Chapter 261: Ceasefire? The Gray-robed Men?
“Several tens of thousands of martial artists died? And there were also a large number of heavy ion reactions?”
“What exactly is Star Tower City fighting against?”
Di Luoya listened to Yinuo’s report and was stunned for a moment, wondering if Yinuo had come to the wrong place.
As the key frontline stronghold between Star Tower City and the City of Light Chasing, Furious Wind Town naturally gathered formidable combat power in a full-scale war, absolutely no weaker than Maple Forest Town.
Yet such a Furious Wind Town had actually seen tens of thousands of martial artists killed, and even heavy ion bombs, such a core city foundation, had been used, only for Furious Wind Town to be wiped out. Who would believe that?
Even if their City of Light Chasing launched an all-out attack on Furious Wind Town, they might not necessarily be able to take it. It was completely unimaginable what kind of faction could actually annihilate Furious Wind Town.
“We did not find anyone or any creatures from outside Star Tower City.” Yinuo explained hesitantly. “According to our preliminary investigation in Furious Wind Town, the people of Star Tower City should have voluntarily withdrawn. Not only was everything in Furious Wind Town emptied out, but in the entire town we did not find any apprentice or quasi-martial artist corpses.”
“You are saying there is a faction that can, without losing a single soldier, severely wound Star Tower City and make Star Tower City voluntarily choose to back down?” Di Luoya looked at the hesitant Yinuo, and his expression grew much more grave.
A faction suddenly appearing that could make Star Tower City back down was not good news for the City of Light Chasing.
Since the other side could severely wound Star Tower City, they could naturally also severely wound the City of Light Chasing.
If they accidentally provoked this faction, it would definitely be a catastrophe.
“Have we obtained any intelligence from Star Tower City’s side?” asked the tall, one-eyed, one-armed young man sitting beside Di Luoya.
As this tall, one-eyed, one-armed young man spoke, Yinuo did not dare neglect him and quickly replied, “At present, we have not received any useful information from Star Tower City. We only know that Star Tower City issued an order for all frontline combatants to retreat. Our intelligence personnel have already gone to Star Tower City. I believe we will soon know relevant information.”
The one-eyed youth before them was a distinguished guest whom City Lord Di Luoya had invited from the Domain City. Although as a member of the one-eyed race he was somewhat short at only two meters tall, with only one remaining arm, as a super genius able to rival the Blood Condensation Realm, no one in the Domain City dared to slight him.
“Brother Fansen, do you have any information on this matter?” Di Luoya asked the one-eyed, one-armed youth with some curiosity.
As a top-twenty competitor in the Four Regions Youth Competition for the Domain City, Fansen might only be at the Bone Forging Realm, but his true strength was no weaker than Di Luoya’s. His status in the Domain City was quite high, and the hidden information he could obtain was in many ways more than that of Di Luoya as city lord.
The one-eyed, one-armed Fansen shook his head. “I do not have any information on this either, which is why I wanted to ask just who this mysterious figure is that can severely wound Star Tower City.”
“Even you, brother Fansen, do not know who did it?” After hearing this, Di Luoya’s expression became even more solemn.
In the Wushan Region these days, the most terrifying were never the three untouchable existences, but those fearsome factions whose names were not even known.
The three untouchable existences were indeed acknowledged as powerful, but they all had clear rules. As long as one did not violate those rules, nothing would happen.
But for those inexplicable factions, no one knew what their rules were. If one accidentally touched their taboo, one would unknowingly make a powerful enemy. That would be a truly unjust way to die.
Especially for someone like him at the initial stage of the Blood Condensation Realm, in others’ eyes he was a city lord, a renowned figure in the Wushan Region.
Yet only he knew that while the Blood Condensation Realm was indeed a formidable power in the Wushan Region, the waters there were deep, and there were many experts at the Blood Condensation Realm, most of them unknown to the public.
As for factions organized by Blood Condensation Realm experts, they were far more numerous than the cities in the Wushan Region. Only because those factions pursued different goals did he manage to become a city lord. If it came down to seniority and qualifications, he absolutely would not be able to become a city lord.
This was also why all the major cities desperately cultivated talent, especially geniuses sent to the Domain City.
Those geniuses who entered the Domain City were connections and resources.
Even if they might not reach the Blood Condensation Realm, just returning to their cities to develop was itself a form of security for a city. After all, among their peers they would always know some geniuses who advanced to the Blood Condensation Realm, and through them could form ties with those Blood Condensation Realm geniuses.
If the geniuses they sent could advance to the Blood Condensation Realm, it would be like winning the grand prize.
First of all, those who reached the Domain City and advanced to the Blood Condensation Realm would definitely not come back to serve as ordinary city lords, as they had higher pursuits. Yet because of the cultivation they received from their hometown cities, these Blood Condensation Realm geniuses would retain some sentiment. If their cities encountered serious trouble, they would certainly not sit idly by. It would be equivalent to a city having two Blood Condensation Realm experts sitting in town, and that was the greatest foundation of a city, more useful than any weapons or resources.
Unfortunately, despite being in charge of the City of Light Chasing for so many years and expending much of his own resources to cultivate geniuses, none of the geniuses they sent had advanced to the Blood Condensation Realm.
On the contrary, the geniuses he had invested in back then, such as Fansen, had achieved great success in the Domain City. Their status there was even higher than that of an average Blood Condensation Realm expert.
“There are many hidden factions in the Wushan Region. Even the Domain City only knows about seventy to eighty percent of them,” Fansen explained. “And the remaining unknown ten to twenty percent are often the most troublesome. For example, the recent rise of Star Tower City was orchestrated in the Wushan Region by a hidden faction from the Tianhe Region. Star Tower City established a link with that faction, which immediately gave the Mountain Ridge Race an additional Blood Condensation Realm expert. You can imagine how powerful that hidden faction is.”
Di Luoya nodded deeply in agreement.
A Blood Condensation Realm expert, indeed.
Even for the Domain City, it was not easy to cultivate such a person. But that hidden faction from the Tianhe Region had said they would create one and did so. If they could casually produce Blood Condensation Realm experts, even the Domain City might not be their match.
No wonder the Domain City had only gone to the Tianhe Region to make a show of force and had not punished Star Tower City, which had cooperated with them. The most likely reason was fear of that hidden faction.
If the hidden faction that had dealt with Star Tower City was of the same level, then the next actions of their City of Light Chasing would have to be taken very carefully.
This was why, after the people on Star Tower City’s side withdrew, he had not sent anyone to pursue them, but instead sent Yinuo to investigate.
Whether it was people living in cities or vagrants surviving in the wilderness, they all believed that the monsters outside were the most dangerous. In truth, they had no idea that there were deadly factions hidden in the Wushan Region, which even the Domain City half-ignored.
While Di Luoya and Fansen were talking, someone suddenly walked in from outside the hall. Although the newcomer was a Bone Forging Realm expert, his expression was extremely flustered.
“What is it?” Di Luoya looked toward Wu Zhuoqun of the garrison who had entered and raised his eyebrows slightly.
Since the human race had produced Lin Qi as a vice city lord, Di Luoya had barely involved humans in this two-city war, having them mostly guard Maple Forest Town. A Bone Forging Realm expert like Lin Qi was truly rare. He had even killed that Tuan from the Holy Blood Mercenary Group. Such strength placed among the geniuses of the Domain City would definitely make him a top-tier expert.
If not for this incident, Lin Qi might have directly entered the Domain City and then become a Blood Condensation Realm expert there. That was why Di Luoya had tried his best to win him over; otherwise, the human race would never have received such attention from him.
“Lord City Lord, two envoys from Star Tower City have come, saying they wish to negotiate peace,” Wu Zhuoqun steadied himself and replied loudly.
“Negotiate peace?” Di Luoya was stunned for quite a while, then quickly asked, “Do we know the identities of those two?”
This city war had practically been unilaterally provoked by Star Tower City. If not for the restrictions of the Domain City, he would have fled with his race long ago.
Now Star Tower City actually wanted peace talks. It sounded like a joke.
He even suspected that Wu Zhuoqun was teasing him, or that someone was impersonating people from Star Tower City.
“One claims to be Alec, vice city lord of Star Tower City. The other claims to be Huang Lang, vice leader of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group,” Wu Zhuoqun said, quickly tapping his smart watch. “Here is their information image.”
In the holographic image projected by the smart watch, one was a middle-aged man of the Mountain Ridge Race, the other a middle-aged man of the Flame Horn Tribe. Although they were only holograms, their unusual bearing was evident. The calm experience and confidence in their eyes were absolutely not those of ordinary Bone Forging Realm experts.
“It really is Alec.” Di Luoya looked at the Mountain Ridge Race middle-aged man in the image and nodded. “Alright, let them in.”
As for members of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, he did not recognize any of them; he had only heard of the group’s famous name.
But as vice city lord of Star Tower City, Alec had been seen a few times before, even though he had not come to the Martial Artist Association last time. Di Luoya retained some impression of him.
“For Star Tower City to seek peace at this time, did something go very wrong on their side?” Fansen looked at the departing Wu Zhuoqun with curiosity.
Although Furious Wind Town had caused Star Tower City considerable losses, with tens of thousands of martial artists dead, their main forces were intact. Under normal circumstances, let alone talking peace, it would already be good if they did not demand the unconditional surrender of the City of Light Chasing.
After all, this time Star Tower City had the renowned Holy Blood Mercenary Group. While Fansen was confident that among the younger generation in the Wushan Region he had no rivals, facing the Holy Blood Mercenary Group would not be easy. It was hard to imagine Star Tower City taking the initiative to negotiate peace.
After all, this concerned the resources of a whole city, and both sides had already gone into full-scale war. To call a halt now meant that all previously invested resources and manpower would have been in vain.
“I do not know, but peace talks are always a good thing.” Di Luoya did not think much of it. He felt that if they could negotiate, they should, as this was like a pie falling from the sky for him.
Although inviting Fansen this time had cost him a lot, as long as he did not require Fansen to act, Fansen would still owe him a favor. And if the City of Light Chasing could be preserved, that would be a huge profit.
After a short while, Wu Zhuoqun led Alec and Huang Lang inside.
Alec’s appearance was acceptable. Though his qi and blood were strong, he felt similar to other vice city lords. But Huang Lang, whose face was slightly pale, was completely different.
The moment Huang Lang appeared, both Di Luoya on the main seat and Fansen at his side felt a certain pressure. Huang Lang was clearly no ordinary Bone Forging Realm expert.
“So this is the strength of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group?” Di Luoya looked at Huang Lang, feeling that Huang Lang was much stronger than the impression given by Tuan of the Martial Artist Association, and this was without any transformation.
Recently, he had studied the Flame Horn Tribe carefully and learned that in the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, including the leader and all the vice leaders, as well as many captains, all were Flame Horn Tribe geniuses capable of transformation.
Of course, geniuses capable of a third-tier transformation like Tuan were rare even over several decades among the Flame Horn Tribe. Yet within the Holy Blood Mercenary Group there were several who could achieve that.
“No wonder they could make the Red Moon Merchant Guild give up revenge. The Holy Blood Mercenary Group truly lives up to its reputation.” Looking at Huang Lang, Fansen’s fighting spirit surged.
Among Bone Forging Realm experts in the Domain City, he had few opponents. He had not expected that outside the Domain City, in the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, there were experts who could fight him as equals. It was an unexpected delight.
After a simple evaluation by Di Luoya and Fansen, Di Luoya looked at Alec with some curiosity.
“Vice City Lord Alec, how exactly do you intend to conduct these peace talks?” Di Luoya said with a smile. “If you mean to have me give up the city lord’s seat, or cede most of the City of Light Chasing’s profit, then I am afraid you will have to go back. Our City of Light Chasing will only fight to the death until the last moment.”
Given the aggressive Star Tower City, Di Luoya felt it necessary to express his determination and stance, especially since this time Star Tower City had taken the initiative to come for peace talks.
In his view, the only possible reason for Star Tower City’s willingness to negotiate was the hidden faction that had attacked Furious Wind Town.
Now that neither side understood that faction’s rules, if they rashly continued the war, it would benefit no one. Hence Star Tower City had come to negotiate.
He personally was willing to sacrifice a bit of profit to obtain a truce. After all, the Holy Blood Mercenary Group’s strength was even greater than he had imagined. If it came to a fight, the City of Light Chasing would be at an overwhelming disadvantage. At that point he would have to call upon the favor owed by Fansen. If it worked, fine; if not, he would lose both people and wealth.
“City Lord Di Luoya, you jest.” Alec looked at the smiling Di Luoya and said very respectfully, “I am here representing Star Tower City with genuine sincerity.”
“Sincerity?” Di Luoya asked somewhat strangely. “What do you mean?”
“After discussion between our two city lords, we are willing to offer one hundred thousand energy crystals in exchange for Furious Wind Town. After that, under the witness of the Domain City, we can sign a permanent truce and non-aggression pact.” Alec spoke with great earnestness.
“What did you say? One hundred thousand energy crystals in exchange for Furious Wind Town, plus a permanent truce and non-aggression pact?” Di Luoya nearly jumped from his chair. His voice echoed through the hall as he seriously suspected that Alec was joking.
Without demanding any price from him, they instead offered him one hundred thousand energy crystals. If this was not a dream, then he must have misheard.
“Of course, if you do not wish for a permanent truce, a twenty-year truce and mutual non-aggression will do. That is our final bottom line!” Alec said firmly. “If City Lord Di Luoya does not agree, then we will have no choice but to fight. By then, even with those grey-clothed persons helping you, our Star Tower City can still ensure mutual destruction!”
“Twenty-year truce and mutual non-aggression? Grey-clothed persons?” Di Luoya looked at Alec, full of shock and confusion, completely unable to understand what he was talking about.
“City Lord Di Luoya, do you mean you do not know the grey-clothed persons?” Alec looked at the surprised Di Luoya and was stunned in turn.
