Chapter 162

Leaving the Black Market district, Lin Huang found a safe spot to take out the black chip and scanned the information using his Emperor's Heart Ring. Only then did he learn what the so-called "weed" actually was.

Weed was a high-grade narcotic named ZC. "Weed" was simply the term used by industry insiders; very few outsiders knew its true nature.

This narcotic took the form of solid black crystals and had no distinct odor. However, everything sold on the market was processed into powder form, making complete crystals impossible to find.

Its exact chemical composition remained unknown, but it possessed powerful hallucinogenic properties and could interact with life power, producing a stimulation far more intense than ordinary drugs.

The reason this narcotic was classified as a high-grade drug was that only those who had mastered life power could consume it safely. For an ordinary person, a single gram was enough to be fatal. Even for strong individuals who had mastered life power, once they began using it, the addictiveness was extremely high, causing severe damage to the brain and internal organs.

For those in the Iron-Tier, using it more than three times caused irreversible bodily damage. Using it more than ten times carried a high probability of resulting in organ failure, death, or brain death. Individuals with higher combat strength possessed stronger resistance, but once they used it more than twice, they would become completely addicted and unable to quit, with death as the inevitable outcome.

Lin Huang glanced at the picture of the complete crystal and was surprised to find it identical to the one the chief examiner had shown everyone earlier.

"So the weed the examiner mentioned is actually this drug..." Lin Huang instantly realized that this examination was far from simple.

He continued reading downward. Aside from the information introducing the narcotic, the file contained numerous case studies of deaths caused by consuming it, including cases involving Gold-Tier powerhouses, each dying in horrifying conditions.

Lin Huang frowned as he finished reading through all the cases—not because the pictures and videos were sickening, but because he felt this information was not worth the high price he had paid for it.

Flipped to the end of the case files, Lin Huang finally found what he was looking for.

The inventor of the weed was rumored to have previously been a pharmacology teacher at a certain hunter academy. After resigning from the academy, within just a few years, he had built a faction entirely his own based on this exclusive formula—Heisenberg.

Andisenberg had a branch right here in Beixuan City.

The data Lin Huang had purchased contained quite detailed information regarding Heisenberg. Aside from the exact identity of the pharmacist, almost nothing about the entire faction's intelligence had been omitted.

"No wonder this information was so expensive. This Heisenberg faction actually has three Transcendents backing it, and its overall strength is no less than that of an ordinary noble family. This branch alone has two Gold-Tier guardians and over thirty Silver-Tier members..." Lin Huang finally realized that the data was indeed worth every coin.

"The weed sold on the market is entirely in powder form; presumably, only production bases like Heisenberg can acquire the crystals. That means to pass the examination, one can only steal it from this Heisenberg branch. But judging by the number of powerful guards stationed here, the difficulty of this examination is quite high." Lin Huang felt that at this level of difficulty, the number of people capable of passing through individual ability alone could probably be counted on one hand.

"This test initially evaluates information-gathering ability, which is easy to understand. But the subsequent difficulty of obtaining the weed is too high, placing an excessively high demand on individual capability, which feels a bit abnormal." Lin Huang frowned slightly. "By relying solely on individual ability, this mission is virtually impossible for the vast majority of Bronze-Tier people. Unless a group collaborates... could it be testing teamwork?"

Lin Huang suddenly thought of a possibility.

Spending a moment pondering the examiner's intentions, Lin Huang shook his head and pushed the thought aside.

Summoning the Purple-Eyed White Eagle, Lin Huang galloped all the way toward the Heisenberg branch.

In the B-grade stronghold, the number of people riding flying mounts was already quite large. Although the Purple-Eyed White Eagle was rare, it did not attract too much attention.

The Heisenberg branch was located amidst a series of rolling mountains at the southern edge of Beixuan City, surrounded entirely by dense forests. In reality, this place was already a suburb far removed from crowds.

Just a few minutes later, the Purple-Eyed White Eagle carried Lin Huang to the vicinity of the Heisenberg branch.

Landing on a thick tree branch, Lin Huang recalled the Purple-Eyed White Eagle. With a light tap of his toes against the branch, his figure shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.

Lin Huang moved swiftly, leaping between the branches. After about ten minutes, he abruptly halted his footsteps because further ahead, the dense forest came to an end, revealing an ancient castle.

This castle looked quite aged.

The central entrance of the castle featured a massive red metal gate, flanked by a guard tower on each side. Lin Huang could vaguely make out figures moving within the towers. At the apex of each guard tower rested a warning bug.

Warning bugs were a type of mimicry insect capable of blending into their surrounding environment. Their eyesight was exceptionally keen; if they detected any unfamiliar creature entering their field of vision, they would emit a piercing, alarm-like shriek. After artificial training, these bugs could serve as living security alarms.

Had Lin Huang not activated his extreme vision, noticing the presence of these two warning bugs would have been nearly impossible.

The perimeter stone wall of the castle was over thirty meters high; even for a Gold-Tier powerhouse, scaling it was no easy task.

Squatting on a tree branch, Lin Huang concealed his figure behind lush foliage, taking in the entire castle through the gaps in the leaves.

Sneaking inside was not actually difficult for him, as he could achieve it simply by transforming into a shadow ghost, but operating in broad daylight carried a higher chance of exposure. Therefore, he planned to wait and make his move at night.

Just as Lin Huang was preparing to rest for a moment, he suddenly sensed someone peering at him. He whirled around and demanded, "Who is it?"

On a large tree not far away, the figure of a young woman slowly materialized.

She looked young, around fifteen or sixteen years of age.

Her hair was a pale blonde, tied into a ponytail. She wore a pink long-sleeved T-shirt on top and a pair of jeans on the bottom, with a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Hey, I got discovered after all."

Judging by her demeanor, she was clearly another participant in the hunter examination. Though she appeared completely harmless, Lin Huang did not dare lower his guard.

The fact that she had appeared here even earlier than him indicated that she should be the person who went to the black market an hour ahead of him to retrieve the information.

Her identity was very likely a member of the dark underworld.

"Who are you?" Lin Huang asked, feigning ignorance to conceal the fact that he already knew someone had arrived earlier than him.

"Naturally, I am someone participating in the hunter examination, just like you. What else did you think?" The ponytail girl leaped across a few branches to approach Lin Huang, finally stopping on a branch opposite him.

"How did you find this place?" Lin Huang asked again.

"Through the black market, of course. Aren't you doing the exact same thing? Otherwise, how on earth would anyone know what weed is?" The ponytail girl rolled her eyes, then changed the subject. "Since you traced it here from the black market, you must also know that this Heisenberg branch has two Gold-Tier powerhouses guarding it, along with over thirty Silver-Tier members. A frontal assault is definitely out of the question. Would you consider cooperating with me?"

"You arrived here forty minutes later than me; although a bit slower than me, it's not bad—much better than those idiots who only know how to dig blindly for weeds. As my partner, you barely meet the qualification." After speaking entirely on her own terms, the ponytail girl looked over at Lin Huang. Seeing him remain silent, she urged impatiently, "Hey, this is the first time this young lady has actively invited someone to form a team. What does your silence mean?"

"How do you plan to cooperate?" Lin Huang actually had little interest in cooperation because he possessed sufficient ability to steal the item himself. However, if she continued to pester him, it might disrupt his operations for the night.

"Simple. I will sneak in secretly and steal the item, while you take charge of finding a way to distract their attention. Once the item is stolen, we will rendezvous, and I will take seventy percent while you get thirty percent, splitting all the weed." The ponytail girl had quite a pleasant fantasy. "Five thousand crystals, seventy percent of which is three thousand five hundred. I'll keep one for myself and sell all the rest at one hundred life crystals each, earning around three hundred and fifty thousand life crystals..."

"You should play by yourself." Lin Huang turned and prepared to leave.

"Hey, then what do you want?" the ponytail girl called out hurriedly.

"Let's reverse it. I'll sneak in, you handle the distraction, and I take seventy while you take thirty." Lin Huang turned back and smiled at her.

"I'm a girl! You're making me attract the firepower and giving me thirty while you take seventy—can your conscience bear that?" The ponytail girl wore an expression of utter indignation.

"My conscience bears it just fine." The corners of Lin Huang's lips curved upward.

"You're bullying me!" The ponytail girl stamped her foot.

"Let's each play our own game then. Farewell." Lin Huang crossed the branches with a few agile leaps and vanished into the distance.

" brat, I'll remember you!" Watching Lin Huang's retreating figure, the ponytail girl muttered with puffed cheeks.

Having shaken off the ponytail girl, Lin Huang found another large tree to sit under and patiently waited for nightfall.

What he did not know was that after he left, the ponytail girl summoned a white wolf from her beast-taming token, mounted it, and galloped out of the dense forest straight toward the Hunter Association...