The two guards put the Communication Crystal away and looked at Shang.
Ever since arriving, Shang hadn't said a single word, which made him seem kind of spooky.
The guards didn't say anything for a couple of seconds.
They were not certain how powerful Shang was, but he had to be powerful. After all, the person from the big city said that Shang might directly purchase the town.
"What Realm does the Impose Stage equate to?" one of the guards asked nervously.
"Fifth," Shang answered with an emotionless voice.
The two guards swallowed.
That's high.
Shang slowly extended his right hand, and the two guards felt a bit scared.
All of this felt unnatural to them.
A physi that's more powerful than them with no eyes, who doesn't talk at all?
Spooky!
The two guards looked at the outstretched hand anxiously.
Some seconds passed.
"My pass," Shang said.
"Oh!" one of the guards uttered. "Do you intend to move here, or are you here to visit?"
"Visit, for now," Shang answered.
"That will be five Grade Three Mana Crystals, sir," the guard said carefully.
Shang didn't do anything for several seconds, and the atmosphere became even tenser.
"I don't have such small Mana Crystals," Shang said.
"Oh, that's fine! We can change!" the guard said before taking a deep breath. Interacting with this person was stressing him out.
SHING!
Shang summoned a Mana Crystal and showed it to the guards. "I don't have it smaller."
The guards' eyes nearly fell out of their heads.
That was a Grade Six Mana Crystal!
The entire yearly income of the town was calculated in those!
"Maybe, we can't change," one of the guards said nervously. "I don't think we have that much cash just lying around."
"What now?" Shang asked evenly.
"I think we can skip the entrance fee this time," the guard said with a nervous smile. "You were willing to pay, and it's our fault that we don't have the necessary money to give you the change. You can just enter."
Then, the guard handed Shang's citizen's pass back to him.
The guard was about to create a small opening in the town's barrier, but before he could, a small rock hanging from his belt shone in a yellow light.
"Oh, my apologies," the guard said, looking at the shining rock. "An Archbeast has been found in the town's vicinity. We can't open the barrier right now. We would ask you to wait for a couple of minutes. The Town Lord will deal with it soon."
The Town Lord…
'This truly is just a small town,' Shang thought. 'The Town Lord has to act personally just to kill an Archbeast.'
Instead of answering, Shang took out his Long Sword.
Surprisingly, the two Mages weren't nervous at all, but it wasn't for the reason one might expect.
The concept of a sword didn't connect with the concept of danger to them.
Swords weren't dangerous at all.
They were things normal people played with.
Now, if Shang had suddenly summoned a Focus, the two of them would immediately become scared.
But a sword?
Who cares?
Shang slowly turned around, his head facing a certain direction.
Then, Shang swung his sword.
Nothing happened.
A moment later, a small hole opened in the barrier, and a brown-haired Archmage flew through it.
It was the Town Lord, and he was here to deal with the Archbeast.
But just one second later, something happened.
The stones on the guards' belts stopped shining, and the Town Lord suddenly stopped in the sky, looking at a metallic sheet with a raised eyebrow.
Shang silently put his sword back, nobody noticing the movement.
"You can have the corpse," Shang commented.
The two guards looked at Shang with confusion.
The Town Lord looked at Shang with narrowed eyes.
The Town Lord seemingly inspected Shang for quite a while.
"You killed it?" he asked.
Shang nodded.
"How?"
Shang's finger tapped the sword hanging from his side.
"With my sword."
The guards became shocked yet again, and the Town Lord's eyes narrowed.
"Please wait here for a moment," the Town Lord said. "I need to verify."
Shang nodded.
The Town Lord flew away from the town for a couple of seconds before he arrived at the place where the beast was supposed to be.
When he arrived, he saw the beast, a humongous blue mosquito.
It was cut in two halves.
The Town Lord took a deep breath.
'He's really strong,' he thought.
The Town Lord pocketed the corpse and returned to the town.
He landed in front of Shang and smiled politely. "Please, I would like to invite you as a personal guest of mine," he said with a polite voice.
The two guards took deep breaths.
This person had really killed an Archbeast from such a distance?!
And they hadn't even noticed him do it!
He had just moved his sword a bit!
Of course, killing this beast hadn't been difficult for Shang.
The mosquito had only been an Initial Archbeast, and it had specifically been sent here by the Temple of Blood.
It was supposed to give the public an explanation about how Shang met the Town Lord this quickly.
After some polite talking, the Town Lord brought Shang into the town, and the two of them walked around.
As soon as Shang entered, his Spirit Sense encompassed the entire town.
Right near the entrance was the commercial district. There were shops, guilds, mission boards, and many other things. It took up around 20% of the town.
Then, to the left and right of the commercial district were the residential areas for High Mages and True Mages. They took up around 60% of the town.
At the very back, at the place furthest away from the entrance, were the mortal slums, the place where people below the True Mage Realm lived.
The houses were dirty, the people unwashed, and the crimes abundant.
Usually, the mortal parts of a town or city were not that horrible and disgusting. After all, with good teachings and good surroundings, children would become powerful Mages in the future. It was worth it to invest in a good mortal area for a town.
But not here.
Obviously, the Town Lord hadn't created the town as a long-term investment with regular income but as a short-term investment to be resold quickly.
Creating a flourishing mortal area was too expensive, and it wouldn't increase the value of the town by much.
The Town Lord led Shang around the town, introducing everything to him.
Eventually, the two of them reached the Town Lord's castle in the middle of the town and entered an isolated space.
As soon as the Isolation Barrier was activated, the Town Lord's polite demeanor vanished.
He took out several different Magic Circles, Magic Runes, and emblems, putting them on the table.
"This is for the main barrier," he said in a professional voice. "This is for surveillance. This is the beast radar. This is the defense contract."
The Town Lord showed everything to Shang and explained it.
Shang nodded along.
After some minutes, they were done.
"Alright, now give me the money," the Town Lord said.
Shang summoned a huge sack full of Grade Six Mana Crystals and handed it over.
The Town Lord nodded and put the sack away. "Now, we have to wait for about two hours to make it seem like we are negotiating."
Shang nodded.
The Town Lord sighed in relief. "You can't believe how glad I am to finally be relieved of this job. I can't meditate or anything while constantly having to deal with Archbeasts."
Shang could understand what the Town Lord meant.
Obviously, the Town Lord had also been a member of the Temple of Blood.
"Don't ruin my town, okay? I've built it from the ground up," the guy said.
"I won't," Shang answered.
