Immortal of the Nine Realms

Chapter 323: It’s Fine

The man had been about to slam the door shut in Fan Chen’s face after he heard what he said when he discovered that a flying sword was pressed against his forehead, its sharp tip threatening.

Fang Chen smiled. ”Lead the way.”

”Please follow me,” compiled the man obediently.

In the courtyard, Lord Tiger fondled the spiritual stones in his hand, a satisfied smile on his face. A thousand low-grade spiritual stones was a considerable amount for just about anyone, it was even enough to tempt a Golden Core Realm cultivator.

”Too bad, Xia Ji has Master Chanyuan backing him up, so no tricking him. I could’ve earned myself a thousand spirit stones without doing anything,” muttered Lord Tiger, shaking his head from side to side with a sigh.

Suddenly, his gaze swept toward the entrance of the courtyard, furrowing his brow. ”Another visitor today?”

”We have an unexpected guest, Lord Tiger,” said the servant stiffly, an awkward smile on his face.

An unexpected guest?

Lord Tiger frowned slightly. Maintaining his composure, he put the spirit stones away and calmly turned his attention to Fang Chen, who was behind the servant.

”Please come in and talk, there’s no need for you to threaten a mere servant.”

Fang Chen nodded softly ”You’re right.”

To Lord Tiger’s astonishment, he found the flying sword, which had had its tip resting against his servant’s forehead just a moment ago, suddenly pressing against his own skull. Though the sword seemed ordinary, the sword intent emanating from it made him stiffen, as if he was enveloped in bone-chilling coldness.

Cold sweat began to form on Lord Tiger’s forehead.

Lord Tiger forced a strained smile. ”Sir, I don’t know you, and we have no grievances. What’s the meaning of this?”

He had a feeling that this man before him could kill him effortlessly.

”This is the capital of Grand Qian. If there’s any bloodshed here, no matter who you are, you won’t be able to escape the law,” interjected the servant hurriedly.

Fang Chen chuckled. ”You run a business centered around hiring assassins and you’re telling me this?”

Lord Tiger’s expression changed slightly. He glanced at the servant. ”You can leave. This doesn’t concern you.”

The servant hesitated. ”Lord Tiger....”

Lord Tiger’s eyes turned angry. ”I said leave!”

The servant immediately turned and ran, not daring to wait around for an extra second. He knew what would happen if Lord Tiger got angry.

”Sir, now it’s just the two of us. We can speak frankly,” Lord Tiger said to Fang Chen, bowing respectfully. ”I don’t know who told you about me, but I am assuming you’re here to do business with me?”

”I am indeed here on the account of business, but I’m not sure if you’re reliable,” replied Fang Chen as he sat down opposite to Tiger Lord, his eyes staring at him closely.

Lord Tiger forced a weak smile. ”If you’re here for business, could you put down your sword first?”

Fang Chen shook his head with a smile. ”No need, this is fine.”

Lord Tiger was nonplussed. But for the sake of his life, he needed to figure out why Fang Chen was here. Was he an enemy, or a potential client?

”Feel free to tell me what kind of business you wish to conduct. I handle various businesses, including finding people, finding objects, and mediating disputes,” listed Lord Tiger.

”I want you to kill someone,” said Fang Chen with a smile.

”Kill someone?” Lord Tiger looked hesitant. ”This is the capital. We absolutely cannot take lives here. I don’t know who told you that you can hire assassins here. He must have misled you, perhaps wanting to use you to kill me.”

”If you aren’t a little more honest with me, then this conversation between us will end with your demise,” said Fang Chen calmly.

Lord Tiger’s expression changed several times.

After a few breaths, he said slowly, ”Who do you want to kill? What is their cultivation level?”

”Jue Wudi, in the early Foundation Building Realm,” replied Fang Chen.

Lord Tiger’s expression shifted slightly. ”That arrogant one from the Jue Family?!”

What a strange day this was! One client wanted him to kill the pride of the Fang Family, while another wanted him to kill the pride of the Jue Family!

”This deal is out of my league. If it were someone in the Qi Refining Realm, perhaps I could’ve helped you deal with him, but Jue Wudi is not only in the Foundation Building Realm, he is also a direct descendant highly valued by the Jue Family’s ancestors...” said Lord Tiger with a bitter smile.

”In that case, let’s change the target. How about killing someone at the twelfth stage of the Qi Refining Realm? Can you handle that?” said Fang Chen casually.

Lord Tiger breathed a sigh of relief. ”Killing someone at the twelfth stage of Qi Refining Realm is manageable. Who is the target?”

”You don’t need to know the target’s identity. Just tell me if you can take on this job. After taking it, how will you proceed? Will it expose my involvement? Can you ensure the operation goes smoothly?” Fang Chen stared at Lord Tiger. ”Please answer these questions.”

Lord Tiger was slightly taken aback. ”If you don’t tell me the target’s identity, I can’t give you a pri—”

”Let’s just consider this a deal worth one thousand spirit stones,” interrupted Fang Chen with a smile.

Lord Tiger was completely stunned, and suspicion arose in his eyes. Xia Ji had just given him one thousand spiritual stones. Now someone else offered him the exact same amount. Was these two things somehow related?

”I am not a very patient man, answer quickly,” said Fang Chen calmly.

Gritting his teeth, Lord Tiger mouthed, ”I don’t usually inform my clients of the details, but since I have good rapport with you, I’ll be frank with you: If the target you want to kill has no significant background, I’ll handle it personally. If there are complications, I’ll hire someone else to do it. The specific details will have to be arranged at the time.”

”Who will you hire?” asked Fang Chen.

Lord Tiger fell silent.

”Don’t want to say it? It’s fine if you don’t wish to...” Fang Chen chuckled softly, and the tip of the small sword pressed a little harder against Lord Tiger’s forehead, causing a drop of blood to slowly trickle down his skin.

Lord Tiger’s very soul trembled with fear, and he hastily said, ”Wait, wait! The person I’ll hire won’t be from Grand Qian. This is the only way to avoid being exposed. As for who it will be, there are too many options to choose from.”

”What do you mean?”

”Do you know about the Heavenly Doom Hall?” asked Lord Tiger, feeling very pressed.

Fang Chen nodded. ”Go on.”

Lord Tiger continued, ”I’ve spent some time there when I was young. The cultivators there take money from people to alleviate their troubles. I still know a few of them who can help.” Pausing for a moment, he added, ”No one in the Grand Qian Empire knows about this. Even the Golden Core Realm ancestors of various families only know that I cultivated in a fourth-tier empire for a while.”

”They won’t dare cause trouble for the Heavenly Doom Hall even if something goes wrong, so we’ll be safe. Nothing will be linked back to us,” said Lord Tiger, after which he suddenly asked, ”Is it that you know Xia Ji? Are you afraid he’ll make a mess by trying to kill Fang Lingxing?”

Fang Chen smiled. ”Tell me about Fang Lingxing, what has she done?”

Lord Tiger realized that his counterpart was not naive; they had been in this business in Grand Qian for many years without any incidents. He breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, ”Fang Lingxing hired several cultivators from the outer city to ambush Master Chanyuan’s second disciple in the Nocturnal Valley. That’s Xia Ji’s senior brother.”

”Are you sure it was Fang Lingxing who hired them?” Fang Chen chuckled. ”I don’t want Xia Ji to be used as a pawn.”

Lord Tiger hurriedly confirmed, ”Absolutely. One of the cultivators from the outer city, who once received my favor, informed me about it after the incident. He knew he couldn’t stay in Grand Qian for long after that, so he left early to avoid being silenced.”