Chapter 29 - Treasure Pavilion

"Hear that Stripey? If you get into trouble and are made to be a slave, I'm not saving you," Leyvi mentally communicates with Stripey in the spirit beast bag.

"Um..Boss, even if I got caught, I can run away with my ability." Stripey replied.

"No! What if you got caught and it implicated everyone else too? Can you save us alone? I feel like you are getting too arrogant, I'll take back your abilities if you are still stubborn!" Leyvi bluffed, he couldn't take back the talent even if he wanted to.

"Ummm..Boss, please don't take it back! I'll be obedient. No stealing in the city." The small monkey was scared that Leyvi would take back his abilities. He would be a normal weak monkey again if that happened.

Leyvi was pleased that he managed to scare the small monkey. They really can't make any trouble here. How do you fight so many cultivators?

"Anda, where should we go first?" Leyvi turned around and asked Anda who was walking with Lilian. Since she planned the entire journey, she should know where to go.

Anda smiled, "Let's go to the South Region Treasure Pavilion first. They should have a branch here. We need to sell all the demonic beast carcass that we don't need first and earn some money." She immediately explained the plan.

Along the way, they killed a lot of demonic beasts that were attacking them so getting money was not a problem. Even if there was no demonic beast, she could sell her alchemy products. However, she doesn't intend to expose her alchemy skills yet. Not before she got her hand on a special fire.

As they were heading to the Treasure Pavilion, they saw a lot of mortals here. The reason was simple, even if this was a cultivator city, the majority of the family members of the cultivators don't have spirit roots, so they can't cultivate.

Since mortals and cultivators mingled together, the laws and regulations were very strict. Fighting was strictly forbidden because mortals would easily get swept in the conflict and die.

The most important part was that the city lord did not set the laws and regulations, but it was the uniform laws and regulations set by the Protectors of the Cloud Continent. Every cultivator city on the Cloud Continent has to enforce the same rules. For mortal cities, towns, or any kind of settlement, if it was found that a cultivator was intentionally targeting the mortals, they would be put on a bounty and hunted.

As for how these rules came about, around a thousand years ago, it was said living beings on the Cloud Continent were on the verge of extinction due to the lawlessness of cultivators. They would kill without restraint and fight anywhere possible causing destructions and mayhem everywhere. Eventually, a group of righteous cultivators banded together and stopped the chaos. They are now the Protectors of the Cloud Continent.

Law and regulations were set in every city where people could live in peace. It is also true that people who broke the no-fighting law would be captured, investigated, if found guilty, be made slaves. Instead of killing them, it was better to use their energy as the labor force. 

It was only after the law and regulations were set that the entire continent began to heal and repopulate. However, not all damage can be healed. A lot of places in the Cloud Continent became barren in terms of spiritual energy.

This caused the future cultivators to become harder to cultivate. Even after a thousand years, the realm of cultivators in the Cloud Continent was considered very low.

As for the culprits who caused the chaos, they were either killed, captured, or fled the continent.

This was also why Leyvi was being strict with Stripey. As for when he said he wouldn't save him if he got caught, he meant it. This was not just a city you were dealing with. It's the whole continent! Even the city lord didn't dare to act lawless in the city, as they were just selected to lead the city, not the true owner.

Of course, this was true only in the city, and even then, corruption still happens behind the scenes. Nothing is perfect. Not to mention, outside the city, people with evil intentions would still act on their desires.

Not long later, Leyvi and the group arrived at their destination. It was a huge building with at least ten stories high. It has a majestic big signboard that says 'South Region Treasure Pavilion' on the front part of the building.

"Why is it South Region Treasure Pavilion and not just Treasure Pavilion?" As they entered the building, Leyvi asked as he looked at Anda and Lilian. Lilian blushed again as she shook her head. Leyvi was already familiar with her habit. Anda didn't know the reason as well.

"Dear customer, let me help you answer that question. This must be the first time you are here." Suddenly a pretty woman in neat and conservative attire volunteered to answer Leyvi's question. She was one of the receptionists at the Treasure Pavilion. 

Leyvi and the group heard her voice and they went over to her counter. There were people in the surroundings that made disdainful faces as if looking at country bumpkins but Leyvi didn't care. What's wrong with being a country bumpkin? He was indeed a country bumpkin that came from an orphanage.

"Thank you for volunteering to answer my biggest curiosity ever since we arrived here Lady Layla, it was indeed our first time in the city. So, what was the reason again?" Leyvi saw her name tag and asked her gentlemanly. Seeing this persona, Anda rolled her eyes and Lilian giggled silently.

Layla smiled wider and answered Leyvi with more enthusiasm, "Dear customer, the reason was simple, even though The North, The South, The East, The West, and The Centre Treasure Pavilion were under the same Treasure Pavilion it was led by different Head Branch Managers according to the region and they were competing with each other for better resource allocations."

Layla liked it the most when the customers were polite and gentlemanly. It made her mood brighter and energized her spirit. A lot of customers were just rude and annoying to serve so she had to put up fake smiles all the time which was tiring.

"Ah...That's why." Leyvi nodded. "Competition is a good way to make them work better. Whoever the owner is, he must be a genius!" Leyvi praised.

"That's right, the owner is indeed a genius. She is one of the protectors of the Cloud Continent!" Layla proudly said. She hoped that one day she could be like the owner. Beautiful, smart, and strong! Even though Layla never knew her face, she just assumed the owner to be beautiful.

"What? The protector?" Leyvi and the rest were shocked. They never expected the owner of Treasure Pavilion to be one of the Protector. No wonder the Head Branch Managers are competing with each other. The resources she provides must be immense.

"Does that mean the owner was over a thousand years old?" Leyvi raised a question.

"No, actually the owner is quite young. She's slightly above a hundred years old. She replaced her master as protector and became the youngest Protector of Cloud Continent. As you said, she's a genius!" Layla became prouder and prouder as she told Leyvi about the owner.

A woman? A hundred years old and she reached the level of strength a protector has? This is not a genius anymore, this is a monster. Leyvi sighed. Most cultivators here were stuck in the Foundation Building realm when they reached a hundred years old. Leyvi wondered what kind of cultivation level a protector has.

After they finished talking about the awesome owner, they were back to business talk. When Leyvi told Layla that they have a lot of demonic beast carcasses, and some are intermediate-level demonic beasts, she was quite surprised. The group doesn't look that strong, they even have kids that had just started cultivating, but they managed to hunt down many intermediate-level demonic beasts.

"Please come to the appraisal room to calculate the price of the demonic beasts." Layla leads the group to the appraisal room with a smile.

Each of the receptionists of the Treasure Pavilion has been trained in material appraisal too. They learned how to determine the price of materials or treasures based on quality, scarcity, rarity, and many other factors. It was only when a super rare or unidentifiable item was brought that the higher-up would personally come and make the appraisal.

Leyvi took out all of the demonic beasts' carcasses that they intended to sell and put them all on the appraisal table. There were nearly a hundred low-level demonic beasts and seventeen intermediate-level demonic beasts. Obviously, the demonic cores were all taken by Leyvi already, and a few other parts.

However, it doesn't matter to the Treasure Pavilion. They have many ways to turn everything into money. They could make at least double what they pay for the items they bought.

Layla was quite shocked by the amount of demonic beasts that Leyvi took out. Even though she was curious, she didn't ask because it was the policy.