"We are continuing with the previous mission that Chi Ming took on and failed," Yin Yang said as he looked at Tai Wu.
"En." Tai Wu nodded. "This time, you're not going to let another Three Star Assassin accept the mission, right?"
"Although Chi Ming wasn't the best Three Star Assassin, he could be considered to be among the top few. Naturally, I won't let another Three Star Assassin accept the mission if even someone like him failed and was killed. This time, I intend to let Chi Mei do it!" Yin Yang said as his dark eyes suddenly brightened.
Some time ago, he had gone back to the lair of the Mountainshade Black Market's branch to verify that Chi Ming's Soul Pearl had already been broken. It broke during the time he was carrying out his mission.
He was dead if his Soul Pearl was broken
"Chi Mei?"
Tai Wu looked surprised. "As far as I know, Chi Mei is considered a top-tier trump card at the branches in this area? She has never failed to kill any target below the Saint Stage."
"That's right. Chi Mei's one of our trump cards at the branches in the areas under the Nine Sect Alliances. She's a Quasi Four Star Assassin!" Yin Yang nodded.
In the Mountainshade Black Market, a Quasi Four Star Assassin had strength equivalent to someone at the Imminent Saint Stage.
Because they were assassins, they would not confront their targets directly and would use a stealthy and unexpected approach.
Therefore, the Mountainshade Black Market's Quasi Four Star Assassins were usually able to kill Imminent Saint Stage powerhouses. Naturally, this did not mean they could kill all Imminent Saint Stage powerhouses.
Due to various reason, some Imminent Saint Stage powerhouses were as strong as weaker Saint Stage powerhouses.
It would still be quite difficult for these Quasi Four Star Assassins to kill these Imminent Saint Stage powerhouses.
However, there were not a lot of such Imminent Saint Stage powerhouses in the Nine Sect Alliances' areas.
It was only possible for a fifth-rate force, fourth-rate force or a more powerful force to have such talents at the Imminent Saint Stage.
If Duan Ling Tian's cultivation base rose to the Imminent Saint Stage in the future, he would naturally belong to that category.
His innate talent and potential were no weaker than the young talents from the powerful forces.
"With Chi Mei taking on this mission, the success should be as sure as a gun," Tai Wu said. Based on his words, it could be seen that he had full confidence in Chi Mei the Quasi Four Star Assassin.
In addition to being a Quasi Four Star Assassin, Chi Mei was also a woman.
She was the only female Quasi Four Star Assassin at Mountainshade Black Market's branches in the areas under the Nine Sect Alliances.
Moreover, she was widely acknowledged as being number one among all the Quasi Four Star Assassins in the Mountainshade Black Market's branches.
No one had ever seen Chi Mei's face. Even Yin Yang and Tai Wu had only seen Chi Mei's shapely body that was garbed in black.
Put aside Chi Mei's face that was also concealed in black, any man would lust over Chi Mei just by looking at her fine figure.
However, even Tai Wu and Yin Yang did not dare to act inappropriately.
This was because Chi Mei had the support of the leader of the Mountainshade Black Market's branches in the areas under the influence of the Nine Sect Alliances.
The relationship between Chi Mei and the leader of Mountainshade Black Market was a mystery to everyone. In fact, it was probable that only Chi Mei and the leader of Mountainshade Black Market knew about the nature of their relationship.
Naturally, there were a lot of people from the Mountainshade Black Market who speculated secretly.
Some said that Chi Mei was the leader's woman, while some others said that Chi Mei was the leader's illegitimate daughter
In fact, some even said that Chi Mei was the granddaughter of the leader.
Regardless, Chi Mei's backstory was an unsolved mystery that intrigued the others.
The Mountainshade Black Market's branch at Han River City was one of their main bases, but it was not the main lair of the Mountainshade Black Market's branches.
The main lair of the Mountainshade Black Market's branches was located deep in a forested mountain north of Han River City. It was hidden beneath several layers of Hallucinogenic Formation.
Apart from the high-ranking officials of Mountainshade Black Market's branches and some of the assassins who were considered trump cards who knew the way in, the other people from the Mountainshade Black Market's branches did not know how to enter even if they knew the location.
The Hallucinogenic Formation at the Mountainshade Black Market branches' main lair was very mysterious. It was jointly set up by a Four Star Saint Inscription Master and a Four Star Dao Talisman Master.
Naturally, this did not mean the Mountainshade Black Market's branch had a Four Star Saint Inscription Master and a Four Star Dao Talisman Master because both of them were sent by the Mountainshade Black Market's top-tier branches. They merely there to help set up the formation for the Mountainshade Black Market's branches in the area under the influence of the Nine Sect Alliances.
They had left after they completed the formations.
It would be extremely tough for ordinary Saint Stage powerhouses to enter these Hallucinogenic formations.
Beyond the layers of Hallucinogenic Formations, there was a huge valley in the depths of the mountain with many independent courtyards.
At first glance, they seemed to be everywhere in the mountains.
Xiu!
Suddenly, a sharp arrow that carried a jade token flew by and embedded itself on a wooden post of a house at the hillside.
Hu!
Almost at the same time the arrow was embedded into the wooden post, a purple bird materialized out of thin air.
It pecked at the sharp arrow with its beak and easily pulled out the sharp arrow that embedded in the wooden post. The whole process seemed effortless.
Hu!
The purple bird suddenly vanished and appeared at the backyard.
The backyard was obscured by clouds. It was obviously shrouded with formations too. The formation had completely blocked the house from sight. Naturally, it was extremely easy for the people inside to look out.
There was a young woman seated beside a small pond in the backyard while she played with the water with her delicate feet. She had an extremely beautiful face and seemed to be deep in thoughts. One would not be able to tell what she thinking about.
"Sister, sister." The young woman only regained her senses and took the sharp arrow from the purple bird's beak when the purple bird appeared and began to speak.
She threw the sharp arrow away, leaving only the jade token behind. After that, the young woman poured her Spiritual Energy into it.
A few moments later, the information within the jade token appeared in her mind.
"Moon Illumination Sect, Duan Ling Tian, Saint Rudiment Stage? A few months ago, he was merely at the Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage… There's such a monstrous Martial Dao prodigy at this place where the birds don't even want to sh*t?" The young woman was a bit surprised.
"To ask me to take personally take on such a target… Are all those Three Star Assassins trash?" The young woman suddenly frowned.
However, after she sorted out all the information in her mind, she unfurrowed her brows. "Chi Ming had failed? Interesting, interesting… Zi'er, it seems like we're going out." The young woman's final sentence was obviously directed to the purple bird.
"Hehe… Finally, a mission. Sister, pass this mission to me, I'll definitely do a good job," the purple bird hovering in front of the young woman vowed as it flapped its wings.
"We'll see."
The young woman smiled faintly. "I guess that Moon Illumination Sect's disciple called Duan Ling Tian must have someone protecting him in the dark… My guess would be the Three Star Saint Inscription Master of Moon Illumination Sect, Bai Li Hong. His strength is comparable to an Imminent Saint Stage powerhouse if he unleashes his full strength."
"Sister, why don't you take the target and let me deal with that Bai Li Hong?" When the purple bird heard the young woman's words, it quickly changed its tune. Based on its words, it did not seem bothered by Bai Li Hong even though his strength was comparable to an Imminent Saint Stage powerhouse.
"Zi'er, if you talk anymore then you'll have to stay home. " The young woman frowned and stared at the purple bird. The latter quickly shut up, not daring to make another sound.
When the young woman came out after walking into a room, she was already dressed in a black garb. Her beautiful face was completely covered. However, her fine figure was enough to incur envy in other women and make men covet her.
After a few moments, the woman vanished into thin air, and the purple bird disappeared along with her.
There was a remote mountain range ten thousand miles west of the Mountainshade Black Market's branches' main lair. It seemed barren, not even a blade of grass could be seen.
A figure that looked agitated was heading into the depths of the mountain range with a pearl tightly gripped in her hands.
"Brother, now that the Ouyang Clan is gone, and Father's also gone, you don't have to continue with your punishment anymore… I'm coming to get you out." The agitated figure was also a young woman.
If Duan Ling Tian was here, he would have recognized the young woman as the Second Young Miss of the Ouyang Clan, Ouyang Ruo.
Ouyang Ruo was supposed to die along with the rest of the Ouyang Clan, but she was lucky enough to escape death because she had gone out at the right time.
Although she had escaped death, it had not been easy for her as well. She had to hide from the Mountainshade Black Market's assassins as she hurriedly left Han River City.
The direction Ouyang Ruo was headed in was the direction of the Nether Ridge that had been passed down in the Ouyang Clan since a long time ago.
Her objective was simple. She was looking for her brother.
If the Clan Leader of Ouyang Clan, Ouyang Ba, was still alive and learned about Ouyang Ruo's intention, he would have smiled bitterly because her thinking was too naive.
Certainly, the blame could not be placed on Ouyang Ruo because there were only a few who knew the exact information about the Nether Ridge in the entire Ouyang Clan.
The Nether Ridge was a bottomless pit. Unless one had the ability to come out on their own, it would only lead to one's death.
On another note, the pearl held by Ouyang Ruo was her brother, Ouyang Qing's Soul Pearl. She had taken it from the Ouyang Clan's ancestral temple after the Ouyang Clan was annihilated.
On that day when she snuck into the Ouyang Clan's ancestral temple, most of the Soul Pearls were already shattered. The remaining Soul Pearls belonged to lineal disciples who were not around.
In the Ouyang Clan, only lineal disciples were eligible to own a Soul Pearl.
After retrieving her own Soul Pearl and Ouyang Qing's Soul Pearl, Ouyang Ruo left Han River City and made her way to the Nether Ridge.