Chapter 938: Daring to Defy Heaven

"If you're not buying, get out." The clerk rolled up the storage bag, his tone laced with mockery.

"Didn't I just give you a supreme spiritual vein?" Ding Huan said calmly.

Although he was speaking to the clerk, his thoughts were on Peng Zhonghai, hidden among the crowd.

How could Peng Zhonghai have such an inflated sense of self?

Did he think disguising himself to scheme against me was clever?

If he wasn't willing, this fool didn't even know how I recorded the image crystal ball.

But to give this fool a sense of security, he deliberately revealed his motion of recording the image crystal ball.

Sure enough, the instant he exposed the image crystal ball, several forbidden runes were sent by Peng Zhonghai into his own image crystal ball.

"Heh, trying to extort me at the Hall of Gods? Are you looking for death? When did I ever take a supreme spiritual vein from you?"

"Daring to extort the Hall of Gods? Then you won't be leaving today."

The clerk finished speaking and immediately pressed the alarm bell.

Two figures appeared swiftly beside the clerk.

The overwhelming aura of slaughter instantly engulfed the entire merchant hall.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense swept out—Li Yue stood outside the Hall of Gods.

Clearly, this woman was waiting for him to call her for help.

Ding Huan was almost certain that if he called Li Yue, she would absolutely resolve this issue.

Then the rest of them would be at her mercy.

Would someone causing trouble in the Hall of Gods really require such a crude alarm bell?

Moreover, the two who arrived were only Dao Stage Four.

Ding Huan sneered inwardly—if the Hall of Gods' guards were only Dao Stage Four, then the Hall of Gods was utterly undeserving of its name.

"These people dare to extort us here—seize them..."

The clerk had barely finished speaking when the two Dao Stage Four cultivators simultaneously raised their hands to grab Ding Huan.

Clearly, this wasn't their first time doing something like this.

Yet their movements were precise—their domains merely locked Ding Huan in place, with no spiritual energy leaking outward.

All the customers inside the hall turned to look at Ding Huan; some even edged closer.

After all, this was the Hall of Gods—its guards would never pose any danger to them.

If buying things at the Hall of Gods carried danger, who would dare come here?

Ding Huan opened his palm—the Pojie Dao appeared in his hand. Without extending his domain, he slashed out with one stroke.

The blade's radiance instantly formed a curtain of light.

The blade curtain tore through the two Dao Stage Four cultivators' domains without the slightest hesitation.

Not only had these two Dao Stage Four cultivators not unleashed their full power—even if they had, they still couldn't have blocked Ding Huan's blade curtain.

"Puff! Puff!"

Two bursts of blood erupted—the two Dao Stage Four cultivators were instantly split in half, their bellies ripped open.

Fortunately, they were Dao Stage Four—they hadn't even hit the ground before their mangled bodies rapidly resealed.

Before they could fall, Ding Huan swept his blade, sending both men crashing into the clerk—the three collided in a heap.

Although Ding Huan hadn't killed them, the two Dao Stage Four cultivators' Dao foundations

were clearly shattered by him; their soul seas had been torn apart.

The clerk was merely a Yanjie Realm cultivator—no one knew whose connections got him this job.

Merely from the impact, his Dao foundation was secretly shattered by Ding Huan.

Everyone froze.

Was he insane?

Did someone really dare to fight inside the Hall of Gods?

Not even an outsider—but even the governor of Wangshen City probably wouldn't dare fight here, would he?

Fighting inside the Hall of Gods was no different from seeking death.

"You're insane..." Li Yue rushed into the Hall of Gods, horrified, staring at Ding Huan and the carnage before her.

She had interacted with Ding Huan before and thought him a somewhat intelligent, cautious, and rational fellow—by all logic, he shouldn't act so recklessly.

This incident wouldn't just ruin Ding Huan—she'd be dragged down too; being executed wasn't out of the question.

"Director Li, watch your words—what does this have to do with you? I'm merely someone you brought in." Ding Huan's tone turned cold.

He claimed no connection to Li Yue, yet confirmed she had brought him in.

"You..." Li Yue suddenly regretted scheming for the Dao veins on Ding Huan's person.

Ding Huan's cultivation level was plain to see—even if he had some Dao veins, they couldn't be many.

Angering the Hall of Gods like this threatened her very life.

As Ding Huan said, he was the one she had brought in.

Something felt off—Ding Huan had just slashed two Dao Stage Four cultivators with a single slash. Even if those two were just temporary reinforcements, they shouldn't have been cut down so easily.

Wasn't Ding Huan only a Creation Realm cultivator?

She wanted to call Elder Peng—but although Elder Peng was here, she dared not reveal him.

At that moment, two more shadows suddenly appeared inside the Hall of Gods.

One man, one woman, both radiating lethal aura.

Ding Huan suppressed his energy—these two were likely the Hall of Gods' true guards.

Both were Dao Stage Seven.

But this Seventh Step of the Dao is actually inferior to a Sage of Utterance.

Ding Huan guessed that these Seventh Step guards likely had origins similar to Lan Xihé and Jing Xizhen.

They work for the Gods' Trading House and may one day have the chance to enter the true Gods' World to cultivate.

"Who dares commit violence in the Gods' Trading House?" The man's gaze swept the crowd, then landed on Ding Huan.

The broken-blade on Ding Huan's back was conspicuous; judging from the earlier scene, it must have been him.

"Officer Wen, Officer Ru, this is the man—he came to my stall to extort me, demanding all my jade slips."

I refused, and these two friends merely spoke up for me. He drew his blade and launched a surprise attack, directly crippling these two friends and severely damaging my Dao foundation—

The clerk nearly pointed at Ding Huan as he spat out all this in one breath.

As for whether Ding Huan could produce an image crystal ball, he didn't believe it for a second.

He had cooperated with Elder Peng of Wangshen City countless times; whenever Elder Peng was watching, no one had ever produced complete image evidence.

Of course, no one had ever dared act so recklessly here as Ding Huan had.

Ding Huan bowed to the two officers, speaking calmly:

"I came to buy jade slips—I originally intended to purchase many. But this clerk claimed one jade slip costs one supreme-grade spirit vein."

I am poor and cannot afford so many, so I bought just one to test it. I gave him one supreme-grade spirit vein; he took it, then accused me of extortion.

Before I could defend myself, he summoned others to kill me. I couldn't just let myself be murdered—I had to act first to defend myself.

If you officers suspect me, you may retrieve the surveillance array's footage. I trust a place as reputable as the Gods' Trading House would not be unreasonable."

The man said coolly: "Very well. Retrieving the footage takes time. Since you dared act within the Gods' Trading House, wait in the Gods' Trading House prison first.

If it is not your fault, our Gods' Trading House will surely clear your name."

Hearing this, Ding Huan sneered inwardly.

Even a Bai Chi knows that once you enter a prison, death is certain.

Right or wrong, he was doomed.

The Gods' Trading House could never reveal the truth.

Without hesitation, he threw out a crystal ball and said: "Then I, too, have recorded footage."

He activated the crystal ball's image.

Not only did the clerk sneer, but Peng Zhonghai among the crowd, standing beside Li Yue, also sneered.

Li Yue knew Elder Peng's methods, and Peng Zhonghai knew clearly that he had left destruction talisman marks in every crystal ball Ding Huan recorded.

If such a crystal ball could play back properly, he Peng Zhonghai might as well quit wandering Wangshen City.

Officer Wen and Officer Ru merely chuckled.

They had long known this.

If the people of Wangshen City allowed Ding Huan to record crystal balls and present them as evidence before their eyes, they were pigs.

Yet the truth soon slapped everyone's face.

After Ding Huan activated the image crystal ball, clear footage and dialogue appeared in the void.

From Ding Huan entering to request jade slips, to the clerk stating the price was one supreme-grade spirit vein per slip.

Then Ding Huan producing one supreme-grade spirit vein to purchase it, the clerk taking the storage bag, and claiming Ding Huan had produced nothing.

Yet Ding Huan's storage bag had no talisman seals whatsoever—the image crystal ball clearly showed one supreme-grade spirit vein inside.

A murmur swept through the crowd.

Though the Gods' World was hard to enter, as a trading house from the Gods' World, the Gods' Trading House had an excellent reputation.

Even if Wangshen City oppressed cultivators, most stalls within the Gods' Trading House still conducted fair trade—Wangshen City itself dared not interfere.

Officer Wen and Officer Ru's faces had turned ashen.

This exposed the Gods' Trading House's fraud against customers before everyone's eyes.

This was not a customer extorting the Gods' Trading House—it was the Gods' Trading House extorting the customer.

Not only did they extort the customer, but when the customer prepared to leave, they sent others to attack him.

The customer only struck back when pushed beyond endurance.

To bury this incident, the Gods' Trading House would have to slaughter every single person here.

Clearly, this was impossible.

There were seven or eight Seventh Step cultivators here, and several Eighth Step ones.

Never mind whether they were Supreme Dao cultivators—their combat power as Seventh and Eighth Step cultivators stood plainly before them.

Besides, the Gods' Trading House's guards were not Supreme Dao cultivators.

True renowned Sages would never appear in a trading house within such a void city.

"You have boldness," Officer Wen said, his voice icy, as he stared at the pale-faced clerk. "When did a single ordinary jade slip in our Gods' Trading House require one supreme-grade spirit vein?"

You may collude with Wangshen City elders to swindle people, but to be caught with such complete evidence afterward—is that not the same as seeking death?

Elder Peng among the crowd was also ashen-faced.

He now knew for certain that Ding Huan was no ordinary Creation Realm cultivator.

He himself was a Sixth Step of the Dao; his destruction talisman techniques sometimes even failed to stop Seventh Step cultivators.

Ding Huan not only knew he had planted talisman marks, but also destroyed them without his knowledge—this was no ordinary skill.

He suspected that even if he faced Ding Huan alone, he would be dead.