Chapter 143 - 114: "Everything has been stored and inventoried.
Chapter 143: Chapter 114: "Everything has been stored and inventoried.
Soon—
The entire Pill Sect was looted bare.
Qi Chong stood at the entrance to the ruins, checking the clothes of each laborer one by one before handing them a Ghost Stone for their wages. The laborers, faces flush with excitement, bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
Earning a Ghost Stone for so little work.
For these laborers, this was a good gig.
But there were always a few who were daring enough to try something.
Those caught pilfering had to give back what they took and forfeit their wages, but they weren’t killed.
...
"We’re leaving."
It was getting late. Chen Fan stepped onto the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, ready for the return journey. Standing on the carriage, he looked toward Valley Master Qi, cupped his fists, and said with a smile, "Valley Master Qi, you must grace us with your presence at the Mortal Realm Jiangbei auction one month from now."
"Absolutely, absolutely."
There were no more pleasantries.
The nine Flaming Dragon Horses raised their hooves and neighed in unison before pulling the Dragon Carriage, which quickly vanished over the horizon, leaving ripples of fire spreading across the ground in its wake.
"Whew..."
Only after watching Chen Fan’s carriage disappear did Valley Master Qi let out a long sigh of relief. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but being around Chen Fan always brought an inexplicable pressure. His gaze then fell upon the chest of medicinal herbs Chen Fan had left for him, and he remarked with feeling.
"Classy."
He had come expecting to help out for free, but Chen Fan’s gesture of leaving him a chest of medicinal herbs made him feel respected. At least he wasn’t actually being treated like a free laborer.
It lifted his spirits considerably.
The respect from the leader of a power that had just annihilated the Pill Sect was especially gratifying. It made him a bit giddy and gave him a great deal of face in front of his disciples.
...
Shortly after they left Jiangnan, night fell.
The sound of thunder echoed nearby.
The familiar pitter-patter of rain sounded once more. The rainy season had arrived in Jiangnan.
The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage once again sped through the perpetual night of the Jiangbei Wilderness, sending one Ghost Object after another flying as it hurtled through the darkness toward Nameless Mountain.
...
Inside the Dragon Carriage.
Chen Fan glanced at the large pile of boxes stacked inside the carriage before looking down at the Bamboo Scroll in his hand. He had sent Qi Chong to the city next to the Pill Sect to purchase a great deal of local intelligence.
It wasn’t exactly top-secret information.
For example...
"Faction Outposts."
The range of a Sound Transmission Talisman was limited, and the distance between the closest cities in Jiangbei and Jiangnan certainly exceeded it. This made it necessary to establish outposts between the two regions.
These outposts served as waystations for one’s own caravans, offered lodging to others, and, most importantly, acted as relay stations for Sound Transmission Talismans.
If one wanted to open up a trade route,
establishing one’s own outposts was a must. After all, while your caravan could take shelter with another power after nightfall, would you also relay your Sound Transmission Talismans through their stations? In that case, wouldn’t others be privy to all your conversations? There would be no secrecy to speak of.
For this very reason,
only the major powers had the resources to establish multiple outposts and maintain constant, smooth communication. Once the caravans of smaller powers were sent out, they were completely cut off from their families, well beyond the reach of any Sound Transmission Talisman.
These kinds of outposts were different from the ones in the Jiangbei Wilderness.
The outposts in the Jiangbei Wilderness existed primarily for profit.
These cross-regional outposts, however,
had the primary purpose of maintaining smooth communications and passage for their own caravans. This ensured they could learn of major events in other regions immediately and prepare accordingly.
Some powers also sold this information.
Like the one in his hands... the Jiangnan Daily.
The headline read:
"Jiangbei Mortal Realm Raids Jiangnan, Massacres the Pill Sect."
The second story:
"The Mortal Sect Is Renamed the Mortal Realm."
The third:
"Mortal Sect Slays Ghost King During Rainy Season."
The fourth:
"Mortal Realm Publicly Executes the Young Master of the Pill Sect."
And the fifth:
"Rumor has it the Mortal Realm Lord, Chen Fan, was an outcast from a minor Jiangbei family who rose to prominence during the rainy season. Stay tuned for further developments."
He’d wanted to learn something about Jiangnan, but this copy of the Jiangnan Daily was filled with nothing but news about him. It felt like it was about to become the "Mortal Realm Daily."
"They sure get these papers out fast."
Chen Fan stretched inside the Dragon Carriage. It had been an exhausting day; although he hadn’t done much of the actual work, he still felt very tired.
But he thought the idea of a "Mortal Realm Daily" was actually quite interesting.
’I could start up a Mortal Realm Daily.’
’It could provide daily updates on developments within the Mortal Realm, which would increase our cohesiveness. Even if there are only nine people in the Mortal Realm... oh, no, ten people now.’
’But it’ll be getting more crowded soon.’
...
Soon—
In the latter half of the night.
The Nine-Five Dragon Carriage finally returned to Nameless Mountain. Shrouded in Ghost Fire, the mountain looked very safe.
"It really feels safe here."
Chen Fan hopped down from the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage and let out a sigh. He first transformed the carriage back into the Heaven and Earth Chessboard and tried to repair it with the altar. The result... ineffective.
"Fine, then."
He shook his head, saying nothing more.
He had already noticed it back at the Pill Sect: activating the turrets embedded in the Heaven and Earth Chessboard had caused cracks to appear. He had hoped the altar could repair them, but it was no use. This meant the turrets on the Heaven and Earth Chessboard could be activated two more times at most before they shattered completely. He would need to forge new ones.
’The cost per use really isn’t low,’ he thought.
"Domain Lord, you’re back!"
Wang Kui, who hadn’t dared to sleep for a full day and night, walked out from the City Wall. Sporting dark circles under his eyes, he returned the temporary Token and reported, "No one broke into the Mortal Realm Territory while you were gone."
"Good."
Chen Fan took the Token and said with a smile, "Move everything to the Warehouse."
"There’s this much?" Wang Kui stood before the Dragon Carriage, frozen in place as he stared at the goods packed inside.