Chapter 457


    /*unedited*/


    Dongxi City, outskirts


    In a huge and spacious estate, arge mansion looms deep within its forest-likendscape. Lit with hundreds of thousands of different light stones, the whole estate shows a spectacr scene to those who can see its magnificence and grandeur.


    Therge mansion itself is like an old Chinese fortress looking down upon the tall trees surrounding it.


    At the top floor of this majestic looking edifice, a tall middle-aged man stood ramrod straight while holding a silver chalice in his hand filled with red wine.


    Looking at the majestic scenery of the estate, he showed a satisfied look on his face. Every now and then he would take a sip of the wine on his cup and would sometimes take nces of the two naked women on the bed.


    This man is the head of the famous mercenary n in the city. His name is Ming Lao, a nascent realm expert of the Lao n.


    As the head, he is the most powerful figure of the n even more powerful than the elders and the protectors. He has asserted his dominance in the city and has fought thousands of battles in reaching his current position.


    The Lao n is what they are today because of his achievement in victories in the battle with the other ns in the city.


    "It seems that there is another yer who dares enter my hunting ground…" he muttered while looking at the scenery outside.


    "Convey my orders… send an invitation to that young man called Master Ji. Say that I want to meet him." He suddenly said after a long time of thinking.


    A voice outside the window answered.


    "Yes, my lord…"


    Upon hearing this and sense that the man outside the window is already gone, a smirk appears on Ming Lao''s face.


    "A very strong mortal… But I don''t think he is that strong… From the start, he has already shown his weakness. Hispassion is his downfall." He muttered as he finished the cup.


    Meanwhile in another part of the city, in another old Chinese like castle surrounded byrge and spacious courtyards, a group of men has gathered. In the middle of this gathering is an old man with a head full of white hair.


    He sat calmly in his seat while listening to the argument that is currently happening around him. This is the Zhuang n that holds one of the strongest powers in Dongxi city that can rival the Lao n. Everyone is discussing what happened to one of their young and promising youth, Ji Zhuang.


    "We should hold the Long ck market for what happened to young Ji…"


    "Are you crazy? Do you want another war to erupt in the city?"


    "Who cares? We the Zhuang family is not afraid."


    "Wait a minute… have you forgotten what young Ji said? The young man who entered the city and fought with them holds unimaginable rare treasures. Instead of battling it out with the Long ck market, why not take out that young man?"


    "You are right, we at least can do that… young Ji said that the young man is very strong. So I''m guessing that he is an infant soul realm in strength. Let''s just send five infant soul realm experts to deal with that person."


    "Wait! We are not jumping into this without thinking… Young Ji also mentioned that the young man''s cultivation undtion could not be seen… as if… as if he is a mortal. This is like those people in the Shin city within Yi kingdom."


    "…"


    "…"


    The discussions of the elders and the protectors of the n turned silent upon hearing thest argument of thest person. They now realize the severity of the problem.


    "And don''t forget, the portal is still broken. What I could not understand is, why is it not being repaired? If the portal is broken when we make out move we cannot contact the main branch for support. This is going to be a problem for us and the other ns." a man suddenly broke the silence.


    The old man suddenly lifted his eyes and look at the crowd. His action gained the attention of everyone as they look at the grand elder which is the most powerful cultivator of the n which is also at the nascent realm.


    "The academies within the city going to hold a simultaneous quest for their students in gathering the needed materials and also the best array masters… the city council could not wait anymore and decided to use the students to do this because they think that it was the ns who broke the portal. This will be troubling times… tell your children to not participate in this. We will deal with that neer first then deal with the portal problem. That is our best course of action." The old man said.


    …


    While the families and ns in the city are in turmoil because of the appearance of another key yer, Shin Jiao on the other hand is currently standing at the top of a roof while looking at a seemingly normal inn. He has gathered enough information with regards to the portal and also the ck market trading ce.


    He now ns to make his move and attack the ck market and somehow cause amotion. This in turn would give him ample time to think about how to repair the portal while the ns would be weary of him. He targeted the ck market because he already determined that they are the weakest force in the city.


    Shin Jiao has spread his absolute sense and saw what''s inside the inn even though it is covered with Qi protection. He has already counted more than 30 men inside with a decent cultivation level. And some even have artifacts as their weapon.


    "So that is the entrance to the ce they called the underground city, the ck market." Shin Jiao muttered with a smirk.


    "I hope this attracts attention away from the portal."


    Shin Jiao has already discovered that the portal is actually cleverly set up. Only those who are proficient enough in array formation just like himself can detect and see how it was done. Plus it seems that there are people watching it.


    In truth, the portal is actually not broken but has many energy fluctuations all over its foundation.


    These energy fluctuations would be mistaken by others as the portalcking energy or has broken arrays. Hence if someone would try to fix this and then supply arger amount of energy that it already has, then the portal would explode. There might be a chance that half of the city might be destroyed by this explosion.


    Shin Jiao is unwilling for this to happen, and he is also unwilling to fix the portal yet while there are people hiding in the shadows while waiting to strike at an opportune moment. With that decision in mind, he began to move against the ck market.


    …


    The next day…


    It was the break of dawn when the sun slowly peaks upon the horizon as it spread its majestic golden light to drive away from the darkness.


    Suddenly…


    Kaboom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!


    A series of explosion rocks the whole city waking people out of their dreams. Everyone immediately panicked and run out of their houses. They can see a huge ck smoke slowly rising to the sky as if telling everyone of the devastation that had happened in the city.


    In many random locations within the city ck smoke are rising up to the sky as buildings are burning and were destroyed.


    Those within the neighborhood began to move and help put off the fire.


    This situation has gained the attention of all the ns and families in the city, especially the city council.


    They immediately began to investigate what had happened and found many corpses inside the destroyed buildings and houses.


    It didn''t take long for them to realize that those buildings and houses belong to the Long ck market group. And it seems that every merchandize they had are all gone along with the ves that escaped the scene.


    In their findings, it seems that a group of people forced their way inside the ck market and a great battle happened deep within the sewers. Then when the ves were freed, they took arms and killed the rest, even destroying every establishment under the Long ck market control.


    And because of this, true to Shin Jiao''s conjecture, the ns, families, and the city council became weary of each other. They didn''t even consider him as the main culprit.


    Inside his room, Shin Jiao felt a bit disappointed.


    "What a half-assed investigation…" he muttered.


    He didn''t actually expect that arge collection of ves are being kept underground. And it seems that a powerful expert has cast an array to make every action of the ck market a secret. This is also a reason why he could not see anything underground. Hence, even when the fighting starts the experts didn''t even hear themotion underground.


    "This is out of my expectation." He muttered as he didn''t know what would happen next.


    "Well, at least everyone is now wary of each other and I can just wait for the impatient ones to make their move." He thought.


    That day while waiting, he suddenly received visitors.


    It was Wen Mo Yang and her two friends. When Shin Jiao saw the three knocking at the door of his room in the inn, he was a bit surprised.


    "Master Ji… Ummm… actually I have a presumptuous request. But I hope that you would not mind." Wen Mo Yang said with a shy smile.


    Shin Jiao just nodded his head and gestured for her to continue.


    "Umm… Can… can you help us with the quest to collect materials for the portal? The academy has already sent a notice of this important quest."


    When Shin Jiao heard this he knitted his brow in suspicion.