Chapter Sixty-Four: A Minor Incident

The elegant man stood calmly in place, his eyes sweeping coldly across the cultivators who were eyeing him with hostility.

A faint, scarcely perceptible smile touched the corner of his mouth as he spoke at a leisurely pace, "With all of you in such eager anticipation, did you really think I would come here completely unprepared?"

No sooner had the words left his lips than he gently raised his right hand, and a talisman radiating a strange glow suddenly materialized in his palm.

Immediately afterward, an unfathomable and mysterious power rapidly spread outward from his palm.

In the blink of an eye, the entire space seemed bound by a immobilization spell, instantly freezing solid.

With the exception of the three companions who had accompanied the elegant man and could still move freely, the physical movements of everyone else came to an abrupt halt at that very moment, as if time itself had suddenly stopped flowing.

"Damn it! It's actually a grade-five imprisonment talisman. How utterly detestable!"

Upon seeing this, Raven could not help but feel a shock ripple through his heart. He hurriedly mobilized the immensely powerful spiritual energy within his body, attempting to break through this terrifying binding force.

Yet, no matter how hard he tried, it was nothing more than a futile effort; that binding force was as unyielding and indestructible as a wall of bronze and iron.

At the same time, the woman who had previously appeared lazy and casual was now etched with astonishment.

The dagger tightly gripped in her hand remained suspended right there in mid-air, and no matter how much force she exerted, she could not make it move forward by even a fraction of an inch.

Just then, the elegant man let out a light laugh. "While this treasure map is infinitely alluring, since I dared to win the auction for it, I naturally possess sufficient certainty and capability to protect it."

With that, he paid no further heed to the others, turned around, and with his three companions, walked away step by measured step at a calm and unhurried pace.

Once their group had departed the black market, the imprisoned space finally returned to normal.

Raven could only watch helplessly as the meal right at his lips flew away, gritting his teeth in fury.

He cursed incessantly, "Damn that fellow for letting him get away! The cooked duck has just flown off like this. I am simply too unreconciled!"

The lazy woman put away her dagger, her eyes filled with reluctance, while all the disgruntled factions could only watch him recede into the distance.

However, the entanglement between the lazy woman and Raven had yet to be properly resolved.

At this moment, Raven's figure was concealed within the darkness like a ghost, and the magical treasure he held—the Evil Moon—sliced through the mid-air, leaving behind a cold and piercing silver radiance.

This streak of silver light resembled the most dazzling shooting star in the night sky, carrying a bone-chilling frost as it hurtled straight toward the lazy woman.

Faced with such a fierce offensive, the woman appeared completely composed and at ease.

The corners of her lips curled up slightly into a shallow smile, as if she cared not at all about the impending crisis before her. With nothing more than a casual wave of her hand, the maidservant who had been standing guard by her side sprang into action instantly.

Her figure was as swift and ethereal as a phantom, and in the blink of an eye, she had already closed the distance to Raven.

The maidservant tightly grasped a dagger emitting a dim blue glow; the light cast by this blade was cold and bizarre, sending a shiver through anyone who laid eyes upon it.

Accompanied by a sharp, piercing shriek as the blade cleaved the air, the dagger in the maidservant's hand lunged forward with lightning speed along the trajectory of the Evil Moon treasure.

In an instant, the two weapons violently collided, producing a crisp, resonant impact. Following closely behind, a powerful wave of energy rippled outward from the point of impact, forming concentric circles visible to the naked eye.

These ripples continually undulated through the air, resembling the layer upon layer of waves stirred up when a pebble is tossed onto a calm lake.

Du Jin, Liu An, and Jian Yi waited with burning anxiety for the temporal imprisonment to end, eagerly anticipating their escape from this unfathomable black market. After all, their primary objective in coming here—the map to the cultivator gathering—was already in hand, while attending the auction to join in the excitement was merely a secondary pursuit.

When they stepped out of the black market and traversed the narrow alley, they were astonished to find that the entire street was completely deserted, devoid of a single living soul.

A bizarre and oppressive atmosphere instantly enveloped them.

With a solemn expression and deep in thought, Du Jin immediately used sound-transmission arts to speak to Jian Yi and Liu An at his side, "Judging by this situation, that map is likely a deliberate bait set by someone, intended to draw out those capable of recognizing its value. That being said, it seems we have unwittingly been dragged into a rather sizable trouble."

Sure enough, right as Du Jin's voice trailed off, a figure materialized out of thin air before the three of them without warning.

The man was tall and formidable, radiating a powerful aura throughout his entire body that commanded respect and wariness. Fixing his cold, piercing gaze on Du Jin and the others, he demanded, "You three young friends have only two choices before you: either obediently follow me, or offer stubborn resistance and be executed right here by my hand. Make your choice quickly, whichever you prefer!"

Faced with such a formidable foe, Du Jin's heart tightened as he swiftly sized the man up.

Relying on his acute perception, he shockingly discovered that the newcomer's realm of cultivation far surpassed his own; a direct confrontation would leave them with virtually zero chance of victory.

With the situation growing perilous to the extreme, how should they respond?

Should they humble themselves, beg for mercy, and place their lives entirely in the hands of another, or should they reveal their formidable backing to ensure their own survival?

Du Jin chose the latter without a moment's hesitation.

Taking a deep breath, he straightened his posture and proclaimed in a resonant voice, "Hold on! The three of us are disciples under the Master. We came to this black market solely to explore the cultivator gathering site, and have no wish to meddle in the affair of that map. We hold zero interest in today's events."

"If you truly intend to kill us, I will have no choice but to summon the Master to manifest here."

The man, who had previously been fiercely imposing and uncompromising, softened his tone by several notches the moment he heard that the youths were disciples of the Master.

He then adopted a noticeably much more courteous demeanor: "Oh? So you are esteemed disciples of the Master indeed! However, words alone carry no weight. Do you possess any tokens capable of verifying your identities?"

Hearing this, Liu An, standing to the side, unhurriedly reached toward his waist.

He drew forth the Master's token and raised it high so that the blocking adversary could clearly behold it.

At that moment, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly grew somewhat tense, for the blocking adversary clearly had not anticipated that Liu An could actually produce such a token of authority, leaving him momentarily stunned and at a loss for how to respond.

Just as he was hesitating, a figure dressed in official attire spoke up, "Since they are indeed disciples of the Master, there is no need to push them further. You must bear in mind that His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Empire once issued an explicit personal decree strictly prohibiting anyone from ever making an enemy of the Master's disciples or intentionally harassing them."