Chapter 494: Arrangements to Leave the City
“Leave Desolate City within three days. Otherwise, no one will be able to save you.”
After Chu Chaoyun said this, he did not bother staying any longer. A sword made of light appeared below him and carried him off into the darkness.
Xiao Chen watched Chu Chaoyun leave. His presence had cast a shadow on Xiao Chen’s heart. He had already been very careful, yet Chu Chaoyun still found him.
If Chu Chaoyun could find Xiao Chen, then the people looking to cause trouble for Xiao Chen could do so as well. It really seemed like he could no longer stay in Desolate City.
The Spiritual Energy within Desolate City was denser than outside. Xiao Chen originally intended to stay longer. However, from the looks of today, he had to leave earlier.
Xiao Chen pushed off the wall and immediately left this place. He could only abandon this courtyard.
Not long after Xiao Chen left, a few cultivators in black nimbly landed in the courtyard.
When they saw the burnt buildings, the leader revealed a look of suspicion. He muttered, “This brat is really cautious. We just arrived, but he already burned his house in advance. The news that we bought from the Wind Chasing Pavilion is wasted.”
The person beside the leader hid a thick murderous intent in his eyes. He said coldly, “He should be leaving Desolate City now. That will make things more convenient for us.”
The leader smiled and said, “City Lord Gao is right. It is too eye-catching if we take action in the city. It is better for us to act outside. Let’s go back to our Holy Fire Manor’s branch first and discuss the details.”
Gao Yangyu said indifferently, “There is no need. Since I promised to cooperate with you, I will not take action alone. Just send someone to inform me when the time comes.”
A hint of arrogance could be heard in Gao Yangyu’s tone; he did not care about the Holy Fire Manor. After he spoke, he left on his own.
Leng Yun looked at the leader and said, “Uncle Qin, is this person reliable? What if he stabs us in the back?”
Old Qin smiled coldly and said, “Don’t worry. Xiao Chen caused him to go bankrupt. He definitely hates Xiao Chen to the bone. Given Xiao Chen’s strength now, he will not be able to deal with him alone. He has no other choice but to cooperate with us.”
Leng Yun said in a somewhat depressed tone, “However, this fellow’s att.i.tude is really puts me in a bad mood. He immediately asked for fifty percent of the spoils. If Father agreed to help us, he would not have such an opportunity.”
Old Qin smiled and said, “Just ignore him. After all, he was once an important person in the southern islands. We should give him some face.”
Old Qin was not interested in the Spirit Stones on Xiao Chen. He only wanted that peak high-ranked Demon Core back, to open his sea of consciousness, so he could become a Martial Monarch.
By the time Old Qin became a Martial Monarch, it would be easy for him to obtain as many Spirit Stones as he wanted. He was very clear on his priorities.
Old Qin believed that it was impossible for this operation to fail. They had two half-step Martial Monarchs, and dozens of Superior Grade Martial Kings. These were enough to guarantee that nothing would go wrong.
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Early the next morning, Xiao Chen went to a restaurant in Desolate City, intending to have a meal before his departure.
Xiao Chen had already decided where to go next. Currently, his state of ma.s.sacre was still too weak. He wanted to go to the Deep Sea Battlefield and hone his state of ma.s.sacre.
After that, Xiao Chen would return to the Great Qin Nation to settle some things with the Xiao Clan before going to the Imperial Capital. Finally, he will go and partic.i.p.ate in the Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion, which was held every four years.
One and a half years might look like a lot of time, but given Xiao Chen’s plans, it might not be sufficient.
“Boss! Give me another five liters of the best wine you have. I’m also running out of Thunder Ox meat; bring me another half!”
[TL note: The Thunder Ox is different from the Lightning Ox mentioned in the early parts of this novel.]
Xiao Chen had just entered when he heard a bold voice.
The Thunder Ox was a Rank 6 Spirit Beast. Its meat was not only better than regular beef, it had a great texture to it. After one ate it, its fragrance would linger in one’s mouth.
That was an extremely pleasant sensation. The most important thing was that the flesh of a Rank 6 Spirit Beast contained Spiritual Energy. Hence, it strengthened the physical body when consumed.
There were many benefits, but the price was ridiculously high. One might be able to afford to eat a couple of kilograms daily, but having half a Thunder Ox in one go was extravagant.
Furthermore, from the sound of things, that person had already eaten half a Thunder Ox before this. Xiao Chen could not help but feel curious, so he looked over.
Xiao Chen saw a very stout person at the table beside the window on the third floor. This table seemed larger than the other tables around and that person was the only one there. He guzzled wine as he tore chunks of flesh off with his teeth.
This person looked very contented. Xiao Chen felt that this person looked very familiar, so he took a closer look. Indeed, it was Bai Lixi.
“Waiter! Why are you so slow?! This old man is about to die of impatience. If it does not come soon, this old man will be going to another store…”
Bai Lixi saw Xiao Chen as he was halfway through. He was instantly stunned before becoming startled. He swallowed the meat in his mouth before he chewed it properly.
As a result, the meat got stuck in his throat. A pained expression replaced his look of contentment.
Xiao Chen frowned slightly. Why did this fellow have such a huge reaction when he saw me? There is no reason for that, right?
Bai Lixi guzzled down a few more mouthfuls of wine before hitting his chest. The piece of meat lodged in his throat went down, and he relaxed.
“Brother Xiao! You are here. Come, come, have a seat. What do you want to eat? It’s my treat!”
Xiao Chen glanced at the table and was stunned. Aside from the Rank 6 Thunder Ox, many other meats of Rank 5 and above Spirit Beasts filled the table.
Xiao Chen tore off a piece of deep purple Thunder Ox flesh and its fragrance a.s.saulted his nose. Then he placed it in his mouth and chewed. Indeed, it was extraordinarily delectable.
Bai Lixi revealed a smile as he somewhat tried to curry favor with Xiao Chen. “What do you think? Old Brother Xiao Chen, this beef is pretty good, right? Although this shop is small, the food here is one of the best in the south side of Desolate City.”
“It tastes good. It is very flavorful!”
Xiao Chen’s expression remained unchanging as he checked out Bai Lixi’s get-up.
Bai Lixi wore black half-finger gloves. On the surface, they seemed like ordinary leather gloves. However, Xiao Chen detected several complicated talisman scripts within it with his Spiritual Sense.
Looking at the complexity of the talisman scripts, the gloves had to be at least a High-Level Medial Grade Secret Treasure.
Xiao Chen continued checking upwards and saw a black necklace with talisman scripts and a rhombus-shaped rock on it. It was obvious from one glance that it was not ordinary.
Bai Lixi also wore a blue inner vest, which emitted strong Spiritual Energy, under his outer garments. This inner vest had to be a Medial Grade Secret Treasure at the very least.
Then, there were two shoulder plates on Bai Lixi’s shoulders. When Xiao Chen looked downwards, there were also two s.h.i.+n guards on his lower legs. Even the shoes Bai Lixi wore did not seem ordinary.
What a fellow! Bai Lixi wore a complete set of Medial Grade Secret Treasures. All these must have cost a lot. Just the items that Xiao Chen saw alone would cost tens of millions of Medial Grade Spirit Stones.
However, high-level Medial Grade Secret Treasures were not things that could be bought with Spirit Stones alone. One would have to spend several million Spirit Stones in order to establish connections with certain people in order to obtained such items.
Xiao Chen thought deeply about all this before smiling faintly and saying, “Old Bai, does your b.u.t.t still hurt? I did not mean it the last time.”
Bai Lixi smiled very magnanimously and said, “It’s fine, it’s just a small matter. I forgot about it long ago. The skin on my b.u.t.t is very thick; it would not matter even if you kicked me two more times.”
Since when did this fellow become so magnanimous? Something was strange. Xiao Chen put down his wine cup and said in a soft voice, “Tell me the truth, were you the one who placed a huge bet on me after the all-or-nothing system was established, resulting in Gao Yangyu going bankrupt?”
Bai Lixi looked around cautiously, as if he had antic.i.p.ated that Xiao Chen would ask this question. He said, “It is inconvenient to speak here. Come with me to the booth on the top floor.”
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
Bai Lixi casually tossed a Medial Grade Spirit Stone on the table before quickly leading Xiao Chen to the top floor.
He found an isolated booth, entered it, and closed the doors and windows tightly. After making sure no one was listening in, he told Xiao Chen what happened that day in detail.
After Xiao Chen heard everything, he still felt rather shocked. Even though he already guessed it, he was still shocked.
“You have nerves of steel. I really don’t know where you obtained all this courage from.”
Bai Lixi chuckled. He said, “Since the Demon Battlefield on Qianren Island, everything I’d seen about you indicated that as long as I follow along, I would be able to obtain many benefits. Furthermore, I trust in your strength. The worst case scenario is that I would lose and not be able to make a living in the Ancient Desolate Land anymore.”
After Bai Lixi finished, he said somewhat embarra.s.sedly, “I received some news that Gao Yangyu went to the Wind Chasing Pavilion several times. It seems like he is asking for your location. That fellow seems bent on killing you before leaving the Ancient Desolate Land forever.
Xiao Chen calmly said, “This has nothing to do with you. You don’t have to blame yourself for this. Even if he does not come and seek trouble for me, I will go to him. Tell me more about this Wind Chasing Pavilion.”
Xiao Chen finally understood why Bai Lixi had such a big reaction.
Bai Lixi nodded and said, “I knew that you would not mind. The Wind Chasing Pavilion is a organization that deals in information. As long as you can afford it, you can obtain any information you want.”
“However, you don’t have to worry. Even if you did not find me here, I would have gone looking for you. Likewise, as long as you are willing to spend money, you would be able to evade the eyes of the Wind Chasing Pavilion. However, it is rather expensive. I already made arrangements; you can leave the city by nightfall.”
Xiao Chen thought about it carefully. He concluded that Bai Lixi was telling the truth. This restaurant is the nearest one to his courtyard. It seemed that meeting Bai Lixi here was not a coincidence.
He shook his head and said, “Let’s not make any movements for now. I have a question for you: together with your set of Secret Treasures, how strong is your full-power strike now?”
Bai Lixi chuckled. Clearly, he was very satisfied with his Secret Treasures. He said, “You are probably aware that there are strong and weak half-step Martial Monarchs. Normally, we cla.s.sify half-step Martial Monarchs into three categories: Small Perfection, Great Perfection, and Consummation, which is just a step away from becoming a Martial Monarch.”
“With my full power, I am now a peak Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarch. I can deal with five or six Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarchs like Gong Haoyu.”
Xiao Chen felt astonished. He did not expect this fellow to be able to make it big from unexpected luck. As a result, Bai Lixi had managed to get ahead of him in terms of strength.
Xiao Chen remembered that he had been about as strong as Bai Lixi when he first came to the Ancient Desolate Tower. Neither could triumph over the other.
Xiao Chen worked very hard, risked his life many times, and put in an extraordinary amount of effort before he managed to get to this point.