The transaction which took place between Lu Ming and the manager of the merchant guild was experienced by the shadow. He was amazed by the first pill taken out by Lu Ming. It was already more valuable than anything they had. Upon following their conversation, he even came to find out that there were ten pills, even superior quality to the ones before.
He began to lament his decision of underestimating Lu Ming. They could have made a huge profit out of this trade. The value was visible by the transfer of the gold card to Lu Ming. It already signified how enormous the trade was. HE knew what the outcome of this report was going to be.
When the girl behind the curtains finally heard the whole conversation, which transpired between Lu Ming and the manager, she banged her fist on the table.
"Call that bastard out and give him 1000 thrashes before crippling his cultivation and kicking him out."
"As per that young Master Hai, capture him and beat him to near death. It's time we teach our customers the etiquette they need to follow when trading with our organization. Also, take out some good treasures and follow me to meet the man."
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Lu Ming left the guild and made his way to the nearest food stalls to gather supplies for his journey. Although cultivators didn't require to eat or sleep due to cultivation, Lu Ming desired to lay down his burdens and enjoy life every once in a while.
He made his way to the biggest restaurant in the nearby area. "I welcome sir, to our humble establishment. Would like to book a table for one?"
"Take me to the location having the best scenery in the whole building.". The waiter asked Lu Ming to follow him upstairs and finally arrived at a window-side seat. Lu Ming sat down and ordered the waiter to bring all their top dishes to try. He tossed some middle-grade Qi stones to the waiter, who looked at it with an amazed expression.
Low-grade stones were used to pay for the dishes, and this customer was generous enough to tip him with middle-grade stones. He instantly bowed and left to arrange the dishes.
Lu Ming was viewing the area around when a familiar voice sounded once again. "I didn't expect to find this bastard here."
"Is he the one who took the last seat at the restaurant?" It was none other than young master Hai, who arrived with a lady by his side. He was cursing at the waiter to arrange him a seat. "I request sir to wait for a vacancy. All the seats are occupied as of now."
"Is that so." Young master Hai laughed and walked towards Lu Ming. He paused beside Lu Ming and banged his fists on the table. "This master has taken a liking to this table, vacate it and find your seat elsewhere."
Lu Ming didn't reply for some time but looked at the waiter, who stood there with his head down and an apologizing gaze. Lu Ming sighed and looked back at the scenery.
���Are your deaf you bastard? I ordered you to get your ass off this seat and fuck off. I…" A hand suddenly grabbed Young master Hai's neck and choked his breath. He was then thrown out of the restaurants and his guards beaten down.
It all happened so suddenly that no one had any time to react. A figure appeared in front of the bruised body of Young master Hai and took out a silver card from his vest. "You are hereby banned from entering our guild. Your cultivation would be crippled on sight by our members."
Young master didn't understand what happened. The man who beat him down was an officer of the biggest merchant guild around. Why would he injure a valuable customer like him?
Meanwhile, Lu Ming was unfazed and still gazing at distant scenery and enjoying the food which just arrived.
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"May I have the good fortune to have a seat on this table." A gracious figure appeared beside Lu Ming. Her beautiful face and well-defined curves mesmerized the atmosphere and made it hard for some men to even breathe. One would be fortunate to be able to court her, but the one sitting at the table didn't even bother to look up.
"as per my memory, I have booked this whole table for myself, and there is no rule stating to share it with anyone. Hence, it would be appreciated if I was left alone."
The lady laughed a bit and took a seat. She took out a small wooden box. "I would like to ask for your forgiveness for this intrusion, as well as the behavior of one of our employees earlier this day." A man appeared beside her carrying another small box.
"As a token of apology, I would request young Taoist to accept these tributes and not have a blind judgment regarding our organization." She signaled and the man beside her opened up the box he was carrying. It had a golden card within it. "This is an exclusive membership card for esteemed guests. Please accept it."
Lu Ming turned to look at her and gave out a huge laugh.
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"I really love to see all the hypocrisy in the world. If not for the materials I carry with myself, you wouldn't even bother to get justice for a customer who was defamed in your own organization. Now that your spy managed to eavesdrop on my conversation and knew about my treasures, you want to prove yourself as righteous."
Both the girl and the man looked at Lu Ming with shock. "I would rather not do trade with such a selfish group of peoples."
The man beside her seemed agitated upon hearing Lu Ming's words. "How dare you?' he was about to move forward when the girl suddenly raised her hands to stop him. "I beg your pardon for my servant's attitude. We don't come bearing any hatred and are extremely embarrassed about our previous discourtesy. I would like to apologize for the inconvenience and am truly hopeful of establishing a friendship with sir."
Lu Ming was impressed by the girl's behavior. She didn't even react to his harsh comments. A devious merchant to the core. He decided to push it a bit further and see what happens.
"A sadistic bitch with a mentality to run after fortune is not someone I would like to trade with. What happens if some day you are no longer able to get any benefits out of me. You would just go ahead and become someone else's bitch."
Her guard couldn't take it anymore and released an offensive aura. Level 5 Qi general could intimidate most of the cultivators in this region. but when the aura was about to approach Lu Ming it suddenly got dissipated and the man gave out a loud scream. It felt like his soul was being torn open.
The girl was shocked to see the view. She was going to stop the man beside her, but the scene as of now was way different. The guard beside her was a level 5 Qi general. He would be positioned as an esteemed elder of the sects around this place, but he was kneeling down and screaming out of pain.
The phenomena couldn't be described by common sense and she could only stare at her servant with disbelief.
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When she looked at Lu Ming, he had a smile plastered all over his face, a vicious aura pouring out of his body. A level 5 Qi general at such a young age and his means seemed to be extraordinary. "I request esteemed sir to pardon my servant. He wouldn't be able to take the torture any further. We would like to compensate for the inconvenience caused to you." She took out another Qi ring and forwarded it to Lu Ming.
"I didn't want us to have a confrontation. This contains enough amount of resources to help in your cultivation for a bit. I would be taking my leave now." Lu Ming released the guard and retracted his aura.
The tables seemed to have turned. Her plans had failed and escaping was the best option in this situation. She called out for the guards stationed outside and ordered them to carry the man's body out of the restaurant. "I still hope for friendly cooperation." She bowed and exited the restaurant
"Another batch of wine for me, and parcel ten batches of all the food I just had." Lu Ming continued his meal.
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A corner of the forest regions-
A group of men was rushing towards the Jiao country at an extremely fast pace. Their leader, who stood out among the group was conversing with one of his men.
"you sure about her appearing in these regions."
"I was inspecting these regions during the war between the Jiao and Chu countries. I am sure she is a general of the Jiao military and was leading a troop against another QI general. Her current cultivation should be in level 3 of Qi general realm."
"We need to verify and capture her if possible. She is the one our leader is after for a long time."
"I am afraid It wouldn't be possible." A distant voice sounded from within the surrounding trees. The men halted their progress and started to stare around with caution. A swift breeze of air soon passed through the group, and blood sprayed all around. Ten heads were lying in a huge pool of blood.
"How did they know about this location" An old voice sounded out.
"The war this time seems to have attracted their attention and one of the spies must have got a glimpse of young miss. We need to report this matter to the master. The enemy would soon arrive at our doors. We need to evacuate ASAP."
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Long Tao was bust with his troop training. The blackbuck squad was progressing at a great speed. 5 of the cultivators were recently promoted to Qi general realm, strengthening the overall power of the squad.
Long Tao was bust coronating them with an award for their progress when a sudden arrival surprised the whole venue. It was the general of the north-eastern military region. The general was greeted with a salute by the whole squad and he personally congratulated the newly promoted soldiers.
"I welcome the general to my humble camp. May I know the reason for this sudden visit."
The general asked for a private meeting with Long Tao. Long Tao immediately asked the squad to disperse back to their training and proceeded towards his camp. Once they were alone in his camp, the general asked for the reports regarding the current governance and control over the new region.
"All is going well, sir. I would be able to gain full control in the next 3 months."
"I would like to ask you a personal question, vice-general."
"Do you love Su Menqi?". Long Tao was taken back by the question. He simply started at the general for a long time.
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"I don't mean to amaze you. I have come today to confess my relation with her…".
"She is our daughter." A feminine voice sounded. Long Tao turned around a saw a lovely woman walking into the tent. After a good enough stare, he was finally able to place his thoughts in the right place. She had a great resemblance to Su Menqi's look.
"Our daughter seemed to be infatuated with you, and hence we would like to clarify something on her behalf. If you truly decide to accompany her, you will be facing deadly enemies throughout your life. there won't be a single minute of your day when you can let your guard down."
"Do you still wish to accompany her, after knowing the consequences?"
