Chapter 630 - 499 Sword Fighting Rumors
Chapter 630: Chapter 499 Sword Fighting Rumors
Nuo City, west side.
At the river crossing, a dozens-of-meters-long, pitch-black ship was still moored.
“Brother Su, it’s right ahead.” Qin Song gestured towards the large ship ahead. “This crossing belongs to Lord Tang of Nuo City. Each time it sets sail, three Shining Star-level experts from Nuo City will definitely accompany it.”
Su Yuan observed the river crossing ahead. At this moment, there weren’t many people around, and only this ship was present.
“You just said the ship departs at four in the afternoon?” Su Yuan asked.
Qin Song nodded. “That’s right, Brother Su, you’ve arrived just in time. This ferry departs only once every three days, and today happens to be the departure day. However, you’ll have to wait for a few hours.”
Qin Song discreetly pointed to some uniformed individuals at the river crossing. “The one in charge there is Captain Lv Han, a subordinate of Lord Tang. He’s very powerful and is a Purple Card Master.”
Su Yuan glanced towards the person Qin Song mentioned. The man was lean, with a severe face, appearing to be in his thirties or forties.
As Qin Song introduced the man, there was a hint of fear in his voice, suggesting he was extremely afraid of such individuals.
Su Yuan nodded. “Alright, wait here for me.”
“Okay!” Qin Song said joyfully, then seemed to remember something, looking at Su Yuan hesitantly.
“What’s the matter?”
Qin Song hesitated briefly, then quietly reminded, “Brother Su, I mentioned earlier, the ferry ticket is usually one thousand Cent Star Stones… If Captain Lv Han asks for more, please, please don’t get into a conflict with them.”
Su Yuan’s eyes flickered. If even Qin Song could tell that it was his first time in Nuo City, how much more could Lv Han, who was stationed at the river crossing all the time?
Su Yuan smiled. “Alright.”
After saying this, Su Yuan walked towards the river crossing.
Noticing someone approaching, Lv Han and the guards at the crossing all looked over.
Su Yuan walked straight to Lv Han. “Captain, I would like to cross the river.”
Lv Han looked Su Yuan up and down, then said casually, “The ship departs at four in the afternoon. The price is… two thousand Cent Star Stones.”
“Two thousand? But I heard the crossing fee here is one thousand Cent Star Stones.”
Lv Han grinned. “That price varies with time. Recently, more people have been taking the ferry. What you heard is the old price.”
If one were not a local, they probably wouldn’t have used the ferry many times. He could overcharge as much as possible.
Moreover, if one chose to walk around the river, it would take dozens of days. These people had no choice.
Lv Han smirked, waiting to see the young man in front of him begrudgingly accept. He had seen this scenario many times before.
“Alright, two thousand it is.” Su Yuan responded without hesitation, immediately taking out two thousand Cent Star Stones.
To Lv Han’s surprise, though the young man agreed, his expression remained unchanged, not even a frown appeared.
So straightforward?
Lv Han’s eyes flickered slightly. He then produced a ticket marked with Spirit Particles.
“Four o’clock, leave on time.”
Once paid, the ticket was obtained.
Su Yuan activated the ticket with his thoughts, discovering a locator inside, directing to the river crossing, marked with the number 12.
After verifying it, Su Yuan turned and left.
Lv Han watched Su Yuan’s departing figure, a glint flashed in his eyes.
It seemed like a fat sheep had arrived…
Su Yuan’s eyes reflected with a silver light. Although he turned away, Lv Han’s changing expressions were all noticed.
His lips curled up, a hint of coldness in his eyes.
It looked like he took the bait…
“Brother Su, were you able to buy the ticket?” Qin Song hurriedly approached and asked.
“Of course.” Su Yuan showed the ticket.
“That’s it!” Qin Song smiled. “I’ve seen this many times, but I’ve never used it.”
Su Yuan thought for a moment. “Since the ship doesn’t depart for a while, why don’t you show me around the city? Also, I want to buy a map.”
“No problem. Follow me, Brother Su!”
Subsequently, Qin Song led Su Yuan around the ancient city.
The city had all sorts of things: Star Devices, materials, Skill Star Cards…
However, there were no unexpected surprises like antiques, Broken Jade, or Wordless Heavenly Book. Su Yuan only purchased a large map, spending quite a few Star Stones.
“This is your remaining money.” Near the tea house closest to the river crossing, Su Yuan handed 10 Cent Star Stones to Qin Song.
Qin Song was shocked. “Brother Su, it’s 10 Cent in total. You already gave me a deposit of 5 Cent, so it should only be 5 Cent left.”
“The extra 5 Cent is for your efforts.” Su Yuan smiled. Qin Song had been quite diligent, and Su Yuan didn’t mind giving him a bit more tip.
“This… Alright, thank you, Brother Su, thank you!” Qin Song gratefully accepted, repeatedly expressing his thanks before leaving.
Su Yuan went straight to the tea house, sitting by the window to drink tea alone.
From here, he could see the Black River by the window. Of course, the Black River looked like a pool of stagnant water, not much to look at.
Apart from resting and waiting, Su Yuan came here for another reason…
Tea houses were places where one could easily obtain information.
“Hey, Liu Dong from the North District hunted an Epic Star Beast again yesterday!”
“Really? I remember he killed an Epic Star Beast just a week ago. That guy is truly amazing. He is undoubtedly one of the top Shining Star experts in our Nuo City.”
“…”
“Rumor has it, the Heavenly Mountain Moon Milk is about to mature, and the Ten Sects are already discussing the Sword Fighting event.”
Not far from Su Yuan, three people were talking.
These three seemed to be Shining Star-level experts who were also taking the ferry, so Su Yuan paid more attention to them.
“Really? That’s a grand event every five years. This time, I wonder which extraordinary disciples from the sects will rise and make their names known!”
“Looking at it now, Zhang Chunyi from Taishang Sect, Mu Kexian, Chou Wuliang from Demon Sky Palace, Sikong Liu from Ten Thousand Sword Divine Sect, Bai Su from Beast Taming Heavenly Sect, and Tang Tian from True Yang Sect… There are too many experts.”
“Maybe there will be a dark horse. Last year, Chen Mu from Five Directions Temple emerged unexpectedly and secured second place in the Sword Fighting.”
Heavenly Mountain Moon Milk, Ten Sects Swordfight?
Hearing the three’s conversation, Su Yuan became quite interested.
Amongst the three, a brawny man smacked his lips. “It’s really something to envy. That Heavenly Mountain Moon Milk is such a treasure. If I had some, I might be able to break through to Radiant Moon.”
The tall man beside him shook his head and laughed. “Are you kidding! Those top geniuses of the sects can use the Moon Milk to breakthrough instantly. We are miles away in terms of talent. Don’t you have some self-awareness? Even if you had it all, you’d just burst.”
“One must have dreams…”
“You said it yourself, it’s a dream.”
“Can’t I even dream?”
“…”
The two bickered for a bit more. The thin young man who had been listening suddenly spoke.
“Brother Zhang, Brother Li, it is said that this year’s Swordfight is different. It won’t be the same as before.”
“Oh?” The two stopped and asked. “What’s different?”
The thin young man lowered his voice. “Because this Swordfight appears to involve the distribution of Star Veins…”
The two stopped and had a look of realization.
“Right! With so many Star Veins emerging everywhere, while our southeastern remote area is still okay, other places have become chaotic over the fight for Star Veins. Not to mention the ten major sects.”
“…”
Listening to the three chat, Su Yuan began thinking to himself.
It seemed that the ten major sects were going to have some sort of competition among their young talents, involving both the Heavenly Mountain Moon Milk and the distribution of Star Veins.
Su Yuan was quite interested in this. The East Continent had Star Lords and Star Envoys; he wondered what the top Shining Star experts of various factions in the Southern Continent were like.
However, he didn’t know if he would have the opportunity to witness it. Of course, everything depended on finding Divine Wind first.
As Su Yuan was pondering, he suddenly noticed something and glanced out the window. Several people in blue robes were entering the tea house and coming upstairs.
“Sect members?”
Su Yuan had no idea which sect they belonged to, but when these people entered, everyone, including the three who had been talking, stopped their discussions and looked at them curiously.
Four men and one woman, the leader was a square-faced young man with a proper appearance.
Apart from him, the female disciple with bright eyes and pearly teeth looked pure and pretty, attracting more attention from onlookers.
The square-faced young man greeted others and directly went into a private room nearby.
“Senior brother, that demon…”
“Junior sister, don’t speak yet…” The square-faced young man quickly interrupted her, then raised his hand to create a Star Power barrier to prevent eavesdropping.
At this time, the people outside began whispering.
“The members of Hundred Origin Sect actually came? And five of them at once.”
Hundred Origin Sect?
Su Yuan’s thoughts stirred slightly. He had just read a brief introduction about the Hundred Origin Sect on the map he had bought.
The Hundred Origin Sect, situated north of Nuo City, wasn’t one of the Ten Sects but was still quite powerful.
The sect had several King Level experts. In the southeastern region, it was one of the significant forces, second only to the Beast Taming Heavenly Sect.
Though Nuo City was remote, it fell within the influence range of the Hundred Origin Sect.
At the moment, these five Shining Star disciples from the Hundred Origin Sect looked quite serious…
Su Yuan pondered briefly, then slightly lowered his head. His eyes radiated silver light as he activated the All-Knowing Vision.
With the X-ray Ability, the situation in the private room was clear. Coupling this with lip-reading, Su Yuan understood their discussions.
“Senior brother, after tracking for so many days, we still haven’t found any trace of that demon cultivator.”
“Junior sister Yun, don’t worry.” The leader, Yuan Chao, reassured in a low voice. “Junior Brother Qiao has just detected residual energy of that demon cultivator in the city.”
Li Qiao Yun turned to the tall, thin young man. “Really, Brother Qiao?”
Qiao Huai nodded. “Yes, it’s faint, but it’s there. The demon cultivator probably crossed the Nuo River to escape.”
Li Qiao Yun said, “Senior brother, let’s cross the river too. Why are we here drinking tea?”
Yuan Chao shook his head. “Junior sister, this is your first mission since you joined the sect. You might not be familiar with the situation here. The water of the Nuo River is extremely peculiar. Upon contact, one becomes paralyzed, and Star Power cannot be mobilized at all. To cross the river, we must wait for the four o’clock ferry.”
Li Qiao Yun raised her eyebrows. “Really? That means it’s still a few hours away.”
Yuan Chao sighed inwardly. Junior Sister Li was somewhat overly eager for quick success.
This Junior Sister Li had high Talent and was dearly loved by the mentor. Since entering the level, she had hardly been on any missions in the lower three levels.
This time, she joined them partly because it was her first mission as a Shining Star level.
The target was also a Shining Star-level demon cultivator. Normally, the mission would only require four people.
Moreover, it was only because of Li Qiao Yun that they included an additional disciple…