Soul Lamp Extinguished, Hidden Webs Intertwine
Demon Capital, Black Crow Alley.
The fifth basement level of the "Myriad Treasures Pavilion" trading company is an extremely spacious monitoring and command center with an astonishingly high level of security.
On a huge monitoring wall made up of hundreds of screens, countless green dots flashed. These dots represented Myriad Treasures Pavilion's "dirty work" handlers and thugs scattered throughout the underworld of Demon Capital.
Each of the dispatched henchmen had an extremely tiny, non-blockable sensor of blood and qi fluctuations implanted within their bodies—the so-called "Life Soul Lamp."
It can not only locate them in real time, but also accurately monitor their vital signs.
At the monitoring station, several operators wearing headsets were yawning boredly. In their view, Myriad Treasures Pavilion held absolute power in Demon Capital's black market, and no one would dare to touch their people.
However.
"Drop--!!!"
A piercing red alarm suddenly echoed wildly throughout the command center without warning!
In the southwest corner of the surveillance wall, a previously steadily flashing green dot suddenly turned an extremely glaring blood red, and then...
With a "snap".
The light went out completely, disappearing without a trace!
"What happened?!"
The supervisor on duty suddenly jumped up from his chair, his face changed drastically, and he shouted angrily.
"Reporting, supervisor! The vital signs of the creature codenamed ' Gray Wolf ' disappeared instantly in the ruins area of the eastern city! Confirmed dead!" An operator reported, his hands flying across the keyboard, sweat pouring down his face.
"Disappeared instantly? Gray Wolf is a Qi Gathering Third Layer martial artist! Even if he encountered a tough opponent at the Late Qi Gathering, he couldn't possibly be killed instantly without even being able to send out a distress signal!"
The supervisor was filled with turmoil, and an extremely ominous premonition welled up in his heart.
"Immediately retrieve the Gray Wolf's attendance records and target images for tonight!"
The screen switched rapidly, and soon, images of the Gray Wolf following Dongfang Yueming in the back alley of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, as well as the silent video of Dongfang Yueming buying the cultivation technique in the shop earlier, were displayed.
"Bring me the waiter who was in charge of receiving this man in black right now!"
Less than two minutes.
The waiter Awei, who had been dreaming of getting rich, was dragged into the command center by two fierce guards and thrown in front of the supervisor like a dead dog.
"Master... Master! You wanted to see me?" Awei was trembling with fear, completely unaware of what was happening.
"I'm asking you," the supervisor said, walking up to Awei, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up, his eyes icy cold. "What did this man in black buy from you tonight? Did he say anything unusual? Tell me everything clearly, without omitting a single word! If you leave out even a single word, I'll chop you up and feed you to the dogs!"
Terrified by the murderous intent, Awei dared not hide anything any longer and spilled the beans, recounting everything Dongfang Yueming had bought and their conversation in detail.
"He... he bought a Yellow Grade Qi Gathering Method worth 1.2 million, and various Yellow Grade Qi Technique worth over 6 million..."
"However..." Awei swallowed hard, trying to recall, "When he was buying things, he asked me if I had any methods for reaching the Meridian Opening Realm, and he even asked for eight concealment Qi Technique in one go! The strangest thing is that he specifically asked to buy 'pupil techniques'! And seven of them!"
"Concealment technique? Eye technique?"
The supervisor frowned and threw Awei to the ground.
He waved his hand, signaling for someone to take Awei away.
"Compile this into a top-secret report immediately!" the supervisor barked at the operator. "This matter is beyond my authority; it must be reported to the 'Elder' at once!"
The deepest part of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion underground, the seventh floor.
This is the true forbidden area of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion's upper echelons. Without permission, even a Qi Gathering Realm Perfection expert who dares to step inside will be instantly minced into meat paste by the hidden killing array.
A quiet, antique-style room.
The air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood incense. An elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in Tang-style clothing, sat cross-legged on a futon.
With each breath he took, two visible wisps of white vapor rose and fell from his nose, and the surrounding spiritual energy vibrated rhythmically with his breathing.
This was none other than a powerful being who had broken through the shackles of the Qi Gathering Realm and opened up all eight extraordinary meridians in his body—a [Meridian Opening Realm] expert!
He is also one of the three "elders" of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion stationed here.
Bang bang bang.
A knock came from outside the door, a sound so respectful it was almost trembling.
"Come in." The old man in the Tang suit slowly opened his eyes. Although his voice was old, it carried an imposing and authoritative aura.
The supervisor pushed open the door, knelt on one knee, and presented an encrypted tablet with both hands.
"Elder, something's happened. Gray Wolf was killed instantly by his target while on a hunting mission, without even being able to send out a distress signal."
"Um?"
The elderly man in the Tang suit raised an eyebrow, took the tablet, and quickly scanned the information on it.
When he saw that Dongfang Yueming specifically requested to purchase "Concealment Qi Technique" and "Pupil Technique," a sharp glint suddenly flashed in his normally calm eyes.
"Eye technique..."
The old man tapped his fingers lightly on the table and let out a cold laugh.
"In a place like Demon Capital, any martial artist with a little common sense knows that unorthodox techniques like pupil magic were banned by the major families and the Night Watchers decades ago, and there's no way they'd be sold on the market."
"Since this person wants to buy the pupil technique, it means he's a newcomer to Demon Capital and doesn't know the rules."
The old man's Spirit Transformation increasingly profound, as if he had seen through the fog.
"A complete outsider with the strength to instantly kill Qi Gathering Third Layer cultivator... and he also possesses stealth techniques and eye magic..."
"What do ordinary people need eye techniques for? It's nothing more than to see through illusions."
"But in this day and age, the vast majority of people who want this thing have only one purpose..." The old man's voice turned extremely cold.
"That is... to see through those 'non-human beings' disguised in human skin!"
Upon hearing this, the supervisor shuddered violently, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He immediately understood the elder's meaning.
"You mean... he's one of those ' Resisters ' who're like sewer Rat?!"
"Not just the Resisters."
The elderly man in the Tang suit stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked to the wall of the quiet room. On that wall hung a high-resolution map of the Great Xia Country, and the location of Jinling City was marked with a large red X.
The old man's eyes were fixed on the red cross.
"Judging by the time, it's been exactly one day since that person wiped out the Night Watchers branch in Jinling City."
"And from the moment the Gray Wolf struck until its death, less than a few seconds passed. Such terrifying instant-kill ability..."
The elderly man in the Tang suit turned around, looked at the supervisor, and spoke with a chilling certainty in his tone.
If I'm not mistaken...
"The man in black who bought up Yellow Grade Qi Technique in the store is very likely the mysterious murderer who enraged the higher-ups and led to the annihilation of the Jinling Judge!"