novelraw Chapter 312 : She Doesn't Like Deals Without Benefits
Chapter 312 : She Doesn't Like Deals Without Benefits
"You must be a newly ascended person, right?"
The two had more or less figured it out. Chu Sang's complete ignorance about the Upper Realm's situation didn't resemble someone who had lived there for years, but rather... a new deity who had just ascended.
"Mm."
"For someone who just ascended, you're quite formidable," the elder sister said, glancing fearfully towards the remains of the two giant beasts and shuddering involuntarily. She now found these giant beasts less frightening; instead, this newly ascended deity before her was terrifying, having dispatched two such powerful Taotie beasts in mere moments.
Are newcomers this competitive now?
She shook her head and said, "But you're also quite unlucky, falling into the Beast Arena right after ascending. If your strength had been even slightly weaker, you would have been swallowed whole by that beast."
Ascension locations were random, but Chu Sang's direct ascension into the Beast Arena was unprecedented.
"Let's make a deal," she began. "It's clear you know little about the Upper Realm. Newcomers like you can easily be taken advantage of out there. If you accidentally offend someone from a great family, you might be..." She made a throat-slitting gesture and said mysteriously, "Although we sisters don't have much strength, we've been in the Upper Realm for years. We may not know everything about the Upper Realm, but we've heard plenty of gossip. You save us, and I'll tell you everything you want to know, helping you adapt to life in the Upper Realm as quickly as possible. How about it?"
"This isn't a fair deal. I could easily leave on my own and ask others," Chu Sang said calmly.
She was indeed a newly ascended person, but not a naive newcomer who could be fooled by old hands.
She disliked making deals, especially those without benefits.
Seeing her about to leave, the elder sister panicked and quickly grabbed her sleeve. "No, no, no! Benefactor, don't go! I was just joking! I'll tell you anything you want to know! But... considering how pitiful we sisters are, when you leave, could you take us with you?"
To be frank, Chu Sang was someone who responded to kindness but not to force. Seeing the sisters' pitiful plea, she didn't refuse again. She turned around, smiling, and asked, "Alright, but how are you sure I have the ability to take you out?"
"We just saw with our own eyes how you killed two Taotie giant beasts in just a few moves!" the elder sister said, growing more excited. "It's called a Beast Arena, but in all these years, no deity has ever won. Everyone thrown into the Beast Arena has become food for these beasts. You're the first person to kill a beast! I believe you definitely have the ability to take us out!"
"Not to mention you're a newly ascended person. If you're this powerful as a newcomer, you'll be unstoppable in the future!"
This was clearly a great opportunity, why not seize it now?
"Alright, I can take you out," Chu Sang nodded. "Now, will you answer my questions?"
"Please ask, please ask." Sycophantic.
"Everything you know about the Quan family, anything at all."
"That's quite a long story. Although there are many great families in the Upper Realm, generally speaking, they are governed by two major families: the Quan family and the Yu family. Other families, no matter how powerful they may be in various small cities, fundamentally depend on these two top-tier families for their survival."
"For many years in the Upper Realm, these two major families have basically taken turns being in power, more often in a state of mutual balance. However, in recent years, the Quan family's power has been growing, while the Yu family has been declining, gradually fading from public view over the years. We sisters are also newly ascended deities who came up just a few years ago, so we're not very clear about the specific situation. As for the Quan family..." She paused, then continued, "Although the Quan family has always been in the public eye, as you know with great families, they keep their internal affairs very tight, rarely letting outsiders know the true situation within their family. Even if some rumors occasionally leak out, most are just after-dinner gossip fabricated by outsiders. Who can say how much is true and how much is false..."
"Who specifically controls the Quan family?" Chu Sang asked after some thought.
"The Quan family is large and prosperous. Like all such great families, they have many branches, and the relationships within the clan are complex. However, I've heard that the Quan family's branch families don't have much power. The power is mainly held by the main Quan family..."
The sisters took turns speaking, sharing quite a bit about the Quan family, though most of the information about great families in public were rumors, and the truth or falsehood needed to be discerned oneself. After listening, Chu Sang nodded and stood up to leave. "I understand."
"Where are you going?" The two closely followed.
"Naturally, to take you out of this wretched place."
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The exit of the Beast Arena was hidden in a valley, but many wandering giant beasts roamed this valley. Once one approached the exit, they would be surrounded and killed by those Taotie giant beasts.
Dealing with them one by one would waste too much time and might alert the Sima family, which would only complicate matters. After all, she had just arrived in the Upper Realm and wasn't clear about the strength of those native deities. It was best not to be too conspicuous for now and avoid trouble.
She needed to deal with the beasts at the exit in a short time.
Chu Sang found a place with good terrain, set up some traps, and took out several puppet figures. She borrowed some blood from the two sisters to attract all the giant beasts near the exit.
The formation activated, trapping the giant beasts in one place, then using a sword formation to kill them all at once.
The sisters exclaimed in amazement,
"You can even use formations? Aren't you a sword cultivator?"
"Multiple skills, multiple paths."
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Her casual remark somehow left them feeling dejected.
The two scratched their heads, about to say something, when suddenly the younger sister's expression changed. "Not good, we need to leave through the exit quickly, someone's coming after us!"
Their actions in the arena naturally didn't escape the eyes behind the light screens. The Sima family, seeing the situation was not right, had already sent people to capture them. Seeing this, the three didn't dare to linger and quickly escaped through the exit before it closed. Running together would attract too much attention, so they parted ways after escaping.
"The future is long, we'll meet again if fate allows, benefactor!"
"Until we meet again."
After bidding farewell to the sisters, Chu Sang turned and applied a concealment talisman to herself, while also using illusion techniques to change her appearance. She wasn't sure if illusions and human skin masks would work in the Upper Realm, but it was better than nothing.
After concealing her identity, she went to another domain city nearby. The Upper Realm wasn't actually that different from the Lower Realm, except that spirit power was replaced by divine power, and the strength of the people around was greater, making it difficult for her to gauge their levels immediately.
She arrived at a tavern in the city to gather information.
The Quan family truly lived up to their reputation as the Upper Realm's premier great family. She hadn't even actively sought information about the Quan family when she overheard several people discussing loudly in front, without any attempt to conceal their conversation, their discussion reaching her ears.
"Have you heard? A few days ago, the Second Young Master of the Quan family was injured and went into seclusion. I heard... the injury was quite severe..."