Chapter 194: Xiang Yang City on the Magic Continent 4
City Lord’s Mansion
Xiang Shen stared blankly at the rose-patterned calling card in his hand: “You mean a man and a woman outside the door said they were from Rose City and wanted to see me?”
The guard, clad in golden armor, stood like a wooden post and respectfully replied: “Yes, City Lord.”
Xiang Shen thought for a moment and said: “Bring them in.”
“Yes.”
After the guard left, Xiang Shen looked at the calling card in his hand, lost in thought. He didn’t know who the visitors were or why they wanted to see him, but even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he had to try.
Sang Chu and Xue You followed the guard into the hall.
Sitting in the high seat was a man in a yellow wizard robe.
Xiang Shen: “Esteemed guests from Rose City, may I ask the purpose of your visit to my City Lord’s Mansion?”
Sang Chu was momentarily displeased by the cold tone of questioning upon entering, but quickly composed herself, smiling at Xiang Shen:
“Greetings, Lord City Lord. I was passing through Xiang Yang City and didn’t intend to cause trouble, but I noticed the city lacked vitality and was quite short on funds, so I came to do some business with you. I didn’t expect to be unwelcome?”
Xiang Shen’s eyes were fixed on Sang Chu, but her face showed no fear, as if a high-level wizard like himself was insignificant in her eyes.
Xue You, standing behind Sang Chu, lazily raised his head to look at him. With a wave of his wide sleeve, the air instantly condensed into an ice cone, its sharp tip mere millimeters from Xiang Shen.
“If you don’t want your eyes, I can help you dig them out.”
Xue You looked down at him with arrogant disdain. Ice blades filled the room, all aimed at Xiang Shen, and his body was frozen, unable to use even a sliver of magic power.
“Your Excellency, let’s talk this through. This is a bit much.”
Xue You ignored him and looked at Sang Chu: “Sit?”
“Mm.”
Sang Chu softly agreed and walked to a nearby chair to sit down. Xue You leaned lazily against the back of her chair, saying nothing, but elevating Sang Chu’s status considerably.
Sang Chu took out a few sunflowers from her storage ring, fresh and preserved in ice and snow: “Does the City Lord want these?”
Xiang Shen’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected this person to actually have flowers!
And they were the treasure of Xiang Yang City: “Name your price, envoy, I’ll take them all!”
Sang Chu held out her index finger. She had initially intended to ask for ten thousand per flower, a price she thought the City Lord could afford.
But to her surprise, Xiang Shen said: “One million?”
He paused for a long time after saying that, then spoke again: “One million crystal coins might be difficult, but please give me three days, envoy, and I will surely gather it for you!”
Sang Chu glanced at Xue You and instantly understood why this City Lord was willing to pay such a high price. It was likely because Xue You’s strength surpassed his, and he had been subdued in one move.
“Three days is too long. I need to return to Rose City to report. I don’t have time to linger. How much crystal coin can you produce now?”
Xiang Shen’s gaze towards Sang Chu became somewhat strange. Before he could voice his doubts, the ice blades in the air pressed closer.
He quickly said: “Five hundred thousand. I can produce five hundred thousand right now.”
Sang Chu handed him her card: “Then transfer it to me.”
Seeing the crystal coin card with a rose pattern in her hand, Xiang Shen no longer doubted her identity. As for the inconsistencies in her words, he could only dismiss them as the ramblings of a naive royal.
After a series of transactions, Sang Chu’s card held over five hundred thousand, a substantial sum for them.
“Five hundred thousand for half. I’ll take the remaining two flowers. This is my communication stone. If, by nightfall, Lord City Lord can gather the other five hundred thousand, feel free to notify me. I’ll sell the remaining two flowers to the City Lord. Let’s go.”
Xue You nodded. A magic array instantly appeared in the air. Sang Chu stepped in first, followed closely by Xue You. The moment he entered the array, the ice and snow instantly turned into white mist and disappeared without a trace.
Xiang Shen watched the direction they left with lingering fear: “A magic teleportation array? Could they be royal cultivators from Rose Town?”
“Someone, go and summon the patriarchs of the three great families!”
“Yes, City Lord.”
Xiang Shen, in his haste to raise money as quickly as possible, was already preparing to extort the noble families. However, Sang Chu was unaware of this situation. After exiting the teleportation array, they were back where they had parked their carriage.
Sang Chu: “If you have this skill, why couldn’t you just send us directly to Rose Town?”
“I can only mark places I’ve been to. I can’t enter Rose City, so naturally, I can’t send you there.”
Sang Chu looked at him speechlessly: “But you’ve been to the outskirts of Rose City, haven’t you? Sending us to the outskirts and then entering the city ourselves would have saved a lot of time, wouldn’t it?”
Xue You paused. He seemed to have never considered this problem. The cold attack at night, he could instantly cover the entire Magic Continent, precisely because of this teleportation array. With stacked formations, he could reach a city with a single step.
It’s just that the more advanced the city, the more advanced its built-in magic arrays, and the weaker the cold attack. Like Xiang Yang City, although it gets a bit colder during the night’s cold attack, it’s not as deadly as in Flower Town.
Xue You: “Alright, then, do you still need to stay here?”
Sang Chu: “Let’s see if the City Lord can gather the money for me tonight.”
“He will definitely resort to any means to raise the money. Just wait.”
Sang Chu nodded. She was beginning to understand why the Magic World was so fixated on flowers.
Seeing Sang Chu’s peculiar gaze, Xue You, lounging on the carriage’s sofa, asked lazily: “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking about why the Magic World needs flowers so much.”
Xue You: “What else could it be? Of course, it’s because flowers contain immense power, which can help a city resist the erosion of demon spirits.”
Sang Chu turned to him: “Then do you think the spirit plants and monster plants in my Jade Bracelet Space can resist demon spirits?”
“Probably. They contain more magic power, so their resistance should be stronger.”
Sang Chu smiled: “But why specifically flowers? And why can almost no one on the Magic Continent accelerate their growth?”
Xue You was stunned. His eyes were fixed on Sang Chu: “Why?”
“There are no normal plants on the Magic Continent. No matter what it is, it has gained sentience almost from birth. So, I guess it’s because these flowers are less prone to sentience, and the reason they can’t be cultivated is simply that everyone’s magic energy is too overbearing, and the medicines are too potent, easily causing these ordinary plants to die instantly.”
Xue You: “According to you, flowers are just a means to enhance magic power. Then why don’t demon spirits attack cities that have flowers?”
Sang Chu: “Perhaps it’s some kind of contract. Due to the existence of a certain contract, the Magic Continent needs flowers. Any kind of flower should suffice, but the contract holder discovered during experiments that only these specific flowers can remain on the Magic Continent, providing magic power without mutating.”
Otherwise, it’s hard to explain why flowers, a species that struggles to survive, would appear on the Magic Continent, a place where even stones can become spirits.
