The woman did not fail to notice from the look on his face that he was seemingly debating whether or not this information was worth the price in his mind.
If he had a lot of these top-grade essence stones, he would not have bat an eyelid, but his behavior made it seem like he was stuck on a difficult problem, making it reportedly evident that he both needed the information and found the price punishing to his coffers.
The truth was that he had quite a few top-grade essence stones. The storage ring he had taken from the Moon Prince’s dead body contained a pile of them, but he had learned that showcasing too much wealth invited danger.
Although his pride told him to never back down, there was no need for him to go out of his way to invite trouble.
Taking out five top-grade essence stones, Xue Wei reluctantly handed them over to the woman. "I will only pay half to begin with," he said seriously. This was his best offer.
The woman accepted the five top-grade essence stones with slightly trembling hands. Although she was used to seeing riches, five top-grade essence stones were definitely the most valuable type of currency and item she had seen.
She had been prepared to see the man withdraw from the deal. In fact, although the top-grade essence stones were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, the price that the Intelligencer had to pay for this information was equally costly. Many spies would have to infiltrate the most secure parts of the libraries of many different high-profile sects and clans. If, or rather when, this was noticed, they would be punished severely and expelled.
The kind of spies who could gain access to those parts of the libraries had been infiltrating their places for many years already. To have them give up their position really required a ton of treasure to make it a reasonable tradeoff.
In fact, this deal that they were making made the hearts of all involved hurt. The woman was aching for her loss of personnel, Xue Wei for the sake of the top-grade essence stones he was spending.
Xue Wei was unaware of whether or not this woman was the Intelligencer. From what he had heard in town, the Intelligencer was a man, but this was without a doubt a woman. This was also only the middle floor, so there was one floor left above them. Who knew what kind of expert stood behind this woman whose strength he could not determine?
"Well, thank you for doing business with us," the woman was the first one to get over her heartache. Her words roused Xue Wei's attention.
"Come back three months from today and I will get you the information you have been asking for," she continued. Xue Wei nodded his head.
"Oh, right!" the woman said suddenly, stopping him for a moment. "Don't forget to wear the face mask you’re wearing right now. I will only give the information to someone who has your face."
Xue Wei did not question how she was so certain about him using a face mask. It was probably a common occurrence to wear a facemask when one visited the Intelligencer's house.
"In that case, thank you for your assistance," Xue Wei said, bidding his farewell, and left the floor. When he was on the ground floor again, he gave the hallway a second look, but it was as deserted as it had been before.
Although it was deserted, Xue Wei did not think that he had any privacy. The woman above would without a doubt keep observing him until he left the house. She would be a poor member of the black market if she did not.
Xue Wei left the house with no lingering affections. He had forked out an astronomical amount of money, and he would rather not wait around to see the old, decaying house collapse onto him. Leaving it would make him feel good.
When he left, he felt as if he could finally breathe normally again. Although he had not been scared, he had still felt suppressed inside the battered house, mostly because it was the lair of at least one extreme expert.
When Xue Wei was out in the dim light of the street, he noticed how groups of experts were moving further and further into the darkness of the underground territory. It was as if something was happening that was summoning all the experts. Xue Wei's curiosity had been piqued.
Among those migrating towards the spot, there were Sky Warriors and Heavenly Warriors, and some of them were even stronger than Xue Wei by quite the margin.
Some of them walked together in groups, others walked alone. Some brazenly walked straight towards the inner region of the district, while others constantly looked over their shoulders to make sure they were not being followed.
Xue Wei was wondering what could have such allure that everyone would head towards a specific area, but his curiosity got the better of him even after he thought it through with ample hesitation. If even Sky Warriors had the gall to go there, it should not be too dangerous.
He slowly followed the crowd deeper into the poverty-stricken area. The houses started looking more and more broken and worn-down; even the Intelligencer’s base looked rather neat compared to these. Some of the buildings had long since already collapsed, even.
The throng of experts continued all the way to the outer city walls of the unregulated district. There was a small house beneath the looming shadow of the city wall at the end of the district, which was what every person entered one after the other. The house did not seem as if it could house all those people, but even so, many more continued through the door as if it was much bigger on the inside.
When Xue Wei reached the door, he found something out of his expectations. The house was not bigger on the inside. As a matter of fact, there was nothing on the inside apart from a set of stairs leading down into the ground.
The staircase had light orbs lighting it up, but it was still damp and slippery so Xue Wei had to be very careful not to trip when he started walking down.
The staircase was at first straight, but it started to wind after a bit of time. It turned left, it turned right, it went one way and then another. It took half an hour before Xue Wei had managed to get out of the stairs.
The air was humid and the first thing he encountered was a large room that was obviously carved out underneath the city. Calling it a room was actually misleading; it was at least the same size as ten football fields next to one another.
There were five cages inside this vast space, all of which took up as much space as a quarter of a football field. And then there were a lot of people around those cages who looked to be spectating whatever was going on inside those cages. Some of them seemed to be discussing something.
A bustling sound could be heard within the cave. At the far end, Xue Wei saw hundreds of cages containing Fierce Beasts, but unlike the Fierce Beasts of the Diviners, these were quiet and well-behaved.
Xue Wei frowned. Not only could he hear a loud sounds of voices, he suddenly heard the sounds of loud cheering, and then moments after it was followed by the sound of fighting. The incessant sound of weapons clashing against one another.
Xue Wei slowly walked towards the sound of the cheering and the fighting. Soon he found that every cage surrounded by the thick throng of people was currently being used for illegal fights, the sound of cheers and battle sounds drowning out his thoughts.
A few Fierce Beast screams and roars sounded out, and some human voices could be heard inside the cages as well. Xue Wei looked at the different cages. In some of them, humans were fighting against humans. In others, they were fighting against Fierce Beasts.
Xue Wei slowly walked through the entire cave before he understood what was going on. Once a week, this underground cage battle arena would open. Anyone with a sweet tooth for gambling and risking their neck could participate.
One could either try their luck betting on one of the combatants, but there was a much easier way to earn some coin, and that was to sign up for the arena fights oneself.
It was not up to the participant to decide if they were to face another human or a beast. That was up to fate and whoever was available at the time.
But what Xue Wei found shocking was that apparently Primordial Beasts showed up from time to time as well. These Primordial Beasts usually killed their opponent easily while being in human shape, but from time to time it so happened that they were forced to take on their original shape.
Although Primordial Beasts were public enemy number one outside of this place, here they were hailed as heroes because betting on them was an almost guaranteed win.
When someone killed their opponent, not only were they given the prizes from winning, they could also take everything that had belonged to the opponent. This was why people still challenged the Primordial Beasts.
Not only could they take their slain foe’s valuables and the prize money, but they would also end up owning the entire corpse of a Primordial Beast, which was something that was worth quite a lot.
Currently, Xue Wei was unaware of who were Primordial Beasts and who were humans, but he could see that most of the humans in the cages were battling other humans. Their weapons were constantly clashing and sending sparks and energy ripples outwards.
As Xue Wei walked past the different cages, he noticed that scantily clad young women were walking around with trays filled with snacks and drinks. These were apparently complementary, and many of the girls were subject to harassment as the men took a glass or a snack.
Even when they were being groped all over, the women said nothing and silently endured it, causing Xue Wei to frown. He was not a knight in shining armor, nor was he willing to become the enemy of the people, but he was rather displeased with the disgrace the women faced.
As if hearing his thoughts, a strong voice reverberated through the cave. "Where do you think you are touching?!" it said. Moments after, everyone, apart from the ones in the cages, looked towards the voice.
Xue Wei raised an eyebrow when he recognized the woman. Her red dress and the alluring figure would be recognized anywhere, especially since Xue Wei had seen her only moments before.
From what the conversations abounding around him told him, Xue Wei understood that her name was Li Chen and that she was known as Cloudsoar City's succubus.
When her eyes swept through the cave, they paused on Xue Wei for a moment. Though hesitating at first, she approached him.
"I did not expect to see you here," she said smilingly as if she knew him well. She smiled sweetly, and then she clung her arms around his, pressing her chest against him, which caused him to shiver involuntarily. This woman was scary!
"Since Miss Chen can be here, why can't I?" Xue Wei answered, unfazed on the outside, but on high alert on the inside. What was this vixen's aim to try and act so familiar with him? The others were glaring at him as if he was an eyesore.
"Little brother, I fear you have not been here before," Li Chen continued, "so let big sister explain it to you."
"This place is where you risk your life for riches. You can become rich overnight if you challenge a Primordial Beast and win! In theory, the fights here always last until someone dies, but there is a special rule to counteract that: if someone admits defeat before the fight begins and hands over all their valuables, they can avoid battle."
"Thank you, Big Sister Chen, for explaining it to me," Xue Wei said lazily while looking around. Li Chen was surprised. This man… was he made of stone?
Then she remembered what her master, the Intelligencer, had told her earlier that day. She suddenly did not think it too strange. The Intelligencer was indeed a magnificent being that she worshipped wholeheartedly.