Chapter 1558 - Mi Clan’s Third Miss
Zhao Hai didn’t arrange the formation around the island at this time because the situation was still very sensitive. He would arrange the formation once the Hidden Cloud Village was done being searched. He believed that once the Hidden Cloud Village was cleared, n.o.body would come checking in for a very long time.
If he arranged the formation at this time, this would certainly cause the people around them to be vigilant. Although the Hidden Cloud Village has been forgotten by the people of the Cloudsea Territory, it wasn’t a complete erasure of memories. Zhao Hai’s appearance caused a huge stir, so the people of the Cloudsea Territory wouldn’t leave any stones unturned. They would definitely check the Hidden Cloud Village.
The appearance of a formation would definitely bring people’s attention. And if they send out an Immortal Expert to the Hidden Cloud Village, then the formation would definitely be discovered. Once they did, they would find a way to break it. Moreover, they would guess that something was going on in the Hidden Cloud Village. The big clans have information about the Hidden Cloud Village and they know that n.o.body in the village was able to arrange this type of formation.
Since he was afraid to cause suspicion from those big clans, Zhao Hai postponed arranging the formation at this time. Another reason was because preparing the formation would be very time-consuming.
This spatial formation didn’t exist before, and it was just Zhao Hai’s idea. Also, this formation needs to use the Cloudsea Territory’s environment as the base. The black clouds need to supply energy to the formation so that it wouldn’t be supplied by other people. Moreover, the spatial distortion has to be all-encompa.s.sing but undetectable. People who meet it would not be able to sense anything and would just think that they were flying forward. Even if they use artifacts, they still wouldn’t sense anything.
Because of Zhao Hai’s requirements, it took some time for the Universal Scanner to come up with a blueprint for the formation. Then it took another period of time to manufacture the flags and the formation core. It was only recently that the formation was prepared. Added to the previous reasons, Zhao Hai hadn’t arranged the formation until now.
Actually, even if Zhao Hai didn’t a.s.sign missions to the people of the Hidden Cloud Village, he would still have a good grasp about the surrounding area. However, that would be too suspicious. What would he do if Mu Yu asks how he got the information? He can’t always depend on his Undead for reasons. Therefore, he switched methods. No matter how much it costs, it was worth it as long as he can hide the existence of the s.p.a.ce. Moreover, the missions brought the people of the Hidden Cloud Village closer to the Hundred Treasures Realm.
The islands in the region were not conducting investigations on their surroundings. Moreover, their scope was slowly approaching the Hidden Cloud Village.
Zhao Hai also discovered this point, so he gave the people in the village an order to act like normal as though nothing happened to the village lately. And to also cooperate with the investigators that would be coming over.
The first to visit the Hidden Cloud Village was the Mi Clan of the Cloud Rice Towns.h.i.+p. Since the Mi Clan was closest to the Hidden Cloud Village, it’s natural that they would be the first ones to arrive.
Zhao Hai also knew that the Mi Clan was going to arrive at the Hidden Cloud Village. He immediately told everyone of their arrival.
Mi Ruyan was the Third Miss of the Mi Clan. The Mi Clan was a big family and they’re quite powerful. Being the Third Miss of the family, Mi Ruyan held quite a substantial power. She was already a Severed Soul Expert. In the Mi Clan, whether you’re a male or a female, you will be a.s.signed a mission when you reach a certain age. This mission varied and had its own advantages and disadvantages. Originally, Mi Ruyan’s a.s.signment was very good. She was responsible for guarding Cloud Rice Towns.h.i.+p’s northeast side. This gave her a lot of time for cultivation. And with her subordinates being easy to manage, she was able to live a comfortable life.
However, this good life changed when Zhao Hai and the others appeared. The entire Mi Clan entered a level 1 alert level and Mi Ruyan was sent to go on patrol.
Ten days pa.s.sed but they didn’t even find a trace of Zhao Hai. In the end, the clan issued an order for them to go north and check if there were people from the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield in the Hidden Cloud Village.
The people of the Cloudsea Territory didn’t believe that the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield didn’t have an entry point to the territory. The Immortal Expert they captured in the past made it clear how attractive the Cloudsea Territory would be for the people of the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield.
Because of this, the people of the Cloudsea Territory needed to scour the whitecloud islands for Zhao Hai and the others. And the only island north of Cloud Rice Towns.h.i.+p was the Hidden Cloud Village.
Mi Ruyan knew a little about the Hidden Cloud Village. But what she heard was that the village was full of people who were refugees. Although it was close to the Sea of Beasts, it had no special products. Moreover, because of its location, it can be easily attacked. Because of this, n.o.body paid attention to it, this included Mi Ruyan.
But since this mission was critical for the entire Cloudsea Territory, Mi Ruyan was careful. In the end, she decided to take the trip herself. Although the Mi Clan mainly produces rice, its people also capture cloud beasts from time to time. First, it would save them a lot of money, and second it would train the children of the clan. Because of this, the clan also had a few Cloud Piercing s.h.i.+ps.
The Cloud Piercing s.h.i.+ps of the Mi Clan weren’t that big. Although it was a big clan, due to their produce being rice, the Mi Clan wasn’t very rich. Therefore, the biggest Cloud Piercing s.h.i.+p they had could only accommodate a hundred people.
This time, Mi Ruyan took five Cloud Piercing s.h.i.+ps with a 100 person capacity and then went straight towards the Hidden Cloud Village.
Zhao Hai and Mu Yu hid themselves while the entire Hidden Cloud Village returned to its original appearance. The only thing that changed was that Zhe Jun and Li Jiang were now the leaders of the village.
When Mi Ruyan’s Cloud Piercing s.h.i.+ps entered the Hidden Cloud Village, they saw people fleeing in all directions. Some of them even flew towards the Sea of Beasts. This caused Mi Ruyan to be stunned. Then her expression changed as she ordered to chase the fleeing people.
At this time, a middle-aged person beside Mi Ruyan saw her expression and immediately knew what she was thinking. So he opened his mouth and said, “Third Miss, there’s no need to chase them. It’s impossible for these people to know anything. They just ran in fear upon seeing our Cloud Piercing s.h.i.+ps. Almost everyone in this village has offended a clan, so they escaped here. They’re cowards, so they ran away after seeing our s.h.i.+p. After hiding for a few days, they should come back.”
Hearing this middle-aged man, Mi Ruyan’s expression became better. She looked around her and said, “This Hidden Cloud Village isn’t small. If someone gets hold of it, they can establish a firm foundation. It might even become the second Cloudbeast Fortress. Why did n.o.body occupy this place?”
The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and said, “Third Miss, it’s because it’s a good location that n.o.body thought of occupying it. The Cloudbeast Fortress is already a powerful influence in the region and all the goods flow through it. Most importantly, the people of the Cloudbeast Fortress would not allow a clan to occupy this place.”
Hearing the middle-aged man, Mi Ruyan couldn’t help but ask, “They don’t allow it to be occupied? Why?”
The middle-aged man replied, “If there’s only one Cloudbeast Fortress, then the people who intend to go to the Sea of Beasts could only settle there. All of the things they need could be purchased in the fortress. Moreover, some of the beasts obtained from the Sea of Beasts would be sold in the fortress. This brought huge benefits to the fortress. In order to maintain this monopoly, no matter who wanted to settle the Hidden Cloud Village, the three big clans in the Cloudbeast Fortress wouldn’t allow it.”
Mi Ruyan knitted her brows and said, “If this is the case, then why don’t the three clans take the Hidden Cloud Village for themselves? In this way, they could obtain more territory.”
The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and said, “The three clans thought about it in the past, but the other clans in the region didn’t allow them. The three clans didn’t allow anyone to occupy the island, so the other clans didn’t allow the three clans to occupy it as well. The two sides fought each other several times, causing great losses to both sides. In the end, they gave up on the Hidden Cloud Village. There wasn’t even a transmission formation on the island. Later on, people who offended clans ran to the Hidden Cloud Village and settled in. Slowly, the village formed. This development was welcomed by the three clans since this meant that no power was able to occupy the island. Also, the people occupying the village weren’t very strong. And since they had no choice, the people in the village traded with the fortress at very unfair prices.”
Mi Ruyan nodded, then she sighed and said, “They’re pitiful people. They’re practically imprisoned in this place, they have no freedom at all. Why didn’t the clans come here to arrest people? Didn’t they offend the clans? How could they just let these people off?”
The middle-aged man answered, “It’s not that the clans just let them off. Although the people in the village offended these clans, the offense wasn’t very serious. If the clans wanted to go to the Hidden Cloud Village, they would have to traverse the sea of clouds. Moreover, traveling to the Hidden Cloud Village carried a risk of being attacked by beasts. Several clans tried to chase people several times, but they discovered that it wasn’t worth it, so they gave up in the end.”
Mi Ruyan nodded, she looked around the village and said, “It seems like the people of the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield didn’t come to this place. But I don’t know if they left any traces. Uncle Four, let’s find someone to ask.”
The middle-aged man that Mi Ruyan called Uncle Four was a steward of the Mi Clan. He wasn’t a member of the clan but was instead a descendant of a servant. After several generations of service, his grandfather was given the surname of Mi. Ever since then, the family has been loyal subordinates of the Mi Clan and were important members of the family.
Hearing Mi Ruyan, Mi Siyi nodded and said, “Yes, Third Miss. Right, I know someone here. He’s surnamed Li and named Jiang. He used to be from the liquor-making Li Clan. Afterwards, the Li Clan was exterminated by the Nie Clan. Li Jiang was the only survivor. Because of our dealings with the Li Clan, I know of Li Jiang’s father. After escaping to the Hidden Cloud Village, Li Jiang got in contact with me. He often goes to Cloud Rice Towns.h.i.+p to buy some rice to sell in the village. I reckon he should be here. I’ll go call him over.”
Mi Ruyan nodded and said, “I know of the Winemakers of the Li Clan. They produce very good rice wine. It’s a pity that they got destroyed. Our family’s business was also affected at that time. I heard that the Li Clan did very good business. It’s really a pity. Let’s help him as much as we can. If he’s here, call him over.”
Mi Siyi nodded and then swept the village with his spiritual force. It didn’t take long before he discovered Li Jiang. He was actually hiding inside his room, he didn’t escape.
Mi Siyi immediately said, “Li Jiang, come out and see me.”
Hearing this, Li Jiang stared, then he immediately ran out of his room and flew towards the Cloud Piercing s.h.i.+p. Seeing Mi Siyi, he quickly bowed and said, “Li Jiang has seen Uncle Four. Uncle, how are you? Let me welcome you in.”
Mi Siyi turned to Mi Ruyan. Mi Ruyan waved her hand and said, “Just stay here.”
Mi Siyi nodded, then he turned his head to Li Jiang and said, “Li Jiang, this is the Third Miss. She has something to ask you. You need to answer truthfully, don’t tell any lies.”
Li Jiang hastily bowed and said, “I have seen the Third Miss. Third Miss, ask me anything. I will answer as best as I can.”
Mi Ruyan waved her hand and said, “Someone from the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield has appeared in the Cloudsea Territory. Do you know anything about this?”
Li Jiang nodded and said, “I know about it. People who went to the Cloudbeast Fortress heard about it. The Cloudbeast Fortress is currently investigating this matter.”
Mi Ruyan nodded and said, “Did you see anyone from the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield? Or did you find any traces? Is there anything strange in the surrounding area?”
Li Jiang shook his head and said, “I didn’t see anyone from the Ten-thousand Realm Battlefield. And since I rarely go out, I really am not aware of the surrounding area. If the Third Miss allows me, I can find someone else to come over. I can guarantee that he’s more qualified to answer your question.”
Mi Ruyan nodded and said, “Go bring them over. If you can give me something good, you will be rewarded.”
Li Jiang nodded before he turned around and left. Before long, Li Jiang brought Zhe Jun along with him. Zhe Jun bowed towards Mi Ruyan and said, “Zhe Jun has seen the Third Miss. Third Miss, you can ask me anything.”