It wasn’t that people had no intention of buying origin grenades. It was just that even powers like the Southern Blue city guard couldn’t afford such expensive weaponry due to the large number of soldiers they had to outfit. Even if they wanted to compare fortunes, they weren’t really a match for Qianye who had killed and robbed hundreds of assassins and mercenaries.

While Qianye was focused on his preparations, Bluemoon was waiting patiently beside a certain natural pit. In just moments, the two elders accompanying her emerged from the hole and said, “This one connects to the underground maze around A19.”

Bluemoon replied, “Then let’s go and pick Qianye up. The earlier we move, the better our chances.”

The three boarded an off-road vehicle and sped toward Southern Blue. The elder at the steering wheel said all of a sudden, “Young Miss, do we really need to pay such a price for this Zhao Ye? We only have two Dreameater Kings, both of them brought back by the ancestor during his underground journey.”

“Qianye is the best helper we will ever find,” Bluemoon replied calmly.

“But his price is enough to hire half a dozen experts of the same level,” the other elder chimed in.

“All those people added together won’t be as useful as a single Qianye.” Bluemoon was apparently quite resolute.

The driver stopped his dissuasion and said with a sigh, “Since Young Miss is decided on this matter, I have nothing left to say. It’s just that the pressure from the other side is really too big, we might be inviting quite a bit of trouble by giving out the Dreameater King without their consent.”

Bluemoon replied, “The Earth Dragon’s Blood is more important than anything else. No matter how good or how valuable the Dreameater King is, it can’t solve the crisis in our hands. What’s the use of it?”

The other elder said, “That Zhao Ye agreed too quickly, we must be guarded against him cheating.”

Bluemoon replied calmly, “It should be fine. We’ll have succeeded as long as he gets to that place. At that point, what he wants to do is no longer important.”

“That’s true.” The elder nodded.

At this point, Qianye had completed his preparations and returned to his courtyard. There, he laid down some utensils and brewed a pot of tea just like Nighteye would. He then sat down to drink his tea in quiet leisure, waiting for Bluemoon’s arrival.

Although the brewing technique and quality were still within acceptable limits, Qianye couldn’t help but feel a certain loneliness as he drank the tea on his own. He recalled how Nighteye must’ve been quite lonesome at home when he was killing and fighting on the front lines.

He suddenly came to realize that he should’ve spent more time with her. But now, she was gone and there was no longer such an opportunity.

Nighteye had displayed numerous unbelievable powers before her departure, those that far exceeded her blood energy realm. Moreover, she had suppressed Qianye until he couldn’t even struggle free. That wasn’t a matter of strength but an insurmountable difference in realms. Her words “My original place is on the sacred mountain” made Qianye realize that he would never see her again if she did not will it.

Could it be that he would never see her again from now on?

She also left a single opportunity for him, the chance to seek her out at the sacred mountain. It was just that this opportunity was an impossible endeavor.

Qianye’s hands trembled slightly, spilling some of the tea. He had passed these days in a dream-like, strangely stimulated state in order to avoid thinking about her and the empty courtyard. Yet he couldn’t escape reality forever; this dream had to end at some point.

It was at this time that a knock came from the courtyard doors and in came Bluemoon.

Qianye collected his thoughts with some difficulty. “Found the passage?”

“Yes, you’re done preparing, right? Let’s set out.”

With a nod, Qianye picked up his tactical backpack. Bluemoon was surprised at how small his backpack was. “Is that enough?”

Qianye patted East Peak. “This sword is all I need.”

Bluemoon asked no more for a warrior’s fighting style was their most well-guarded secret. She boarded the car with Qianye, and then drove out of Southern Blue in due haste.

Ji Rui appeared from the city-gate tower as the jeep vanished over the horizon. He gazed at the direction in which Qianye had disappeared, seemingly in deep contemplation. Guan Zhongliu arrived beside the city lord and said with a frown, “The Highbeard shieldmaiden of this generation, what is she doing with Zhao Ye?”

Ji Rui waved his hands, saying, “Who cares, as long as they leave Southern Blue. The bigger their schemes and the more chaos they sow, the better it is for us. It’ll be best if they can fight each other to the brink of death.”

“That’s true. At that point, they won’t be able to touch Southern Blue.”

Ji Rui shot Guan Zhongliu a glance. “You only know about fighting and killing. You need to learn more about strategy. The waters are so muddy now, how can survival be enough? I’ve ordered the men to order a large batch of firearms and resources, they’ll arrive within a couple of days. Contact our friends within a couple of kilometers and see how much they need, there’s no need to hold back on the prices!”

Guan Zhongliu suddenly realized everything. He hadn’t imagined that Ji Rui would be thinking about amassing wealth during the war. If it wasn’t for this, how could he have earned such a large fortune?

The city lord sighed. “Zhongliu, all the origin grenades in the city have been bought out. You should pay more attention to such matters and stock up on goods. This is a large amount of money we’re talking about.”

Guan Zhongliu slapped his forehead. “I’ll go and do it now.”

“No need, I’ve already bought all the origin grenades, bullets, and cannon shells from the surrounding cities. All this money would’ve gone into someone else’s pocket if I had waited for you.”

Guan Zhongliu thought of something. “There were a lot of origin grenades in the market two days ago. Who bought them all?”

Ji Rui pointed toward the distance. “Zhao Ye.”

The man gasped. “What’s he planning to do with so many explosives? And where did he get all that money?”

Guan Zhongliu wasn’t to blame for his surprise. The number of origin grenades involved was enough to blast him to death seven times over. Besides, this meant that Qianye’s fortune was at least seven or eight times greater than his own.

Ji Rui replied with narrowed eyes, “Who cares? The more chaotic, the better. I’m already anticipating the three powers’ reactions when they receive news of their casualties. Zhongliu, order a batch of armor and sell them to the Spider Emperor’s team.”

...

Meanwhile, Bluemoon’s jeep sped along the wilderness. The journey was rather dull with neither Qianye nor Bluemoon speaking. In such times, riding an airship was much more dangerous because there was no telling when they would be shot down.

After traveling for half a day, the off-road vehicle stopped outside of a naturally formed pit. Bluemoon jumped out of the car and said, “We’re here.”

Qianye alighted from the vehicle and glanced at the hole. One of the elders he had met the other day was guarding the entrance.

Before entering the pit, Bluemoon tossed a hand grenade into their jeep, causing it to explode into a ball of flames. This action would attract even more attention, but Qianye remained silent.

After the party had entered the passage, the two old men began laying down traps at the entrance. “Okay, we can set out now.”

These traps, as Qianye’s saw it, were quite sinister. The Highbeards had accumulated abundant combat experience from hundreds of years of mercenary work. If there were people following them, they would likely suffer grievous injuries inside the tunnel. That was why Bluemoon had blasted the car and lured the trackers in.

The two Highbeard elders would lay down traps at set intervals along the way, turning this passage into a literal tunnel of death.

Only after setting up five blockades did the elders feel satisfied and start hurrying forward with Bluemoon and Qianye.

The tunnels under the ground were convoluted and filled with forks, comparable to a weave of undercurrents leading into the unknown. The surroundings seemed the same even after half a day of walking. Qianye felt rather distressed as he could no longer grasp the direction, only that they were heading in the general direction of Port City.

The elder serving as guide knew a secret art for sensing directions—he walked swiftly and showed no hesitation at forks in the road. As they walked on and on, he came to a sudden stop and gestured for combat preparations. Then, he contracted his aura and moved forward slowly.

As people rich in combat experience, the four slowly advanced under the cover of the geography. They soon arrived at a precipice, beyond which the land opened up to reveal a massive underground space. This great hall was a thousand meters in radius, hundreds of meters tall, and the craggy rock wall in the distance was dotted with countless dark tunnels. Qianye immediately noticed a different cave among them.

That cave was fairly round and several dozens of meters in height. It was clearly not something that had formed naturally, more like a tunnel used by a certain giant creature.

Bluemoon whispered, “We’ll be entering the Earth Dragon’s territory from here on out. Be very careful and don't attack unless absolutely necessary.”

With that, she took point and slowly slid down the precipice, followed by the two elders. Highbeards had modified bodies, but they made no sound despite climbing down with the aid of machinery. Qianye was the last to descend—he slid down dozens of meters before stopping his momentum by grabbing onto a crack in the rocks. Then, he slid dozens more meters to arrive at the base of the precipice.

The two elders seemed somewhat shaken by Qianye’s powerful physical strength. The strength he had put on display just now was already comparable to their own. Judging from how he had made light work of the descent, he must’ve hidden a good part of his powers.

Qianye’s eyes landed on a bunch of mosses after landing, and he reached out to crush it. The moss was fleshy and actually as thick as one’s palm. As the most basic form of food for the creatures here, these mosses and mushrooms were everywhere in the underground maze—their exuberant growth proved that this underground maze was filled with vitality.

This wasn’t good news.

Qianye pointed at a couple of giant holes. “Were those made by the Earth Dragon?”

Bluemoon shook her head. “Of course not, how can the Earth Dragon be that small? These tunnels are made by fierce beasts under the dragon’s command.”

Qianye nodded. A fierce beast’s build was usually indicative of its strength. With such giant creatures around, it was no wonder Bluemoon would tell people to be careful. Moreover, these creatures were only the Earth Dragon’s subordinates controlled by its will.

The group avoided the giant tunnels as they moved forward. After some time, Qianye suddenly noticed a cold and incomparably powerful will sweep over the entire underground space. Without a need for warning, Qianye immediately retracted his aura and minimized his origin power fluctuations.

The icy intent had no interest in small insects like Qianye. It passed by in a flash and whistled into the distance.