Stratum

It was said that Lord Gask believed this was a sign that they did not take him seriously.

"Humph!"

Gask let out a cold snort.

Perfect. He had just been wondering what excuse he could use to get rid of Nitrang, and this fellow had brought him the best possible pretext.

"Spare me, Lord Gask, spare me..."

Upon hearing Gask's snort, Nitrang's face turned deathly pale. His forehead repeatedly struck the floor of the reception hall with loud bangs, blood flowing down from it and leaving streaks of red across his face.

Although Gask had long harbored murderous intent toward Nitrang, seeing him in such a state still made Gask wonder whether laying hands on someone like this would dirty his own hands.

Though he loathed it inwardly, Gask naturally would not let such a hidden danger remain.

Sensing the oppressive battle aura before him, despair flashed through Nitrang's eyes.

Then, unwilling to die like this, Nitrang rolled over, intending to slip past Gask and flee the City Lord's Manor.

Unfortunately, Nitrang thought too highly of himself and too little of Gask.

No—perhaps Nitrang had not overestimated himself or underestimated Gask at all. Rather, when faced with death, he had no choice but to try.

Bang!

A cyan fist mark burst straight through Nitrang's back, sending him flying.

"Pfft..."

Nitrang spat out a mouthful of blood. Before he even hit the ground, the light had already vanished from his eyes.

"Lord Gask."

Large beads of cold sweat rolled down Butler Lauren's forehead.

Yet he had no choice but to muster his courage and bow before Gask. "My apologies, Lord Gask. Because I failed to keep this chamber of commerce president here a little longer, he ended up offending you..."

"Mm."

Gask acknowledged Butler Lauren, then looked toward the bundle on the floor.

Picking the bundle up with one hand, Gask raised a brow.

It seemed this was heaven's arrangement. I, Gask, have the makings of the Saint Domain!

At that thought, the corners of Gask's lips curved upward.

"Butler Lauren, where are the members of this man's chamber of commerce?"

"Lord Gask, they are all waiting outside the City Lord's Manor. If you wish to receive them, I will arrange for someone to bring them in at once."

"No, there's no need. I'll go see them myself."

"Butler Lauren, bring Nitrang's corpse and come with me."

"Yes, Lord Gask."

Outside the City Lord's Manor, more than a dozen people of varying ages gathered together, occasionally casting their eyes toward the manor gates.

They were all merchants from the same chamber of commerce. The woman who could make the bead glow and heat up was someone their chamber of commerce had found only after tremendous hardship.

"Hey, Rick, do you think this is reliable?"

"Tsk, what's unreliable about it? I've already asked around. Besides Gemur City, chambers of commerce in Hain City and Piters City are also searching."

"And..."

At this point, the middle-aged man with a full beard glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he quietly said to his companions, "It seems someone in Locke Territory is searching as well..."

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."

"Jian, do not speak carelessly."

Just as the bearded man was getting carried away, the oldest elder among the group coughed several times, interrupting Jian.

This elder seemed to hold considerable authority within the merchant caravan.

After he stopped their discussion, although everyone remained curious, they did not continue the topic.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

A burst of metal scraping drew the merchants' attention.

The gates of the City Lord's Manor had opened.

Two figures appeared before them.

No, not two, but three!

It was only that the third person was clearly being carried in the hand of the butler-like figure behind.

Judging by his condition, he seemed to have already lost all signs of life.

"Nitrang!"

Seeing this, everyone from the chamber of commerce turned pale.

What exactly had happened?

Why had Nitrang died?

"L-Lord Gask?"

Before the merchants could vent their fury, the eldest old man among them was the first to recognize the burly man walking toward them.

"Greetings, Lord Gask!"

The elderly man did not dare show the slightest disrespect. He immediately dropped to both knees and kowtowed to Gask.

Though they were merchants with vast fortunes, before nobles, even merchants were nothing more than ants.

It could not be helped. The "truth" of this world was held in the hands of the nobles.

The nobles monopolized the Battle Qi Manuals. Unless ordinary commoners were found to possess magical talent and could become mages, they could only ever reach the level of a Rank 6 Warrior in their entire lives.

Wanted to become a Rank 7 Warrior and cross the class divide?

Wishful thinking.

The noble class had its own unspoken understanding. If any family dared secretly pass a Battle Qi Manual to a commoner, they would certainly be targeted by the other nobles. If things went badly, even their entire family might be wiped out.

The fundamental reason President Luqi of the Luqi Merchant Guild had been able to buy a Battle Qi Manual for Cole was Locke's existence.

Based on Locke's record of wiping out nearly a thousand people in a short period, the nobles of the Frost Snow Empire had all concluded that even if Locke was not already a Rank 7 Archmage, he was not far from breaking through to Rank 7.

A Rank 7 mage could already obtain the title of "Baron" in the Frost Snow Empire and be considered part of the noble class.

And judging by Locke's age, reaching the Saint Domain was hard to say, but becoming a Rank 9 Grand Magus was absolutely certain.

With no Saint Domain expert appearing, a Rank 9 Grand Magus was practically the peak of ordinary combat strength in the Frost Snow Empire.

A Rank 9 Grand Magus who had mastered forbidden spells even faintly possessed a trace of "the might of the Saint Domain."

Even His Majesty Ceres would regard such an expert highly.

After all, mages had a far greater chance of breaking through to the Saint Domain than warriors did.

Even if Locke ultimately failed to reach the Saint Domain, a Rank 9 Grand Magus would at least receive the title of "Viscount" in the Frost Snow Empire. After rendering some meritorious service, it would not be impossible for him to rise to "Count."

It was precisely because of this that those nobles had been willing to do Locke a favor and sell a Battle Qi Manual to Luqi.

Of course, they had also made it clear that only Cole could cultivate this Battle Qi Manual.

That was also why, in the past several decades, no Rank 7 Warrior besides Cole had appeared in the Luqi Merchant Guild.

"Greetings, Lord Gask."

Seeing the elderly man's actions, the other merchants hurriedly followed suit and knelt.

Now, they only hoped that Nitrang's death would not implicate them.