~~The content of the previous one hundred and forty-seven chapters was posted incorrectly and has been corrected here. Unfortunately, I'm unable to make changes elsewhere. I sincerely apologize.~~
Duan Jian was still remarkably strong. After a moment, he wiped away his tears, stood up, and dropped to one knee before Nie Li. Gazing at Nie Li with determination, he said, "Duan Jian is always at his master's command." His thoughts were simple — Nie Li had given him hope of vengeance. From this day forward, Nie Li was his god, and no matter what Nie Li asked of him, he would not retreat a single step.
Nie Li searched the nearby ground and found a discarded Space Ring. He swept his gaze over it — inside, besides fifty Radiance Stones, there were all manner of weapons, armor, herbs, ores, and more, a dazzling assortment. What surprised Nie Li even further was that several years' worth of food supplies were also stored within.
With the Radiance Stones, they could leave this place whenever they wanted. He then retrieved the Space Rings belonging to the other four Gold-rank powerhouses as well. While their contents weren't as rich as Sikong Jue's, there was still plenty.
"In ten days, we'll cause a major stir at the Silver Wing Family, then bring back Ning'er,
"Reporting to Master, there are thirteen great families here, with extremely complicated relationships. Some families have formed alliances with one another, while others hold deep grudges. The three most powerful are the Silver Wing Family, the Divine Flame Family, and the Azure Wolf Family. Each of these three families has a Legendary-rank powerhouse. The remaining families mostly only have Black Gold-rank experts, but given that they've managed to establish themselves in these deep mountains, they all have their own means. Besides these thirteen families, there are also many villages settled throughout the deep mountains. The strongest cultivators in those villages are usually only Gold-rank at best, and the villagers frequently have to pay tribute, or they'll be captured and enslaved by the thirteen families," Duan Jian said.
Three Legendary-rank powerhouses and a large number of Black Gold-rank experts — Nie Li hadn't expected this pocket dimension to contain so many powerful individuals. However, due to the scarcity of Demon Spirits, the Legendary-rank experts here had difficulty finding suitable Demon Spirits to fuse with, so most of them were Legendary-rank Warriors rather than Legendary-rank Demon Spirit Masters, their strength far inferior to that of
These families had set themselves up as lords over the mountains, unchecked by anyone, and were undoubtedly up to all sorts of mischief. Nie Li looked at Duan Jian and asked, "Of these thirteen families, which one is the most righteous?"
"Reporting to Master, of these thirteen families, the Divine Flame Family is the most upright. Their strength is second only to the Silver Wing Family. The Silver Wing Family has long sought to devour the other families, and the Divine Flame Family rallied four other families to oppose them, keeping the Silver Wing Family in check. Additionally, the thirteen families have a trading town that was originally unmanaged and extremely chaotic. The leaders of all the families held discussions. The old thief
"A town?" Nie Li raised an eyebrow. "We still have nine days before the agreed-upon time. Why don't we go take a look? We might discover something useful."
"Absolutely not! There are spies from every family there, and certainly plenty of Silver Wing Family people as well. If we show up, within a few hours the news will reach the old thief Sikong Yi's ears," Duan Jian said urgently.
"Don't worry about that." Nie Li smiled and took out some items, applying them to his face with practiced motions. In moments, his facial features had completely transformed into those of an entirely different person.
Duan Jian stared in shock at Nie Li's dramatically altered appearance, stunned for a long while.
"Give it a try yourself." Nie Li tossed Duan Jian a portion of the specially formulated Cloud Mud.
Duan Jian gave it a try as well and quickly transformed into an ugly, hulking man.
"Ha ha." Seeing Duan Jian's appearance, Nie Li couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing. It was Duan Jian's first time using the Cloud Mud, and he wasn't very skilled with it yet, but it was good enough.
Duan Jian looked somewhat awkward and self-conscious as he quickly disposed of the Silver Wing Family members' corpses.
Whoosh, whoosh — the two of them leaped into the air, with Nie Li following Duan Jian's lead as they headed straight for the trading town of the thirteen families.
It was hard to imagine that in these mountain forests overrun with Demon Beasts, there existed such a prosperous marketplace. The market stretched for several li, filled with buildings constructed from rough timber logs, defensive watchtowers, and more. Numerous simply dressed people set up stalls in the open areas, trading all sorts of goods, their calls and haggling rising and falling in a constant din.
Besides the thirteen families, there were also residents from the various villages. The people in the town普遍 looked gaunt and malnourished.
From what Duan Jian had told him, food was extremely scarce here. The thirteen families fared somewhat better, barely able to sustain their members' needs, but the villagers outside had it worse. The flesh of most of the Demon Beasts in this pocket dimension had a rancid, sour taste and was inedible. The one or two edible species had been hunted to near extinction, so most of the food came from farming and gathering wild fruits and mushrooms from the mountains.
Food was the most valuable thing here!
As for food, Nie Li had no interest whatsoever. Although the
Aside from food, however, there were other things that truly piqued Nie Li's interest.