The token was made of bronze, with the characters "Guisha" inscribed on it.
From this, it could be seen that this assassin should be a bronze-level assassin from Guisha Tower!
Zi Lingling was no longer the greenhorn she was when she first arrived, so she knew a bit about Guisha Tower.
After Guisha Tower accepted a contract, they would assign targets based on their cultivation level and post them on the mission board.
Then, assassins would pick up missions according to their own cultivation.
The assassins of Guisha Tower, from low to high, were Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond.
Bronze-level assassins had a minimum cultivation of the middle stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm, and their targets were mostly from the early stage to the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm.
Silver-level assassins had a minimum cultivation of the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm, and their targets were all at or above the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm.
Gold-level assassins had a minimum cultivation of the middle stage of the Yuan Transformation Realm, and their targets were all at or above the middle stage of the Yuan Transformation Realm.
Diamond-level assassins had a minimum cultivation of the peak of the Yuan Transformation Realm and were responsible for completing difficult missions, with targets also at or above the peak of the Yuan Transformation Realm.
Because assassins operated in the shadows and were difficult to guard against, they generally possessed the ability to challenge opponents at higher levels.
Of course, before accepting each mission, Guisha Tower would assess the assassin and the target to ensure the mission could be completed smoothly.
Guisha Tower's assassinations always came in three waves.
If the first wave of assassination was successful, the mission would naturally be removed from the mission board, signifying completion, and the reward could be collected from the employer.
However, if the first attempt failed, Guisha Tower would re-evaluate the target and dispatch a second, or even a third wave of assassins.
Whether it was the second or third wave, as long as it was successful, it still represented mission completion, and the employer would need to bear two to three times the reward.
But if all three waves failed, it meant the mission was a complete failure. Guisha Tower would cancel the mission, and the employer would only need to pay some handling fees.
This meant that after Zi Lingling killed this bronze-level assassin, there would be two more assassination attempts waiting for her.
However, these were matters for the future.
With her current combat power, even if Guisha Tower deployed a gold-level assassin, they would not be able to do anything to her.
Therefore, she did not take it to heart.
What concerned her was who had paid Guisha Tower to take her life!
The Zi family had been ruled out by her, because if the Zi family wanted the Patriarch's Token in her possession, they would try to capture her, not kill her.
Furthermore, the Zi family would act themselves and would not leak any information. After all, the Spatial Ring was of great importance, and they would not entrust it to others.
So the question remained.
Who wanted to kill her as soon as she arrived in Dongfang City?
Was it the Qin family or the Eastern Imperial Clan?
Just as Zi Lingling was lost in thought, a sense of danger struck her heart again.
She instinctively activated her Phantom Dragon Steps and dodged the incoming sword energy.
In the spot where she had been standing, a person dressed identically to the previous assassin now appeared.
Another assassin!
It turned out that to ensure the smooth completion of each assassination, Guisha Tower deployed assassins in pairs.
One to kill, one as backup.
And this assassin was clearly the backup for this wave.
He had not shown the slightest flaw when his companion was killed.
This demonstrated that the quality of Guisha Tower's assassins was quite high, which was why Guisha Tower could maintain its position as the top assassin organization on the Tianyuan Continent.
Seeing that his attack had missed, the backup assassin, like the previous one, attempted to retreat.
But it was too late, for the moment he revealed his killing intent, his fate was sealed.
Zi Lingling never showed mercy to those who sought her life.
With a flash of light from her surgical knife, the man lay on the ground, his legs severed.
Zi Lingling's divine sense surged into his forehead, intending to suppress the seal within and conduct a soul search.
But the seal was very strange; the moment Zi Lingling's soul approached, it exploded again.
Fortunately, Zi Lingling's divine sense was vast; anyone else would have been caught in the crossfire.
With his soul destroyed, the backup assassin naturally followed the fate of the first, his life force extinguished.
Zi Lingling shook her head helplessly and turned to leave the alley.
Before leaving, she flicked her delicate hand, and two flames appeared on the corpses on the ground.
In the deserted alley, the bodies of the two black-clothed assassins quickly turned to ashes, leaving only a faint scent of blood lingering in the air, which was soon diluted by the atmosphere.
On the noisy street, Zi Lingling's figure reappeared, slowly making her way back to the Yue Lai Inn.
Somewhere behind her, a woman in black wearing a bamboo hat watched her retreating back, her fists clenched.
A moment later, her resentful voice rang out, "Zi Lingling, if I don't kill you, I, Zi Jinling, am no human!"
That's right, this black-clothed woman was Zi Wenchang's second daughter, Zi Jinling.
After Zi Wenchang and Madam Wang died, she seized the opportunity to escape from the Tianqi Zi family and, after much hardship, finally arrived in the Qinglong Empire.
Soon, she relied on her beauty to find a powerful backer and began inquiring about the whereabouts of Zi Yuling and Zi Huiling.
This time, she hadn't found their whereabouts, but she had managed to find out about Zi Lingling.
Therefore, she found Guisha Tower and posted a bounty.
Of course, Zi Lingling knew nothing of all this.
As soon as Zi Lingling stepped into the Yue Lai Inn, she saw an acquaintance.
"Group Leader Zi, long time no see!"
Qin Mingyue greeted Zi Lingling with a cheerful smile.
"Indeed, long time no see! Has Chief Qin been promoted?"
Zi Lingling casually sat down next to Qin Mingyue, her expression calm.
If she had still harbored doubts about a connection between Guisha Tower's assassins and the Qin family just moments ago, those doubts vanished the moment she saw Qin Mingyue.
Qin Mingyue smiled and said, "You could say that! And it's all thanks to Group Leader Zi's big deal. If it weren't for that, I might have lived and died in Tianqi Kingdom forever!"
"Oh? Chief Qin flatters me! Business is about mutual benefit. You make money, and I gain convenience. Isn't that great?"
Zi Lingling said with a faint smile.
Qin Mingyue was the most courageous woman she had ever met, bar none.
"Group Leader Zi is so magnanimous, I, Qin, admire you greatly!" Qin Mingyue's smile did not diminish.
"Chief Qin, you waited for me here specifically, not just to flatter me, right?"
Zi Lingling picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea, and took a sip, frowning slightly.
Her palate had been spoiled by Ye Lingyuan, and she found the tea at Yue Lai Inn rather uninspiring.
Qin Mingyue saw everything and said with a smile, "Of course not!"