CSMCDB - Chapter 131
Chapter 131
It was a false alarm.
It was indeed a spatio-temporal rift, and it was indeed the handiwork of another continent. However, this seemed to be only a shallow-level probe. As 1947 had said, teleporting between planes was very difficult.
Whether it was the startling thunder or the spatio-temporal rift, it was just an attempt made by the Huanling Continent. It was just that this attempt was sensed by the Starry Sky Continent, drawing everyone's attention.
Setting aside the small rifts, just figuring out how to safely transport an army through a rift to another continent was another major hurdle. This rift might have been for locating the Starry Sky Continent, or perhaps a failed experiment where some unimportant creatures were thrown through.
In any case, beneath that rift, many Star Emperor experts gathered one after another within just a few breaths. Many more were investigating from the shadows, not revealing themselves.
Before this, perhaps some people were still hesitant about the other continent's ambitions and skeptical of the content deciphered by the scholars. But after this… it would likely change many people's attitudes.
The attitude of the Dragon Race, the attitude of the Demonic Beast Great Forest's sovereigns, the attitude of Fu… the attitudes of the various factions within the Empire. Of course, in the short term, some things wouldn't change much. As the presence of the other continent slowly grew stronger, the attitudes of some people might subtly change.
The peace didn't last long; it seemed turmoil was about to stir again.
Although for Wen Yuncheng, chaos meant more experience and faster growth, from a personal standpoint, she still hoped the Empire would remain at peace.
The spatio-temporal rift disappeared after a few hours. But the impact of its appearance couldn't disappear so quickly; on the contrary, it began to ferment rapidly.
The Empire no longer kept the information deciphered by the scholars under wraps. Although it was too early to announce it to the world, it was necessary to inform the sect masters of the major sects and the few reclusive Star Emperors behind the scenes. After all, the spatio-temporal rift caused too much of a commotion. It was nearly impossible to hide it from those old monsters. Rather than letting the powerful fall into a panic of the unknown, it was better to tell them the cause and effect directly.
Logically, Lin Jinyu was only the young sect master and shouldn't have been involved in these matters.
But Wen Yuncheng knew the inside story, so she told Lin Jinyu a little about it. When Lin Jinyu returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect and saw the worried look on Lin Zhenyun's face, she understood.
City defenses everywhere were strengthened once again.
In fact, it wasn't that the Fu organization had no Star Emperors; it was just that they were hidden very, very deeply. After all, if they were exposed, the Empire would likely gather the full power of the continent to send them on their way. This was one of the reasons why Fu never had a fixed, public base of operations from the beginning.
But Fu privately had several trading and intelligence networks. After all, their members also needed resources and had to cultivate. Disguise was one part of it; the private communication between members and the purchase of resources was another matter entirely. The people who dealt with Fu's high-level members had to have Fu's trust. But the powerful were a minority; most of the members were of low to mid-level cultivation… So, there were some people who contacted Fu purely to earn Star Stones. These people called themselves "neutral," but they were actually middlemen. The channels through which they obtained their goods weren't exactly aboveboard, so they weren't too particular about where they sold them.
Wen Yuncheng pondered for a long time and decided to start with the middlemen.
Personally, she had a mission to eliminate Fu. Rather than waiting for Fu's people to assassinate her, it was better to take the initiative. Once the "Disguise" skill was used, its effects were astonishing, whether for escaping or tracking.
If she caught a small fish, she could deal with it herself. If she caught a big fish… she would hand it over to the Empire in exchange for a modest amount of merit.
For something like this, Wen Yuncheng still had to inform Lin Jinyu. After showing her "Disguise" skill to the Little Ice Mountain, the Little Ice Mountain didn't stop Wen Yuncheng's decision. She just said that if it was a "small fish," Wen Yuncheng should remember to notify her, and she would come along too.
Because she needed to hide herself, Wen Yuncheng couldn't bring the little fox with her. She left the little fox at the Flowing Cloud Sect. Anyway, the food at the Flowing Cloud Sect was quite good, and Xiao Shi'er was quite satisfied. The two Star Kings also stopped following her for the time being, merely waiting outside the underground trading market.
The Empire knew about places like the underground trading market, but the forces in the black market were complex and intertwined, and the Empire couldn't figure everything out. Rather than letting some people operate in secret, it was better to turn a blind eye. At least the black market was still within the Empire's territory, and the Empire could sense its general movements.
1947, do you think this operation will go smoothly? Wen Yuncheng wasn't actually very confident. She was still dressed as a man and had 1947 activate its shielding. Not only did she put on the white fox mask, but she also wore a large black cloak, completely concealing herself.
[Probably. It's information from the First Princess, after all.]
Yes, since she might need the Empire's help, Wen Yuncheng naturally wouldn't hide anything from the First Princess and revealed some of her thoughts. The First Princess then gave her a piece of information—details about a middleman.
That middleman might have conducted many transactions with members of Fu. There was no concrete evidence, but the Empire had sensed something and was merely suspicious. After hearing Wen Yuncheng's idea, the First Princess gave her this information to let her give it a try.
She also included a crystal that could record sound. If she could capture evidence of that middleman trading with Fu, the First Princess promised to open another secret realm for her.
Unlike simply working for the Imperial Family, if Wen Yuncheng pledged allegiance to them, although she might succeed a Protector of the Nation in the future, she wouldn't receive as many private benefits as she did now. But cooperating with the First Princess… well, the benefits were obvious. Wei Qingyu had never treated her unfairly.
After all, if she worked for the Imperial Family, she would mostly gain their support and prestige and authority among the populace. In short, fame. But working for the First Princess… was clearly not as righteous as working for the Empire, and the fame and such were pitifully scarce. After all, the First Princess wouldn't even deliberately publicize her own achievements, let alone publicize Wen Yuncheng's deeds.
Wen Yuncheng tightened her cloak, went directly to a person in charge, and stated her demand—dragon blood.
This thing, dragon blood, was currently only in the hands of two factions. One was the Empire; after all, the fact that the Protectors of the Nation had returned from Dragon Island with four dragon corpses was known to the world. The second, naturally, was the Fu organization, which had robbed the Empire's research institute.
And considering that the Fu organization seemed to have colluded with the Dragon Race, whether they had gained any benefits… outsiders wouldn't know.
"As long as you can get the goods, Star Stones are not a problem."
The person in charge of the black market glanced at Wen Yuncheng. Seeing her extremely vigilant appearance, he said, "Rest assured, when we do business, we don't leak any information. I'll contact someone about the goods you want right away."
"I'll be back tomorrow." Wen Yuncheng tossed out a Star Stone card. "This is the deposit."
With that said, she left in a hurry.
The person in charge narrowed his eyes. He checked the Star Stone card and found it contained ten million Star Stones—a generous sum for a deposit. He clicked his tongue; it seemed he had encountered a major client. Dragon blood, truly hard to come by… This client was also exceptionally cautious. The Star Stone card had no affiliation and couldn't be traced, and the person left no contact information, clearly intending for single-line communication.
The more it was like this, the more credible it was. However… since it involved dragon blood, it was best to observe for a few more days.
Wen Yuncheng's heart was bleeding. Although ten million Star Stones wasn't really a big deal to her now, suddenly throwing it out as bait still felt awful.
You can't catch a wolf if you're not willing to part with the bait. Using ten million as a deposit that might go down the drain… she hoped the other side would believe her.
When she went the next day, there was still no news. Wen Yuncheng didn't say much; after learning the situation, she left.
On the third day, Wen Yuncheng finally urged them. "I need dragon blood, any price will do. You definitely have it on hand. You can have the middleman contact me, but I don't want any interaction with the seller."
"Of course, of course. We definitely won't reveal your information to the seller." The person in charge replied with a smile, thinking to himself, You're so thoroughly concealed, and you vanish in a flash before even leaving the black market. We wanted to have someone follow you to check you out, but we couldn't.
Of course they couldn't follow her. After all, Wen Yuncheng would dart into a crowded place, directly activate her "Disguise" skill, and only then leave the black market.
"This item… to say it's precious… it's not that precious. But you know it's hard to get, since only those two factions have it." The person in charge didn't say it outright, instead giving Wen Yuncheng a "you know what I mean" look. "The one in the hands of the higher-ups is hard to get. The one in the shadows does have stock, but if we contact them, one wrong move and we're exposed…"
"I'm not dealing with them; it has nothing to do with me. I don't know who has the goods. I'm only buying from you here."
"Hehe… esteemed customer, this is risky for us too…"
"We'll talk about this after I see the goods, or after I see your middleman." Wen Yuncheng interrupted impatiently. "Your black market can hold the deposit. When it's time to buy the dragon blood, I'll make another offer."
"Alright, but we need time to prepare. In about three days…"
Wen Yuncheng nodded, tightened her cloak, and left again. The person in charge squinted as he watched the black-robed figure disappear into the black market. A few minutes later, a dark shadow appeared before him and shook its head.
"This customer is truly vigilant." The person in charge narrowed his eyes. The voice sounded like a young person's, but it was most likely a disguise. After all, several Star Kings couldn't track him, and even a hired Star Venerate lost the trail… A Star Emperor? Unlikely. He shook his head, giving up on finding this person's identity. Since this person was so capable and so cautious, they were clearly not someone to be trifled with. Cautious in their actions, unwilling to cause any trouble… the black market quite liked this type of buyer.
"Notify A Qi. The client is reliable. The transaction will be in three days."
Thirty minutes of disguise was enough for Wen Yuncheng to leave the black market completely.
She took off her black robe and mask in a small alley before deactivating her disguise and emerging. "Is the black market always this cautious, or is it only because the owner of this special item is either Fu or the Empire?"
[They're probably always this cautious. When it comes to high-risk transactions, they're exceptionally so.]
"If they were really afraid, they wouldn't have established a black market in the first place." Wen Yuncheng scoffed and walked out of the alley. Three days later? Once she made contact with that middleman and planted a tracker on him… the plan could proceed smoothly.
Whether the seller of the dragon blood was a "mole" or a "parasite" within the Empire's research institute, or a member of the Fu organization, the one she was luring out was a big fish.
In any case, the secret realm promised by the First Princess was secured.
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