Chapter 204: Night attack-3

Lu Ming continued to walk through the markets collecting the necessary6 materials for the seal. Pill Valley lived up to its name as the heaven for alchemists. Every single herb he required was available within the market. Lu Ming didn't have a shortage of funds and hence he bought quite a several herbs from the market.

The Keeper continued to feed him information regarding the people who were tailing him.

"They seem to be waiting for you to move into a secluded region."

"I admire their dedication towards following in my footsteps. I guess we should reward them for their efforts."

"Tell me the details regarding the other groups following me."

"Well, there seem to be three other groups following you. I sense that one of them is from the merchant guild we recently traded with. Their breaths are quite similar to the people in there. The other two groups are kind of a mystery for me."

"Are you sure they are not hostile in any way?"

"There is no way to confirm their motives. I can't feel any bloodlusts coming from their direction and hence it would be safe to assume that they are just tailing you to inspect the place you live in and your activities."

"I have another set of possible situations in my mind. I think the group which is showcasing the bloodlust is going to be the first one to take action. As per the other three, they seem to be testing the water in my case. They just want to confirm my background."

"So, they wouldn't be hostile until you show a definite weakness." 

"My performance in the Pill-brew competition was quite brilliant. It is a given that many groups would see me as a thorn in their eyes. They either want to recruit me or end my chapter right before the second round. Although I am eligible to be an inner disciple, I have not yet received an official confirmation regarding that situation. If I do participate in the second round and showcase another set of brilliant results, I would directly be promoted to a core disciple. The groups wouldn't be able to take action after that."

"How do you wish to proceed in this situation? I think a show of power should be enough to scare off these groups. You can target the group which seems to be the most excited to attack you."

"Showing my power would lead those groups to run back in the shadows. I wouldn't be able to identify them."

"So, you want to lay bait for the other groups. It would be a difficult task to lure all of them into the same place."

"Well, we wouldn't be directly luring these groups. Do you know what the Ten families or any group who wants to gain more power within this region need most? It is a talented individual who could become a stable pillar for their power in the future. An organization couldn't rise to the top without there being stable support underneath it."

"My performance should have made quite a commotion within the top-level groups of this area and hence they would try to do two things. Eliminate me or have a relationship with me. To have any success in either of those areas, they need to capture me."

"Sowing my power is going to scare the current groups away and I wouldn't be able to identify the forces involved behind the struggle."

"So, you want to act weak to lure the group into confronting each other?"

"That certainly is the plan as of now. Once the confrontations start, I could continue to act as if I were injured and let them eliminate some of their forces. I will start taking some hardcore actions after that."

"Do you wish to take them hostages, or eliminate them?"

"Once I extract their soul to get knowledge about the force behind them, keeping them alive is going to be a liability."

"Wouldn't that result in you becoming enemies with the forces behind them?"

"I too have quite a powerful person to back me up. If he can take care of those at the emperor level, I have no problem dealing with Qi King level practitioners, once I do break-through the level of QI King. Once my origins are revealed, I doubt those forces would dare to attack me casually. We can take care of the consequences after solving the present problem."

...........................….

In a shady corner-

"He seems to have moved out of the city"

"Have you verified the people he made contact with? Are you sure there is no one with him?"

"I am positive regarding him being alone, sir. During the whole time, I was tailing him, all he did was purchase a huge number of herbs from various pharmacies, along with some random items like Pill furnaces, high-quality beast blood. I am surprised by the amount of money he spent on all those items. He seems to be quite rich."

The leader licked his lips. "According to our orders, we are to capture him alive. The details are not specified. Hence all his belongings should be ours." They would be able to make a fortune by robbing an alchemist like Lu Ming.

"Follow him to the outskirts. We will attack at the first chance we get."

"Is the leader not worried about the other groups who seem to be tailing him too?"

"The men sent by other organizations would be of a similar level to us. They wouldn't want to make a huge commotion during the process. The struggle would be caused until he falls into the hands of any one of the groups. Once that happens, all the groups will retreat. We just need to capture him first. I will be in charge of defense. You two are to capture him instantly." He said to two other members of the group who also seemed to be in the Qi King level.

The group moved out. 

...............…..

It was already late at night when Lu Ming stepped within the outskirts of Pill-Bloom city. He decisively moved into a shady location with the least number of people. He tried to act naturally as if this was where he lived. The alley in which he finally reached was secluded from the city with just two diagonal entrances and exits. 

"I guess that the men still haven't let their guard down," Lu Ming said, speaking to himself.

"Two figures are moving in from either side of the alley. Beware." The attack arrived swiftly after some time, and Lu Ming decided to dodge.

"They are using low energy within their attacks" Two cultivators of Qi King level were simultaneously attacking him. The sword swings were quite accurate which showed that the enemy was a veteran when it came to the usage of the sword. Lu Ming decided to dodge and try to run away, while also incurring some injuries in the process.