Chapter 414: Three Void Refinement Stage Experts
"What’s that?!" Deacon Feng almost threw his teacup upon reading the blood-red banner. He leaned forward, his usual calm composure shattered as he ordered, "Open it. Hurry up!"
Zong Rushi trembled and meekly nodded, his finger hovering over the glowing title. He was about to tap it, to reveal the contents of the ominous thread that had silenced the entire hall.
However, just as he was about to access the thread, something happened.
KSSHK!
The vibrant holographic interface flickered erratically, the text and images dissolving into a chaotic storm of digital static. Before anyone could process the malfunction, the projection cracked like a pane of glass, shattering into a thousand fading motes of light.
In its place, a single, final message materialized, written in cold, impersonal script.
[Detected hostile elements in your vicinity. For the security of all patrons, this Viewing Jade’s network access has been permanently revoked. Have a convenient day.]
The message hung in the air for a moment before it too vanished, leaving the hall in a stunned, suffocating silence.
The Viewing Jade in Zong Rushi’s hand went dark, becoming nothing more than a lifeless piece of polished crystal.
"R-revoked...? What in the..." Elder Jinshi whispered, the word sounding alien on his tongue. He snatched the jade from the terrified Sect Master’s hand and poured his own powerful spiritual energy into it.
Nothing happened. It remained inert and a dead object.
"It seems to have been deactivated remotely," Deacon Feng said. The teacup in his hand was now a fine powder of dust, crushed by his unconscious grip. The tea that he was just enjoying earlier now stained the polished floor. "The Shopkeeper set something in place with these jades. It can detect hostile elements, preventing their enemies from prying into it."
After pausing for a moment, he looked at Zong Rushi again, "Some of your disciples have procured the same artifact, correct? Find them. Do not bring them here to prevent a similar occurrence. Get the information from that blood-red banner. Now!"
Zong Rushi scrambled out of the hall. His heart was pounding with a terror that eclipsed even his fear of the two powerful experts.
He had just witnessed a level of control that was beyond anything he could comprehend. The ability to reach across the realm and turn a magical artifact into a useless rock was a power that belonged to gods, not merchants. What exactly is the Divine Convenience Store? And how strong is this Shopkeeper?
With the Sect Master leaving the hall, Elder Jinshi paced like a caged beast, his Nascent Soul aura flaring uncontrollably.
"This Shopkeeper... He’s toying with us! He knows we’re here! He knows about the array! He’s mocking us!"
"Calm down. It doesn’t mean he knows everything. Yet. He’s possibly reacting to someone who supplied him with intelligence about our plans." Deacon Feng said, his voice dangerously quiet as he stared at the spot where the projection had been. His mind was piecing together the terrifying puzzle. The silent elimination of their elite team. The sudden appearance of a ’Flash Raid Commission’. The timing was not a coincidence.
"Let us wait for a moment–"
Before he could finish his words, a loud gust of wind blew from the main entrance of the hall.
Every Impervious Flare disciple instinctively drew their weapons. Elder Jinshi spun around, his flaming sword materializing in his hand, its heat battling the sudden chill.
Deacon Feng’s eyes narrowed but soon enough, he stood up and bowed respectfully.
Before long, three figures appeared in the middle of the hall, each one radiating a strong aura of a Void Refinement Stage expert. The oppressive pressure they exuded made the oppressive silence earlier feel even more suffocating.
The flames on Elder Jinshi’s sword sputtered, cowed by a power that was orders of magnitude greater than his own, as he also bowed in reverence.
The figure in the center was a middle-aged woman with hair like spun silver and eyes that held the cold, eternal depth of a frozen abyss. She wore the violet and gold regalia of a Violethaven Temple Elder. She was called Bing Xin, a reclusive and notoriously ruthless elder of the Temple. The Grand Elder Mu Wuyan was her senior brother under the same master.
To her right stood a tall, muscular man whose entire body seemed to be forged from magma and obsidian. He was the Sect Master of the Impervious Flare Sect himself, Yan Zhaolie, a man known for his explosive temper and equally explosive cultivation techniques.
The third was a man who seemed more like a specter than a person, his form shrouded in shifting shadows and illusions. The Sect Master of the Phantom Mirage Sect, a close ally of the Violethaven Temple, known for his mastery of assassination and deception.
"Elder Bing Xin, Sect Master Yan," Deacon Feng bowed deeply, his voice laced with a deference that bordered on fear. "Your presence honors us."
Elder Bing Xin ignored the pleasantries, her icy gaze sweeping over the hall. "Report the situation."
Deacon Feng recounted the events with swift efficiency: the disappearance of the array team, the strange, remotely deactivated jade, and the fleeting glimpse of a blood-red banner. Just as he finished, the terrified Zong Rushi stumbled back into the hall, clutching a hastily transcribed parchment. He didn’t dare speak, simply handing it to Deacon Feng before returning to his corner as he found the new figures within the hall even more terrifying than the first two.
The Deacon’s eyes scanned the text, his expression growing colder and grimmer with every word.
The ’Flash Raid Commission’. The public declaration of their sect’s ’act of terrorism’. The open call to arms for all cultivators. The grand prize of 100,000 Dimension Essence. They had no idea what Dimension Essence was, but they managed to infer that it must be some kind of currency exclusively used by the store.
"I see. I underestimated him. The Shopkeeper knows." Deacon Feng stated, his voice flat. He handed the parchment to Elder Jinshi, who snatched it and read it.
"Unleash the creatures? Dismantle the base? Eliminate all operators?!" Jinshi roared, the parchment bursting into flames in his hand. He then turned to his Sect Master and knelt on one knee. "Sect Master! This is an intolerable provocation! A direct declaration of war! We must crush them!"
Sect Master Yan Zhaolie’s obsidian-like skin seemed to glow with a faint, internal heat. "War? This Shopkeeper has already declared it. He has turned our own clandestine operation into a public spectacle, a hunt where we are the prey. How clever."
His gaze shifted to the specter-like Sect Master of the Phantom Mirage Sect. "Brother Xiu, your thoughts?"
The specter, Sect Master Xiu Jian, spoke with a voice sounding like a distorted whisper coming from multiple directions at once. "The Shopkeeper is... indeed clever. He uses information as a weapon. He has mobilized the entire Eastern Abyssal Domain. A direct confrontation with this... ’raid force’... would be a foolish waste of resources. They are a disorganized rabble, but their numbers are significant, and they are supplied by a source we do not understand."
Finally, all eyes turned to the Violethaven Temple Elder, Bing Xin. She had remained silent, her expression unreadable.
"Our plan has been exposed," she stated, her voice as cold and clear as ice. "But that doesn’t mean the Soul Lure Array is a lost cause. It must be activated at all costs. One of us will go to its location."
She then looked at Yan Zhaolie. "Your Impervious Flare Sect was tasked with securing the Anchor. Has the breach been widened?"
Yan Zhaolie gritted his teeth. "The process is slow. Speeding it up is costing us more than just the bulk of spirit stones. And as it is an Anchor of a foreign realm, we must expect that we too can be attacked by them. We have lost disciples just trying to stabilize the perimeter. To weaponize the breach fully would take another day, at least."
"We do not have another day," Bing Xin said flatly. "That’s your problem to solve. Xiu Jian, there should only be one Void Refinement Stage expert among them. The one who fled the Western Sacred Lands, Liu Tianfeng of the Liu Clan. He will be leading this ’raid force’. I need you to intercept and occupy him. Do not kill him, simply keep him busy. A battle between two Void Refinement experts will be a sufficient distraction."
Sect Master Xiu Jian’s shadowy form seemed to ripple. "To face the Liu Patriarch alone is a risk."
"I never said you must face him alone. Like I said, the Soul Lure Array. Go there and ensure that it will be activated. If Liu Tianfeng shows up... I’ll handle him." Elder Bing Xin then waved her hand, producing an artifact radiating an ominous glint, "The Shopkeeper has destroyed my senior brother’s heaven-grade artifact. Our Temple will never let that go. The Violet Deity is furious."