Sanhe City.
As its name suggests, three major rivers converge here, sustaining a million people and fostering the most bustling water and land docks for travelers from north and south.
By day, Sanhe City is a prosperous metropolis, a hub for merchants and a gathering place for ladies.
But by night, Sanhe City quietly reveals its other face.
West of the city, Black Water Street.
The roads here are always damp, and the air is filled with the scent of cheap wine, inexpensive cosmetics, and a faint, elusive hint of blood.
This is the underworld of Sanhe City.
Jiang Chen arrived here seven days later.
His clothes had been changed to a less conspicuous grey short jacket, and his face was still smeared with pot ash, making it unrecognisable, except for his eyes, which shone like two cold stars in the dim lantern light.
Behind him, the broken sword wrapped in tattered cloth resembled an unassuming travel bag.
Over seven days, he had travelled and thoroughly consolidated his cultivation.
Of the 210 units of Formless Life Essence, he had consumed about 50 units, raising his Physical Body strength another level.
Now, relying solely on his Physical Body strength, he was already capable of contending with ordinary Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivators.
More importantly, his understanding of Sword Dao Enlightenment had deepened another layer.
He didn't need to practice swordplay.
He only needed to 'watch' Ye Liuyun's life over and over in his mind, and experience that deep-seated sorrow and unwillingness again and again.
His sword moves hadn't increased.
But his Sword Intent had become even more condensed and pure.
He walked into a small alley with a sign that read 'Yuelai Teahouse'; this was his destination for this trip.
The teahouse was brightly lit and bustling with people.
However, unlike ordinary teahouses, there were no storytellers or singing courtesans here.
At each table sat one or two guests with formidable auras and wary eyes.
Some conversed in low voices, some silently wiped their weapons, while others stared intently at the large List hanging on the wall in the center of the teahouse.
This was the largest intelligence trading center in Sanhe City, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion.
Of course, it publicly claimed to be just a teahouse.
The moment Jiang Chen walked in, dozens of gazes, some overt, some covert, immediately fell upon him.
There was scrutiny, disdain, and curiosity.
Jiang Chen ignored them, walking straight to an empty table and sitting down.
"Guest, what would you like to drink?" A lean-faced waiter with a rat-like mustache appeared silently beside him, a professional smile on his face.
Jiang Chen's Eye of Insight swept over him.
【A common peripheral member of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. His fate line indicates that in an hour, he will have his tongue cut out for eavesdropping on a guest's conversation.】
Jiang Chen's heart remained undisturbed.
"A pot of the cheapest coarse tea," he said in a hoarse voice.
"Alright."
The waiter turned and left.
Jiang Chen didn't look at the people around him, nor was he in a hurry to look at the List.
He simply picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup of murky, bitter tea, and then sat quietly, like a stone.
But his Eye of Insight had already encompassed the entire teahouse.
He was like an audience member in a cinema, enjoying a bizarre silent film.
He 'saw' that the black-clad man in the corner, polishing a dagger, was entangled by a deep red 'Killing Line,' the end of which pointed towards the Sanhe City Lord's Manor. His next job was to assassinate the City Lord's concubine.
He 'saw' that the seemingly intimate Dao Companion couple by the window, the 'Love Line' between them had become dim, and each had branched off a 'Private Affair Line' pointing in different directions. Tonight, they would turn against each other over an uneven division of spoils.
He 'saw' that the burly man with a scarred face had a faint yellow thread representing 'Ill-gotten Gains' connecting him to the stool beneath his backside. He didn't know that a money bag, left by the previous guest, was hidden in the interlayer of the stool.
Lies, desires, killings, betrayals... countless fates of Mortals and Cultivators intertwined here into a vast and chaotic web.
Jiang Chen was like an indifferent God, looking down upon all of this.
This feeling fascinated him.
He didn't need to spend money to buy intelligence.
Because here, every living person was a walking intelligence book.
He listened quietly, sifting through the information useful to him.
"Did you hear? The Qingyun Sect and several major Immortal Sects have jointly issued a 'Mandate of Heaven Kill Order,' offering a terrifying bounty for some 'Heavenly Demon'!"
"Tch, what does that have to do with us? That's a game for the big figures of the Immortal Sects. I'm more interested in the new 'Hidden Dragon List' released by the Heavenly Secret Pavilion."
"Oh? New people on the list again?"
"Indeed! I heard that ranked seventeenth is a young Medicine Boy from Hundred Herb Valley named Su Qingxue. Rumor has it she possesses the 'Hundred Herb Spirit Body,' a rare talent seen only once in ten thousand years, naturally affinity with plants and trees. Any Spirit Medicine in her hands can have its medicinal efficacy increased by thirty percent out of thin air! It's said she's recently heading to the Soul Severing Mountain Range to search for the legendary 'Nine Orifice Exquisite Flower'!"
Jiang Chen's hand, holding the teacup, paused slightly.
【Detecting a 'Fate Trajectory' holder.】
【Target: Child of Destiny · Su Qingxue (Growth Stage).】
【Core Fate Anchor Point: "Soul Severing Encounter with Immortal Plant" — While gathering medicine in the Soul Severing Mountain Range, she accidentally entered an ancient medicine garden Secret Realm, found the 'Nine Orifice Exquisite Flower,' and obtained the Alchemy Legacy 《Azure Emperor's Evergreen Art》, thus embarking on the path of an Alchemy Great Master.】
Found her.
The first one.
Jiang Chen suppressed the tremor in his heart and continued to listen.
"Hundred Herb Spirit Body? Hiss... If she were captured to be a personal Alchemist, tsk tsk..."
"You're dreaming. Are the people of Hundred Herb Valley so easy to provoke? I also heard about another one, ranked twenty-fifth, even more interesting. A beggar named Shi Lei, rumored to possess the 'Array Dao Heavenly Heart,' with an innate, beast-like intuition for Formations. Haven't there been rumors recently about an ancient Cultivator's Immortal Cave appearing in the Luan Shi Zang (Chaotic Stone Burial) south of Sanhe City? It's said that kid has been loitering around there, as if he's sensed something."
Jiang Chen's gaze sharpened again.
【Detecting a 'Fate Trajectory' holder.】
【Target: Child of Destiny · Shi Lei (Budding Stage).】
【Core Fate Anchor Point: "Inheritance from the Chaotic Burial Ground" — In Luan Shi Zang (Chaotic Stone Burial), relying on his Formation intuition, in an unnoticed corner, he deciphered a hidden ancient Killing Formation, entered the Immortal Cave where Formation Grandmaster 'Guiguzi' meditated to his demise, and obtained his lifelong Formation Legacy 《Guiguzi's Heavenly Tome》.】
The second one.
One, an Alchemy Saint Body; the other, a Formation prodigy.
They were like two steaming hot dishes placed before a ravenous wolf.
Jiang Chen's breathing involuntarily quickened a few beats.
Soul Severing Mountain Range, Luan Shi Zang (Chaotic Stone Burial).
One in the east of the city, one in the south.
Which one to choose?
Just as he was weighing the pros and cons, a commotion erupted at the entrance of the teahouse.
A manager from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, flanked by several guards, walked to the central List, took out a brand new, large scroll written in golden ink, and placed it at the very top.
In an instant, the entire teahouse fell silent.
Everyone's gaze was drawn to the golden scroll.
"Mandate of Heaven Kill Order!"
Someone, he didn't know who, gasped and read out the five menacing characters at the top of the list.
Jiang Chen also looked up.
His gaze pierced through the crowd and landed on the scroll.
There was no portrait, no name.
Only a description.
【Target: Heavenly Demon (Anomaly).】
【Characteristics: Unknown origin, suspected of being able to devour others' Luck, distort Karma, and subvert destiny. Once caused Dao Son Lin Feng's demise in the Myriad Bat Cave; later, in Black Stone City, severely wounded Qingyun Sect Elder Zhao Wuliang and destroyed his Lifebound Treasure, the Heavenly Secret Disc.】
【Bounty: One million Spirit Stones, one Earth Rank Magic Treasure of choice, the position of Guest Elder in the Seven Great Sects, and a single Heavenly Dao Luck Blessing!】
Boom!
The entire teahouse instantly erupted!
"A million Spirit Stones! I didn't misread that, did I!"
"Earth Rank Magic Treasure! That's something even Golden Core Old Ancestors would covet!"
"The most terrifying is that 'Heavenly Dao Luck Blessing'! What kind of concept is that? It's like the Heavenly Dao opening a back door for you! Direct Breakthrough of Bottlenecks, you can even pick up treasures just by walking!"
Countless greedy, fanatical breaths rose and fell in the teahouse.
Almost all the Cultivators' eyes turned bloodshot.
They stared intently at the description, as if to engrave it into their minds.
Distorting Karma, subverting destiny... What kind of monster was this, exactly?
No one noticed, in the most inconspicuous corner of the teahouse.
The dirty young man, carrying a broken sword, slowly put down his teacup.
He looked at the glittering golden scroll as if it were a menu with his name on it.
So, I'm this 'valuable' in their eyes.
A ridiculous yet chilling smile spread in his heart.
Hunter?
Prey?
Who could really say?
He stood up and, amidst countless fervent gazes, walked against the flow of people and out of the teahouse.
At the entrance, the rat-mustached waiter happened to be walking over with a pot of coarse tea. Seeing Jiang Chen about to leave, he froze for a moment.
"Guest, your tea..."
Jiang Chen ignored him.
But as he brushed past him, he softly spoke a sentence in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Tonight, don't eavesdrop, or you'll lose your life."
With that, he disappeared into the night of Black Water Street without looking back.
The rat-mustached waiter stood frozen in place, his hand holding the teapot beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
He looked at the disappearing figure, then at the 'Mandate of Heaven Kill Order' in the teahouse that had driven countless people mad, and a thought that sent shivers down his spine suddenly shot into his mind.
Could it be... Meanwhile, Jiang Chen, having walked out of the teahouse, stood at a fork in the road.
The left path led to the east of the city, the place of Opportunity for Su Qingxue, who possessed the Hundred Herb Spirit Body.
The right path led to the south of the city, the place of rise for Shi Lei, who possessed the Array Dao Heavenly Heart.
How should he choose?
Only children make choices.
A smile, mixed with cruelty and delight, appeared on Jiang Chen's face.
I want them all.
However, before devouring these two 'main courses'... I need to find an appetizer to fill my stomach first.
His gaze swept over the Cultivators in the night, who had become restless due to the 'Mandate of Heaven Kill Order,' their bodies glowing with various 'Lines of Greed.'
These, they were all... living menus.