Nuoding City's busiest central shopping street.
The bluestone road had grown warm beneath the sun.
Shops lined both sides of the street.
In front of a high-end clothing store called Brocade Cloud Garments.
Xiao Wu stopped.
Her gaze was completely captivated by a pink-and-white Fairy Flowing Dress in the window.
The dress was woven from fine Ice Silkworm Silk.
Delicate little blossoms had been embroidered along its hem.
It shimmered softly in the sunlight.
Xiao Wu lowered her head and looked at the coarse-cloth dress she wore, washed until it had faded white.
Her fingers twisted together unconsciously.
"Like it?"
Su Chen came to stand beside her.
He followed her gaze toward the window.
Xiao Wu shook her head firmly.
"I don't like it. That dress looks all light and floaty. It's not suited for fighting at all."
She said she didn't like it.
But her eyes never left the dress.
Su Chen chuckled softly.
He didn't call her out on her feigned indifference.
He simply stepped into the store.
Xiao Wu froze for a moment.
Then she hurried after him.
"Hey. Don't just walk in. The clothes here must be ridiculously expensive."
Xiao Wu lowered her voice.
She reached out and tugged at the sleeve of Su Chen's black brocade robe.
Inside, the shopkeeper was leaning against the counter, working an abacus.
Hearing the commotion.
He looked up.
Years of dealing with customers had given him a keen eye, and he recognized at once how expensive Su Chen's clothes were.
Black fabric with gold thread.
The finest cloud brocade.
He was definitely the young son of some wealthy noble family in the city.
The shopkeeper immediately abandoned his abacus.
He came forward with a broad smile.
"Young master, what would you like to see? We've just received a new batch of the latest fabrics from Heaven Dou City."
Su Chen paid no attention to the shopkeeper's flattery.
He pointed to the pink-and-white Fairy Flowing Dress in the window.
"That one. Take it down and let her try it on."
The shopkeeper glanced at Xiao Wu.
Seeing how shabbily she was dressed, he hesitated.
"Young master, that's Ice Silkworm Silk. Even a slight snag could ruin it. If it gets dirty while she's trying it on..."
Clink.
Su Chen casually tossed a heavy money pouch.
It landed on the counter.
The open pouch revealed gleaming Gold Soul Coins inside.
"Fifty Gold Soul Coins."
Su Chen's tone was even.
"That's enough to buy you ten dresses. Take it down."
The shopkeeper's eyes lit up at once.
"That's plenty. Plenty, young master. Just a moment."
He fetched a ladder himself.
Carefully, he took down the Fairy Flowing Dress.
Then he respectfully handed it to Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu stared at the gorgeous dress before her.
For a moment, she didn't know what to do with herself.
"What are you spacing out for?"
Su Chen reached out and flicked one of the rabbit ears on top of Xiao Wu's head.
"Go try it on. The boss is paying for everything today."
Xiao Wu covered her forehead.
Blushing, she clutched the dress and ran into the fitting room.
An incense stick's time later.
A small, pale hand lifted the curtain of the fitting room.
Xiao Wu walked out with her head lowered.
The pink-and-white Fairy Flowing Dress fit her figure perfectly.
The Ice Silkworm Silk made her already delicate, doll-like face look even fairer.
She had redone her messy Scorpion Braid.
The Carrot Wooden Hairpin Su Chen had given her the night before held it up at the back of her head.
She looked less like a scruffy country girl.
And more charming and lively.
"Why aren't you saying anything? Is it ugly?"
Xiao Wu held up her skirt.
She looked uneasily at Su Chen, who was sipping tea beside the tea table.
Su Chen set down his teacup.
He looked her over for a moment.
"Not bad."
Su Chen stood up.
He walked over to a row of clothes racks nearby.
"Shopkeeper."
"Yes, young master. What can I do for you?"
"Every pink and white style on this rack. In her size, pack two of each."
The shopkeeper sucked in a sharp breath.
That was a whole rack of high-end custom-made clothes.
Together, they had to be worth at least several hundred Gold Soul Coins.
"A-all of them?"
"What, you don't want the business?"
"No, no! Young master, please sit. I'll have them packed right away."
The shopkeeper was so excited his voice trembled.
He hurriedly called over the shop assistants to get to work.
Xiao Wu ran over to Su Chen.
Her big eyes were wide with astonishment.
"Are you crazy? Why buy so many clothes? How could I ever wear them all?"
"One outfit a day."
Su Chen reached out and pinched Xiao Wu's slightly chubby cheek.
It felt soft and smooth.
"Those coarse clothes Work-Study Students wear aren't good enough for you."
"You're one of the people in my Dorm Seven. You have to be the best from head to toe."
Xiao Wu slapped Su Chen's hand away.
She rubbed her cheek.
But the corners of her mouth couldn't help turning up.
"Spendthrift."
She muttered under her breath.
But her eyes were full of undisguised delight.
In all the hundred thousand years she had spent in the Star Dou Great Forest.
No one had ever been so generous to her, apart from Da Ming and Er Ming.
The human world didn't seem so bad after all.
At least the person standing before her.
Made her feel safe.
Just then.
A middle-aged man dressed like an ordinary merchant walked into the clothing store.
His gaze swept across the room.
Then he went straight to Su Chen.
He dropped to one knee.
"Young master."
The middle-aged man lowered his voice.
A dark iron ring bearing the faint pattern of a Six-Winged Angel encircled the middle finger of his right hand.
It was the mark of a Spirit Hall spy.
"Speak."
Su Chen picked up his teacup.
"The target left through the academy's back gate."
The spy reported in a low voice.
"He avoided the main road and took a series of remote alleys westward. In the end, he slipped into the underground Black Market in the western suburbs."
Su Chen took a sip of tea.
Just as expected.
All the legitimate channels had been cut off.
Tang San could only seek a way to survive in a place like that, full of filth and sin.
"The West Suburb Black Market?"
Xiao Wu leaned closer.
Her two rabbit ears perked up curiously.
"What kind of place is that? Do they sell tasty food?"
"They sell filthy things used for killing and robbery."
Su Chen put down his teacup.
He took out a gold stored-value card and tossed it to the shopkeeper.
"Pack the clothes and deliver them to Dorm Seven at Nuoding Academy."
Su Chen turned to Xiao Wu.
"Come on. I'll take you to see a good show."
Xiao Wu immediately followed.
"Whose show? Tang San's?"
"Right. Let's see how a stray dog with nowhere left to go struggles in the mud."
Nuoding City's western suburbs.
Beneath an abandoned slum.
The air was thick with musty dampness and a faint smell of blood.
Along both sides of the dim passage.
A few yellowed tallow lamps burned.
Tang San wore a loose black hooded cloak.
It concealed most of his face.
His hands were still wrapped in thick bandages.
They were hidden inside his wide sleeves.
The soles of his shoes pressed into the muddy ground, slick with sewage.
They made a squelching sound.
The Black Market was not very large.
But though the sparrow was small, it had all its vital organs.
The stalls on either side were piled with all kinds of items of unknown origin.
Bloodstained blades.
Tattered beast hides.
There were even prohibited poisonous herbs and powders.
All the vendors had their faces covered.
They watched every passerby with wary eyes.
Tang San stopped in front of a stall that specialized in medicinal herbs.
The stall owner was a One-Eyed Dragon.
A hideous scar ran down his face, from forehead to chin.
Tang San lowered his voice.
He made it sound like an adult's.
"Boss, do you have any Datura Pollen?"
The One-Eyed Dragon leaned back in his chair.
He looked Tang San up and down with his only remaining eye.
"Datura Pollen? That's a prohibited poison that kills with a single drop of blood. Spirit Hall is cracking down hard on it."
The One-Eyed Dragon sneered.
"One hundred Gold Soul Coins per gram. You got the money?"
Tang San's brow furrowed beneath his cloak.
One hundred Gold Soul Coins.
He couldn't even afford half a Copper Soul Coin right now.
"Besides the Datura Pollen, I also need the roots of Rotten Bone Grass and the venom glands of three Black-Tailed Snakes."
Tang San rattled off a list of poisonous ingredients.
They were all ingredients for the Tang Sect's novice poison, Blood-Sorrow.
Once he concocted this poison,
he could smear it on a Hidden Weapon.
Even without internal energy to drive it,
a mere scrape of the skin
would kill a Soul Grandmaster on the spot.
This was his trump card for turning the tables in the Black Market.
The One-Eyed Dragon sat up straight.
His gaze turned dangerous.
"Kid, the things you just listed will cost at least five hundred Gold Soul Coins."
"You won't even show your face. You got any money in your pockets?"
Tang San reached into his robes and pulled out a crumpled sheet of rough paper.
He slapped it onto the stall.
"I don't have money, but I have this."
"It's a mechanism blueprint for a rapid-fire repeating crossbow."
"If you can find a blacksmith to build it, it'll have enough power to pierce a level-ten Soul Master's defenses."
"I'll trade it for the materials I just mentioned."
The One-Eyed Dragon reached out a rough finger.
He pinched up the sheet of rough paper.
It showed an exploded diagram of the core mechanism of the Godly Zhuge Crossbow.
Tang San had drawn this fragment from memory.
It was also the only thing he had to offer in a trade.
The One-Eyed Dragon didn't understand mechanisms,
but he had worked in the underground Black Market for years.
He could tell at a glance how ingenious the blueprint was.
If he sold this to wealthy merchants who couldn't protect themselves,
he could fetch a fortune.
A flash of greed crossed the One-Eyed Dragon's eye.
He tucked the blueprint into his robes.
"Not bad. But I'll need to get someone to verify that it's real."
Tang San's face darkened.
"What do you mean? Give the blueprint back. We trade fair and square."
"Once something's in my hands, why would I give it back?"
The One-Eyed Dragon slammed his hand on the table.
The vendors at several nearby stalls immediately rose to their feet.
Four or five burly men with brutish faces emerged from the shadows and closed in.
They trapped Tang San in front of the stall.
"Kid, your hands are wrapped up like rice dumplings. You're a cripple, aren't you?"
The One-Eyed Dragon stood up.
He pulled out a dagger that gleamed coldly.
"You come to the Black Market trying to get something for nothing? You think this is a charity?"
"I'm keeping the blueprint. As for the materials, you can pay with your life."
The rule of the Black Market
was that there were no rules.
The strong preyed on the weak.
Thieves robbed thieves.
That was the law of survival in the underworld.
Tang San drew a deep breath.
Bloodlust churned in his chest, almost tangible.
He yanked off his hood.
His eyes were bloodshot.
He forcibly circulated his internal energy through the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
His broken finger bones throbbed with piercing pain.
But he couldn't afford to care anymore.
He clenched his left hand.
A small black Iron Hammer flickered into view in his palm.
The Clear Sky Hammer.
If he didn't use it today,
he would never get out of this underground Black Market.
Just as Tang San was about to reveal his trump card and fight for his life,
a crash suddenly rang out above them, as if a wooden board had shattered.
Boom!
A section of the second-floor landing was stomped through.
Wood chips flew everywhere.
A black figure dropped from above like a meteor.
He landed firmly on the stall between Tang San and the One-Eyed Dragon.
The sturdy wooden table instantly splintered into pieces.
Amid the flying wood chips,
Su Chen slowly straightened up.
His black-and-gold brocade robes gleamed with startling elegance beneath the dim tallow lamps.
He brushed the dust from his sleeves.
His gaze swept over the stunned thugs surrounding him.
"Such a lively deal. Why didn't you invite me?"
Su Chen's tone was calm.
The One-Eyed Dragon jumped in fright.
He tightened his grip on the dagger.
"Who the hell are you? You dare wreck my place?"
Su Chen didn't even look at him.
He raised his right hand
and snapped his fingers.
Whoosh.
A shadow leapt down from the second floor.
The Cardinal appeared behind the One-Eyed Dragon like a ghost.
A bony hand clamped around the One-Eyed Dragon's neck.
The pressure of a Soul Douluo came crashing down like a mountain.
Thump. Thump.
The burly men around them were forced to their knees by the pressure.
They couldn't even lift their heads.
The dagger fell from the One-Eyed Dragon's hand.
His face turned deathly pale with fear.
"M-My lord, spare me!"
Tang San stared fixedly at Su Chen's back.
Hatred nearly poured from his eyes.
"Su Chen, do you really have to drive me to the bitter end?"
Tang San gritted his teeth.
He had never expected
that even after hiding in the Black Market,
he still wouldn't escape Su Chen's pursuit.
Su Chen turned around.
He looked at Tang San, who was in a wretched state.
"Drive you to the bitter end?"
Su Chen chuckled.
"I'm just here to inspect Spirit Hall's underground businesses in Nuoding City."
"You probably didn't know this."
"Seventy percent of this Black Market's cut goes to the Martial Soul Branch Hall."
Tang San felt as if he'd fallen into an icy cavern.
His whole body went cold.
The dark sanctuary he'd counted on
was actually another backyard of Spirit Hall.
Su Chen walked over to the One-Eyed Dragon.
He pulled the sheet of rough paper bearing the Godly Zhuge Crossbow mechanism blueprint from his robes.
He glanced at it.
"This is your trump card? A diagram of a few broken springs and gears?"
Right in front of Tang San,
Su Chen gently rubbed the paper between two fingers.
It instantly crumbled into scraps.
They scattered across the muddy ground, slick with sewage.
"No!"
Tang San's eyes were bloodshot.
It was his first step toward recreating the Tang Sect Secret Arts.
And now it was destroyed.
"Want materials to make poison?"
Su Chen ignored Tang San's fury.
He looked toward the Cardinal.
"Bundle up all that garbage herb he asked for. Give it to him."
The Cardinal froze for a moment.
Then he immediately nodded.
"As you command."
Tang San was stunned too.
He didn't understand why Su Chen would do this.
"Take the herbs and get out of Nuoding City."
Su Chen's gaze was indifferent.
"I'm giving you three days. Go make those poisons."
"Then you can come find me with those Hidden Weapons you're so proud of."
"If, after three days, you're not even worthy of a single glance from me—"
"I'll break all four of your limbs myself and throw you into the Soul Hunting Forest to feed the dogs."
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