Chapter 114 - 114 113 The Eye of the Storm

114: Chapter 113 The Eye of the Storm 114: Chapter 113 The Eye of the Storm “Ancient Unusual Objects?” An Jing was slightly startled, he recalled what the Lucky Road boss had said—the very reason why Luofu Group clashed fiercely with Shouyang Group and even invaded the Black Market: “Could it be… that Ancient Oddity?” The Sword Spirit didn’t answer, obviously unable to confirm, but how many Ancient Oddities could still be in the Black Market now? The very fact the Fengdu Guards were rampaging through the Black Market was predicated on their firm belief that this oddity was indeed within its confines. The Ancient Unusual Object that precipitated all this… “Hey.” Suddenly, An Jing laughed, his demeanor bright and sunny, “Subdue Evil, what do you say about us stealing this oddity, and having both sides desperate and running around in circles?” “As an Immortal Sword,” Subdue Evil said, “I do not support you stealing, robbing, or killing for personal greed, nor do I agree with taking advantage of other people’s deaths to seek personal gain—even though I know you’re not doing it for yourself, this is just a reminder.” “But…” Its tone shifted. “But what?” An Jing followed up. “But I’m shattered,” Subdue Evil said. “Even the great Daoist Ancestors and the Honored Buddha would turn a blind eye and nap, so why wouldn’t I?” “Good.” With a light chuckle, An Jing felt even more that Subdue Evil was indeed his kind. What they pondered on was not something any normal person would consider. An ordinary person would definitely want to flee the eye of the storm, but neither Subdue Evil nor he had the slightest thought of doing so. On the contrary, they wished to rush into the eye of the storm and stir up the situation even more. If it weren’t for this, how could he be the Heavenly Mandate? While discussing with Subdue Evil, An Jing kept an eye on the video feed from the drone. “Huh.” He murmured lightly, sensing something was amiss, “This guy is heading for the escape route toward Mount Xiao Zhe.” “And by the look of his steps… he’s clearly being chased here!” After confirming the other party’s course of action, An Jing immediately grew suspicious. Heading towards the escape route to Mount Xiao Zhe was neither here nor there—the shop assistant female cultivator had said it was a common escape route—but being chased there was truly terrifying. —Who would be chasing him? —The Fengdu Guards! And, for some reason, An Jing suddenly thought of something else. The emblem for Mount Xiao Zhe was a crimson peak under a golden dawn. The solitary peak and the morning sun, associated with Shouyang… mining related… —The first among the ten secondary channels, it’s called Shouyang Mountain, where there is an abundance of gold and jade, but no vegetation. This is bad! His eyes widening, An Jing drew a deep breath as he realized what he had overlooked. When he first visited Mount Xiao Zhe, he didn’t understand the power structures and symbols of the Tianyuan Realm, but now thinking about it, wasn’t Mount Xiao Zhe an industry under the Shouyang Group?! Moreover, for Mount Xiao Zhe to use the solitary peak and morning sun emblem, it indicated it was a core industry! A flood of information streamed through An Jing’s mind. —When the Luofu lost the Ancient Oddity, the Shouyang Group was right there, and both sides immediately engaged in battle, the ramifications of which spread throughout the city. This battle caused numerous gangs and lower-level organizations to attack each other, which was the cause of the disturbance An Jing initially encountered with Huo Qing on the Floating Dust Plains. Then, An Jing returned to the Embracing the Void Realm. When he came back to the Tianyuan Realm, he went straight to the Black Market. In that time, the person who got their hands on the Ancient Oddity, now assumed to be from Shouyang Mountain, also hid in the Black Market, yet they were still caught by the people from Luofu. After trailing them and confirming the target was present, the Sky Surveillance Bureau’s Fengdu Guards directly raided the Black Market, and the aftermath of their magical combat caused immense casualties. In the end, one person who bore the scent of the Ancient Oddity, frantically chased, was carefully hiding and preparing to use the shared escape route of Mount Xiao Zhe and its allies to leave the Black Market! Without a doubt, the allies of Mount Xiao Zhe were probably enterprises subordinate to the Shouyang Group! That shared escape route must surely be set up in the Black Market by branches and subsidiaries of the Shouyang Group! Things are clearer now. Shouyang Group snatched the prize from Luofu Group’s jaws and shifted the blame to the Black Market under Xuandu’s banner, and the thief intended to use Shouyang Group’s escape route to leave the Black Market. Doubts abound. But whether or not it was Shouyang Group that did it, at least people like An Jing staying under Shouyang industries are extremely dangerous! “I must leave!” Decisively, An Jing immediately prepared to disentangle himself, pack his belongings, and leave Mount Xiao Zhe. Shouyang’s enterprises will definitely be subject to strict checks, and Mount Xiao Zhe will be no exception. Although he truly wanted to find an opportunity to ambush the Fengdu Guards and even strike the thief from Shouyang Mountain who caused all of this, he definitely wouldn’t choose to lay in wait in a place where the enemy would be on high alert. But as An Jing finished packing his equipment and was about to leave the Mount Xiao Zhe shop, he saw the body of the female cultivator who was an employee there. A suspicion suddenly arose in his heart. ——Mount Xiao Zhe definitely belonged to Shouyang, but the ‘Nameless Good Deeds Certificate Card’ given to him by the employee was ‘universally accepted by Lianshan Bank’. Black Market transactions, smuggled goods, should be the employee’s own embezzlement, or similar to the previously traded Spirit Stones with the ponytailed manager, an illegal private transaction with someone else. The accounts were fine, but she made a profit. In that case, indeed, one should not use a bank card from Shouyang’s own systems. But even so, in this Black Market, one should use a card from Xuandu’s systems, shouldn’t they? Why Lianshan… “How many schemes and conspiracies are there among these cultivation clan groups?” An Jing narrowed his eyes, initially only instinctively feeling something was off, but now upon further deliberation, he found even more fishiness. Based on what An Jing had seen, the number of casualties on the third floor was far fewer than those directly hit on the second floor. This indicated that when attacked by the Fengdu Guards, the female employee had time to escape immediately, she had no reason to guard the shop at such a time. But the fact was, she insisted on guarding the shop, and was subsequently attacked by robbers who emerged later, leaving her critically wounded. Why didn’t she leave immediately? What made a mother, who loved her child so much, take the risk to stay here? And most importantly… An Jing thought of the drone footage showing the ‘Mount Xiao Zhe escape route entrance’ already filled with bodies. Now suspicious, and after careful consideration, An Jing could confirm that no matter the reason, even for a chance to escape, there shouldn’t be so many deaths. That must be a trap! But the female employee didn’t know it was a trap, so she still gave An Jing the map. “If that was a trap…” An Jing murmured gravely in his heart, “who is it trying to capture?” The answer was already very clear… it was the person carrying the ‘Ancient Oddity’! “Wait a bit longer,” An Jing halted his steps, he lifted his head, looking in the direction of the escape route, frowning tightly, “Something’s not right… I’ll observe the situation a bit more.” If his guess was right… “My apologies.” To verify his own thoughts, An Jing strode toward the body of the Mount Xiao Zhe female cultivator, circulating the Complete Circuit within his body, allowing the Golden Qi to flow. He raised his right hand in a hollow gesture and extracted two bullet heads that had sunk into the victim’s chest and abdomen. Not only that, An Jing also activated the Taibai Luminous Godly Ban, quickly found the one that caused the real fatal wound, the bullet that had pierced through the back of the employee’s head, from within the counter. The three bullets were completely different. Either one person was wielding three different guns of varying calibers, or it was three people, each with their own gun — clearly, the latter was the more normal scenario. But that’s not the key point. “There really were bullets…” An Jing examined the bullet heads in his palm, frowning and muttering, “Such weak bandits?” After all, having spent a not inconsiderable amount of time in the Tianyuan Realm, soaking up as much information about this realm as he could each day, An Jing was very clear. In this world, gunpowder weapons were actually used by those small cultivators below Qi Refinement Level Four. Because above Qi Refinement Level Four, one could easily control Spirit Instruments and Magic Artifacts, employing Sword Boxes and Spiritual Light Artifacts with power far superior to gunpowder weapons that could melt metal and iron, penetrating Bulletproof Ponchos with Art of Magic weapons! Of course, with a Spirit Qi Furnace, one could also wield greater powers, but use was limited, and control was not as easy. Only the bottom-tier gangsters and low-level thugs who didn’t have money used gunpowder weapons, leaving behind such evidence as ‘bullet heads’.