Master of Kaidan
Chapter 279: Return

Chapter 279: Chapter 279: Return

In the winter of the 322nd year of the Great Chu, the drifting snowflakes gradually covered the earth, yet the entire Chu Country was in a state of extreme excitement. The Yellow Cloaks, albeit recently established, had achieved on their first foray what the Great Chu—and, it should be said, the whole world—had failed to accomplish in over two hundred years: they had reclaimed land lost to the demon fiends of the Demon Sect.

As a result, the Great Chu Dynasty immediately ordered the expansion of the Yellow Cloaks, and the reigning Emperor even personally drafted an imperial edict to appoint the Mystical Lord as the State Preceptor.

However, when a group of officials arrived in Jining City with the imperial edict and rewards, they found out that after leaving behind seven direct disciples, the Mystical Lord had left Jining. It was said that he was further advancing in Martial Arts and was planning to retreat for seclusion.

The public didn’t quite believe this reasoning. Some conspiracy theorists even suspected that the Emperor of Great Chu felt threatened by the Mystical Lord’s immense power and might, ostensibly rewarding him in public while secretly plotting his assassination.

But such a theory was not believed by anyone. Considering the Mystical Lord’s cultivation level, even if there was someone in this world capable of killing him, it wouldn’t have happened so silently.

In the end, the various conspiracy theorists’ claims gradually faded away, leaving behind the martial arts legend of the Mystical Lord’s descent into the world during times of peril, and his retreat to a hermit life in times of peace.

However, just as everything was slowly calming down, a piece of news suddenly set the entire Jianghu ablaze—

Two Martial Arts Grandmasters had a disagreement at a certain Yue Lai Inn in Yan State, leading to combat, but were suppressed by a mere inn’s second with the strength of one person.

It was no secret that from the innkeepers to the servers, all were experts of the Martial Arts World at Yue Lai Inn. However, the fact that a server could so easily subdue two grandmasters trained in the Mystical Lord’s Secret Scriptures still drew considerable attention.

Later, someone from the Jianghu, by the rules of Yue Lai Inn, acquired information with money and found out that the server had accidentally discovered a world-class Divine Skill within the Mystical Lord Pavilion.

This news immediately stirred up a storm in the Jianghu. Although most people in the Jianghu thought it was just an excuse, the fact that several people’s powers had greatly increased after visiting Yan State solidified the claim.

Thus, the news that countless Divine Skills left by the Mystical Lord were hidden inside the Mystical Lord Pavilion spread across the entire Martial Arts World. Some tried to search by force, but the Mystical Lord’s few direct disciples were all incomparably powerful and, along with the seven Divine Weapons created by the Mystical Lord himself, there was no choice but to follow the rules of the Mystical Lord Pavilion.

...

The Martial World was still as tumultuous as ever, but this had little to do with Feng Xue, who had already returned to the Tower of Babylon. The reason he was in such a hurry to return wasn’t just because the things there were largely settled, but more importantly, the monthly challenge of the Tower of Babylon was upon him.

Recalling the tragic state of the big-breasted vampire sister, Feng Xue couldn’t risk the chance that someone might challenge him, so he returned to the Tower of Babylon through the same door he had originated from and made sure to close it behind him.

Although theoretically, the villa in the Tower of Babylon is supposed to open a door at least once a year, that’s the minimum. In other words, if luck was on your side, opening two doors was certainly possible.

And that’s precisely what Feng Xue was gambling on.

Regrettably, it was clear he didn’t have such luck—until the challenge month ended and the real world year of 2015 arrived, he had not been able to open a second door from 2014.

"I wonder how things are at Hundred Tales."

Muttering to himself, Feng Xue reached for his work badge to make a call, but then remembered that Lao Li was still running his Yue Lai Inn in the Otherworld. Shaking his head, he took a bus back to the apartment he had rented in South District, and then dialed Huo Mu’s number.

"Doot—"

"Boss, what’s up?" After a few busy tones, Huo Mu’s voice rang in Feng Xue’s ear again, his lips curving slightly upward as he spoke:

"Last year, I wasn’t in Infinite City, wanted to buy some information from you."

"Okay, just a moment, I’ll be there in five minutes!"

To Feng Xue, a patron who wasn’t short on money, Huo Mu had a deep impression. Regardless of what kind of information Feng Xue wanted this time, he immediately flew to Feng Xue’s doorstep, with a face full of eagerness, he said:

"Boss, here’s the price list. Please have a look."

Although it was called a price list, what Huo Mu handed over was a contract containing the prices, listing various "packages" to meet the intelligence needs of different spending levels, there were even support services that could directly help make contact with information dealers from other organizations.

Feng Xue glanced at the price list and, without any hesitation, paid for the most expensive one:

"This complete one will do."

"Alright! Please ask your question." Huo Mu never imagined someone would select the most expensive option right off the bat, thinking to himself that flying over here had been worth it.

Feng Xue, who had achieved freedom of cognition, had lost all concept of the value of money. This so-called most expensive option didn’t even amount to two hours of his income. Glancing at Huo Mu’s flattering expression, Feng Xue went straight to the point:

"How’s the cooperation with the real-world humans coming along? And has there been any news from Hundred Tales recently?"

"Ah, that." Huo Mu was somewhat surprised, not because he didn’t know, but because he didn’t expect this big shot would spend so much to inquire about news everyone knew.

After some consideration, Huo Mu pieced together some insider information in his mind and then, along with the regular intelligence, he said:

"Since the door was closed by Hundred Tales the year before last, there have been three more incidents of outsiders organizing trips through the door. It seems the three groups came from different forces. However, Hundred Tales doesn’t plan to compromise. They went all out every time, and so far, all three doors have been closed. It’s said that Hundred Tales paid a hefty price to close the doors, apparently losing two of their executives. But conversely, they’ve also caused quite a stir in the real world."

At this point, Huo Mu looked up at Feng Xue to confirm he had no reaction, then continued:

"It’s said that the actions of Hundred Tales have affected all the nations in the real world, and the landfill area management model has become more oppressive than before. However, there are also quite a few organizations that have started to take over these smaller landfill areas, which has forced Hundred Tales to spend more manpower to maintain control over the landfills.

"But the real world seems to be in more trouble than Infinite City. Last year, the ’No’s who went out adventuring experienced a polarized situation. Some were captured by real-world organizations and asked to learn the local language. However, due to the limited storage of ’Identity,’ only a handful who learned a little language could accurately report the remaining time and return. Most of the rest are dead.

"And those were still the lucky ones because many countries, provoked by Hundred Tales, implemented an extermination policy against the ’No’s. Of course, these reports all come from those survivors who made it back alive, so there might be some deviations."

"What about Hundred Tales?" Feng Xue wasn’t too surprised by what Huo Mu described; he was more concerned about the situation with Hundred Tales. Hearing Feng Xue ask this, Huo Mu shrank a bit, his voice getting much softer as if he was afraid of being overheard:

"Hundred Tales seems to be preparing for war."