“Ask away, sir,” the innkeeper hurried over with a flattering smile. “I know everything there is to know in Fury City. There’s hardly anything I don’t know.”
“That impressive?” Mu Zhoubai said with a grin.
“Want me to take a guess?” the innkeeper chuckled.
He paced back and forth a bit, then chuckled again.
“Hurry up and spit it out, don’t play games,” Mu Zhoubai said impatiently.
“Anyone who comes to Fury City is usually here for the Misty Forest, right?” the innkeeper said with a smirk.
“Well, you guessed right,” Mu Zhoubai replied in surprise.
“What’s so strange about that? Fury City is out in the middle of nowhere. Why else would people come here? It has to be the Misty Forest,” the innkeeper laughed.
“Since you know that, tell me about the Misty Forest,” Xu Zimo said.
“Well, I can’t give that info for free,” the innkeeper shook his head.
He continued, “In recent years, more and more people have come here to hunt spirit beasts. This city survives entirely thanks to the Misty Forest. If you want to know anything, you’ll have to buy my intel.”
“How much does it cost?” Xu Zimo asked curiously.
“Basic info about the Misty Forest: 100 Fusion Stones. A map: 1,000 Fusion Stones. If you want to know about the swampland, that’s 3,000 Fusion Stones,” the innkeeper said with a grin.
“These prices were set by the House of Fury in the city. Nothing I can do about it.”
“But we just arrived in Fury City. Where are we supposed to get Fusion Stones?” Fang Xiang frowned.
“Besides, we need those stones ourselves.”
“Well, I can’t help with that,” the innkeeper shrugged.
“If you’ve got valuables, you can sell them at a pawnshop in the city. Or you can go to the arena. If you win, you’ll get Fusion Stones.”
“Arena?” Xu Zimo touched his chin, intrigued.
“Let’s check it out after we eat,” Liu Rufeng said calmly.
Not long after, the inn’s food was ready.
They brought out a huge table’s worth of dishes, mostly various cuts of spirit beast meat.
“Let’s try to at least get a map of the Misty Forest,” Fang Xiang said after some thought. “Then gather more Fusion Stones for the Blood Lizard fusion.”
“But we don’t know what level the fighters in Fury City’s arena are,” Huangfu Xianyue said, frowning.
“What level could they possibly be? This backwater place is nothing compared to our World Sovereign Empyrean Sect,” Mu Zhoubai said as he stuffed his mouth with meat.
“Once we’re done, we’ll be famous around here.”
“Still, we should be cautious. Let’s observe first,” Liu Yiyi said. “Fury City isn’t that simple, I’ve been here before.”
As the group ate and discussed their plans, there was a loud bang, the inn’s door was kicked open.
A handsome young man walked in, holding a folding fan.
He was quite attractive, but his face was pale and sickly, and his steps were weak, clearly in poor health.
Behind him were two burly men.
They were over two meters tall, with exaggerated muscles bulging all over. Each step they took made their extra fat jiggle.
Both were bald and looked like twins, with scarred faces that made them look like vicious thugs.
The innkeeper was suddenly standing beside the young man.
“Young Master Nuyang, look over there,” the innkeeper said, pointing proudly at the three girls at Xu Zimo’s table.
The white-robed youth brushed the hair from his forehead and looked at the girls.
When his gaze landed on Liu Yiyi, his eyes lit up with a strange smile.
Liu Yiyi was petite, with her hair in two buns. Her slim figure was wrapped in a floral robe, hiding her delicate waist. She gave off a soft, vulnerable vibe that sparked a protective instinct.
Yin Rong, on the other hand, had the look of a mature seductress, heavy makeup, alluring and confident.
“Not bad, not bad. You’ve done well,” Nuyang patted the innkeeper’s shoulder and laughed, walking over.
Xu Zimo’s group kept eating quietly as Nuyang approached and cupped his fists, laughing, “Everyone, let’s get to know each other. I’m Nuyang, second young master of the House of Fury.”
As soon as he finished speaking, silence fell over the room.
Everyone kept eating, completely ignoring him.
Nuyang looked slightly embarrassed and wiped his mouth awkwardly.
The innkeeper shouted, “Didn’t you hear the second young master talking? Typical outsiders, no manners. No wonder you don’t even have any Fusion Stones. Let me give you a tip: hand over the three girls and you can have all the Fusion Stones you want. Don’t forget, the House of Fury controls 80% of this city’s business.”
Liu Rufeng calmly wiped his sword.
As soon as the innkeeper finished talking, a flash of sword light streaked across the room, cutting him off. His head hit the ground with a dull thud.
The sword was so fast that Nuyang didn’t even hear it being drawn or see the attack.
Blood spurted from the neck like a fountain, staining the floor red.
“You killed him,” Nuyang said calmly.
He didn’t even frown, as if killing was nothing to him.
“So what?” Liu Rufeng replied coolly.
His sharp features were as defined as a sword’s edge.
“I hate guys more handsome than me,” Nuyang said flatly.
“Want to fight?” Mu Zhoubai slammed the table and shouted.
“I’ll remember you all,” Nuyang said and glanced down at the corpse in disgust, then kicked it aside.
“Disgusting.”
“What the hell? We just got here and already pissed off the local tyrants,” Mu Zhoubai said coldly. “If our World Sovereign Empyrean Sect weren’t in trouble, we’d have wiped Fury City off the map already.”
“Blame us, huh?” Huangfu Xianyue chuckled.
“What now?” Liu Rufeng asked.
“Let’s check out the arena. If we can win Fusion Stones, all the better,” Xu Zimo said, standing up.
Everyone nodded and left the inn without bothering about what would happen next.
The arena was a trademark feature of Fury City.
It had a history going back a thousand years, legend had it that even during the time of the Lord of Fury, this tradition already existed.
Both sides in the duel would wager Fusion Stones.
The winner would receive 80% of the loser's Fusion Stones.
The remaining 20% went to cover the arena’s venue and management fees.