One Person: I, the Dragon Tiger Stall King! I Won!

48: What is buried under the cloth is not a monument, but a dragonThe bell toll spread from the depths of the earth, not deafening, but like a heavy hammer, striking precisely upon the Divine Soul of every person.

Su Qingzhu felt her eardrums buzzing, her mind a blank slate; Liu Qingyi’s face turned deathly pale, the Qi circulating within her instantly disordered, nearly causing her to lose her breath.

Even the old dog that had been lying down all this time now had its fur standing on end, a low growl mixing threat and fear rumbling in its throat.

The Old Earth Vein Turtle retracted its head half an inch into the stele’s crevice, its voice carrying an ancient gravity: ”It’s over... The unsealing ritual was interrupted, the blood sacrifice was impure, it has attracted the Dao Market’s most ancient guardians... the Judgess of the Market Heart Association.”

Judgess?

Zhang Xuanyi’s pupils constricted sharply. That drop of blood that had deviated by half an inch had now solidified into a dark red scar on the cloth’s surface.

Under the cloth, the golden patterns on the colossal bronze stele no longer flowed; instead, they grew dim. That bell toll was its final lament.

”Market Heart Association...” Zhang Xuanyi chewed on this name, a sense of unprecedented crisis shooting up his spine to the crown of his head.

This was a hundred times more terrifying than the System’s warning of mission failure. It was a cold lock-on from a higher level, a more ancient rule.

Before his words faded, the air around them seemed to solidify into glass.

The night wind in the mountains, the chirping of insects in the forest, even the sound of footsteps from Xuan Weizi and his men rushing over from afar were all cut off at this moment by an invisible force.

Four blurred phantoms materialized without warning at the four directions of the bronze stele.

They wore ancient, dark-colored robes without a single pattern, yet they gave off a profound sense of encompassing the ultimate principles of heaven and earth.

Their forms existed between the tangible and intangible, their faces shrouded in a chaotic mist, features indistinguishable. Only four pairs of utterly emotionless eyes, like deities indifferently observing the birth and death of all things, turned in unison towards Zhang Xuanyi.

One of the phantoms slowly raised a hand, its voice devoid of any emotion, as if proclaiming the Laws of heaven and earth: ”The bell toll is the proof; the Market Heart shall adjudicate.”

Another phantom continued, its voice equally icy: ”Unsealing failed; sacrifice insincere.”

The gaze of the third phantom fell upon the crack on Zhang Xuanyi’s chest: ”The heart anchor wavers; the Cloth Master is unqualified.”

Finally, the voices of the four phantoms overlapped, transforming into a sound that struck directly at the Soul: ”Thou, shalt be annulled!”

As the word ”annulled” left their mouths, the surrounding air was instantly drained.

Zhang Xuanyi felt an irresistible, immense power envelop him. The Qi meridians within his body felt as if grabbed by countless invisible hands, about to be ripped out from his flesh and blood!

The wound on his chest instantly split open, blood soaking through his clothes. The intense pain nearly made him lose consciousness.

Liu Qingyi was horrified, wanting to step forward to help, but found she couldn’t even move a finger.

That power wasn’t directed at her; merely its residual force had already pinned her firmly in place.

Just as Zhang Xuanyi felt his Divine Soul was about to be torn apart by this force, a furious roar exploded like thunder, forcibly tearing through this solidified space.

”Demon Zhang Xuanyi, colluding with evil beings, causing trouble here! Disciples of the External Affairs Hall, heed the order! Form the array! Execute him!”

Xuan Weizi had finally arrived with his men!

Over a dozen External Affairs Hall Deacons, holding Talisman Swords and faces filled with Evil Qi, closed in from all directions.

They had clearly come prepared, their formation strict, Talisman light weaving into a net that enveloped the entire clearing.

However, when they charged into this area, they all froze in unison.

They couldn’t see the four Judges phantoms. They only saw Zhang Xuanyi kneeling on the ground, his face ashen, while Su Qingzhu and Liu Qingyi seemed to have been hit by a paralysis spell, unable to move.

”Playing tricks with ghosts and gods!” Xuan Weizi’s eyes immediately fell upon the tattered stall cloth emitting a faint glow and the exposed colossal bronze stele.