Moments later, Qianye and Ji Tianqing headed north from Southern Blue. He knew there was no stopping anything this young miss was set on doing. At first, she was supposed to monitor the reorganization of the mercenaries in the city, but she had pushed aside such an important job without a second thought.
Qianye tried to object in a tactful manner since Dark Flame could be considered the foundation of their new nation. Nonetheless, Ji Tianqing had an excuse—she wanted to let those disloyal people take action during this short absence and round them all up after her holiday.
Ji Tianqing’s words were fairly tyrannical and she did look the part, but she also let slip her true thoughts by describing the journey as a holiday.
The two arrived outside of Tidehark a couple of days later. This was nominally the number one human city, and also the place where Zhang Buzhou rose to fame. Built along the mountainside less than ten kilometers away from the sea, Tidehark’s walls and towers stood dozens of meters tall—it was a majestic city.
Standing side by side outside of the city gates, Qianye reminded one last time. “I heard the city lord is a divine champion, we must be careful.”
Ji Tianqing replied impatiently, “Everyone has some way to deal with a divine champion, let’s hurry in!”
Tidehark was different from Seagaze in that there was a certain distance between the city and the sea. The coastline was lined with shoal rocks, most of which were polished until they glistened and shone. Not to mention cities, there wasn’t even a single fisherman village or any humans for that matter.
The landscape around Tidehark was also different from other cities. The ground fell sharply a few dozen meters beyond the beach, forming an unfathomably deep sea-trench. This allowed even giant sea creatures to make their way near the shore without being discovered.
Those brave souls who had dared to wander near the waters had long since been devoured.
As dangerous as the beach was, the mountain behind Tidehark was actually a holy land for cultivation. The converging leylines meant that there were several large ore-veins hidden beneath the hills, and these veins would react with the void origin power outside, allowing for a large amount of relatively gentle origin power to accumulate here. It was indeed a peerless cultivation heaven.
Zhang Buzhou had cultivated in seclusion here when he was young and rose to fame in one battle after becoming a divine champion. Hence, more and more people gathered here, making Tidehark the bustling number one human city it was today.
Zhang Buzhou no longer needed the environment here, so he left the Eastern Sea for isolated cultivation and was never heard from again. He left one of his past followers in Tidehark to serve as its lord.
The city lord Luo Bingfeng had never taken action in his thirty years of becoming a champion. No one knew what rank he was at because he had been cultivating in Zhang Buzhou’s old cave residence all this time. Some even made guesses that Luo Bingfeng had already caught up to Zhang Buzhou and was preparing himself to assail the heavenly monarch realm.
Although not many people believe this, it was widely accepted that Luo Bingfeng’s strength was unfathomable. This was also the reason why the Wolf King remained in check despite probing the human race’s bottom line constantly.
Qianye’s current target was Luo Bingfeng’s weapons factory, so they had to be discreet. Even if the man wasn’t home at the moment, provoking a powerful enemy wasn’t a smart move at all.
Bao Zhuan’s weapons were mostly produced by Cui Yuanhai. Qianye had planned to rely on his Bloodline Concealment ability to find the old man and take him away covertly. This young lady, however, seemed to be itching for a battle—and maybe even to meet Luo Bingfeng himself.
Qianye laughed wryly. He could only hope that the girl would have some powerful trick up her sleeve if the man actually appeared.
Tidehark was a majestic city, and there was never a shortage of people passing through its many gates.
Qianye and Ji Tianqing followed the flow of people and easily arrived inside the city. The latter grabbed a passerby and asked, “Where’s the best guesthouse in the city?”
The man glanced at Ji Tianqing with spirited eyes. “There are too many guesthouses in the city, but if you say the best guesthouse, then it has to be ‘Cloudborn Inn’. That’s an extraordinary place where Zhang Buzhou once stayed for a period of time. His courtyard remains untouched even today…”
The passerby wanted to keep on talking, but Ji Tianqing waved her hand at him and swaggered off. Startled, the man gave chase, saying, “Miss, miss! I’m surnamed Zhou, my name’s… Miss?”
Ji Tianqing had long since vanished. The passerby looked about but to no avail. In the end, he stomped his feet angrily and said, “What’s so good about that little brat? This young master owns property in this city!”
The angry passerby had long since been forgotten as Ji Tianqing ran through the streets and alleys with Qianye in tow.
After a long while of running, Qianye realized that something wasn’t right and halted his steps. Ji Tianqing also had to stop because she was holding Qianye’s hand this whole time.
“Where are we going?”
Ji Tianqing blinked innocently. “Cloudborn Inn!”
“Do you know where it is?”
“Didn’t that man say so just now?”
“He only said there’s a Cloudborn Inn, but not where it was located.”
“Really?”
“Yes!” Qianye wasn’t going to give her a chance.
Ji Tianqing shrugged with a sigh. “Fine, let’s just take a stroll around here until we find it.”
Qianye finally confirmed that they were running about randomly just now.
He couldn’t help but raise his hands, not knowing how to express his emotions. In the end, he said, “Tianqing, I’m here to save someone.”
“I know, but won’t we need to familiarize ourselves with the lay of the land for that?”
“That’s not wrong, but…”
Judging from Ji Tianqing’s guilty appearance, Qianye couldn’t bear to utter more words of blame. He sighed, saying, “Go and take a stroll after we get to the inn. I want to check on the location and defenses of the weapons factory.”
Ji Tianqing looked depressed as she shook her head. “That’s no fun, let’s get our main job over with first.”
Qianye felt puzzled, but Ji Tianqing had always been unfathomable and mysterious. No one knew what her real emotions were.
Cloudborn Inn was indeed the best guesthouse in the entirety of Tidehark. The two quickly found their way there after asking around a bit.
This was a guesthouse built in the style of imperial aristocratic families, with every brick and roof tile tastefully chosen. As someone who had been to the Zhao and Song residences before, he could tell that the imitation here was fairly well-done, a rare sight in the neutral lands.
Ji Tianqing seemed quite satisfied with the place. She immediately asked the attendant to prepare a quiet little courtyard and checked into it with Qianye.
The little compound was fairly clean and included a weather control array, allowing green bamboo to grow around the patio. The room down to its decor and choice of vases was also fairly exquisite.
The young miss nodded in satisfaction. “This place is passable.”
Qianye had grown up accustomed to the wilderness, so he didn’t care much for the quality of his lodgings. After settling in, he quickly left the inn to investigate the location of the weapons factory.
Luo Bingfeng’s factories were naturally the biggest in Tidehark, occupying an entire street block. While relatively easy to locate, such an important area was naturally well-guarded. The workshop was adjacent to the city guard barracks, and there were sentry turrets on all four corners of the compound. There were also soldiers patrolling the walls.
The external defensive measures weren’t that big of an issue, but Qianye knew for sure that there were experts overseeing the place, and there might be more than just one.
The problem was that Qianye wasn’t really familiar with Tidehark, nor did he have any contacts here. He thus had no idea regarding the internal structure of the factory. He had no way to find out whether Cui Yuanhai was inside, much less his location, schedule, and habits.
Hiding in the crowd, Qianye walked around the entire factory and mapped out a general outline of the interior before returning.
“Found him?” Ji Tianqing inquired.
Qianye nodded. “But I don’t know where the old man lives. The compound is fairly big and I have no one to ask.”
“Are you sure he’s inside?”
Qianye replied, “He’s in there, but there’s a fairly complex array inside preventing my perception from finding the location.”
Ji Tianqing smiled meaningfully. “If we can find the old man, do you plan to snatch him and make an escape?”
“This…” Qianye didn’t know what to say.
In truth, that was a fairly normal choice. With Qianye’s combat strength, launching a surprise attack at the most opportune moment was the best way. When the time comes, he would leave Tidehark with Cui Yuanhai and either find a place to hide him or return to Southern Blue. Ji Tianqing would surely notice the great commotion in the city and return on her own later on.
But for some reason, Qianye felt a bit guilty under her bright gaze. It was almost as though he was doing her some injustice.
“Fine, no need to reply.” In a rare change of character, Ji Tianqing decided to let Qianye off.
She quickly packed up her compact luggage and caused it to vanish with a pat. Qianye wasn’t really too surprised that she possessed spatial equipment.
“Since we’re sure that the man is here, let’s raid the base at night,” said Ji Tianqing.
“But how do we pinpoint the location?” Qianye frowned. He knew he wasn’t stronger than Ji Tianqing in the field of perception.
“I have my ways.” The young miss wasn’t willing to divulge anything.
The silent night soon fell upon the city as Qianye and Ji Tianqing arrived beside the weapons factory. They jumped into the compound and, from atop one of the cannon turrets, got a good view of the entire place. Being able to hide from the guards wasn’t enough—Qianye’s perception was still messed up and unable to find out the old man’s location.
At this moment, the workshops were still well lit and the smiths inside were busy working.
Ji Tianqing rose halfway into the air and unleashed a loud cry, “Cui Yuanhai, come out. We’re here to save you!”
