Chapter 117 - Portal
Hao Xuan didn't wait for Li Ming and got comfortable on the sofas.
"Why are you guys just standing there? Take a seat, relax," he said to the others who were looking around the room tongue-tied.
Sixth took his advice and sat down opposite to him, "Brother, you're a VIP member here?"
"Mhm," Hao Xuan nodded in response.
"Damn, is it easy to become a VIP member? Does senior sister know the process? I want to be treated like a king too," Sixth pouted and asked Beatrice who suddenly became very reserved and still hadn't sat down.
She smiled hearing Sixth's question, "No at all. As you may know, the Den is owned and run by the infamous Li family and every branch has at least one or two members from the main branch to act as its leaders. The person you just met and the one he was talking about, Elder Li Ming are members of the Li family and therefore in charge of the Den."
"Only they can give out VIP memberships but Elder Li Ming rarely ever interacts with customers personally. Not even the crown prince would be able to get a face-to-face meeting with him just like that," she then paused and looked at Hao Xuan with a glint in her eyes.
"For brother Hao to have been personally invited by him, he must either have great potential that even the Den which has branches all over the continent values, or have made a deal that made them a lot of profit," after that she didn't say anything and continued smiling. Everyone's imagination ran wild and they kept quiet, thinking.
Sixth furrowed his brows for a few seconds and then smiled, he remembered about the Ice flood dragon Hao Xuan had killed when he first joined. All of them had eaten a lot of its meat and its core was the only expensive thing that the Den could have valued.
Still, no one asked Hao Xuan himself thinking it would be rude. But he would have just told them the truth as to him it wasn't such a big deal.
A few minutes later the door opened and a few beautiful women walked in with large trays. They had all kinds of fruits, juices, and even some meats that Hao Xuan had never seen before.
The floor opened up on one side of the room and a large table came out. They put the food on it and bowed once before leaving.
Hao Xuan looked at the 10-foot long table filled with all kinds of dishes and the first thing that came to his mind was a Zhurongs cute face whenever he wanted something.
"That brat would have loved all this," he mumbled and got up to taste a few things.
"Guys, it's embarrassing to be the only one eating, why are you holding yourselves back? Come and eat, it must be good if the Den is serving it," he said to the others who were still sitting and acting very reserved.
"Hahaha, Ninth brother is right, I wanna taste it too," Sixth said with a grin and jumped at the food, which made everyone relax a bit and some of the others also ate a few things.
Hao Xuan filled a plate by several different things from fruits to meats and sat down on the sofa like it was his own house and started eating.
"Why are junior sisters not enjoying themselves?" he asked looking up at Beatrice and Lois who still stood behind the sofa respectfully.
"We are still members of the Den brother Hao and have to act as such. Don't worry about us," Beatrice smiled back at him while Lois just kept silent.
"But you're not here as members of the Den, you are with me. If you refuse my requests, would that not be the same as slapping my face?" he asking while chucking a small fruit that looked like a strawberry into his mouth.
Beatrice was surprised by his interpretation and didn't follow up after, but Lois did, "Senior sister, he is right. We're not working right now so what's the use of being so reserved," she said quietly to Beatrice and went to the table to pick up a fruit that looked like an apple. She then walked backed to the sofas and sat down right next to Hao Xuan, startling him.
He was about to bite into a piece of meat when Lois unceremoniously 'fell' down on the sofa that barely had enough space for two people. But since Hao Xuan's body was so big, he could easily cover the whole thing himself, so with Lois, it was very cramped and they squished together.
"Wha-" everyone was surprised by her actions and looked at her with various expressions.
Some of the boys were disappointed but what could they do? They had seen Hao Xuan in action himself. He was seemingly rich, strong, and not bad on the eyes to boot. There was no competition to speak off.
Lois took a bite of the apple and turned around to meet Hao Xuan's eyes. Their faces were less than six inches apart. She smiled mischievously seeing his flushed face and went even closer to whisper, "So, you come here often?"
"Pffft" Sixth who had just taken a big gulp of some juice spat it out like a fountain.
*Cough*Cough*
Hao Xuan choked on his own saliva and guffawed at her question. She looked exactly like a guy trying to pick up a girl in a club or something. And with her appearance, it was both funny and sexy at the same time.
"What? Is that a no?" Lois asked with a serious expression that only made Hao Xuan laugh harder.
"Stop, please, stop," he said as he stood up, trying to breathe. It wasn't even that funny but for some reason, he couldn't stop laughing.
*Creak*
The door suddenly opened and in walked Li Ming with a huge smile plastered over his face.
"Brother Hao! What a nic- eh, are you okay?!" as soon as he entered the first thing he saw was Hao Xuan bending over beside a sofa, hitting his chest with his fist, struggling to breathe.
"Hahaha, yes, hahaha, give me haha, a second," Hao Xuan spoke through his laughter and with the food particles all over his mouth and face, he looked anything but handsome right now.
Ming didn't say anything and quietly waited while looking around the room.
Lois only looked over at Hao Xuan with a smile but didn't do anything else either. Beatrice looked at Lois and couldn't understand the reason behind the sudden change in her behavior.
It took Hao Xuan a few more seconds to regain his composure. He took out a handkerchief from the ring and wiped his face.
"Sorry, sorry," he went up to Ming and shook his hand with a smile, "It's been a while."
"It has been indeed," Ming smiled back and they sat down on one of the bigger sofas.
"So what brings you here today? And I'm sorry about the commotion before. I will make sure nothing like that ever happens again. And to make up for it, 10% off on anything you buy today," he waved his hand and the VIP token in Hao Xuan's pocket vibrated for a second.
"Haha, I'll accept this nice gesture then," Hao Xuan didn't stand on ceremony and gladly accepted the extra discount. He would need it.
"I needed a few things, but the most important one is a weapon. I need a Glaive, custom made with a weapon spirit embryo. Its the same embryo I bought from here the last time. Do you have someone for that?"
"Hmm, we don't here but if you give me some time I can send the embryo to one of the empires where we have some guest blacksmiths that can make the weapon for you with whatever requirements you have," Ming gave it some thought and answered a few moments later.
"Sure, let's do that then. How much will that cost?"
"Depends on the materials used for the weapon. The more precious materials you want to be included, the higher the price."
"Is there a list of materials?"
"Sure, I'll send you the link to our VIP portal and you can place an order there with all the parts, it will show you the total at the end."
"Ah, I almost forgot," Hao Xuan didn't have his Spirit Band on him so not only would he not be able to access the Den's portal but he wouldn't even be able to buy anything since his account was linked to the spirit band.
He closed his eyes and tried to sense Green and Red. It took him 15 seconds to detect them. Since their souls were connected, Hao Xuan could call for them at any point. For them, it would be like a homesick feeling. They would want to get back to him as soon as possible and would feel uncomfortable the longer they stayed away.
Soon after he felt them getting closer and knew they were on the way.
"I have a couple of subordinates bringing my spirit band, can you please tell your staff to bring them to me once they get here?" he asked Ming who happily obliged and sent out a message through his spirit band with Green and Red's descriptions.
"Do you have something like a portable camp?" he asked after thinking about the things he would need for his next mission.
"Portable camp?" Ming was confused by his query.
"Yes, exactly like it sounds, anything along those lines would do!"
"Hmmm," Ming scratched his head but couldn't find anything like what Hao Xuan wanted. He sent a message and a minute later there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Ming said without turning around. A middle-aged man that looked slightly older than Ming walked in. He had an unkempt appearance with dark circles around his eyes and seemed like he hadn't bathed in weeks.
"You called?" he didn't wait around for anyone to speak and looked at Ming casually.
"Brother Hao, this is Lex. He is an inventor and makes quite a few things. If you need anything made specifically for you, just contact him directly," he said to Hao Xuan and then turned towards Lex.
"This is brother Hao, treat him as you would treat me."
"Like I treat you? Why would I do something so bad to a stranger? I'll treat him better than you," he said with a serious face and went up to the food table and started eating. Ming didn't seem to mind as it seemed like this was a usual thing.
"What do you want then? I'm busy," he said with a full mouth.
"Do we have something like a movable pavilion?"
"Not here. But yeah, there are a few treasures like that," Lex nodded his head.
"No not treasures. Something man-made," Ming shook his head.
"Eh?" Lex paused and looked at Hao Xuan, "Tell me exactly what you have in mind, we should have something."
"Something that I can just throw on the ground and it turns into a camp instantly. And with a press of a button I can 'recall' it. Something I can use out in the wild you know. I don't want to sleep out in the open or look for abandoned caves. It would save me a lot of time and make the journey more comfortable if there was anything like that," Hao Xuan explained slowly.
"Hm, interesting," Lex scratched his chin, forgetting about the piece of meat in his hand.
"I can tell you right now that nothing like that currently exists. Most cultivators just bring a few tents and whatnot in their rings and set them up themselves. But I can see the allure in this portable camp you describe. But it would need to have illusionary formations, some small defensive formations, maybe even an attacking formation. Yes yes....." he started muttering to himself and walked out of the room with hurried steps.
But he suddenly stopped at the door and turned around to look at Hao Xuan, "I'll see what I can make. And since it's your idea, I'll file a patent under your name.. If it turns out there is an actual demand for it, you will have full ownership."