77.

"It's about time I head to gather some Intelligence about the power structure of this world."

Yang Ze's time here was short. In less than three months, he had stepped from a mere mortal to a powerhouse in Innate. Besides constantly traveling from one place to another, he never had the time to learn more about this world. Basic things like his current geographical location, was the world here divided into kingdoms or continents? Were there any more powers like Xuanwu Academy? Who was the leader of the Academy? Were there any alliances or other factions that he should know about?

The questions were near-infinite, yet the answers were none. The most vital source of information in his past life, the library, seemed to be missing here.

Yet, after thinking for a while, Yang Ze found it to be completely normal. In this world and age, where martial arts and secret techniques were strictly guarded secrets, how could it be so easy to gather all the information in one place? In this world, intelligence was also a form of currency. If he needed it, he had to earn it.

"Martial Alliance." It didn't take long for Yang Ze to come up with a name where he could gather everything easily. This was a place where he needed to go to get the information about the innate realm and the various martial arts.

However, going there and just showing off his strength was completely out of question. No one knows how many powerhouses there are in this city. He had already met people who wanted to sacrifice him. God knows what the powerhouse in this city will do after learning about his strength. A sixteen-year-old Innate... Was as lucrative to them like a bone to a dog.

So, after arranging his clothes properly, Yang Ze took a look at himself in the mirror and nodded. His features were that of a normal person. Other than looking a bit pleasing to the eyes, there was nothing noteworthy about him. Only if someone paid close attention to him, would they notice his deep eyes that seemed to be devoid of any emotions.

Nodding his head in satisfaction, Yang Ze took off to the Martial Alliance in the southwest of the Mehull city.

.

.

"Name?"

"Hua Ji."

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"Why do you want to join the alliance?"

"To become stronger."

The man looked at Yang Ze from head to toe before shaking his head in disappointment. Every day there would be countless people coming here to join the Martial Alliance. Almost all of them had the same answer... To become strong... Yet, if it was that easy to become strong, then Mehull City would have been flooded by powerhouses a long time ago.

"Admission fee is 50 spirit stones. And the monthly fee is 5 spirit stones."

"HUUUUUUH?????"

"Don't tell me you came here to join the Martial Alliance without any money."

With an annoyed expression, the man waved his hand. "Go away. We are not charity. If you want to learn, then you should spend some."

In his mind, he was cursing Yang Ze to be yet another poor bastard dreaming of hitting big.

"This... Can't you do something about it? I will pay in the future." With an embarrassed expression, Yang Ze smiled before whispering in a soft voice.

The man looked at Yang Ze for a moment before smiling. Just when Yang Ze sighed in relief, he heard the man speak.

"How about this. You bring the money in the future, and then I will let you join."

"Hmph. Cheapskate." Cursing inwardly, Yang Ze snorted before leaving the place. He had already spent his entire savings on buying things. If he really wanted to enter the Martial Alliance, then he needed to find a way.

Walking in the streets absent-mindedly, Yang Ze was thinking about ways of earning money. The first thought that came to his mind was to complete the tasks published by the three main families. Yet as soon as this thought came, he shook his head. This was a long and time-consuming process. God knows how many months he needed to work hard to earn that measly sum of money.

Just when he was stuck in this dilemma, a sudden voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Oh! Its brother Hua Ji."

"Huh?"

Looking at the shop in front of him, Yang Ze narrowed his eyes. In front of him, was a medium-sized shop with a number of customers constantly moving around. And at the front place of reception, was the figure of a fat young man smiling at him.

"It's you..."

With a surprised expression, Yang Ze moved towards the shop before looking at the fatty in front of him.

"Hehehehee... So brother Hua Ji do remember me. See, I knew the moment I saw you that both of us are destined to be brothers. Even though we are born of different mothers, the burning passion that we both share is not something that others have. Nowadays, when greed and evil pervade, it is hard for people like us to meet, much less have a conversation. It feels like the heavens themselves wanted the two of us to meet. Meet and write our own legacy. Meet and ....."

"OF COURSE I REMEMBER YOU BROTHER XIAO PANG." With a loud shout, Yang Ze rushed forward before shaking his hand. Though there was a smile on his face, he was loudly cursing this chatterbox in his heart.

"So, this is your shop?'

Trying to divert the topic, Yang Ze looked around before asking the question.

"Of course, this is my shop. Well, not exactly my shop. You see, this is one of the many shops that our family has. My father didn't believe that I was someone responsible enough to take charge of our shops, so to prove him wrong, I came here. You see, before I took charge of this shop, the customers usually haggled over the prices of the items. All of them were extremely dissatisfied with the pricing, but after I took charge, no one dared to haggle again. They just accept the price and leave after paying for them. Looks like my charms are much greater than I had imagined."

'No shit Sherlock. They just didn't want to talk to you.' With a smile, Yang Ze nodded as if agreeing to everything he said.

"How's the business?"

"OH! Extremely good." Nodding with a smile, Xiao Pang continued "Just this month alone, we had a profit of a hundred spirit stones. Right now, we have 300 spirit stones here in this safe." Patting the jade that was made from unknown material behind him, he looked around before speaking further.

"You see, this thing is made up of a decade 'ice iron'. Even if the Experts in the Qi-guiding realm wanted to break it, it would take them a long time. "

"OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Yang Ze's eyes went wide as he looked at the safe in front of him. The more he looked at it, the more he found it to be pleasing to the eyes.

"Yes, surprised aren't you? You see, I wanted to make armor from these decade 'Ice iron', but unfortunately, they are kind of rigid. If you wear them, then it would limit your movements greatly. You see, I am an extremely agile person and I love running around. But the moment I heard about its limitation, I was like... Hell no. So, in the end, I decided to give up making a cold armor for myself. Yes, Yes, I know what you must be thinking... Hey Xiao Pang, don't you feel bad for these Ice Irons? Just because of their limitation, they are not eligible to be put on by me... You see...."

"Ugh..." Listening to his long rant, Yang Ze clenched his fists. Right now, he just wanted to punch this fatty in front of him, however after looking at the safe in front of him, all his anger seemed to disappear in thin air. At this moment, the fatty himself was looking pleasing to the eyes.

In the shop, in the eyes of the customers, the figure of Yang Ze and Xiao Pang looked like two lovers.

One constantly explaining about his hardships, while other just looked at him with a smile. It was a sight that gave them goosebumps all over the body.

"Fuck... Really one of a kind."

"Truly, the world is a wonderful place."

"Today I have seen everything."

The more the people saw, the more they whispered amongst themselves.

However, oblivious to them, Xiao Pang was still busy in telling his tales while Yang Ze was gently and lovingly looking at the Safe in front of him. It was as if, it was his long lost lover.