Rise to God with Life Skill Professions-Chapter 502 - 491: Alliance, Anomaly

The atmosphere in the courtyard was already heavy, and after those words were spoken, it became even more intense.

The many Tong Daoshuai exchanged glances, and then they could see the surprise in each other’s eyes.

They understood better than anyone what this order represented; it meant that the Evil Extermination Bureau was planning to take real action against the Black Market.

It also proved that the Black Market, after repeated probing, had finally touched the bottom line of the Evil Extermination Bureau.

"The Evil Extermination Bureau will no longer choose to endure."

After Zhu Xueshuang said this, she paused for a moment, then waved her hand and said, "What are you waiting for? Disperse now, and remember not to reveal your identities. If this time we cannot make the Black Market behave, then the Black Market truly has no reason to exist."

After hearing these words, the many Tong Daoshuai nodded one after another, then took on their tasks and quietly left.

Qin An heard what Zhu Xueshuang said, and a ripple stirred in his mind as he already understood the main plan this time.

Each shop inside the Black Market is established by various demonic Pseudo-Gods, including human forces.

And there is an unspoken rule in the Black Market: no more than Void Shattering Realm experts can be stationed in its shops.

If this is exceeded, it would invite a heavy strike from the Evil Extermination Bureau.

This rule is strictly followed, whether by humans or demonic Pseudo-Gods, so it’s actually quite normal for Zhu Xueshuang to dispatch the Tong Daoshuai for this mission.

With the deep foundation of this group of Tong Daoshuai, this Black Market mission will be as good as done.

After the many Tong Daoshuai left the courtyard, they formed small groups heading towards the Black Market.

Some people knew each other, while others did not.

Those who knew each other formed groups quite smoothly, while those who didn’t found it quite difficult to team up.

Qin An was alone, as no one approached him.

After all, he was new to Tianyun Dao, considered a new face here.

Even though the Zhao Yang incident had drawn much attention to him, Tianyun Dao is too large, and so is the Evil Extermination Bureau, hence people not recognizing him was also very normal.

Seeing no one come to him for teaming up, Qin An didn’t think about seeking others, feeling that traveling alone seemed rather good.

Thinking this, Qin An intended to return to the courtyard first, change into ordinary clothes, use a mask to alter his appearance and demeanor, and then go to the Black Market to investigate the relevant clues.

But before he could take two steps, he heard a very small voice.

"Hello, sir. I wonder if we could form an alliance?"

Qin An stopped and turned towards the sound, slightly frowning.

At the end of his sight was a young woman dressed in black.

The woman looked youthful, with delicate features, appearing very innocent.

At this moment, she spoke with her head down.

If she weren’t so close to Qin An, he might have thought she wasn’t speaking to him at all.

After noticing Qin An’s gaze, the woman retreated shyly like a startled little rabbit, twisting her fingers together nervously.

"The thing is, I recently got promoted from the Foreign Affairs Department to Tong Daoshuai, and I’m not familiar with many tasks, so I wanted to find someone knowledgeable to go to the Black Market together."

"But, sir, don’t worry. Before becoming Tong Daoshuai, I often visited the Confidential Library to read and am familiar with many of its documents."

"I can provide assistance to you."

While speaking, the woman’s expression was very tense, as if she was afraid of saying something wrong.

Qin An took in her expression and had an idea.

"What’s your name?"

In Tianyun Dao’s Evil Extermination Bureau, each Tong Daoshuai has a different personality.

But rarely has he seen a Tong Daoshuai so apprehensive.

This made Qin An quite curious.

Upon hearing Qin An speak, the woman finally breathed a sigh of relief, then lifted her bright eyes and said, "I’m Zheng Rou, and I cultivate a water attribute cultivation technique, skillful at using the soft to overcome the hard."

As she spoke, Zheng Rou shook her right hand.

Suddenly, a long ribbon appeared on her right hand.

As Zheng Rou waved the ribbon, it exuded a sense of water’s softness, yet within that softness, there was toughness, seemingly unbreakable.

Qin An asked, "Why did you seek an alliance with me?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Rou then put away the ribbon and said quietly, "Because no one wants to be with me. I approached many others, and they all refused to take me. Of course, it’s not that I approached you only because I had no other choice; I just wanted to give it a try. Besides, sir, you’re alone. If it works out, I can have some support too."

The more she spoke, the more awkward Zheng Rou’s expression became.

Qin An thought for a moment and asked again, "Do you have any understanding of the Black Market’s situation?"

Zheng Rou nodded without hesitation and said, "I do. I’m very familiar with all the shops in the Black Market. I’ve read quite a few documents in the Confidential Library."

Qin An nodded and said, "In that case, let’s form a team."

Because Qin An hasn’t been practicing the scholar profession proficiency, he didn’t visit the Confidential Library often.

Moreover, since he’s been focusing on honing other profession skills lately, he’s not very aware of most situations in the Black Market.

And right now, this woman named Zheng Rou says she’s very knowledgeable about the Black Market, so Qin An thinks it’s not a bad idea to team up.

Using her as a walking information machine would indeed be quite helpful for him.

Zheng Rou was slightly stunned, not expecting Qin An to agree so readily. Then she looked excited, clenched her fair fist, and said, "Rest assured, sir, I certainly won’t let you down. Now that we’re allies, according to the Evil Extermination Bureau’s rules, we must help each other."

Qin An placed his hand on the Cold Star Saber handle: "If that’s the case, let me change my clothes, and we’ll set out immediately."

Seeing Qin An walk off towards a certain place after speaking, Zheng Rou couldn’t help but extend her fair jade hand and scratch her head.

But she also knew that the Evil Extermination Bureau had many eccentric people, so she didn’t ask further, silently following Qin An, quickly disappearing outside the courtyard.

...

On the official road, originally calm, a large amount of dust was kicked up at this moment.

Every now and then, two or three fast horses galloped along the road, heading in one direction.

The black market is located within a valley a hundred miles east of the Tianyun Road.

The valley is called Black Mountain Valley, with a complex and intricate terrain.

If an ordinary person passed by, they would even find it difficult to locate the entrance to Black Mountain Valley.

Inside Black Mountain Valley, there is a constant flow of people.

Various shops are built according to the peculiar terrain of Black Mountain Valley, giving off an orderly beauty amidst the chaos.

At this moment, in front of various shops within Black Mountain Valley, quite a few Jianghu people are lingering.

Qin An had already changed into ordinary clothes, using a Human Skin Mask to alter his appearance to that of a regular young man, walking through this black market.

Following him was the somewhat uneasy Zheng Rou.

The two walked while exchanging whispers.

Zheng Rou was telling Qin An about various intelligence regarding the black market.

Qin An was patiently listening.

This time the task was to find out which shops were collaborating with pseudo-gods and demonic creatures to harm their kind.

Therefore, after finding out, they would temporarily hold back.

Until the very end, there would be a cleansing.

So, before that, investigation is the most important, while combat takes second place.

Through Zheng Rou at this moment, Qin An had already learned quite a bit about the black market.

However, Qin An always had a question he wanted to ask.

Qin An stopped walking.

Zheng Rou was still babbling beside him, and when she heard Qin An stop walking, she instinctively looked up at Qin An in confusion.

"Mr. Qin, what’s wrong?"

She no longer addressed him as Mr. Qin, because everyone was hiding their identity during action, calling him Mr. Qin at this time would be a very foolish thing.

Qin An leaned closer to Zheng Rou, lowering his voice: "Miss Zheng, I am very curious about how someone with your timid, hesitant, and shy character could become the Tong Daoshuai of the Evil Extermination Bureau?"

This was Qin An’s long-standing question.

Although the Tong Daoshuais of the Evil Extermination Bureau have different personalities, someone like Zheng Rou would find it difficult to survive, not just in the Evil Extermination Bureau, but in many martial world forces. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Yet Zheng Rou was promoted from a Daoist Official in the Foreign Affairs Department to the position of Tong Daoshuai.

That puzzled Qin An greatly.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Rou’s face turned slightly red, she then lowered her head and looked at the ground, saying, "Actually, I inherited my father’s position to become Tong Daoshuai."

Qin An raised his eyebrow and said, "Tell me more."

At present, their location was quite secluded.

Therefore, talking about these matters seemed harmless.

Zheng Rou displayed a trace of nostalgia on her face before saying, "My father was a seasoned Tong Daoshuai with the Evil Extermination Bureau. Originally, his strength had already reached the Element Transformation Realm; his next step would have been preparing to be promoted to Silver Dao Marshal, but unexpectedly, he encountered an extremely difficult task."

"That was in a village, my father stood alone at the entrance, fighting against a large number of pseudo-gods and demonic creatures to protect hundreds of lives, and ultimately died."

At this point, Zheng Rou’s eyes slightly reddened, but she tried hard to sniff and suppress the tears.

"At that time, when the Evil Extermination Bureau found my father’s body, they saw he stood guarding the entrance alone."

"He did not fall, maintaining an upright posture, his body covered in injuries, while in front of him lay a large number of pseudo-gods and demonic creature corpses, including two corpses of Element Transformation Realm demonic creatures."

"My father fought to the death, ultimately protecting the village, so the Evil Extermination Bureau was deeply moved and recorded his accomplishments in the bureau’s annals."

Qin An rubbed his chin, saying nothing.

He could sense Zheng Rou’s mood was very low at this moment.

Zheng Rou suppressed her emotions and continued, "Father passed away, but since childhood, he taught me the principles of exterminating demons and maintaining the well-being of the people, and I felt I should do something."

"I know I have a soft personality, but I worked hard on cultivation and eventually reached the Void Shattering Realm to fulfill my father’s wishes. I found the Silver Dao Marshal my father worked for, and after my persistent request, he finally allowed me to be promoted to Tong Daoshuai, which was also fulfilling my father’s aspirations."

Qin An thought for a moment, saying, "But your personality isn’t suited to survive in the Evil Extermination Bureau, surely you understand that."

"It’s all right," Zheng Rou shook her head, "Being able to eliminate one more pseudo-god or demonic creature could satisfy my father’s wishes, making me closer to him. I know my personality is soft, but I will learn to be strong gradually, after all, I am no longer the girl protected by my father."

Qin An contemplated for a long time, shook his head, and said, "Alright, let’s not talk about this; it’s time to proceed with the task."

He felt that it’s challenging for someone to dictate another person’s path.

Moreover, Qin An and Zheng Rou were merely strangers who crossed paths.

He thought a little advice was sufficient, more than that wouldn’t be polite.

Zheng Rou shook her head to discard the sadness in her mind before pointing in a direction, saying, "Based on my understanding of the shops, the nearest one is the Thousand Illusion Gate’s shop; lately, its transactions seem considerable, likely connected to pseudo-gods and demonic creatures."

Qin An thought for a while, nodded, and said, "Alright, then let’s go check out the Thousand Illusion Gate."

Both stopped talking, heading in one direction.

Yet before they reached the Thousand Illusion Gate’s shop, something unforeseen suddenly occurred...