50: Tonight, I will set up a fair stall for my ancestors

The night was as black as ink, swallowing the last trace of warmth from the mountain path.

The figure of Blood-Maned Hu San Dao vanished into the darkness, and the engine roar of that wild black car faded away with him, leaving behind a dead silence and a complex scent in the air—a mix of Fist Intent and dust that had yet to dissipate.

In front of the stall, the crowd had long since dispersed, leaving only Su Qingzhu, Zhang Xuanyi, and that old dog that seemed to have existed there since ancient times.

"Buzz..."

With an extremely faint hum, the golden "Market Open" patterns on the stall cloth, which had transformed from the words "Repay the Debt," slowly retracted their light. They finally turned back into ordinary dark-gold threads, as if no movement had ever occurred.

As the phantom of the Dao Market Boy completely dissipated, an invisible pressure also receded from this small space, making the surrounding air feel a few degrees lighter.

Thud.

Zhang Xuanyi could no longer hold himself up; his body swayed, and he dropped to one knee on the ground.

Under his voluminous black robe, his body was trembling slightly uncontrollably. His already pale complexion had now lost all color, looking like a piece of fragile Xuan paper.

Beads of cold sweat slid from his temples, dripping onto the dry soil and instantly soaking into a small dark patch.

"Zhang Xuanyi!" Su Qingzhu turned pale with fright, instinctively moving to turn off the camera and support him.

The professionalism and composure she had maintained all day completely collapsed at this moment.

She had never seen such a powerful Zhang Xuanyi, nor had she ever seen him so weak.

"Don't come over," Zhang Xuanyi's voice was raspy, carrying an indisputable weariness. "And don't turn off the camera."

His hands braced against the ground, his knuckles turning white from the exertion as he gasped for breath in large gulps.

Driving the Dao Market projection, judging the market-cheater, confronting the Old Ancestor of Quanxing, and forcibly twisting the rules... all of this clearly came at a price for him.

This seemingly young body felt as if it were carrying an invisible mountain.

The old dog guarding the stall approached. It didn't bark, but simply used its massive head to gently nuzzle Zhang Xuanyi's arm.

In those golden pupils that could see through human hearts, a rare trace of warmth and concern actually emerged.

Su Qingzhu froze in place. Looking at this man and dog, a storm of emotions surged in her heart.

She had recorded the first chapter of the "Outsider Redemption Records" where Hu San Dao redeemed his sins with his fists, and she had also captured a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of this mysterious stall.

But she was becoming increasingly aware that what she was recording might be far more than just a simple story of an eccentric person or strange event.

The Karma involved behind this stall and this man was likely enough to overturn the existing structure of the entire Outsider world.

"You... what exactly are you trying to do?" she finally couldn't help but ask, her voice trembling slightly. "You've offended Quanxing to the death, and now you've been targeted by the Under Heaven Society... the rules you set today are equivalent to challenging everyone who doesn't follow rules. You are making an enemy of the entire world's dark side!"

Zhang Xuanyi slowly raised his head, the hood of his black robe sliding back to reveal a sweat-soaked but exceptionally handsome face.

His eyes remained clear, even carrying a hint of mockery that saw through the ways of the world.

"I am not making an enemy of anyone." His breathing steadied slightly, and his voice regained a trace of stability. "I am simply giving those who are at the end of their rope and don't want to sell out their final bottom line a chance to choose. As for enemies... from the moment I sat here, they already were. What difference does one more or one less make?"

His gaze passed over Su Qingzhu, looking toward the distant mountain gate. It was pitch black there, but in his perception, several obscure and uncertain auras were entrenched, lurking and watching.

At the same time, at the highest point of the mountain gate within Zhang Xuanyi's sight, inside a star-gazing platform not open to outsiders.

Xuan Weizi stood with his hands behind his back, the mountain wind making his green Daoist robe flap loudly.

The letter sealed with "Under Heaven Society · Top Secret" in his hand had already been crushed into powder by his two fingers, scattering with the wind.

Behind him, a young Qingyun Daoist boy stood bowed, not even daring to breathe loudly.

"Grand... Grandmaster," the boy's voice was tight with fear, "that person at the foot of the mountain... that stall... it's simply unheard of. Forcing the Old Ancestor of Quanxing to perform to redeem his sins... this is simply grinding Quanxing's face into the dirt. And that Dao Market golden lock, it could even instantly imprison the flow of Qi. I've never heard of such a Magical Artifact!"

Xuan Weizi didn't turn around, his voice as cold as the ten-thousand-year-old ice-iron on the star-gazing platform: "Magical Artifact? You think that is just a Magical Artifact?"

He slowly turned around, his eyes lacking his usual Immortal air, filled only with bottomless solemnity and wariness.

"That is not a tool; it is the manifestation of the 'Dao,' a projection of rules. In ancient times, there were great beings who tried to establish a place of absolute fair trade, using their own Dao as the Foundation to transform into a 'Dao Market.' The Dao Market does not recognize cultivation or status; it only recognizes the rules it sets itself. Legend has it that the Dao Market has had nine generations of Cloth Masters, and the appearance of each one was accompanied by blood and slaughter, shaking the world's landscape."

The Qingyun Daoist boy listened, dumbfounded. These secrets were not even recorded in the School's most ancient texts.

"Then... then the Under Heaven Society's meaning is..."

"The Under Heaven Society is afraid." Xuan Weizi let out a cold laugh. "They rely on monopolizing resources and setting unequal rules to have the status they have today. The appearance of the Dao Market is equivalent to burying a bomb that could explode at any time under the Foundation of the skyscraper they built with steel and concrete. It shakes the very Foundation of the Under Heaven Society."

He paused, his tone becoming even more grim: "Is it just the Under Heaven Society? Are we, the so-called righteous sects, any cleaner? Whose rise doesn't have some shady deals behind it? The Dao Market is like a mirror that will reflect everyone's ugliness. Therefore, it must be destroyed!"

"The tianshi decree..." the boy murmured, "are we really going to use that thing? Legend says that once the tianshi decree is issued, ghosts and gods are all terrified, and it can suppress the Law of a region, but the price is equally enormous..."

"Price?" Xuan Weizi's gaze became exceptionally sharp. "Compared to the Dao Market fully forming and letting a new, uncontrollable order override us, any price is worth it! The Under Heaven Society has already promised that as long as our Mount Longhu deploys the tianshi decree, they will open the sharing rights to three Spiritual Vein Secret Realms. This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity."

His gaze turned once more toward the silent darkness at the foot of the mountain, as if trying to see through that thin figure.

"The Ninth Cloth Master... Humph, no matter who you are, since you dare to make the Dao Market reappear in the world, you must have the awareness to be crushed by the Heavenly Dao. Pass my order: Seal the mountain gate and activate the Mountain-Protecting Array. Before the tianshi decree arrives, no one is allowed to descend the mountain without permission, let alone have any interaction with that stall owner. Watch the situation and wait for the thunderous strike."

"Yes, Grandmaster!" The boy took the order and respectfully withdrew.

Only Xuan Weizi remained on the star-gazing platform.

The night wind grew stronger, blowing his sleeves as if he were an Immortal about to ride the wind away.

However, what flickered in his eyes was a coldness and murderous intent diametrically opposed to the Immortal path.

He knew that a massive storm sweeping through the entire Outsider world had already begun to brew on the horizon.

And the center of the storm was that seemingly unremarkable stall at the foot of the mountain.

On the mountain path, Zhang Xuanyi slowly stood up and patted the dust off his knees.

That extreme sense of weakness was receding like a tide, replaced by a weariness that went deep into his bones.

He ignored Su Qingzhu's hesitant concern and simply walked to the stall cloth, bent down, and reached out, gently brushing over the dark-gold words "Market Open" as if caressing a lover's cheek.

"Hard work, old partner," he said in a low voice, as if talking to himself.

The old dog sat quietly to the side, its golden pupils reflecting the sparse stars in the night sky. It raised its head, first glancing toward the mountain gate, then looking toward the even deeper darkness on the other side, letting out a very low, warning-like whimper from its throat.

Zhang Xuanyi's movement paused, and a curve that no one noticed appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Don't be in a hurry," he softly comforted the old dog, also seemingly telling himself, "those who want a piece of the pie aren't just from one family. Let them wait. When dawn comes, my 'fairness' will have only just begun."

After saying that, he sat cross-legged back behind the stall, smoothed out the tattered silk that read "Three Not Sold," and then closed his eyes. His breathing became long and steady, as if he had instantly entered a meditative state.

The night grew deeper.

The mountain wind brushed past, blowing up a corner of the stall cloth before it gently settled back down.

The entire world seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, with only that old dog still keeping its golden eyes open, vigilantly guarding this small space, guarding this beginning that was about to subvert everything.

An unprecedented undercurrent was surging wildly under this silent night curtain. Everyone's eyes were focused here, waiting for the first ray of dawn to unveil this eerie and variable second day.