Chapter 63 Hostage

  At dawn, a convoy quietly drove towards the south gate of Gou Ya City. Gou Ya City was a city that never slept and maintained its neutrality in the continental war, with thriving commerce. As a result, the city gates were always open, and there weren't even soldiers checking at the gate, fully embodying the style of a free trade metropolis.

  A frail figure approached the convoy and asked loudly: "Sir, are you there?"

  "Here." Han Jin lifted the car curtain: "Get in."

  Little Joseph sprang nimbly onto the carriage, where several men including Han Jin and Sassou were already seated. Sassou noticed that Little Joseph had a bundle on his back and asked with a smile: "Little Joseph, what have you brought along?"

  "I've taken everything I can." Little Joseph said in a low voice.

  "What? Are you going to..."

  "He must come with us, otherwise the people of the Mercenary Guild will not let him off." Han Jin smiled: "Little Joseph, have you done all the things I asked you to do?"

  "Uh-huh." Little Joseph nodded.

  "What did you have him do?" Sasuke asked.

  "Post big-character posters." Han Jin burst out laughing.

  Last night, Joseph hired some companions with the gold coins given by Jin to post hundreds of big-character posters in various corners of the city. The content of the big-character posters directly pointed to the patrol officer of the Mercenary Guild, Crenwell, exposing that Crenwell plotted against the Morgan Merchant Group's wealth and killed people from the Morgan Merchant Group with extremely cruel means. After learning that Miss Keli, the heir of the Morgan Merchant Group, had arrived in Lonely Cliff City, he wanted to rob her of the seal. Finally, a few sentences were added in extra-large font, saying that Crenwell would definitely destroy all the big-character posters to cover up the truth.

  It's actually a waste of words, whether the content is true or false, big-character posters will be torn down anyway. But for ordinary people, the behavior of mercenaries has increased the credibility of big-character posters, and the content written in them will spread faster.

  "It's useless." After Little Joseph finished speaking, Sasori shook his head and said, "We lack the corresponding evidence."

  "I don't have high hopes of going to trial against Cromwell." Han Jin said calmly: "As long as he is timid and doesn't dare do anything during this period, I'll be satisfied."

  "My Lord Prophet, what are we going to do next?" Mosenko had been holding back for half a day: "Do you really think we can escort this convoy to the Holy Crown City by blocking the line?"

  Han Jin looked outside and said in a low voice: "If this team of cars is discovered by the people of Hei Ya Castle, what will happen?"

  "What's there to ask? All things are confiscated, all people are killed! That's it."

  "Will the people of the caravan also be killed?"

  "They're not gods, why can't they be killed?"

  "Compared with the goods in the caravan, how much is Hillna's mortgaged house and that fiery staff worth?"

  Moxinke calculated seriously in his heart: "Although Xilena's house is in the city center, where every inch of land is worth a lot of money and the land price is very expensive, but compared to fifteen carts of weapons and armor, it's still too little. Even if you add the Hot Rod, the value is not even one-fifth of the total goods."

  "In other words, no one would take that little mortgage seriously, and businessmen are more afraid of trouble than we are."

  "Uh...this..." Mo Xinke was stunned.

  "Think about it, don't they seem very nervous?"

  A chubby guy named Leopold emerged in Mo Xin's mind, who was the leader of the entire merchant team. He was kind, affable and always smiling, easy to talk to. Last night, he went to find him and asked to leave Luguang City at dawn the next day. Leopold agreed without hesitation.

  "In short, they clearly know that Shengguancheng is at war and still want to transport military supplies there, so they must have their own backing." Han Jin said in a low voice.

  "That's not right! If they have their own reliance, why don't they tell us? That way everyone can cooperate better." Mo Xinkai shouted.

  "I don't know about this, unless they want to say it themselves." Seeing Mo Xingchi's temper flaring up again, Han Jin wisely shifted his target to someone else.

  All the way, surprisingly calm, nothing happened, but Han Jin and others did not dare to take it lightly, analyzing and doing, being careful was not wrong. Like this, they walked for a whole month, the caravan gradually approached the ruling area of Shengguan City, and the atmosphere inexplicably became tense.

  Within a month, Han Jin would absorb thousands of yuan of energy every day. The magic crystals he had purchased in Gu Lao Cheng provided him with solid security. In fact, he had long intentionally forgotten his master's warnings and the severe consequences of absorbing the Black Crow Magic Crystal that time, because he was anxious and couldn't care about anything else except for being cautious not to exceed one percent.

  In a strict sense, he wasn't considered a qualified cultivator until he completed the foundation building. He couldn't even cast mid-grade Daoist spells and could only create talismans like the Five Ghosts' Transportation Technique thanks to the clear elemental rules of this continent! The energy flowing through his body didn't entirely belong to him; whatever was consumed would decrease by that amount, unable to be replenished on its own. Only after truly completing the foundation building would the energy in his body be refined into Taiyi's Qi, with a difference as great as that between a wild chicken and a phoenix.

  Orthodox cultivators start by using techniques such as Tuna to solidify their foundation and cultivate their essence. Han Jin, on the other hand, entered through absorbing grain essence, but despite taking a different path, they ultimately converge. The mysterious aperture that needs to be opened for the Grand Cycle of Heaven also remains the same. The Grand Cycle represents the ability to circulate the Qi of Tai Xu. Only when he reached this stage did Han Jin stand at the same starting line as orthodox cultivators. However, he possesses a dual advantage: apart from normal breathing and Tuna, he can still absorb energy from food, with only an additional step of refinement added.

  Of course, the situation before was extremely difficult. In that world, Han Jin hid under his master's wings and deliberately kept a low profile, never challenging the tacit understanding and rules reached between the Cultivation World and the Mortal Realm. The reason lay here - he couldn't afford to waste it. Others could throw out ten fire talismans and recover after a short rest, but he couldn't. Unless throwing out his own fire talismans could bring him enormous benefits, he wouldn't act unless necessary.

  What left Xanthe and others aghast was that Han Jin suddenly developed a huge interest in Dou Qi and magic, and whenever he had free time, he would go to Mo Xinke and Sasou for guidance. This was the characteristic of Han Jin's cultivation - absorbing energy was at the center of everything, and the countless Dao techniques he grasped were like countless roads, and no matter which road he took, he could reach the end, and along the way, he could freely switch from one road to another.

  However, Han Jin only learned magic for a few days and then threw Sasou aside. Consuming the same amount of elemental energy, the power of magic was far inferior to that of Taoist techniques, at least in the early stages.