Chapter 312 - Growing Crises
“What? What’s happening in the Death City? Why are so many masters from the Black Market being attracted here?” Exclaimed Chang Qiqi.
Chen Xier said seriously, “I did hear news from the Martial Market Bank that many masters from the Black Market were transferred here. But is it over the top to have more than half of the masters here?”
Duanmu Xingling was a little surprised as well. Just like Chen Xier, she had also heard something earlier.
But the news had been heresy.
Duanmu Xingling and Chen Xier both believed that it was almost impossible for the Black Market to transfer more than half of their masters to the Death City.
“They didn’t transfer this many masters even when the Black Market had the most furious fight with the Martial Market Bank.” Chen Xier said. “You know, the Black Market is made up of countless forces. There is a chief in every Black Market in each commandery, and each of them forms an individual black market system. In Omen Ridge, no one has the ability to transfer the black market masters of the 36 commanderies at the same time. The 36 chiefs can’t do that. The head of the Hades Department can’t do that. And the chief chairman of the Poisonous Spider Club can’t do that.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “But the young master from the Black Market Excellence Hall can do that.”
“Who?” Asked Chang Qiqi.
“Who is the young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall?” Si Xingkong wanted to know as well.
Hearing the name Black Market Excellence Hall, Duanmu Xingling’s eyes changed slightly. She asked, “Did the young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall come to the Omen Ridge?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded. “Not only the young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall, but also the Seven Kills Emissary are here as well. You can see how bad the situation is.”
Chen Xier and Huang Yanchen had heard of the Black Market Excellence Hall before due to their special status. Their faces grew pale after hearing Zhang Ruochen’s words.
Chang Qiqi was still very confused. He glanced at them and asked, “What is this Black Market Excellence Hall? Why do you look so scared?”
Huang Yanchen hummed coldly and replied, “The Black Market Excellence Hall is the biggest organization in the Black Market. It was set up to confront the School of the Martial Market. Notice, it was set up to confront the School of the Martial Market, not the Martial Market Bank.”
Chen Xier said, “At first, the Martial Market Bank set up the School of the Martial Market with a focus on attracting talented people so they would have talented personnel for the Bank. Nowadays, most of the top managers in the Martial Market Bank are graduates from the School. The Black Market noticed the significance of the School of the Martial Market and were afraid that the Martial Market Bank would one day take their place. So they established the Black Market Excellence Hall.”
“The Black Market Excellence Hall was established by the saints in the Black Market. It is not only a place to cultivate talented people, but also a sharp weapon to deal with the School of the Martial Market.”
“The disciples of different forces in the Black Market all regard attending the Black Market Excellence Hall as a great honor. Getting into the Black Market Excellence Hall does not just require extremely high talent. There is one more thing.”
Chang Qiqi asked, “What is that?”
“A head.” Answered Chen Xier.
“A genius from the Black Market can only enter the Black Market Excellence Hall’s gate by carrying the head of a student from the School of the Martial Market.” Said Huang Yanchen.
Chang Qiqi shrank the moment he heard this, feeling a chill in his spine.
Chen Xier said, “The young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall is like the young celestial in the Saint Academy of the School of the Martial Market, or the Saintness in heresy. In addition, the young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall has more power in some ways. You can say he is the representative of the Black Market Saints’ wills.”
“The Seven Kills Emissaries are the people who were selected to protect the young master of the Excellence Hall. Their talents are only slightly weaker than the young master, and one day they will become prominent figures in the Black Market. Because they are older than the young master, their abilities are actually stronger than the young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall.”
Huang Yanchen added, “If the young master dies young, or has no ability to continue his talent, the new young master of the Black Market Excellence Hall will be picked out from among the Seven Kills Emissaries.”
Duanmu Xingling asked, “If they are so significant, why have they come to the Omen Ridge?”
“Because of one treasure, the Dragon Sarira,” replied Zhang Ruochen.
“The Dragon Sarira?”
Everyone was confused.
Zhang Ruochen, explained the origin of the Dragon Sarira to them. After hearing this, everyone became very excited again.
“The Buddhist Emperor’s Sarira is indeed a precious treasure! If I could eat it, I could become a legendary and peerless Seven-realm Fighting Genius!” Chang Qiqi was wild with joy.
Huang Yanchen gave him an angry glare. “The Buddhist Emperor’s Sarira likely contains a huge amount of energy. If you simply swallowed it, you would burst to death immediately.”
Chang Qiqi said, “Forget the Dragon Sarira. If we can find the Golden Dragon’s body and take some drops of Dragon’s Blood from it, we can refine our bodies. It would be very easy for me to become a Three-realm Fighting Genius! Maybe I could even become a Four-realm Fighting Genius!”
Chang Qiqi’s words moved everyone.
It was said that a baby dragon was equivalent to a human Three-realm Fighting Genius at birth. And it would become even stronger with practice. But this was only the situation for the mixed-blood Dragon tribes, like the Four-winged Earth Dragon.
The pure-blood Dragon tribes were even stronger. Some of the baby dragons were equal to Five or even Six-realm Fighting Geniuses.
So human warriors always saw Dragon’s Blood as precious refining medicine.
The stronger the dragon was, the more effective its blood would be. The purer the dragon’s blood was, the more the human warrior’s physical quality would improve.
The Golden Dragon was not only a pure-blood dragon, it also had very high cultivation. Even one drop of its blood would benefit young warriors significantly.
So even Si Xingkong, who was always calm, was in ecstasy.
This was indeed a great opportunity. If he could seize it, his life would be totally different.
It was now or never.
Staring at everybody, Zhang Ruochen said, “I’ve told you just about everything. Great danger and great opportunity co-exist in the Underwater Dragon Palace. I believe you all have your answers now.”
“We have to take our chance no matter how dangerous it is,” said Si Xingkong. “But there is one problem: the Underwater Dragon Palace was blockaded by the Black Market masters; even if we have the key we can’t get in.”
“I won’t allow the Black Market to take the Dragon Sarira alone. I’ll contact my father now and have him come here in person.”
Chen Xier took out a Signal Flare and crumpled it.
SWOOSH!
A bright light came out of the flare and disappeared into the horizon.
Chen Xier’s father was the Palace Master of the School of the Martial Market.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t stop her. After all, young warriors like them couldn’t compete with the countless Black Market masters. Only by contacting the masters from the Martial Market Bank and the School of the Martial Market would they have a possibility of winning.
Duanmu Xingling also took out a Signal Flare. She smiled and said, “I’ll ask my aunt to come here as well. After all, there are too many Black Market masters here. The School of the Martial Market and the Martial Market Bank won’t necessarily be able to gather enough masters in such a short time. The more we have, the stronger we are.”
As Lady Saint of the Moon Worship Demonic Sect, Duanmu Xingling also had her responsibility.
She had also been investigating why so many Black Market masters were here in the Death City. She had even fought against Di Yi once. But she hadn’t known his identity until she met with Zhang Ruochen.
Naturally, Duanmu Xingling would tell all of this to the Moon Worship Demonic Sect.
Zhang Ruochen gazed at Duanmu Xingling. He pondered for a while but decided not to say anything.
Chang Qiqi asked, “So what should we do now?”
“There’s nothing we can do now. All we need to do is hide and wait for the Palace Master to come and take charge.” Said Si Xingkong.
“I’m afraid you won’t live to see that!”
A penetrating sound wave stabbed into their ears like a needle from outside the villa.
“No! The villa has been surrounded by the Black Market warriors!” Said Chen Xier.
Outside the villa, the ground was shaking. The roar of brute elephants could be heard everywhere.
The giant brute elephants surrounded the villa like mountains.
Si Xingkong said, “Don’t panic! There is a blind pass in the villa to the underground river. And the underground river is connected to the Tongming River. It’s not hard to escape. I’ll take you to the blind pass now.”
The Martial Market Bank had operated in the Death City for many years, so they had room for maneuvering.
Si Xingkong had been here twice. Naturally, he knew the blind pass in the villa.
“You guys leave first. I’ll stall for time.”
Zhang Ruochen waved his arm, and 32 Formation Flags flew out from his Spatial Ring. They landed in 32 different positions in the villa. He stood directly in the center of the array.
There were too many Black Market masters. Even if there was a blind pass, it might be hard to escape.
Someone needed to stall for time.
“Zhang Ruochen, I’ll help you.”
Huang Yanchen stared deeply at Zhang Ruochen, trying to dash back.
Duanmu Xingling grabbed her. “If Zhang Ruochen can’t stall for time successfully, you will be no help either. All we need to do now is leave here quickly. That way, Zhang Ruochen will be able to leave earlier as well.”
“Senior sister apprentice Duanmu is right.” Said Zhang Ruochen. “Senior sister apprentice Huang, you will only distract me if you stay here.”
Chen Xier grabbed Huang Yanchen’s other wrist and pulled her away with Duanmu Xingling.
After they left, Zhang Ruochen gave out a small sigh of relief. He took out a War Map and put it in his hand, ready to set it off at anytime.
CLANG!
Outside the villa, two brute elephants ran towards the wall at the same time. The wall tumbled down, leaving a huge hole.
The brute elephants were over nine meters tall. Their legs were like pillars. They had black scales and two sharp teeth, like white blades in their mouths.