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DIV Chapter 53: The Market in Chaos
🕑 Added 2025-08-20 07:50:39 +0000 UTCThis Foundation Establishment battle, just as Li Chang'an had guessed, was not conducted within the market.
Qinghe Market was, after all, the Zheng family's territory, so Zheng Yuandao couldn't possibly fight here.
And Cao Zhengxiong seemed to have his concerns as well.
"Both Foundation Establishment ancestors have gone outside the market, and the fighting won't affect the market, so when will the market chaos mentioned in the divination occur?" Li Chang'an silently pondered.
He had been watching Zheng Jinbao all along, waiting for the chaos to appear.
Just then, a sharp voice suddenly rang out within the market.
"Fellow Daoists, the Zheng family ancestor has already left, what are you still afraid of?"
"If we don't rob now, when will we?"
This voice seemed to carry some kind of bewitching power, making quite a few cultivators feel secretly moved.
Moreover, just as this voice fell, another voice responded.
"Well said!"
"Tonight, this Qinghe Market is our opportunity!"
Then, from various parts of the market, more than ten additional voices responded in succession.
"Fellow Daoists, without opportunities, we rogue cultivators will never have hope of Foundation Establishment!"
"If we join forces, the Zheng family people are nothing to fear!"
"Kill! Rob!"
"..."
Almost in an instant, the entire market descended into chaos.
Shops throughout the market continuously echoed with thunderous sounds.
"What are you doing? Stop immediately!" A shop owner looked panicked, trying to collect all the treasures in his shop into his storage bag.
But the next moment, a blade light flashed, severing his head.
The blade-wielding man laughed wildly as he charged into the shop to loot.
"Hahaha, who would have thought this old man could have such an opportunity!"
But before he finished looting, the sound of breaking wind came from behind him.
Boom!
A magical artifact staff heavily fell, smashing his head to pieces.
Behind him, a ferocious-looking cultivator holding a magical artifact sneered coldly, "This is this old man's opportunity, do you deserve to take it?"
With that, he also began looting the treasures in the shop.
Such situations were occurring throughout the market.
The market had always harbored quite a few robber cultivators.
During this period, they had been suppressed by the Zheng family and dared not show themselves, each one feeling aggrieved.
Tonight they finally had the chance to act wildly!
Additionally, many ordinary rogue cultivators, unable to resist the temptation, had temporarily joined the ranks of robber cultivators.
"It descended into chaos so quickly?" Li Chang'an observed from the shadows, secretly startled.
Behind this chaos, there were most likely people fanning the flames.
In the great chaos, whether it was shops in the market or residences in the core area, all became targets for the many robber cultivators.
Everyone knew clearly that the closer residences were to the core area, the wealthier their owners would be.
"Someone actually dares to target me," Li Chang'an's eyes turned cold, staring at several robber cultivators charging toward his residence.
He immediately used his puppet body to control the formation, showing no mercy.
He killed them one by one as they came!
In just a moment, he had already killed six robber cultivators.
"These fellows are so poor, they don't even have storage bags, and the wealth on them is pitifully little..." Li Chang'an searched them and frowned secretly.
"Forget it, even mosquito legs are meat."
They had delivered themselves to his door anyway. It would be foolish not to take what was offered!
Just then, the puppet that had been watching Zheng Jinbao finally had results.
"Is Zheng Jinbao planning to flee?" Li Chang'an hid in the shadows, watching carefully.
At this moment, Zheng Jinbao had already changed his outfit, looking like an ordinary rogue cultivator.
His expression was tense as he quietly left his residence and walked toward the outskirts of the market.
Many cultivators were busy plundering, so very few noticed him.
Before long, a group of robber cultivators rushed into his residence, searching everywhere for a long time.
"Where is that dog Zheng Jinbao?"
"He probably ran away long ago!"
"Damn it, we finally have an opportunity, I really wanted to kill him!"
Li Chang'an witnessed this scene and wasn't surprised, having anticipated it.
"Over the years, Zheng Jinbao has relied on his steward position to offend many people."
In the past, the rogue cultivators he oppressed could only swallow their anger and didn't dare resist but now the situation had reversed.
In this great chaos, many Zheng family disciples could barely protect themselves, with no one able to care about Zheng Jinbao.
"This fellow runs quite fast."
Under Li Chang'an's watchful gaze, Zheng Jinbao had already reached the edge of the market.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, looking back at the market filled with bloodshed and slaughter.
"As long as I survive tonight, everything will return to normal."
He turned back and walked out of the market, planning to go to the safe residence he had prepared long ago to hide.
However, after walking only a short distance, he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet give way.
"Not good!"
Zheng Jinbao cried out in alarm, his entire body immediately falling into the dark underground.
Before he could react, a large net swallowed his body.
Big Yellow's figure flashed and disappeared, taking him into the spirit beast bag.
The next instant, the earth returned to its original flat state, as if nothing had ever happened.
...
Before long, in the deep underground far from the market, Big Yellow appeared and handed the spirit beast bag to Li Chang'an.
"Well done!" Li Chang'an praised with a smile.
Then, with a thought, Zheng Jinbao was thrown out of the spirit beast bag.
His face was full of panic, and as soon as he emerged, he shouted, "Senior, spare my life, this junior is willing to..."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly saw Li Chang'an's face and immediately froze.
"Li... Li Chang'an..."
Zheng Jinbao's face turned pale, his entire being as if fallen into an abyss.
He would rather have fallen into the hands of robber cultivators than be caught by Li Chang'an!
"Steward Zheng, it's been a long time," Li Chang'an said with a smile, casually greeting him.
Zheng Jinbao's face twitched.
He forced an ugly smile.
"Yes, Chang'an, we haven't seen each other for a long time. How have you been lately?"
"Very well," Li Chang'an smiled in response, his voice revealing no killing intent.
But the more he acted this way, the more uneasy Zheng Jinbao became.
He swallowed hard, his heart filled with anxiety.
"Chang'an, I didn't expect you to grow so quickly, becoming so formidable in just a few years."
"Steward Zheng, this is all thanks to your blessing," Li Chang'an said with a smile.
"The robber cultivators you hired came to my door one after another to deliver treasures, so I didn't need to worry about cultivation resources and could focus on cultivation."
Hearing this, Zheng Jinbao's body trembled.
He lowered his head, fear in his heart, not daring to look into Li Chang'an's eyes.
"Chang'an, these robber cultivators you mention, what... what do you mean?"
He still wanted to play dumb but Li Chang'an had no intention of wasting words with him.
He took away Zheng Jinbao's storage bag, removed the restrictions, and opened it.
After carefully examining it once, he said, "Zheng Jinbao, you've been a steward in Qinghe Market for so many years, your wealth should be considerable. Why are there only a few hundred spirit stones in this storage bag?"
"I..."
Zheng Jinbao opened his mouth.
He did indeed have a hidden batch of treasures but once he revealed them, he would lose his value.
Therefore, he planned to use this batch of treasures to make a deal with Li Chang'an, exchanging them for a way to live but Li Chang'an had no patience for making deals with him.
"Forget it, since you won't speak, I'll find a way to get it out of you."
Li Chang'an put away all his smiles, his expression immediately becoming cold and stern.
He immediately turned and ordered, "Big Yellow, begin the torture!"
"Woof!"
Big Yellow looked at Zheng Jinbao, fierce light flashing in his eyes.
Terrifying demonic wind instantly swept toward Zheng Jinbao's face, frightening him until his whole body trembled.
"Wait! I'll talk, I'll talk right now!"
