Chapter 8: The Unexpected Visitor

Gazing at Midalin’s pale blue yet undeniably beautiful face, Li Mingxing smiled softly. “What’s this? Didn’t you agree to join my harem, to become one of my wives? Why are you calling me ‘Master’ again?”

But in response, Midalin only smiled faintly. After putting away the Black Magic Gem, she once more veiled her face with gauze and quietly withdrew to direct the troops.

Such behavior naturally piqued Li Mingxing’s curiosity once again. Just as he was about to go see what was going on with Midalin, the sky suddenly darkened.

Li Mingxing looked up to see thousands of flying carpets appear overhead. Some could seat two, others as many as ten, and altogether more than three thousand hovered above the Jewel Pool. As they arrived, a large number of desert warriors leapt directly down from the carpets.

Li Mingxing was about to rise when Midalin appeared at his side. “Don’t be rash. This is the City Lord’s own corps.”

“Oh? So that means Yin Haitao has already sent the goods off to the city we first arrived at?”

“More or less. I imagine Yin Haitao is bargaining over the price right now. All we need to do is take the jewels here and avoid conflict.” Midalin spoke cautiously.

Li Mingxing nodded, but before he could reply, the desert warriors who had just landed were already unpacking their gear and began rapidly collecting the jewels from the pool.

Watching from a distance, Li Mingxing saw the warriors produce bags from who-knows-where. Tossing them into the pool and pulling them out, the bags emerged full of jewels.

Noticing his puzzled look, Midalin explained, “Those are gem sacks. Each one holds a unit of jewels. I had no idea we’d be this lucky today, so I didn’t bring any.”

While Midalin lamented this, a cloud of dust rose from the far side of the pool. Li Mingxing, who hadn’t spent much time in this world—most of it in Sky City—had never witnessed such a scene and asked, “Is that a whirlwind?”

“Of course not. A sandstorm from a whirlwind would be a thousand times more powerful. That’s probably a patrol from another city.” Midalin shook her head.

Sure enough, the cloud soon halted near the Jewel Lake. Li Mingxing saw seven or eight giant elephants hesitating at the water’s edge before finally making their way over.

“What do you think they’re after? Trying to seize the Jewel Lake?” he asked.

“Hardly. Even when two cities discover a jewel pool at the same time, no one ever fights over it. Everyone knows two things: the jewels in the pool are inexhaustible, and after five days, the pool vanishes from this spot. A war would last far longer than five days.” Midalin sighed.

Li Mingxing understood. If the Jewel Pool remained fixed in one place, the cities truly might fight for control, but since it appears and disappears at random, there’s little point in contesting it.

Relieved that he wouldn’t have to worry about battle, Li Mingxing watched the new arrivals, curious if their desert troops included any unusual units.

As he continued to observe, he found himself increasingly astonished. Seven giant elephants had come, all of them second-tier war elephants or stronger.

Yet, instead of the usual mahout perched atop the elephants, there sat powerful warriors, casually riding as if on ordinary mounts. Some carried scimitars, others long spears; each had bronze skin and stood as tall as three meters.

Li Mingxing glanced at their skin, then at Midalin. “I’d like to know the secret behind your skin.”

Midalin leaned against his back, laughing. “It’s simple—different bloodlines. We, with blue skin, descend from the Djinn. Silver-grey means Naga ancestry. The bronze-skinned ones are Titan-blooded. The rest are lesser or mixed bloodlines, barely worth mentioning.”

“Titans?” At the name, Li Mingxing jumped up, staring at the giants who treated war elephants as mere steeds. He couldn’t help but smile wryly. “So, these elephants were probably bred for them from the start.”

“Perhaps, thousands of years ago,” Midalin replied with a gentle laugh. “Titans are said to be the oldest race here, but now they’ve fallen from grace. Aside from their strength, few pay them any heed.”

Li Mingxing felt a pang of sympathy. Perhaps these Titans still clung to the dreams of their ancestors.

As he pondered, he noticed something odd among the seven Titans: one, not the tallest—only about three meters high—was the most heavily armed. Besides a scimitar and a spear, he even carried a shield. Like other Titans, he wore only a golden sash at his waist, but his seemed to be woven from adamantine thread.

That alone wouldn’t have drawn Li Mingxing’s attention. What truly stood out was a certain aura—one that reminded him of Yin Haitao. This Titan might well be a follower of one of the Dark Alliance’s apprentice heroes.

Li Mingxing wondered which companion could command such a formidable subordinate. With someone like this at one’s side, the inner world held few real dangers.

While Li Mingxing studied the Titan, the Titan studied him in turn. At length, the giant leapt from his elephant and strode toward him.

But before he could reach Li Mingxing, he was blocked by the Blackstone Warrior. Facing the dwarf—barely one meter thirty—the Titan found himself unable to get around.

Li Mingxing, seeing this, waved his hand lightly for the Blackstone Warrior to let the Titan through, then gestured at a nearby pile of jewels. “I don’t know if you share the dragons’ tastes, but lying on a bed of jewels is surprisingly comfortable.”

The Titan, taking him at his word, sat down among the gems, his posture that of a soldier. Once settled, he spoke gravely, “My lord, where do you come from?”

Li Mingxing merely rolled his eyes and closed them, ignoring the question.

The Titan, irked by this, raised his voice. “My lord, where do you come from?”

Just then, a voice sounded behind the Titan. “He’s a merchant from our city, and he discovered this appearance of the Jewel Pool. Do you have a problem with that?”

The Titan turned to see a silver-grey-skinned man with four scimitars at his waist, staring coldly at him. It seemed the Titan’s questioning had displeased him; in his view, the Titan’s tone resembled an interrogation.

Hearing this, the Titan realized his mistake. He stood quickly. “My apologies, my lord. I meant no offense, I only…”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant. For the next five days, this merchant is our City Lord’s honored guest. I won’t allow you to harm him,” the silver-grey man said icily. “If you insist, you’ll answer to my scimitars.”

The Titan could only sigh and prepare to withdraw. But then Li Mingxing suddenly spoke. “Send your master here. You have no say in my presence. I’ll wait here for three days—after that, whether you find me or not is up to fate.”

At this, the Titan’s eyes brightened. He leapt onto his elephant and galloped off the way he had come.

After the Titan left, the silver-grey man turned to Li Mingxing. “If they come back to trouble you, just call for us. We won’t fight them openly, but we can offer a bit of help.”

Li Mingxing didn’t dare be as dismissive as he had with the Titan. He nodded in thanks.

After seeing the man off, Midalin sidled up and asked quietly, “Master, why did you speak to the Titan that way? Aren’t you afraid he’ll come back to make trouble for you?”

“Don’t worry. That’s exactly what I want. I’d like to know whether he’s here on a mission, or has been stationed here a long time.” Li Mingxing smiled calmly.

Midalin still didn’t understand, since Li Mingxing hadn’t explained the details of the inner world to her.

Yet soon enough, something happened that puzzled Midalin even more: the Titan returned, this time bringing with him a man entirely encased in black armor.