Chapter 203 – Tong Cheng Region
Since the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament and the Jiu Yu Imperial List had basically come to an end, Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya announced that the Quinyang Sect delegation would only stay inside the Jiu Yu City for three more days.
These three days’ time would allow Yan Yu Si to heal her injuries, while also allowing the rest of the disciples to tour the city.
Luo Xiao Tian and Ling Xin Ya were planning on spending these three days at the City Sect’s headquarters to plan and plot their future moves.
The Wu Ji Sect and the Rising Sun Sect had been growing in power over the past few years, and had invited several other Sects including the Ba Gua Sect to join their cause; in fact the Ba Gua Sect had grown so ambitious that they were even plotting to replace the Quinyang Sect in the top five’s list.
Therefore, the City Sect had invited the Quinyang Sect and the Tian Shui Sect’s leaders to discuss official business.
Certain of their safety, Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng, w.a.n.g Zhong and Ji Ying Lan decided to team up with Blue Dragon for a tour around the Jiu Yu City.
The five men left their hotel early next morning.
Given their performances in the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon contest, the six of them were sure that no one would dare to confront them openly in the city.
They stepped out of their hotel, and found Blue Dragon waiting for them outside.
They greeted Blue Dragon and then set out.
“Brother Bi Fan, what do you intend on doing afterwards?” Blue Dragon asked.
Bi Fan thought and replied: “First we’ll head back to the Quinyang Mountains so Brother w.a.n.g Zhong can officially join the Sect, and then I plan on going out for another adventure. Although, I don’t have a particular place in mind.”
“Well, I’ll also join you.” Blue Dragon was obviously quite excited at the thought of another adventure.
Blue Dragon obviously had never receive a decent treatment from his family…. therefore he had no intention of spending any time with them; especially when he could spend that time venturing out in risky areas with his friends instead.
“Since we’ll be six in number this time, we’ll be a lot better off.” Jing Feng smiled.
Mo Nan was as excited as anyone else: “We should go out of the Jiu Yu City’s reach and experience something different. The world in vast and boundless, so let’s go and see some of it!”
“I have an idea; but I don’t know if you guys would be willing to go there……” w.a.n.g Zhong spoke up.
“Where?” Bi Fan promptly asked.
w.a.n.g Zhong didn’t hail from the Jiu Yu City, so it was quite possible that he would have a good and diverse option in his mind.
“There’s a place adjacent to the Jiu Yu City; The Tong Cheng region.” w.a.n.g Zhong answered.
“Tong Cheng region…. That’s the first I’ve heard of it…. is it worth going to?” Jing Feng asked.
w.a.n.g Zhong replied with a smile: “I pa.s.sed through the region when I came here, and I heard that there might be some precious treasure in that region. In fact, I even heard that a lot of powerful martial artists are searching for it…. so the information isn’t very likely to be false either; we should definitely go and see for ourselves.”
“Precious treasure!”
Just these two words were enough to increase everyone’s heartrate.
The world has many precious treasures in it, and even some ancient ones. If one is able to procure even a couple of these ancient treasures, then one’s fortunes can change practically overnight.
However, several people can be expected to be competing for such treasures, and since Bi Fan’s party wasn’t exactly the strongest one around, circ.u.mstances could become very dangerous…..
Bi Fan thought for a second, and then said: “Let’s not go treasure hunting from the start, but we should definitely go and see the situation there…. We’ll learn a lot even if we just get to see some powerful people in action.”
“I’d still prefer the treasure, but I don’t know much about it.” Ji Ying Lan stated.
“I’d really regret if I don’t try out for a treasure…. So at least let’s go and check it out.” Mo Nan also agreed.
Jing Feng and Blue Dragon weren’t going to object since they both loved a good and dangerous expedition.
“Well, then we’ll all go together. As long as we stay out of the limelight, we shouldn’t really run into much trouble.” w.a.n.g Zhong seemed very excited.
If he felt that they weren’t strong enough to compete, w.a.n.g Zhong would have never suggested it in the first place. And given his personality, he was always likely to seek out Bi Fan before venturing out in search of a treasure.
Finding a treasure was never an easy task, but if fortunate enough, one could receive some much unexpected benefits.
w.a.n.g Zhong hadn’t been a.s.sociated with any Sect in the past; therefore he was habitual of seeking out such treasures.
Since the six men were thinking the same thing, the venture was finalized harmoniously.
They ate their breakfast, and set out to shop for the necessary items.
Dan pellets were an essential; and it would obviously be very sensible to find some good defense equipment since it would help in increasing the chances of survival.
With this thought in their minds, the six of them entered the Tao Bao Complex.
The Tao Bao complex had a reputation of having everything in its inventory; even spirit weapons…
w.a.n.g Zhong was particularly excited since it was his first time inside this Tao Bao complex.
“The Heavenly Dragon Business group is indeed very influential! They’ve even managed to open a Tao Bao complex inside the Jiu Yu City.” w.a.n.g Zhong seemed pleasantly surprised.
w.a.n.g Zhong had visited several cities in the past, and almost each one of them had their own Tao Bao complex.
However, since w.a.n.g Zhong never really had the money to any buy items there, he would normally just roam around the complex rather than purchasing anything.
“Everyone must buy the necessary items, and if you need any money… just find me and we can settle our accounts later.” Bi Fan offered.
w.a.n.g Zhong and Blue Dragon were well aware that Bi Fan had earned a lot of money during their time in the Devil’s Abyss, and were unlikely to hesitate from asking for a loan.
In fact, they too had made a lot of money for themselves, and hence it was unlikely that they would need his support.
Of course, these men were unlikely to go around purchasing any defense equipment or weapons since they already owned better ones than the items which were available on the first floor of the complex.
They decided to prepare according to their own needs, and set out in different directions to do the same.
This obviously wasn’t the first expedition for any of them, so they obviously knew what they needed.
Bi Fan’s first thought was to buy some needles since he’d need them to use the ‘Soul Illusion Injection’, which could come in handy later on.
Initially Bi Fan had no intention of practicing this method, but his study revealed that this method could delude the target, which would effectively increase ‘The Immortal Finger’s’ effect.
‘The Immortal Finger’ was quite difficult to guard against as it is, but when coupled with a law which could send target’s mind into fantasy, the effect and accuracy of ‘The Immortal Finger’ would stand to redouble.
Bi Fan intended on buying an extra set of needles since he would first have to experiment the skill for a clearer understanding.
Therefore, Bi Fan made his way towards the ‘Concealed Weapons’ section, and was left sh.e.l.l-shocked.
A myriad of weapons were on display at the counters….. death nails, rotary blades, blood needles, peer needles, tiger hair needles, bee tail needles, throwing knifes……
Bi Fan had never even seen so many types of concealed weapons before.
Concealed weaponry wasn’t a very commonly practiced form of martial arts in this world, which is why Bi Fan had never actually seen anyone demonstrating it. Hence, Bi Fan was under the impression that it might be quite difficult to procure the necessary items.
He had never really expected that the Tao Bao complex would contain such a wide variety of concealed weaponry.
Since he obviously didn’t know much about this form of martial arts, he didn’t rush to the shelves.
Instead, he first made his way towards the steward in order to make enquiries about the suitable type of needles for his practice.
“There are a total of eighteen types of needles…. All of them are available here with us. Which one does this young man need?”
He would naturally need to test each one out before he’d be able to tell their pros and cons.
“Give me two boxes of each type.” Bi Fan stated.
“Two boxes of all the eighteen types?” the steward was somewhat taken aback.
“Yes. Don’t worry about the money.” Bi Fan rea.s.sured.
The man went about arranging Bi Fan’s order without another word.
Owing to his previous traumatic experiences with injuries, Bi Fan had learnt that Dan pellets were extremely important. The Tao Bao complex had a special zone for the sale of Dan pellets, but Bi Fan wasn’t expecting to b.u.mp into Jing Feng there. Soon the others also joined in, and the six youngsters found themselves standing in the same place once again.
w.a.n.g Zhong advised: “We must buy good quality healing Dan, detoxification Dan, and purifiers to be ready for anything.”
The Tao Bao complex’s reputation was for a reason; the complex had a wider range of selection available for sale than any other place in the region. They had every variation of every healing Dan, detoxification Dan and purifier pellet.
[Purifiers are a preventive measure against poisonous atmosphere; Bi Fan had bought Sunset Jade purifier before entering the Devil’s territory.]
They all bought a few pellets of Yellow Springs Purifier pellets, amongst other types of Dan; owing to Bi Fan’s deep pockets, the price of these pellets didn’t hinder them from buying only the best ones.
They spent almost half a day buying the necessary items, and then the other half window-shopping, post which the returned to their hotel to get some much needed rest.