While Su Yun was on a shopping spree,
several sinister gazes had been quietly fixed on him the whole time.
Deep in the Azure Cloud Market, in a shadowy corner,
stood a shabby, low stone hut, isolated and deserted.
The air inside was stale, faintly tainted with the smell of blood.
Six cultivators in rough clothes and with fierce faces sat in a circle.
Their auras were cold and sinister, their eyes vicious, and traces of murderous violence lingered around them.
The man at their head had a dark complexion, prominent cheekbones, and a hand covered in knife scars.
His cultivation was astonishingly at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.
The other five were at the sixth layer of Qi Refining at minimum; three were at the seventh layer, and two at the eighth.
Every last one of them was a vicious criminal.
These six were rogue cultivators who roamed the outskirts of the Azure Cloud Market, preying on travelers.
What was a rogue cultivator?
They cultivated without earning merit and followed no rules.
They specialized in lying in wait, tailing, and ambushing lone cultivators.
They robbed them of spirit stones, pills, materials, and storage bags.
They killed for loot, living by the blade.
They were elusive, never leaving a trace behind.
They were infamous in the area around the Azure Cloud Market.
The market stewards had launched several manhunts, but had never caught them.
No one knew their real names, and no one knew where they came from.
Scarface narrowed his eyes, a greedy, savage grin curling his lips.
"Did you see that? The black-clad, middle-aged man just now."
"In the space of one hour, he bought out seven or eight material shops."
"He spends lavishly, tossing out thousands of spirit stones at a time."
A sharp-chinned young man beside him swallowed, his eyes bloodshot.
"He's definitely one big fat sheep!"
Another burly man gave a low, rough pant.
"I saw it clearly. When he paid, the light from his storage bag flashed."
"There must be mountains of spirit stones inside."
The six men's breathing grew heavier, greed almost spilling from their eyes.
Scarface lightly tapped the wall with his fingers and spoke in a low, sinister voice.
"We've been short on cash lately."
"We do this job,"
"and split the spirit stones evenly. That'll be enough for the six of us to live it up for a whole year."
A year without risking their lives on robberies or braving dangerous places.
Every one of them felt their heart leap.
One man hesitated, his brow furrowing.
"Boss, we should be careful."
"This man spends like that because he's loaded. He might have a powerful sect backing him, or high-level cultivators escorting him.
If we provoke someone we can't handle, we'll die without a whole corpse."
The hut fell silent at his words.
Some were wavering; others were wary.
Scarface sneered, his face full of disdain.
"What's there to be afraid of?"
"I probed him with my spiritual sense just now. He's only at the sixth layer of Qi Refining."
"Alone, with no servants or guards."
"Plainly dressed, unfamiliar face. He's just someone out shopping on his own."
His eyes turned fierce as he spoke in a low voice.
"As long as we make our move cleanly,"
"pick a secluded mountain road, kill him, and burn the body,"
"who could trace it back to us?"
"Thousands of people pass through the market every day. Who would care if one sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator died?"
"The Azure Cloud Sect stewards only guard the market itself.
Once we're beyond the market's formation, who's going to care about the wilderness?"
His gaze swept across the others, his tone growing harsher.
"Fortune favors the bold!"
"We're rogue cultivators. When have we ever been afraid of a corpse?"
"All these years, when haven't we lived by the blade?"
"This fat sheep's loaded. We'd be fools not to butcher him!"
"Or do you want to keep squatting by the roadside, scraping up scraps?"
"Are you satisfied with that?"
Those words completely ignited the five men's greed.
All six had been bloodthirsty and cruel for years.
Lured by the spirit stones, they instantly cast their misgivings aside.
The burly man clenched his fists, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
"Let's do it!"
The sharp-chinned young man licked his cracked lips and gave a savage grin.
"He's only at the sixth layer of Qi Refining."
"There are six of us, and our boss is at the ninth."
Overwhelming!
A crushing victory, without the slightest suspense.
Another man spoke in a sinister voice. "Once we're done, we'll move straight to another market and lie low. No one will ever know."
Scarface grinned, showing a mouthful of yellow teeth, killing intent radiating from him.
"Good."
"We'll make our move as soon as he leaves the market!"
The shopping spree was over.
Su Yun leisurely walked out through the Azure Cloud Market's formation barrier.
He was in high spirits, the corners of his mouth turned up as he casually hummed a little tune.
"Made some money, made some money, don't know what to do with it..."
His mind was busy calculating his profits.
This batch of talisman materials had cost him twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones.
With his Thousandfold Amplification talisman-making ability,
the results would be high-grade talismans at the very least, and most would be top-grade.
A single low-tier top-grade talisman sold for far more than an ordinary one.
Once he finished drawing them all and sold them off, he conservatively estimated his net profit would be at least one hundred and fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones.
One hundred and fifty thousand.
Converted to mid-grade spirit stones, that came to over fifteen hundred.
The more Su Yun thought about it, the happier he became. His eyes curved into crescents, and his face broke into a radiant smile.
He had to get back to the sect quickly.
First, he'd master the fundamentals of talisman-making and get familiar with the runic patterns. Then he'd push his talisman-making skills straight to the peak.
The road ahead was wide open, and he wouldn't have to worry about resources.
Life was good.
Su Yun clasped his hands behind his back and strolled along the mountain path toward the distant woods.
He had no idea.
Behind him, six cold gazes were fixed on him.
In the shadows of the distant woods,
the six rogue cultivators kept low and followed him at a cautious distance.
They had concealed their auras and kept their footsteps light. Years of robbery had made them experts at staying hidden.
They exchanged glances, the greed in their eyes growing more intense.
Su Yun looked leisurely as he walked ahead, but in truth, his spiritual sense was spread loosely around him the entire time.
After he'd gone three li,
his spiritual sense stirred faintly, and six distinct fluctuations of spiritual energy appeared in his mind.
At first, Su Yun paid no attention.
There were plenty of travelers on the mountain paths. It was normal for others to be heading the same way.
He deliberately kept his expression unchanged, then turned and took a detour onto a secluded path to the left.
The next moment,
the six auras behind him shifted in unison, keeping close on his trail.
Su Yun halted. The easy smile on his face slowly faded, and a cold glint flickered in his eyes.
He understood now.
He'd run into rogue cultivators.
They'd probably set their sights on him because he'd gone on a shopping spree in the market and spent too freely.
Six of them.
Five at the sixth, seventh, and eighth layers, and their leader with the strongest aura was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.
In this desolate wilderness, that kind of lineup was enough to let them run wild.
An ordinary rogue cultivator who crossed paths with these six would be doomed.
Too bad for them.
They'd picked the wrong target.
A mocking curve appeared at the corner of Su Yun's mouth.
If they were looking for death, he'd oblige them.
He'd been wanting to test his true combat strength anyway.
"This place is too open. It's not a good place to fight."
Su Yun glanced around. Not far ahead lay a narrow, shadowy valley.
Its entrance was concealed, few people ever went there, and steep rocks surrounded it.
It was the perfect place to kill—and to dispose of a corpse.
Su Yun didn't hesitate. He drove spiritual energy into his feet, and his figure suddenly sped up.
As if he'd sensed danger and was deliberately fleeing, he raced toward the depths of the valley.
Back in the woods,
Scarface's eyes narrowed, and he barked, "Something's wrong! We've been spotted!"
"This man's very alert!"
"Quick, after him! Don't let him escape into the mountains!"