Chapter 3135: Hiring a Guide

"I'll also need Miss Qingyu to introduce me to this merchant guild, so I can learn what good things are here," Ye Liuyun said very politely, lacking the haughty air of a rich young master.

Qingyu immediately replied, "Young Master Li, you're too courteous; this is what our guide should do! Follow me, I'll first take you to buy a map.

However, if you choose lodging, I suggest you stay within our guild. Our guild also runs taverns and inns. Moreover, it's located in the Royal City's central district, convenient to go anywhere. You'll see when you look at the map.

"Alright, let me first check the locations on the map!" Ye Liuyun didn't mind where he stayed; if it's convenient, he's too lazy to wander around.

Ye Liuyun didn't ask the price, simply requested the most detailed map, and paid for it outright.

As Qingyu handed him the map, he used Red Pupil Illusion Technique on Qingyu, forcing her to speak truthfully and explain the Royal City's layout on the map.

The map was indeed well thought out, and Qingyu was quite familiar with the places, so Ye Liuyun soon grasped most of the Royal City's locations.

Qingyu didn't deceive him; everywhere here is truly convenient. He immediately decided to stay at the Holy Fire Guild, had Qingyu reserve a Side Courtyard for him, and then led him there.

Upon entering the lodging, he used his Soul (Red Eye) to control Qingyu, making her think she was introducing the guild to Ye Liuyun, while in fact he released his Soul into Qingyu's Sea of Consciousness to perform a Soul Search and learn the guild's information directly.

What he didn't expect was that Qingyu's Sea of Consciousness contained a confidentiality Master-Servant Contract with the guild, preventing her from revealing many of its matters.

"Even the guild is protected this tightly!"

Ye Liuyun was left speechless, thinking that the Fire Seal Dynasty was indeed hard to deal with.

Thus Qingyu could only search for other information without violating her contract, and discovered that Qingyu's knowledge of the Royal City far exceeded that of an ordinary person.

Which faction's scions frequently go where, their hobbies, which people frequent which taverns, inter‑faction relationships, and so on—so detailed it resembled a spy's report.

"Is this woman really a guide? With her as my guide, catching a few spies in the Royal City would be a breeze!"

While surprised, Ye Liuyun also contemplated how to make good use of Qingyu.

He then withdrew his Soul from Qingyu's Sea of Consciousness, dispelled the illusion, and handed Qingyu a Primordial Power. He had learned through Soul Search that guides here earn very high fees, and ordinary Divine Crystals would not sway them.

Qingyu was also surprised by Ye Liuyun's generosity, not knowing his intention and fearing he might have improper demands.

Ye Liuyun explained, "Qingyu, your introduction was good! I'll stay in the Royal City for a month, then leave after a friend arrives. Since you're familiar with the Royal City, I'd like to ask you to be my guide. This Primordial Power can serve as compensation for any loss of earnings; would that be acceptable?"

"Just as a guide?" Qingyu confirmed with Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun confirmed, "Yes. When I go out, you just accompany me. If I stay home, you're not needed; you may attend to your own matters."

"Very well! Then I, your servant, thank you, sir!" Qingyu said cheerfully, accepting the offer.

But after receiving the Primordial Power, she hesitated and asked Ye Liuyun, "Do I need to live here?"

Ye Liuyun, fearing a misunderstanding, quickly replied, "You only need to stay here during the day; not at night. I only require this one room; the other rooms are yours to choose freely."..

The Side Courtyard Ye Liuyun rented contains five separate rooms; even if Qingyu stays here, she won't have to share a room alone with Ye Liuyun.

Qingyu fully relaxed, chose a room for herself, and arranged with Ye Liuyun the times to arrive in the morning and depart at night.

Ye Liuyun waited until she confirmed all that, then sent Qingyu off to rush to the local slave market.

A major feature of the Holy Fire Guild is that it has a slave

Slave market. This does not exist in other guilds of the Huo Yin Star System.

The slaves come from captives seized by various expeditionary forces from other star systems. Moreover, according to Qingyu, Martial Cultivators of all realms are present.

Ye Liuyun also hoped to use those captives to learn about those star systems and the strength of the Fire Seal Dynasty's army. Finding some suitable Martial Cultivators would be even better.

The whole slave market is divided by cultivation realm into five areas: the Unified Realm, which has three stages and is split into three districts; the Zhuanzai Jingjie realm forms one area; the realms beneath Zhuanzai form another area.

Ye Liuyun wanted each Steward in charge of a zone to give him a thorough introduction, but unsure how much to reward them, he simply gave Qingyu a Storage Ring filled with Divine Crystals, entrusting her to handle such arrangements in the future.

Qingyu, being well‑versed, first went to a high‑realm zone, found a Steward, and had him explain in detail the origins and identities of the slaves. The Stewards of each zone were all very clear about which star system each slave came from.

Ye Liuyun also learned that Great Prince Jiang Yuntian is attacking the Feihong Star System, Third Prince Jiang Yunyang is attacking the Shengjin Star System, Fourth Prince Jiang Yunmu is attacking the Shi Yuan Star System, and Sixth Prince is attacking the Yuhuang Star System.

In the mid‑stage Unified Realm area, the number of slaves is small, mostly elderly. Their realms are only Unified Seventh and Eighth Layers, with no Ninth Realm Martial Cultivators.

The Steward explained, "These people are almost all elders of the great families in those star systems. Those with higher realms and slightly younger ages have already been bought as soon as they arrived."

However, those star systems are weak; Unified Ninth Layer Martial Cultivators are mostly such old guys, bought by some great families to serve as stewards or outer‑gate administrators, and can still be somewhat useful.

Ye Liuyun scanned those people with his Golden Pupil, found no chance of picking up any bargains, and selected four elderly individuals who seemed of good bearing and each belonged to a different star system.

The Steward also had him re‑sign Master‑Servant Contracts with these people. Ye Liuyun did not sign a contract; instead, he directly placed a Slave Seal on them. When placing the Slave Seal, he used his Soul with Spatial Power to instantly enter and exit their Sea of Consciousness, unseen by outsiders.

The Steward and Qingyu, standing nearby, were both astonished, having not seen Ye Liuyun's Soul enter those individuals' Sea of Consciousness, yet he still managed to control them. When he placed the Slave Seal, the Master‑Servant Contracts those people had with the guild automatically vanished from their Sea of Consciousness.

However, they did not inquire further, assuming Ye Liuyun possessed some special technique.

Afterwards, Ye Liuyun arrived at the mid‑stage Unified Realm area. Among the slaves there, many bore marks of armguards and other armor, likely captured soldiers.

Ye Liuyun scanned with his Golden Pupil and indeed discovered several competent Martial Cultivators, all at the Unified Fifth and Sixth Layers.