Chapter 198: I Felt like My Chivalrous Virtue Has Risen SlightlyTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A week after that, the Treasure Trading Convention had officially begun.
Before that, the System managed to sneak in a fis.h.i.+ng session and successfully nabbed 30 million experience points. However, all the porcupine demons took off as soon as they detected the smell of the poisoned porcupine meat in the System’s food, even if it looked and smelled delicious… It did, however, lured some of the less-informed lesser demons.
To prevent accidentally poisoning sapient demons, the System had to guard the food. After a few days of inefficient hunting, the System finally gave up and went home…
The Truth Department’s headquarters in China was located in the between a group of desolated mountains northwest of Ji City.
It was a large area outlined with simple barbed wire and tall walls. Within the area were rows after rows of three-storied buildings, warehouses, and drill grounds. At a glance, it looked just like any normal army encampments.
Originally, there were quite a number of villages located nearby with hunters and gatherers living in them. As the military bases moved in, the entire area was listed as prohibited zone and unauthorized people were required to move away, completely deserting the place.
The place was not unfamiliar with this place. The first time Vigilante A had returned from the Land of Heritage was through this entrance. For the sake of fis.h.i.+ng, the System had also used the entrance to travel to and from the Land of Heritage during the week.
The Chinese headquarters of the Truth Department was built around the entrance of the Land of Heritage.
The Truth Department was established twenty years prior, but the Land of Heritage had only been discovered for twelve years, so the Truth Department must have moved their headquarters here, which shows the importance of the Land of Heritage to the Truth Department.
An underground hall of the headquarters was exceptionally clean and extraordinarily wide. A stage was set up in the hall and was decorated to look like a performance stage of some hotshot celebrity with a digital screen as the background. The only difference was that sandalwood tables were set up. Porcelain plates were placed on those tables covered with red silk.
Red tags were glued onto each of the plates. Neat calligraphy adorned the tags, t.i.tling each plate with names that would make eyes green with envy.
Mind Easing Pill, Limit Breaking Pill, G.o.d-tier Vitality Nurturing Pill, Millennium Coldsteel, Spectral Vine, Ring of Storage – 2 Cubic Meters etc.
All of those were rare materials, top-grade pills, or different artifacts that were difficult to be produced or collected in China…
However, everyone felt something was strange. In the past years, most of the things being displayed were finished products, but most of the things on display this year were materials with some pills and artifacts scattered about.
Rows upon rows of seats were set up neatly, with the majority of the seat having been taken. Sounds of people chattering built up into a cacophony of noises. Everyone seemed to have removed their usual facade of a powerhouse and behaved as if they were all on a trip to the market.
Everyone knew everyone else in this place. No one dared to put on an air of importance. After all, those who do would lose out on the treasure trading in a while…
“Master Ma, I’ve finally met you again. Mount Indigo Monastery’s medicine didn’t work. I’ve used three doses of your cures after hurting my back when I narrated the tournament, but I wasn’t healed completely yet. I kept feeling something was wrong, so now I have to ask the Azure Mountain for help…”
“Master Lin, you get what you pay, just let it go…”
In one of the seats in the audience, a gray-haired old man was complaining toward Master Ma of Mount Indigo Monastery.
Master Ma looked helpless as he comforted his old client. Beside him were Ma Ping and Shen Xingchen.
“Well met, Faw.a.n.g.”
“How do you do, Faw.a.n.g?”
“Faw.a.n.g, remember the last time when we talked about my disciples.h.i.+p? Shall we have it settled today?”
On the other side, an old monk in a yellow kasaya nodded and smiled at everyone who greeted him but did not speak.
“Hey, none of the people from Spirit King a.s.sociation were here yet…”
“I heard they’re skipping this year.”
“What happened?”
“Didn’t you hear? They’ve offended the Azure Mountain.”
Chit-chats were happening simultaneously all around. The hall housed about a thousand people and had most of the legal organizations for Extraordinaires attending. Normally, under the limitations the Truth Department had placed, they would be forbidden from organizing underground meetings like this without permission from the authority.
That was the reason for the liveliness of this meeting, as it was one of the only few opportunities to socialize with people in the same circle.
…
As the hall bustled, a voice called out.
“Look! The Venerable Dragon G.o.d has arrived…”
Everyone in the hall lifted their heads and glanced over toward the entrance, some even stood up. Immediately, the entire hall quietened, as if the homeroom teacher walked into the middle school study rooms at night… 1
Different from the masters of different sects, schools, and monasteries with their entourage, Vigilante A only had Zheng Dao behind him and a staff from the Truth Department who was leading him to his seat.
Everyone shared glances, but no one approached Vigilante A. Even the people who knew Vigilante A personally, like Master Ma and Lin Yuqing, pretended to not know him.
All Extraordinaires had their news sources. They had sensed the battle at Spirit Valley. When paired with a news organization like the Hummingbird Society, anyone who was anything would have known that the Venerable Dragon G.o.d who was on the rise for the past six months had killed Qi Mei of the Azure Mountain with just a staff strike…
Three years prior to this, she had been challenging sects left and right and defeated six talented people, especially those who come from a sect with strong foundations. Her death was widely celebrated.
However, people would not approach Vigilante A just because of that. They were all of the opinion that the obnoxious Azure Mountain would not just let that go. By a.s.sociating themselves with Vigilante A, the Azure Mountain would take it out on them in the future…
Everyone thought that their non-response at the beginning was just the calm before the storm and, whatever that had been brewing would definitely come up soon.
The Treasure Trading Convention in which Gu Buwei would certainly appear, the Venerable Dragon G.o.d’s appearance would definitely stir up a storm!
However, some people were also puzzled. The Truth Department should have antic.i.p.ated this and prevented the Venerable Dragon G.o.d from attending. Almost immediately, they began visualizing all sorts of conspiracy theories like manipulating the tiger to eat the wolf 2 or letting the sandpiper and the clam grapple 3 .
Fang Ning led Zheng Dao casually to the seat with the tag ‘The Venerable Dragon G.o.d’ in total silence, placed in the row nearest to the stage.
The old monk walked over silently. He greeted Vigilante A with an anjali mudra and a bow, then made his way back slowly.
At that moment, the somber noiselessness of the hall was still ongoing, however, many people began talking to each other telepathically.
“Tianjing Faw.a.n.g really is an Arhat 4 descended from the Upper Realm and was not afraid of the Azure Mountain…”
“That’s right. He’s not like us. If we did that and they remembered us, what if they send another Qi Mei to us in three years?” Some people were looking for excuses.
A few of the powerhouses were frowning. With their keen senses, they discovered that Vigilante A’s spirit was heavily injured!
Vigilante A’s battles in the Land of Heritage and the battle against the three heirs of the Indian G.o.ds were only known by insiders due to the Truth Department intentionally controlling the spread of the news.
As of now, these powerhouses were of the opinion that even though the Venerable Dragon G.o.d had won at the Spirit Valley, he was also wounded.
Some of them telepathically told each other again. “Even if they didn’t take it out on us, if they blacklisted us from buying their artifacts and medicine, it would be a huge loss for us. There are two in my sect waiting to break through and are just waiting for this Limit Breaking Pill.”
In his seat, Fang Ning drank his tea quietly. Even though he could not hear what was being said, he could guess the conversation from their s.h.i.+fty gazes and some people’s occasional look of schadenfreude.
However, he was not feeling the discomfort. Instead, he talked to the System nonchalantly.
The System said, “These people are so unkind, I was upholding the justice for them… They even avoided us like a plague and pretended to not recognize us. They didn’t greet us and didn’t send us medicine, unlike Qiao Anping. They look just like those porcupines that smelled my lures…”
Fang Ning thought it was normal. All of them were happy to criticize the Azure Mountain, but when the time had come, they would still choose to save their own skin first.
He said, “I knew you would feel that way. That’s why we need to become the strongest so we won’t need to fear the backlash whenever we serve the justice in the future. When that time comes, these suckers would come to us in droves with medicines.”
The System said, “Looks like we need to set a higher price in the future. These people will throw away their honor in exchange for profit, so we can’t play nice with them… I shall take back the resources from them and strengthen ourselves so we could be a greater force for justice.”
Fang Ning said, “That’s right, I support your decision. Sir, your action definitely fits the path of heroism.”
The System exclaimed, “Hm, Host, you saying that really makes me feel like my chivalrous virtue has risen slightly…”
Master Ma looked around. After the monk had greeted Vigilante A, he too, wanted to greet the Venerable Dragon G.o.d. However, when he saw his young son and the prodigy disciple he had just accepted, he sighed and sat back down.
Since the appearance of the Venerable Dragon G.o.d, the whole hall had been in a gloomy mood. Most people were not talking at all.
In a repressive mood such as this, time seemed to have stretched and slowed down. The ticking of the grandfather’s clock in the hall was audible as it went on.
The System continued cultivating its techniques without being affected by the surrounding.
Zheng Dao also looked normal. He did not look like he felt wronged.
A laughter suddenly broke the melancholic silence.
A gruff-looking forty-something man walked in. It was Qiao Anping who looked a little pale. Obviously, his injury had yet to heal.
As soon as he walked in, he approached Vigilante A’s seat and sat down beside him, ignoring any prying eyes.
“Venerable One, it has been a while since we last met. You’ve done the world a great service by a.s.sisting the weak and opposing the strong bully, you are indeed the number one among the heroes of the current generation and before. I am very impressed.”
He said as he held his fist, greeting eagerly at Vigilante A.
The System said, “Speak of the devil.”
Fang Ning said, “Ren Ruofeng must have sent him in support of us. Of course, Qiao Anping must be a willing partic.i.p.ant as well. With his injury, he would not have been sent otherwise. It looks like he hasn’t fully recovered too, let’s give him some medicine to heal his spirit.”
The System asked, “Why?”
Fang Ning rolled his eyes, “Do it to show those suckers and also to advertise.”
The System said, “Sure, let’s give him something good.”
System Notification: [The System consumed 10,000 experience points and good quality herbal ingredients, and used Beginner-level Alchemy to create 3 Greater Soul Strengthening Pill.]
Fang Ning felt really satisfied when three translucent jade-colored pills materialized in his palm.
“Fellow cultivator Qiao, I only did a small part in this world, I don’t deserve such high praise. Here are three Nine Transformations Soul Rejuvenation Pills that I had just completed synthesizing, it is the most effective at healing spirit-based injuries. Keep it, so the righteous path will not falter…”
As he said that, Fang Ning scanned the hall. No one had been able to stare back at him directly. This was someone who did not care about the Azure Mountain. They dared not get close to him, but even more so, they dared not anger him…