The peddler could only excuse himself after pointing Yin Long's group towards the city of the Jyushi clan, Starfall city. He was a bit worried about seeming rude by leaving so suddenly, but Jin Wang's slightly bared fangs scared him enough to where those thoughts didn't matter. Yin Long rapped Jin Wang on the head so that he would stop scaring the peddler, calling out to the man who did his best to walk away quickly yet politely.
"Sorry, just one last question before you leave. Is the Heaven's Secrets Company branch the only place we can learn about the various sects and organizations in the area or is there somewhere else we can learn a bit more about them before joining them?"
They had arrived in the Starblood province that was located on the other side of the planet, their map was useless here and they had practically no information. Joining either a sect or merchant organization, maybe even a clan, was the best way for them to get their hands on information about their new surroundings.
Yin Long also wanted to join an organization because he wanted to get his hands on more sword manuals while sharpening his skills in duels with others, learning from how they used their weapons. The peddler stopped in his steps and turned his body slightly, his large backpack swinging slightly from his somewhat stilted movements. Yin Long wore a calm and casual smile, the peddler feeling himself growing calmer just from looking into Yin Long's eyes.
"If you want to learn more about just the various sects then the best course of action is to head up to their headquarters and ask for a tour, they've all been forced to relocate to Starfall city ever since the Fourth Son of the previous rulers took over the Jyushi clan. But I would highly recommend that you don't join any of them right now, the tournament to decide the participants of the Three-fold Territory Clash is coming up next year so they have all increased the intensity of their training regime. The sects are forcing all of their disciples to head out for training at least once so the Four-Kings Valley outside Starfall City has turned into a small battlefield as the disciples compete against the other sects as well as the beasts already living there."
The peddler only provided the final bit of advice since Yin Long seemed like a nice person, he was at least far humbler than the other cultivators the peddler had come in contact with in the past. But his words caused a faint light to flash through Yin Long's eyes as he cupped his hands and thanked the man for sharing the information.
The peddler let out a very stealthy breath of relief and cast one last look at Jin Wang before he hurried away. Fear towards Demonic beasts was an instinctual thing, especially in weaker men. Yin Long turned his head to look at Lan Yun, who already knew what he wanted so she just wrapped her right arm around his left arm and started heading for the other spatial arrays scattered throughout the earthen plaza.
"Yes yes, we're off to another battlefield, I know, that is where you belong after all. But I want to check out the Heaven's Secrets Company first, we'll need a map that's at least halfway decent if we want to know exactly what to keep an eye on in the territory."
Yin Long freed his arm and nodded his head at Lan Yun with a slight smile, he knew that she was making the correct choice, gathering information would more often than not be the best course of action. The group quickly found the spatial array leading to Starfall city and had the guards activate it. It was a relatively 'short' trip, from a village to the city controlling it, so the price could be considered negligible even to their already reduced funds.
The array activated and they were swiftly transported to Starfall City, arriving within a small transmission station located close to a market filled with scattered booths and blankets covered in wares. Looking at the city around them, despite already having seen the splendour of Sunsong Capital, Yin Long and Lan Yun still ended up feeling a sliver of appreciation.
The entire city was built into what seemed to be a crater, the ground sloping up as you got closer to the edge of the city. They couldn't see the centre of the city from their location but they guessed that the mansion of the Jyushi clan was probably located at the very bottom of the crater. The buildings in the city were constructed in a rather peculiar manner, they came in all shapes and sizes, but all of them had wavy or fire-like decorations. The decorations were constructed so that they were part of the building, making it so that some buildings looked like they had ceilings built using fire or walls that bulged out with small waves.
They couldn't see the centre of the city from their current location, but there was no way they could miss the building belonging to the Heaven's Secrets Company. The dark gothic spire towered above the buildings to their left, forming a stark contrast to the rest of the mostly light coloured buildings around them. They hadn't entered the Heaven's Secrets Company branch in Sunsong Capital, but they had seen that it had the same style of gothic architecture so it seemed to be their standard style.
The two asked the guards of the transmission station about the fastest way to reach the branch, the guards casting a slightly suspicious glance at Jin Wang before pointing the group towards another spatial array. They took the spatial array and arrived at a transmission station that was only a few kilometres away from the spire, walking the rest of the way while admiring the city around them.
Yin Long took this chance to go through the interspatial ring they had acquired after he killed the old man in charge of the spatial array in Sunsong Capital. He immediately disregarded the household items such as the man's clothing and the various logs he had written, honing in on the Spirit Stones and other resources within the ring.
The ring was rather bare when it came to cultivation resources, but it was flush with Spirit Stones as well as items that could be sold, such as weapons, armours, and one-time use talismans with various effects. The ring also contained a fair bit of food, water, and pills that could be used to either restore Qi or reinvigorate certain male parts. Yin Long disregarded the latter pills but Lan Yun forbade him from throwing them away, leaving him slightly worried about exactly what she might do with them if he left both the pills and his own food unguarded.
Their group quickly reached the Heaven's Secrets Company branch, a building shaped like a large cathedral with five spires. The wooden gates stood wide open, a slight trickling of people moving in and out of the building at a somewhat constant pace. The Heaven's Secrets Company was the largest merchant organization on the planet, its roots spread through every single province, something they managed thanks to their trustworthiness and fair prices. Since that was the case, it was more than common for the building to see a constant stream of people entering and leaving.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The group stepped through the open door and arrived in an empty room that split into three hallways, one marked 'God hunter', one marked 'Items', and one marked 'Information'. Yin Long was curious about the God Hunter hallway, Lan Yun following his gaze and tilting her head slightly while pointing down the well-lit hallway.
"The God Hunters are the 'mercenary' force of the Heaven's Secrets Company. The company accepts various missions and the God Hunters can accept them, rising through the ranks to take on tougher missions and earn higher rewards. I don't have much interest in it, but wanna go check it out?"
Jin Wang also looked down the hallway in a somewhat disinterested manner, Yin Long giving the idea a bit of thought before shaking his head. It did sound slightly enticing, but it wasn't like they were in a rush and had to do everything right away.
"No need, we can just check it out sometime in the future if we feel like it. For now, we can just focus on the sects and other organizations within the city."
Lan Yun nodded her head without really caring, sticking as closes as possible to Yin Long as they went down the hallway marked with 'Items'. The hallway brought them to a large circular room that had a spiralling staircase at the centre leading to the higher floors, display cases covered with glass were scattered throughout the room in a circular pattern, counters with clerks waiting behind them lining the walls.
A young man clad in a rather fine black robe locked eyes with them the moment they stepped into the room, walking over to them and giving them a polite bow while gesturing towards the displays spreading out behind him.
"Good morning, I hope the day finds you well. Are you looking for something specific that I can direct you towards or are you just looking for now?"
It had been evening when they left Sunsong Capital, so it was morning here since they were on the other side of the planet, a fact they hadn't paid much attention to since most cities were rather well-lit. Lan Yun took the lead in responding to the young man, politely cupping her hands to return the greeting
"Yes, we're actually looking for a map, preferably one that covers the entire province. The newer the better, and it would be perfect if the map also detailed the various forces and more dangerous areas and groups. Do you have something like that?"
The corners of the young man's mouth rose slightly when he heard the request, but he made sure to maintain his normal expression. Such maps were usually quite expensive, meaning that he would earn a nice profit both for the company and for himself if he managed to make the sale. The young man took half a step to the side and politely gestured towards the spiralling staircase, guiding Yin Long's group.
"We most certainly have such maps, but not here on the first floor. Please follow me up to the third floor, I'll show you the various maps that we have for sale right now. And please don't worry, all our maps were updated within the last decade."
The young man took the lead and brought Yin Long's group to the stairs, showing off some of the wares that were displayed along their path in hopes of selling a bit more. But to his dismay, Yin Long's group didn't buy anything else on the first floor, quickly making the trip up to the second floor, which was shaped and organized in the same manner. The staircase to the third floor was located a bit away from the staircase that led to the second floor, Lan Yun and Yin Long guessing that it was likely designed like this in hopes of making people buy a few items as they moved from one staircase to the other.
They passed through the second floor, the young man explaining the wares closest to them with a passionate expression. But as he was explaining one ware, Yin Long's gaze drift past the closest display cases and landed on one that was a bit further away from their intended path. The display case fell into the range of his senses so he gave the written explanation placed next to it a quick read before pointing at it.
"That cultivation manual there, I'll take it."
The young man's explanation was cut off by Yin Long, both he and Lan Yun following Yin Long's finger. Seeing the cultivation manual that Yin Long was pointing at, the young man's face lit up as he clasped his hands, eagerly nodding his head.
"The 9 Mountains Emperor Manual? Certainly, certainly. Would you like it straight away or should we wait until you've looked at the maps?"
Yin Long didn't beat around the bush and immediately handed over enough Spirit Stones to cover the listed price, 73% of their total wealth in Spirit Stones. The young man grinned as he went to complete the transaction, Lan Yun grimacing slightly at the sudden large expenditure. Yin Long knew that she wouldn't complain since he was the one who made the choice, but he still gave her an explanation.
"We've got enough items to sell to pay for the map, should have enough at least. Hopefully, maybe, probably. But while the map is important, so too is that cultivation manual. The one you're using now can only be considered mid-grade, it won't be able to take you further than the peak of the 9 Doors of the Immortal Heart, it's also fairly weak in its focus. That manual there will last you all the way until the early stage of the World Heart realm and it doesn't just encompass the law of earth but also the law of crushing, the law of tearing, and the law of wood. It will help you grow stronger, so take it. I already told you earlier, I've already buried my parents, I refuse to bury anyone else."
There was nothing Lan Yun could say in the face of Yin Long's explanation, in fact, his explanation caused her grimace to turn into a smile. He was willing to throw away most of their wealth for her so that she could get stronger, so that she could become able to protect herself. How could an act like that, filled with such concern and worry for her, not cause her to smile dumbly?
She immediately tried to wrap her arms around Yin Long's, but he reacted faster than her and placed his hand against her forehead to hold her back before she could embrace him. The young man quickly returned with a new interspatial ring that contained the jade scroll that was the cultivation manual, respectfully handing it to Yin Long. He accepted the interspatial ring and checked its contents, giving the cultivation manual a closer inspection.
It didn't seem to be of the same rank as the one his sister received from Bai Xiang and Wei Ru, but it was definitely quite highly ranked, it might even be slightly stronger than the strongest cultivation manual that remained within the degraded Lang clan. Yin Long made sure that everything was in order and then tossed the ring to Lan Yun, who accepted it while looking ecstatic and immediately snuck closer to Yin Long while he tossed the ring to her.
The young man then brought them to the third floor and showed them all the maps they had for sale, but Yin Long had underestimated how much maps actually cost here. They could indeed afford a map after selling most of the armours and weapons in the interspatial ring, but the only map they could afford was one that only showed the current territory they were in. Lan Yun wanted to sell the various talismans they had gotten, the 12 defensive, 10 offensive, and 12 auxiliary use talismans, but Yin Long rejected the notion as there was no telling when they might end up being useful.
Lan Yun had nothing else to say since Yin Long had made his decision, only quietly puffing out her cheeks and casting glances at him to see if her display of cuteness was enough to sway him. Sadly, just like in the past, her attempts at moving him ended up being fruitless and they left the Heaven's Secrets Company without buying the actual map that she wanted.
Of course, Lan Yun could be considered quite greedy for wanting a map of the entire province, one showing their current Bloodgrass Territory was more than enough for now. They had bought a cultivation manual for Lan Yun and the map that she wanted, this meant that it was time for them to check out the various sects and organizations within the city. And the best way for Yin Long to find out which one was best for them to join was by checking out how they fought, so it was off to the bloody battlefield.