Chapter 36: City Lockdown

Translator: Transn  Editor: Transn

“Pfft!”

A Thunder Arrow was released. It thrust into the ancient roan antelope carriage and passed through the vest of the Eighth Prince.

The arrowhead exploded. It turned into a fist-sized ball of electricity and released shafts of lightning that left a bloody bowl-sized wound on the Eighth Prince’s back.

“Crash!”

A short and chunky dark shadow dashed into the carriage. The sword flashed, and the head of the Eighth Prince had been cut off and put inside a beast-skin bag.

The assassin chuckled darkly. He carried the bag with the Eighth Prince’s head and sprinted out of the ancient roan antelope carriage.

In an instant, he had disappeared into the dark.

Yun noticed that there were strange noises. She stopped the carriage and asked, “My Eighth Prince, what happened? Is everything okay?”

Hearing no reply from the Eighth Prince, she lifted the curtain slowly and carefully. Inside, she saw a headless body! The carriage was all covered with blood and looked extremely horrifying.

“Help!” Yun screamed and passed out from fear.

…

Two dark shadows, one tall and one short, flitted across Yunwu City and soon reached the side of the moat.

Han Qingluo crossed her hands behind her back. Her tall figure under the moonlight cast a long shadow on the ground.

She stood under the willow next to the riverside. Her eyes stared at the moon reflecting on the river’s surface and she quietly asked, “Did you complete your mission?”

“Miss Han, the mission was a lot easier than we expected. We cut off his head with one single stroke. He didn’t even have a chance to fight back,” the tall man in black said.

The other man in black laughed and said, “What kind of prodigy is he that he can’t even put up a fight? He is a complete joke!”

Han Qingluo nodded slightly and said, “Both of your cultivations are at the Completion of the Yellow Realm as well as professional assassins, killing him is surely not a difficult task. Anyway, have you brought his head?”

“Yes, we’ve brought it here.”

The lanky man in black took out the beast-skin bag, placed it on the ground and opened it. A human head covered with blood was exposed.

Han Qingluo looked into the bag. Her countenance shifted slightly and coldly asked, “Are you sure the one you killed is the Ninth Prince?”

Both men in black were frightened when they looked inside the bag. Their hearts skipped when that they realized that they had killed the wrong person.

They shivered, kneeled down instantly, and said, “Miss Han… please give us one more chance! We will make sure to bring back the Ninth Prince’s head!”

“You two have no more chances!”

Han Qingluo shook her head slightly and said, “This is such a huge mistake, killing the Eighth Prince rather than the Ninth Prince. I will be punished for your mistake. Do you really think you two will still have a chance to live?”

“Please… Miss Han, spare us!”

“Spare us, Miss Han!”

All of sudden, both assassins jumped up high at the same time like lightning and struck out as fast as they could toward Han Qingluo.

They had no choice as they had failed the mission and had killed the Eighth Prince instead. Having made such a massive mistake, they would both certainly be killed by Han Qingluo.

If they were going to die anyway, why not make a last bid for their lives?

Once they killed Han Qingluo, they would escape immediately and hide forever after away from Yunwu City. The world was big enough that even the queen with her great power would never be able to find them.

Moreover, Han Qingluo’s cultivation was at the Completion of the Yellow Realm, the same as the two assassins. Indeed, if the assassins cooperated together and took Han Qingluo by surprise, there was a chance that they could kill her.

Han Qingluo sneered. She turned five of her fingers into a claw shape with her nails becoming razor sharp.

“Pfff!”

Her claw punched through the lanky man in black’s chest, taking his bloody heart along with it.

The lanky man in black looked at Han Qingluo, who was crushing his heart helplessly. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and fell flat on the ground.

Next, Han Qingluo struck out with her other hand, wrapping it with a layer of icy cold Genuine Qi.

“Boom!”

Her palm, which was sharper than a knife, passed through the air and sent the stocky man in black’s head flying away.

Although Han Qingluo and the two assassins were at the same level of cultivation, the Completion of the Yellow Realm, Han Qingluo was much more powerful. Even if seven or eight more warriors of the same level attacked her at the same time, they would not be strong enough to defeat her.

She specialized in the “killing technique”. It was well-known that once she fought, certainly there would be blood.

“The Eighth Prince has been killed. This will definitely shock Yunwu City and now there will be no chance to assassinate the Ninth Prince. I need to return to the palace and report what has happened to the queen so that we can prepare counter strategies.”

Han Qingluo threw the two dead bodies into the moat. After she wiped the blood from her hands, she turned into a green shadow and flew to the palace.

…

Through the communication with Zuo En, Zhang Ruochen understood and learned a lot about inscriptions.

At the same time, Zuo En mentioned a lot of information about refining weapons, which also piqued Zhang Ruochen’s interests a little.

Zhang Ruochen left the Federation of Inscription while Shan Xiangling stayed behind to get better acquainted with the art of refining weapons.

When Zhang Ruochen left the Federation of Inscription, he looked around but could not see Yun. He frowned and said, “Where is sister Yun? Has she left early to return to the palace? But she shouldn’t have done so!”

Zhang Ruochen did not think too much of it as the Martial Market was a safe place to visit. He thought that Yun must have had something urgent to deal with and left him without notice.

Following that, he went to the Pill Market, planning to buy some higher grade Pills to enhance his ability while practicing.

This was the second time he had visited Qingxuan Pavilion.

When he walked in the front door, Mo Hanlin welcomed him with pleasure and asked, “Ninth Prince, are you looking for Pills again? My mistress has already informed me that my Ninth Prince will receive a half-price discount when buying any Pills.”

“Your mistress is so generous!” Zhang Ruochen responded with surprise.

Mo Hanlin narrowed his eyes, smiling and said, “My mistress is hardly lavish with her hospitality toward customers. Only the Ninth Prince will be able to enjoy such treatment!”

Zhang Ruochen asked, “How much is a Triple-purity Genuine Qi Pill?”

A triple-purity Genuine Qi Pill was classified as a Second-Class Pill. Its effect was the same as the Energy Pill but 10 times stronger in power. Moreover, the Genuine Qi produced by taking a Triple-purity Genuine Qi Pill was purer than that of an Energy Pill.

“5,000 silver coins for one Pill.” Mo Hanlin extended five fingers and waved them at Zhang Ruochen.

It was so expensive!

Such a supreme class of this Pill, even the prodigies from the large-scale family could not take it every day. It was said that they were given a Triple-purity Genuine Qi Pill every sixth months.

Weapon refiners and alchemists sure made a lot of money!

“I want to buy 10 of them,” Zhang Ruochen said without hesitation.

“10 Triple-purity Genuine Qi Pills.” Mo Hanlin recorded it down in his notebook and asked, “My Ninth Prince, do you need any other Pills?”

“Please give me 100 Second-Class Blood Pills,” Zhang Ruochen replied.

The Blood Pills that Zhang Ruochen had bought last time were already used up. He needed to buy some more this time.

With his current Martial Arts cultivation, he was able to digest the Spiritual Blood of the Second-Class Blood Pills.

An ordinary warrior in the Completion of the Yellow Realm usually took First-Class Blood Pills. Yet, Zhang Ruochen did not care how much he had to spend in order to buy the Pills. He was more than willing to pay for any Pills that could enhance his cultivation within a short period of time.

Although the price of a Second-Class Blood Pill was more expensive than a First-Class Blood Pill, it was also more beneficial toward the human body.

The Spiritual Blood of a First Class Blood Pill could only provide the energy that warriors needed for a day. However, a Second-Class Blood Pill could supply warriors with enough energy to last them three days.

“30 silver coins for a Second Class Blood Pill. Altogether 100 pills.” Mo Hanlin also marked it down in his notebook.

Zhang Ruochen continued searching on the counter. Suddenly, he saw the Elephant Fire Pill, a Third Class Pill that could facilitate a warrior to refine their body.

At the moment, Zhang Ruochen needed to reinforce his physique urgently. The stronger the body, the better for practicing Martial Arts in the future.

It was said that if practicing Martial Arts was like constructing a building, the most important part was the foundation. The more solid the foundation was, the higher the building could be constructed.

Practicing the Yellow Realm meant refining one’s body. Through opening the Meridians, it enabled the warriors to build a solid foundation for practicing Martial Arts.

“How much is an Elephant Fire Pill?” asked Zhang Ruochen.

Mo Hanlin’s eyes flashed and he explained, “The Elephant Fire Pill is a Third-Class pill. It is made of the marrow and blood of elephants. Moreover, fire lotus, a very expensive ingredient, has been added into the pill. Hence why it costs 80,000 silver coins for one Pill.”

Zhang Ruochen was going to buy it no matter how costly the Pill was.

He asked, “How many Triple-purity Elephant Fire Pills do you have in stock?”

“Seven. This is all we have in Qingxuan Pavilion!” said Mo Hanlin.

“Good! I’m buying them all!” Zhang Ruochen said.

Besides that, Zhang Ruochen bought 20 bottles of Marrow-washing Liquid and a bottle of healing pills.

“Click, Clack!” Mo Hanlin was holding an abacus and he calculated for a while. He said, “10 Triple-purity Genuine Qi Pills, 50,000 silver coins.

“100 Second-Class Blood Pills, 3,000 silver coins.

“Seven Elephant Fire Pills, 560,000 silver coins.

“20 bottles of Marrow-washing Liquid, 4,000 silver coins.

“10 Saint Stone Pill, 20,000 silver coins.

“The total cost is 637,000 silver coins. With the half-priced discount, that will be 318,500 silver coins.”

Although Zhang Ruochen had anticipated that it would be costly, the cost after the discount surprised him. He could not believe he had just spent 300,000 silver coins for the Pills. Seven Elephant Fire Pills were very expensive, which brought up the total price. Luckily, mistress Qi Ya offered him a half-price discount, so the final amount was still fairly acceptable for him.

“If I take all seven Elephant Fire Pill and digest them completely, I’m sure that my physical quality will reach the level of my last lifetime!” Zhang Ruochen thought.

After paying 318,500 silver coins to Qingxuan Pavilion, there were only 800,000 silver coins left in Zhang Ruochen’s total assets. They were also all stored at the Martial Market Bank.

When Zhang Ruochen just left the Qing Xuan Pavilion, he saw a group of soldiers clad in armor on horseback. They were rushing through the main street and had kicked up a huge cloud of dust.

There was a warrior on the side looking at the rushing soldiers and whispered, “I can’t believe there’s someone who is brave enough to kill the Eighth Prince. The city is under lockdown now, even the exit and entrance of the Martial Market are closed.”

“The Eighth Prince has been killed?”

Zhang Ruochen remembered that he saw the Eighth Prince at the Federation of Inscription. How was it possible that he had been killed not long after?

“Boom!”

A group of soldiers rushed toward Zhang Ruochen and kneeled down neatly in front of him. Among the soldiers, there was an elder eunuch who stood at the front and greeted Zhang Ruochen with courtesy and said, “My Ninth Prince, His Majesty summons you to return the palace promptly.”