novelraw Chapter 403 - 402 - Yinande
Chapter 403 - 402 - Yinande
The teleportation hub sent them to another one but Lind had no idea where the hubs were, he could only follow the numbers after paying for a slot. As they progressed, however, the number of people teleporting dropped significantly.
After 2 more hubs they finally returned to islands but Lind only stayed inside the arrays as if you were relaying to another location, you simply waited.
The quality of personnel began to drop noticeably after 3 jumps.
Lind began to suspect that reaching Yinande was intentionally convoluted because no one should want to go there. They were forced to. Those that were going there obviously did not want to be followed or were doing something possibly illegal.
It was not the teleportation array personnel's business so long as they got some benefits. Lind's wallet suffered a bit until the next to last array.
They arrived at a structure that barely seemed to hold together. The stone arches were cracked and patched so many times that even Lind could not determine the original material. The formations were barely working on them as well.
Only the teleportation array seemed well maintained and even then it was much smaller than the others they had been using. The man running the array was asleep too!
His dirty robes were wrinkled and clearly he expected no one to arrive or even use the array. His hair might be black or it may simply also be as dirty as his robe. Lind really could not tell.
"Ahem." Lind politely coughed as the man was a tier 3 Sky Realm. A snort and beady dark eyes slowly woke up before shock flooded them.
"PEOPLE?!" He fell backwards out of his chair but Lind caught him with a cushion of air. He might have slipped in some water to clean him a bit too. A grateful look passed over the man's face but his teeth nearly made Lind jump.
They were all crooked! A cultivator could only have teeth like that if he was injured and never properly healed! Further, they would have to suffer multiple blows to do it!
"S-so, um, yes, where to?" The man seemed flustered to realize he had to actually do his job. Lind looked at Fey who just stared coldly at the man.
He frowned but she was like that to strangers without a single exception. If they were kind to Lind, she simply did not react but many got the cold stare.
"We would like 2 slots to Yinande." The man did not seem surprised over their destination but he seemed confused about 'slots' for a moment before he realized there were 2 people in total in front of him.
"R-right, now the cost would be…whew, that is expensive!" It was not an act, the man consulted an active formation that was as well maintained as the teleportation array. Clearly some guild kept them working and reaped the reward of fees.
The man looked guilty as he pointed at the jade stone which Lind took. His frown deepened.
"2000 Sky Stones of mid grade at least?!" Most of the jumps between locations were 50 to 100, but now there was a massive rise here?!
"Eh, um, ya see, not many folk come to use this one. I can't reach much and those I can not many want to admit to." Understanding flooded Lind. Supply and demand. The supply was very low but those that needed it, the demand was mandatory.
"Who runs this array?" Lind was curious as the teleportation arrays in the lower world were managed mostly by the supreme powers but only within their lands. Crossing continents was solely the purview of the Stardust Emporium.
He was not entirely sure with the Floating Isles. Some were large enough that the rules within could be similar. The most powerful force controlled the internal arrays but hopping from island to island and switching from teleportation to connection tunnels might be different.
Who ran what?
The man did not seem surprised as he produced an emblem Lind did not recognize. Again, as if expected, the man volunteered the information.
"This is run by the Tidao Syndicate. They run most everything regarding Yinande if you ask them, but for sure going in and out is up to them. Sorry." The man was genuine, to the point Fey backed off her stare. Lind sighed but decided to drop 3 things on the desk.
One was a storage bracelet. It was unwise to just plop a large amount of stones on any surface but Lind had also put 2 elixirs on the desk. The bracelet did not even cause a ripple as the man swifty examined it and was surprised.
The mix of all 6 elements came to the right amount but only that. The light and darkness stones were worth far more than others. The elixirs, though, confused the man. He had never seen such liquids.
"The golden one should restore your teeth and repair any internal issues with organs or bones. The violet one will stabilize whatever is wrong with you meridians that Qi is leaking from your body." Lind had not dared to examine him too deeply but he had diagnosed the issues easily enough.
Damaged meridians would leak Qi in a very specific way. It would make using Arts, or more importantly, arrays, could be dangerous. One elixir was for making sure the array worked but the other was a bribe which the man seemed to grasp.
The man held the 2 jade vials carefully before a smile spread on his face.
"Pity no one used the array today, quite boring here." Lind smiled and nodded as he and Fey moved to the center. The man downed the violet elixir first and seemed to get a pleased smile on his face. The Qi around him stabilized and he opened his eyes with gratitude.
The infusion of the array lit up and the feeling of dislocation carried them away. The array settled while the man returned to his chair and thought for a bit. He carefully put away the golden elixir. He wanted to use it but not yet. Not until he was far from the building.
He then summoned a jade communication stone.
"Sorry, Lind Frey, but my gratitude only goes so far. I give you a day's lead before the White Tiger comes for you. He paid us a lot to expect you, after all." The man was still very genuine but that was why he was assigned to the teleportation array.
He could be as genuine as needed to get the exorbitant prices out of the customers that showed up far more frequently than many would believe. The Tidao Syndicate had to rough him up to make it a bit more believable but if he was to be rated on the bottom to the top rung, the man would be very high up.
He had volunteered to do it for the very reason he could not have become a Sky Realm tier 3 without the resources he skimmed but very few were as kind as Lind. True kindness got a day. It was all he could grant but karma was real so cultivators took it seriously.
He imprinted a message into the stone and put a day's delay on it.
"Good luck, boy." The man then deposited all the stones. His bosses would wonder how he got such a huge amount but would not be unhappy. The man smiled as the elixir in his storage was far more precious for the future he saw. A future free of Tidao Syndicate.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
Lind and Fey appeared on an open teleportation array. There was no building housing it but he quickly saw there was no need. There were massive beasts that looked like rhinos crossed with a gorilla.
He believed they were slate gorillas. They had no fur but the rough hide as hard as steel and a massive horn coming out of their heads. They were very intelligent even at the World Realm but these were clearly tamed as humans were standing nearby.
Unlike the last array, these people were dressed in good robes and sneered at the pair. Fey's knuckles cracked but Lind just calmly stepped forward. Fey at tier 4 was considered fairly normal to be traveling the isles.
Tiers 4 to 6 were a huge jump in power and few would bother them unless they could pull it off or in the same tier. Higher tiers were even more rare to obstruct but would only travel on necessary errands.
They were usually focused on getting ready to reach the Heaven Realm.
Lind, on the other hand, was only tier 2. While any Sky Realm could move around, the lower 3 tiers were much weaker than the other 6. Normally, that rule held true but rare monsters incarnate were known to show up.
All of that being true, most would assume a tier 2 traveling in low numbers would be such a being, but why would any such being come to Yinande? It was a hole.
Only shady, desperate, or hopeless people came there of their own volition. Anything on such people should be expected to be robbed.
"Welcome, travelers. There is a small fee you need to pay, although if you can't, I am sure your companion can." The lewd look in the leader of the men was clear. His dark robes were black or simply so dark as to be the same.
His face was clean shaven and his eyes feverish as they stared at Fey. She was cold but Lind was calm.
"What if I am not inclined to be robbed?" His words made the men laugh. How many had been so arrogant and then brought low before them? They were Tier 4 Sky Realm. What could a single tier 4 and tier 2 do to them?
"Then you have to make it past our little friends here." The slate gorillas seemed to be used to the game and loomed over them, but Lind did not seem to mind. He just smiled and then turned to look at the beasts.
The moment he did, the world changed.
The beasts all trembled and stepped back. They then knelt to Lind which shocked the men.
"What are you all doing?! Get up!" The man summoned an artifact that caused collars to glow around each beast. They roared in pain but then the man froze. He slowly turned and saw vertically slit emerald eyes staring at him.
"Give me that." The man shook as he obeyed and then was stunned as the inscriptions burst apart! It was a grade 5 item! How could a tier 2 so easily destroy it?!
The collars all snapped since they were tied to the artifact.
"Keep this place safe if you wish, but otherwise, do as you like." Lind and Fey easily left as the beasts all turned back to their former masters. The pair only got a few steps when the roars and screams began.
Lind felt no guilt. He could smell the blood and more on each of the men. He did stop and look up at a shadow looking from the top of a single story building. It clearly housed the men to run the array but the shadow did not move.
They just observed. They noted Lind seeing them but did not do anything one way or the other.
"Interesting place you have here." The shadow nodded before sliding into the darkness. Fey was looking around while Lind spoke to their observer. They moved on and left the chaos all behind.