Unexpected Reunion (2)

The next morning, Kai packed his belongings and dragged a sleepy Ryu along with him to the Hunter's Lodge.

Ryu was a little nervous when they arrived. The massive building combined with the exquisite architecture intimidated him at the entrance. Kai rolled his eyes and pulled him through the door as he greeted the receptionist.

"Morning Lei Hai, still working hard I see"

"Good morning Mr. Kai, I see you're up early again today. Are you here to ask more questions?"

Lei Hai said with a look that said she could already see through Kai's purpose.

"Hehe, I'm becoming predictable. Yes and hopefully they will be free again. Tell me, what do you know about the Man-hunters?"

"Man-hunters?". Lei Hai was perplexed. She didn't expect him to already be involved with them. Wasn't he only interested in hunting beasts?, how did he encounter Man-hunters?.

"There are a few Man-hunter groups in the region, but not around Huang City. Slavery is outlawed here so their activities are limited to the villages at the outskirts of the territory. The Twin-Lions sect's radius of influence is routinely patrolled for them so you don't have to worry".

"I see, so that's the general information, Which of these groups operates from south of the border?"

"Well, there is only one. They're a nameless group but the locals call them the desert dwellers"

"Desert dwellers?..." Ryu mumbled under his breath when he heard this with a shocked look on his face.

Kai turned and looked at the surprised Ryu. "Does that ring a bell?"

"well..." Ryu looked unsure but felt pressured under Kai's gaze.

"I'm not completely certain, but their clothing did seem suited for hot and dusty climates like deserts.

"Sounds like a match to me", Kai said. There was a possibility that they had dressed like that just to throw off any potential pursuers, but Kai didn't want to overthink things too much, lest he stayed indecisive.

"Do you know how strong they are?. The more information you have the better".

"Unfortunately this information isn't general knowledge. 100 contribution points to unlock the latest docket we have on that group"

Kai looked remembered that he had over 300 contribution points. 50 points were a lot but he would feel safer in that region if he at least knew how strong the local gangsters were.

Kai bit the bullet and bought the information. Lei Hai waved her crystal over a blank paper. the paper emitted a burning smell as it was etched full of information, almost like a magical printer.

"This docket will combust within 24 hours so I suggest you memorize it..." She smiled at Kai then handed the paper over to him.

Kai scanned it before putting it in his backpack.

"Thank Lei Hai, I'll be away for a few days. Take care"

Lei Hai smiled and she waved him off.

Kai headed towards the Huang City's Southern gate and looked for a carriage heading towards the Beifong town, which was the mining town located closest to the catacombs.

Kai's main goal was still to get strong. He felt bad about what happened to Mina, but what happened to her was out of his control, he would look for her as best as he could but he also had to be realistic about the whole thing.

Ryu on the other hand was extremely energetic. He felt like he was on a holy mission to save his sister from the clutches of evil alongside his sworn Master".

Kai paid for passage for himself and Ryu and the carriage headed off once more passengers arrived. The trip would take 3 days so they would have to make two overnight stops at small towns located on the way there.

Kai decided to use this time to read the docket on the sand dwellers. It was only one page but had a plethora of information.

The first part detailed the average strength of their members. Most were useless good for nothings numbering in the hundreds. They were given harmful Body cultivation methods that allowed them to get to [Mortal Grade-2] quickly, but would drastically shorten their lifespans.

The next part detailed the elite of the group. They numbered well over 50 and were minimum [Mortal Grade-3]. Their body cultivation methods were not profound, but at least they didn't have the side effect of slowly killing them.

Lastly, there was the upper echelon. There were 3 of them at [Mortal Grade-4]. They had been in charge of the group for well over 20 years so they weren't young and were quite experienced in human trafficking.

The last paragraph was the one that caught Kai's attention. It detailed that the sand dwellers were sanctioned and run by an arm of the Roaring Sands sect.

"Doesn't that mean these guys are subordinates of the Roaring Sands sect?. Then what happens If I go around causing trouble with them..."

Kai had already fought a [Mortal Grade-4] body cultivator so he knew what to expect and wasn't afraid of them. Barring any surprise skills or hidden ultimate moves, he was confident in fighting [Mortal Grade-4] Body cultivators. But if they were sanctioned by a sect, then there was a real possibility of him running into internal cultivators.

"Looks like I'll have to grind 24 hours a day so I can level up as quickly as possible. I need to be ready for any surprise bosses. Let's just hope the mobs are as plentiful as Lei Hai said..."

"Level up...mobs?..." Ryu listened to Kai's murmuring but couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Never-mind that. Just eat this and focus on improving your condition". Kai shoved a steamed bun into Ryu's mouth then had 10 for himself. His appetite had increased thanks to his new Body Cultivation method so he had packed enough food to last for months.

"I've memorized the docket, which was surprisingly easy. I wonder if improved memory is also a perk of increasing my cultivation level". Kai thought to himself as he looked inward and observed his core. He watched as it pulsated with Qi.

"Wait...what if my core..."

Kai had an interesting thought and decided to use the [Sub-Core Manual] function.

"System, I want to enhance Mina's sub-core!" He yelled in his mind.

==[Sub-Core Manual] Activated; [Sub-Core-1] selected]==

==[System Error; Please move within 10 meters of the [Sub-Core]==

When Kai had created Mina's [sub-core], he had initially felt a strong connection to it however over time as they moved further away from each other, it had faded away. Now that he tried to enhance it, he felt a slight tug from his [Main-Core] essentially calling out to the [Sub-Core].

"It's faint, but I could use this like a pinging beacon!" Kai was quite impressed with his creativity. He 'pinged' the [Sub-core] a few more times and felt the connection gradually become stronger.

"Looks like we're headed in the right direction. Good!". Kai now felt hopeful about finding Mina and couldn't wait for them to arrive.