Against the Gods (Web Novel)
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chapter-403
Upon entering the seventh floor of the Black Moon Merchant Guild, before he had even seen it clearly, a current of extremely refreshing air assaulted his senses… Right! It was actually clean, refreshing air! For an enormous merchant guild, the strongest aroma it ought to have would be a simple and dignified odor, but Yun Che actually felt as if he had suddenly been placed within a completely clean and pure natural environment, without the least bit of feeling like he was within a merchant guild.
He opened his eyes and looked toward the front. Astonishingly, a garden as far as he could see appeared before his eyes. Various kinds of brightly colored rare and unusual botany sprinkled within the emerald green as a great tree towered above. The running stream criss-crossed inbetween, bringing along the unceasing murmurs of running water.
A dazzled thought instantly emerged within Yun Che’s consciousness… was this something built inside Black Moon’s seventh floor?
This was obviously an otherworldly utopia from the fairy realm!
Up ahead, three beautiful and graceful young maidens who wore different colored garments walked toward Yun Che. None of their looks were not one in ten thousand, and their bearing was even more luxuriously poised. Their profound strength aura was strong to at most the Sky Profound!The three young women came to Yun Che’s front and saluted gracefully: “Esteemed customer, welcome to Black Moon Merchant Guild. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to tell us.”
The treatment within Black Moon’s seventh floor was sure enough, extraordinary. With these three young women’s shocking strength, any one of them would be a regional lord within the Blue Wind Nation, yet here, they were unexpectedly mere maids that waited upon customers.
Yun Che quickly swept a glance around, yet did not see any place that was selling an item, even the smallest trace of what a merchant guild ought to have was indiscernible. He thought for a moment, then said: “Three fairies, may I ask where the senior I was talking to earlier is currently?"
“Haha.” A gentle chuckle came from an unknown place: “Bring him here.”
“Yes… Esteemed customer, please come this way.” The three young women agreed crisply. With one at the front, left, and right, they respectfully led Yun Che forward.
After passing through the garden, through the flowerbeds, through a little group of hills and a little waterfall, a simple yet extraordinarily styled courtyard appeared in his line of sight. In the center of the courtyard was a pavilion, and in front of the pavilion stood a medium statured old man dressed entirely in purple who was currently sizing up Yun Che with a smile.
Yun Che took a step forward and said politely: “Junior Ling Yun greets senior.”Yun Che obviously would not his real name, so he casually borrowed Ling Yun’s.
“Heh heh, please sit.” The purple clothed elder beckoned with a hand, then went on ahead to sit on the stone bench in the middle of the pavilion. Yun Che nodded slightly and sat opposite of the elderly man. One of the young women left gracefully, and the other two broke off to either side of him with their heads slightly lowered and a light smile on their lips. Their posture was solemnly respectful, as if they were at Yun Che’s disposal.
“May I ask what senior is called?” Yun Che asked.
“This old man is surnamed Zi, and simply named Ji.” The old man answered with a smile.
Zi? Yun Che was somewhat taken aback, this was the first time he had ever heard of this family name, but he nodded immediately: “Senior Zi, thank you so much for speaking out and helping me earlier.”
“The matter from before did not require this old man to say anything, as for helping you, it even more so cannot be considered as help. This old man merely prevented a small inconvenience for Black Moon, and nothing more.” Zi Ji raised his gaze, looked Yun Che straight in the eye, and said with a smile: “Young man, should this old man call you Yun Che, or Prince Consort Yun, or the name Ling Yun, that you wished to be called?”
“...” Yun Che’s expression stiffened slightly. Then, he laughed out loud and answered without the slightest of fluster: “As expected of the Black Moon Merchant Guild, your intelligence gathering ability is indeed unrivaled under heaven. Junior Yun Che trying to play tricks beneath Senior Zi’s all-seeing eye is truly laughable, I hope that Senior Zi will not take offense.”
“Haha,” Zi Ji laughed indifferently: “Black Moon’s intelligence gathering ability isn’t that exaggerated. It’s merely that your identity just so happens to be easy to recognize, that’s all. This old man has been in touch with members of the Divine Phoenix Sect all year round, and is extremely familiar with the phoenix flame ability. Even though you did your best to suppress it, this old man still could detect a bit of phoenix aura from your body. And the only person who possess the Phoenix bloodline outside of Divine Phoenix Sect is only Prince Consort Yun of Blue Wind Nation.”
The young woman who had left, returned, carrying already brewed tea. The tea’s fragrance permeated everywhere, making Yun Che’s state of mind relax as he smelled it. Even though he didn’t really understand much about tea, he knew that the value of this tea should be extremely high. He raised the tea cup, drank a small mouthful, and praised: “Good tea. After hearing senior’s words, it seems that this junior thinking about hiding his identity would be an impossibility.”
“You have concealed it with ice profound energy, unless they meticulously probed you, I’m afraid that even a Divine Phoenix Sect elder would not sense your phoenix flame ability.” Zi Ji smiled: “You had lit up the violet crystal on my Black Moon’s profound array, so it could even be said that your innate talent is universally shocking. Before, this old man had placed all his attention on you, otherwise, I would not detect your phoenix flame ability. However, to this old man, it doesn’t seem as though you are painstakingly hiding your own identity, or else you would not have paid any attention to that Divine Phoenix Sect junior, then also unrestrainedly revealed your innate talent on that crystal stage.”
“As expected of the master of Black Moon Merchant Guild’s seventh floor, your insight is perceptive.” Yun Che sincerely praised. On Black Moon’s seventh floor, the people that this Zi Ji made contact with were all kinds of peak level figures in the Profound Sky Continent. His ability to perceive and appraise someone was absolutely not one that an ordinary person could reach. He said lightly: “This junior had previously been hunted by others all year round, and is long weary of avoiding and hiding all over the place. After half a month, junior will be up against the Divine Phoenix Sect. Since that’s the case, there isn’t really a need for me to be trembling in fear and be overcautious within this half a month. Not being noticed by Divine Phoenix Sect is of course the best scenario, but even if I were to be noticed, it wouldn’t really matter anyway. If I was cautious about everything, wouldn’t it mean that I was afraid of the Divine Phoenix Sect?”
Yun Che drained the tea in the cup in one gulp. When talking about the Divine Phoenix Sect, there was not the least bit of fear in his expression.
This kind of courage made Zi Ji secretly praise him in his heart. He nodded, revealing his approval: “The reason why Divine Phoenix Sect did not really care enough to actively seek you out two years ago when you revealed your Phoenix bloodline and existence, is because in Divine Phoenix Sect’s eyes, every profound practitioner from the six nations outside of Divine Phoenix Empire are ants unfit for them to look at. However, after talking with you for a bit, this old man suddenly feels as if Divine Phoenix Sect may perhaps have to pay dearly due to them holding you in contempt… but that cannot be now. Even though you are not the least afraid, it does not mean that you are capable of opposing the Divine Phoenix Sect’s power. Your talent could be said to be extremely high, but it has not matured. You might be far stronger than what the Divine Phoenix Sect expected by many times, but it would still not be the least bit threatening.”
“Junior is well aware of this point.” Yun Che nodded, then proceeded to talk about the main reason why he had come here today: “The reason why this junior had come to the Black Moon Merchant Guild today is because this junior wishes to buy two things, and two intelligence, but…”
Yun Che’s gaze swept the surroundings… because this place truly did not seem like a place that sold things.
Understanding what Yun Che was puzzling over, Zi Ji laughed: “Don't hesitate to just open your mouth and tell this old man whatever you need. The seventh floor is different from the first six floors. There is no difference between the first six floors and the Black Moon Merchant Guild you know of, while this place rarely has customers. Esteemed customers that come here are all personally received by this old man. Whatever an esteemed customer wants, as long as they say the word, no matter if Black Moon has it or not, as long as our esteemed customer asks for it and can afford to pay the price, Black Moon will do its utmost to fully satisfy it. If you want the little things, someone would still accompany our esteemed customer to the sixth floor.”
So it’s like that… Yun Che no longer hesitated as he said directly: “Of the two things this junior needs, one is a Heavenly Brahma Jade, the purer the better. The other is a completely preserved Phoenix Helianthus.”
Zi Ji closed his eyes, then opened them a few breaths later. He reached out his hand to lightly stroked the purple jade ring on his finger, took out a jade box that was releasing cold air, and showed it to Yun Che: “This is the biggest, and also the purest piece of all the Heavenly Brahma Jade that Black Moon possesses.”
A young woman walked forward and gently placed the ice jade case before Yun Che: “Esteemed customer, please have a look.”
Yun Che no longer hesitated, and directly opened the ice jade case. From within the cold pervading mist, Yun Che saw a light piece of stone shimmering with silvery light, which contained veins that look bloodshot. Yun Che extended his left hand; after an instant of feeling about, he sensed its purity with the Sky Poison Pearl’s perception… Things from Black Moon Headquarters would naturally not be fake. Yun Che immediately closed the ice jade case, and said: “Alright, may I ask senior to state a price?”
“Heavenly Brahma Jade is six hundred purple profound coins per fifty grams. This Heavenly Brahma Jade weighs six hundred fifty grams, and needs seven thousand eight hundred purple profound coins.” Zi Ji nonchalantly quoted a price.
The hell, so expensive! The corner of Yun Che’s mouth twitched, but he had a huge sum of ten million purple profound coins on him, so he certainly could afford it. Immediately after, he took out seven thousand eight hundred purple profound coins from his Purple Gold Card. Then, he put the Heavenly Brahma Jade inside the Sky Poison Pearl.
“As for the Phoenix Helianthus, the last thirteen Phoenix Helianthus Black Moon possessed had just been all bought by Divine Phoenix Sect six hours ago." Zi Ji said: “If you urgently need them, outside of Black Moon, there is actually another place where you could buy it.”
“Where?”
Zi Ji said slowly: “One hundred fifty kilometers south of here is a merchant guild called the ‘Falling Flame Merchant Guild’. Tomorrow, at three in the afternoon, they ought to be auctioning out precious materials, among them is precisely the Phoenix Helianthus.”
Yun Che nodded “Junior has taken note of this, I thank senior for telling me this… Er, do I have to pay for this information?”
“Hoho, no need.” Zi Ji laughed faintly, then reminded: “However, even though the Falling Flame Merchant Guild is called a ‘merchant guild’, it is actually a black market. The things it sells are also unofficial public sales, once you get there, you’ll understand. But this old man believes that with your wisdom, you probably would not suffer a loss. Now, what are the two pieces of intelligence you wanted?”
“This junior hopes that Black Moon will help me look for the whereabouts of two individuals.” Yun Che stated grimly: “Of the two, one is named Chu Yuechan, formerly a disciple of Blue Wind Nation’s Frozen Cloud Asgard, head of the Frozen Cloud Seven Fairies. The other is Xia Yuanba…”
Yun Che described the two to Zi Ji in as much detail as he could. Zi Ji slightly closed his eyes, remembered everything, then said while nodding: “This old man will personally dispatch people for intelligence on these two people. Only, Black Moon’s relay network in Blue Wind Nation is thinly spread out, so it would be hard to guarantee swift news within the short term. Leave behind your sound transmission imprint. After possessing solid information, this old man will immediately contact you. Since you are an esteemed customer, there is no need for you to pay for the intelligence in advance. At the date of confirmation, we can settle the bill. Among the two, even though this old man does not know the whereabouts of Xia Yuanba, this old man does know a few matters concerning him, and can tell you a thing or two.”
Stunned, Yun Che immediately stood up: “You know Yuanba?”
“Not only do I know him, many people within Divine Phoenix City know of this name as well.” Zi Ji said slowly: “Back then, his name had actually resounded within half of Divine Phoenix City for a short period of time, he was a crazy madman. But shortly after, he suddenly disappeared without a trace. Not long after his disappearance, his father had also come rushing over to Divine Phoenix City, and actually stayed within this Black Moon Headquarters… Heh heh, if this old man has not remembered wrong, Xia Yuanba’s father, Xia Hongyi, should also be one of your father-in-laws, right?”
