Yang Kai's eyes lit up and he quickly asked, "Does Dingfeng City have any Seventh-rank Yin-attributed or Gold-attributed Inner Cores?"
Pang Duo smiled bitterly. "Brother Yang, Seventh-rank demon beasts aren't something we can just go out and slay. If a Seventh-rank demon beast actually showed up here, Dingfeng City would've been leveled long ago. We don't even have any Sixth-rank ones in stock. If you need Fifth-rank Inner Cores, we might be able to give you a few."
What good were Fifth-rank cores? Yang Kai had assumed that Dingfeng City, having stood here for over a thousand years, would surely have accumulated some Inner Cores—there might even be something he needed among them. Now he realized Dingfeng City wasn't nearly as prosperous as he'd imagined.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Their strength was what it was. A Seventh-rank demon beast could likely match an ordinary mid-stage Open Heaven cultivator—how could they possibly fight one?
With no Seventh-rank cores available, Yang Kai had no further requests to make. He'd only come here to recuperate, and now that his injuries were roughly seventy to eighty percent healed, it was about time he left.
The room fell silent for a moment.
"Wuxin, go rest and focus on your recovery," Pang Duo said after a pause, waving Fan Wuxin away.
Fan Wuxin immediately withdrew.
Just then, Jing'er returned—but she was alone, and there was something odd about the expression on her face.
The usually quiet Gongyang Xi asked in confusion, "Where's Elder Tan?"
Jing'er replied, "I didn't see Elder Tan. His quarters are completely empty."
"How can that be?" Pang Duo exclaimed in shock. "Did you search the city? Could Elder Tan be recovering somewhere?"
Before Jing'er could answer, hurried footsteps came from outside, followed by someone shouting in panic, "Report! The Golden Baboon King has arrived!"
"What?" Jin Yuanlang gasped, leaping to his feet. "How can it be here again? Wasn't it just here not long ago?"
The others all wore grave expressions, as though something catastrophic was about to occur.
Yang Kai and Qu Huashang exchanged a glance, having no idea who—or what—this Golden Baboon King was that had the people of Dingfeng City so on edge.
"Report!"
Another cry reached everyone's ears, and with the shout, a figure landed in the City Lord's Hall.
"Speak!" Mo Mei commanded in a stern voice.
The man clasped his fists and reported, "City Lord, Elder Tan previously forced open the restrictions on the grand formation and left alone. The formation is now malfunctioning, and the gates are wide open!"
"Insolent!" Mo Mei rose to her feet, fury etched across her face. The others' expressions had all changed drastically as well.
This was truly a case of one misfortune compounding another. The Golden Baboon King's sudden arrival alone would have been bad enough. If the grand formation were still functioning properly, they could have bought themselves time no matter how dire the situation. But now that Tan Luoxing had forcibly disrupted it, leaving the formation sluggish and unreliable—it was as if he'd tossed Dingfeng City onto a grill. If this wasn't handled properly today, the city could very well be wiped from the face of the earth.
Pang Duo stared blankly for a moment. "Why would Elder Tan force open the grand formation? And why would he leave?"
Qu Huashang said, "You really are dense. Tan Luoxing obviously fled."
"Fled?" Pang Duo could hardly believe it. He was about to ask why Tan Luoxing would run when it suddenly dawned on him.
He clearly knew that his earlier slander of Yang Kai had been exposed. Fearing the City Lord's punishment and feeling too ashamed to remain in Dingfeng City, he had cut his losses and fled. After all, the incident he'd caused had blown up considerably. No one had died—but that was only because Yang Kai had shown restraint. The number of wounded, however, was staggering.
None of this would have happened if he hadn't spouted lies in the first place. As an Elder of Dingfeng City, he had let his personal desires cloud his judgment—repaying kindness with treachery, bringing shame upon the city, and causing it immense losses.
He'd simply lost face too badly to stay.
"We'll deal with Elder Tan later. Right now, our priority is the Golden Baboon King!" Mo Mei descended the City Lord's throne step by step, her voice steady, her bearing commanding. "It has come here for tribute. As long as we meet its demands, it will leave on its own. Mu Qianxuan, how much tribute does Dingfeng City have left?"
Mu Qianxuan replied, "Not much—only four or five pieces. It usually comes once every year or two, giving us plenty of time to hunt demon beasts and gather tribute. It was only a month since its last visit, which cleared out nearly all our reserves. The hunting teams that went out haven't returned yet. Where would we get more tribute?"
Though she had suspected this would be the answer, hearing Mu Qianxuan's report still made Mo Mei's heart sink.
Without tribute, they couldn't send the Golden Baboon King away. For Dingfeng City, that meant utter destruction.