Death... and me

On Roan's side, he was still perplexed by what he heard. Obviously, he wasn't the least bit happy. Since he obtained Class A access, that meant that someone was observing him up to now. There was Gval, but he doubted that man would do such a thing. Perhaps even Gval doesn't even have Class A access. 

"Who gave me this permission?"

The man shook his head as he said.

"Rules of the Black Market. No questions about anyone's identity. You better not ask that question again."

Roan narrowed his eyes as he listened to the statement. There was nothing he could do about it since he knew that it was an actual rule. Well, it's not like Roan didn't have an inkling of an idea. Roan then pondered for a bit and decided to go ahead with his questions.

"I want all the information regarding the throne succession and those involved in it. Things like people with the best chances, decisions that have been made, Chrole's reaction, etc."

The man on the other side of the table nodded.

"That information won't come cheap. You got the access, that's true. But you still need to pay for it."

Roan didn't mind as he asked.

"How much?"

The man then extended all his ten fingers.

"Ten thousand Rank Three Spirit Stones. We also accept Rank Four ones. If you have them, I can give you a discount and sell you the information for just 800 Rank Four Spirit Stones. Oh, and also, we can't guarantee that you'll be satisfied with what we know or not. If you don't like what you see, you won't receive your money back."

Sure enough, Rank Four Spirit Stones were rare even in the Black Market. One Rank Four Spirit Stone had Spiritual Energy equivalent to ten Rank Three stones. That information then should cost one thousand Rank Four stones. However, due to its rarity, even the Dark Web was willing to reduce the price.

Roan then connected to the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and looked at the amount of Spirit Stones available they had. Rean always divided the number of Spirit Stones equally for them to cultivate. However, Roan's part alone wouldn't be enough to pay for it. So, without any other choice, he contacted Rean.

'Hey, Nightingale, I need 10000 Rank Three Spirit Stones to buy information. I'll need to take some of yours to buy it.'

Rean, who had been talking with Qia, was taken aback for a second. Though, it did not take long for him to reply as he said.

'10000?! That's almost everything we have together. Are you sure it's necessary to spend this much?'

Roan confirmed.

'What's more important? Spirit Stones? Or our lives?'

Rean sighed and immediately agreed. Sure enough, Spirit Stones would have no meaning if Calina doesn't become the Empress.

'By the way, I found something that you'll want to know.'

Roan stopped Rean in his tracks as he replied.

'Leave it for later. I need to finish my part here first.'

'Alright.'

Roan then took a few bags from his waist and threw them at the information merchant. Naturally, the guy was taken aback after seeing that. Roan looked very young, so he didn't expect him to have this many Spirit Stones.

"Check it. There should be 10000 Spirit Stones inside these bags."

After Roan was finished talking, the man came back to himself as his eyes lit up. As the one selling information, he would also get a commission for it.

"Sure! Give me a second."

His Spiritual Sense immediately entered the bags. Sure enough, he found 10000 Rank Three Spirit Stones inside them. After that, he tapped on the table. Not long after, the door behind him opened up before another man in black entered the room. They talked about something through their Spiritual Sense for a bit. Following that, the man took the bags with Spirit Stones and retreated.

"The payment has been received. The information you requested will be delivered soon."

The man then got up and left through the back door as well. Roan waited in the room for a few moments until, after some time, a compartment opened on the side of the room. There, Roan found three Jade Slips. Without wasting time, Roan took those Jade Slips and put them in his bag before leaving the room.

After finishing that, Roan gave up going shopping. He wanted to find a few of the Yin Energy Skill Books related to the Dark Element. Unfortunately, he didn't have the money to buy those things anymore. 

'Leaving that aside, I need to check this thing about getting Class A identification...'

Roan pondered for a bit but shook his head in the end. If there was someone following him, he really couldn't tell. It would be useless to use Rean's Radar Skill to perceive Spiritual Senses since everyone literally had their Spiritual Senses active.

'There's no way to identify which one of those hundreds or even thousands of Spiritual Senses is the one observing me. Even if there was one, I doubt this person would have continued to do so after revealing his existence in the Dark Web Organization. I might as well go through the third part of the plan.'

Roan didn't have to walk for too long. He stopped in front of another building. This time, however, there were no guards in front. The only thing he could see was a worn-out board with a name written in dark letters.

-Shadow Reapers-

Roan faintly smiled and made his way inside. Surprisingly, he wasn't alone there. A few other people were waiting in a queue in front.

'I guess it can't be helped. In this cultivation world, being an assassin should be quite a profitable job.'

Sure enough, these people on the queue were all waiting to contract the guild to kill someone for them. One didn't need to think too much to know that not a single person used their actual appearance. There were business assassination, revenge assassination, inheritance assassination, you name it. The Shadow Reapers took them all.

Of course, it was freaking expensive in exchange, especially in a city like the Sasamil Capital. Otherwise, this queue would definitely be much bigger. 

There was a reason for the Shadow Reapers to charge so much. The lack of personnel! The number of cultivators willing to become assassins was surprisingly very low. The problem was that the Shadow Reapers didn't just accept anyone. If you wanted to join, you had to be stronger than those at your level. After all, the Shadow Reapers worked based on reputation. Their assassination attempts almost always succeeded. 

Rean and Roan were quite lucky back then since Tiria was there to help them out. It also increased to price to have them killed since a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator protected the twins. In the end, the Umbral Sect wasn't willing to pay for the increase.

That being said, the requisites for becoming an assassin of the Shadow Reapers were relatively high. Also, you couldn't take missions straight away. The Organization would test you beforehand to guarantee that you had both the resolve to kill and the power to overwhelm opponents of the same level.

The queue moved slowly. After all, you can't expect an organization like this one to have many 'employees' working. Every time someone was attended, he would be brought inside where the Shadow Reapers would hear your request, calculate the price, and receive the payment. 

Roan's turn finally arrived, and he was also brought inside a private room. There was only one old man sitting on the counter with his eyes closed, waiting for the request. The surprising part was that the man didn't seem to be hiding his appearance.

The man didn't give Roan time to think much, though, as he asked.

"Who's the target?"

It was as simple as that.

Roan then shook his head as he replied.

"I'm here to join the organization."

The man behind the counter finally opened his eyes and looked at Roan from top to bottom. He didn't care about how young Roan seemed, only his cultivation.

"Initial Stage of the Core Formation Realm. Just barely enough to receive requests. Why do you want to become an assassin?"

Roan shook his head.

"That's my problem. All you need to know is that I will accomplish the objective as long as it isn't ridiculous. By the way, do I have the right to select the missions I take as I wish?"

The man behind the counter nodded.

"Yes. We work based on reputation. If the assassin isn't even confident in accomplishing the mission, what's the point? Here, we only receive requests and payments. Then it's solely up to the assassins to get that mission or not. Even if one of them fails, we will simply repost the assignment until someone succeeds. Of course, if it is found out that the mission is much harder than what we previously thought, the reward is increased, and so is the requisite to take the task. Also, there are pre-determined levels for each mission. If your Assassin Rank is too low, you can't apply for higher-level missions either."

Roan nodded, satisfied. That was indeed a good way of keeping the system with a high rate of success.

"That's good enough. I wish to take the test right away."

The man nodded as pointed to a door on the side.

"Just go through this door. There will be someone there to test you shortly."

Roan didn't waste time and headed to the door. However, the old man gave him a final warning.

"There is no coming back after entering that place. You better be sure you want to do it."

Roan snorted in response. 

"Is that so?"

Soon after, he opened the door and passed through. Not going back? He didn't intend to go back to start with.