Jialie Bi's Attention

Night, like a rising tide, swallowed the last vestiges of clamor in the West Market of Wutan City.

Su Chen tucked the nine jade vials back into his wooden box one by one, his movements steady and devoid of any unnecessary sound.

The pouch containing twenty gold coins was tucked securely against his body; its heavy weight brought him an unprecedented sense of stability.

This was more than just money.

This was the first prey he had captured with his own hands in this cruel jungle, the proof that he could survive—and live even better.

He picked up the wooden box and turned to merge into the dim alleyway.

Not long after he departed, a figure that had been as still as a statue in the shadows of the market corner slowly stirred.

It was a man with an ordinary face, wearing the most common gray short-sleeved shirt, the kind of person who would be impossible to find again if tossed into a crowd.

He did not look in the direction Su Chen had left, but instead fixed his gaze on the alley entrance where the old blacksmith had vanished.

The man's fingers tapped unconsciously against his rough hem, his eyes flickering with shrewd calculations.

He was one of the eyes planted by the Jialie Clan in the West Market, responsible for gathering all sorts of inconspicuous intelligence.

He did not understand alchemy, nor could he discern the value of that orange-red flame.

But he recognized that old blacksmith.

Old Man Wang.

A notorious eccentric in Wutan City, his forging skills were divine, yet his temper was harder than the refined iron in his furnace. Countless mercenaries and wealthy merchants had offered gold coins to have weapons forged, only to be chased away by his broom.

This stingy old man had actually shelled out twenty gold coins for a mere vial of beast fire?

The matter reeked of something unusual.

The man did not linger; his frame hunched, and like a slick loach, he merged silently into the night, speeding off in the exact opposite direction of Su Chen.

The Jialie Clan estate was brightly lit.

Inside the study, however, the atmosphere was as oppressive as solidified molten iron.

"Useless trash!"

A jade tray filled with top-tier medicinal herbs was swept violently to the floor by a large hand.

Amidst the crisp sound of shattering, precious herbs rolled across the ground, coated in dust.

A man wearing an alchemist's robe knelt on the ground, drenched in sweat, his body trembling like chaff in the wind.

Before him stood a bronze medicine cauldron half a man's height; beneath it, a wisp of dark red beast fire flickered weakly, emitting a scorched, acrid odor.

"Clan Head, please calm your anger, please! It is this beast fire—the nature of this fire is too violent, and there are too many impurities. I... I truly cannot control it!"

The alchemist Liu Xi's voice carried a sob as he pointed at the low-quality flame, desperately searching for excuses for his failure.

At the head of the study, a tall, middle-aged man with a sinister face looked down at him with icy eyes.

The Jialie Clan Head, Jialie Bi.

His fingers tapped rhythmically against the expensive rosewood tabletop.

"Cannot control it?"

Jialie Bi's voice was low, yet it burrowed into Liu Xi's ears like a venomous snake.

"This month, you have already wasted three batches of materials for 'Blood Coagulation Powder'. Do you know how many gold coins these materials cost my Jialie Clan?"

"I only ask you: can you or can you not refine the batch of pills for the Black Iron Mercenary Group next month?"

Liu Xi's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

His lips moved for a long time, but he could not utter a single word.

The killing intent in Jialie Bi's eyes flashed and vanished.

What difference was there between an alchemist who could not create value for the clan and a dog that only knew how to eat?

Just as the air in the study was about to freeze solid, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

"Clan Head!"

The eye from the West Market walked in quickly and knelt on one knee.

"Speak."

Jialie Bi's tone held no emotion.

The informant dared not look up, reporting his observations from the West Market as quickly as possible.

He did not add embellishments, simply stating objectively how the strange old blacksmith, Wang, had readily paid twenty gold coins for a vial of flame from a mysterious youth's stall.

At first, Jialie Bi did not care.

A mere twenty gold coins were but a drop in the ocean to him.

But when he heard the word "flame," those fingers that had been lightly tapping the table stopped abruptly.

His gaze slowly shifted from the kneeling Liu Xi to the informant on one knee.

"You say... Blacksmith Wang bought a bottle of flame?"

"Yes, Clan Head. That flame was very strange; its color was a pure orange-red, without a trace of black smoke, and it was completely silent."

The informant strained to recall the details.

"Moreover, that young man's stall had ten identical bottles just like it on display!"

Ten bottles!

Identical!

Jialie Bi's pupils contracted sharply.

Liu Xi, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly lifted his head, his face filled with disbelief.

As an alchemist, he knew better than anyone that beast fire was formed from the essence of a magical beast. Every magical beast's innate flame was unique, impure, and varied in form.

How could there possibly be ten identical beast fires?

Unless...

Unless that wasn't natural beast fire at all, but something refined and purified through some secret technique!

A wild thought exploded in the minds of both Jialie Bi and Liu Xi simultaneously.

Jialie Bi slowly stood up and paced back and forth in the study.

His breathing became somewhat heavy.

He thought of Liu Xi's incompetence, the urgent orders for medicinal pills that were burning his eyebrows, and the massive profits the clan's market lost every year due to a shortage of pills.

If...

If they could obtain that kind of high-quality flame...

It wouldn't just solve the immediate trouble.

It would mean the Jialie Clan would possess a stable, inexhaustible production line for high-quality medicinal pills!

In Wutan City, what would that mean?

It would mean they could completely suppress the Xiao Clan and the Aoba Clan, monopolizing the entire city's medicinal pill market!

A surge of scorching greed erupted from the depths of his heart like magma, instantly incinerating all his reason.

"What did that youth look like? Where did he go?"

Jialie Bi's voice became hoarse and urgent.

"Very young, looking only fifteen or sixteen, with a thin build, wearing a set of faded, worn-out clothes. This one saw him... he seemed to be heading toward the slums in the south of the city."

The slums?

A poor kid with no power or backing?

A cruel smile appeared on Jialie Bi's face.

This was simply a piece of fat meat delivered to his mouth by the heavens!

He no longer hesitated, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

"Pass down the order!"

His voice was cold and decisive.

"Send two sharp men to follow him! Find out his background, where he lives, and where that flame comes from!"

"Remember!"

Jialie Bi emphasized his tone, each word squeezed out from between his teeth.

"What I want is not just those one or two bottles of fire."

"What I want is the secret... to that endless supply of such flames!"

"Yes, Clan Head!"

The informant acknowledged the order and quickly retreated.

Inside the study, only Jialie Bi and the still-kneeling Liu Xi remained.

Jialie Bi sat back down in the main seat, picked up the teacup on the table, and gently blew away the steam.

The rage and suppression from just moments ago had vanished, replaced by the composure of a hunter who had locked onto his prey and was certain of the kill.

He glanced at Liu Xi.

"I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself."

"Wait for my good news."

The night deepened.

Su Chen's footsteps wove through the intricate, complex alleyways.

He did not return directly to his own dilapidated courtyard, but instead deliberately circled around several times.

This was not the well-lit, safe society of his past life.

Here, darkness was synonymous with danger.

Clutching a "fortune" large enough to make any desperate criminal green with envy, he could not afford to be careless.

The weight of the coin purse brought him both comfort and vigilance.

He immersed himself in planning for the future.

With this first bit of startup capital, he could purchase better jade vials, better tools, and perhaps even attempt to hunt higher-level Tier 1 Magical Beasts to obtain higher-quality beast fire.

Purify, replicate, sell.

A clear path toward strength was slowly unfolding beneath his feet.

Just as he passed through a narrow, gloomy alleyway, nearing the familiar abandoned district he called home, his footsteps faltered slightly.

Something was wrong.

The surroundings were too quiet.

There wasn't a single chirp of an insect or a bark of a dog.

A faint, lingering sense of being watched felt like a cold, thin needle pricking the back of his neck.

Su Chen's heart sank abruptly.

He did not turn around, maintaining his original pace as if he had noticed nothing.

Yet, his breathing became light and long, almost imperceptibly.

The muscles throughout his body tightened quietly, like a bowstring pulled to its limit.

At the end of the alley was a small corner.

On the ground at the corner, a puddle of murky, muddy water had formed from a light rain the night before.

Su Chen's footsteps passed by the puddle, neither fast nor slow.

In the split second he lowered his head to step forward, his peripheral vision darted toward the murky water.

Reflected in the water, besides his own figure, were two blurred black silhouettes following closely about thirty meters behind him.

They walked steadily with light movements, clearly professionals who had undergone rigorous training.

A chill shot straight from the soles of Su Chen's feet to the top of his head!

He was being targeted!

The joy and hope brought by the twenty gold coins he had just acquired were shattered into pieces by the cold reality of this moment!

He gripped the coin purse hidden in his sleeve tightly.

No.

That wasn't right.

If they were common robbers, they would have rushed a scrawny youth like him long ago.

These two were following at a distance, keeping their figures concealed.

They weren't after money.

They were... tracking him!

A thought suddenly became clear.

"They aren't here for the money; they're here for the fire!"

Su Chen's face turned pale in the dim light.

He realized that his small stall had ultimately attracted the attention of those with ulterior motives.

Possessing a treasure is a crime.

This principle, which he had understood in his past life, was now baring its fangs at him in the most cruel and direct way.

He did not panic in the slightest.

Extreme danger, instead, pushed him into a state of unprecedented calm.

He rounded the corner and his pace suddenly quickened.

Almost at the same time, the two black shadows behind him also accelerated, no longer bothering to hide, pursuing him relentlessly like maggots on rotting bone!

Under the cover of night, a silent hunt had already begun.