Chapter 718: Assassin

Not long after, Li Wan Hua personally arrived, delivering a reply letter from the sect.

"Hall Master Yan, this is the Sect Master's reply letter; the Sect Master has agreed to exchange Celestial Material from the Youming Jie with the monster tribe, but said we cannot take too much." Li Wan Hua said.

Yan Buji nodded: "Alright, I'll first go tell City Lord Xiong."

"Right, Hall Master Yan, since you've secured trade rights with the monster tribe, when will you come back? The mining area is waiting for you to start work." Li Wan Hua said.

Yan Buji nodded: "Just these two days."

"Alright, then I'll head back first."

Yan Buji narrowed his eyes, watching Li Wan Hua's departure.

Afterwards, Yan Buji went to the pointed-top pavilion and saw Disorder Zi explaining the matter.

"Great, just right, the royal court also sent word. Since your sect is willing to trade Celestial Material from the Youming Jie with the royal court, friendly monster tribes will surely gravitate toward your sect." Disorder Zi laughed.

Yan Buji's eyes shifted: "Could there be unfriendly ones?"

"Sigh, although it's not proper to say this while working for the employer, I am also a human. Within the monster tribe, a considerable portion of monster tribes dislike contact with humans, even loathe them. So I also hope you all first finish the preliminary work before talking about anything else."

"So that's how it is..." Yan Buji was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Disorder Zi's meaning is clear: they only obtained part of the monster tribe's trade rights, and it's best not to leave Luohuang Zhou to go to other great regions of the monster tribe to do business; otherwise, if something happens, don't blame me for not warning you beforehand.

Yan Buji hasn't not thought about expanding the business; it's just that a destroyed Luohuang Zhou has limited purchasing power. Even if the monster tribe's royal court relocates a batch of monster tribes here, getting them to accept trade with humans is no simple matter.

But precisely for that reason, if the business can be expanded, it will definitely require venturing into other great regions of the monster tribe.

However, it seems Disorder Zi didn't speak absolutely; maybe there will be an opportunity later.

After leaving the City Lord's mansion, Yan Buji planned to return to the mining area to formally start his work.

"Before that, we need to make some preparations."

Yan Buji took out a substitute talisman purchased at great cost from the Heavenly Spirit Realm, pricked his fingertip to drop a drop of essence blood onto the talisman paper, and then saw the talisman transform into his likeness; with a thought, it left the stationed royal city.

"Just wait quietly from now on." Yan Buji smiled.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Those hiding in a ruin saw someone flying not far away and were about to attack:

"Wait, that's not a real person, just a puppet!"

"What? A puppet?"

Several cultivators examined closely and exclaimed in surprise: "Is that a substitute talisman?"

"Hmm, it looks like a fairly high-grade one."

"Who exactly are we dealing with this time?" a black-clothed person wondered: "How could the other side casually use such a life-saving treasure for scouting?"

"Never mind, we just need to do the job for the money."

"Not right!"

A tall middle-aged cultivator watched Yan Buji's substitute puppet fly away, furrowed his brow: "Although we're working for pay, the target seems already prepared, knowing someone wants to deal with him. This way, not knowing the opponent's situation, rashly attacking would put us at a disadvantage!"

"Then, Fellow Daoist Liu, what do you plan to do?"

"Let's go back first and ask what's really going on!"

"Then someone must stay here to guard, right?"

"Since the opponent used a substitute talisman to scout the road, it indicates they might know there's an ambush here; continuing would be pointless, so let's leave first."

"That's right."

Two days passed.

These cultivators rushed to the previously agreed-upon spot and produced their tokens.

Shortly after, two black-clothed men flew over; these were their employers, obviously they also didn't want others to know their identities.

"What's going on?"

"Employer, who exactly are you trying to deal with? That guy used a substitute talisman to scout, clearly indicating he knows there's an ambush; we don't want to deal with such a troublesome individual."

"Oh? Isn't your Smoke Rain Tower specialized in taking such jobs? The deposit has been paid; are you trying to back out?" the black-clothed man in front asked.

"We won't break the agreement, but we need to know exactly who that person is! You haven't clarified his background when you came to us; how are we supposed to act?"

The two black-clothed men fell silent, and the other black-clothed man coldly said: "He is Yan Buji, Hall Master of the Lian Dan Tang of the Great Sinful Sect. You Smoke Rain Tower said you'd dare assassinate even a Great Vehicle Stage cultivator; a mere Nascent Soul stage has you scared?"

"Someone from the Great Sinful Sect?"

"Turns out it's that bunch of demonic path thieves."

The two employers pursed their lips.

"You assassins still have the nerve to call them demonic path thieves?"

The middle-aged cultivator nodded: "If that's the case, then although our Smoke Rain Tower doesn't care about your grudges against him, can we get his information in a timely manner?"

"That's naturally no problem."

"Good, from now on we'll stay near him, looking for a chance to kill him in one strike!"

"I also hope we didn't spend a lot of money hiring a bunch of useless people to scrounge for food and drink; finish this job early, and the remainder will naturally be paid to you promptly!"

"Good!"

After the two employers left, the others looked at the middle-aged cultivator Liu and asked: "Fellow Daoist Liu, a mere Nascent Soul stage really doesn't need all this trouble, does it?"

"Yeah, even if he's from the Great Sinful Sect, he'll go out sometimes; with us few Void Refinement cultivators, can't we take him down alone?"

"Yes, the few people hired this time are all Void Refinement cultivators!"

"To kill a Nascent Soul cultivator, those two employers are actually willing to spend such a high cost; either Yan Buji is extremely hard to deal with, or they don't want any mistakes."

"However, to guarantee the employers' interests, the assassins of Smoke Rain Tower usually make full preparations before acting. Like this time, being mysteriously hired to Luohuang Zhou without even clarifying the target's information, this is still the first time."

"The two employers probably still maintain some superficial relationship with Yan Buji, so it's not convenient for them to act personally. But since they hired us, we just need to get the job done."

"Let's gather some intel first; the people from the Great Sinful Sect wouldn't come to Luohuang Zhou for no reason; they're likely here, like other forces, to develop the land and make money."

"That's excellent."

Several Smoke Rain Tower assassins quickly sprang into action; gathering information was not difficult for them, and an underground force like Smoke Rain Tower itself has no fixed base in Zhong Tian Zhi Yu—even in demon tribe territory, their presence can be found.

So, wanting to gather information, even the information about those two employers is not difficult.

However, they were all directly summoned by the higher-ups to Luohuang Zhou, indicating that those two people's identities are not ordinary either; these assassins, if they had even a bit of sense, would know what information to seek and what to avoid.