"That’s the rule. If you can’t pay it, then you’re free to leave the kingdom," the guard snorted and was about to take the slip back when Yi Chen finally agreed.
"N-No, I’ll pay..." Yi Chen stated while taking out a dium Grade Spirit Stone from his storage ring.
"Hmph, should have done that in the first place." The guard stated in an irritated tone while passing the slip to Yi Chen.
Taking the slip, Yi Chen finally made his way inside the city gates, his mood imdiately soured.
’That bloody guard, if not for the urgency of my situation, does he think I would even give two shits about entering this ssed-up Kingdom?’
Yi Chen snorted in irritation. The pity that Old Ding had managed to build up within him had all dissipated thanks to his interaction with that guard.
Making his way inside, he was currently walking on a stony pathway filled with carts and people walking on the sides.
"The nuts I brought today are of pretty high quality...Can’t you pay more today? I’ve started to require more tablets than usual..." An old man standing in front of a long queue could be seen pleading with an Eighth Elentary Transformation Stage cultivator dressed in black and white robes.
"Sir, the prices had always remained fixed, so I cannot do that. I cannot pay you more than four tablets; otherwise, others won’t have enough..." The cultivator made a difficult expression while handing him a small bottle containing four tablets.
"...Thank you." The old man accepted the bottle with a forced smile and left the line.
Cough! Cough!
The other old n in the line could only look at his slumped back with a hint of pity in their eyes.
Glancing towards the retreating old man’s figure, Yi Chen suddenly opened his status panel out of curiosity.
===== STATUS =======
Na: Fang Jing
Age: 48
Cultivation: Mortal
Remark: Doesn’t have much ti left to live [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]
=====================
"Oh..."
He suddenly began to understand why the eyes of the other n carried pity. At the sa ti, he also realised sothing.
’So, they use these yellow tablets as a form of currency, huh?’ Yi Chen thought to himself while making his way inside.
On both sides of the road, he saw several similar stores with the na ’Violet Collection Units’ written on them.
They were soon replaced with Violet Processing Units, which were factory-sized buildings with tall chimneys reaching high up in the air. However, despite these tall chimneys, the air around these processing units was extrely pungent.
At their entrances, he saw various young n and won moving around.
’Ah, so that’s where all the young ones work,’ he noted in his mind and, while at it, grabbed onto a young man similar in age who was making his way towards the factory, "Hey, do you know where the Red Velvet Pavilion is?"
"Ah..." Seeing Yi Chen’s appearance, which was devoid of brown discolouration, the young man couldn’t help but be taken aback for a second before answering his question with a hesitant tone, "A-Ah...Esteed Cultivator, that would be in that direction."
The young man pointed his hand towards a particular direction and explained the direction to him.
"Alright, thanks." Yi Chen nodded with a smile and soon went that way.
As he kept walking, the architecture of the buildings around him started to change. It started looking more and more exquisite, clearly telling him that he had entered the posh section of the city.
’Violet Thundering Smithy’
’Violet Trade House’
’Evening Tea Spring’
Various shops and stores were visible on both sides of the street, which had beco much narrower than earlier.
What caught Yi Chen’s attention was naturally the ntion of ’Violet’ in so many places, which easily made him co to the conclusion that the Violet Heaven House was similar to a large conglorate which ran several things under it.
"It seems they really have a very large influence in this area..." Yi Chen softly muttered under his breath as he kept walking following the path that had been explained by the man earlier.
He had expected the Red Velvet Pavilion’s branch to be in the posh area he had been to earlier, but it wasn’t.
He had to take a turn inside a narrow alley, and it was only after he had walked inside for several minutes that he ca across a series of run-down shops which probably weren’t visited by many people.
It was in this row that a two-storeyed building was situated. Unlike its surrounding buildings, it was in much better condition, but when compared to the exquisite buildings he saw outside the alley, the difference appeared evident.
’It looks completely different from the grandiose branch headquarters in the Jade City...’ Yi Chen thought while rembering the six-storeyed tall building of exemplary architecture.
Compared to that, the simply designed two-storeyed building in front of him wasn’t worth ntioning at all.
"Well...it’s not like this has anything to do with . I’ll just pay the fee, use the transportation array and return to the Jade City the next mont..."
Letting out an expectant sigh, he muttered to himself, "I can’t wait to et all of them once again..."
With a soft chuckle, he soon made his way towards the building, anticipation apparent in his steps.
Knock! Knock!
After knocking on the closed door a couple of tis, he slid it open and walked inside.
Thankfully, the interior didn’t disappoint him.
The floor, tiled with white jade, led him towards a reception counter which was currently empty.
’Hm? There’s no one at the reception?’ Yi Chen thought with furrowed brows as his eyes fell on the curtain of red beads next to the reception counter and noticed movent on the other side.
A few seconds later, a middle-aged woman with a large bun on the back of her head soon made her way out of the curtains, and her expression brightened the mont her eyes fell on Yi Chen.
"Ah! Esteed custor, I apologise for the delay. Please tell , how can this Lady Du be of help to you?"
As she said those words, she bowed towards him in a welcoming manner.
Seeing this, Yi Chen imdiately opened up her status panel.
====== STATUS =======
Na: Du Ming Li
Age: 340
Strength: 570
Cultivation: Ninth Qi Absorption Stage
Nature: Water
Remark: Branch Manager [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]
====================
’A-A branch manager...’
The mont his eyes read through that remark and saw her cultivation, his previously laid-back countenance instantly changed, making him imdiately bow back in return with a humble smile on his face.
"It’s alright, Lady Du, I didn’t wait for long..."
Seeing this reaction, Du Ming Li’s eyes subtly narrowed as she couldn’t help but grow curious about the young man standing in front of her.
"...As for what I’m looking for. I heard from soone that as long as I possess this card, I could make use of your transportation array for free."
As Yi Chen finished those words, he took out the golden card from his storage ring.
’A golden card!’ Du Ming Li’s eyes imdiately widened the mont her eyes fell on the golden card.
A person possessing the golden card not only ant that they possessed enormous wealth, but it also ant that they had an enormous power backing them.
"This...can I know Young Master’s great na?" she asked respectfully.
"You can refer to as Yi Chen. I ca from the White Jade Kingdom and need to go back to the Jade City as fast as possible. That’s the reason I arrived here." Yi Chen explained the next mont.
"So, it’s Young Master Chen," Du Ming Li nodded in understanding and the next mont gestured towards a chair that was resting next to the wall and said with a smile, "Why doesn’t Young Master Chen have a seat first? I’ll bring so refreshnts for you right away."
"While I appreciate it, that won’t be necessary. It’s been a while since I’ve been out, so I would like to return as soon as possible, so I ask for Lady Du’s understanding." Yi Chen replied with a pursed smile.
He didn’t want to offend her, but at the sa ti he was brimming with anticipation to return ho as soon as possible.
"So that’s the case." Du Ming Li smiled brightly at those words and said, "Then please follow . I’ll take you towards the transportation array."
"Yes." Yi Chen nodded and followed her through the curtain beads, thereby entering a flight of stairs leading downwards.
Orange light orbs illuminated the place, making it quite bright.
A few monts later, Yi Chen arrived in the basent and found a tennis-court-sized room, and in its centre, a hollow tallic gateway stood.
On it were myriads of tiny inscriptions leaving not even a single space empty.
"I apologise for the dust, Young Master Chen; we don’t have many sales in this city, so it’s been a while since I’ve used the array to restock our goods," Du Ming Li explained in an embarrassed tone.
"Haha, that’s totally alright." Yi Chen softly chuckled at those words.
Seeing this, Du Ming Li nodded and said, "Then, I’ll initiate the array with your desired location. Once the gateway’s completely enveloped in blue light, Young Master Chen should barge straight through. Do you have any questions?"
Yi Chen shook his head, "No, I understand it clearly."
"Alright." Du Ming Li nodded and, walking next to the gateway, pressed on a particular inscription.
Soon, a transparent panel horizontal to the ground appeared in front of her, and her fingers started hovering over it in a well-practised manner.
Just a second later, Yi Chen saw a blue sphere forming at the centre of the rectangular gateway, which expanded the next mont to cover the entirety of the tallic fra.
"Let’s go then..." Yi Chen muttered under his breath and walked towards it.
Just then, Du Ming Li noticed a distortion in the blue layer which began to intensify. Her eyes almost popped out at this scene as she shouted loudly.
"NO! Young Master Chen, Stop!"
Before Yi Chen could understand what was happening, he saw her figure instantly move next to him as a dense Qi barrier engulfed the two of them that very mont.
BOOM!
Through the barrier, Yi Chen witnessed the entire basent being engulfed in devastating flas that very mont.
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