WEAPON SELLER IN THE WORLD OF MAGIC

<strong>Around 3:50 p.m., somewhere in the busy street of the slums, located in the outer sector of the Imperial City;</strong>

Two men, disguised with masks and hoods, entered a seemingly ordinary-looking inn named "Chengwang".

One of them pinched his nose and expressed his disgust as he looked around the place, "this place is stinking so much. Are you sure we came to the right place?"

The other man nodded, "Please bear for a while, master. We will return soon."

"Fine. But, this needs to be done quickly. If I stay for ten minutes in this disgusting slum, I would get sick." The servant's master couldn't bear the sight of poor hygiene. He might be a rich guy.

Anyways, soon, both of them walked to the reception desk where the manager is sitting. She's a middle-aged woman who is nearly 8.3 ft tall and wider than both of them combined. One of the hooded men flinched when he saw this monster in human skin.

The servant then spoke to the manager, "We are here for the sky-bourning wine. I heard that you sell a genuine one."

The giant woman narrowed her eyes as she heard those words. She asked, "It is quite expensive. Are you sure that you can afford it?"

The servant politely answered, "We are prepared to buy it at any cost."

"Alright. Then, follow me to the underground wine cellar."

,m The woman was then personally escorted to the underground where wines from centuries away were preserved.

Once she confirmed that no one else is spying, the manager asked the both of them, "Okay, now, you may reveal your identities."

Both of them took off their masks, revealing their identities. It is the crown prince and his loyal bodyguard.

While Shang Zexi is indeed a high-profile person, the manager was calm as she addressed the both of them, "alright. Before going to them, I will have to warn both of you to not negotiate the prices or speak in a condescending tone. Or else, you might not make it back."

Shang Zexi furrowed his brows in displeasure. He was the crown prince. How dare this woman talk to him this way? The woman might look big but she isn't even a Spirit Warrior. With his 6-circle realm cultivation, he can kill her in the blink of an eye. So, shouldn't she mind her tone?

He felt insulted and clenched his fist but the servant caught his arm, indicating him to stay silent.

Shang Zexi forced himself to calm down and simply nodded.

"Good."

The woman then walked to one of the walls with the mark of a large hand engraved on it. She placed he hand and it glowed for a couple of seconds before the wall door slid to the right, revealing a staircase that leads down to somewhere.

"Follow me."

As the three of them entered the dark space, the door closed, and they continued to walk down the stairs.

It took them five minutes to reach the floor with dim-lit surroundings. Then, they started walking. The place looked like an underground maze with several tunnels leading to either somewhere or a dead end.

Eventually, after another ten minutes of walking, they entered a stone chamber where a mysterious hooded figure sitting behind a desk. There was nothing else in the room.

Neither Shang Zexi nor his servant felt the presence of ether from this stranger but the fact that the place appeared quite mysterious made the crown prince adhere to the warnings and controlled his tongue.

The hooded figure gestured for the woman to leave. The manager bowed and stood outside of the chamber and closed the door.

The hooded figure then spoke to the clients in a raspy voice, "Speak of the target name and basic information."

Shang Zexi answered, "Shang Wen, the second prince. I believe that is enough."

The hooded figure nodded and then asked, "How do you want his death to be, and what is the time limit?"

Shang Zexi took a deep breath and answered, "I need you to kill him in 4 days of time and handover me the corpse. How he dies is not of concern to me. But, all of his body parts should stay intact."

"2 million gold coins," replied the hooded figure, taking the crown prince by surprise.

"Are you kidding us?" Shang Zexi flared up in anger, right away. He was prepared to pay any amount but even then, he couldn't accept such a high figure. He felt like they were scamming him by being all mysterious. "He is just an Exalt realm Spirit Warrior, not a Supreme Being. Don't dare to mess with me. Do you know who I am?"

The hooded figure raised his head, revealing his stitched blind eyes and a frail-looking face with freckles. It looks a bit frightening but what follows that turned even more frightening for the prince.

Metal spikes came out of nowhere and pierced the bodies of the crown prince and his servant without hurting their vitals but completely paralyzing them.

"I know who you are, Prince Zexi."

Not only the crown prince was paralyzed but even his ether energy stopped circulating in his body. It was as if his cultivation was sealed.

There was a sharp pain all over his body due to the abrupt piercings from the metal spikes but the word couldn't escape his mouth. It was the same case for his servant too.

The public, friends, allies, or even close relatives only knows this guy as a peak-6-circle realm Spirit Warrior. Only Shang Zexi and his mother, the Empress, were aware that he is actually at an intermediate stage of the 7-circle realm, not strong as Bai Xun but powerful enough to keep the crown prince from any kind of danger.

But, now, even he was helpless against the blind fellow sitting before them. He wanted to apologize and beg for mercy but he couldn't move his mouth either.

_{𝑓r𝘦𝘦𝘄eb𝒏𝙤vel.c𝙤𝙢}

Thankfully, for them, the hooded figure retracted his power in just ten seconds while warning them not to scream.

Both of them wanted to scream out loud in pain as the spikes are out but held the pain as the hooded figure explained the reasoning behind the exorbitant amount of fee, "First of all, the second prince isn't a simple Exalt realm Spirit Warrior. He has awakened the Phoenix Bloodline. To finish him cleanly, we will employ a legendary realm expert of atleast advanced stage. Secondly, he possessed the fire seed of high quality. If you don't want our assassin to loot his storage ring, then, you must pay 2 million gold coins. We don't need any advance payment and will only take it after the job is done."

Shang Zexi fell silent. Now that he experienced the power of this blind expert, he developed more confidence in this hidden organization. In the end, after much thinking, he then asked as politely as possible, "If I want Shang Wei, the third prince, also to die in the meantime, how much more it will cost?"

"If you want us to assassinate him after you acquire the fire seed, then, it will be a hundred thousand gold coins," replied the hooded figure before he took a three-second pause to think and then said, "But, before that, it will cost 5 million gold coins. According to our information, his path to the throne will become clear after awakening the Phoenix Bloodline."

"So much of difference, huh? But then again, it is reasonable." After being taught a lesson, Shang Zexi appeared to be more understanding toward this member of the organization named "Soul". He then asked as an afterthought, "what about Lu Zhen? You must have known about him."

In response to that question, the hooded figure rejected it right away, "No one in our organization will take that assignment even if you offer 100 million."

Shang Zexi heard about Mark's acquaintance, a peak-stage Supreme realm expert. Hence, he wanted to probe into the strength of the organization. As the blind fellow said that the organization lacks the capability to take out Mark, he wondered whether he should put aside his ego and befriend the weapon seller.

Putting away his thoughts, the crown prince said, "I guess we will talk again after this job is done."

"In four days, you will hear the news of Shang Wen's death," replied the hooded figure.

Soon, the crown prince and his servant left the inn, returning to the Imperial palace by taking a roundabout way to hide their tracks.