CHAPTER 602: CHAPTER 471: CITY OF MERCENARIES

Ye Lingyue did not know that during the days she and Lan Cai’er headed to Cloud City, Xia Capital was in chaos, all because of a lost Concentration Crystal Ball.

That day, Xue Pianran was chastised by Yun Sheng, deeply struck, and it took her several days to regain composure.

When her injuries had healed, she discovered that her most important Concentration Crystal Ball was missing.

That Concentration Crystal Ball, given to Xue Pianran by Chen Hongru after she first comprehended the Star Power.

Throughout the years, she had always carried it with her, within which she had stored years of accumulated Star Power, its significance to her was extraordinary.

"Brother Cong, are you sure you’ve searched the entire street already and still can’t find it?" Xue Pianran asked anxiously.

"Not just that street, but also all the other streets of Xia Capital, I even requested permission from Emperor Xia to search them all again, but still no sign of it. Can you sense the location of the Concentration Crystal?" Cong Lv knew the importance of the Concentration Crystal Ball to Xue Pianran.

But because of this matter, the local officials in Xia Capital were already very dissatisfied with them, and even more so, someone had reported the incident to Emperor Xia.

Emperor Xia summoned Cong Lv, hinting that it was time for them to leave Daxia.

Cong Lv and Xue Pianran had initially come to escort Princess Qing Bi, but after what happened to the princess, Cong Lv no longer had the face to stay in Daxia any longer.

But Xue Pianran, because of Feng Xun, refused to leave easily and after being injured, she hoped more than ever that Feng Xun would come to visit her.

Unfortunately, Xue Pianran’s hopes were utterly dashed.

Cong Lv found out that Feng Xun had left Xia Capital several days ago, allegedly to handle Feng Residence’s business.

With Feng Xun gone, and the loss of her Concentration Crystal Ball, Xue Pianran was significantly stricken.

In dire circumstances, Xue Pianran had no choice but to use her own spiritual power to search for the Concentration Crystal Ball’s whereabouts.

But Xue Pianran after all was not Chen Hongru, using spiritual power to sense the crystal ball was a great drain on her spiritual power.

After the search, Xue Pianran was so frustrated she almost spat blood.

Gone, the Concentration Crystal Ball carrying a strand of her Spiritual Imprint, she couldn’t sense even a trace of it.

This situation was usually unlikely to happen, if it cannot be sensed, there was only one possibility, the crystal ball was broken... and the Star Power inside that she had accumulated over the years...

Originally possessing the Concentration Crystal Ball, Xue Pianran was half a year away from challenging Fang Venerate, but now, it would take at least three more years before she could challenge Fang Venerate.

Unable to find the Concentration Crystal Ball, Xue Pianran could only return to Beiqing angrily with Cong Lv.

At this moment, Ye Lingyue and Lan Cai’er had already arrived at Cloud City.

Cloud City, named for its location on a mountaintop over 500 meters high, sits at the border between Beiqing and Daxia.

Due to its high elevation, it is shrouded in clouds and fog for nearly half of the year, hence the name Cloud City.

Its unique geographic location, adjacent to the Xixia Plain and the Ancient Forest, makes Cloud City the liveliest stronghold on the border between the two nations.

Here, it is also the city most frequented by mercenaries between the two countries.

Every year, a large number of mercenaries come and go from Cloud City, which is also known as Mercenary City.

Unlike typical cities in Daxia and Beiqing, Cloud City has no stationed troops, nor a City Lord. The real authority here is the local Mercenary Alliance.

The Mercenary Alliance was established five or six hundred years ago. It is rumored that before ascending to the throne as Emperors, the Crown Princes of Beiqing and Daxia, impulsive in their youth, came to Cloud City for adventure.

Together with a freelance mercenary, they formed a small mercenary squad. During a beast chaos, the freelancer saved the lives of the two Crown Princes at the risk of his own.

Grateful, once they became Emperors, they granted Cloud City permanently to that freelance predecessor.

That freelancer later established the Mercenary Alliance, and over the centuries, more and more mercenary corps and freelancers have come to rely on the Alliance for their livelihood.

In the Mercenary Alliance, one can accept various tasks in exchange for compensation.

Ye Lingyue and Lan Cai’er arrived near Mercenary City, where they encountered several veteran mercenaries from whom they bought some mercenary equipment and clothing.

Therefore, when the two of them arrived in Cloud City, they appeared no different from typical novice mercenaries.

Ye Lingyue darkened her face and wore an old set of heavy armor, with leg bindings and two Star Saliva Daggers, and a coarse cloth satchel over her shoulder, carrying a bow and arrow half her height on her back.

That bow was the Yi God’s Void-breaking Bow, altered by Ye Lingyue, and given an "aged" treatment to make it look as ordinary as any mercenary’s crude bow.

Lan Cai’er, with a prominent scar on her face, dressed similarly to Ye Lingyue, in thick bronze armor, and a leather whip coiled around her waist.

Their ugly appearances coupled with their crude outfits made them look like two country bumpkins who had just arrived in the big city to see the world, appearing as rookie mercenaries. Considering they were posing as mercenaries this time, Ye Lingyue did not bring Little Wuya along.

"Little Zhiyo, we’ve arrived at Mercenary City, cooled down yet?" Ye Lingyue patted the coarse satchel; there was no response from inside.

"Tsk, small but such a big temper. Just dyed its fur a bit, I’ve never seen a Spiritual Beast so vain," laughed Lan Cai.

Hearing Lan Cai’s laughter, Little Zhiyo, annoyed, popped out of the bag, turned its butt towards Lan Cai, gave a disdainful twist and expression.

Its originally fluffy white fur had turned pitch black, as if soaked in ink, matching Ye Lingyue’s darkened face.

In fact, Ye Lingyue had indeed used a special herbal solution to dye Little Zhiyo’s fur black.

This was a necessary precaution for Ye Lingyue’s trip to Mercenary City, as she might encounter acquaintances, and Little Zhiyo’s distinct appearance was too conspicuous.

Along the way, its cute appearance attracted many female mercenaries, some even offered to buy it.

With Ye Lingyue’s current dowdy appearance, a rural female mercenary with such a beautiful Spiritual Beast was indeed too ostentatious.

Adhering to the principle of avoiding unnecessary trouble, Ye Lingyue disguised Little Zhiyo; however, this seriously upset the little creature, causing it to lose appetite and sleep, and even throw tantrums.

It was not until Ye Lingyue promised, as compensation, to reward Little Zhiyo with ten roasted chicken legs that it grudgingly forgave her.

~ Extra Chapters 28 and 29 as a thank-you for monthly tickets. Up next is Wu Zhong. The sister book of this novel is "Divine Doctor Mad Concubine: Genius Summoner," the book about Ye Lingyue’s biological parents ~