Chapter 331: Guardian of the Prosperous Land
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Golden Sun City.
The caravan entered the city and stopped in front of a mansion. With a few shouts, the goods were being shifted. A few consultants were staring at the helpers as they shifted the goods.
"Lord Fang, are you feeling better?"
A few days before they had arrived, Fang Yuan had already regained the ability to move. He occasionally left the carriage to take a walk and talk with the people of the caravan. By now, he was already rather familiar with the head of the caravan.
The Young Master of the He Family was He Qing. He had a young mindset but was also shrewd for his age. However, that was all.
"Hmm, thank you, Lord He, for your assistance. I must leave today. Your kindness will be rewarded in the future..."
Fang Yuan smiled.
To him, He Qing did not save his life, but rather, assisted him in times of difficulty. Although his intentions were slightly ill, he did not let his heart rule his head. Therefore, Fang Yuan would still repay him for his efforts.
"Lord, are you leaving?"
He Qing was shocked. "Did we treat you with disrespect?"
Based on his observations for the past few days, he realised that Fang Yuan was not a normal person. Sun Ergou's encounter was the best evidence. Therefore, he had plotted to establish good relations with Fang Yuan.
Although Fang Yuan was young, he was matured. His foresight, demeanour and the way he spoke was vastly different from a normal young man. Therefore, He Qing had unknowingly gained respect for him.
"Fate cannot be forced upon. Furthermore, I cannot trouble you for any period longer than this... This Golden Sun City seems rather hospitable. I am deciding to stay here for a period of time. After I have settled down, I will write a letter to you... With this, I shall wish you all the best in joining the Three Suns Sect!"
"Thank you for your well wishes!"
He Qing respectfully sent him off. As he looked at Fang Yuan's back view, he felt as though he had lost something important.
"Young Master?"
A consultant approached him. "The various goods have been shifted into the storeroom. The checks have been completed. Together with the few times that we have traded along the way, we have a total of 50,000 elemental crystals. This is the accumulated amount that your family have given you. We have already prepared the gifts for your future fellow disciples, master and those that you might need to establish relations with!"
"Mmm, alright!"
He Qing snapped out of his trance and had a cold look in his eyes. "And... what about Sun Ergou?"
"I have followed your orders to chop off one of his limbs, as a punishment to warn the others!"
The consultant immediately replied and broke into cold sweat.
Based on his Young Master, the person which they had rescued was likely to be a spiritual knight. Therefore, they could not afford to show him any disrespect.
"Also, Little Ju has been promoted to become the head of the servants. Her pay has been increased to 10 taels per month!"
He Qing heaved a huge sigh. "Although he might not remember us, we should still remain hopeful... there is nothing wrong with being prepared!"
"Young Master, you're wise!"
Consultant He took a bow and gained respect for this young master.
The He Family had risen 7 generations ago. Although they were not considered the most senior of families, it was already considered a gamble for them to send their young master to seek a dream master as a master.
Seeing the conscientious young master was like seeing hope for the family.
As long as he manages to become a dream master, their family would be able to progress by leaps and bounds!
...
"Three Suns Sect in the Golden Sun City... He Qing is rather fated to have met me!"
As Fang Yuan went on his way, there was a mysterious smile on his face.
Although the Three Suns Sect was well-known in the city, it was, in reality, only a small sect with a thousand followers. They had 10 Wu Zongs and 5 spiritual knights in the upper management and a dream master as the sect head. This dream master was likely to be a dream master at the 5th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.
Among big sects across the regions, it was only common for these sects to have at least a True Divine, True Elemental, or a dream master at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage before the sect could be considered stable.
Of course, being a small family, it was already quite a thing for the He Family to be able to attempt to join the Three Suns Sect. They would rather be the weakling amongst the strong than be the strong among the weaklings.
"He Qing was aiming at joining the direct disciples of the sect. It would be meaningless for him to become an outer disciple, inner disciple or even a core disciple... He would have wasted his potential in becoming a dream master..."
"However... the head of Three Suns Sect is also a member of the Realm Alliance. The Three Suns Sect can be seen as the exterior influence of the Realm Alliance... I shall spend some effort and help him out as a form of repaying him for his kindness!"
As soon as he found himself an inn, he entered the Dream Realm.
"I am heartened to hear that you, my husband, are alright! I have bought the 9 Smelting Techniques and have hidden it in the Dream Realm for you to retrieve..."
As soon as he looked at his inscription plate, he saw Liu Mengmei's reply and an indication of a certain location.
After all, she was still a reserved Divine Lady of the Divine Lotus Cult and had to consider the fact that onlookers would be looking if she were to meet Fang Yuan face to face. However, she had described a path to the location of the 9 Smelting Techniques and had assured him that it was completely safe.
After receiving the information, Fang Yuan did not think further and rushed on the streets. Soon after, he turned into an alley.
The buildings in the Dream Realm were districts which were split up by the Realm Spirit based on how much contribution points they were paid for. This dark alley was extremely deserted and at the end of the alley, there was a wall. At the corner, there was a dark-coloured mark.
"This is the so-called black market. If it is as such in the realm of dream masters, I can safely assume that the goods being traded on the black market are nothing proper..."
As he pressed against the dark-coloured mark, the wall in front of him started to cave in, revealing a hidden pathway.
The pathway was extremely short. As soon as he walked to the end of it, he saw a small shop. There was no signboard and the door was aged, as though it would crumble at any moment.
Without hesitation, Fang Yuan took a step in and looked at the counter.
This shop was like a grocery store as it displayed many items on the shelves. However, none of the items had a description of its usage, and it was up to one to deduce the purpose and function of these items.
As Fang Yuan scanned across, his attention was drawn to a crystal box on a small purple carriage.
"I've seen this in the recordings before. It is known as the Purple Blood Carriage and can fly in the skies at an extreme speed... However, the process of making it is extremely inhumane. If I remember correctly, one of the ingredients includes the blood from 49 pregnant mothers. Furthermore, these pregnant mothers need to have a certain level of cultivation and be suited before the blood is drawn from them..."
It was obvious that this shop not only sold improper goods but restricted goods as well.
"Keke... here comes another customer!"
An old man slumped on the tabletop of the counter and exclaimed weakly.
His skin was pale and he had countless wrinkles. From the looks of it, he seemed to be in his nineties. His white hair was long and appeared lifeless.
As soon as he saw Fang Yuan entered, there was a green glow in his eyes. However, he did not seem any more interested.
"I'm here for something!"
Fang Yuan took out his inscription plate.
"Ah, I see it's you!"
The spiritual aura coming from the inscription plate made the old man shake. He stood up lazily from the counter. "Give me a moment!"
He casually walked into the storeroom behind. Not long later, he carried a red box out. "This is the item that your friend had left behind. The seal on it is still there, you can take a look!"
On the surface of the box, there was a red talisman. The spiritual aura on the talisman was extremely familiar. It was indeed from Liu Mengmei!
If someone else other than Liu Mengmei and himself were to open the box, they would burn and die. Only 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream masters would be able to resist the backlash from breaking the talisman.
"Your friend has already paid for the service to safe keep this item!"
The lifeless-looking old man pushed the box towards Fang Yuan before lying on the table top and drifting off into a deep sleep.
"Many thanks!"
Without another word, Fang Yuan took the box and left.
Although the old man appeared lifeless as though he would die the next moment, Fang Yuan could detect his spiritual aura and knew that his cultivation level was even higher than that of Feng Xinzi!
How could any normal dream master open such a black market?
Before he became stronger, the most he would do was to make use of such black markets. It was unwise to dig up more information about such black markets.
...
As he walked along the streets, he realised that other dream masters had colourful protections around them. Looking at the fog around him, he smiled. "I'm really fearful of death... Unfortunately, I'm not strong enough to do without this protection yet!"
He quickly found a corner before tearing the talisman on the box. With a tear, the talisman burst into flames.
In the box, there was a fragrant-smelling napkin with the embroidery of mandarin ducks on it. Following a certain technique, Fang Yuan could access the technique within the napkin using his spiritual will.
"Considering my level of rights in the Realm Alliance, it is extremely hard for me to obtain the complete version of the 9 Smelting Techniques..."
After reading the first few sentences, Fang Yuan nodded his head in satisfaction.
The techniques recorded in the 9 Smelting Techniques were exquisite beyond words. Not only could they get rid of foreign entities within elemental forces, they also had the effect of purifying one's elemental force.
Of course, this was only limited to the elemental force of martial arts and spiritual knights. As for dream elemental force of the dream masters, it had little effect.
"It's rumoured that there is a continuation to this recordings. It is known as Red Night. I am still in the process of helping you get it..."
Behind the recordings, there was a line of writings, which made Fang Yuan sighed. "She is really treating me very well... I would not have such a treatment at the Realm Alliance... Of course, if the world were to be void of all love and feelings, I'm sure she would not hesitate to take a knife and kill me!"
After remembering the technique recorded in the recordings, Fang Yuan destroyed the napkin in an attempt to destroy all evidence. Soon after, he arrived at Realm Alliance Mountain.
"Brother, you've arrived!"
The treatment which Feng Xinzi had received was obviously improved. He now had a standing for himself in the hall of the Realm Alliance. "I have settled the mission which we have talked about previously. Also, take a look at this spiritual land!"
Immediately, he waved and a golden glow appeared. The glow came together to form a leaf with runes on its surface. Rows of words started to form, and there was a huge overload of information.
"Mmm... The guardian of Golden Sun Prosperous Land?"
Seeing this, Fang Yuan's expression changed.
He did not tell Feng Xinzi his exact location. Never would he have thought that he would receive a mission so close to his actual location. It was such a coincidence.
"The alliance assigns you to be the new guardian of the Golden Sun Prosperous Land. Now, go forth and take over from the previous guardian to protect this piece of prosperous land for... 10 years!"
Feng Xinzi smiled and gave a look of 'you've-earned-such-a-good-deal' to Fang Yuan.
"Prosperous land?"
As Fang Yuan gave it a deep thought, he heaved a heavy sigh as his eyes glistened. "Does this mean that other than dispatching batches of resources every year as instructed by the alliance, I will be in charge of everything else? And that in addition to all that, I would have another 60 hectares of spiritual land to myself?"
"Hmmm... you can put it that way!"
Feng Xinzi nodded his head. "After 10 years, whatever you've gained from this 60 hectares of spiritual land will be yours. You can do all the farming by yourself or you can assign it to the guardian of the prosperous farm. However, you'll have to pay him base on how much work he would do."
"This is not too bad!"
Fang Yuan nodded his head. "Alright, prepare to receive the resources!"
In truth, the Realm Alliance would not try to take advantage of him over this. Otherwise, the alliance would lose its credibility and cohesiveness.
Furthermore, Fang Yuan still had other people that he could rely on. He could even ask the Ye Family sisters about anything regarding the alliance.
"That's good!"
There was a look of happiness on Feng Xinzi's face. "After taking over, you shall assume your duty. As long as you do not disregard your responsibilities as the guardian, you can do whatever you like..."
'Are you allowing me to take all of that for myself? To do anything I want with it? No wonder you said that it was a well-paying job!'
Fang Yuan thought to himself.
All he needed to prove his new identity was this golden leaf with the inscriptions on it and the inscription plate he had in the Dream Realm. With these two objects, he could do away with all the hassle.