Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 783 - 749: Must Never Be Left Alive (Part 2)
With a few robust demon cultivators in tow, he arrived at the Searing Flame Business Association, and with a wave of his hand, he ordered, "Have the shop’s staff go to the accountant to collect their wages, then find their own way from here."
"Someone, take down this sign for me first!"
"Seal it afterward with a seal strip, and post our notice right on the business’s main entrance so that all passing merchants can see this is the fate of those who do not adhere to the Alliance’s conventions!"
"Clang!"
"Crash!"
With a loud commotion, the thousand-year-old sign and plaque of the Searing Flame Business Association were reduced to shambles, drawing countless demon cultivators to stop and watch the spectacle.
Taking advantage of the moment, Wang Yingzhuo proclaimed loudly, "Everyone, since we’re doing business on Trapped Snake Island and under the Alliance’s protection, we must follow the rules! The Searing Flame Business Association, a brand with a thousand years of history, has ended up like this today all due to boundless greed..."
"What’s wrong with the Searing Flame Business Association? Weren’t they fine just the other day when I passed by?"
"Not even just the other day; they were open for business just yesterday. I’ve heard that the Head Shopkeeper collected a vast amount of payments in advance but was killed due to an uneven split of the spoils."
"Gosh! So bold? The Alliance explicitly prohibits this to prevent such chaos!"
"I’ve heard it wasn’t done on Trapped Snake Island, but Li Dehai took the old customers elsewhere to collect money, so the market manager couldn’t regulate it."
"Well, serves them right! What face do they have left to demand justice from the market manager?"
"It’s fortunate that the market manager is broad-minded and charitable, and coupled with the Demon Realm Alliance’s merchants’ interests in mind. Although it had nothing to do with them, since it was recorded on the Searing Flame Business Association’s books, they spared no effort to capture the mastermind and recover nearly ten million pieces of Immortal Jade in losses."
"I heard the market manager offered a reward of fifty thousand Spirit Stones out of his own pocket to find clues!"
"Not only that, I’ve also heard that the market manager specifically invited an Elder from the Ancient Ten Great Sects’ Cloud Concealment Sect to perform geomancy divination and accurately determine Li Dehai’s whereabouts."
"Wow! The market manager is quite something!"
"Indeed! I’ve heard from my cousin’s senior sister’s neighbor’s godfather’s nephew who works in the Demon Realm Alliance’s Law Enforcement Hall. They say it was the Iron-faced Young Master leading the team to investigate the case in Silver Valley. Only upon arrival did they realize those five notorious merchants were rotten to the core and had severely bullied the local people. Now that they’re dealt with, they’ve saved the entire city; the Alliance is truly doing good deeds..."
......
Among the onlooking demon cultivators were Wang Yingzhuo’s planted informants, who took advantage of the gossipy atmosphere to loudly publicize how diligently the market manager worked and how considerate and generous the Demon Realm Alliance was in handling this significant case.
Hou Ze was so stunned he hastily found a secluded spot to contact Mr. Jiang using a Communication Stone.
"The market manager exaggerated the story, saying the Elder from Cloud Concealment Sect personally performed the divination?" Jiang Yuan laughed after hearing this. "Actually, I do happen to have a waist token from Cloud Concealment Sect’s Honored Guest Elder in my storage bag."
"Could this cause trouble?" Hou Ze was a bit worried, since it involved the human cultivators’ sects, which often didn’t get along with demon cultivators. If word spread back to Cloud Concealment Sect and they held them accountable, what then?
"It won’t," Jiang Yuan responded without a second thought. "If the Demon Realm Alliance starts hyping it up and truly begins questioning which Elder of Cloud Concealment Sect performed the divination, you can shift the blame onto me."
Hou Ze was completely stunned, wondering about Mr. Jiang’s extensive network. That was one of the Ancient Ten Great Sects’ Cloud Concealment Sect!
Oh, right, I remember Yutang mentioning that there’s a human cultivator named Xie living in the courtyard, who seemed to be from some sect or another? He hadn’t listened attentively back then, but thinking back, it’s not unusual for Mr. Jiang, being a human cultivator, to have connections with the human sects.
"By the way, I’ve heard that the Demon Realm Alliance’s Law Enforcement Hall seized the five notorious merchants in Silver Valley, and once everything is settled, they’ll refund the merchants; the market manager is now sealing the Searing Flame Business Association and arranging the shop’s staff..."
Hou Ze recounted everything he had heard, finishing with the fifty-thousand Spirit Stones’ reward.
Jiang Yuan told him to keep it, as setting up Teleportation Arrays and restocking would require money, and fifty thousand Spirit Stones would accomplish quite a bit.
"I need to think of another way to earn some money," Jiang Yuan mused after hanging up. Glancing at his account balance, he casually opened his personal interface.
That inconspicuous line of small text showed the exchange rate had shifted from 1:100 to 1:200!
Meaning, the system had credited the collapse of the Searing Flame Business Association and the annihilation of the five notorious merchants to him.
"Good deeds! Earning 200 points of health a day, how can it not be considered a good deed." Though he said this, he couldn’t understand why doing a small job to earn a little cash had led to the Searing Flame Business Association’s outright demise within three days.
Had he truly triggered some kind of cause and effect?
Was he merely a catalyst, and his mere involvement caused a violent reaction, leading already problematic but manageable companies and associations to be crushed by the last straw?
If so, his passive skills were indeed quite formidable, silently ruining unscrupulous merchants.
"Help! Help!"
Jiang Yuan was fishing in his small courtyard while pondering these causality questions when he suddenly heard a desperate cry for help from afar.
The courtyard members were either going to dungeons or had teleported to fight in Carefree City; only Yun Ying was left practicing the Puppet Master Cultivation Technique, and Yun Que was cultivating. The home was quiet, with only the gentle sound of the Spirit Pool, making the call for help all the more harrowing.
"Sir! It’s a voice from outside; let me go with you to check it out!" Little Yun Que extended her wings and flew to his shoulder, decisively stating, "Sister Qing Niao says saving lives can enhance one’s fortune. I want to save more people!"
Jiang Yuan stood up and replied, "It might be the Mist Cloud Hunters of the Cloud Prairie encountering trouble. Let’s go take a look."
Stepping out of the folded courtyard, cries for help wafted over from afar.
"Over there!" Yun Que flapped her wings, "A lot of monsters are emerging from that cloud! Oh, they’re all so ugly!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she flicked her tail and extended her wings, releasing a small flame from her beak like an arrow, shooting straight toward the massive demon beast chasing the cultivators in the distance!
Everything happened in an instant.
As Little Yun Que spat out the fire, Jiang Yuan had already released three flying swords, darting forward at an even greater speed to aid;
At the same time, his invisible fire wings were deftly in use, carrying Little Yun Que on his shoulder as he flew directly towards the nearest demon cultivator.
"Help me!" The wolf demon’s cry for help was already hoarse, feeling the gale from sharp claws approaching the back of his neck, he realized he couldn’t escape, and closed his eyes in despair, growling.
Yet in the next second, he heard the sound of metal colliding; his body suddenly floated lightly, then gently touched the ground.
The scent of soil and fresh grass filled his nostrils, making him realize he was still alive. Instinctively curling up, he turned his head to look—it was a lone, slender figure walking in midair, raising his right hand to summon thunderclouds in the sky.
"Crack!"
A terrifying bolt of lightning struck directly onto the pursuing monster, twitching a few times before being cleaved in half by its lifesaver using flames!
The air was immediately filled with the scent of charred flesh and skin.
[Do Good Deeds Every Day: Fortune +1; Lucky Draw +1]
"Are you alright?" Jiang Yuan asked, using the Earth Spirit Flame to kill the demon beast and automatically retrieve it into his storage bag, noticing the other three fleeing demon cultivators were saved by the flying swords. He turned back and asked, "Are your injuries severe?"
The wolf demon just rescued had only a little left on his health bar, but he shook his head repeatedly, "No, no, my injuries are not serious. Thank you, Senior, for saving my life!
We are the Mist Cloud Hunters. We thought we were lucky to find a treasure this night but didn’t expect that cloud seemed to connect to elsewhere.
Normally we’d occasionally encounter demon beasts in the cloud, but after killing one tonight, dozens of larger and more ferocious ones emerged. We couldn’t fend them off and had to flee in panic..."
Narrowly escaping death, he was a bit incoherent, but eventually explained the circumstances.
"Sir, this big one is rather difficult to deal with!" Little Yun Que flew up and down, assisting the Dragon Roar Sword in capturing a demon beast, spitting fire from time to time. However, their combined attack power was insufficient to kill a single demon beast quickly.
[Cloud Beast: Advanced creature. An unknown origin demon beast, hiding within the Mist Clouds, seemingly a type of "vanguard." They often take turns occupying the role of guard, quietly drifting within the cloud. If the guard is killed, numerous Cloud Beasts will emerge to clear out all living beings within a hundred-mile radius. Appearance is hideous but has tender flesh, can be eaten raw. Killing them may drop refining materials: Cloud Beast Horn.]
Seeing the system’s detailed information pop up, Jiang Yuan squinted slightly—clearing out all living creatures within a hundred miles?
Tsk tsk, my small courtyard is not far from here; letting these demon beasts break through is just not acceptable, is it?
