6: Tell me loudly? What is the name of this city?

Within the Black Ridge City Lord's Manor.

A man with a large head, big ears, and eyes so squinted that his full face was obscured, sat in the main seat, his gaze sinister as he looked at the guards below.

He spoke softly, but his voice was rather unpleasant.

“For the past few days, all of you must be careful. The Shen Family has dispatched Cultivators, and I don’t know how long they will stay this time.”

“Although we actually work for the Black Horn Gang, nominally, this is the Qingchi Mountain’s territory given to the Shen Family.”

“The Shen Family’s Foundation Establishment True Person is currently at the height of his power in Qingchi Mountain, and Qingchi Mountain values him greatly. They might even allocate a portion of Purple Mansion resources to the Shen Family, so all of you had better behave.”

“It doesn’t matter if you die, but don’t implicate the Black Horn Gang. You’re all old-timers; you should know the Black Horn Gang’s rules.”

“If you mess up the important business, being skinned and having your tendons pulled is a minor matter. Your daughters and wives will be sent to brothels, and your sons will be castrated or thrown into the mines as slaves, never to see the light of day.”

The guards below exchanged glances and quickly said.

“Yes!”

“We understand, Zhou Ba!”

“Hmm.”

Just as the fat man was about to pick up his teacup to drink, he heard a report coming in.

A guard, rushing in, stumbled over the threshold, perhaps due to nervousness, and fell flat on his face!

“So hasty, what kind of decorum is this?”

“Sir, it’s bad… it’s bad.”

“What’s bad? Speak clearly!”

Zhou Ba impatiently waved his hand.

The guard stammered in reply.

“At the gate, at the gate, a group of tough opponents arrived. They killed the gatekeepers and hung them on the city wall for public display!”

“What?!”

“How dare they!”

“Follow me to see!”

Zhou Ba snorted coldly, his face grim, yet his obese body moved with surprising speed, leaping towards the city gate!

At the city gate, Shen Li mounted his horse, his brows still tightly furrowed.

The Shen Family controlled many territories, and they usually didn't pay much attention to distant ones like those in the Huangsha Mountain Range.

The Shen Family’s main operations came from their long-established inland territories, so these places were generally managed remotely.

Every so often, a Cultivator from the main Family would be sent here to collect a certain share of Spirit Stones, and then they would leave it alone.

In reality, this was the management model for most Cultivation Families.

This was very easy and allowed them to obtain a good amount of Spirit Stones. How could managing a city be more enjoyable than Cultivating?

Wasting precious time managing Mortals was simply too wasteful, wasn't it?

As for the lives of Mortals… Cultivation Families didn't really care.

In their impression, Mortals were like batches of weeds; if they died, more would grow back.

Currently, the inland areas were overpopulated; if some died, they would simply be replaced.

Thus, this top-down approach led to such occurrences.

Snapping back to reality, Shen Li calculated the time.

He thought that the so-called Clerk Zhou Ba should arrive soon, right?

Before he finished speaking, a gust of foul wind swirled before him.

A pair of fleshy, large hands, covered in a bluish hue, clearly from practicing some unique martial art, slapped towards Shen Li’s face!

A loud shout echoed in the air.

“Where did this brat come from, daring to act presumptuously in my Black Ridge City?”

The fleshy hands drew closer, but Shen Li remained unmoved, even lazily stretching.

A nimble figure moved even faster, a beautiful Xiu Chun Blade intercepting the large hands.

Then, it sharply thrust upwards, and Qi surged out!

Bloody wounds instantly appeared on the fleshy hands!

He immediately cried out in pain, just about to retreat, but found the Xiu Chun Blade was even faster.

The nimble figure, like a leopard, swung the blade down, severing the outstretched wrist.

“An Innate Realm Martial Artist?”

“How audacious!”

Blood flowed profusely, and the surrounding commoners, seeing this situation, frantically retreated to the sides.

However, Zhou Ba, with a cruel resolve, knew this person was of no small background and sealed his acupoints.

He forced out a cold smile.

He looked at the young Young Master protected by the Innate Realm Martial Artist and said.

“Who are you?”

Shen Li yawned, slowly took out the Shen Family's Dao Token from his embrace, then threw it on the ground, and said indifferently.

“I heard that in Black Ridge City, your Zhou Ba’s rules are the only rules, and my Shen Family’s rules don’t count for much?”

The moment Zhou Ba saw the Dao Token, he immediately knelt before Shen Li, then looked up with his fleshy face, which was still covered in cold sweat from the pain. Despite this, he still said with a smiling face.

“Zhou Ba greets the Young Master of the Shen Family. The Young Master must have misheard. Zhou Ba is merely acting as a temporary manager; how could I possibly override the rules of our main Family?”

“It must be some scoundrel maliciously slandering and trying to sow discord between me and our main Family.”

“You, too, are worthy of speaking of yourself and the main Family?”

Zhou Ba was instantly stunned. Just as he was about to speak, he felt a large foot press firmly onto his face.

He was immediately pressed down by immense force, his face turning blue and red.

Then, a cold voice came from above.

“What, you look very unconvinced?”

“Zhou Ba does not know what he has done wrong. Zhou Ba believes that even without merit, I have toiled hard. To treat a meritorious official like this for the sake of a few commoners… Young Master of the Shen Family, you are inevitably biased.”

Before he finished speaking, a piercing pain struck.

Two invisible threads instantly pierced through Zhou Ba’s shoulder blades, hoisting him into mid-air.

In the midst of intense pain, Zhou Ba did not roar, but instead said in disbelief.

“Shen Family Immortal Seed?”

Shen Li paid him no mind, merely suspending him on the city gate tower using Spirit Control Art, and slowly said.

“You treat Mortal commoners as slaves, as weeds.”

“Then, if I treat you as a slave, as weeds, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?”

Zhou Ba was about to speak, but his tongue was immediately cut off.

“Still want to speak? But this Young Master doesn’t want to hear it anymore.”

“Enter the city!”

In the distance, Wang Chen took in all the commotion at the city gate, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.

The Formation Master beside him said in confusion.

“Brother Wang Chen? This is just a small farce, what’s so interesting about it?”

“At most, it’s just a child with a little cleverness, a bit of cunning, and some knowledge of mundane affairs.”

Wang Chen shook his head and sighed.

“There are many Cultivators who are single-mindedly focused on Cultivation, but no matter how many Cultivators there are, they still need sufficient resources to accumulate.”

“Everyone looks down on mundane affairs, but they have no choice but to rely on them. Have you not seen through anything during your years in the market?”

“What?” The Formation Master was a bit confused.

Wang Chen’s eyes were full of pride as he said.

“Do you think our lineage can be so prosperous, even appearing before the Immortal Master, because of the emergence of Geniuses?”

“But do you know how Geniuses come about? It’s because I, your elder, earned them Spirit Stone by Spirit Stone in this Crescent Lake Market.”

“While fulfilling the Family’s missions, I tried my best to secure benefits for my own lineage, and that’s how I supported a few Cultivation Geniuses!”

“Do you think why the Cultivation Geniuses of our lineage are so respectful to me? Why can I, with my weaker Cultivation Aptitude, Cultivate ten percent faster than you?”

“Isn’t it because I, your elder, am the financier?”

Wang Chen saw the Formation Master beside him was unimpressed and said no more, only looking at Black Ridge City with a hint of appreciation.

“The Huangsha Mountain Range has abundant resources; the Shen Family cannot be unaware of this. Although the inland is good, the situation there is already set. If this person can establish a foothold in the Huangsha Mountain Range, he will surely receive support from the Shen Family.”

“This brat seems like a slacker, but in reality, he has a deep understanding of strategy. Just this act of killing a chicken to warn the monkeys at the city gate is enough for you to learn from.”

“Just watch, the good show is yet to come.”