Qin Shi: I went astray in the Heavenly Sect

Chapter 251 The Deal at the Cape: Conflict Re-emerges
"Buy or sell?"

Inside an extremely luxurious and colossal building, a strikingly beautiful woman held a chain snake soft sword in her hand.

"You gentlemen have come to visit at this hour, which doesn't seem like you're here to do business."

Inside the hall, several men in black walked slowly forward, looking around.

Haijiao is the most mysterious intelligence organization in the martial arts world. Their power is extremely vast, with tentacles reaching all seven former kingdoms. They can even uncover some of the secrets of the various schools of thought.

But almost no one has ever visited the headquarters at Cape.

Now that they've arrived at the headquarters on Cape, they naturally want to see what's so different about this place.

"Go quickly and spread the word that this deal is possible."

The newcomers were all skilled martial artists; in the short time it took them to walk around the hall, they had already gotten a pretty good feel for the place.

To their surprise, there seemed to be no one else there except for the woman in front of them.

The person who had spoken paused, then asked with some suspicion, "Are you the owner of the cape?"

Upon hearing this, the girl nodded in agreement.

Upon seeing the other person's actions, the newcomer narrowed his eyes.

"The ends of the earth, the corners of the sea—as the most powerful intelligence organization in the martial arts world, who would have thought that its master would be a woman!"

Upon hearing this, the woman chuckled.

"Do you distinguish between men and women when doing business?"

The hall fell silent once more.

"Indeed, she is quick-witted and eloquent. While I do not distinguish between men and women in business, I generally prefer to do business with men because they usually do not haggle."

Upon hearing this, a strange expression appeared on the faces of those present.

Their business is not your average business. Generally speaking, neither men nor women will haggle with them, but most of their customers are men.

"bargain?"

The girl glanced around and, noticing the strange looks on the faces of the people around her, her beautiful eyes narrowed involuntarily.

Throughout history, most uninvited guests have been hostile guests. This is especially true in the martial arts world, where guests who arrive in the dead of night are either killers or assassins.

"You seem very confident in your bargaining chips?"

The girl pulled over a chair and sat down as if no one else was there. There weren't many people here today, but there were still quite a few, about seven or eight people.

The leader was a martial arts master at the Grandmaster level, and every move he made carried the unique oppressive aura of a martial arts master.

"It seems I misjudged him."

Seeing the woman's composure, the leader of the men in black was surprised. Few people could be as calm as her, not even the leaders or elders of martial arts sects.

"However, I'm sure the boss is also very interested in my offer!"

"Let me introduce myself first. My surname is Shi, the Shi as in stone. Friends in the martial arts world like to call me Mr. Shi."

The girl sitting in the chair raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"Mr. Shi?"

There doesn't seem to be much information about this surname in the records of the Cape. The only master with the surname Shi was from the State of Wei, and he died on the battlefield when Qin destroyed Wei.

Other people with the surname Shi are hardly well-known.

"No need to think about it. My name is rarely seen in the martial arts world. Even if someone in the ends of the earth has extraordinary abilities, they would never be able to find out about me. My name is just a code name. I don't use my real name when I travel the martial arts world!"

Seemingly having guessed what the woman opposite him was thinking, the old man surnamed Shi spoke in a low voice.

"Mr. Shi, what kind of business deal do you want to do with Haijiao tonight?"

The girl didn't dwell on the other person's identity and continued to ask questions.

The elderly man surnamed Shi pulled a chair from the wall of the hall and sat down leisurely, his gaze sweeping around the hall.

Although this place is remote, it is surprisingly luxurious, even surpassing some of the grand mansions in Xianyang.

"There's no rush. Before we talk about the deal, I have something else to tell you!"

The woman's gaze was deep and unfathomable. She didn't say a word, but she glanced over indifferently.

"Although the seven kingdoms are now unified, the world is not completely at peace. Even the martial arts world is in turmoil. As the master of the sea, you should know what's going on in the martial arts world!"

The woman nodded.

"The martial arts world is indeed unstable, with various forces vying for power and a hundred schools of thought contending. In order to promote their own doctrines, these people are constantly expanding. For example, the Farmer's School has as many as 100,000 followers, making it an extremely large organization."

The elderly man surnamed Shi nodded.

This is the reality of the martial arts world. The secret competition between various factions is like the undercurrents surging beneath the calm surface of this lake. Smaller sects dare not show their faces, otherwise, once they get involved, they will only end up dying and disappearing.

"The martial world has always been a place where martial prowess reigns supreme, and the strong hold the power of discourse. As the largest intelligence organization in the martial world, Haijiao has been targeted by many forces. You should have already realized this, right?"

Upon hearing this, the girl looked over with amusement.

At this point, she had already guessed what the other person meant.

"Mr. Shi, please speak frankly."

The old man surnamed Shi clapped his hands lightly and continued, "For weak forces to survive in the martial world, they generally only have two choices: one is to attach themselves to a powerful force, and the other is to form an alliance with other forces. Only in this way can they survive in this cannibalistic martial world!"

The woman put down her teacup and continued, "Mr. Shi, do you want to form an alliance with Haijiao?"

The old man chuckled, then pointed to the men in black behind him.

"An alliance?"

"They are all martial arts masters, the weakest of whom is at the Innate Realm, and two of them have reached the Grandmaster Realm. This is just the tip of the iceberg of our power. The alliance was formed when the strength of both sides was roughly equal. You don't think that the current Cape has any power that can rival ours, do you?"

As they spoke, the men in black standing behind the old man surnamed Shi unleashed their full power, their imposing auras filling the hall.

The girl's face darkened.

At this point, the other party had finally revealed their true intentions.

"Join us, and we can become the strongest support on the cape; otherwise..."

Upon hearing this, the girl suddenly laughed.

"Mr. Shi, how can you be so sure that there's no powerful backer at the Cape?"

The old man narrowed his eyes. The fact that they were able to find this place already said a lot. The power behind them was not weak either, otherwise they would not have been able to determine the exact location of the Cape headquarters. You know, Cape's business has grown bigger and bigger over the years, and many forces have already set their sights on it.

However, because they couldn't pinpoint the location of the Cape headquarters, they had to abandon that tempting idea. And since they were able to find this place, they could naturally confirm some things, such as the fact that Cape hadn't found any other powerful backers.

"Young girl, let me give you a piece of advice: don't make a mistake, or your life or death will no longer be up to you."

The woman slowly rose, lightly flicked her foot, and swung the chair back to its original position. She reached out and stroked the chain snake soft sword in her hand.

"Old sir, there's something you haven't considered: since Haijiao was able to set up its headquarters here, do you really think those old immortals on Mount Taiyi didn't know?"

The old man frowned.

This place is indeed within the territory of Taiyi Mountain. As a sacred site of Taoism, Taiyi Mountain is home to both the Tianzong and Renzong sects. In recent years, the Tianzong sect has been enjoying great popularity.

A sect with two grandmasters is the envy of many forces in the martial arts world, but even so, they dare not cause trouble at Mount Taiyi.

"Is the Cape a Taoist stronghold?"

After a while, the old man surnamed Shi also stood up, looked at the woman in front of him, and his tone suddenly turned cold.

“I didn’t say that. If Mr. Shi insists on interpreting it that way, then I have nothing to say.”

The ambiguous words and the other party's teasing tone made it easy for the old man to guess what they meant.

For a moment, the faces of those standing behind him also darkened. They were not afraid of just the Cape Organization, but with the addition of the Heavenly Sect, it became very troublesome.

After a moment of silence, the other party suddenly spoke up: "Taoists live in seclusion and cultivate themselves in peace, not concerning themselves with worldly affairs. Establishing an intelligence organization would be of no use to them. Are you saying this because you want to use the names of those two grandmasters of the Heavenly Sect?"

Upon hearing this, the young woman's gaze became somewhat profound. As someone who knew the ways of the martial world, she could tell that Mr. Shi's words indicated that his visit tonight was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather something he had been planning for a long time.

Holding her sword in one hand, she chuckled and continued, "Mr. Shi, since you know about the Taoist practice of seclusion and cultivation, you should also know the steps involved in Taoist cultivation. People on the mountain don't stay there forever; they come down the mountain and then come back up again. I don't need to explain these details to you, do I?"

People on the mountain come down, and people at the foot of the mountain come up.

Upon hearing the other party's words, the old man surnamed Shi couldn't help but sigh softly. If someone could see things so clearly, how could he not guess the true situation here? Perhaps what the person in front of him said was not false; this place truly was the domain of Taoism.

"pity!"

The old man surnamed Shi raised his hand and waved it gently. The people standing behind him exchanged glances and then stepped forward.

"Mr. Shi, now that you know which faction the Cape belongs to, do you still want to make a move?"

The girl saw the man in black approaching silently, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips.

A young man once said to Ying Zheng, the current ruler of Qin, "A frog in a well doesn't know the vastness of the sky." Today, she wants to say the same thing to the people in front of her.

Then she clapped her hands gently.

The floor in the hall began to shake, making a rumbling sound, and then slowly moved to both sides. The old man surnamed Shi's eyes twitched involuntarily twice; it seemed that they had missed a place during their previous investigation.

Before long, a dark cave entrance appeared before them, followed by several heavy, mountain-like auras emanating from the ground.

Sensing these auras, the old man surnamed Shi and the men in black present frowned. No wonder they hadn't found anything when they investigated earlier; it seemed that those people weren't hiding up there, but underground.

From those auras, they vaguely sensed several profound and abyssal forces. Without much thought, they guessed the cultivation levels of those people.

Grandmaster realm.

The fact that several Grandmaster-level combatants were hidden in this headquarters on the edge of the sea was quite unexpected.

"Do it!"

The old man surnamed Shi made a quick decision. Their breaths were no less than a hundred meters apart, giving them enough time to do many things.

If they could successfully capture the person in front of them, they would have completed half of their mission.

"There are only a handful of forces in the martial arts world capable of investigating the Cape Headquarters. If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Shi must be from the Empire, right?"

The girl's eyes unconsciously turned cold. For the martial arts world, the Qin Kingdom was a place of unforgettable sorrow.

Especially in the current martial arts world, almost no force is close to this empire.

"A net so tight it's all-encompassing, we should have realized this sooner! Besides the Net, what other force in this world could possibly find this place?!"

The girl gave a cold smile as she watched the group rushing towards her.

As she spoke, she flung out the Chain Serpent Soft Sword. In her hand, the soft sword was like an incredibly agile serpent, seizing every opportunity. With just a flick of her wrist, she forced those people back.

"We unexpectedly gathered intelligence at the edge of the sea that the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) is targeting the Hundred Families, seemingly plotting something unspeakable in the dark, and trying to find something that doesn't belong to you!"

When the topic of the Net came up, the girl seemed to recall some intelligence, and her gaze became extremely sharp.

The Empire stands under the sunlight. Although it is powerful, it still adheres to certain rules. But the Net is different. As an assassin organization serving the Empire, they have no bottom line and no rules. As long as they can complete the mission, they will kill even their closest relatives.

"Things that don't belong to us?"

Mr. Shi gave a look to the two men in black on his left and right, and the two of them didn't hesitate any longer. They rushed towards the girl.

“How ridiculous! All the treasures in the world belong to the virtuous.”

"Those treasures buried in the dust of history, if no one is willing to discover them, will eventually become nothing but memories."

"Om!!"

Just then, two sword cries suddenly rang out in the hall.

The two men in black who made the move later surrounded the girl, one in front and one behind.

Upon hearing the two sword cries, the girl's expression changed.

Experts will know if there is one as soon as they take action.

The pressure posed by these two was completely different from that of the previous four or five people. Previously, the old man surnamed Shi had said that among the people he brought, there were also a few who were at the same level as him—Grandmaster.

She was now certain that these two were the Grandmaster-level experts the other party had mentioned.

She is now a Grandmaster, but it would be too difficult for her to deal with two people at the same time. She is not like Gai Nie and Wei Zhuang; her combat power is far beyond that of ordinary Grandmasters. Even if she were to deal with several Grandmasters at the same time, it would not be too difficult.

"open!"

Before he could think further, the girl's aura exploded, and the chain snake soft sword in her hand began to spin wildly around her.

Faced with the attack from both sides, she did not choose to confront it head-on, but instead chose to defend herself.

Her helpers in the underground chamber will arrive in the hall in just a few breaths, at which point the situation will be reversed, and she has no need to fight for victory.

The sword energy struck the sword net formed by the soft sword and was deflected. The two assassins from the Net of Luo Wang, who were still in mid-air, froze for a moment. This sword net was unexpectedly strong.

Seeing this, the girl smiled, and just then, an old voice entered her ears.

"Little girl, there is no such thing as absolute defense in this world."

(End of this chapter)