Ryu quickly tossed these matters to the back of his mind. As far as he was concerned, the more dangerous the situation, the better.
As things were currently, he didn't have a true goal for the next year and a half until the eclipse. He thought that in this time the only challenge he might receive was as a contestant for one of the positions to enter the Ice Devil Legacy World.
Originally, he had been planning on joining as an unknown after he reached the Core Region, mostly because he couldn't be bothered to enter each and every tournament. Not only would fighting against Outer and Inner Ring 'geniuses' not be any sort of challenge, it would be a waste of his time.
But now, this sort of political intrigue had caught his attention.
The wealth of the Inner Ring wasn't something new to this era. Ryu's Tatsuya Clan had no need of it, but many of their subordinate Clans once had hands in this region.
The geography of the Inner Ring was a bit special. Its total qi wasn't as dense as the Core Region, but for some reason, its Mortal Qi density was incredibly high. This resulted in many Mortal Qi Mines forming to the point where it outshone the Core Region in this aspect. Not only this, but it had an exceptionally high number of Common, Black and Earth Grade treasures as a result.
Of course, the Core Region's Immortal Qi density was far higher which was why those powerful Clans didn't bother to take over this Inner Ring territory. But, they were intriguing enough to the point where they weren't ignored either.
To put things into perspective, no matter how dense the Inner Ring's Mortal Qi was, it couldn't hold a candle to the Blossom Plane, let alone the Shrine Plane. But for this Pedestal Plane, there was no better region. In fact, this was one of the reasons other than Hecate's Legacy that Ryu came here instead of comfortably cultivating within the Awoken Moon Sect.
This was all to say that the Core Region definitely wouldn't underestimate this competition. Even if they didn't care for the strength of the Inner Ring, they would definitely care about the kind of geniuses their rivals might send to their pawns. So, they wouldn't lack either.
The next coming weeks would be… interesting.
Ryu quickly shifted around the Bazaar, relying on his eyesight and sometimes Ailsa to find what he needed. He bought many precious metals for the Death Worm Immortal Cave and eventually forced Tae to spend over two hundred thousand Higher Mortal Qi Stones.
Since Ryu now understood just how important this matter was to the Loom Clan, he also knew that they would go all out in this stage. Taking advantage of them like this helped alleviate some of the rage in his heart…
~A distance away.
"What are you looking at old man?" A middle aged man yawned, casually scratching his crotch.
The 'old man', despite having a head of white hair, shone with the vigor of a thirty year old. If it wasn't for the slight wrinkles around his eyes, one would think that he really was that young. Unfortunately, these wrinkles became more pronounced after he laid eyes on the man who spoke.
"You're a cultivator, yet you yawn. Aren't you embarrassed wasting so much energy at those brothels? You're nothing but a shame to my Hastam Clan."
"Who asked you to bring me to a place with so many pretty ladies?" The middle-aged man snorted. "This entertainment capital is pretty good, you should join me one day."
Black lines drew across Old Man Hastam's face. One only needed to understand that this middle-aged man was his son to understand the ridiculous nature of the words he just heard.
Seeing that his old man's temper was about to flair, the younger Hastam quickly changed the subject.
"What were you smiling about?"
Blinking out of his rage, the old man was silent for a moment before smiling once more.
"Nothing much. I just saw a young man with far more potential than you. He appears to be a necromancer, but he has the air of the Impose Realm. Not to mention the fact his body is actually so powerful. These Stone Monuments are nothing to him."
But, even as he was praising, the old man sighed. "Unfortunately, he's far too ambitious. He very clearly has the ring of the Mercenary Guild on his hand, yet he came to flirt with my Armament Guild. What a troublesome youth."
The middle-aged man grinned. "Who ever said just one skirt was enough? One must bathe in skirts to the point of suffocating, or else how will you know that you are a man?!"
The old man's hand swiped up faster than his son could react, giving him a clear, reverberating slap to the back of the head.
"Would it kill you to shut up about women?"
Looking incredibly wronged, the middle-aged man rubbed the back of his head.
"What's the big deal. You know that the Mercenary Guild is exactly that, a guild of Mercenaries. They don't restrict the activity of their members. Plus, considering he has a Necromancer's mask, he's technically already part of the Necromancer Guild as well, another guild that doesn't restrict their members. What's the problem? Clearly the kid doesn't care, so why should you?"
This was exactly why even Captain Zu didn't dare to take off Ryu's mask. The half-mask of a Necromancer was the symbol of the Necromancer Guild. Even if one didn't join personally, as long as you inherited the mask from another, you would receive a bare minimum of protection.
To Necromancers, their identity was sacred due to the sensitivity of their path of cultivation. They were often enemies with many Clans simply by virtue of the corpse puppets they used. As a result, the Necromancer Guild protected their own by placing a strict taboo on forcefully taking a half-mask off. If one was ever found to have done such a thing, you would become an enemy of the Necromancer Guild to be hunted down to death!
Of course, the Necromancer Guild wouldn't care if Ryu was killed, but his mask must never be removed. This was a matter of precedence they had to set no matter the cost.
"I would agree in a normal situation, but there are two issues… Firstly, the fact that he doesn't care is already a problem. Our Armament Guild isn't like those other guilds, only the most powerful and talented among us can be unrestricted. If you can't give equivalent value for what you take, and you wish to be unrestricted… can there ever be such a free thing in this world?
"And secondly… He's not a normal member of the Mercenary Guild."
The middle-aged man's eyes widened. "You mean?!"
Old Man Hastam nodded heavily. "His ring carries the will of a Sky God. Not only has he joined their guild, he was accepted into the faction of one of their Sky Gods. Which Sky God doesn't matter, the fact he was acknowledged is enough."
The old man shook his head. "What was the Loom Clan thinking, so ignorantly offending such a young man. The fact he didn't immediately expose this means he's seeking revenge for himself. Such a little seedling is truly too good, it pains me to pass him up."
"There's a third reason too, isn't there…" The middle-aged man said darkly.
"…" Looking into the distance, Old Man Hastam sighed once more. "Such large matters have nothing to do with us father and son, ostracized to the point of coming to this small Inner Ring. With such weak Immortal Qi density, I can forget about taking another step forward even with another ten thousand years."
"Father, there must be a reason for such striking qi imbalance in the Inner Ring. Maybe… This is an opportunity."
"Matters have been like this for countless billion years. Even if it was an opportunity, how would it be our turn to take advantage of it?"
"You're so depressing. If you're going to be such a downer, stop looking at me with disdain for finding ways to enjoy myself."
"Who said that I've given up? Watch your mouth boy!" Old Man Hastam growled, his figure seemed to grow one size larger. "Those bastards of the Hastam main line will feel my wrath one day. But that day is not today. A man must not also have many skirts, he must also have patience!"
The middle-aged man grinned. Those who said his perverted nature came from nowhere obviously didn't know his old man!
As for the large matters having nothing to do with the father-son pair, these could only be related to these large looming guilds.
The Armament Guild, the Mercenary Guild, the Necromancer Guild… They were just three of many, and the relationship between them wasn't so simple at all.
~
Tae walked Ryu to a luxurious guest courtyard before ordering a gargantuan amount of food at Ryu's request.
"In three days, there will be a meeting of my Loom Clan. It is then my grandfather will introduce you to the family. When that day comes, you must prove yourself and silence the doubters. I don't know why my grandfather decided to put his trust in you so quickly, but I assume he has his reasons."
As she spoke, an entourage of half a dozen maids and butlers began to wheel in cart after cart of food.
"I hope when the time comes… You'll prove to be worth the investment." Biting her lip, she hesitated but decided to add one more thing. "This meeting won't be as simple as you think. My grandfather has the power to suppress naysayers and even forcefully nominate you to represent the Clan, but he doesn't have the power to stop them from testing you. You could very well die, so place down your arrogance and take this seriously."
Ryu didn't respond. He sat in the dining room of this guest courtyard he was given and began to eat, slowly satiating the raging hunger of his beast bloodlines one after another.
"You might want to bring more food." Ryu said in response before directly ignoring Tae.
He didn't have a mind to care about Tae's words. Instead, he was thinking about the Bloodied Steed, Nemesis. He still remembered when Ailsa told him the talents of this beast. Even six months later, he was still intrigued.
In the end, Tae could only suffer the same frustration Elena and Melody before her had.
Stomping her feet, she left in a rage. Though she didn't wish death upon Ryu, she hoped he would be injured to the point he could no longer maintain his nonchalance.