While Lin Mu was waiting in the courtyard for his tamed beasts to breakthrough, another set of events was happening in the same city.
In the north-eastern district of the city, a building that looked like a barracks was located. It had five floors and had thousands of people going in and out of it. Just from this one could tell that this was an important building.
At the top of this building, a large name board was hung. And on it, words were written in a fierce style.
It read: Saber Battle Union!
This building was the base of the Saber Battle Union in this city and currently inside it, a few people were very angry.
~CRASH~
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO NEWS?!" A middle aged man which a scarred face slammed his fist onto a table, turning it into fragments.
"Union Captain, I'm telling the truth! We've asked everyone and investigated the area where the deaths happened. But there are still no traces. It's as if they were all scattered into the wind." Another man dressed in white robes spoke.
He had a sword on his back, which should have made him look valiant, but with his current expression, it was anything but valiant. The man seemed to be on the verge of breakdown and was under great pressure.
This was none other than the same man who had bought the Spiral Flake Crystal from the Black Candle pavilion's auction, as well as the leader of the group of mercenaries who had targeted Cong Shui.
"DAMMIT! Who dares to offend the Saber Battle Union like this?" The Union Captain roared in anger.
The other people in the room could only shrink their heads in fear, for they knew if they caught their Union Captain's attention, they would certainly break a few bones. He was the strongest expert in the Saber Battle Union of the Huiqing Empire and was at the Sixth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm.
This was almost comparable to the City Lord who monitored the workings of the entire port city. While both of them were at the same cultivation base, the city lord was still a lot more senior and had lived longer, thus having more experience.
But that was not the true strength of the city lord, his actual true strength laid in his backing, which was the Huiqing empire itself. After all, he was an official of the empire and was an aristocrat. If a troublemaker arrived that he couldn't deal with, he was well within his rights to call forth assistance from the army.
And once the army arrived, no kind of resistance would be enough. Even if the Saber Battle Union was a strong organization, it still couldn't go against the ruling power of an empire.
Plus, if they dared to make any large trouble in one of the empires, the other empires would also take notice and monitor them closely. It would only make their work more difficult, which was why even they followed the rules of the empire and wouldn't go overboard.
This was the reason why the Union Captain hadn't gone on a rampage yet, even after losing several of his men. One must know that the men he lost were quite experienced, and that increased their value.
Besides, them dying like that meant that there was someone stronger targeting them.
'Who could it be?' The Union Captain wondered.
"Union Captain, I looked into Cong Shui, and apparently she was seen far east near the Six Ring Mountains. One of the informants as the outpost sold us this intel." One of the other men in the room spoke.
"So she really is alive…" The white robed man narrowed his eyes.
After the death of their people, there were no signs of Cong Shui either, which had made them confused as to what had happened. But they hadn't given up on her, and intended to use her as a source of finding out what had happened.
Besides, they still didn't forget that their target was the knowledge of the Cong Clan.
"Send our people after her but make sure she is alive. We need the information from her." The Union Captain gave out the orders.
"Yes, Union Captain!" The man replied before taking his leave to carry out the order.
Once he was gone though, the white robed man looked at the union captain with hesitation on his face. After building up a bit of his courage, he spoke again.
"Will it be fine if we go after Cong Shui now? She must have informed her clan by now, and they must be rushing in to take her out of here." The White Robed man asked.
"Huh? Ding Yao, have you gone soft these days?" The Union Captain said in a mocking tone. "Do you think anyone can get off free after offending out Saber Battle union?" he questioned with a hint of anger.
"N-no! Of course not!" The white robed man who was named Ding Yao quickly shook his head. "I just wanted to suggest that we also look for other powers who might benefit from supporting the Cong Clan here." He quickly tried to mend the situation.
The Union Captain narrowed his eyes and tightened his fist, but gave out a hum in response.
"Very well. Look into the parties that have a positive relation with the Cong clan, as well as those that benefit from making us offend the Cong clan." The Union Captain stated.
"Y-yes! I'll do it right away." Ding Yao, said wanting to leave as soon as possible.
But just as he was about to leave, the Union Captain spoke again.
"Before you leave though, bring me the Spiral Flake Crystal." The Union Captain asked. "I didn't get to see it when you brought it, because of that damned gathering. Why does the city lord need to call a meeting for the tournament, when we all know it's going to happen?" the man was upset.
"Of course!" Ding Yao quickly went to fetch the item from the vault.
