Chapter 201: The Big Iron Hammer (1/2)
Chapter 201: The Big Iron Hammer
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
Junior Leopard began to understand. Immortal Palace was a paramilitary organization of some sort. If clients requested a task or mission to be completed, which price was reasonable, Immortal Palace would accept the mission and receive the payment after completion.
”What kind of organization is Immortal Palace, really? Even a Level Nine expert like Wang She has become its member!” Clutching the notes worth twenty-three thousand silver in his arms, Junior Leopard rode an old, thin black horse. From the information he obtained from Jin Yuquan, Junior Leopard judged that this organization did not restrict the freedom of its members much. It only served as an intermediary, responsible for gathering and designating missions.
Yet the so-called members, in fact, were participants.
What differed from other paramilitary organizations was that this Immortal Palace had many experts whose cultivation all was over Level Seven. That was to say, only people whose cultivation was at least Level Seven could qualify to become one of its members.
Any member of Immortal Palace could take on a mission if they felt that the price was reasonable, and they could accept what they were required to do. This was the first type of mission. The second type was assigned missions. Either the difficulty in completing the mission was so high that only a few people within Immortal Palace could handle it, or the time frame in which to complete the mission was too tight, in which case, there would not be time to release the task formally, so the mission would be thrown to anyone available. Of course, the reward from an assigned mission was much greater than that of a normal mission. The mission they received, to travel to South Yuezhou state to seize the Blue Moon Pearl, was an example of an assigned mission: time was tight, the responsibility was great, and manpower was lacking. Jin Yuquan, therefore, grabbed Junior Leopard to be his helper.
As for the acceptance of new members, Immortal Palace differed from normal paramilitary organizations in that every new member was subjected to high requirements, and this very process was very secretive. Furthermore, prospective new members had to be recommended by official members of Immortal Palace.
For example, Junior Leopard was recommended by Wang She, but for now, Junior Leopard was not yet an official member.
On the other hand, from the words of Jin Yuquan, Junior Leopard became aware that members of Immortal Palace were divided into different classes. He knew of at least two. The first consisted of people like himself, recommended by an official member and temporarily called upon to complete a certain mission, in other words, probationary members under observation by the organization. The second was official members of Immortal Palace, consisting of people like Jin Yuquan and Wang She. Their cultivation was all above Level Seven and could benefit from Immortal Palace's resources. They could freely accept missions they wanted or reject those they did not.
Of course, they could not reject every single mission. Each year, every member had to accept at least one mission. If there weren't any missions that a member wanted, Immortal Palace would assign a mission to them. This way, they could retain their position as an official member and enjoy their right to freely take advantage of Immortal Palace's resources.
The organization's resources!
This was what Junior Leopard valued the most right now.
Immortal Palace, while it was a secretive and seemingly young organization, Junior Leopard discovered in shock that the organization's hidden strength far exceeded what he had imagined after a few days of correspondence with them.
Considering only their contact points, they scattered across the entire Great Jin. The mortuary on the outskirts of Jiang City of Zhonghe Prefecture of Qianzhou, a small temple within the mountains of Shuzhou, a warehouse within Goldenrim Commandery of Yuezhou - these places all belonged to Immortal Palace. As for the place Junior Leopard and Jin Yuquan obtained their payment from, it was one of the three largest money manors of Great Jin, Tongji Money Manor.
Who knew what the relationship between the money manor and Immortal Palace was like?
Junior Leopard was only a temporary member then, so Jin Yuquan did not reveal too much to him. From the little bit of information he did reveal, Junior Leopard saw the tip of the iceberg that was the colossal amount of resources of which the organization controlled.
”If I became an official member, I would have the right to take advantage of Immortal Palace's various resources!” Junior Leopard thought, and his interest in the mysterious Immortal Palace greatly increased.
”Should I make a visit back to Yunzhou, and see if I could finish practicing Extreme Yin Heavenly Sword? APoison Cold Shield also needs the Evil Qi to infuse the poison!”
Setting aside Immortal Palace's affairs, Junior Leopard started to think about the benefits he gained from this journey. From his departure from Jiang City until the completion of the mission, including time spent on travel, slightly more than two months were used. He had told his subordinates that he would have closed-door training for half a year, which meant that he still had more than two months to himself.
”Never mind, this place is too far from Yunzhou. A journey to and fro would need a couple of months. If I were to include the time I need to practice as well, it's obvious that I don't have enough time! Moreover, after so many incidents recently, I really should settle down and return to Jiang City!”
He thought back to the chaos he and Golden Rooster caused within Jianghu these two months: it was a complete mess they created.
Of course, this was mainly because of Golden Goose Cup's appearance.
Golden Goose Cup had appeared in the world once again causing a huge commotion. It was eventually obtained by a mysterious black-cloaked person who never appeared again. The entire Wulin was furiously searching everyone for this character, trying to guess his identity, and even Junior Leopard's alternative identity was one of their guesses.
In order to remove any trace of his connection with this matter, Junior Leopard utilized his abilities to the greatest extent on this journey. After separating from Jin Yuquan, he started to make use of Three Realms Division without any regard for his injuries. Every time he used it, he only rested for half a day before he traveled on a horse at an incredible speed and then used it once more when his body recovered. Through his efforts, he managed to travel two thousand li within four days. He slowed down only after he returned to Qianzhou of Great Jin, parading on the road riding his horse, not bothering to cover his tracks at all.
This way, no one would connect Golden Goose Cup and the events at Goldenrim Commandery with Junior Leopard.
Because he had appeared in Shuzhou once, the time was just about right for him to travel from Jiang City to Shuzhou and back to Jiang City again. No one would think that he went to Yuezhou during this period because there simply wasn't enough time!
In the eyes of others, Junior Leopard's movements were obvious and easy to understand. Originally, he intended to have closed-door training. When the news of the Golden Goose Cup's appearance emerged, as a person of Wulin, his interest in it was natural. He decided to travel to Shuzhou to try his luck. Because of the Golden Goose Cup, there were countless hopeful people just like him.
In the end, just like anyone else, Junior Leopard did not get lucky and could only return home with empty hands.
There was nothing, absolutely nothing, left for others to suspect.
......
......
”Your Excellency, you've ended your closed-door training?!”
Sitting on the first ship heading towards River Heart Island, Junior Leopard was received by Wang Cheng, Jiang Xiao, Zhu Ba, and a few others who came up as soon as he alighted.
”Are you making fun of me for having made this trip in vain?” Junior Leopard looked at him, a glimmer of anger in his eyes.
”No, I wouldn't dare to say that!” Zhu Ba said, but not a sliver of panic showed on his face.
Standing at one side, Jiang Xiao and the others shook their heads silently. They really could not understand why Junior Leopard got along so well with that bastard.
”Your Excellency, it's great that you have returned. It has been quite eventful recently. Without you, we really have no idea what to do!” Jiang Xiao stepped forward and said respectfully.
”Well, there sure have been many important events within Jianghu recently. Has anything significant happened in Jiang City as well?” Junior Leopard asked inadvertently.
”A new Garrison came!”
”What, a new Garrison?”Junior Leopard's eyes shone,”Who is he? What's his background?”
”We don't know, but he is quite young, just above thirty, and it looks like he won't be easy to handle,” Jiang Xiao said quietly, following behind Junior Leopard as they walked back to River Heart Island's barrack, ”Furthermore---!”
”Well, what?” Seeing that Jiang Xiao was reluctant to speak, Junior Leopard raised his eyebrows, ”If you want to say something, say it! Don't be a sissy!”
”When this Garrison first arrived, he gathered everyone for a discussion. Your Excellency wasn't here, so he said that you are too arrogant, and therefore, your position needs to be replaced!” As he finished speaking, he glanced at Junior Leopard out of the corner of his eye; he could not help but fear that Junior Leopard might suddenly let out his anger after hearing his words.
Junior Leopard's expression remained unchanged as he listened quietly. After he was done, Junior Leopard smiled and asked, ”What else?”
”What else…?!”
Seeing that Junior Leopard's expression did not change, Jiang Xiao's worries were mostly gone, and he praised Junior Leopard silently in his heart. ”Though he looks young and frivolous, he has a calm and mature personality that does not match his young age. It is as if nothing in the world will bother him.” These thoughts made Jiang Xiao feel ashamed.
”The Garrison has a great interest in River Heart Island. It seems that he is unsatisfied with just building a drill ground here. He might want to interfere with our matters!”
”Interfere with us? Well, first he has to deal with me. During this period, he has tried to cause trouble for us, hasn't he?”
”Yes!” Jiang Xiao smiled wryly, ”This Garrison has come to River Heart Island many times trying to tell us what to do.”
”Even if he is Jiang City's Garrison, the navy of Jiang City and the Guard of Jiang City have always had a policy of non-interference. Furthermore, he is new here. What reason does he have to challenge us?”