Chapter 271: Minders
Li Lang only managed to return to the inn by the time the sun began to set. The meeting had ended around noon, so that meant he had spent half the day dealing with the various forces who wanted to speak to him.
The first one he had to deal with was none other than the Sword Saint himself. Once the crowd thinned out, the man had virtually whisked Li Lang away to his abode at the summit of the sword-shaped mountain.
There, they had a casual conversation where they chatted about mundane things like their hobbies and favorite wine. Li Lang had thought he was easing him into a different topic, but that never happened. He was promptly returned to the arena, where he had similar conversations with various representatives of powerful forces.
The entire ordeal had taken so long that his companions and students had requested to return inside the Crucible, which caused yet another scene.
When he was finally free of all his social obligations, he started a feast with all his students and companions. The pocket realm had a working mess hall where challengers could spend their trial points on meals. Few ever took the offer, though, as each trial point was invaluable to them. However, as the owner of the Crucible, Li Lang had no such problem.
The food the artifact prepared was all grown or reared by the artifact spirits in a distant corner of the pocket realm. There, they had a small farm that grew a wide assortment of heavenly resources. It ranged from foodstuff to herbs used in the five crafts. Meat was sourced from the many Qi beasts residing in the realm.
Li Lang had left it mostly for the three artifact spirits to manage, as he simply needed to ask them for any information he needed for his studies. He planned on visiting these farms eventually when he focused on researching these materials, and it seemed the time to do that drew near.
“We’ll need to figure out a way to recruit more people as soon as we return,” Li Lang said as he stuffed his mouth full of fried rice. “Also, a new place to stay as well.”
“We’re leaving Emberglow City?” Long Yi asked.
“Not right away, but we’ll have to eventually. Everyone wants us to stay neutral for the moment, so we can’t base ourselves in the Luminescent Domain anymore.”
“But that just leaves the border mountain ranges—or the various death zones throughout the island. Both are filled with Qi beasts.”
“We’ll figure something out. Even if we can’t handle it ourselves, we can probably ask someone for help.”