Chapter 479 - 10: Peak Exploration Level

For several consecutive days, the negotiation team representing the Alliance Country initiated multiple talks with the Mountain City warlords, continuing to discuss the negotiation terms.

However, the two sides remained locked in a stalemate. The clause regarding the Alliance Country’s plan to station an army of a thousand soldiers was particularly opposed by several warlord commanders.

"Impossible. A thousand people is too many. What if you launch an attack?"

"Exactly. Mountain City is our territory, and you should maintain respect. There is no way we can agree to this clause."

"Unless... you multiply the supplies by three to five times and upgrade the technical assistance by two tiers. Only then can we consider it. What do you think, Leader Yan?"

Voices of opposition from the warlord commanders continuously echoed through the stone hall where the meeting was held.

Yan Zhengfeng and his team of expert assistants maintained normal expressions. They had anticipated that this matter would not be so easy.

"Leader Yan, should we ask Special Commissioner Chen to step in?" A young female assistant named Ji Lanhua lost her composure slightly and asked in a low voice. She felt that these warlord commanders were too ferocious and difficult to communicate with.

"There’s no need to disturb Special Commissioner Chen," Yan Zhengfeng gently shook his head, glancing at the empty seat beside him.

Special Commissioner Chen no longer made appearances. Yan Zhengfeng thought of the crucial reminder the other party had given him in private. Following that thought, he looked across the long sand table. The chief leaders of Fortress Mountain City hadn’t appeared either, clearly waiting to continue raising their conditions.

The two sides seemed to maintain a certain tacit understanding; even though the negotiations were deadlocked, neither was in a hurry.

Under these circumstances, Lu Chao had already disguised his appearance. Donning a black suit and a cold, hard expression, he walked into a cluster of concrete buildings.

The wilderness residents flanking the street were mostly migrants from various gathering spots. Their faces were etched with deep wrinkles from wind and sun, and they wore patched, shabby clothes.

Some returned from scavenging to sell hunted Exotic Beast Materials at the [Animal Skin Acquisition Point]. Others walked into hair salons with glowing pink signs, closing the doors with scantily clad women in their arms, madly venting the flames of several days without returning to the city.

"This animal skin won’t do. It’s too damaged. Three thousand Mountain City Coins at most."

"Selling ore? Sure. Come, let me see the quality."

"I’m telling you, go to the Central District and West District less recently. I heard that big shots from the Alliance Country came to negotiate with Leader Lu and the others. It seems the Fourth Leader was killed, and the people of the Rock Mountain Army have gloomy faces every day..."

Conversations echoed from every corner of the concrete buildings. Women hung clothes in the corridors of the buildings, splashing a few drops of water, while several resting warlord soldiers squatted in the corners, smoking cigarettes.

Lu Chao’s face was cold and hard as he stepped onto the flagstone street and walked into this Mountain City black market.

People along the way actively kept their distance from him. Especially when they saw his decent suit and his aloof, unapproachable aura, they slightly lowered their heads, not daring to look too closely. Some even pulled their children away to play elsewhere, afraid they might accidentally provoke him.

"It seems what happened last time had some effect," Lu Chao thought to himself.

This wasn’t his first time here. He had come once two days ago, visiting the Dark Web branch to find the person in charge and collect pharmaceutical materials.

At that time, someone greedily tailed him and was shot dead on the spot. Since then, no one dared to have any more ideas.

STEP STEP!

Eventually, after walking several hundred meters, Lu Chao entered a concrete building. Guided by a dedicated person, he walked into an underground secret room.

The decor here was a bit dim; it was just an ordinary stone room. There were many bookcases inside, filled with various maps and books. In the center was a long mahogany table.

Under the hanging lights, a black man in a gray suit was sitting behind the wooden table, flipping through a book. Seeing his arrival, the man quickly closed the book and stood up to welcome him.

"Sir, you’re here."

The black man was named Jaro. He looked to be in his thirties and was the person in charge of this Dark Web branch. His Life Energy was just over a hundred points, barely stepping into the Superpower Level.

Compared to the Red Maple City Circle, this branch was significantly weaker in both strength and foundation, and the person in charge was accordingly the same.

"Mhm." Lu Chao nodded, deliberately maintaining the coldness of Celestial Hunter.

During their exchange, Jaro took out a black briefcase and respectfully handed it over, saying, "Sir, inside is a piece of Purple Jade Ore, along with three Crimson Fire flowers and a Beast King Level bone core.

"According to Dark Web rules and your privilege level discount, the total is three million Alliance Coins and twenty-seven thousand points. What do you think..."

"That works," Lu Chao nodded and spoke casually.

Because this place was too remote, finished resources like Essence of Qi and energy mineral essence were in extremely short supply. Additionally, his absorption of these two medicines was already greatly diminished. Therefore, he simply used everything to buy raw materials and make the medicine himself.

Soon, the transaction was completed. Confirming everything was correct, Lu Chao picked up the black briefcase, ready to leave.

He waved his hand, signaling the other party not to see him off to avoid attracting attention, and walked out of the secret room alone.

Just as he was about to leave this place.

"Hm?"

His Life Sensing suddenly twitched. Lu Chao acutely captured two Superpower Level Life Magnetic Fields approaching. Both were at the Exploration Level. One of them had clearly just broken through not long ago, as their aura was still somewhat unstable. The other was at the Peak Exploration Level.

He shouldn’t have paid too much attention to them, but they both felt somewhat familiar.

"Raccoon Cat?" he wondered.

...

"Penelope, are you sure you want to take a risk here?"

Two figures approached from the end of the flagstone road. Both wore hyper-realistic human skin masks, making them look like a middle-aged couple.

"This isn’t like other places.

"Those warlord leaders are very difficult to deal with. Once we clash with them, even if we join forces, it will be hard to gain an advantage."

Raccoon Cat wore a black trench coat and leather boots, his eyes slightly hesitant. An unremarkable middle-aged human skin mask concealed his true appearance, revealing only a pair of black eyes that occasionally glanced at the woman beside him.

"Raccoon Cat, are you regretting this?" Penelope wore a brown leather jacket over a white collared shirt that was slightly unbuttoned, revealing her curvy figure. Her wheat-colored skin gave off a wild charm.

"Don’t forget, you promised me.

"Once you broke through to the Exploration Level, you’d help me this once."

She didn’t stop her steps, speaking as she walked. She completely ignored the prying gazes of the passersby on both sides.

Hearing this, Raccoon Cat felt a bit helpless and had no choice but to keep up with her pace.

"But I don’t recommend taking such a risk," he said in a low tone, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding wilderness residents as they steadily walked toward the Dark Web branch. "Xiao Chen is an expert at the Transcendence Level, and he’s also the second leader of this Mountain City, with multiple Superpower Commanders under his command.

"If he refuses to cooperate, what do you think we can do?"

"That’s why I said we should go to the Dark Web to gather intelligence first," Penelope said seriously. "Recently, the Alliance Country has been negotiating with the Mountain City warlords here, and the situation is volatile.

"No matter how Xiao Chen acts, he will definitely have reservations... Besides, you and I aren’t looking to fight and kill him. We just want to ask some questions."

As she spoke, Penelope’s footsteps suddenly paused.

The concrete building where the Dark Web branch was located was right in front of them, but she didn’t step inside. Raccoon Cat was slightly confused and then followed her gaze.

A figure in a black suit carrying a briefcase was gradually walking away, blending into the crowd. In just a breath’s time, he disappeared, making it hard to find him again.

"What’s wrong?" Raccoon Cat asked doubtfully, a bit puzzled.

Penelope’s expression changed upon hearing this, and she said uncertainly, "I think... it was Celestial Hunter?"

...

CLICK.

The door closed as Lu Chao returned to the concrete building where the negotiation team was stationed.

Looking out the window, Yan Zhengfeng and the others were still negotiating and hadn’t returned. The Superpower Captain left behind was on patrol, keeping watch over the surroundings. The drones deployed around the building were operating normally and hadn’t found any anomalies.

"What are they doing in Mountain City?" Lu Chao frowned, shifting his gaze further out to glance at the distant flagstone street.

The appearance of Raccoon Cat and Penelope surprised him a little. After all, this place was far from the city circles, and powerful Dark Web assassins rarely set foot here.

Was it because of a commission task related to the warlord commanders? Or...

His eyes narrowed as he recalled Penelope’s past words. She seemed to be pursuing the true reason for the collapse of Moray Country in the old era. Could they have come to Mountain City for this?

After pondering for a few breaths, he finally shook his head. Regardless of their purpose for coming here, as long as they didn’t affect him completing his negotiation mission, it was fine.

With this thought in mind, Lu Chao quickly set down the briefcase and opened it.

Purple Jade Ore, Crimson Fire flowers, Beast King Level bone core... The materials to make the life serum were finally gathered. He then looked at the suitcase he had brought with him, which contained many glass apparatuses for making medicine.

"Then..." Lu Chao thought, his eyes bright and full of anticipation. It was time to begin.

...

Time flew by, and a full dozen days passed.

The cold autumn wind blew through Mountain City, sweeping up sand and brown dust on the flagstone roads. The temperature difference in the wilderness was much greater than in the city circles. Even with a scorching sun hanging in the sky, it was difficult to dispel the biting cold of Mountain City.

"Little Ji, pack up your things. We’re heading out," Yan Zhengfeng gave the instruction in a soft voice, tightening the collar of his trench coat outside the concrete building.

The young female assistant named Ji Lanhua, wearing a suit and pencil skirt, paused slightly and asked curiously, "Leader Yan, are we still going to negotiate today?"

"We are. Why wouldn’t we?"

"But... those warlords don’t seem to welcome us very much?"

"Should we stop talking just because they don’t welcome us?"

"Not exactly, it’s just... is Special Commissioner Chen still not going with us?" she asked somewhat weakly, subconsciously glancing at the second-floor room by the window.

For a full half-month, the negotiations had made very little progress. The Mountain City warlords still refused to agree to the Alliance Country stationing an army. Both sides seemed to have shown their bottom lines and were deadlocked over this condition.

VROOM!

"Let’s go."

Ultimately, the negotiation team, led by Yan Zhengfeng, boarded the convoy and headed to the central stone building once again to initiate the talks.

The voices from outside drifted into his ears, the sound of engines and conversations fading into the distance. Lu Chao’s eyes flashed as he forcibly suppressed extraneous thoughts and focused entirely on his cultivation once again.

DRIP!

DRIP!!

Looking closely, one could see him standing alone in the center of the indoor clearing, bare-chested, his legs rooted to the ground like a tree.

Beads of sweat slid down his cheeks and smashed into the concrete floor, leaving bean-sized imprints. Wisps of sweat vapor seeped from his pores, lingering all around him. His writhing veins seemed to have a life of their own, and his chiseled muscles contracted and expanded autonomously, as if possessing a new consciousness.

"Almost," he thought.

His eyes were bright, even abnormally burning. Lu Chao clearly felt that new shackle, the obstacle leading to the Peak Exploration Level.

Just a fraction more. He was only a fraction away from breaking it!

EXHALE...

INHALE!!!

Between breaths, streams of clouds lingered at the tip of his nose.

Looking closer, there were five empty medicine bottles on the wooden table in front of Lu Chao, either standing or toppled over. Over the past half-month, he had visited the Dark Web branch twice more, successfully gathering more materials and creating five portions of biological serum.

And at this moment, he had just consumed the final portion of biological serum.

The violent medicinal efficacy fell into his stomach and was continuously broken down and recombined. Pure nutrients spread out from there, heading straight for every part of his body to be gradually absorbed by the greedy, craving cells.

Thanks to this, Lu Chao felt the cultivation of [Ten Thousand Jins Return Flow] become much easier, and the Qi Flame fusion of the [Ten Thousand Spirits Martial Arts Skill] was the same.

Subconsciously, his body’s skin and membranes vibrated gently, using the technique of externalizing Qi Flame to temper his body a second time. This allowed him to continuously strengthen himself, converting all the nutritional energy into the best nourishment for improvement.

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.

[Plunder and Grow] activated simultaneously, helping him digest the last bit of medicinal efficacy.

HUM!

Finally, Lu Chao’s eyes shone brilliantly as he felt a crack appear in that sliver of obstruction. Seizing the opportunity.

"Break for me!"

BOOM!

His body jolted as if a new shackle had been forcibly shattered by him. A new transformation occurred within his body, rapidly strengthening him.

In an instant, Lu Chao looked at the panel, staring at the data on it.

[Life Energy: 215 -> 220!]

"Success!" he exclaimed mentally.