Flying Sword Emerges

Hum—

The sword case in Jiang Yuan's hand trembled lightly, a layer of dim light spreading across its surface. Then, a tiny flying sword shot out of the case!

Whoosh!

In an instant, the flying swords became two streaks of light that slashed toward Xue Tu and Zhou Yun!

They were so fast that the naked eye could barely follow them.

"This is..."

Xue Tu's pupils contracted violently. He seemed to realize something, but it was already too late to dodge.

"Pfft—"

The next second, a flying sword pierced through his chest, and blood gushed out!

"You actually..."

Seeing that his heart had been pierced by a single sword, Xue Tu stared at Jiang Yuan in disbelief, seemingly unable to believe that he had been killed.

He had guessed correctly. His treasure had been taken by Jiang Yuan.

And now, it had become the thing that claimed his life.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yun had long since been scared out of his wits and turned to flee.

But once the flying sword was unleashed, it would not rest until it tasted blood!

Pshk!

The next moment, the other flying sword pierced through Zhou Yun's back with the speed of lightning, too swift to cover one's ears.

Zhou Yun lowered his head to look at the bloody hole in his chest, terror filling his eyes. He had seemingly never expected today's outcome.

"You... you..."

His lips moved, but before he could utter a second sentence, he collapsed to the ground.

He died with his eyes still open.

Jiang Yuan recalled the flying swords and sealed them back into the sword case. He was already drenched in sweat.

With his current Qi Condensation cultivation, he could barely control a single flying sword, and it had nearly drained all his true qi!

Moreover, this thing did not merely consume true qi. It also consumed physical strength and mental energy, while requiring immensely powerful sword intent to sustain it. Otherwise, it simply could not be used.

With such harsh requirements, it was no wonder Xue Tu had never dared use it.

Every use had to be approached with the utmost caution.

Still, it truly deserved to be the possession of a grandmaster of the sword path. Its power was simply terrifying.

Jiang Yuan glanced at the corpses strewn across the ground, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "The rest of you, come out."

As his words fell, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Before long, laughter rang out from the reed marsh, and more than a dozen burly men emerged.

The one leading them was the one-eyed burly man from the Black Market.

"Hahaha, Brother Jiang, what impressive skill!"

The one-eyed man at the front laughed and clasped his fists. "This junior is Liu Mang, a White Tiger Hall steward of the Black Market. I had long heard that Brother Jiang was no ordinary man. Seeing you today, your reputation truly precedes you!"

Jiang Yuan merely glanced at the three men and did not respond.

Had his senses not been sharper than those of ordinary people, he likely would not have discovered this group.

Liu Mang was not embarrassed and continued with a smile.

"Brother Jiang, do not misunderstand. The outer city is Black Market territory. We absolutely did not appear here to ambush you."

"So?"

"So..."

Liu Mang chuckled. "I merely wish to boldly invite Brother Jiang to visit our Black Market, have a cup of tea, and make a friend. What do you say?"

Jiang Yuan sneered inwardly.

Hospitality from the host?

If he had not killed Xue Tu and the others so swiftly and decisively, they would probably have reaped the fisherman's profit by now.

However, he had expended too much true qi at the moment and truly could not fall out with them.

"Steward Liu is so hospitable that this old man would be impolite to refuse."

Jiang Yuan put on the air of a master whose skill gave him courage and nodded indifferently.

"Lead the way."

"Straightforward!"

Liu Mang was overjoyed. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Brother Jiang, this way, please!"

About an hour later.

Jiang Yuan followed Liu Mang and the others to the Black Market's headquarters.

The Black Market's influence was extremely vast, with branches established in every major city throughout the Great Yu Kingdom.

On the surface, the Black Market was a large merchant association. In truth, it was the largest underworld force, controlling the underground economic lifelines of nearly every major city. Its shadow could be found in every sort of gray underground trade.

Take Jiangning City, for example.

Jiangning City was divided into the inner city and the outer city. The inner city was entirely governed by the City Lord's Manor and was inhabited mostly by registered Jiangning citizens. The outer city, however, was largely controlled by the Black Market. There were merchants who had come from north and south to do business, refugees unable to settle down, and quite a few people of the martial world—a chaotic mix of fish and dragons.

The outer city and inner city were separated by only a single river, yet they were as different as heaven and earth.

The inner city was prosperous and peaceful, while the outer city was chaotic and noisy. The two sides kept to their own wells and did not interfere with each other.

The Black Market's compound was not large, but its guards were strict. Several men with long sabers at their waists stood at the entrance. Upon seeing Liu Mang, they all saluted.

"Steward Liu."

"Mm."

Liu Mang nodded and led Jiang Yuan through the gates with a smile, as warm as though they were old friends reunited after many years apart.

This behavior caused quite a stir among the Black Market members.

"Who is that old man? Steward Liu is actually greeting him with a smile?"

"Who knows? Do not ask what you should not ask."

"..."

Along the way, Jiang Yuan observed in secret.

He was not registered in Jiangning City and had always lived in the inner city, so he knew little of the outer city.

According to what the tea house patrons said, this place was a lawless land. Even entering required one to pay the Black Market protection money, making it sound extremely dangerous.

Yet upon seeing it today, that did not seem to be the case.

The outer city looked like an ordinary marketplace. Many shops lined its streets, while vendors called out from the roadside. Everything was orderly, and it even appeared somewhat more prosperous than the marketplace in the inner city.

For the Black Market to grow so powerful in these troubled times, it truly had a few tricks up its sleeve.

Seeing Jiang Yuan's curiosity, Liu Mang smiled and asked, "Brother Jiang lives in the inner city, so I suppose this is your first time in our outer city?"

"Correct." Jiang Yuan nodded.

"Hehe."

Liu Mang chuckled twice before saying, "Brother Jiang, there is no need for surprise. Our Black Market is not the overbearing and unreasonable force the authorities make us out to be. On the contrary, we are all respectable businessmen, and we have even taken in many homeless refugees."

"As for that tiny bit of protection money we collect, compared to the authorities' taxes, it is but a single hair from nine oxen."

"Many people here are willing to do business with us."

Jiang Yuan nodded slightly but did not refute him.

In these troubled times, the authorities' taxes and forced labor were indeed too burdensome for ordinary people.

If the Black Market could support refugees who could not afford to pay taxes, then it would indeed be doing a good deed.

However, businessmen valued profit above all else.

The Black Market called itself a group of businessmen, but Jiang Yuan did not believe they would engage in charity.

There had to be some hidden scheme behind it.

After entering the Black Market compound, Liu Mang led Jiang Yuan straight to a magnificent estate. Looking up, Jiang Yuan saw three large characters written in soaring, dancing strokes.

White Tiger Hall!

A glance revealed that the estate covered an immense area. Several luxurious residences and ancient halls stood within, while fully equipped training grounds dotted every corner. From time to time, the sounds of martial artists sparring could be heard.

This White Tiger Hall alone seemed more imposing than the government yamen.

"Brother Jiang, please sit!"

Liu Mang smiled as he invited Jiang Yuan into his own residence and ordered his subordinates to serve tea. Then he sternly addressed the two men behind him.

"You two were blind and offended this senior before. Why are you not quickly offering tea and apologizing?"

They were the very men who had offended Jiang Yuan in Refugee Alley: Li Ren and Li Yi.

Li Ren and Li Yi hurriedly came forward with ingratiating smiles, bowing and scraping. "Senior Jiang, this lowly one was blind and failed to recognize greatness. Today, we solemnly apologize to you."

"We hope that you, a great man, will not hold the faults of small men against us!"

Jiang Yuan accepted the tea bowl and took a sip. Unable to taste much of anything, he smacked his lips and said, "No matter. This old man does not hold grudges."

"Steward Liu, you did not invite this old man here merely to serve tea and offer apologies, did you?"

Liu Mang also lifted his tea and took a sip, chuckling. "Ah, Brother Jiang, do not be in such a hurry. Let this little brother first show you some proper hospitality."

"Hmph. If that is the case, this old man has important matters to attend to and will not keep you company!"

Jiang Yuan snorted, flicked his sleeve, and rose to leave on the spot.

One never visits the Three Treasures Hall without cause.

The more the other party refused to state his purpose, the more uneasy Jiang Yuan became. Naturally, he was unwilling to remain for even one more second.

Seeing this, Liu Mang hurriedly grabbed Jiang Yuan and sighed. "Ah, Brother Jiang acts with thunderous speed. Then I shall not beat around the bush."

"May I ask, Brother Jiang... do you have any interest in joining our Black Market?"