The Villain City was located in the centre of the Thunder Fortress among three other districts.
It was where all the rich men of the Thunder Fortress resided and was a haven for those who seek an unbridled and materialistic life.
King Chong Ni’s palace was located on the highest hill of the Thunder Fortress, which could be seen when one followed through the winding tunnels to the ground level. Under the hill, there was a small lake below a steep cliff that belonged to the King Chong Ni. No one else dared to live there. Tall buildings were found scattered in the other three directions. Among all, the busiest central district was the Villain City.
If one could afford to own a mansion in the Underground City but had no properties in the Villain City, no matter how rich the person might be, he would only be considered a parvenu.
Of course An Dong owned properties in the Villain City, he even owned two retail outlets.
However it was already ransacked by Demon Eye’s followers even before Jia De could go and take over them… Even a blind man would be able to tell now that Demon Eye, one of the three leaders, harboured a deep grudge against Titan the newbie.
Demon Eye supported An Dong originally, and it could be said that he was An Dong’s greatest ally. But now, An Dong lost everything and Titan took his place. Having lost both his right hand man and his two great followers, Nightmare and Tiger Nian, Demon Eye had proclaimed several times that he was going to teach Yue Yang a lesson. He would make Yue Yang understand that even a powerful dragon cannot crush a snake in its old haunts. The attitude of the two other leaders, Mountain Elf and Blood River, were completely the opposite. They have indicated on various occasions that they would welcome Titan with open arms. They even quipped that they didn’t mind a situation where there would be four leaders, showing their full support towards him.
Ma Long the Underground City Master took a neutral stance.
Since Titan wasn’t interested in fighting with him to take over as the next City Master of the Underground City, Ma Long didn’t feel threatened.
Moreover, Ma Long had plans to acquire the arena and had sent men over to negotiate with Titan’s subordinate, the Toad Merchant and Yan Zheng the housekeeper. They were only left with deciding on the final price, so if Titan and Demon Eye were to really fight against each other, Ma Long might side with Yue Yang.
Although the Villain City was prosperous, Yue Yang didn’t care about it as these were all nothing to him. The only thing that mattered in the Tong Tian Tower was power!
If Chong Ni and the three leaders were to die, then the Thunder Fortress would become a bloody killing ground where mobs loot and murder.
“Master, this way please.” The fat Jia De welcomed Yue Yang eagerly.
When Jia De first saw Xia Yi in a smart policewoman uniform, he almost didn’t recognise her as he thought Mr. Titan had gotten a new beauty. It was only on closer look did he realise that it was Xia Yi who always picked a fight with his master, Yue Yang, all the time.
Seeing Jia De opening his mouth wide in shock, Xia Yi couldn’t help but to feel pleased.
After jumping down from the carriage, Yue Yang proceeded to the auction house.
There was an unwritten rule in the auction house that weak Merchants and Warriors were to reach the place early to greet the Rankers who would arrive later. Of course, those who were at rivalry to each other would not abide by it. For example, when all the merchants stood to applause and greet Yue Yang, a few who were under Demon Eye remained seated.
Forget about the merchants around the auction house, even those of high status sitting in the private boxes waved their hands through the windows to show their respect.
As Yue Yang was an Innate Ranker who could kill Nightmare and Tiger Nian, he could possibly be one of the four leaders of the Thunder Fortress in the future. Hence ,they had to forge some kind of relationship with him first.
When Yue Yang entered the VIP private box in level 2, a few people started to buzz around.
Their discussions were all surrounding Yue Yang’s mysterious identity, looks and strength.
Soon after Yue Yang entered the auction house, the City Master of the Underground City, Ma Long, Mountain Elf and Blood River who were part of the three leaders arrived not long after. Chong Ni did not come, making Demon Eye the one with the highest power. He arrived the latest to show that he was of the highest status.
Demon Eye was a foreign man with eyes glowing with a red light. Standing at three metres tall, he had horns on his head and beard growing from the side of his head and down his chin. He wore a circular neck brace-like object that was connected to the skeletal bones of his shoulders. His arms bulged with the horns, and his black nails were razor sharp. One thing Yue Yang noticed was that Demon Eye was wearing a shiny ring. It didn’t look like a normal jewel, instead, it resembled a storage ring with unique functions and it was a Platinum-ranked equipment…. Yue Yang felt that it would be worth killing Demon Eye just to get this Platinum-ranked ring in return.
For someone like Demon Eye, he would definitely put a lot of treasures within his ring.
Demon Eye waved to Mountain Elf, Blood River and Ma Long individually, showing that he was magnanimous Ranker.
However, he didn’t wave to Mr. Titan who was of equal status as the trio. He acted as if he had never heard of him. Everyone watched secretly, anticipating to see a good show.
“Ha, boss Demon Eye, please allow me to introduce someone to you. The man who replaced An Dong as the new owner of the Western Wind Mine is also here. Do you want to see him and extend our welcome to him as the leader of the Thunder Fortress?“ Mountain Elf was a scrawny man with a skinny build, and he had long arms with sunken eyes. However all these weren’t an apt exemplification of his power. He was actually on par to Demon Eye in terms of strength.
“Indeed, Mr. Titan is someone who deserves our respect.“ Blood River also agreed.
Blood River was a handsome man.
He looked middle aged, but the handlebar moustache above his lips made him look fashionable. He had a clear sharp eyes and was clad in a fiery red cloak.
Both of his hands were smooth like that of a woman’s. But it was this pair of hand that made him powerful as he was known for his ultimate skill, the Heaven Engulfing Fiery Palm!
Demon Eye knew that Mountain Elf and Blood River did it deliberately to sow discords between him and Mr. Titan, so that their relations would worsen under the public eye. With a small hmph, Demon Eye pretended to be amicable as he laughed. “I didn’t know that Mr. Titan is here, if not I would have welcomed him warmly. With regards to him replacing An Dong, I have heard of it from my assistant.”
In the end, he still didn’t acknowledge Yue Yang as he walked into his VIP private box laughing.
Everyone looked towards Yue Yang.
They wanted to see how, as an Innate Ranker, the newcomer Mr. Titan would react to himself being ignored publicly.
“Jia De, as a junior, shall we send some gifts over to our senior? Get the firewood at the corner and give it to the leader Demon Eye as form of respect.” Upon hearing what Yue Yang said, everyone was stunned. Sending a gift over? Using firewood as a gift? What does it mean?
“Wh-what does this mean?” On the auction house below, Jia De handed a firewood over to Demon Eye’s follower respectfully, making Demon Eye’s follower completely incensed.
“My master had said that in his homeland, a man worthy of jewels will be given jewels, while a useless man worthy of firewood will be given firewood. We think that the most suitable present for your master is these firewood!” Jia De decided to risk it all. He knew that with the words that he said, if Demon Eye wasn’t killed then he would be the one who will die. However, he had no other choices but to risk it all because if Demon Eye were to be killed, then that would make Yue Yang part of the three leaders, and his status would rise enormously, making him just a rank lower than the greatest man of Thunder Fortress.
(Want2eat: Firewood is a homonym of useless man)
“I’m going to kill you… “ The follower was even angrier.
“Stop. I will take the firewood, and help me relay to Mr. Titan that these firewood could be put into good use to beat up dogs in the future!“ Demon Eye poked his head out from the window and smirked.
“It’s a good thing to receive gifts. I didn’t even receive any!“ Blood River laughed as he tried to clear the awkwardness in the air.
He looked at Mountain Elf as they nodded discreetly.
The rest of the crowd felt that there would be more dramas coming up in the future and was contemplating on whose side they would support.
They couldn’t afford to choose wrongly because the consequences of it would be dire… If they chose Demon Eye but Titan won in the end, Titan would definitely get rid of all Demon Eye’s followers. But if Demon Eye wins, those who chose Titan wrongly would perish too… So choosing sides was definitely an important skill to master!
The auction began on a rivalrous note.
As the Toad Merchant Jia De had already declared war openly, he wasn’t polite to Demon Eye’s follower as he competed to bid for every single item Demon Eye’s followers wanted to take down.
Yue Yang had already authorised Jia De to do so, but Jia De didn’t really want those items. He merely wanted to make Demon Eye’s followers pay more. And Jia De was astute enough not to participate in the bidding for items wanted by Mountain Elf and Blood River’s followers, but instead, they allied to suppress Demon Eye’s followers, almost causing them to flare up. Demon Eye also didn’t expect Yue Yang to be so full of guts to challenge him so openly. This trapped him in a predicament and he had no choice but to continue. As he was doing so he secretly measured Yue Yang’s real power… If the rascal really possessed similar powers as he do, coupled with the help of Mountain Elf and Blood River, he would definitely be a threat to him.
But once his strongest ally arrive, this rascal would die.
His trump card was his strong ally, so he wasn’t afraid at all.
Everything would be okay as long as they don’t start fighting now.
Demon Eye kept trying to suppress his anger. If it was in the past, he would have attacked the opponent who provoked him immediately.
“Up next will be the Dark Prison Royal Jelly. It is a Sixth Ranked Medicine where women use it for a youthful and radiant look while men use it to attain inexhaustible energy. Most importantly, this is the only bottle that could be found in the whole of Sixth Floor of Tong Tian Tower this year. Starting bid is 1000 gold coins, and a minimum addition of 100 gold coins is required for every bid.” The auction officer introduced the product enthusiastically on the stage.
“…” Yue Yang was a little wavered.
To others, the Dark Prison Royal Jelly was merely a drug used to replenish energy and its use was limited to boosting sexual drives.
But to Yue Yang who have read the Medicine Encyclopedia inside out and with the memories passed down from the tragic guy’s mother, this Dark Prison Royal Jelly had three other uses unknown to people. Although it had to be added with other medicinal ingredients for concoction, it was a necessity as it was the main ingredient of the pill. When one managed to create a ‘Hundred Enchanting Fragrance Pill’ from Dark Prison Royal Jelly, it could give off a deadly temptation to all Insect-type Beasts. No matter if one were to use it during contracting, attracting or battling an Insect-type beast, it would be produce an extremely effective result.
It could also be used to make the rarer ‘Queen Demon Charm Potion’, which could be used to rank-up Insect-type Beasts.
It could even be used to make the ‘Dark Prison Grim Reaper Pill’, where poisonous herbs like the ‘Grim Reaper Blood Sickle Flower’, ‘Evil Green Plague Mushroom’ and others had to be added. It could be used to poison and kill Insect-type Beasts instantly, including Gold King Beasts. Even humanoid Holy Beasts could only barely defend against it.
Initially Yue Yang was disinterested in the auction as he was merely thinking of how to kill Demon Eye. He was also thinking of how to stir up some trouble in Thunder Fortress, which was the robbers’ den and kill some evil warriors to earn himself some rewards.
But now that Yue Yang saw such a good deal, of course he would tempted.