Four Seas Trading Company

The captain of the city guard quickly accepted the two low-grade immortal stones. The incomparably pure immortal spiritual energy that surged through his hand made his fingers tremble slightly.

Suppressing his greed and shock, he stepped aside and cleared the way.

“Please, go on in!”

Gu Changge gave a slight nod. His gaze seemed to sweep casually over the palms of the other cultivators who were paying the entrance fee nearby.

What they held were crystals more lustrous and translucent than spirit stones, their energy far denser—crystals condensed from spiritual energy.

The spiritual power contained within them was roughly somewhere between that of high-grade and supreme-grade spirit stones from the lower realms.

“So this is a spirit crystal.”

Gu Changge immediately understood.

“Let’s go.”

He said this indifferently to Little White beside him, then paid no further attention to the complicated expressions of the surrounding crowd as he stepped through the imposing gates of Sunset City.

The guard captain withdrew his gaze from Gu Changge and began rapidly weighing the situation in his mind.

The white-robed man before him seemed to possess Saint Realm cultivation.

As for the black-clad attendant beside him, he gave off the aura of a Void Immortal. His blood and qi were vigorous, but his immortal essence did not yet seem fully condensed. He had probably broken through not long ago.

And yet these two men had casually produced two immortal stones simply to pay an entrance fee of two spirit crystals!

Most importantly, they had actually been able to casually use immortal stones to pay the fee!

Either they came from some great power, or they were nouveau riche who had struck it lucky.

In the Chengyun Immortal Domain, although the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was far denser than in the lower realms, cultivators could still follow a viable path to the Saint Realm, and even to the Void Immortal Realm, through years of gradual cultivation.

However, once one entered the Void Immortal Realm, all of one’s spiritual power had to be transformed into the higher-level immortal essence. The thin, constantly dissipating immortal energy in this place became the greatest obstacle.

Countless Void Immortals spent their entire lives without managing to take more than a few crucial steps in transforming their immortal essence.

For that very reason, immortal stones containing pure immortal energy had become supreme treasures coveted by every Void Immortal and True Immortal!

They could greatly accelerate the transformation of immortal essence and were unparalleled resources for breaking through to a higher realm.

Because immortal energy constantly dissipated, immortal stones had become a strategic resource that could not be replenished. They were almost completely monopolized by the Chengyun Immortal Palace and the great powers affiliated with it, leaving ordinary cultivators with no chance of ever seeing one.

A single low-grade immortal stone could often be exchanged for one hundred thousand spirit crystals on the black market—and even then, it was practically impossible to buy one!

When Zhao Gang and the others had previously gone to the Xuanhuang Great World, the total number of immortal stones in their collections had amounted to no more than fifty.

Seeing Gu Changge and Little White enter the city with such calm expressions, the guard captain immediately put on a different face.

He turned around and barked harshly at the increasingly restless crowd, using the outburst to conceal his earlier loss of composure:

“What are you looking at? Never seen the world before? Hurry up! Anyone entering the city, move it! One spirit crystal per person—stop dawdling!”

As he maintained order, he seemingly turned his back on the crowd.

His fingers quickly and discreetly tapped several times against an inconspicuous jade pendant at his waist.

A message was sent through this special channel.

It was transmitted to the rear courtyard of the Four Seas Trading Company in the city—a black-market and underground intelligence organization that appeared to operate a trading house on the surface, but in reality specialized in making money through shady means.

The captain had long been in league with them. They had agreed that whenever he encountered a particularly fat target, he would secretly pass along the information. In return, he would receive half a percent of the proceeds.

“Secret message from Four Seas Trading Company: Fat target has entered the city. One master and one servant. Master is suspected to be at the Saint Realm; servant has just entered the Void Immortal Realm. They may be extremely wealthy. Paid two low-grade immortal stones upon entry. Investigate immediately. Same rules as usual.”

The Four Seas Trading Company had operated in Sunset City for many years. Its methods were secretive and ruthless, its techniques highly refined, and it had handled countless similar affairs without suffering a single failure.

It was rumored that a powerful figure within the Chengyun Immortal Palace stood behind them. Thus, even when trouble occasionally arose, they always managed to reduce major incidents to minor ones and minor incidents to nothing.

In any case, if the sky fell, someone taller would hold it up. It was not something a small city guard captain like him needed to worry about.

Once the message had been sent, the captain felt somewhat reassured, and a faint sense of anticipation rose within him.

Yet the pair’s extraordinary calmness inexplicably caused a difficult-to-describe unease to flash through his heart.

Forget it. If they really were fat targets, they would certainly be squeezed dry, and he would be able to sit back and take his share.

If not, then the people from the trading company could go knock their heads against a wall. It would have nothing to do with him.

Behind the bustling main street of Sunset City, in an inconspicuous alley…

Inside a secret chamber in the rear courtyard of the Four Seas Trading Company, a kind-looking, rotund shopkeeper was idly fiddling with an abacus. His movements paused slightly.

He raised his eyelids and glanced at the several lines of text floating before him.

A shrewd gleam flashed through his small eyes, nearly squeezed shut by layers of fat. It was the look of a shark that had caught the scent of blood.

“Immortal stones as an entrance fee?”

He muttered under his breath. His fingers unconsciously moved the abacus beads twice, and a warm yet icy smile slowly spread across his face.

“How interesting. What truly interesting guests. We must make sure our brothers give them a proper welcome.”

He gently clapped his hands. A blurred figure silently emerged from the shadows and bowed as he awaited orders.

“Shadow Crow, follow the two guests who just entered the city. The one in white is the master, and the one in black is the servant. Be careful. Find out where they come from and whether they are some ignorant young master—or if they truly have some other powerful background.”

Shadow Crow nodded silently. Like a smear of ink merging into the ground, he vanished without a sound.

As Gu Changge and Little White entered the city, his divine sense had already spread like an invisible tide, silently sweeping across every corner near the city gate.

The covert transmission between the guard captain and the Four Seas Trading Company, the fat shopkeeper’s whispered orders, and the dispatch of the scout that followed—all of it was as clear to him as if it were happening right before his eyes and resounding beside his ears beneath his vast divine will at the peak of the Immortal Emperor Realm.

“Heh. So the Four Seas Trading Company is one of the underground tentacles of this city.”

Gu Changge smiled faintly to himself, entirely unconcerned.

In his previous life, he had read all kinds of novels. He had encountered scenes like this countless times.

He had not expected to run into one the moment he left home.

In places where resources were scarce, the law of the jungle was often displayed in its most naked form. Collusion, greed, and scheming were nothing more than the most instinctive desires of living beings.

“It seems that no matter which world one visits, or what kind of living creatures inhabit it, they are all much the same.”

He shook his head lightly, his tone carrying a hint of emotion.

“Very well.” A trace of faint amusement crossed his mind. “Since you’ve taken the initiative to come knocking, I’ll play along and have some fun.”

“Master, what did you say?”

Little White asked from the side, somewhat puzzled.

He had not noticed those subtle fluctuations from the transmitted messages, but he remained faithfully at Gu Changge’s side, standing guard.

“Nothing.” Gu Changge waved his hand dismissively. “Now that we’ve arrived in this so-called Immortal Domain, we should naturally experience the local customs.”

Gu Changge led Little White onward at a leisurely pace, blending into the bustling flow of people in Sunset City.

Shops lined both sides of the street, while vendors called out incessantly. Their wares ranged from low-grade talismans, pills, and materials to various handicrafts and local snacks containing faint traces of spiritual energy. The displays were dazzling in their variety.

The air was filled with thin strands of immortal energy, mixed with the warmth of cooking fires and the noise of human voices. It possessed a unique, worldly charm.

Gu Changge studied everything with great interest, appearing just like a tourist who had only just arrived and found everything new.

Within his divine sense, vast as a sea of stars, an obscure aura that had been suppressed to the utmost—nearly blending into the hustle and bustle of the streets—quietly appeared a hundred zhang away, following him like a shadow.