Chapter 314: Aftermath Of The Battle
City of Light Chasing, Red Moon Merchant Guild.
Kui Lang and the white masked youth looked at the news from their subordinates, and for a moment the atmosphere in the entire hall grew heavy.
“How is this possible! That is the Dragon Hunting Corps!”
The white masked youth stared at the information on his smart watch, still unable to believe it was true.
The Dragon Hunting Corps, famed across the Four Regions, had not only been defeated under the encirclement of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, but had suffered disastrous losses. Two captains were dead, and less than half of their members remained. It sounded like a joke.
If one did not know the situation of the Dragon Hunting Corps, that would be one thing, but he knew very well what kind of corps they were.
Among their thousand men, even the weakest regular members were experts at vice city lord level. Among the small captains there were Blood Condensing Realm masters. The captains and vice captains were all Blood Condensation Realm intermediate level experts. Together with Leader Rhein Manster, basically aside from Mist Mountain Domain City, there was no faction in the entire Wushan Region that could truly threaten the Dragon Hunting Corps.
Yet now they had lost more than half in a battle with the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Who would believe that?
“Believe it or not, news of the Dragon Hunting Corps will probably reach headquarters very soon.” Kui Lang looked at the latest intelligence in his hand, his brows tightening. “This Obsidian Martial Arts Hall is hiding too deep. In the previous battle with Earth Star Pharmaceuticals in Chiyue Town, they did not get serious at all. At most they only used one-fifth of their combat power and fooled everyone.”
Over six thousand martial artists was still acceptable. After all, every city had hundreds of thousands of martial artists, so it was not hard for the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to gather that many. But two hundred and sixty-two Bone Forging Realm experts, that was excessive.
Although he had not witnessed the battle at Chiyue Town with his own eyes, he knew that the grey-robed disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall generally all possessed transformation. Once they transformed, their combat power more than doubled. It was truly astonishing.
Two hundred and sixty-two Bone Forging Realm experts, if every one of them could transform, that would be equivalent to two hundred and sixty-two Blood Condensation Realm experts. Even if you added together the two top forces of the Wushan Region, they would not have so many at Blood Condensation Realm.
“Elder Kuilang, what do we do now? If headquarters finds out that this result was caused by our issues with the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, we might not survive past next month.” The white masked youth was now somewhat anxious.
If they had not planned to conduct an illegal transaction with Lin Qi, then even if the Dragon Hunting Corps were wiped out now, it would not have much to do with them.
But they had broken the rules and gone directly to the new Dragon Hunting Corps to deal with the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. If headquarters learned of it, they would never escape punishment. After all, for personal profit, they had directly set the Red Moon Merchant Guild against the now top-tier Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
“There is only one way now.” After thinking for a moment, Kui Lang said, “We will atone with merit. Go inform that Hall Master Lin and say we can appropriately lower the price of the metal plate: one Limit Breaking Level Martial Skill and twenty guard robots, and in addition the complete version of Lightning Palm. That is our bottom line.”
Whether Limit Breaking Level Martial Skills or guard robots, both were things the chamber of commerce lacked, and obtaining any of them would mean great merit.
Before, when the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had barely over fifty Bone Forging Realm experts, that was one thing. With as many as two hundred and sixty-two Bone Forging Realm martial artists, it was clearly no longer a colossus he could touch on his own.
Now they could only earn a bit less on guard robots in exchange for Lightning Palm, this kind of core martial skill for a superconducting electromagnetic gun. With it, they could absolutely sell big in other regions, thereby not only making up for all their mistakes, but perhaps even earning some merit.
“Elder Kuilang, what if the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall refuses?” The white masked youth asked worriedly.
At present they had not obtained anything useful from the metal plate, and Lightning Palm was precisely the foundation for the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to sell its new weapon. If the hall refused directly, it would be both embarrassing and troublesome.
“If they refuse, I will personally deliver the metal plate to headquarters. Although it cannot make up for my mistakes, there will be no problem saving my own life. By then, if he still wants to obtain that metal plate, it will be as hard as ascending to heaven. They know which choice to make.” Kui Lang was full of confidence about this.
To pressure them, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had directly sold that kind of weapon, turning all B-grade and above battle armor into a joke and thereby sabotaging the Red Moon Merchant Guild’s battle armor business.
For the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to go that far showed how important the metal plate was.
“Then I will make a trip to Chiyue Town.”
After hearing this, the white masked youth let out a sigh. Given the current situation, this was all they could do.
Chiyue Town, noon overhead.
The members of the various major factions who had been undergoing Obsidian Martial Arts Hall basic core disciple training on the martial arts hall training ground were all shocked when two sky battleships and over a hundred flying transport vehicles appeared in the sky above Chiyue Town.
“Those sky battleships actually bear the emblem of the Red Moon Merchant Guild. Is the Red Moon Merchant Guild planning to wipe out Chiyue Town now?”
“No! The people on the sky battleships and those piloting the flying transport vehicles all look like our hall’s grey-robed disciples!”
“They really are! Two sky battleships and so many flying transport vehicles. If a single guild got hold of them, they would absolutely strike it rich.”
…
Everyone in the martial arts hall looked at the slowly descending sky battleships, chattering with curiosity.
Sky battleships were not something you could buy just because you wanted to. They could only be purchased with quotas obtained in a domain city, yet now the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had directly acquired two, and they were even sky battleships of the Red Moon Merchant Guild. It was simply unbelievable.
“Did they defeat the Dragon Hunting Corps?” Huang Lang stared in shock at the two sky battleships quietly hovering in the air, wondering if he was dreaming.
The Red Moon Merchant Guild insignia on the sky battleships could not be faked, let alone on two ships.
What he did not understand was how the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had defeated the Red Moon Merchant Guild’s Dragon Hunting Corps, especially its leader Rhein Manster.
According to Leader Zhuo Gu, Rhein Manster had probably already reached the strength of a Half-Step Heavenly Human, only one last risky step away from becoming a Heavenly Human Realm Grandmaster.
And there was an essential difference between a Half-Step Heavenly Human and a high-level Blood Condensation Realm martial artist. The gap in basic strength alone was double, not to mention the difference in qi and blood.
Not to mention anything else, a Half-Step Heavenly Human expert could easily kill dozens of initial stage Blood Condensation Realm martial artists alone. It was no exaggeration to say that even with all members of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall attacking together, they might not be a match for Half-Step Heavenly Human Rhein Manster.
While Huang Lang was surprised and confused, Lin Qi in the third floor training room of the Cultivation Tower was staring blankly at Qin Mu’s player statistics report.
“Two sky battleships, twenty C4-class flying transport vehicles, sixty C2-class flying transport vehicles, one hundred and forty B6-class flying transport vehicles, sixty-one damaged flying transport vehicles. Which city’s warehouse did they rob?”
Looking at the list, Lin Qi could hardly believe it was real.
Leaving aside the sky battleships, those were strategic flying vehicles that only domain cities would sell to their subordinate cities. Whether transporting people or goods, they were on an entirely different level from flying transport vehicles, at least a hundred times larger.
As for flying transport vehicles, as long as you had connections with the senior officials of major cities, it was not hard to purchase large quantities of B2-class vehicles. After all, many cities had their own production lines for flying transport vehicles and could manufacture them themselves if they had the materials.
But B6-class flying transport vehicles were never sold externally by any city, because B6-class alloy was incredibly precious, something money alone could not buy. As for C-class flying transport vehicles, they were such luxury items that many cities did not even dare to think about them casually.
C-class alloy could directly block the attacks of lord-level monsters, and under normal circumstances, the strongest monsters one would encounter in the wilderness were lords. As for calamities above that, as long as you did not go to places like the Mountain of the Dead, you could basically do as you pleased in the wilderness.
A total of eighty C-class flying transport vehicles; even if you robbed an entire city, it would be hard to gather so many C-class flying transport vehicles.
He had previously considered purchasing some flying transport vehicles, but sub-C-class flying transport vehicles were not very useful for players, especially now that the map had been fully unlocked and players could travel very far. Without flying transport vehicles built from C-class alloy, they could easily be destroyed by flying monsters.
But those cities simply would not sell C-class alloy vehicles.
This had given him quite a headache. Now, however, with so many vehicles, the players’ activity range was completely opened up, and the benefit to him was enormous.
Because there were too many disciples in Chiyue Town and houses were being constantly rebuilt, the energy ore beneath Crimson Moon Mountain was far from sufficient. As for within several hundred kilometers around Chiyue Town, there were no good mine veins. Energy ore had been in continuous short supply. Now, with so many flying transport vehicles, players could go mining much farther away.
If they could obtain enough ore, especially mine veins at B4-grade and above, they could then introduce a production line for flying transport vehicles and build them themselves. This would not only save money, but also strengthen the town faster. It could be described as killing two birds with one stone.
“Hall master, I also have information from the Red Moon Merchant Guild,” Qin Mu asked. “They say they agree to trade the metal plate, and can lower the price to one Limit Breaking Level Martial Skill and twenty guard robots, plus one complete copy of Lightning Palm. Otherwise, they will send it directly to headquarters for safekeeping, and not even a Heavenly Human Realm expert will be able to obtain it again. Hall master, should we buy it?”
“This Elder Kuilang is thinking far too well of himself.” Lin Qi said indifferently. “Reply to them: five thousand energy crystals, and I will not give a single one more. Have people keep watch on the Red Moon Merchant Guild. Report to me immediately if there is any movement.”
He had already made up his mind regarding the inheritance metal plate of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique.
He would not buy it. He would simply take it.
Since the Red Moon Merchant Guild had already decided to target him, he would not refuse to take from them for free.
“Rest assured, hall master, I will have people watch the Red Moon Merchant Guild twenty-four hours a day. We will receive news of any movement at once,” Qin Mu said respectfully. “Also, one of the trainees wants to see you to discuss business. He is a trainee sent by Azure Wing City. Will you see him?”
“Discuss business? Someone from Azure Wing City?” Lin Qi thought for a moment, then nodded. “Have him go to the martial arts hall reception room.”
As one of the two top forces in the Wushan Region, Azure Wing City did not do business on as large a scale as the Red Moon Merchant Guild and only covered part of the cities in the Wushan Region, but it was one of the few trade capitals in the area, selling almost all kinds of goods.
It also had the production chain for flying transport vehicles and instruments for manufacturing energy blood essence. Apart from the domain city and the Red Moon Merchant Guild, it was the faction most likely to sell such things.
Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, meeting room.
When Lin Qi entered the elegant yet simple meeting room, he saw a young human man about two meters thirty or forty tall had already been waiting for some time. This human youth was extremely strong. Though he looked under twenty, his strength had already reached the Bone Forging Realm Advanced Level Limit. Those so-called geniuses from the various cities’ genius training camps were like ordinary people compared to him.
“Hello, Hall Master Lin.” Upon seeing Lin Qi, the young man took the initiative to introduce himself. “I am Hong Lao, vice leader of the city lord’s personal guard corps of Azure Wing City.”
“Vice leader Hong, to what business does Azure Wing City wish to speak with me?” Lin Qi nodded and asked slowly.
“Business concerning the forbidden zone.” Hong Lao spoke with great excitement. “At present in the entire Four Regions, there are not many factions capable of doing business related to the forbidden zone. Now that the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall has defeated the Dragon Hunting Corps, you are qualified to touch forbidden zone business. If our two sides cooperate, we may gain a sliver of hope for the future.”
“Forbidden zone business? A sliver of hope for the future? What do you mean?” Seeing Hong Lao grow more excited as he spoke, Lin Qi immediately voiced his doubts.
He knew something about the forbidden zone. It was the area beyond the Four Regions. But because it was too dangerous, even experts at city lord level never returned once they entered, so no faction dared to rush in casually.
“Among the major powers of the Four Regions, there are only a few with the strength to take part in forbidden zone business, which mainly involves exploring the forbidden zone, excavating the treasures within, and mapping the forbidden zone. Either of these is worth a fortune, and the factions qualified to participate are all willing to purchase them with energy blood essence,” Hong Lao explained slowly. “Azure Wing City has been operating in the forbidden zone for decades, and our understanding of it is not much worse than that of the domain city. If the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall cooperates with us to seize that sliver of hope, it is not impossible.”
“As for that sliver of hope, does Hall Master Lin feel that the Four Regions today are any different from a few years ago?”
Lin Qi said a little awkwardly, “I have always lived in the City of Light Chasing and have rarely left the city. I am not very familiar with the situation of the Four Regions.”
“In that case, I will be direct.” Hong Lao nodded and said slowly, “According to investigations by the domain cities in the Four Regions, compared with five years ago, the area where we can move about normally has shrunk by ten percent. That ten percent has now become forbidden zone. According to records from a hundred years ago, the land we live on did not consist only of the Four Regions. There were many other areas, and the forbidden zones were not as vast as they are now. Only now has the area where we can move about relatively safely been reduced to the Four Regions.”
“In recent years, the Four Regions have been shrinking. At this rate, it will not be many years before they are completely covered by the forbidden zone. So for many years, the top factions who know of this matter have been thinking about how to get out, to safely escape these Four Regions enshrouded by the forbidden zone and go to other safe places.”
“The Four Regions will be covered by the forbidden zone?” Lin Qi was greatly shocked. He had not expected that the forbidden zone, which people inside the cities did not pay much attention to, concealed such a huge problem. He then asked, “May I know what dangers lie within the forbidden zone?”
