Chapter 287: This Northern Graycloak Wants To Defy Heaven!
Outside Wushan Prison.
Neither Palius nor Kalad could believe their eyes as they looked at the rows of guard robots.
When they had exhausted all their efforts and still failed to obtain even a single guard robot, a mere Obsidian Martial Arts Hall that had only just established itself in the City of Light Chasing, owning only a small town, a faction without even a single Blood Condensation Realm expert, whose overall team strength, even counting Xie Feina, at best matched a top tier team, had actually managed to capture twenty guard robots.
How could they possibly believe such a thing?
“How did they capture so many guard robots?” Palius stared at the guard robots one by one, his eyes slightly bloodshot as he looked toward Xie Feina walking at the front, his heart full of doubt. “Could it be that Xie Feina had hidden some formidable method before?”
Thinking it over, the only possibility Palius could come up with was that Xie Feina was a disciple of a Domain City elder.
As a Heavenly Human Realm Grandmaster, a Domain City Elder might very well have taught Xie Feina some astonishing method, or perhaps researched the weakness of the guard robots. That would not be impossible.
This made Palius feel a twinge of regret. He should not have driven Xie Feina away. With such a harvest of twenty guard robots, he could have taken at least half.
And it was not only Palius who thought this way. All the major forces in the Wushan Region thought the same. One after another, they looked at Lin Qi of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall with indescribable envy and jealousy in their eyes.
To assist Xie Feina, this super genius of the Domain City, in capturing so many guard robots, even a small portion of the stored data would be an opportunity ordinary factions could not even imagine.
“It seems this Northern Grey Robe is very likely to become another Azure Wing City in the Wushan Region in the future.” Hu Lei, the City Lord of Star Tower City, looked at Lin Qi, the leader, and could not help sighing in envy.
“Another Azure Wing City?” Beside him, Zhuo Gu, leader of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group and overlord of Tian Yu Xue, could not help but fix his gaze seriously on Lin Qi, with a trace of envy in his eyes.
Although there were many factions in the Wushan Region, aside from the three untouchable existences and a few hidden factions that ordinary forces could not even come into contact with, there were the Mercenary Alliance and Azure Wing City.
Among them, the Mercenary Alliance was a very loose organization. The powerful mercenary groups that joined were all independent and eccentric, and posed little threat to the major forces in the Wushan Region.
Azure Wing City was different. Azure Wing City was a major power that managed as many as five cities and had established several Energy Blood Essence production sites in remote areas of the Wushan Region.
Among all forty-one cities of the Wushan Region, it was unquestionably ranked first.
Although the City Lord of Azure Wing City, like him, was only a high-level Blood Condensation Realm martial artist, the number of Blood Condensing Realm masters under Azure Wing City far exceeded that of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, making it an existence whose overall strength could rival the Mercenary Alliance.
As for the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, its situation was already clear through the battle in Furious Wind Town. Apart from Hall Master Lin Qi, there were many geniuses. If these geniuses could obtain even a bit of the inheritance from Wushan Prison, achieving the Blood Condensation Realm in the future would not be difficult. Together with Lin Qi, a hall master who was no worse than the super geniuses of the Domain City, becoming another Azure Wing City was by no means impossible.
However, just as the major forces in the Wushan Region were full of envy and jealousy, Xie Feina and Precia, who had just come out of Wushan Prison, directly went to bid farewell to Lin Qi. The two carried nothing with them as they headed toward a sky battleship bound for the Domain City, taking none of the guard robots with them.
“What is going on?”
“Are Xie Feina and the others not going to take those guard robots?”
Everyone present, including Palius, stared in shock and puzzlement at Xie Feina, who had not taken a single guard robot.
Although the stored data in the guard robots could be analyzed immediately using analysis instruments, the guard robots themselves, as products of a high-level civilization, were extremely valuable. If one could obtain the method to recharge these guard robots and reactivate them, it would be entirely possible to trade with the guard robots and obtain complete inheritances.
This was why, in the beginning, the major forces would treat even severely damaged guard robots found in the upper and middle levels as treasures to be brought back.
With the technology of factions such as the Domain City, they could currently only analyze stored data. But if they mastered recharging technology, they could negotiate with the prisoners confined in the prison and obtain more inheritances.
Now there were as many as twenty guard robots. Even if Xie Feina had already obtained the stored data, she could have brought them back to Mist Mountain Domain City in exchange for generous rewards. Leaving them all to the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall seemed strange no matter how one looked at it.
Yet some of the top tier teams present, including Fansen and the others, displayed remarkably calm expressions as they watched this scene, as if everything was perfectly normal.
“Xie Feina, are you not taking those guard robots?” Palius could not help but ask Xie Feina, who had stepped onto the Domain City’s sky battleship.
If it were not for the considerable conflict between him and Xie Feina, he would have wanted to pay a high price to purchase them from her, letting her name any condition. But as the leader of the delegation, he could not bring himself to say such words and could only ask.
“Not taking them? How is that possible?” Xie Feina looked at Palius’s surprised gaze and said with a laugh, “Unfortunately, those guard robots were not captured by us, so we are not qualified to take them. But thanks to the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall this time, my trip to the prison has not been in vain.”
She also had to thank Palius for his breakthrough in strength, which caused her original plan to fail. Otherwise, she would indeed have had to share some of the combat data with Palius and the others.
Now she not only had a complete set of combat data, but even possessed part of the Blood Condensation Realm inheritance. Next, she only needed to use that part of the inheritance to break through to the Blood Condensation Realm; her status in the Domain City would rise significantly. Even her chances of breaking through to the Heavenly Human Realm in the future would be much higher than those of other super geniuses.
“They were not captured by you?” Palius was even more astonished when he heard this.
In his view, for the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to possess so many guard robots, it must have been entirely due to Xie Feina’s methods. After all, no matter how strong the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was, it should not be able to compare with other top tier teams.
But to think that capturing so many guard robots had been entirely the work of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall itself sounded like a joke.
Although Palius and Xie Feina were not speaking loudly, all those present were Bone Forging Realm experts. Even from hundreds of meters away, they could clearly hear Palius and Xie Feina’s conversation.
“All captured by the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall? How is that possible? That is twenty units! Even a top tier team finds it extremely difficult to capture one. How could a single martial arts hall possibly manage this!”
“Is this the strength of the Northern Grey Robe from the rumors?”
“My god! Twenty guard robots. Northern Grey Robe has really struck it rich. As long as they obtain some inheritance from them, it might not take long before they can become a major power comparable to the Smiling Skull.”
At this moment, all the major forces present, especially those from the Wushan Region, had their gazes on Lin Qi and the others transformed from the original envy and jealousy into shock and amazement.
With twenty guard robots, their odds of obtaining inheritances were undoubtedly higher than those of the other top tier teams.
The reason many factions of the Four Regions could develop was that breaking through to the Blood Condensation Realm was difficult, and every step beyond the Blood Condensation Realm required resources that were slow to obtain. One could not simply go hunting monsters in the wilderness or making potions to improve.
Energy Blood Essence could only be accumulated with large amounts of manpower, Energy Crystals, and time. It was not something whose output could be increased at will.
When output could hardly be increased, reducing consumption was undoubtedly the best way.
The cultivation methods of high-level civilizations were far more advanced than the methods they currently used. Not only did they make breaking through realms easier, but consumption after the Blood Condensation Realm was also lower. For a faction, this was absolutely the greatest capital for rapid growth.
“Kalad, it seems that if your Earth Star Pharmaceuticals wants to eliminate the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in the future, it will not be so easy.” Palius looked at Lin Qi in the distance and could not help glancing at the heavily injured Bai Shou Kalad. His tone carried self-mockery as well as teasing.
In this trip to Wushan Prison, he and Earth Star Pharmaceuticals suffered the worst losses. Not only did they gain nothing, but many members of their teams died. Punishment from the senior officials was inevitable.
After this, both he and Bai Shou Kalad would become laughingstocks.
Kalad was unquestionably the most miserable. He had originally been sent to assist Palius, then eliminate the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall afterward. Now that the assistance had failed and Palius’s side had no gains, they certainly could not persuade their superiors. In contrast, Xie Feina had gained a great deal and should have no trouble convincing those above.
Under these circumstances, for Earth Star Pharmaceuticals to dispatch Blood Condensation Realm experts from the Tianhe Region in the short term was nothing but wishful thinking.
Without adding Blood Condensation Realm experts, the Bone Forging Realm experts of Earth Star Pharmaceuticals would likely be unable to do anything to the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. After all, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had captured twenty guard robots in the prison; their overall strength was probably not much weaker than all the top tier teams present. Earth Star Pharmaceuticals had no chance.
“Right now, our Earth Star Pharmaceuticals indeed does not have many options against the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.” Bai Shou Kalad looked at Lin Qi and surprisingly agreed with Palius’s view, but soon sneered. “But what if our Earth Star Pharmaceuticals joins hands with other forces in the Wushan Region?”
As he spoke, Bai Shou Kalad stared greedily at the guard robots being carried by the players.
The innocent man is guilty by merely possessing a treasure.
If the faction that had obtained the twenty guard robots now were Earth Star Pharmaceuticals or some other first-class major power, no other faction would dare have ideas about them.
But the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was different. Although it had developed rapidly and Hall Master Lin Qi was no weaker than many super geniuses, the hall’s overall strength was still at the Bone Forging Realm level. No single faction could confront all others.
However, once outside Wushan Prison, the major forces were no longer restricted. They could let Blood Condensation Realm experts take action freely, especially those hidden powers, major local forces that were not under the management of Mist Mountain Domain City.
If these indigenous major forces attacked the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, the Domain City would find it difficult to intervene. What was more, the Domain City had never interfered in power struggles within its domain. Even if a city lord was replaced, it did not care, let alone about a martial arts hall.
“That is indeed one way.” Palius also glanced at the guard robots being carried and at the many faction members present, but soon added, “However, if the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, through Xie Feina and the others, hands over those guard robots to the Domain City in exchange for safety, that would not be impossible either.”
After hearing this, Bai Shou Kalad fell silent for a moment.
If the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall did as Palius suggested, giving up this enormous temptation and buying safety from Mist Mountain Domain City, then not only would Earth Star Pharmaceuticals be helpless, but the major forces in the Wushan Region would likely also stop targeting the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
And it was indeed a very good choice for the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
First, further excavating the value of the guard robots was not a simple matter and might not even be achievable.
Second, since the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had already obtained the stored data, the guard robots themselves were of little use to them. Trading them away for safety would be a huge gain.
If it were him, he would make the same choice.
At this moment, it was not only Palius who thought of this. The teams of the various major forces present also shifted quickly from initial shock and greed to considering the cooperative relationship between Lin Qi and Xie Feina.
Those major powers that had originally been scheming one after another could not help but shake their heads and sigh, giving up on the idea of dealing with the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
Just as the teams of the major forces were boarding sky battleships one after another, preparing to leave Wushan Prison, Lin Qi went to the command room of their sky battleship and sent out a notification to all sky battleships within Wushan Prison.
The contents of the notification were quite simple: five days later, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would hold an auction in Chiyue Town. The items to be auctioned were guard robots, and the bidding would be conducted using cultivation methods above the Blood Condensation Realm, meaning Blood Condensation Realm or Heavenly Human Realm cultivation methods. The highest bidder would win.
Once this news spread, all the factions aboard the sky battleships were stunned.
“Auctioning guard robots? Madness! This is pure madness!” Hu Lei, the City Lord of Star Tower City, looked at the shipwide announcement and felt as if the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was joking. “Does he not know that Earth Star Pharmaceuticals is still watching him?”
In his view, if the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall wanted to escape its predicament, it should certainly hand over the guard robots to Mist Mountain Domain City. He never imagined they would auction the guard robots instead.
With such an auction, even leaving aside whether Earth Star Pharmaceuticals would unite with other indigenous major forces to seize them, just maintaining public order during the auction would not be easy.
By then, factions from the Wushan Region and even other regions could openly head to Chiyue Town. If those factions began fighting each other, the one to suffer would only be the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. He simply could not understand what they were thinking.
Zhuo Gu, leader of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group beside him, looked toward the distant sky battleship of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, his gaze full of emotion, and said, “No. I feel that Northern Grey Robe is not crazy. They want to defy the heavens. They want to use this auction to establish their status in the Wushan Region.”
