After putting away the Metallic Airship, the group had just reached the entrance when Johanna, who had originally wanted to keep a low profile, hadn't yet paid the entrance fee.
Mariano stepped forward first. "I am Mariano of the Saint Clan, here to see the Lord of Skyfall City on the orders of the Lord of the Northbone Prefecture."
Johanna and her entire team stood there, stunned.
The city guards, who rarely saw outsiders due to the Skyfall City's blockade, initially assumed this group was a powerful merchant caravan that had broken through and were very welcoming. Upon hearing Mariano's words, they became even more respectful and immediately led the group into the city.
Although Jason couldn't sense the divine consciousness of the Highgod, he could tell from Johanna's slightly trembling shoulders that she was having a heated argument with Mariano —this was a caravan, not some messenger escort!
However, Johanna eventually followed Mariano to the city lord's mansion, which is the Bone Dragon Castle in Skyfall City.
As for the others, they naturally rented a large house to stay in first.
A team of thirty-one people can be housed in a moderately large house.
Jason and Delisha were assigned to adjacent rooms.
Delisha entered Jason's room and, as soon as she sat down, began to speak, "I never expected to be used by the Lord of the Northbone Prefecture. It seems Johanna was completely unaware of this, and I wonder if Lord Lloyd knew beforehand."
The caravan was mistaken by outsiders for the guards of the prefectural lord, and there were bound to be spies from hostile forces within Skyfall City. If this news got out, Jason wouldn't be surprised if Seven Star Fiend came to intercept and kill him on the way back!
"I'm inclined to believe that Lord Lloyd knows about this, after all, he's a confidant of the Prefect."
Jason believed that Lloyd, the weakest of the Seven Star Fiend, would be unable to refuse the Lord's orders if he wanted to secure his position as city lord. However, he wondered whether Lloyd was forced into this situation or was genuinely trying to use someone else to pave the way for his younger son.
As for Mariano revealing his identity directly this time, perhaps it was to force the city lord of Skyfall City to become the vanguard of the resistance.
"Why don't we just stay here and leave after the turmoil in Bone Dragon Prefecture is over?" Delisha, as expected of someone who had managed to survive on the Yulan Continent for thousands of years, knew when to follow her heart and never resisted stubbornly.
"What about the family? Having offended the city lord's daughter, the Rhine Clan can forget about having any influence in that area."
"Why am I so unlucky!" Delisha and Jason lamented simultaneously.
Johanna and Mariano didn't return to the house until evening.
The two clearly didn't get along well, but whether they actually fought is unknown.
Mariano went straight to his room as soon as he entered, showing no intention of interacting with the others; as for Johanna, she seemed to be in a bad mood, but as the leader, she still had to say a few words to everyone.
"Gentlemen, for some reasons, Lord Tiboni has invited us to stay in Skyfall City for a period of time. This house is free for us to live in. As for when we will leave, we will discuss that after the situation in the surrounding area stabilizes."
Everyone exchanged glances. Johanna was clearly in a bad mood and didn't offer any further explanation before returning to her room.
"Are we going to have to wait here for tens of thousands of years?" the Fiend asked telepathically.
Judging from the situation around Bone Dragon Prefecture, this chaos will last for at least tens of thousands of years.
"It shouldn't be that bad. We can leave once things calm down around Skyfall City."
"What about the trade routes? Miss Johanna's caravan has been postponed indefinitely?"
The man with the goatee said, "Our caravan being mistaken for people from the Northbone Prefecture has its advantages and disadvantages. At least protecting Mariano to Skyfall City is indirectly helping Lord Tiboni. If the Skyfall City rebellion succeeds in the future, obtaining a caravan quota for continuous supply will certainly not be a problem; if the Skyfall City side loses, then establishing a trade route will be meaningless."
"So, the success or failure of this mission depends on who wins and who loses between the Lord of Tiboni and the new Lord of the Bone Dragon Prefecture?"
"Yes, we'll treat this period as a publicly funded trip, since the city lord of Skyfall City is paying for it."
Jason thus remained stranded in Skyfall City.
The scenery of Skyfall City is beautiful, or rather, all the cities in the Netherworld are built in magnificent and wondrous places, and the scenery is generally quite good; the only difference lies in personal preference.
The waterfall next to Skyfall City originates from a tributary of the Gray Serpent River, with a drop of 10,000 meters and a width of nearly 2,000 meters. A cavity was carved out of the rock wall in the middle of the waterfall, Skyfall City was built in this cavity.
Like Skyfall City, Falling Rain City is one of the cities favored by aquatic Deity-level from the Netherworld Skyfall City, with the majority of them being Water Element Deity-level. It is said that the city lord, Tiboni, is Asura-level powerhouse who specializes in both water and wind elements.
The caravan consisted of more than thirty people. Some suggested that they disperse and leave Skyfall City, but the city guards said that there were more than a dozen bandit groups around the city. The smallest of these groups was led by Highgod, and the largest group was said to be led by Seven Star Fiend.
This dispelled the idea of most people leaving.
The Fiend traveling with them all thought this was a good idea; it was safer than leaving directly and being surrounded and intercepted.
Delisha and Jason had no intention of leaving, as both of them were people who preferred stability in everything they did.
After walking along the empty road, the two arrived at the Bone Dragon Castle in the city.
"I thought prices here would skyrocket, but I didn't expect prices in Skyfall City to be lower than in other cities!" Jason looked at the various price tags in front of him in surprise.
This was after Delisha's Destruction Clone told the Rhine Clan members about the situation in Skyfall City, and someone suggested that they could come to North Skeleton Castle to see if they could find any bargains.
The siege bandits surrounding Skyfall City did not appear out of nowhere. After taking office, the new Bone Dragon Prefecture Lord had used his troops to disperse the tribes and families around Skyfall City for a period of time. After all, they were forces within the Bone Dragon Prefecture, and the new Bone Dragon Prefecture Lord did not want his territory to become ruins.
Lord Tiboni of Skyfall City even personally intervened once because of this.
Because this incident brought the conflict between the two sides into the open, many small vendors in the city had already sold off their goods and left.
Having been besieged for over three thousand years, cultivation supplies had long been snapped up. Items like Soul Gold Bead and various potions were very expensive and scarce. However, materials for refining weapons, Divine Artifact, Divine Spark, and even houses were very cheap—given that the city's population simply couldn't absorb all of these things, given the inability to leave the city.
Of course, there were also many who wanted to take advantage of the situation to buy at rock-bottom prices, but the people in the city didn't have enough Nether Stone to buy this batch of goods, since the wealthy merchants had already left at the beginning of the siege.
Jason and Delisha's wealth is nothing compared to those powerful figures, but they should have no problem making a small profit while they're at it—a win-win situation.
"I heard that when the city lord changes, the new lord has the right to reclaim all the properties in the city. Let's not get involved in the real estate matters. Let's just collect some goods to make a profit, and then leave with Johanna when the time comes," Jason said.
"I have a question," Delisha said seriously, looking at Jason. "How many Nether Stone do you have?"
Jason glanced at his Interspatial Ring, then looked at Delisha, who was squinting at him.
"Two billion."
Two billion!
Fortunately, the two communicated using their spiritual senses, so they did not attract the attention of those around them.
"Where did you get so many Nether Stone?!"
Jason recounted how he killed the tribal chief 'Divine Clone in the Tungsten Copper Mountains.
"You're so lucky," Delisha said, pouting.
"Mother, you're much luckier than me!" Jason joked.
Delisha thought about it and nodded, saying, "I only brought 300 million Nether Stone with me this time. We'll mainly be buying precious refining materials, divine artifacts, and Divine Artifact Divine Spark. Oh, and by the way, we'll buy them in batches, and we'll need to change our appearance each time we go out."
In fact, Skyfall City also has its own specialty product – "Heavenly Waterfall Pearl".
The exact method by which the "Heavenly Waterfall Pearl" is produced is a secret of the city lord and unknown to outsiders, but its effects are highly sought after: it can slightly enhance the water attribute law.
Although limited to the water attribute and the improvement is very small, and each person can only use one in their lifetime, it is a rare treasure in the Netherworld that can directly improve the understanding of laws!
Jason knew he couldn't afford it; the Heavenly Waterfall Pearl were scarce and required a personal transaction with the Lord of the Manor.
Jason had heard that a Heavenly Waterfall Pearl would be on display in the Ancient Dragon Castle of Skyfall City, and he wanted to take the opportunity to broaden his horizons. Unfortunately, after asking the receiving clerk, he learned that it had been collected at the beginning of the siege, and the three-thousand-year-old city lords had not traded the "Heavenly Waterfall Pearl" since.
Heading straight to the third floor, browsing through various goods priced at least half the outside price, Jason and Delisha bought one or two metal items just like ordinary businessmen.
"This portion is reserved for the family. We'll come back in a while and buy some more goods to resell then." The two stopped after buying two hundred million Nether Stone ' worth of goods, not wanting to attract attention.