Monarch Of Time

Chapter 1068 Iron Dawn’s plight

Finally, Shun Long raised his head and glanced at the newcomer who was now calmly walking towards him, strutting around the second floor of the Hundred Fragrance pavilion as if he owned the place.

The black-robed middle-aged man didn’t even glance at the surrounding Dao Kings and Dao Emperors on the second floor, his gaze fully focused on the azure-robed old man at the depths of the hall.

And yet, Shun Long just stood there calmly, as he watched everything unfold.

Truth be told, he had no idea who this black-robed man was or which power he was affiliated with. The only thing he could tell was that this person’s cultivation base was truly extraordinary. It was obvious that it had long since surpassed that of the silver-robed old man, and could very well be in the middle stages of the Sovereign realm.

A middle-stage Sovereign! Such a cultivation base would make this person a bigshot not just in Iron Dawn, but anywhere in the entire central continent. After all, with ’Earth Immortals’ basically being in seclusion, Sovereigns were unquestionably the strongest cultivators in every mortal world.

Of course, Shun Long’s soul sense had already sensed this person’s presence from the moment he stepped into the vicinity of the ’Hundred Fragrance pavilion’. From the looks of it, this man wasn’t a member of the pavilion either, or he wouldn’t have called it ’old Bai’s shop’, in the first place.

Still, that didn’t matter either.

Although Shun Long had expected to come in contact with any of Iron Dawn’s Sovereigns, this wasn’t all that bad.

"No... maybe it’s better this way" he thought to himself, as he began to assess the situation. This entire incident could actually work in his favor instead.

During this past year he’d spent in seclusion, he’d already grown dozens of rare herbs inside the ’Stone of Time’, including a few rank 7 ones that were difficult to find. However, Shun Long also knew that every alchemy shop needed to have a stable source of manpower that procured medicinal ingredients for them.

Sometimes, that would be a powerful chamber of commerce that would constantly supply that shop with rare herbs, while at other times it would be cultivators who found those herbs in the wild and were looking to sell them to hopeful alchemists. But no matter what, a stable source of herbs was necessary for every establishment, regardless of whether that was an alchemy shop or a sect.

Shun Long knew that sooner or later, his shop was going to attract unwanted attention if he ended up selling high-level pills without having a constant supply of medicinal herbs. Of course, Fu Li was already branching out, telling everyone that their alchemy shop would buy herbs from anyone who was willing to sell, but that wasn’t enough.

This was why Shun Long was planning to spread the name of ’alchemist Han’ in the cities adjacent to Amber Dawn. And as expected, Iron Dawn, with its far-reaching influence and its numerous shops, was the perfect place to start.

In the end, Shun Long’s golden eyes met the black-robed man’s, before he said in a deep voice that made the approaching man finally halt his steps,

"I’m an alchemist from Amber Dawn looking to buy some herbs. Isn’t it natural for an alchemy shop to sell herbs?"

A moment of silence fell over the second floor of the Night Hall, as everyone stared at the azure-robed man in disbelief.

An alchemist from Iron Dawn? A Sovereign realm alchemist from Amber Dawn?

Even Bai Yunhai’s brows lifted slightly in surprise. He had already guessed that this person in front of him was also an alchemist, but to come from Amber Dawn of all places? From that hellhole that was basically ruled by those two assassin guilds?

Of course, it’s not like there were no star-rank alchemists in Amber Dawn.

In fact, the number of star-rank alchemists the city-guard alone had under their command was close to double digits, while the assassin guilds themselves most likely didn’t lag too far behind either.

But Bai Yunhai, with his status and strength knew, that all the star-rank alchemists in Amber Dawn were still in the late stages of the Dao Emperor realm. That city had no Sovereign realm alchemists at all!

But before the silence could settle in, the black-robed man stared at Shun Long and waved his hand dismissively, before he answered in a serious tone

"Even so, emptying one of the largest shops in Iron Dawn is bound to cause problems for Bai Yanhui, even if it’s just for its rank 7 herbs."

He then paused, placing a hand on his forehead and letting out a faint sigh before shaking his head and continuing,

"Either way, I can’t be bothered with this any longer, fellow daoist. Our city guard and the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion maintain a good relationship, so it’s my duty to protect their interests as well. Please, don’t force my hand today."

Shun Long’s golden eyes narrowed momentarily as he studied the black-robed middle-aged man.

"A Sovereign of Iron Dawn’s city guard had come here for something this trivial?"

As if he could guess what he was thinking, however, the black-robed man shook his head and continued,

"I’m just here to help you conclude your business with old Bai. All Sovereigns of Iron Dawn have been summoned to the city lord’s estate immediately, and that includes the two of us. Old Bai, make haste. We don’t have much time!"

Finally, the silver-robed elder’s eyes widened as he turned to the black-robed man, his expression turning somewhat complicated.

For a moment, complete silence reigned on the second floor, as the two Sovereigns just looked at each other. Shun Long could guess that the two of them were probably exchanging mental messages, and although there was no significant change in any of their expressions, the atmosphere in the hall had already turned grim.

In the end, Bai Yunhai let out a slow breath, waved his hand, and accepted the spatial ring that Shun Long had prepared for Zhou Wuyi, with the 200.000 high-grade spirit stones. His tone was cold but restrained as he then turned towards one of the attendants waiting next to him and ordered,

"Pack the Blazing Sunfire Lotus, the Dragonvein Earthroot, and the Frostheart Jadeleaf, and give them to him!"

Then he turned to Shun Long and added in

"Fellow daoist, I trust you will be satisfied after this and you’ll be on your way now. I have pressing matters to attend to, and I won’t see you out."

After staring at Shun Long for a couple seconds longer, the silver-robed old man grimaced and blended into the shadows before vanishing from the second floor, leaving behind a flabbergasted crowd. A moment later, the black-robed man followed suit as well, giving Shun Long a final glance before he, too, vanished from the ’Hundred Fragrance pavilion’.

This time, it wasn’t just the spectators within Hundred Fragrance who were left stunned by the sudden turn of events. Even Shun Long was actually taken aback!

Truth be told, Shun Long was already aware that his actions this time around were bound to raise a few eyebrows. If he really emptied the Hundred Fragrance pavilion’s entire stock of rank 7 herbs, the people behind the pavilion weren’t going to sit still and let him do as he pleased.

This was why he had already prepared a few herbs that he had grown inside the ’Stone of Time’ during this past year and had been planning to trade them for those he didn’t have.

The reason why he had caused such a commotion in the first place, was to ’justify his actions in the future’ and paint an image of someone who hoards countless rare herbs, so once word about his shop began to spread, people would associate it with the ’crazy alchemist’ who went around buying every herb he could get his hands on. This was a necessary image he had paint, after all.

However, Shun Long hadn’t expected that something so major would happen in Iron Dawn, that was enough to overshadow the facade he was planning to put on.

Something so significant that prompted the ruler of Iron Dawn to summon every Sovereign in the city to the city lord’s estate.

For a moment, Shun Long even considered whether it had been his own actions that had caused this.

Maybe it had been his assassination of the Ma family patriarch that was noticed by the city guard and had ended up throwing the entire city into a state of alarm.

However, he immediately discarded that thought before it even took form. No matter what, he knew that the life of a mere early-stage Dao Emperor from one of the mid-sized clans of the city wasn’t significant enough to warrant such a reaction from the Iron Dawn Sovereign, to the point where he would mobilize every Sovereign under his command. No. Something much more serious was happening in Iron Dawn!