and they have become our sharpest eyes and ears."
Linghu Chong glanced at the roster and said, "This lineup is enough to prop up the basic intelligence network of Qingzhou City."
"Not only that." Di Yun pointed at the roster and said,
"Although they belong to different realms, they each have their own specialties, and they all harbor old grudges with the major factions in Qingzhou. They will only be more dedicated when acting for us."
Yuan Tiangang looked at the two. "Starting tomorrow, coordinate according to the previous division of labor and officially launch the intelligence network."
Di Yun and Linghu Chong replied in unison, "Understood."
Afterwards, the two left the Misty Rain Tower stronghold.
The night grew deeper, and the silhouette of the Misty Rain Tower faintly emerged in the spiritual mist.
Deep within the black market of Qingzhou City, inside that small shop hanging a wooden sign that read "General Store," Ground Rat was wiping the counter in boredom.
The shelves were stocked with needles, thread, and inferior oilcloth, seemingly no different from an ordinary general store.
Only the dark basalt secondary stele in the inner room emitted a cold and hard luster in the dim light.
Ever since the secondary stele was properly installed a day ago, this was the first day they had opened for doors.
Ground Rat clutched the Blood Slaughter Art given by Jing Ke, feeling both nervous and expectant in his heart, glancing toward the door every now and then for fear of missing the first "guest."
Just past the Si hour, the shop's curtain was flicked open with a swish, and a man wrapped in a black robe walked in.
His hat brim was pulled very low, concealing most of his face and revealing only a tightly pressed chin. Vague killing intent emanated from his entire body.
Ground Rat's heart skipped a beat, but on the surface he remained unphased, piling on his habitual flattering smile:
"What would the patron like? Needles, thread, oilcloth, or hemp rope—the small shop has it all."
The black-robed man didn't look at the shelves, walking straight toward the cloth curtain of the inner room, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper scraping:
"I heard... that one can come to the Misty Rain Tower here to take on a 'bounty'?"
Ground Rat's eyes lit up, knowing the main character had arrived. He feigned looking left and right, lowering his voice:
"What is the patron talking about? The small shop only sells general goods."
Though he spoke thus, he quietly lifted a corner of the cloth curtain, revealing the secondary stele inside.
A trace of understanding flashed in the black-robed man's eyes as he strode into the inner room.
Ground Rat followed closely behind, dropping the cloth curtain and standing guard outside to keep watch.
The light in the inner room was dim. The secondary stele stood in the center, the Immortal Crystal Membrane shimmering with faint ripples in the micro-light.
The black-robed man walked up before the stele, took a deep breath, gathered spiritual energy at his fingertips, and slowly carved onto the smooth stele surface.
"Target: Zhao Kui, leader of Qingzhou's 'Black Wind Gang', cultivation at the Mid-Stage Void Glimpse Realm."
"Features: A knife scar on the left cheek, constantly wears dark-toned fitted martial attire, a skull jade pendant hanging from his waist."
"Bounty: One million low-grade spirit stones."
With every stroke that fell, the stele surface lit up with a pale green light scar, illuminating the handwriting clearly.
After carving the last stroke, the black-robed man stood erect to the side to await a reply.
Inside the Misty Rain Tower, Nie Zheng and the others in front of the primary stele were staring at the newly surfaced bounty information.
"Zhao Kui of the Black Wind Gang?" Yao Li frowned, evidently having never heard of him.
"This person runs amok in Qingzhou, bullying the weak and women, and has stained his hands with quite a few lives; he certainly deserves to die anyway."
At that moment, Yuan Tiangang happened to walk downstairs, saw the bounty news, and looked at the group as he said.
"Lord Yuan," the six said upon seeing Yuan Tiangang, cupping their fists.
Yuan Tiangang then waved his hand and said:
"Through the intelligence development of these past few days, the information on people from many factions is basically understood."
"The Black Wind Gang is located at Black Wind Mountain, one hundred miles outside Qingzhou City. There are two Void Glimpse Realm cultivators within the gang: gang leader Zhao Kui is at the mid-stage, and vice leader Cheng Zhi is at the early stage. They are nothing to fear!"
Yuan Tiangang then looked at the bounty amount again. "One million low-grade spirit stones is not much, but as the stronghold's very first order upon its establishment, you can just use it to test the waters."
Cao Mo immediately stepped forward, his hand pressing against the dagger at his waist:
"Fellow colleagues, I have just arrived in this realm and have yet to take action. Let me take this order."
The remaining five nodded. "Agreed."
"Brother Cao, remember: make it quick. Do not plunge yourself into danger, and if there is a situation, promptly stop and communicate with us via token."
Jing Ke stepped forward to remind Cao Mo.
"Fine! Fellow colleagues, please rest assured. This is my first battle, and it will certainly be clean and neat, living up to the trust of the lord and everyone here."
Cao Mo gathered spiritual energy at his fingertips and carved the two words "Accepted" next to Zhao Kui's bounty information on the primary stele, appending his own codename, "Wei Liu," at the end.
At almost the exact same time, the secondary stele in the black market general store suddenly flashed with red light, and the words "Accepted, codename Wei Liu" surfaced on the stele face.
Upon seeing this, the black-robed man clearly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, following the requirement to hand over half the deposit first, he took fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and pressed them into the slot at the base of the stele.
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