Chapter 461: Intelligence

The courtyard wasn't large, and there weren't too many rooms, but it was spacious enough for four people.

To own a private courtyard in the overcrowded Two-World City, the jade thumb ring Lu Ye gave away undoubtedly played a crucial role. Without it, Two-World City would likely have settled them wherever they pleased.

Xia Qianqian was inspecting the rooms while Lu Ye took the opportunity to send messages to Shen Xiaomao and Lan Ziyi, informing them of his current location.

He also messaged Yiyi, asking about her situation.

Yiyi and Amber were relatively safe, but Amber remained trapped in a cage.

In less than an incense stick's time, Shen Xiaomao and Lan Ziyi returned one after another.

Seated in the room, the four exchanged information they had gathered.

Lu Ye said, "We've settled down in Two-World City for now, but it's not clear what we should do next. However, it's definitely related to fending off those maddened monster beasts, so we must always be prepared for battle."

Xia Qianqian nodded, "Generally, the ultimate goal of trials in such a mystic realm is to resolve the crisis facing this world. Therefore, what we need to do might not just be to resist the monster beasts, but also to discover the cause of their madness and solve the problem from its root. Only then can we save this entire world."

"Save this world?" Shen Xiaomao asked, astonished. "Isn't that a bit too much to ask?"

"As I said before, everything we're experiencing has happened in the past. The Myriad Beast Domain should have already been destroyed. However, the Heavenly Mystery is unfathomable, allowing us to relive these past events. This gives us an opportunity to achieve what the cultivators of the Myriad Beast Domain could not. If we can truly save this world, the benefits we receive will be substantial. Of course, even if we succeed, the Myriad Beast Domain won't be resurrected. But this is a test from the Heavenly Mystery, and the task is indeed difficult. However, don't forget that we are not the only four who entered this mystic realm; there are others as well."

Lu Ye nodded slightly, "Let's talk about the information first. Fellow Daoist Shen, have you found out anything?"

Shen Xiaomao replied, "Not much useful information. I only know that many cultivators from Kyushu have entered Two-World City. Some, like us, are refugees, while others have been granted official positions in Two-World City by the Heavenly Mystery, serving in various roles. Then there are the monster beasts. The cultivators of Two-World City don't primarily focus on beast-taming, which is why this place can be the cultivators' last stronghold. However, the beast-taming faction is, after all, mainstream in the Myriad Beast Domain, so there are still some monster beasts in the city. Currently, these monster beasts are being held together, and Two-World City is undecided whether to kill them all directly or keep them."

"Where are the monster beasts being held?" Lu Ye asked urgently.

If he wasn't mistaken, the monster beasts were being held where Amber was. He had to get Amber out before Two-World City made a decision.

"In a beast park in the east of the city, that was originally Two-World City's busiest monster beast trading spot."

Xia Qianqian frowned, "The crisis in the Myriad Beast Domain originated from the monster beasts' madness. Why is Two-World City still keeping these monster beasts?"

"The beast-taming faction is the dominant one, and many of the cultivators who fled here belong to that faction. Some of their bonded monster beasts died in battle, while others went mad and turned against them. Without monster beasts, their strength would be severely diminished. So, keeping these monster beasts should prove useful, at least allowing those beast-taming cultivators to recover their strength."

"Aren't they afraid these monster beasts will also go mad?"

"Maddened monster beasts show symptoms."

Xia Qianqian understood, "I see."

"What about you, Fellow Daoist Lan?" Lu Ye turned to Lan Ziyi.

Lan Ziyi said nothing, simply placing a dark, identity plaque on the table in front of her. Then she spoke, "I found Two-World City's recruitment office and military supply depot. If you go to the recruitment office and get a plaque like this, you'll become a citizen of Two-World City, and you'll have to obey its directives."

"What are the benefits?" Shen Xiaomao asked curiously.

"This plaque can transmit messages and record battle merits. Battle merits can be exchanged for various cultivation resources at the military supply depot." At this point, Lan Ziyi paused, "Including spirit talismans of various qualities!"

The group's spirits immediately lifted. Although experiences in a mystic realm are a form of tempering, they are also opportunities, and many opportunities in the Cloud River Battlefield are primarily focused on obtaining cultivation resources! Lu Ye had originally wondered what benefit cultivators would gain from fighting desperately in such a complicated situation within the Myriad Beast Domain.

Now he understood that the Heavenly Mystery had already made arrangements.

A moment later, three figures soared into the sky: Lu Ye, Xia Qianqian, and Shen Xiaomao. Lan Ziyi stayed behind to guard the house, lest it be occupied by others.

Following Lan Ziyi's directions, the three soon arrived at Two-World City's recruitment office. A long queue had already formed outside the office, clearly consisting of cultivators who wanted to join Two-World City. Some of these were local cultivators from the Myriad Beast Domain who had fled there, while others looked familiar, clearly cultivators who had entered from Kyushu.

The queue moved quickly, as it was just a matter of registration and issuing identity plaques, not a complicated procedure.

It wasn't long before it was Lu Ye's turn. He reported his name, Ye Liu, and after the Two-World City cultivator completed the registration, he received his identity plaque.

It looked identical to Lan Ziyi's, a dark, rectangular piece.

Submerging his consciousness to inspect it, he found his name, origin, and battle merits recorded within.

To Lu Ye's surprise, the battle merit record wasn't zero; it showed over thirty points.

When Shen Xiaomao and Xia Qianqian also received their identity plaques, they exchanged information and discovered that everyone already had some battle merits. Xia Qianqian had the most, around seventy points.

"These are probably the battle merits accumulated from the monster beasts we killed on the way here," Xia Qianqian speculated.

This was the only logical explanation. These battle merits were being recorded by the Heavenly Mystery, so there would be no mistakes or missing records. And since Xia Qianqian had killed the most monster beasts on the journey, she had the most battle merits.

"Let's go check out the military supply depot," Lu Ye suggested.

The group soon arrived at the adjacent military supply depot. As expected, a large number of people were inspecting items there. Judging by their attire, they were clearly cultivators who had entered from Kyushu, and they were all smiling, evidently having found many good things.

A moment later, the three obtained a jade slip. This jade slip contained a list of all the resources available for exchange at the military supply depot, along with their prices.

Lu Ye's inspection revealed a vast array and quantity of resources. Almost anything a Cloud River Realm cultivator could use was available for exchange here. He was surprised; the Myriad Beast Domain indeed had a lot of good things.

However, considering that the Heavenly Mystery was at work, it wasn't too surprising.

It was unclear whether the Myriad Beast Domain itself possessed many valuable items, but the Heavenly Mystery Treasury contained everything imaginable. The materials exchanged at this military supply depot were, most likely, from the Heavenly Mystery Treasury.

The spirit talismans, which Lu Ye was particularly interested in, were prominently listed among the exchangeable items.

The prices were very reasonable: white spirit talismans for two hundred battle merits, green for six hundred, blue for eighteen hundred, purple for five thousand four hundred, and gold for sixteen thousand two hundred.

From this, it seemed that the value of battle merits was almost equivalent to that of contribution points, because when Lu Ye had previously participated in a spirit talisman auction, he had also spent over two hundred contribution points to obtain a white spirit talisman.

This was an opportunity for all cultivators who entered the Myriad Beast Domain mystic realm.

Outside, even if cultivators had enough contribution points, they couldn't just freely buy spirit talismans; they could only participate in the Heavenly Mystery Merchant Alliance's spirit talisman auctions, and whether they succeeded depended on luck.

But here, as long as one had enough battle merits, they could exchange for as many spirit talismans as they wished. And where did battle merits come from? By killing those maddened monster beasts! Weren't maddened monster beasts the most abundant things in the Myriad Beast Domain right now?

It was indeed an opportunity; no wonder Cloud River Realm cultivators were so enthusiastic about mystic realms. Such good opportunities were not available on the Cloud River Battlefield.

Lu Ye could see this, and other cultivators naturally could too. At the military supply depot, cultivators were already forming parties, preparing to clear out monster beasts outside the city.

Currently, many maddened monster beasts were gathered outside Two-World City. When Lu Ye had arrived earlier, he had seen some monster beast corpses beneath the city walls.

"Fellow Daoist Ye, what do you say?" Xia Qianqian looked at Lu Ye with keen interest. With her ninth-level Cloud River Realm cultivation, she could act even alone.

However, the Heavenly Mystery had also given her the mission to protect Lu Ye. So, whether to go out of the city or not depended on Lu Ye. While she could leave Lu Ye and act alone, if anything happened to him, the Heavenly Mystery would punish her, and that was something she definitely wasn't willing to risk.

"You two go back and wait for me for a bit; I have some private business to attend to," Lu Ye instructed. He soared into the sky, heading towards the east of the city.

He asked a few people along the way, and after searching for a while, he finally found the beast park where Two-World City held its monster beasts.

It was a massive building. Even from outside, one could hear constant roars emanating from within.

Outside the beast park's main gate, two cultivators stood guard. As Lu Ye landed, they immediately looked at him with vigilance.

Lu Ye glanced at the two, then walked towards the young man on the left, cupping his fist and saying, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist."

The young man raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice, "From Kyushu?"

Lu Ye nodded.

The young man's expression immediately became friendlier. He was clearly also from Kyushu, though his luck didn't seem great, as he had been assigned the task of guarding the beast park here. He asked, "What can I do for you, Fellow Daoist?"

Regardless of their respective factions, all cultivators from Kyushu were not hostile to each other within this Myriad Beast Domain mystic realm. Like the native cultivators of the Myriad Beast Domain, their only enemies were the maddened monster beasts.

"My pet beast got separated from me when I came in and is being held inside," Lu Ye said honestly, "I want to get it out."

The young man immediately looked troubled. "That's difficult to do. As you know, given the current situation, cultivators in the Myriad Beast Domain are very wary of monster beasts. Normally, I could get you out ten, let alone one, but it's simply not possible right now."

"Please point me in the right direction, Fellow Daoist," Lu Ye said, as he took out a bottle of Origin Spirit Pills and handed them over.