Chapter 0473: Black City’s New Rules
“Everyone, please take a seat.” Ning Cheng once again sat down on his seat while stretching out his hand with a smile on his face.
The rest of the cultivators also sat down one by one; however, the atmosphere was no longer casual as it was when they first come in. In front of everyone, Ning Cheng only took a quarter of an incense stick worth of time to kill Mao Xiuxuan, this fact alone showed that he did not have any dread towards them. Moreover, they also knew the fact that even Jian Xuanming could not kill Mao Xiuxuan in such a short period.
“During the City Master’s selection, I received four votes. Initially, Brother Jian also received as many votes as I did; however, we now have another chance to compete again. I never thought that the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce would suddenly choose to disband at such a critical juncture. Brother Jian, what’s your opinion over this?” Ning Cheng looked at Jian Xuanming with a bright smile over his face.
Today, he originally had planned to kill a person to set up his prestige. In his opinion, the best candidate to achieve this objective would have been Jian Xuanming. Unexpectedly, Mao Xiuxuan came looking for death first, while Jian Xuanming drew back. This caused Ning Cheng to feel a slight bit of regret.
Jian Xuanming spoke up in a dull tone, “Since Brother Ning has obtained a higher number of votes compared to me and is also already living in the City Master’s Mansion then there is no need for Brother Ning to pass on the responsibilities of the Rootless Black City’s City Master to others.”
“Yes, I also agree that Brother Ning should preside over the position of the Rootless Black City’s City Master.” A red-haired man shouted without any hesitation. He was Dan Wenhong from the Black City Crafter’s Association. A few moments ago, he had strongly sided with Jian Xuanming, and now he had immediately switched his support towards Ning Cheng. Moreover, declared it in such a manner as if it was the most natural thing in the world, without a shred of embarrassment over his face,
“I agree to it.”
“Yes, I also agree with him.”
……
Only Mao Xiuxuan was the one to die; however, the rest of people no longer desired to compete against the position of the City Master of the Rootless Black City against Ning Cheng. Even the formerly neutral Void Adventure Squad’s Captain Du Jianshu agreed with Ning Cheng taking over the position of the City Master.
In fact, for all these people, Ning Cheng taking over the position of the City Master did not mean much; in fact, they did not even care who took up the job. What they felt bothered about was what Ning Cheng would do after taking up the mantle as the City Master?
Ning Cheng stood up and cupped his fist before turning in a circle, and spoke up with a slightly embarrassed expression, “Since everyone has such kind intentions, then I will have no choice but to take up this responsibility. You might think that mixing with the City Master might be similar to a mixture of oil and water; however, I do not think so. My Rootless Black City has been rotting for a long time. Cultivators had to go through countless hardships to walk through the Heaven’s Way to reach this place. Those of them that did not die by the Spacial Wind Edges inside the Heaven’s Way, most of those innocent souls would end up dead in the hands of the Rootless Black City’s black-hearted cultivators….”
When Ning Cheng reached this point, except for Chao Jimeng from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, the rest of them did not have a single expression over their faces. They all looked like statues, as none of them wanted to talk. Apparently, all of them were pretending to be dead.
“Since none of you has any major opinions to share, then I will take this opportunity to announce a few new rules for the Rootless Black City…..” Ning Cheng had not expected that there were also a few people among them who were just like him, who wanted to re-establish order to the Rootless Black City. In his view, in a city without restraints, how could it be easy to go somewhere better from here?
“City Master Ning, if I can help you in any way, then my Rogue Cultivator Alliance will do everything possible to support you in your endeavours.” Chao Jimeng immediately stood up and echoed his sentiments.
Chao Jimeng had short hair and a bronze face; however, his body showed the vicissitudes of life living in the Void. From his actions, it apparently revealed that he unequivocally supported Ning Cheng. It was not because of fear of death, nor because of the power and the might displayed by Ning Cheng. It was because of the reason he had established the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, which was initially to help the rogue cultivators of the Rootless Black City.
The Rootless Black City had more to its name that just ‘Black’. Only the cultivators who lived perennially in this place knew how difficult it could be in this place. Chao Jimeng was not just born a rogue cultivator; he also experienced and understood this difficulty. Not to mention about suffering exploitation at any time and anywhere, there was also the possibility of meeting death at any moment in this place.
If not for the hope of providing some help to his fellow rogue cultivators, Chao Jimeng would have long since made his way into the vast starry sky of the universe. It indeed was a pity that he could not reverse the situation by himself. If he could change this situation, he would not have willingly wasted his time in the Void of the Black City.
“I also support City Master Ning.” The second one to stand out was Gan Anran, followed by the Black City Array Formation Alliance’s Wu Yingzhe.
Wu Yingzhe was a Tier 7 Array Formation Grand Master; as such, only he knew how terrifying Ning Cheng was. He could not even fathom Ning Cheng’s array formation; against such a scary being, he absolutely did not want to create any enmity between them. It was also at the time when Ning Cheng sent out the sound invitation that Wu Yingzhe decided not to fight against Ning Cheng.
“Good. Many thanks for all of your support.”
Ning Cheng once again cupped his fists and continued, “Since I already am the City master of the Rootless Black City, then the first thing to take care of is to clear up the order of the entire Rootless Black City. Everyone should already be aware that I have started to form a cultivator army. This cultivator army will also be the only cultivator army within the Rootless Black City. There will never be a second one….”
Sure enough, people had already considered in their hearts that once Ning Cheng formed the cultivator army, he would never allow a second cultivator army to emerge.
“Henceforth, I will promulgate a few new rules for the Rootless Black City and Receiving Heaven’s Stone. Anyone who violates the rules will face repudiation in accordance. First, from now on, there will not be any Rest Stops on the Receiving Heaven’s Stone, rather there would only be a single Rest Stop and another place to exchange Black Coins. The price will remain consistent with that of the Rootless Black City.”
“The second one is for the Rootless Black City’s Identity Jade Cards, each of which will cost 1000 Black Coins from now on. However, no one will have any claim over these Black Coins; instead, it would come in use for the expenses of the Rootless Black City’s Cultivator Army. Third, regardless of any cultivator, or any Chamber of Commerce for the matter, indulging in snatching female cultivators, or robbing the newcomers of their money or materials, all of them will face death without amnesty. Anyone who dares to kill within the Rootless Black City, no matter which city district will also face death. The Rootless Black City, instead, will have a Duelling Platform. If anyone has any enmity with others then they can issue their challenge through the Duelling Platform; however, both the sides must agree to it. As for the fourth … And the fifth point… There are still a few things to perfect before stating them. The City Master’s Mansion will publish the complete Legal Manual later……”
When Ning Cheng gave a brief of the regulations, the entire hall remained silent.
After a while, Chao Jimeng slammed the table excitedly and shouted, “Good”.
He had long since wanted to establish some semblance of law and order within the Rootless Black City. Unfortunately, he was the only one with such thought, and only possessed cultivation at the second level of the Plundering Life Realm. In the Rootless Black City, his strength was still not enough for others to hear him.
“I do not agree. If none of us can open Rest Stops over the Receiving Heaven’s Stone, then it should also not allow the exchange of Black Coins. The Black Coins for the Identity Jade Card of the Rootless Black City and the daily pay of Black Coins of the Rootless Black City’s Cultivator Army all flow through the City Master’s Mansion. If it goes on like this, how could our Chambers of Commerce survive?” A seemingly gentle longhaired male cultivator immediately refuted.
“Who are you?” Ning Cheng shot a glance at this longhaired male cultivator.
The longhaired male cultivator spoke up in neither arrogant nor servile manner, “I’m Gale Void Alliance’s Bu Yuanmao, which has two vested interests in the Receiving Heaven’s Stone and a few good businesses in the Rootless Black City.”
Ning Cheng nodded and spoke, “Then let me ask you, is the main source of Black Coins for your Gale Void Alliance depended solely on the newly arriving cultivators?”
After Ning Cheng finished with his question, he directly stared at Bu Yuanmao. If Bu Yuanmao dared to say that the Gale Void Alliance earned their share from the newcomers, then he would not hesitate to destroy this Alliance.
A Chamber of Commerce who earned Black Coins mainly through the newcomers definitely had a lot of blood on their hands.
Bu Yuanmao spoke up in disdain, “My Gale Void Alliance’s main source of Black Coins is the Void Ships for adventuring into the Void along with a few transactions with the other Chambers of Commerce. How could we earn our keep from the newcomers?”
“Since you do not earn your keep from the newcomers, then why do you oppose my decision to remove the Rest Stops and the Exchange Stations from the Receiving Heaven’s Stone?” Ning Cheng asked coldly.
Bu Yuanmao felt extremely uncomfortable in his heart. He knew that Ning Cheng had massacred Mao Xiuxuan to set up his prestige. However, many newcomers poured into the Receiving Heaven’s Stone almost regularly, which allowed the Gale Void Alliance to earn a considerable sum of Black Coins. If cut off from this pie, then many people within his Gale Void Alliance would feel dissatisfaction.
The only reason he managed to become the boss the Gale Void Alliance was due to the satisfaction of the people under him. As for the lives of those newcomers, to be honest, how much could they even be worth? Right now, he also believed that the reason why Ning Cheng killed Mao Xiuxuan and annihilated the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce was just for an excuse to set up his prestige. He would never believe that Ning Cheng would have such a compassionate heart to seek benefits for the ordinary rogue cultivators and the newcomers.
“City Master Ning, I have no opinion of you as the City Master, but that does not mean that I would agree to everything you say. The matters relating to my Gale Void Alliance are the matters of my Gale Void Alliance. I do not need a Ning Cheng to worry about it. City Master Ning can continue to work hard; I will be taking my leave now.” Saying that Bu Yuanmao suddenly stood up and prepared to leave.
A trace of disdain crept up Ning Cheng’s face, coming for the feast at Hongmen and still wanting to leave. If he had the strength of Plundering Life Realm, then he could have allowed this person to go. However, since his cultivation had not yet reached that realm, he would be an idiot to let this Bu Yuanmao leave.
[TL Note – The phrase ‘Feast at Hongmen 鸿门宴’ is figurative for a banquet set up with the aim of murdering a guest. It referred to a famous episode in the 206 B.C. when the future Han Emperor Liu Bang escaped an attempted murder by his rival Xiang Yu.]
“City Master, the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce no longer exists. Hereafter, there would never be an Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce in the Rootless Black City. As for the interests of the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce, just like the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce, they have been sealed up.” Shen Zimo’s voice arrived just at the moment when Bu Yuanmao stood up. Every single person within the hall could feel the incomparably powerful killing intent overflowing from him.
“Good, it must’ve been hard.”
Ning Cheng had just finished this sentence when he heard Bu Yuanmao’s calm voice, “City Master Ning, I need to head back to the Gale Mansion now, please open the array formation.”
When Bu Yuanmao stood up, he found that there just was no exit to the hall. If he wanted to go out, then he would have to break open Ning Cheng’s array formation. Thought strong, he did not dare to break through Ning Cheng’s array formation in this place.
Ning Cheng did not pay attention to Bu Yuanmao. He knew that just killing a Mao Xiuxuan was not enough. To settle a few matters in the Rootless Black City, Ning Cheng must kill Bu Yuanmao. Moreover, he knew that he could not act on his personal preferences to kill Bu Yuanmao.
“Zimo, have you investigated the Gale Void Alliance’s crimes?”
When Ning Cheng’s words came out, the entire Discourse Hall turned instantly cold. Initially, when Ning Cheng killed Mao Xiuxuan, one could still say that he had done it to set up his prestige. However, if he wanted to kill Bu Yuanmao now, it would not be for fame; instead, for eliminating a potential threat.
“City Master Ning, what do you want?” Bu Yuanmao felt his voice tremble. He honestly could not think as to why Ning Cheng was so daring. He killed Mao Xiuxuan, yet he still dared to cross hands with him. One must know that from the beginning to the end, he never acted out like Mao Xiuxuan; at least on the surface, he remained polite with Ning Cheng.
“The Gale Void Alliance has killed 194 innocent rookie cultivators in the last 30 years, snatched 41 incoming rookie female cultivators, and robbed 218 rogue cultivators within the Rootless Black City, killing 214 of them……” Shen Zimo’s tone overflowed with strong murderous intent.
Ning Cheng glanced at the silent hall and softly spoke up, “Everyone, the Rootless Black City belongs to all of us. I think some affairs needs the participation of everyone. Since the Gale Void Alliance is involved in such a matter, I would like to hear your views about it.”
The hall turned utterly silent, Ning Cheng actually wanted to involve everyone in his plan.