15 Ch 15 Salamander City

Lan Long had stood up as soon as the sun, he immediately Zun Ming who as sleeping rather comfortably near him despite her doubts earlier. Jiang Long also stood up from his cultivation.

"Brother Jiang, have to decide to stay or to part ways here?" Lan Long asked Jiang Long. He didn't expect Jiang Long to improve by this margin in less than a year. He had improved in both mind and cultivation. He no longer had the aura of a kid, he was now radiating a calm vibe of a dedicated cultivator. Although no one would call him calm as in the cultivation world, the calm people had more blood on their hands that people with a ferocious vibe. The calm cultivator could attack at a drop of a hat and without radiation any bloodlust or warning. The killing intent were under control for these types of cultivators.

"I will travel with you for a while." Jiang Long said as he placed his sabers in his ring and walked closer to Lan Long.

"Okay." Lan Long said as he grabbed both Jiang Long and Zun Ming and executed his new moment arts. The trio's figures flashed as they disappeared leaving behind a faint after image. Jiang Long wanted to protest but as he glanced down he only saw a few scenes of scenery flash by at a remarkable speed. Zun Ming was too shocked to even think properly. In about an hour, they had reached the hot springs. The girls were still cultivating inside and only Su Ming was outside the cave.

"Sister Ming, are you done cultivating already?" Lan Long said with surprise. He had not expected that Su Ming would be able to get rid of her Ki impurities this quickly.

"Yes, although the other are still inside." Su Ming said as she looked at the entrance of the cave.

"Okay then. Sister Ming, this is my brother Saber. Would you be kind enough to guide him to the spring." Lan Long introduced Jiang Long under a weird alias and he disappeared from the scene.

"Damn brat." Jiang Long said in frustration but soon came an understanding. Hiding names was a common occurrence throughout the world and Jiang Long was now a saber user, the name made a weird amount of sense. "Lady Ming, what is this spring?" Jiang Long asked Su Ming.

"It's a naturally occurring hot Ki spring." Su Ming said as she began to walk towards the cave's entrance.

"A naturally occurring hot Ki spring within 10,000 kilometers of Salamander city? How has this not been discovered yet?" Jiang Long asked with shocked expression. There was a hot Ki spring within Long clan main branch back at his home but it was reserved only for peak Ki sea realm martial artists who were near their tribulation. The fact that there was another hot Ki spring within the territory was great news for the Long clan.

"This Ki spring was discovered and kept a secret by a very strong Core realm cultivator and that cultivator wants it to kept a secret. Brother Lazy, had somehow received the approval to the cultivator and was given an access to the spring." Su Ming said as she looked intensely at Jiang Long.

"Understood." Jiang Long said as he entered the smaller portion. He soon stripped down and entered the spring. He felt a warm sensation within his meridians as he cultivated his Fire dragon manual. The impurities within his Ki were soon being washed away at a tremendous pace.

Lan Long had now reached the village and stood inside granny's courtyard. He didn't announce his arrival or tried to sense her location. He knew perfectly well that if granny wanted to show herself, she would appear. Zun Ming who was standing by his side swayed lightly as she lost her consciousness but before she reached the ground she was caught by Granny.

"Kid you are a once in a while genius. It has not even been a day and you already are at early stages of wind steps. Now, go and swiftly clean your Ki before leaving." The Granny said as she disappeared with Zun Ming. Lan Long put his mask away as he disappeared from the courtyard and appeared in front of the spring within a few breaths of time. Su Ming who was standing guard in front of the cave wasn't able to see him pass by her. Miraculously, Jiang Long and the rest of the girls exited the cave with only a few hours of difference, Jiang Long being the last closely followed by Lan Long. Su Ming was surprised to see Lan Long exit the cave but didn't question it too much. The party soon left on foot as Little Kong didn't allow anyone to ride him after he had seen Jiang Long. The group soon arrived at the entrance of the Salamander city. They soon began to walk through the city gates before being rudely stopped.

"Brats, line up nicely in front of the gates and pay the entrance fee." The guard said in a booming voice. Lan Long immediately threw a piece of gold at the guard who had caught it without looking. He soon realized that it was a piece of gold and was trying to find the remaining pieces of silver with his pouch. The entrance fee was 5 silver per person and a 1000 silver pieces made up for a gold piece. Lan Long had apparently over paid by 950 silver pieces. This was equivalent to the guard's monthly income. What was even more surprising was the group had entered the city and didn't even ask for the change.

"Fucking rich snobs." The guard said as he kept the gold and returned to his job with a smile on his face.

The group entered the city and went straight to a restaurant. Although the food at the village was better than dry rations, it was still dirt compared to the high-quality food in the city. The restaurant they had chosen was the Cloud Inn restaurant. Although this restaurant was owned by the Shi royal palace, its branches were found in every major city catering to the high class and cultivators. The food was excellent and cheap. The only other restaurant that were able to compete were either of higher quality or catered to a specific crowd.

The group entered in to the restaurant as was soon blown away by the lavish decoration and many appetizing aromas that lingered in the air. The group hadn't even had the chance to take in the entire beauty of the place, a waitress came and greeted them.

"Welcome to the Cloud Inn, may I ask if sirs and madams would like to sit together or in separate rooms?" The waitress asked politely. She was also a cultivator and had a very alluring dress which showed off her curves perfectly.

"We would like a single room and bring food enough for 11 people. Bring your best dishes and fruits. Also, bring some fruit wines." Lan Long said. He too was starving for some good food. He hadn't had a good meal sense he left his home.

"Also, bring you best wine." Jiang Long added after Lan Long. He was sixteen years of aage and had tasted the allure of alcohol.

"Very well please deposit 12 low quality Ki stone as deposit." The waitress said with a smug look on her face. She had given the price of the best dishes on the ground floor. Most of the young cultivator wouldn't even dare to dish out a single Ki stone, let alone 12 Ki stones for food.

"Here. Show us the room and hurry with the food." Lan Long said as he threw the stone at the waitress. The waitress was immediately flabbergasted, she hadn't thought that this particular group of youngsters were so rich. The shock was not limited to the waitress, Su Ming, Jiang Long and the rest of the group was also shocked. With 12 Ki stones, a Ki sea realm cultivator could cultivate for 20 days while a Ki consign realm cultivator could cultivate for at least a month. Lan Long had thrown out Ki stone without delay, he had treated a precious cultivation resource like a few copper pieces. The maid caught the Ki stones and hurried towards the dining area. She bowed deeply as she left to get the dishes and wines. The wines and food soon arrived as the room was soon filled with an incredible aroma. The fruits were set aside for Little Kong immediately started to munch on them. Within minute the group had finished the dishes but before they could order another round. The waitress came with another assortment of dishes which was soon followed by another set of dishes. All the dishes were incredible delicious. Soon, an hour had passed. Lan Long and the party were completely full. Little Kong was bloated like a small ball unable to move. Soon, Su Ming and the girls left for the Fire School branch in the city and Jiang Long left with Lan Long to the Long branch. They had decided that they would meet after two days and at the city gates before leaving for the Green village. Soon, the duo reached, the Long Clan's local quarters. The atmosphere was gloomy and many cultivators were either dead drunk or receded into cultivation. The battle over the weapon had caused injuries to over 70 percent of the disciples and death of about 30 percent. The losses were quite heavy this time and frankly, the loss of face caused the elder a lot of anger. Many had lost their favorite disciples and loss of resources was also quite harsh.

"Wow, the atmosphere is rather suffocating here. Were you really staying here for the past half year?" Lan Long questioned, oblivious to the battle that took place earlier. Although he was the part of the problem, he hadn't realized that his little prank had led to the deaths of hundred.

"The battle for the weapon earlier had obviously caused a lot of deaths and we probably weren't even able to acquire the weapon." Jiang Long said as he looked around, he couldn't see many familiar faces and the face that were seen either had red eyes full of anger or faces filled with sadness.

"here, the fun is at the clan which had acquired the weapon. They should be mad with rage about now." Lan Long said with a light chuckle. The clan who had acquired the weapon would have realized that the weapon was Mid mortal staff. Not only did they lose many disciple, they had the knowledge that they had lost them over mortal level equipment.

"Why do you say that? At least, they had acquired the weapon." Jiang long was perplexed. With Lan Long strength, he could easily had acquired the weapon and left with ease. Yet, he was standing here laughing at the clan that had acquired it.

"Don't worry. You will know soon." Lan Long and turned quiet. Jiang Long was a loss but didn't pester Lan Long about it. They soon reached Jiang Long's courtyard and retired to their rooms. In the meanwhile, Su Ming and her friends also reached their quarters and went straight to the baths.

"Sister Su, I think it is better that you continue with Brother Lazy. If we come, we would only be in the way." A girl said with a sigh. Su Ming had gained the most from their time with Lan Long, she was on the cusp of another breakthrough while her companions were either at early Ki condensation or Peak Ki gathering. The girls had already suggested Su Ming to leave with a better group but she had refused firmly. The situation with the bandits had made evident, the fact that Su Ming was subconsciously restraining herself for her friends. If she had been caught in that's situation alone, Su Ming could have escaped unharmed. Her friend had finally realized that they had become the shackles the held Su Ming back.

"Sister, Please. We clearly are in over our heads if we continue to keep journeying together with you. Please for your own sake continue without us."

"But we can journey together with brother Lazy." Su Ming argued back. She was feeling conflicted as she knew that her friends were looking out for her but she felt that if she left them, it would be like abandoning them.

"Silly Sister, don't you dare think you can get rid of that easily. Once we reach your level, even if you don't want to be us then, we will forcefully tie you up and bring you along. Ha-ha" Another girl said in a soft voice as she hugged Su Ming.

"Not even have a boyfriend yet but you are thinking of abandoning us. I will personally smack you after a few months' time, if you refuse to come back." Another girl said. Soon, everyone started to encourage Su Ming to travel without them. Having no other choice, Su Ming agreed but promised them that she would never abandon them. Girls soon retired to their rooms and began to cultivate. The Hit Ki had done wonders to their cultivation, they were no able to cultivate at least twice as quick as before.

Shi territory. . .

"What Nan Shi and Liu Li both had their hand cutoff. Those damn bastards, they must have sent elders to the battle field. What about the third one, is he okay?" The elder asked in a growly voice.

"Master, the third disciple is un harmed." The servant reported quickly. He had seen the fate of the servant that were not quick with their news.

"Hmm, if an elder was present and only aimed at crippling our core disciples arms, why would he leave the third core disciple unharmed? It is simply impossible that this is a work of and elder." The elder concluded.

"Maybe they sent a peak Ki sea realm core disciple like us and aimed only at our core disciples." Another elder suggested.

"It may also have been a work of a rogue cultivator. God know how unreasonable those idiots are."

"No, a rogue cultivator wouldn't have allowed a bunch of disciples to acquire the weapon and moreover he wouldn't have left our core disciple with only crippled arms."

"This matter is rather strange. Lets report to the boss when he leaves the cultivation."

"No other choice. The losses this time were quite low on our inner disciple side but the core disciples crippled arms were a huge blow."

Both the elder sighed as they called for best healer and medicines for his core disciples.

Ming clan branch. Salamander City. . .

"Where is the weapon? Did you really think you hide it from me by show this Mid Mortal weapon?" The Leader of the Branch yelled at the Sinister looking man who was now looking quite gloomy.

"Elder please. This was the weapon I had acquired. Please believe me. You can even ask others who were present as I had acquired the weapon." The man replied. He felt wronged deeply, he had valiantly acquired the weapon and had earned glory for the clan, but instead of rewards and cheers in his name, he was being interrogated like a criminal.

"Han Ming, if you wanted to keep the weapon for yourself, you could have done so. Why are you choosing to hide it in such a way?" The leader asked as he sat down on his chair. He was quite proud of the child to be unwavering in the face of his Ki pressure but he was disappointed that this child had chosen to hide such a triviality from the clan.

"Leader, his words are indeed correct, it was a mid-mortal staff that was recovered after the battle. Many of his fellow disciples have the same response. He had even flaunted the weapon openly to everyone without ever keeping it inside his storage ring throughout his journey back." Leader received a voice transmission from an elder who was sent to investigate this matter. The leader was stumped, the tribulation was triggered by a mid-mortal staff. This was simply impossible; the weapon should at least be of top earth level to trigger a tribulation. "Give him a thousand contributions points and an attack manual. Also, guide him personally for a month." The leader said with a tight face, anger evident in his voice. He saved his hand and an elder escorted Han Ming away.

"This was a fuckingjoke. All the clans are thinking that they were first on the tribulation site.No, we all were second on the site. There was another cultivator before us andhe replaced the treasure with this trash." The leader was boiling with anger,he wanted to kill the person that had played this joke on them. Not only didthe Ming clan earned the hatred of the younger generation, they had also notearned anything from the battle. Their losses this time were huge, almost 50percent of the disciples had died trying to escape from the battle field. Theelders that had this knowledge were seething in anger. Soon, the news spreadthat the treasure was a Mid mortal weapon. The Other clans were relieved butMing clan became a laughing stock for everyone in the City.