"Do you wish to continue the process with this girl? She seemed to be having an esteemed position within the Brown-Stone guild, and harming her would give rise to some dire consequences."
"Well, I am allured with the proposal of having her as one of my soul puppets. Given her status, I would be earning quite a bit of profit from having her under my control. She could help finance my ventures and could acquire some decent resources for me."
"I would suggest you refrain from doing so. She is the young miss of a very influential merchant organization. Given their history, they must be possessing an alchemist at level 5. They would surely notice the soul seed given they inspect her body. You would be making quite a dangerous foe by then."
"Are you suggesting that I let her go?"
"You hold an advantage in this position. You weren't the one who started the whole conflict. Since she was the one who incited and she failed to capture you, even ending up falling into your hands, you can ask the organization for massive compensation. It would be best if you can get them to give you some decent medical furnaces and all the herbs which are required for the blood seal. You can even ask for some of the rare metals and resources which can help heal the artifact."
"Are the firestone no longer of any use to you?"
"The usage of the same type of resources would have less effect with every successive implementation. The artifact was created with a blend of treasures having a wide variety of properties. For a decent upgrade, it would be better if you can get your hands on some elemental resources which are not of fire or water type."
"I guess I will be making a huge demand from them."
"I also sense a similar aura coming from afar from the corner. It seems to be the girl who taught you fire art. Her cultivation went through massive changes during this period. She is already at the Qi Emperor level. You brat are quite lucky to have the backing of two emperors at the same time."
Lu Ming was surprised to hear this fact. Although he knew that the first elder was one of the grand elders of pill valley and was injured resulting in the degradation of his cultivation level, the Hall master seems to be hiding some deep secrets too. She must have arrived here to give me a helping hand if required. I guess they know my true strength as of now. The consequences of this event can't be avoided. He could only go with the flow.
He instantly concealed his and the lady's aura, disappearing from the street some moments later.
...............................
The first elder was sitting within his room, with his eyes closed. He was trying to advance as much of his cultivation as possible. His appearance would lead to a series of events that would surely create some massive waves within the Pill Valley. He needs to be prepared to face them.
A figure appeared beside him some moments later, resulting in him opening his eyes. "Did the respective groups take action?"
It was none other than the leader of the Pill Hall. She responded in an excited voice. "Four groups were simultaneously pursuing Lu Ming, trying to capture him alive."
"What sort of cultivation did the perpetrators had?"
"Each group leader was at the peak of the initial stage Qi King."
The first elder's expression hanged upon hearing that. He didn't expect the families to send such a strong force to track Lu Ming's steps. Although the fact could be attributed to his performance within the competition.
"Did you give him a hand?"
"Opposite to our expectations, Lu Ming was able to take care of all four groups." The first elder was shocked to hear this. How could that be possible?
"Did Lu Ming already make a breakthrough at the Qi King level?"
"From what I sensed; he is still in the 7th level of Qi general."
"How could he take care of these groups then? Did he have some help from other forces?"
"He did have the help of 4 other practitioners, all of whom were in the Qi general level. Each of them took care of the three groups, while Lu Ming himself executed the fourth group. From what I can guess, he was hiding his true strength from us. I also felt a unique sensation from him, similar to my soul qi."
"Are you saying that he has already stepped into the soul grandmaster level?"
"I guess that is the only way to describe the situation. He used soul attack to kill most of the Qi kings in pursuit of him. Their soul couldn't be damaged by someone of soul master level. He must have entered the soul grandmaster level, or at the very least Is not far away from it."
The first elder wasn't able to digest this fact. The disciple who he mocked for trying to dream about the first position is already near the soul grandmaster level. It was like a slap to his face. His disciple was hiding a lot of secrets and his real strength was quite frightening. Being able to contend with Qi King level peak while being at advance QI general level.
"I guess we underestimated your junior brother. We need to reward him for his efforts and also smack his butt to dare hide such an important fact from his master. Did he kill all the people?"
"He killed most of the lower tier practitioners, leaving only the four leaders alive. He inspected and took their belongings, after which he left them unconscious on the streets. As per the last leader, she is the young-miss of the brown-stone guild."
The first elder's expression changed from shock to surprise to seriousness. "Did he kill her? It would create huge turbulence if that old man's grand-daughter died here. He wouldn't leave this matter alone until he uses all his might to take revenge."
"Lu Ming seems to have taken her hostage."
The first elder became silent for a small period of time, before laughing out loud. "That cunning brat. He must have understood the gravity of the situation and decided to use it to his benefit. He is going to ask for insane compensation to let her go. I might need to flex some muscles this time."
.........................
Brownstone Merchant Guild-
A hooded man entered the building which was crowded with people buying various stuff. He carefully found a corner and stood there in silence. It wasn't long before one of the store managers approached him.
"Is sir waiting for someone or has an eye out for a unique item?"
"I do have a message to convey to your guild" Lu Ming passed a folded sheet of paper to the manager who opened it up. It was a short time before his eyebrows twitched and he looked at Lu Ming with a hostile expression.
"Make sure to meet my demands by the evening, or I will start sending some souvenirs to help motivate you."
The hooded man left shortly after this conversation.
...................
"What were his demands?" An old man asked the manager.
The manager forwarded the list of items to the old man, who thoroughly went through it. "Quite a massive appetite. His demands are quite scary.". The old man returned the list to the manager. "Prepare the listed items."
"But Elder Yin, we should first try to send rescue to the team. We don't need to pay such a hefty sum for no reason." The old man was one of the core elders named Xuan Yin.