Chapter 246: Skeletons Of The South, Gray-robes Of The North
“Grey-clothed person?”
“Could it be them?”
An unbelievable thought could not help but surface in Precia’s mind.
Speaking of people dressed in silver-gray clothing, in the Mountain of the Dead it was only the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall disciples she had seen. Although Yi Ye Fu Yun and his six companions were very strong, to wipe out one temporary stronghold of the Smiling Skull and kill over a hundred members of the Smiling Skull?
No matter how she thought about it, it was an impossible matter.
One had to know that after she returned to Wanxing City, she immediately reinvestigated the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in the City of Light Chasing. Based on all the intelligence obtained, the hall master of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was only a Vice City Lord.
Although the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had recruited a large number of disciples and formed its own garrison, that garrison clearly had not taken shape, and it did not even have a single Bone Forging Realm Expert.
As for the true disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall who wore silver-gray clothing, there were at most just over a hundred Viscera Refining Realm martial artists. Even if each of them could increase their combat power like Yi Ye Fu Yun and the others, they still could not compare to one temporary stronghold of the Smiling Skull.
After all, that temporary stronghold of the Smiling Skull had a Blood Condensation Realm-level existence. It was absolutely not something that a Top Bone Forging Realm Expert who had mastered an Extraordinary Martial Skill could contend with.
Because an existence at the Blood Condensation Realm could no longer be called human. Relying on powerful qi and blood alone, they could levitate, send a massive high-level lord flying with a casual punch, and their normal running speed could approach the speed of sound. They were on a completely different level from the Bone Forging Realm.
Even if a group of Vice City Lord Level experts besieged one together, they would not be a match.
“Do you know which faction this is?” The Half-Scale Race Man noticed the change in Precia’s expression and asked curiously.
Within the entire Wushan Region, the factions that dared to attack the Smiling Skull were definitely few. After all, the Smiling Skull was a faction that even their Domain City found somewhat troublesome.
Although their Domain City could, at a certain price, eradicate the increasingly ambitious Smiling Skull, eliminating the Smiling Skull would also greatly weaken the strength of the Domain City. Especially since the Smiling Skull was hidden in the Mountain of the Dead, wiping them out was destined to be a long-term war, and the Domain City was unwilling to pay such a price for now.
“I must have been mistaken. That faction does not have a Blood Condensation Realm expert.” Precia shook her head.
“This grey-clothed faction is anything but ordinary. Since they dared to destroy the Smiling Skull’s temporary stronghold, it seems they are unafraid of the Smiling Skull.” The Half-Scale Race Man said with a smile. “Now that their two factions are entangled with each other, we are happy to see it. This way you and I can properly deal with this monster tide problem.”
“Then what about the cooperation between the Smiling Skull and that faction?” Precia asked in confusion.
The task arranged for her by her teacher was to find out which faction in the Tianhe Region was restless enough to extend its hand into the Wushan Region. It had not been easy for her to discover this, and she even had solid evidence. Yet now they wanted her to go deal with the monster tide instead, which left her puzzled.
“Don’t worry. Now that we have evidence, what follows will be up to our teacher and the others. They should put pressure on that faction in the Tianhe Region, maybe even teach them a lesson. But that is no longer something we can interfere in.” The Half-Scale Race Man said with a smile. “Besides, you did very well on this task. Teacher has applied for an Extraordinary Martial Skill instructional inheritance for you. If you can also complete this new assignment, you should be able to redeem an Extraordinary Martial Skill that ranks in the sequence. I must congratulate you in advance, junior sister.”
“With an Extraordinary Martial Skill instructional inheritance and a Sequenced Martial Skill, there should be no problem at all for you to enter the top ten in the in-city preliminaries of this Four Regions Youth Competition.”
“Then I will be troubling you with the next task, senior brother.” Precia’s eyes lit up at his words, and her excitement was impossible to hide.
An Extraordinary Martial Skill instructional inheritance was something that many geniuses in the Domain City yearned for. It allowed one to learn an Extraordinary Martial Skill more quickly and safely. Yet the Domain City could not even produce twenty copies in a year, and after those reserved by the big shots in the city, having five copies left was already good.
With this Extraordinary Martial Skill instructional inheritance, she would have a real chance to learn an Extraordinary Martial Skill that could be ranked in the sequence. By then, even vice city lords from various cities would no longer be her match, and she might even be able to face a Blood Condensation Realm expert head-on for one move.
She would not have to be like she was now, nearly killed by a single move from a Blood Condensation Realm expert from one kilometer away.
“Yes, but before we go deal with the monster tide, we must first make a trip to the City of Light Chasing and Star Tower City.” The Half-Scale Race Man nodded.
“Senior brother, why are we suddenly going to those two cities?” Precia asked, puzzled.
“Because of that faction in the Tianhe Region, Star Tower City suddenly gained a Blood Condensation Realm expert and set its sights on the City of Light Chasing. You know that among the surrounding city lords, the City of Light Chasing’s city lord is the youngest, and has yet to break through to the Blood Condensation Realm intermediate level.” The Half-Scale Race Man explained. “Normally we would not interfere, but this time, because of the influence of the Tianhe Region, we are forced to step in. Otherwise, if every city starts to imitate Star Tower City, things will become a mess.”
“So teacher is asking me to inform the two cities that if they want to fight over city resources and territory, only those below the Blood Condensation Realm are allowed to make a move.”
“If Blood Condensation Realm combatants are forbidden to act, won’t those two cities beat each other half to death?” Precia was a bit stunned. She had not expected the Domain City to issue such a rule.
A normal city contest would not be like two cities dispatching armies to battle to the death over some precious resources outside. It would mainly be fights between Blood Condensation Realm experts. The victor would take over the city lord position, the loser would leave, and the takeover of the city would be relatively peaceful.
Of course, there were also cities that wanted to expand their power, like Star Tower City. When a clan gave rise to two Blood Condensation Realm experts, they might try to bring other cities under their control. This kind of city contest could be seen as a city war, in which one side’s faction would be completely crushed and then taken over.
In the Wushan Region, there were several such powerful clans. The smaller ones controlled two cities, while the larger ones even controlled four.
Now that Blood Condensation Realm experts were forbidden from participating, the slaughter between the two cities would definitely be extremely brutal, since the Domain City did not forbid hiring outside help.
In the past, hiring outside help was useless, because one Blood Condensation Realm expert could decide everything. But now that Blood Condensation Realm experts were not allowed to act, both sides could hire Bone Forging Realm external experts to decide the ownership of the city, which would make the conflict much bloodier.
“That is for the factions of the two cities to worry about.” The Half-Scale Race Man smiled. “This also counts as helping the city lord of the City of Light Chasing. If he loses, their clan’s territory and resources would surely be fully taken over by Star Tower City. Now he can win over Bone Forging Realm experts from all the races within the city and will have a chance to defend the City of Light Chasing. Otherwise, his only option would be to search for another large energy vein and slowly build up a new city.”
Precia thought about it and felt that this was true.
If the Domain City did not set this new rule, the City of Light Chasing would inevitably change hands, and the major powers within it would be reshuffled. Now the Domain City was giving these factions an opportunity, a chance to keep their existing resources and territory.
In the Mountain of the Dead, inside a wooden house built within a cave.
Lin Qi, who was sitting cross-legged inside the wooden cabin, slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath of turbid air, then looked rather regretfully at the dozen or so scattered bottles of Type Three Energy Potion on the ground.
“These Type Three Energy Potions are really good stuff. Their effects are far better than Type 2 Energy Potions. It is a pity that the cities do not sell the instruments needed to make Type Three Energy Potions. Even with lord monster’s flesh and blood, I cannot make them.” Lin Qi felt it was a huge loss when he thought of all the lord monster blood essence he had exchanged for Type Three Energy Potions.
Although this lord monster blood essence was obtained by players hunting lords in the Mountain of the Dead, directly exchanging it with the cities for Type Three Energy Potions would normally allow him to make five to six times as many Type Three Energy Potions.
And right now, he was a major consumer of Type Three Energy Potions.
Because not long ago, he had finally used Type Three Energy Potions to train the Star Energy Construct Secret Method to success. Compared to using Type 2 Energy Potions, its effects were better, and the duration was longer.
It increased directly from five minutes to eight minutes.
Of course, this increase in duration was also partly due to proficiency. The higher the proficiency, the less energy was wasted, indirectly increasing the duration of the Transcendent State.
At present, his semi-complete Star Energy Construct Secret Method was at 43% entry-level. This was thanks to more and more people successfully practicing the Star Energy Construct Secret Method. By now, over thirty people had succeeded. And because the cellular structures constructed by many players differed to varying degrees, even if their entry-level proficiency was very low, his own proficiency had risen extremely fast.
“But letting players come develop in the Mountain of the Dead was really the right call. In just a few days, not only have they caused some losses to the Smiling Skull, but each training method has advanced at amazing speed.” Lin Qi opened the system’s player list, filled with emotion. If these players developing in the Mountain of the Dead could go 007 every day, then in a few days someone might already be challenging the Bone Forging Realm.
Among the thirty-plus players currently in the Mountain of the Dead, eleven had trained their cultivation methods to over 95% proficiency. Luo Wu Shang and Lu Fanchen were the most exaggerated, already at 99%, just one last step short of 100%, after which they could begin to impact the Bone Forging Realm.
Their speed of improvement was so great that even he, someone who was effectively cheating, could not help but be impressed.
Thanks to them, all three of his cultivation methods had reached 100% proficiency, and the strengthening of his internal organs had even unbelievably reached 120%. His physical fitness had already far surpassed the limit of Organ Refining Realm martial artists.
Just in raw real-world stats, his base strength had reached 8000 kilograms and his speed 100 meters per second. Adding the effect of the Second Level of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique, his strength and speed were already close to the Advanced Bone Forging Realm.
He just did not know why his three cultivation methods had never reached the Perfection Realm, which he felt was a pity.
Just as Lin Qi was about to click to extract from the players again, there was a sudden knock on the door, and Meng Wei, wearing Tier 2 Battle Armor, walked in slowly.
“Hall master, I just received a message from a disciple saying that there is a caravan claiming to be from the Tianhe Region that wants to see you.” Meng Wei reported as he held the investigation results. “I checked this caravan. They should not be fake. They even have quite a few transaction records with our Red Moon Merchant Guild.”
“A caravan from the Tianhe Region is looking for me?” Lin Qi was filled with surprise. “What do they want with me?”
A faction capable of doing cross-region trade was extremely formidable. They might not match a Domain City, but they would not be much weaker than a faction like the Red Moon Merchant Guild.
For such a major power to send people to meet him was almost like the Domain City sending people to meet him.
Even the city lord of the City of Light Chasing might not get such treatment.
“Hall master, they are probably looking to make a deal with us and buy safety.” Meng Wei said, wiping his sweat. “In this period, disciples going out from the martial hall have probably plundered quite a bit in the Mountain of the Dead. Just the items I receive here every day bear many marks from different factions in the Tianhe Region.”
When Lin Qi had first transferred him to the Mountain of the Dead to secretly build a branch hall, Meng Wei had been scared stiff. He thought Lin Qi was truly crazy, daring to establish a base in the Smiling Skull’s territory. That was basically courting death.
He had not known much about the Smiling Skull previously, but after Lin Qi became Vice City Lord, Meng Wei’s status had risen accordingly. Outside, even the leaders of the garrison groups had to show him some respect. The information he could access increased significantly, so he learned a lot more about the Smiling Skull.
But only after arriving in the Mountain of the Dead did he realize that building a branch hall here was nothing. The martial hall’s disciples would casually bring back items belonging to the Smiling Skull.
Just recently they had transported a huge batch of supplies, or rather, the contents of an entire warehouse. Each of those supplies bore the mark of the Smiling Skull.
And lately it had gone even further. Those disciples going out from the martial hall were no longer satisfied with just items belonging to the Smiling Skull. They even refused to spare goods from caravans coming from the Wushan Region…
“Are they planning to pay tolls?” Lin Qi said, suddenly understanding.
Lately, players entering the Mountain of the Dead had been showing off their spoils on the official forum, and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang had even started a live stream, teaching people on-site how to rob NPC caravans and get away with their goods alive. This had inspired quite a few players who had just entered the Mountain of the Dead to follow suit.
“That should be it.” Meng Wei nodded.
“All right, send me the coordinates. I also happen to want to do business with factions from outside the region.” Lin Qi thought for a moment and felt that this was an opportunity. Cross-region trade was extremely profitable, and although he previously lacked the chance and the strength, those were no longer serious problems.
Meng Wei immediately sent Lin Qi the coordinates provided by the players. This was also one of the rules Lin Qi had set in the Mountain of the Dead: whether it was players or Meng Wei and others who came to build the branch hall, they absolutely could not expose this branch hall. This branch was his final fallback. The Wushan Region was a place all the major powers were reluctant to set foot in, which made it ideal for establishing a branch hall and also made it easier for players to operate in the Mountain of the Dead.
In the Mountain of the Dead, within a valley.
A caravan of over one hundred Bone Forging Realm experts stood at attention beside the convoy. It was clear these Bone Forging Realm experts were all veterans of many battles. Yet when facing the people in silver-gray clothing in the forest, their expressions were extremely grave, as if facing a great enemy.
“Damn it. Of all times, we had to run into this group of grey-clothed people.” A two-headed lizardman looked at the leading woman among the grey-clothed people outside the carriage window, feeling unspeakable helplessness.
The situation in the Mountain of the Dead was completely different from his last visit.
In the past, there was only the Smiling Skull. Now there was also this group of grey-clothed people. Both the Smiling Skull and the grey-clothed people showed no mercy to passing caravans. But as long as you cooperated with the Smiling Skull, they would still act with some principles and might even personally give you a relatively safe route map through the Mountain of the Dead and leave you alone.
The grey-clothed people were different. They robbed immediately, and there was no end to the killing. Although the grey-clothed people’s strength could not compare to the Smiling Skull, they had already made quite a name for themselves in the Mountain of the Dead during this period.
They were even called the Southern Skull and the Northern Grey Robe by the caravans: one blocking the southern side of the Mountain of the Dead, the other blocking the northern side, practically not letting the caravans live.
“Boss, it looks like the leader of the grey-clothed people is here.” An Extreme Advanced Level Bone Forging Realm half-beastman ran over and reported cautiously.
“They are here? We can finally talk to this group of lunatics. Hurry and take me to them.” The two-headed lizardman hurriedly stepped out of the carriage.
