"Afterwards, you’ll have to help me,"
Li Guanyi turned around and walked away, his back to the silver-haired girl, saying, "I won’t let you down." He failed to notice a faint, ephemeral smile that traced across Shaking Light’s face. No one saw this brief smile, which quickly faded, returning her expression to its usual impassive state.
The silver-haired girl fingered the blanket, pulling it up to conceal her face.
Only a pair of eyes remained visible.
When Li Guanyi stepped outside the door, he let out a sigh.
his Primordial Spirit circulated, and the Primordial Qi under his feet shifted, drawing stones, vegetation, and currents of water. With a sweep of his sleeve, the Shaoyang Sword landed, forming a simple Four Symbols Sealing Spirit Formation before he finally felt at ease to leave.
He had come to this place intent on killing Lady Hua Rui,
but having experienced the affairs at the Ghost Market, he had grown calmer and more mature.
He did not rashly burst forth with murderous intent, but planned to first clarify the details of Lady Hua Rui—her sphere of influence, her martial arts, and only then would he make his move, to prevent any complications following her death.
Since Li Guanyi had left the Xue family, he was unable to utilize their intelligence network,
but in this world, there definitely existed another place where he could obtain what he was searching for.
In Zhenbei City, the world’s first Heroic City, such a place was bound to have a Ghost Market. Li Guanyi bought a simple mask, changed his clothes, and masked his Qi Mechanism with his cultivation technique. He found the Ghost Market and, using his wooden Honored Guest Token, successfully entered.
A person from the Ghost Market returned the Honored Guest Token to the young man, politely asking:
"I’m not sure what you’re looking to buy—elixirs, weapons, heavenly materials, treasures, or martial arts scriptures?"
Li Guanyi said, "Information."
The person from the Ghost Market replied with a slight smile, "Alright, please come with me."
The Mystic Turtle Dharma Form nearly let out beams of light from its eyes, touching here and there, its bean-sized eyes wide with excitement, almost ready to howl with delight.
Li Guanyi couldn’t call it back, so the Red Dragon Dharma Form let out a long chant and, with a sweep of its tail, pulled the Mystic Turtle Dharma Form away from a chest it desperately wanted to stick its head into.
The Mystic Turtle Dharma Form struggled frantically with its four claws scraping, but to no avail.
At the place where information was sold, Li Guanyi’s gaze swept over the area, then tightened slightly:
"Chen Country, Ying Country, Martial World, grassland, Western Regions, outside the border."
Six plaques stood there.
Li Guanyi stepped into the area designated for Chen Country. In Zhenbei City, a roll of records landed in his hands, and the young Taoist quickly found the name ’Lady Hua Rui.’
It was on the first page of intelligence regarding Zhenbei City.
Clearly very important.
He then looked at the latter section.
[Price: Five hundred gold coins, or a corresponding Profound Level high-grade task once]
Li Guanyi’s gaze subtly froze.
The young man’s chest heaved as he inwardly cursed:
"Five hundred gold coins?!"
"Why don’t you just rob someone!"
The young man’s wallet contained only five pieces of silver, and the smiling Ghost Messenger from the Ghost Market said, "Esteemed guest, are you interested in the information regarding Lady Hua Rui? This first beauty of Zhenbei City has caught the interest of many significant figures."
"Her beauty is unmatched, and she is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. However, for some unknown reason, she isn’t on the list of Martial World’s most beautiful women. It’s said that when The World’s First Building’s Great Minister Tu Shengyuan visited here, the moment he saw that great beauty, he covered his nose and mouth, crying out in disgust and left immediately."
"It seems he greatly offended that great beauty."
"The specifics of why are unknown to anyone."
"To learn more, you only need a mere five hundred gold coins, quite a bargain."
Li Guanyi’s lips curled slightly, then without much fluctuation in his tone, he said:
He continued reading, and saw the most expensive current intelligence of Zhenbei City.
[Qilin Hunting Conference.]
[Priced at three thousand gold coins/a single Earth-level assassination task]
Just for intelligence, there was a price of three thousand gold coins. The Frost Halberd, a top weapon-level blade that served as Chen Country’s grand ceremony competition prize, would require three such weapons just to purchase this intelligence. The costliness was prohibitive.
In the Ghost Market, with enough wealth, indeed everything had its price.
Li Guanyi thought of the many martial artists he saw that day, Nan Qingping, the seventh-ranked chivalrous hero of the Martial World, Gongsun Feixue, the seventh-ranked beauty of the Martial World, and the old Family Head of the Gongsun aristocratic family. None of these should be participating in the Qilin Hunting Conference.
The whirlpool of Zhenbei City was too vast, better to leave early.
Li Guanyi thought to himself, rising to leave. The Ghost Messenger from the Ghost Market didn’t belittle Li Guanyi for not being able to afford the intelligence but instead showed him around. Inside the large house for Chen Country’s intelligence, Li Guanyi noticed the hanging wooden plaques.
The Ghost Messenger said with a smiling face, "This is the place for intelligence bounties, an essential part of the Ghost Market’s trade. If you have any secret intelligence, you can sell it to us in the Ghost Market, and we will surely not disappoint you."
Li Guanyi immediately spotted a familiar name.
[Li Guanyi information demand—A thousand gold coins for his whereabouts. Three thousand for tracking his movements. Ten thousand gold coins, one mystical weapon, and one Dharma Form level martial arts for his elimination.]
Even Li Guanyi was tempted to sell himself.
It seemed the world indeed had no shortage of people who wanted him dead.
After looking around, he bought nothing and left the Ghost Market openly and confidently. Exiting, he exhaled and said, "That was a bit too expensive, especially since the Ghost Market takes a cut."