All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 50

The merchant group consisted of about thirty people, with over twenty of them being ordinary people without cultivation. Among the eight guards, six were at Spirit Communication Realm, and two at Soul Control Realm. This configuration was actually quite formidable, as the goods this time were quite valuable. Back then, Cheng Lu, who was responsible for escorting illumination Stones, was only at the ninth stage of Soul Control Realm. Profound Beings above Soul Control Realm were not common.

Profound Beings, in Sun City, were at the level of generals. Ordinary people lived to a hundred, while Profound Beings lived to five hundred. This five-fold difference was equivalent to two different species. The vast majority of people couldn’t enter the Profound Realm in their lifetime. For alchemists, fourth grade was a hurdle, while fifth grade held an extremely high status. The fundamental reason was that fifth-grade alchemists could refine fifth-grade Profound Entering Pills, which could increase the chances of entering the Profound Realm, making them very precious.

Zhanyue rode a fine horse, following the merchant group. He quickly discovered that the black-robed person from before was also in the merchant group. The black-robed person also noticed Zhanyue, and kicked their horse to come before Zhanyue.

“Young Master Zhan, we meet again,” the black-robed person said in a hoarse voice.

“Greetings, senior. The Wind Sprint Pills improved with your guidance last time were indeed effective,” Zhanyue said politely, though he was curious why Steward Luo didn’t seem to have come along.

The black-robed person nodded, asking, “You’re also planning to attend the auction in Pearl City, right?”

Zhanyue didn’t conceal it and nodded, “I need to prepare for becoming a fourth-grade alchemist. It’s better to collect materials in advance. By the way, senior, what kind of city is Pearl City?”

The black-robed person didn’t expect Zhanyue to ask this but patiently explained, “Pearl City is located in the southeast of the Eastern Kingdom, built by the sea. It’s the most important port city in the Eastern Kingdom, very prosperous. If the imperial capital is the political center of the Eastern Kingdom, and the Academy Town is the cultural center, then Pearl City is the trade center.”

Zhanyue nodded. No wonder such a large-scale auction would be held in Pearl City.

The land route from Thousand Feather City to Pearl City was very smooth, with many inns along the way. Originally, this journey should have been very safe, but Zhanyue felt a vague unease in his heart, as if being watched by tigers and wolves.

“What mountain is that ahead?” Zhanyue saw a series of majestic peaks in front, with such a continuous mountain range on the vast open plain.

“It’s the Celestial God Mountain Range. We won’t go through it, just skirt around the foothills. Legend has it that this mountain range wasn’t naturally formed, but was moved here. Of course, this is just a legend, I’m not sure. But it’s really strange to have such magnificent mountains suddenly appearing on the plain,” the black-robed person explained.

“Moved here?” Zhanyue drew in a sharp breath. What kind of divine being could move mountains? When he had time later, he should visit this Celestial God Mountain Range. He might discover some ruins there.

As the saying goes, “The mountain seems near but takes forever to reach.” They walked from early morning to afternoon before reaching the foothills. They didn’t need to climb the mountain; the official road went around the mountain range and was quite spacious. Although the road was wide, the terrain was very treacherous, with high mountains on the left and cliffs on the right, with a rushing river below the cliffs. However, people in this world weren’t afraid of cliffs. The danger was only for ordinary people.

“Once we follow this river out of here, we’ll reach Wangshan Inn. We can rest well there today,” the black-robed person explained. Everyone still adhered to the principle of not staying overnight in the wild.

The majestic mountains nearby were very quiet. Only the sound of horse hooves could be heard on the road. Zhanyue frowned; that feeling of being watched became more obvious.

A horse neigh echoed in the valley below. The lead carriage stopped, and those behind also stopped. Five tall horses were blocking the group’s path. On these huge horses sat five muscular men, each bare-armed and wearing a conical hat, their eyes fierce.

“The Five Horses of Dongye? How did they wander here?” The black-robed person’s eyes showed worry.

“Hm? Are there still bandits blocking roads now?” Zhanyue asked puzzled.

“Of course there are, just not many. During Night Lord’s rebellion, Night Lord and his 99 Demons attacked various prisons, releasing a large number of prisoners from the Eastern Kingdom and Rising Sun Kingdom. These prisoners surrendered to Night Lord’s forces and then caused trouble everywhere, robbing and killing, committing all kinds of evil. The Eastern Kingdom has cracked down many times, but they always flee far away after each crime, making them hard to trace. After Night Lord disappeared and most of the 99 Demons were killed, they all went into hiding. I didn’t expect these Five Horses of Dongye to dare show up,” the black-robed person explained.

“Are the Five Horses of Dongye part of the 99 Demons?” Zhanyue asked, shocked.

“No, they’re not. The 99 Demons refer to the 99 Profound Beings under Night Lord. These five are probably just subordinates of the 99 Demons. If they were five Profound Beings, we might as well kill ourselves now. They’re probably very cunning now, not daring to cause trouble themselves, but sending their pawns out to annoy people. The Five Horses of Dongye were five bandits active outside Dongye City. They had all been caught and were about to be executed when they were rescued. I didn’t expect them to have wandered here now,” the black-robed person said. “These five are quite powerful. We should try to escape later. Once we reach Wangshan Inn, we’ll be safe.”

Zhanyue looked at the black-robed person speechlessly. This black-robed person seemed quite strong, yet was already thinking about running.

The black-robed person felt uneasy under Zhanyue’s gaze and explained with a red face, “Although I’m at the ninth stage of Soul Control Realm, I’ve hardly ever fought. I’ve focused solely on alchemy and am not good at martial combat, so I can’t be of much help.”

“I see,” Zhanyue nodded slightly. No wonder they were thinking about running before even fighting. It seems they really couldn’t fight.

The person in charge of the merchant group, also an expert at the sixth stage of Soul Control Realm, a plump man in a flowery robe, stepped forward and cupped his hands to the five men, saying, “Gentlemen, please accept this toll fee. We understand the rules.” The fat man in the flowery robe threw a package to the man in the center of the five.

The man took the package without even looking at it and asked in return, “Are you people from the Thousand Steeds Association?”

“We are,” the fat man in the flowery robe wasn’t afraid. The Thousand Steeds Association was a life-saving brand.

“That’s right then. The chairman of the Thousand Steeds Association once publicly insulted His Majesty Night Lord. We’ve been ordered to kill all Thousand Steeds Association people without exception!” the man laughed loudly.

“This…!” The fat man in the flowery robe immediately lost his composure upon hearing this. These five men were notorious, all experts at the Soul Control Realm. The strongest leader was already at the ninth stage of Soul Control Realm.

“You… you’re so bold,” the guards hurried forward, but facing these five fierce men, the eight guards were somewhat intimidated.

“Brothers, kill all the men, take the women up the mountain. This Celestial God Mountain Range is deep and dense. Those mediocre soldiers and generals of the Eastern Kingdom won’t be able to find us,” the leader gave the order and was about to start slaughtering the merchant group.

“These five are all deserving of death. No one will hold me responsible if I kill them, right?” Zhanyue asked the black-robed person beside him. His right hand was already quietly gathering flames.

“What are you trying to do? We’re no match for them. It’s better to run away early,” the black-robed person said. They had already taken several enhancement pills, ready to flee at any moment.

“Where did this thief come from? With a senior here, how dare you act recklessly!” Zhanyue suddenly shouted loudly. With his shout, the Five Horses’ attention was indeed drawn over.

“Oh? There’s actually a high-level expert hidden in the merchant group. Second Brother, come with me to kill this Soul Control Realm ninth stage expert first,” the leader and the second brother rushed towards the black-robed person on their fast horses.

“You…” The black-robed person looked at Zhanyue with fury.

“Senior, hold these two off for a few breaths. I’ll deal with the others and then come help you. This is the method with the least casualties,” Zhanyue said, avoiding them and moving to the front. The two on horseback naturally didn’t take Zhanyue, at the sixth stage of Spirit Communication Realm, seriously, and all went towards the black-robed person.

“Damn it!” The black-robed person gritted their teeth, then took out a handful of pills and threw them at the two men. Purple smoke exploded, and when the two emerged from the purple smoke, their horses had already fallen to the ground, whinnying.

Affected by this purple smoke, the two men felt unbearably itchy, momentarily losing the desire to attack, stopping to circulate their energy to expel the poison from their bodies. While the black-robed person held off the two strongest, Zhanyue joined the battlefield at the front, where the guards were already fighting with the remaining three horses.

A figure ghostly disappeared and ghostly reappeared behind one person. That person had already dismounted, holding a bone flute in his hand. This was his contract object, with sound attacks effective over a large area.

Zhanyue, who had been burrowing underground, suddenly appeared behind that person. The long-compressed flames in his hand shot out like a rocket, instantly piercing through the person’s heart from the back. The flute player fell down with a look of incomprehension. He still had so many techniques unused, how could he die so carelessly?

“One!” Zhanyue said calmly. It was the first time he had killed someone with clear consciousness. The blood in his body was somewhat boiling. He seemed like a born cold-blooded killer, without any fear.

“Fifth Brother!” The two nearby were greatly shocked to see their fifth brother killed. They forcibly fought off the surrounding guards and rushed towards Zhanyue, determined to avenge their brother. One of them had contracted a kitchen knife, extremely sharp, while the other had a sickle, very fast. Before becoming contractors, they were just ordinary villagers.

The two attacked Zhanyue from left and right, but no matter how they slashed, they couldn’t harm Zhanyue at all. To others, it looked as if the two were seeing things and slashing wildly, not actually aiming at Zhanyue at all.

“The Phantom Light Step is so powerful. It’s good I killed that flute player instantly. His large-area attacks would have been hard for me to dodge,” Zhanyue thought as he moved. While dodging, he finally counterattacked, condensing fire into a sword in his hand. He burrowed underground and appeared behind one person. This sword strike was narrowly avoided by that person, but still injured his kidney.

“Third Brother, be careful. This person can teleport,” the severely injured man immediately retreated, protected by his third brother.

The sneak attack failed, and Zhanyue sighed. The Phantom Form Sword Technique was used for the first time in front of others. The third brother saw Zhanyue thrusting towards his head and hurriedly turned his head aside, only to see the fire sword pierce through his heart.

“What… what’s going on?” This was his biggest question before death. How could they know the profundity of a gold-grade martial technique?

“Alright, I’ll leave this kidney-injured one to you,” Zhanyue immediately ran towards the black-robed person. The remaining guards looked at each other in bewilderment but quickly reacted, swarming the injured man.

“You two fools, don’t you know who’s the strongest here? Look back at your three brothers,” the black-robed person taunted the two men constantly approaching. Having taken pills, their speed and reactions were very fast, without any injuries.

The two looked back to see their fourth brother surrounded and hacked to death by the guards, while the third and fifth brothers had long since fallen to the ground.

“Fourth Brother!” The two were enraged and abandoned the black-robed person to rush back. On the way, a pair of hands suddenly stretched out from the ground, grabbing their feet. The two stumbled unexpectedly.