This happened a few days ago in North Sand City.

It was evening when Nie Jun returned to an inn in North Sand City after a whole day of hunting.

"Waiter, get me four catties1of oxen meat, three ounces of boiled peanuts, and a bottle of flower wine."

That was a classic warrior's meal.

However, Nie Jun was not a warrior. To be exact, he was not a warrior at that moment. He had been practicing martial arts for years and only joined a cultivation sect after spending 30 years in martial arts and advanced to mortal transformation-level.

Although he was already a great mid-ascendance-level cultivator, a warrior's habit was forged in his blood.

He was not fond of staying in a crowded, luxurious inn with other cultivators. It was not that he had no spirit stones to spend; he despised talking about things cultivators were always going on about. Compared to that, staying with warriors gave him peace of mind.

Looking at those drunk warriors who were chowing down on meat and gulping swigs of wine, he felt like he was looking at the very person he used to be. However, those brothers who used to dine and drink with him had passed away. He could not find anyone who would drink with him now.

After ordering from the waiter, Nie Jun headed upstairs right away.

The waiter knocked on his door with a tray as the sky was getting dark.

"Sir, the food you ordered is ready."

"Come in."

The waiter opened the door and placed the tray on the table. He then turned around and left, shutting the room door as he went out.

Nie Jun stood up and walked to the food that was served on the dining table. He did not bother to use the chopsticks as he grabbed the sliced meat with his hands directly.

A mouthful of meat, a sip of wine, followed by a mouthful of appetizer.

Soon, the plates on the table were emptied.

After swilling the last drop of wine, Nie Jun put the bottle down and belched loudly.

Just when he was ready to get up, he felt a sense of danger coming from behind. Before he managed to react, a silver dagger was on his neck, causing him to sweat.

"Don't make a sound and get up slowly." A deep voice came from behind.

"Brother, if you're robbing me, my storage ring's on my left middle finger. Just take it. I promise I won't come after you." Nie Jun raised his left hand to show the attacker the storage ring on his left hand.

The reason he did that was because he was sure that the person was a professional assassin. Only a professional assassin would be able to find a place to hide himself perfectly in such a small room to the extent that Nie Jun did not realize his existence throughout his meal.

Looking at the person's speed, his ability was definitely on par or even more powerful than him.

Pain flared from Nie Jun's left hand just when he spoke.

"I warned you not to make a sound."

Nie Jun looked towards his left hand and noticed that his left middle finger had been chopped off simply because he had spoken. The person was obviously ruthless.

Nie Jun's heart sank to the bottom at that moment. Not letting him speak would mean there was no room for negotiation. He had met people of all walks of life during his 30 years in martial arts, so he roughly knew what kind of person he was dealing with from the signals the person sent.

'It seems like I won't be able to escape death today.' Nie Jun forced a smile quietly and did not attempt to speak again. He knew the person would give him an even more intense warning if he were to talk again. The person might kill him right away.

"Pick up the plates and bring them to the door."

Nie Jun placed the plates and wine bottle onto the tray as he was told. As he walked to the door and opened it, the dagger distanced from his neck all of a sudden.

Nie Jun's eyes lit up, but he noticed that something was off just when he was going to run. A thread that was as thick as human hair wound around his neck.

"I'm glad that you didn't do what you were attempting to do. Otherwise, your head wouldn't be on your neck right now," said the deep voice from behind.

Nie Jun was sweating all over his forehead. He just realized what had sliced off his finger earlier.

After opening the door, Nie Jun bent at the waist and placed the tray on the ground.

As he got up, a short blade appeared from his right pocket. He cut through the narrow space between his neck and the transparent thread. He squatted down as he did that, causing him to dodge the threat from the colorless thread.

Without the thought of fighting the man, Nie Jun pumped his legs in an attempt to run.

However, both of his ankles screamed immediately. His body lost balance and he slumped onto the ground.

At the same time, he finally saw how the assassin looked like. It was a skinny man who was covered in a black robe and wore a black mask on his face. There were two oval holes on the mask, revealing his black, cold and emotionless eyes.

"Smarty pants." The man in the mask walked towards Nie Jun slowly.

Nie Jun lay in a pool of blood, appearing like he was dead inside.

After closing the door, the man grabbed Nie Jun's collar and threw him onto the chair in front of the dining table.

Nie Jun had lost his will to fight since his legs were severed together with his chance to run. He just allowed the person to do anything to him.

The man took out a syringe from his storage ring and injected it into Nie Jun's arm.

Without knowing what its contents were, all Nie Jun could feel was his whole body turning numb. Not only could he not speak at all, but he also could not even move a finger now.

Later on, he watched the man bring out a dagger and slice open his skull slowly…

Before his consciousness blacked out, he heard the man in the mask mumble faintly, "Let's see if there's anything that I want in your head…"

…

In the middle of the night, 20 people in masks wearing black robes gathered in a dark room. Although their masks were all black, each mask was of a different design.

"How's the investigation going?" It was a lady who asked that question. There was a red ruby the size of a thumb at the forehead area on her mask.

"I've got something," spoke up a skinny silhouette. His mask was exactly the same as the person's who had killed Nie Jun earlier.

"I caught a fella who was on his own today. His combat strength is on par with mid-immortal-level aI found something pretty useful in his head."

"They call people on imperial-level human immortals in this world. It has been tens of thousands of years since any human immortals have shown themselves, and there's nobody who has elevated to human immortal-level for the past tens of thousands of years.

"Currently, the most powerful people in this city are the three governors who have a combat strength that's on par with immortal-level rank-9. The three of them are the enemies that we must face.

"Apart from that, the people that we must be careful of should be the honorary immortal guards. It's said that all the honorary immortal guards in every city have mastered battle formations and with their abilities, they can fight human immortals that are less powerful."

"Did we alert anyone?" The lady asked.

"No, the earliest they'll discover the body should be tomorrow morning," said the skinny man confidently.

"Then, let's do as we've planned. We'll move out today." The lady in the ruby red mask seemed to be the leader of the pack as she made all the arrangements immediately.

"There are only 20 of us from Charm who came in. We're not like those major organizations like the Union Government, the Hunter Association, and Dynasty, so we have to try our best to minimize our losses in battles and maximize our advantages. After midnight, all of you will kill every living thing in the government residence as fast as you can and rob the treasury.

Try to leave before the honorary immortal guards come."