by Tinalynge
Ignoring the many guests who were staring at Hui Yue, the white-haired young man moved towards the counter where the barkeep was standing, intently staring at the four arrivals.
This cave was many times bigger than Cave’s End. It certainly contained more than one city, however all mercenaries were within this one. Mercenaries were people who sold anything for money, whether it be their materials they gathered from the tunnels, themselves to do dirty tasks or join armies, and even information.
Information was something everyone needed even the mercenaries themselves, however, none of them had ever heard nor seen this group of people before, making them all feel alert especially due to their complete lack of a cultivation base. Even the barkeep who usually was fairly rowdy turned mellow by the time Hui Yue had reached his counter.
“Two rooms with two beds in each,” Hui Yue said as he reached the counter not allowing for room to be dismissed and the barkeep quickly nodded his head. There was no hostility within the voice he had heard, just an aloof arrogance which belonged to nobles.
“Will young master be paying with demon cores or with demon coins?” The barkeep asked gently and Hui Yue furrowed his brows as he heard the two terms. Although the name was different, Hui Yue instantly recognized demon cores as beast cores. What demon coins were was something he did not know.
“We will be paying with demon cores,” Hui Yue said without hesitation and handed over one hundred beast cores.
Each room was ten beast cores a day and they needed a few days to gather information once more. They also needed a way to earn demon coins, as although Hui Yue had plenty of beast cores he wished to use them for his inscription and the attacks with Metal, however, now he was seeing his stockpile constantly being lowered.
Receiving two key stones, Hui Yue tossed one to Wang Ju Long before he gestured with his head for the others to follow. As if they had never noticed the silence within the bar itself, they all moved upstairs, looking for their rooms.
While Hui Yue and his friends were walking away silence rung throughout the entire bar and as soon as the shadows had vanished, murmurs started to be heard within the bar as many mercenaries began to ask around. Had anyone heard of this new mercenary group in town? Why would they hide their appearance so thoroughly? How had they managed to completely hide their cultivation base?
Many questions were asked, yet no one seemed to have the answers. Eventually the question was very simple, who were they? The fact that they paid with demon cores meant that they had come from the tunnels, in spite of that, no one had seen them before. Could they truly be from the trash place known as Cave’s End?
Along with the questions came the realization that these four people were not normal cultivators and the fact that they had chosen to pay with demon cores was quickly spread around. Those four cultivators had to be incredibly rich, however, as long as their cultivation base was hidden, no one dared provoke them.
Although tempting, many of the mercenaries within the city were used to living a dangerous life and their senses kept telling them to stay away from this mysterious group who had just arrived.
Rumors were spread through the entire city within a mere hour of Hui Yue and his friend’s arrival and the rumors also quickly died out as soon as everyone knew about them.
While Hui Yue and Deng Wu were seated within their room, cultivating, Wang Ju Long and Sha Yun were doing the same in their own room, resting and improving their cultivation as the city turned back to normal, the streets once again bustling with loud noises.
Seated within the inn, Hui Yue had no idea how his arrival had stirred a turmoil within the city, causing all the mercenaries to have various theories as to who the four friends were.
Some guessed that the newcomers were in truth some strong young masters who were on a trip to try hunting in the tunnels for the first time. Others guessed that Hui Yue and the entourage were originally from Cave’s End, and that the trash cave finally managed to produce some cultivators with a decent cultivation base. Yet others thought that they were spies sent out by the Dragon Corps.
No matter who they were and what they did, it had become the source of much consideration and even though they did not speak about it, every mercenary within the city kept contemplating their own personal theories.
Chapter 26 – Mercenary Guild
“Sleep well?” Hui Yue asked as he looked at his three friends in front of him. During their trip through the tunnels none of them managed to catch any sleep, they instead used the time to cultivate. Upon arriving at their room, especially because they were in the safety of an inn with key stones, Hui Yue ordered each of them to sleep half of the night and then cultivate for the rest. This way they could catch up on some much need sleep.
Although cultivation was something which allowed for them to relax and restore the energy of their bodies, it was not the same as getting a good night’s sleep where their minds were allowed to completely relax and become refreshed in the morning.
The four all nodded simultaneously as they accepted the congee Hui Yue brought from the restaurant downstairs.
While eating, everyone was seated in silence. Although they were stuck within the earth, living in caves far beneath the surface, oddly enough the sun still shone through the window and the bustling streets could be heard outside the inn.
Sitting together in this way reminded all of them of the previous years at the Royal Academy and nostalgia swept over the party before smiles appeared on the various faces, happy memories surfacing in their minds.
“We will make it through this so called Dungeon of the Divine,” Hui Yue said with a smile on his face. “After we get out of these dungeons we will be much stronger. I’m sure that the Rong twins will be as strong as us. Remember how they got accepted into the inner branch of the Royal Academy. We cannot slack off the slightest bit or we will be left behind.”
Hui Yue’s eyes were shining with excitement as he said this, seeing his excitement a sliver of obsession was obvious to everyone, showing that his interest in cultivation bordered towards madness.
“We need more information about this cave,” Hui Yue said as he ate a spoonful of congee, happy to eat something other than dried meat. “We also need to get some of those demon coins,” He continued, as the loss of beast cores caused him to feel great sadness.
The friends knowing Hui Yue’s personality all nodded in agreement. Information and money were the things they needed to survive within this new world, and fortunately they ended up in a town where both were overflowing.
Wearing the black cloaks, the four friends walked down the staircase, having left Little Poppy behind to guard the room and some of their belongings.
As soon as the four appeared at the stairs, all talk within the bar stilled and everyone turned towards the four cloaked people, eager to get a hint of their origin or power.
Hui Yue expected that their appearance would attract attention; however, he had never expected it to be this obvious.
Hui Yue contemplated for a moment before he left the stairs and headed for the door. Finding someone who was interested in selling information in a city like this would be like looking for a tree in the middle of a forest, but to find that person and speak with him without allowing others to overhear their conversation, that would be hard indeed.
Leaving the inn, the white-haired youth also considered whether or not he should enter an alleyway and allow them all to enter the street without their cloaks, but thinking it through, Hui Yue quickly dismissed the idea.
If he were to enter an alleyway wearing the cloak and leave the alleyway without the cloak it would be obvious who they were. Hui Yue did not think that he had to hide himself away, nor did he feel like there was anyone present within the city who were capable of defeating him, however, there was still a nagging feeling left behind.
If water mages were capable of finding their trail, then it would be best if no one knew what they looked like. Coming to that conclusion, Hui Yue moved t
owards a big building called the ‘Mercenary Guild.’
A small tinge of pain appeared in Hui Yue’s heart, as he knew that this trip would cause him to lose even more of his beloved beast cores, but right now information was currently the most important. Beast cores were something he could always gain later on by fighting.
The Mercenary Guild was a massive building in the middle of the town. Looking around, Hui Yue saw no signs of a City Lord and he guessed that the mercenary guild was the owner of the city.
Not wanting to waste any time outside, Hui Yue made his way towards the entrance followed closely by his friends. As soon as he reached the entrance, ten guards appeared out of nowhere blocking the doorway with their weapons and a menacing aura coming from their bodies, their spiritual energy gushing out.
Their spiritual energy was still of lower quality than that of Hui Yue’s, their cultivation base was also a few stars below him as well. This caused the oppressing spiritual energy from the guards to dissipate as soon as it came into contact with Hui Yue’s cloak. The entire oppressing force being nullified by the cloak clad on his body.
Seeing how their oppressive aura was dismissed easily without the cloaked person even revealing a hint of his own cultivation base fear emerged within the hearts of the guards. Gritting their teeth they were about to launch an attack at Hui Yue as they thought his actions meant that he would force his way through.
“Halt!” A harsh voice sounded from within the Merchant’s Guild, and a beautiful woman strode out from the shadows. Looking at the woman, Hui Yue narrowed his eyes. She was definitely not just a middle dantian Master, she was at least a King ranked expert. Although Hui Yue could hold his own against a Duke ranked cultivator, it was different when it came to the upper dantian. The difference in strength was not something which he could oppose just yet.
“Mister Black, please follow me.” She said as she gestured for the guards to allow passage for Hui Yue and his friends. Looking at the woman, Hui Yue did not feel any hostility only genuine curiosity and for now he followed without asking any questions.
The woman they followed did not lead them towards the main hall where most mercenaries were headed, instead she led them past multiple courtyards which belonged to the mercenaries who stayed within the guild.
Having moved past the courtyards, Hui Yue and the others were led to a large mansion where the woman went inside, bringing her guests.
Inside the mansion she kept walking with the same steady steps as she had the entire time. She did not stop until she stood in front of a door carved from heavywood, elaborate images of the Azure Dragon could be seen upon it.
Standing still, she knocked on the door a few times before she entered the room, gesturing for Hui Yue and his friends to wait outside.
From inside a shriek sounded out followed by billowing laughter. After a few minutes of waiting, the heavywood door was pushed open and an almost naked woman ran out from within the room. At first her head had been crimson with embarrassment, but when she almost ran directly into Hui Yue her face paled as she backed away and escaped into a room located down the hallway.
“Enter!” A laughing voice called out, and Hui Yue, who was standing slightly shocked, was roused back to reality. He quickly knocked Deng Wu on the head before he went into the room, followed by his friends.
The feeling of entering this office was similar to the one Hui Yue felt the times he had entered the office belonging to Rong Liang. Whomever owned this office was not to be trifled with.
“Welcome, welcome!” The voice from before belonged to a young man who seemed to be around twenty-five years of age, however the knowledge within his eyes far exceeded that age. Hui Yue could not help but be alert when he saw the man.
He was half naked only wearing pants and his muscles were something Hui Yue envied. The man looked like the same sort of person as Deng Wu, and although he seemed very dangerous he also seemed friendly towards them showing a smile which reached his eyes, making him seem more mischievous than troublesome.
“Please take a seat,” He continued, spreading his arms and pointing to the chairs which were placed randomly within the office.
Looking at the man, Hui Yue took a gamble and removed the black cloak he had been wearing, revealing his features and cultivation base to the man and woman in front of him.
Both gaped openly as soon as his white hair was revealed along with his blue eyes, as the majority of the citizens within the caves were black haired and brown eyed unless they were mixed with magical beasts.
The cultivators which were half human and half magical beasts would always fetch a high price at the markets for servants, but looking at this specific person it was easy to see that he was not half beast. Why he had white hair and blue eyes was even more mysterious due to that fact.
“That was quite the surprise,” The man suddenly laughed as Hui Yue revealed himself. However what shocked the man the most was not his abnormal looks, in fact what surprised him the most was that the man in front of him was only a Master ranked expert, but the aura around him far surpassed his level, causing the man to not dare taking him lightly.
As they saw Hui Yue drop his disguise, Deng Wu, Wang Ju Long, and Sha Yun followed suit and removed their cloaks, allowing for their appearances to be shown.
At first Hui Yue had expected that Sha Yun would cause a ruckus, but it seemed that mixed breeds were not so unnatural under the surface as they were up in the world above, causing the manager to only let a praising whistle escape his lips as he looked at the seductive snake woman.
“I am sure we are both interested in working together,” The man said with a smile on his face. “My name is Xu Piao. I am the leader of the Mercenary Guild within this city and my family owns the entire Mercenary Guild which appears within this Demon Dwelling Cave.”
Hui Yue made a mental note about the name, Demon Dwelling Cave before he waited for more free information. It was obvious that this man was one who thought highly of equal exchange of knowledge and before he found out how little knowledge Hui Yue actually had, the white-haired boy did everything he could to get free information.
“Where are you from?” Although Hui Yue had shown no signs at all, this man had still caught on to the fact that they had very little knowledge, but he shook his head wondering where they could be from to not know the name Demon Dwelling Cave.
“Information like that is going to be very expensive,” Hui Yue said seriously, his eyes showing no signs of joking and Xu Piao nodded solemnly.
“I will answer three of your questions for that one answer,” Xu Piao said seriously, his eyes not ready to haggle. Seeing this, Hui Yue looked at his friends behind him and nodded his head as he looked at the woman next to Xu Piao.
Narrowing his eyes slightly he noticed how the man nodded his head and the woman slowly left the room, quietly closing the heavywood door behind her, leaving only the five people inside the office.
“I hope that this is worth it,” Xu Piao said with a sigh, however his sudden worry was quickly answered by a small smile on Hui Yue’s lips.
“We come from the world above.” He said seriously, causing the man behind the desk to almost fall from his chair. His eyes widened and his heart started beating erratically.
“Above? There is a world above?!”
Chapter 27 – The World Above
”Above? There is a world above?!” Xu Piao exclaimed with sheer disbelief shining from his eyes, his breathing turned ragged and his entire body stiffened.
On one side, the young man wished for nothing more than a different world, but in spite of that, deep inside himself was a voice of reason which told him that if there truly was a world above then he would have known about it. Everyone would have known about it.
“Above,” Hui Yue stated calmly. “Can you not see the stone ceiling on your caves? Above those ceilings is ground filled with lush grass, tall mountains, vast oceans, and endless skies. That is the world where we came from.”
; “How did you get here?” Xu Piao was no longer calm and collected. He was seated at the very edge of his chair, looking at Hui Yue with great excitement in his eyes. Even if it was a lie, he was keen to hear about this world beyond his own. He had always dreamt of moving freely, and felt as though the caves were holding him down, still he had never expected that someone would tell him about a world above his own.
Hui Yue looked at Xu Piao for a short while before he withdrew a memory stone from within his storage stones. This particular memory stone was one he had bought long ago back in Riluo City and it contained a detailed path towards the capital from Riluo City. It was a map. A map which showed the way rather than having it written down on paper.
Accepting the memory stone, Xu Piao was still skeptical. He placed it upon his forehead and quickly a silvery blue light flashed, showing to all that it was showing the recordings to the young man.
