Monarch of Evernight - Chapter 384

Chapter 384: 384

Chapter 384: The Winds Rise [V5C91 - A Distance Within Reach]

An agreement was quickly reached, and the various divisions promised to deliver the troops within a week . This was equivalent to paying Qianye protection fees—the price seemed high, but it was nothing compared to having their own defensive regions wiped out .

But the more protection fees Qianye accepted, the greater his responsibility became . Everything would be off if he couldn’t halt the dark race’s advance .

Qianye received a special guest after sending off the group of officers .

It was a man in his forties . The plump middle-aged man wasn’t very tall and possessed an obviously bulging belly . However, Qianye felt a vague aura of danger emanating from the man when he sat down across from him . This feeling was much stronger than it was with the previous expeditionary army officers .

The middle-aged man took his seat on the sofa but maintained a cautious, upright posture . His hand, resting on his knees, was subconsciously rubbing his hat . Apparently, he was feeling rather restless, almost like a small merchant who had suddenly met a senior officer .

Even Qianye had to admire his acting . Had he not clearly seen the person’s complex origin power fluctuations with his True Sight, he might’ve been fooled into thinking that this was an ordinary fatty .

Qianye waved his hand and gestured for Song Hu to leave . Now, only Qianye and the fatty remained in the living room .

“Just speak directly . No need to act anymore . No matter which family you’re from, you should be an elder at the very least . ” This also meant that the man before him who had assumed the identity of a little merchant was, in fact, a champion .

The middle-aged man looked deeply at Qianye; his gaze had suddenly become as sharp as a blade . “Sire Qianye has good eyesight indeed . You’ve seen through my identity and still dare to remain alone in the same room . That’s an extraordinary level of insight and courage . ”

Qianye smiled faintly . “Actually, this is unrelated to courage . I’ve killed a fair number of viscounts and elders in the past . I also plan to keep on killing more in the future . I don’t mind killing one more or one less . ”

The middle-aged man’s expression froze momentarily . He suddenly withdrew his imposing manner and restored his friendly fatty demeanor . “Sigh, I’m old now and encumbered by family and career . It’s true that I no longer have the courage to rush and take risks like the youngsters . If it were fifty years ago, I would’ve insisted on receiving pointers from you . ”

Qianye only smiled without replying—such matters were meaningless in words . Only taking action would prove who was stronger or weaker .

The middle-aged man took on a serious expression and said, “My surname is Zhou and given name Caiguang, a veteran elder from Lone Ghosts who was just transferred here . Hereafter, I’ll be in charge of business in the six northwestern counties under the expeditionary army’s control . I came over just to call upon Sire Qianye and see if we might have the honor of working for you in the future . ”

His words were pleasant and tactful, but in reality, there was no telling what kind of words he would say had Qianye not torn off his disguise immediately .

Qianye’s brows rose after hearing the name Lone Ghosts . He reached out to pick up his teacup and took a sip before glancing at Zhou Caiguang . “Lone Ghosts? I heard your group has always operated on the Western Continent . So you also have a branch in Evernight?”

Zhou Caiguang replied, “The Western Continent is the Zhao clan’s domain, so the Lone Ghosts can only hold so much power . Evernight is the real place for unlimited development . ” These few words were enough to completely display this fatty’s ambitions .

Qianye said calmly, “But there are many other organizations like yours, even some that are bigger . Even Evernight itself has its fair share of such groups, and they’re at least more familiar with the lay of the land . Why should I choose you?”

Zhou Caiguang replied with a smile, “No matter how Lone Ghosts fare on the Western Continent, it’s a new phase after entering Evernight . The powers you mentioned have been here for a long time, and thus, they might be stronger than us for the time being . But it’s impossible for them to have various types of connections like we do . They might sometimes be convenient for handling matters, but there’ll also be a lot of impedance . So much so that you might not be clear who’s actually standing behind them . ”

Qianye raised his brows . He hadn’t expected this unassuming fatty to be such a smooth-talker . The various powers in Evernight were tangled and complicated—the biggest obstacle in the way of cooperation was usually trust between the two parties . That was because, in some fields, profits weren’t everything .

“We, on the other hand, are different . Lone Ghost is as clean as a newborn baby on Evernight Continent and thus more trustworthy . Your Dark Flame is fairly powerful, but I heard that it was also just recently established . I believe there are many aspects in which we can cooperate . You’ll know as time goes by that killing isn’t all that Lone Ghost can do . This is also the reason why we chose to visit you first . Additionally, we also prepared something for you . Please take a look . ”

With that, Zhou Caiguang produced an envelope and passed it over . Qianye opened it to find a letter of certification inside, and on it were numerous estates listed as collateral . What surprised Qianye most was that the certificate was signed by Wei Potian .

Zhou Caiguang was watching Qianye attentively and observing his every expression . At this time, he smiled and said, “Please take a look . This should be enough proof of our sincerity . All the estates on the list have been given to the Wei clan heir as security . With the relationship between you and the Wei clan heir, you can contact him and take them as compensation should any problem arise in our future cooperation . ”

Up to this point, Qianye couldn’t help but admire this fatty’s methods . It seemed Zhou Caiguang still wasn’t aware of the past matters between Qianye and the Lone Ghosts . He was only doing this in order to break new ground with his business . Furthermore, in order to facilitate this, he had intentionally visited Wei Potian and got him to serve as an endorsement of trust . This also meant that Zhou Caiguang had invested some effort to understand Dark Flame and Qianye’s background .

Qianye pondered for a moment and inquired, “What can you do for me?”

“We can start from the basics like intelligence for instance . For a set monthly fee, we’ll provide information at regular intervals . I guarantee you’ll see some things that interest you that other people do not . ”

Qianye laughed—this was a tailored service—it seemed Zhaou Caiguang was intent on taking Dark Flame’s market .

Zhou Caiguang brought out a thin stack of documents containing only a few pages . The papers were split into numerous columns, namely major world events, imperial movements, and important matters of Evernight . There were over a dozen pieces of information listed at each level, and two of them were even about the movements of the imperial family . Every article was around a hundred words and only contained simple introductions .

Zhou Caiguang spoke while Qianye was flipping through the papers, “You’ve opened up such prospects at such a young age . Your future will be boundless after you break through to the champion rank, that’s why the things you hold in your hands are absolutely necessary . One must have a broad view in order to do big things . ”

Qianye put down the summarized report and said, “These things are a bit too simple . ”

Zhou Caiguang said with a laugh, “This is only an entry level report worth 100 gold coins a month . There are two types of higher level presentations should you require them, but the prices are also different—more than 10 times the cost . If you have certain areas that interest you, we can also provide an in-depth investigation and report . As for Lone Ghost’s primary line of work, that’s also within the scope of orders we accept . ”

The so-called primary line of work was murder . In truth, assassination was Lone Ghost’s actual livelihood . To have used information as his main selling point, this Fatty Zhou was indeed an interesting character .

Qianye nodded and put down the report in his hand . “That’s good enough . Leave this report with me along with a mode of contact . I’ll contact you when the need arises in the future . ”

Zhou Caiguang extended his chubby hand and said with a smile, “It’s my honor to be able to serve you . ”

Qianye reached out to shake Zhou Caiguang’s hand . All of a sudden, he felt a terrifying force from the man that might even crush steel if there were no resistance . It seemed this kind-looking fatty couldn’t resist testing Qianye’s strength in the end .

Qianye circulated origin power throughout his body and abruptly applied force from his hands . Origin power surged out together with the formidable strength of his vampire constitution .

The sound of rolling thunder echoed throughout the empty living room . Zhou Caiguang’s face turned pale and sweat began to drip down from his forehead as his entire body trembled . The origin power he had attacked with was actually flushed back at him .

Qianye slowly withdrew his origin power and relaxed his grip after seeing Zhou Caiguang couldn’t hold out much longer . The man’s right was swelling up rapidly, and the purple fingerprints upon it were incomparably clear .

Zou Caiguang’s face turned pale from the pain as he tried moving his fingers . He took a deep breath after finding that his fingers were fortunately still able to move . Apparently, Qianye had shown him some mercy by not crushing all of his bones .

Zhou Caiguang couldn’t help but laugh wryly . “Sire Qianye’s strength truly makes one sigh in admiration . Although my skills are rather disappointing, I’ve never placed ordinary rank-ten champions in my eyes . Unexpectedly, I couldn’t even last a couple of minutes in your hands . Thunder rang out in empty air the moment your origin power stirred . Even among champions, not everyone is at such a level . ”

At this point, Zhou Caiguang couldn’t help but ask, “When do you intend to advance to champion?”

“There's no rush . ” Qianye didn’t feel obligated to answer this question .

Zhou Caiguang also understood that he had spoken inappropriately . He left his contact details with a bow and excused himself .

In the days that followed, people like Zhou Caiguang visited one after another—there were all kinds of them, and they came in a never ending stream . This was proof that Dark Flame’s swift, decisive methods after devouring the seventh division and the success of their westward campaign were finally showing their effects . They had received the recognition of Evernight’s powers from top to bottom—only now could their foothold be considered truly stable .

Among the visitors, there were organizations like Lone Ghost proposing cooperation, and there were also certain aristocratic families and powers with dubious backgrounds looking to develop business in Blackflow City . There were even arrogant representatives of minor nobility who looked upon Qianye as though a high-class person would a commoner, and demanded that Qianye switch allegiances . Moreover, they acted as if they were doing him a gargantuan favor .

Qianye was simply too lazy to pay such people any attention at all . He beat them up on the spot and kicked them out of the city . As for cries like “you’ll definitely regret this” or “you can’t afford to offend the person behind me”, even the Dark Flame soldiers only treated them as dog barks .

Once or twice was fine, but similar matters repeated too many times . Only then did Qianye realize that not everyone was well-informed enough to understand the rules .

Now that he thought about it, he would’ve been entirely ignorant of things outside of the war zone were it not for Song Zining and Zhao Yuying’s channels . Qianye couldn’t help but recall Hunter’s Home from back then . The price for information there was quite expensive relative to the mission rewards .

Now, it seemed that Zhou Caiguang’s report was indeed important . At least, he wouldn’t be completely ignorant of the things happening in the world . The other topic Zhou Caiguang had brought up caused some waves in Qianye’s heart, and he began to seriously consider the possibility of advancing to the champion rank .

Human champions and dark race viscounts were both a threshold, the doorway separating the upper-class society and the lower ones . No matter how strong Qianye was or how many champions he had killed, the respect he received would be somewhat lacking in meaning unless he broke through to the champion rank .

The human race’s secret to advancement could be described in a single term: Condense Qi into a Vortex . After origin power had been condensed to a certain level at the nine nodes, they would naturally become a vortex . This would increase their origin power absorption by many times, allow them to draw upon the origin power in the surroundings, and, at the same time, improve their constitution to a certain degree .

Advancing to the champion rank was a holistic upgrade process . It was a watershed which the difference in strength would be akin to the difference between heaven and earth .

Even among champions, the size and purity of the origin power vortices would determine how far the person would be able to go . The purer one’s origin power was—the closer it was to the origin—the greater his might and potential for advancement . Ordinary champions were only slightly superior to fighters in terms of origin power condensation . That was why geniuses would find ways to suppress their rank and invest great effort into purifying their origin power .

At the thought of this, Qianye recalled Song Zining’s words about how every major family had their own secret methods to boost in champion advancement . Not only would they greatly increase the chances of an upgrade, but certain top-grade methods were even capable of raising one’s origin power purity by a level .

The top-grade cultivation chamber Qianye had used back at the Song clan was one of them . Its consumption rate was a colossal number to ordinary people . Qianye was somewhat curious as to what the Zhao clan’s methods were .

Now that the Iron Curtain was fully formed and war could break out any moment, Qianye felt the urge to stop suppressing his rank and advance to champion rank . This might perhaps affect his future prospects, but what future would there be if he died in the bloody battle?

The endless stream of visitors finally died down after a couple of days, and Qianye was allowed some free time to cultivate in peace . Thus, Qianye began preparing for his advancement—all of Dark Flame’s officers received instructions not to disturb him unless it was extremely urgent . All matters related to daily operation were handed over to Song Hu and a number of high-ranking officers .

On the second day of Qianye’s isolated cultivation, an unassuming little airship arrived in Blackflow City . It appeared fairly mediocre at a glance, but the fact that it was able to arrive in Blackflow City through the Iron Curtain spoke volumes of its extraordinary qualities .

Under the Iron Curtain, not only were the land animals berserk, but the birds in the sky were also in a similar state . Ordinary transport airships had all stopped running, and only those escorted by military airships dared take to the skies .

After the airship descended onto the landing pad, the cabin doors were opened, and the ladder was lowered . Out walked an elderly man with clear, handsome facial features and a head of perfectly groomed silver hair .

He was dressed in plain clothes with no decorations whatsoever . However, knowledgeable people would see that the materials and craftsmanship were the work of a master and every detail was flawless . His clothes alone might be able to buy several houses in a poor, remote place like Blackflow City .

There was a handsome young man behind the elder along with a number of followers .

The old man’s eagle-like gaze swept across the place as he said indifferently, “So this is Blackflow City?”

“Yes, we have arrived,” the young man beside him replied .

The old man was noncommittal about the cityscape before him and only said, “Since this is the right place, then let’s go find the young miss first . ”