After seeing off Gandalf, Chen Xu chatted with Big Boss about the matters concerning the three open cities.
“Big Boss, how is the promotional work going on your end? Are there any well-known enterprises from the myriad worlds willing to invest and enter the market?”
“My Lord, we have already spent a considerable amount on promotion, and many factions are willing to move into the Land of the Undead. However, the business scopes of some of these factions make me feel a bit uneasy.”
“Oh? Uneasy? Tell me, which factions are they?”
“My Lord, five factions have contacted me so far. Two of them are relatively normal: one is the high-level planet merchant we traded with before, and the other is a world-renowned pharmaceutical power, the Alchemy Bottle and Cauldron.
That previous batch of necrotic treasures was sold to the Alchemy Bottle and Cauldron. They are curious whether refining pills in a special world like the Land of the Undead will produce unexpected effects, so they are interested in setting up shop here.
However, the other three are also quite famous, but their reputations are somewhat negative.
They are the Spirit Weapon Pavilion, which specializes in casting; the Soul Mansion, which sells intelligence and assassination services; and the Golden Shimmering King, who is known as the number one black market merchant in the myriad worlds.”
Hearing this, Chen Xu was somewhat puzzled. It was understandable that an assassination organization and a black market merchant would be unwelcome, but why was a weapon-forging faction also disliked?
“Why is the Spirit Weapon Pavilion ranked alongside the other two?”
“My Lord, you may not know this, but the Spirit Weapon Pavilion believes that all things have spirits and that forging tools with spirit is the only way to create superior items in this world.
That sounds fine on the surface, but their so-called spirit ignition is not like yours, where you use supreme creation to directly enlighten the intelligence of dead objects.
Instead, they use the blood of countless living beings to soak weapons, attempting to use the spirit of the living to inspire the spirit of the inanimate.
While others use water or other essences to quench their blades, they use the blood of living people.
While others use the resonance of their own craftsman's soul to give birth to an artifact spirit, they use the lives of thousands to spawn evil spirits.
Furthermore, their clients are all ruthless villains from the myriad worlds—either evil cultivators or homicidal maniacs.”
Big Boss's reasoning was simple: the clients of such a faction were generally not good people, and letting them into the Land of the Undead might cause unnecessary trouble for Chen Xu.
But Chen Xu didn't care. In a transcendent world, power was the ultimate authority. Once these people entered the Land of the Undead, what they could and couldn't do would be entirely up to him.
As for whether their business was good or bad, Chen Xu wasn't concerned at all. They weren't good people, but then again, was he, the Lord of the Undead, a good person?
If they dared to cause trouble on his turf, he would simply force them into military service within the undead army.
Thus, Chen Xu gave Big Boss an order: “Don't worry about their reputation. As long as they can pay the rent and are famous, let them all in. Whether it's a good reputation or a bad one doesn't matter to me.”
“As you wish.”
...
On the other side, Chen Xu's clone entered the Taikun Martial World through a dungeon entrance on Blue Star.
This entrance was originally located in a remote wilderness, but Daxia had now managed it by building an inn there and constructing a road to connect it to the official highway.
The innkeeper looked up and glanced at 'Chen Xu.' Seeing a fresh face, he was about to ask questions when 'Chen Xu' pulled an invitation from the Dragon-Tiger Martial Arts Hall from his robe and showed it to him.
Seeing that he had a permit, the innkeeper said no more. Although the notifications from above hadn't mentioned anyone coming recently, this invitation was clearly written by Xiang Longwu.
If anything happened, Xiang Longwu would naturally take responsibility, so he was too lazy to interfere.
The innkeeper lowered his head again and lay back on the counter to doze off.
'Chen Xu' took a look and mentally criticized him. The Daxia person in charge of this Taikun world was a total slacker, a world of difference compared to Liu Yisi.
Shaking his head, he turned and walked out of the inn.
As soon as he pushed the door open and stepped outside, a gust of strong wind hit him, carrying a faint, pungent smell of sweat.
'Chen Xu' couldn't help but frown, just as the innkeeper's lazy voice drifted from behind him.
“Don't stand in the doorway too long. There's a martial arts hall not far away. People start practicing punches there from cockcrow until the moon rises.
Most people in the Taikun Martial World are martial idiots, especially those who can enter a hall. Their apprentices train hard, and their punch winds are powerful, carrying the scent of sweat with them.
It's only the hour of the dragon now, so the smell in the wind is still somewhat fresh. Wait until high noon; then it'll really be something.
If you're going to the Dragon-Tiger Martial Arts Hall, go left out the door and follow the path to the main road, then head north. The first big city you see, Xiqiu City, has a Dragon-Tiger Martial Arts Hall inside.”
Hearing this, 'Chen Xu' didn't stay any longer. With a light step and a loud sonic boom, he vanished from the spot.
The shockwave from the sonic boom blew the wooden doors off their hinges, sending them flying toward the counter.
The dozing innkeeper cried out in alarm and leaped over the counter, catching the two wooden doors mid-air.
He opened his mouth to shout an insult, but a blast of pungent wind rushed through the open doorway.
The innkeeper had to shut his mouth immediately. He muttered a curse about his bad luck and dragged the doors back to reinstall them.
The sound of whistling wind rushed past his ears as 'Chen Xu' sped along, soon spotting the Xiqiu City the innkeeper had mentioned.
The style of the Taikun world was somewhat similar to ancient Daxia, with the city filled with wooden houses and people wearing old cloth garments.
The difference was that the streets were packed with martial arts halls and clinics, appearing on almost every block.
There were also many eateries in the city, bustling with noise and excitement.
Many clinics were right next to eateries, with signs indicating they specialized in medicinal cuisine.
For those practicing martial arts, training was three parts of the effort, while eating was seven; with medicine and food sharing the same source, one could achieve twice the result with half the effort.
'Chen Xu' entered from outside the city, and there were no guards checking at the gate. It seemed the Taikun Martial World was quite open; despite the feudal style, their way of doing things was quite modern.
Once inside the city gates, 'Chen Xu' planned to follow the method Xiang Longwu had taught him: find a random child on the street and have them lead him to the Dragon-Tiger Martial Arts Hall.
There was no other way; the main body was in the Undead Dao Court studying the soulstone sealing the demon king, so most of his energy was focused there.
At the moment, this clone, aside from its raw physical strength, was avoiding using mental strength abilities as much as possible.
Soon, Chen Xu found a target on the side of the road: a girl about a meter tall with a ponytail, leaning over the railing of a restaurant, staring at the food inside with drool running down her chin.
Chen Xu walked over and called out to her.
“Hey, kid.”
Hearing someone call, the girl jumped down from the railing. She landed gracefully without kicking up a speck of dust, appearing to have some martial arts training.
She turned around and looked Chen Xu up and down. Seeing his extraordinary clothes, solid muscles, and the sharp glint in his eyes, she recognized him as a martial artist with deep cultivation.
She replied in a childish voice.
“Are you calling me?”
'Chen Xu' nodded and stepped forward.
“I've come from out of town to seek the law at the Dragon-Tiger Martial Arts Hall. Would you be willing to lead the way? I saw you staring longingly at the food in the restaurant earlier. This bit of silver is enough for you to have a meal. What do you say?”
Then, he took out two pieces of silver Xiang Longwu had given him and tossed one over.
The girl's eyes had been on Chen Xu the whole time, especially after hearing the name of the Dragon-Tiger Martial Arts Hall, which made a mysterious glint appear in her eyes.
Facing the silver Chen Xu tossed, she used only her peripheral vision to lock onto its trajectory and caught it with a swift move of her right hand.
Then, she pinched the silver in her hand and held it up to her eyes, showing a slightly surprised expression.
“You're quite generous. You just handed out martial silver like it's nothing—and high-grade martial silver infused with the intent of the Dragon Punch, no less.
Are you the illegitimate son some martial uncle left behind after a fling outside?”
'Chen Xu' was confused, not understanding the reason behind her words. Wasn't this silver just something Xiang Longwu had casually pinched off a large block? How had it become martial silver?
The girl didn't ask further. She tucked the silver away and gave 'Chen Xu' a look, signaling him to follow.
One large and one small, one in front and one behind, 'Chen Xu' followed the child to a large courtyard in the east of the city.
Above the courtyard entrance hung a gilded plaque carved with the words 'Dragon-Tiger Martial Arts Hall.'
Upon closer inspection, the characters for 'Dragon' and 'Tiger' had been carved with claw techniques without the use of tools, appearing vigorous and full of charm.
At the entrance, the girl walked straight in, then suddenly turned back to look at 'Chen Xu.'
“Do you have an invitation? Or some kind of permit? If not, you are not allowed to enter the hall without authorization. You'll have to wait outside while I go notify the instructor.”
Hearing this, 'Chen Xu' pulled the invitation from his robe and showed it to the girl.
“I have an invitation.”
The girl had sharp eyes and immediately saw Xiang Longwu's name on it.
“So you were recommended by Uncle Xiang. Does that mean you're also from that world?”
...
In the Undead Dao Court, Chen Xu, Flideng, Tal Rasha, the Whispering Tree, Bone Guard Two, and the soul beast Hades were gathered around a giant soulstone, discussing it.
Such a large soulstone, and one containing the soul of a Hell Demon King, was constantly emitting a thick aura of corruption.
If an ordinary person were here, they would likely be directly corrupted into a puppet, helping the demon king break the soulstone to regain his freedom.
Chen Xu had gathered these people to discuss the use of this soulstone.
“Tell me, should we use this as a foundation to create a new undead?
Or should we refine it to extract pure soul power, allowing one of you to take a step—or several steps—further?”
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