Chapter 175 – Black Spirit Group
“Since Brother Mian isn’t willing to speak of it, you must have your own difficulties. However, fellow’s good intentions are not lost on me. The reason for me coming to Xuanjing, besides finding Spirit Medicine to cure my nephew, is to resolve some personal matters, so I won’t be able to leave soon. In addition, I can’t stay too long at the Qian House. Does fellow have a suggestion on a place for Loose Cultivators like me to live at?” Liu Ming gave a slight smile as he disregarded the old man’s tone.
“Since Brother Qian has something that needs to be done here in Xuanjing, I won’t impress my will. In fact, the situation in Xuanjing is slightly strange and I have promised someone else to not leak information about Xuanjing. However, if brother really wants to understand the situation within Xuanjing, all you need to do is simply spend a couple Spirit Stones and you should be able to get what you need from various places. As for where you will stay, I have two suggestions. From what I see, Owner Qian wants to recruit you and the Hundred Spirit House does have some influence within Xuanjing. If brother is willing to become a guest of the Hundred Spirit House, you can move near my place. Me and another two guests are currently residing there and once you’re there, I can introduce them to you. Of course, if you have no intentions of joining the Hundred Spirit House, you can go over to the Immortal Dawn Mountain and rent a dwelling. The Immortal Dawn Mountain is owned by the government and has a nice environment with lots of Yuan Qi. In addition, they don’t allow anyone to fight so it can be considered a very stable area. The only problem is that the prices for the dwellings there are quite high and Loose Cultivators like me can’t afford to stay there for too long. As for places where the price is cheaper, there are a few other places. However, most of them have a large faction backing them so they’re much more chaotic. The Yuan Qi there also can’t compare to the Immortal Dawn Mountain. For example, the Virtuous South Pavilion is supported secretly by the First Prince and the Lucky Cloud Courtyard has the Black Spirit Group behind it.” Elder Mian explained to Liu Ming in detail.
TL: Dwelling = somewhat like a cave but a lot better
“Black Spirit Group?”
When Liu Ming heard these words, his expression changed.
Before he left, the Lei Spirit Master had given him a lot of material and in there was much information about the Black Spirit Group.
This group appeared about thirty years ago and its members were very mysterious.
In the legends, the people running the group were all Demon Cultivators with strong strengths. Normally, they would appear in masks and didn’t know each other. Instead they used nicknames for each other.
When this group first appeared in Xuanjing, they were naturally pushed out by various factions. The first group to go against them was the “Blood Lin Pavilion” that was one of the top five underground factions within Xuanjing. The Spirit Apostles within the pavilion were killed in the matter of one night by very vicious means. Immediately, all of the other factions within Xuanjing were shocked and stopped trying to push out the Black Spirit Group.
Once the Black Spirit Group took over all of the Blood Lin Pavilion’s resources, they seemed to be content and did not expand any further.
With this, the factions that were planning on joining hands let out a huge sigh, silently accepting the place of the Black Spirit Group within Xuanjing.
With the strange appearance of the Black Spirit Group, many of the Supervising Disciples within Xuanjing wanted to figure out the exact origin of the group.
Unfortunately, the group’s members appeared at random and rarely showed their face before others. Thus, no one was able to find outmuch, let alone find out who the founder of the group was.
Now that Elder Mian had talked about this group, Liu Ming’s heart naturally could not help but move.
“Brother Qian has heard of the Black Spirit Group’s name? Oh, that’s not too weird! For us Loose Cultivators, the Black Spirit Group is one of the three factions that we absolutely cannot offend. After all, most of the members are quite secretive and Demon Cultivators that specialize in a.s.sa.s.sinations. If we do offend these people, we might not even know how we died.” When the black-robed elder heard this, he could not help but smile.
“Oh, besides the Black Spirit Group, what other two factions can we not offend?” Liu Ming asked back with curiosity.
“It is obviously the government and the five sects. If you offend other large factions, you can just escape Xuanjing through the night and they can’t do much against us, Loose Cultivators. However, if you offend the government and the five large sects, even if you leave Xuanjing, you might not escape their attacks within Da Xuan Country. As for the five sects, they are the true masters of this country. As for the supervising disciples that are in Xuanjing, they are all extremely mysterious figures that normal people can’t see. Although the government is a faction that the five sects have created and no Spirit Masters are allowed within, the Silver Scale Tier Pract.i.tioners within the government number in the tens of thousands. As for the Gold Spirit Tier Spirit Apostles, there are over a hundred. The government could easily wipe out all of the factions within Xuanjing with a single sentence. The only reason that there are so many factions within Xuanjing is because the government allows it.” Elder Mian said with some hidden meaning.
“Thank you Brother Mian for your warning, I think I understand it somewhat.” Liu Ming nodded and seemed to be thinking something.
In the remaining time, the two of them talked about some things before Elder Mian stood up to say his farewell.
However, after the old man left the room, he immediately headed to the main hall of the Qian House.
Over there, Qian Chao, the owner of the Hundred Spirit House and Lady Mi were talking about something. On his face was slight anger but once he saw the black-robed old man, he immediately started revealing a smile.
“Elder Mian, you have finally arrived. Have you found out the intention of Mister Qian on whether he would like to become a guest of our Hundred Spirit House?”
“I am very ashamed. I will have to disappoint owner. The meaning within Fellow Qian’s words did not reveal the intention of joining the Hundred Spirit House. However, he seems to want to stay in Xuanjing and won’t be leaving in the short term.”
“That’s unfortunate but it’s not a big deal. As long as Mister Qian does not immediately leave Xuanjing, we still have a chance to recruit him to Hundred Spirit House. Unfortunately, we don’t have that Ice Silver Gra.s.s and need to find it in other stores. We might have to take a bit more time.” Lady Mi first creased her brows before relaxing them after hearing his words.
“I’ve already put someone on the matter about the Ice Silver Gra.s.s and as long as Xuanjing has this Spirit Medicine, we will be able to find it. The most important part is that the Shadow Guards of the Third Marquis have helped us find the culprits behind the attack on you and Hu Er. As expected, it was directed by the Gathering Wealth Building’s Fatty Mu.” The colorfully robed person spoke with a grunt.
“Gathering Wealth Building is our opponent in terms of business and the Ninth Prince behind them is against the Third Marquis behind us. To be able to do something like that is not anything special.” When Elder Mian heard this, he stroked his beard as he chimed in.
“I have already ordered someone to keep an eye on Fatty Mu, but he has been quite alert, not leaving his house for days. However, I have already ordered our state branches to start attacking the businesses of the Gathering Wealth Building. We definitely cannot let this go so easily or else how would our Hundred Spirit House stand within Xuanjing?” The colorfully robed man responded with a serious expression.
“Husband, please don’t be mad. Besides our revenge on the Gathering Wealth Building, what is most important right now is the success of the auction. Don’t forget that we paid a huge sum of money for the right to host this auction and we definitely cannot fail. However, until now, we haven’t found anything worthy of being the last item to auction.” Lady Mi said with some agony.
Hearing the pretty lady’s words, the anger on the colorfully robed man’s face disappeared. However, after a slight pause, he said with confidence, “Relax, I received the news yesterday that the final item has been found in a branch office. In addition, it is currently being escorted to Xuanjing with the other items and definitely will make it for the auction.”
“What? We’ve already found it? That’s great. However, won’t the Gathering Wealth Building attack again?” Lady Mi heard this and was excited for a moment before asking with some caution.
“You don’t need to worry about the envoy. Not only have I sent two Guests outside of Xuanjing to protect it, the Third Marquis has also sent out a team of Shadow Guards. There is no chance of any problems.” The colorfully robed man spoke confidently.
“The Third Marquis’ Shadow Guards are indeed truly strong people, and with two fellows, there really is no need to worry.” When Elder Mian heard up to this point, he also nodded.
“Yes, however, the security for this auction is extremely important and I have to discuss a couple more things with you. For the restrictions near the auction site…” The colorfully robed man’s expression relaxed as he discussed details about the auction with the black-robed man.
…..
At the same time, Liu Ming left the girl in the room and headed to the back door of the Qian House.
The two guards at the back door of the Qian House recognized Liu Ming and did not dare stop him. Instead, they quickly opened the door to allow Liu Ming to pa.s.s.
The moment Liu Ming left the back door of the Qian House, he immediately looked left and right before following a small path. Then, he traveled toward a large road and quickly mixed into the crowd.
Before arriving at Xuanjing, Liu Ming had already memorized all the main paths within Xuanjing. Thus, he did not feel foreign walking down the roads.
With left and right turns, he pa.s.sed through many streets. Finally, he arrived before a silent alley and disappeared within it.
Not long later, a gray-robed person with a normal looking face casually appeared at the entrance of the alley. His gaze seemed to pa.s.s over the alley and his face suddenly changed.
The alley, which was a dead end, was completely empty without any shadow within.
The gray-robed man became quite anxious as he rushed into the alley, hoping to find a clue.
However, at this moment, a gust of wind sprung up behind him. His vision was lost and he landed on the ground with a pain on his neck.