Base of Operations (1)

Qiulong ran across the wide streets swiftly. Kai had always walked around the city so the feeling of being able to ride around it was amazing. Within a few minutes, they had arrived at the Administrative building.

Huang City was owned by the Twin-Lions sect, however, the day-to-day administrative duties were still left up to competent mortals who worked under them. After all, internal cultivators had better things to do than to deal with petty disputes between neighbors.

The Deeds office was located within the main administrative building, located close to the center of the city. This affluent part of the city was where the elite mortals and some cultivators and their families lived. Kai had found out that the heart of the city was a special residence reserved only for the families of powerful internal cultivators associated with the Twin-Lions Sect. Unrelated Mortals were not even allowed into that part of the city.

Kai walked into the quiet deeds office and was greeted by a young female receptionist. He told her their reason for being there and she lead them into a separate waiting room off to the side. After a few minutes, an older-looking woman walked through the door.

"Hello there. My name is Mei Lee, I am the Head of the Deeds department here in Huang City". She wore a professional long dress that accentuated her curves modestly.

"Hi, my name is Kai and these are my companions. Ryu, Mina, and Lao Ren". Kai's introduction only received a nod followed by a small smile from the woman.

"It's quite rare for anyone to want to purchase property within Huang City. It can be quite...expensive. There is also a mandatory handler's fee of 1 gold coin to use our services. I hope you will understand..."

Kai understood what she was implying. He looked down at his clothes then back to his companion's. They were all still dressed in the clothes taken from the Man-Hunters. While these clothes were practical and of good quality, they still made them look too average.

As for her handler's fee, 1 gold coin was still a lot for Kai. Sure, he had 5 Qi-Crystals valued at over 500 gold each, but they would only be useful once converted into gold. For now, Kai only had 3 gold to his name. This was after having used 7 gold to buy Qiulong.

Kai smiled and pulled out one Qi-Crystal. He didn't hand it over but simply placed it on the table. "I'm not too interested in mortal currency, but if your goal is to check my wealth, I believe this should suffice?".

Mei Lee gave a deep bow when she saw the crystal. "Surely, this will suffice... My apologies however this was just a formality". Mei Lee had seen Qi-Crystals before and knew that they were the main currency in the cultivation world. She wondered how this seemingly average group had gotten their hands on something like that, but she didn't over think it. Where there is one, there must be more...

"This way please", Mei Lee said as she courteously led the group out of the waiting room.

Kai quickly pocketed the crystal and breathed a sigh of relief. Being rich meant he didn't even have to pay fees, which was amazing.

Mei Lee lead them to another room with a gigantic map of Huang City posted on it. There Kai was able to see each district of Huang City perfectly outlined. The central region had the image of a diamond. The four surrounding regions surrounding were marked in Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. Kai quickly took note that the Hunter's Lodge was located in the silver region. It indeed seemed upmarket when Kai was there, but it turns out that the area was just so-so.

"We have a few buildings currently up for sale within the Gold region if you are interested?. Of course if you are looking at the Diamond region, I will have to ask to see your cultivators pass". Mei Lee spoke in a professional tone as if she had done this a million times already.

"What buildings do you have in the gold and silver regions?". Kai wasn't interested

in the Diamond region at all. Having other cultivators around would be too much of a pain since he had so many secrets. Those powerful cultivators may have ways of peering into his soul or something so he wouldn't live close to them if he could help it.

"The grand rose manor down the road has recently been vacated. It has 30 rooms as well as separate guards and servant's quarters. The estate has three courtyards surrounded by a flower garden. It is now on the market for 100,000 gold coins with a monthly upkeep cost of 100 gold coins.

As she said this, a realistic image of the estate appeared on the map like a hologram. The building was a sprawling estate with four floors and beautiful details that reminded Kai of ancient Ming dynasty architecture.

However, Kai felt lightheaded when he heard the cost. Not only was the building 100,000 gold coins, but he would also have to pay a monthly upkeep cost of 100 gold coins. This was well over 200 Qi-Crystals!. Kai wondered just how the people in this world afforded to live with these crazy prices.

"My Lord," Old Lao suddenly spoke, which brought Kai back to reality. "For our purposes, I believe it would be better for us to be close to the outskirts of the city". He said so while pointing towards the bronze area of the map.

Kai gave Lao Ren an internal hug when he heard him speak. This old man caught on quickly and was able to get Kai out of that embarrassing situation with a few words.

Kai cleared his throat while nodding his head. "Indeed Old Lao is correct. That area is also close to the large market which is perfect..."

Mei Lee was a little confused but didn't overthink it. Rich people were always peculiar, so she just went along with it. "Well...there is a property here that is a mix between residential and commercial, however, I must warn you that it is a lot smaller than the place I have just shown you. The first floor is a commercial space which can be turned into any type of store. The second floor is a residence with three small rooms. There is also a small backyard, but it's only large enough to hold two medium-sized carriages at most. This place is 780 gold, with a monthly upkeep of 3 gold".

Kai nodded his head as he listened. No hologram had popped up for this place but be was able to get a clear idea of it while listening to her. He didn't have 780 gold, but of the liquidated two of his Qi-Crystals, he would have enough. The upkeep was also quite reasonable and meant he just needed to start a business that made at least 3 gold a month so he could break even.

"Let's go have a look. If I like the actual place, I'll put in an offer!"

Mei Lee was surprised. She thought they were joking but they seemed serious about buying the shabby-looking place. She usually wouldn't bother with clients that wanted to buy these types of places, but after Kai's showed the Qi-Crystal, she thought she had caught herself a big fish.

"Were my instincts wrong?", Mei Lee thought this as she lead the group out of the room.