“Arrived?”
Li Feng snapped out of his reverie and glanced out the window. He was greatly shocked. “This is the branch of the Shadow Studio?”
“Yes, this is the Shadow Studio branch. Young Master, do you find it very unexpected?” Zhong Shuhui smiled. Everyone who came to a Shadow Studio branch for a transaction felt the same surprise.
“Zhong Shuhui, you cannot have made a mistake, can you? How could a Shadow Studio branch possibly be here?” Li Feng still found it somewhat unbelievable.
“Young Master, I bought the intelligence on Tianyan right here. Do you think I would get it wrong?” Zhong Shuhui countered.
Li Feng paused. Yes, this was not Zhong Shuhui’s first transaction with the Shadow Studio. How could she be mistaken? It was just that this branch was in such a place.
“However, Young Master, the Shadow Studio has one rule. Each transaction allows the purchase of only three pieces of intelligence. Regardless of whether the transactions succeed, once three have been attempted, the session ends automatically.” Zhong Shuhui said.
“There is such a thing?” Li Feng was taken aback. He had wanted to ask the Shadow Studio about those troublesome, low-value pieces of intelligence that were hard to investigate otherwise. Now it seemed that was impossible.
“Yes, so Young Master must think carefully about what intelligence you want. If a transaction fails, you waste one of the opportunities.” Zhong Shuhui nodded.
“Understood.” Li Feng took a deep breath. It seemed he had to consider this transaction very carefully.
“Young Master, it is getting late. We had better go in quickly.” Zhong Shuhui said.
“Alright.” Li Feng nodded, opened the car door, and got out.
Looking up at the plaque in front of him bearing the three characters for “funeral parlour”, Li Feng could not believe that this was where the Shadow Studio branch was located.
A funeral parlour was a crematorium, a place for burning the dead. How could it possibly be linked to an intelligence organisation? Did that mean transactions with the Shadow Studio were done with the dead?
If Zhong Shuhui were not beside him, firmly stating that this was indeed the branch, he would probably have turned and left immediately.
“Zhong Shuhui, how do we conduct the transaction?” Li Feng asked her.
“Young Master, follow me.” Zhong Shuhui said as she walked into the funeral parlour.
Li Feng quickly followed. A funeral parlour could be said to be the place in a city with the heaviest death qi. Ordinary people could not sense this death qi, but as martial artists, they were extremely sensitive to it.
The moment he entered, Li Feng felt thick death qi wrapping around him.
Li Feng snorted coldly. The Nine Heavens Heart Sutra within his body began to circulate. Instantly, he felt his whole body shake, and the endless death qi dissipated like smoke.
“Young Master, what is wrong?” Zhong Shuhui heard Li Feng’s snort and turned back, asking in confusion.
“Zhong Shuhui, did you not sense the death qi?” Li Feng asked.
“Death qi? No, I only feel it is a bit eerie here.” Zhong Shuhui shook her head.
“Eerie? That makes sense.” Li Feng stepped forward and took hold of Zhong Shuhui’s hand.
“Young Master…” Zhong Shuhui was stunned. Although she was his subordinate, she was still a woman. How could Li Feng casually hold her hand?
Li Feng said nothing. He directly channelled true qi into her body. Instantly, Zhong Shuhui felt warmth spread through her, and that eerie feeling vanished.
“Zhong Shuhui, this funeral parlour is filled with death qi. You had better circulate your energy to resist it. Inhaling too much of this death qi is very harmful to us.” Li Feng said gravely.
Only then did Zhong Shuhui understand Li Feng’s meaning. She looked at him gratefully. Her strength was not great enough to detect the death qi, and since this was a funeral parlour, she had thought the eerie feeling was normal. She had not realised it was caused by death qi.
As an ancient martial artist, she naturally understood what death qi meant. It could be said that death qi was the natural enemy of ancient martial artists.
Cultivating as an ancient martial artist was already defying heaven to seize fate, while death qi was something that took lives.
“It seems the Shadow Studio built its branch here for a reason.” A glint flashed in Li Feng’s eyes. He extended his divine sense and discovered that the death qi in the air was converging into a torrent, flowing towards one direction in the funeral parlour.
“Zhong Shuhui, is the place for our transaction over there?” Li Feng pointed in that direction.
“Young Master, how did you know?” Zhong Shuhui asked in surprise.
“Heh, I guessed.” A sharp light flashed in Li Feng’s eyes. That direction was where the death qi was gathering. At this moment, Li Feng felt his guess was correct. The Shadow Studio had built its branch in this funeral parlour possibly because of the death qi here.
But what did the Shadow Studio need this death qi for? Could it be for cultivation?
Li Feng was startled by this thought, but he quickly shook his head. He had never heard of death qi being used for cultivation.
If it was not for cultivation, then what was it for? Did the people of the Shadow Studio want to absorb the death qi and court death?
Li Feng shook his head inwardly. He was certain the Shadow Studio needed this death qi for some special reason, but he simply could not guess what it was.
“Let us go. The less time we spend in a place like this, the better. We should complete the transaction and leave quickly.” Li Feng said to Zhong Shuhui.
“Alright.” Zhong Shuhui nodded and led the way.
Soon, the two arrived at a corner of the funeral parlour. Zhong Shuhui pointed at a small building ahead and said, “The transaction takes place there.”
“Let us go in.” Li Feng used his divine sense to scan. He found no one in or around the building. With no one there, how could they transact? Was it with ghosts?
Following Zhong Shuhui into the small building, Li Feng discovered that apart from a table and a few chairs, there was nothing else. The building did not even have windows.
This made Li Feng even more curious. He could not wait to find out how the transaction was conducted.
But immediately, Li Feng’s expression changed.
Because he discovered that after entering the small building, he could no longer use his divine sense.
Unable to use divine sense?
This was something he had never encountered before. Could there be something in this building that suppressed divine sense? Even at the Ancient Martial Artists Association, he had not experienced this.
In that instant, Li Feng no longer dared to be careless. He became twelve times more vigilant towards the Shadow Studio.
Something that could suppress divine sense was no ordinary thing. The mask Elder Tu had given him only blocked divine sense; it could not suppress it. Moreover, he had never heard of anything that could suppress divine sense.
His divine sense had already reached the Innate Realm. In this End Dharma Era, even a sixth-level Innate expert might not possess it.
“Young Master, what is wrong?” Zhong Shuhui noticed Li Feng’s expression and asked in confusion.
“Nothing. Let us start the transaction now. How do we do it?” Li Feng asked.
“Young Master, look. There is a slot on this table. As long as you place a bank card in it, the Shadow Studio will automatically deduct the payment. If you have any questions, you can ask them directly.” Zhong Shuhui pointed at the table.
Li Feng nodded, sat down at the table with Zhong Shuhui, took out his bank card, and placed it in the slot.
“I want to know the strength and personality of Blood Shadow from Hongmen.” Li Feng said gravely.
“The question is worth two hundred million.” An extremely hollow voice came from all directions.
Li Feng’s eyes narrowed. He noticed that when the voice sounded, a swiping sound came from the slot, as if a card reader was processing the card. It seemed this table was designed unusually.
Li Feng looked at Zhong Shuhui. The payment had already been made. When would they receive the answer?
Zhong Shuhui gave Li Feng a look, signalling him to be patient.
Only then did Li Feng calm down and wait. He wanted to see what kind of answer the Shadow Studio would provide.
If he were not so busy with various matters right now, he would truly want to thoroughly investigate this Shadow Studio. It was too mysterious, mysterious to the point of making him somewhat afraid.
Although the Ancient Martial Artists Association was also a colossal entity, it lacked the mystery of the Shadow Studio. The Association was like a marketplace for martial artists, providing many conveniences. The Shadow Studio was different. It offered only mystery and eeriness.
At this moment, Li Feng somewhat regretted coming to the Shadow Studio. Although obtaining intelligence on Blood Shadow would greatly help his plans, making contact with such a mysterious force was not a good thing.
But it was too late for regrets now. He could only take it one step at a time.
Click!
At that moment, a sound rang out. Li Feng looked up and saw a new slot had appeared on the table before him. In it was a sheet of paper covered in densely written characters.
“Is this the intelligence on Blood Shadow?” A glint flashed in Li Feng’s eyes.
“Yes.” Zhong Shuhui picked up the paper and handed it to Li Feng.
“No rush to read it now.” Li Feng signalled for Zhong Shuhui to put the paper away, then said gravely, “Second question. I want to know the purpose of the Nine Dragons Jade.”
“The question is worth one trillion. Insufficient funds in the card. Transaction void. You have one more opportunity.” The hollow voice came again from all directions.
Li Feng cursed inwardly. One piece of intelligence costing one trillion. Was this not robbery? Was intelligence on the Nine Dragons Jade really worth that much?
Li Feng felt somewhat helpless. He had thought intelligence on the Nine Dragons Jade would cost two or three hundred million at most. If he could clarify it, it would help him considerably. He had not expected the Shadow Studio to be so ruthless. One trillion for that intelligence.
One trillion. Even if he sold himself, he would not have that much money. If he had that kind of money, he would not buy the intelligence. He would just obtain the Nine Dragons Jade itself and figure out its purpose.
He had originally thought the Ancient Martial Artists Association was greedy enough, but he had not expected the Shadow Studio to be even worse.
Yet thinking about it, it was not surprising. Intelligence on Blood Shadow alone cost two hundred million. The Nine Dragons Jade was so mysterious and coveted by so many forces. Its value being higher than Blood Shadow’s was reasonable, though somewhat outrageously high.
The bank card Li Feng had brought today contained five hundred million. Two hundred million had already been spent, leaving three hundred million. What intelligence could three hundred million buy?
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. Slowly, Li Feng asked his third question.
