Published: February 2, 2025
No wonder Southern Origin City can sustain so many armies, various legions, and numerous officials, maintaining the formations. Just the central residences can provide an enormous amount of resources accumulated over the years, amounting to astronomical numbers.
It's no wonder that it attracts the covetous eyes of other top forces.
Owning such a city is equivalent to owning vast resources, and the resources needed for some top-tier experts to cultivate are incredibly immense.
Even Qin Chen himself felt a bit tempted.
The territory he currently occupies, the Corpse Nation and the Buddhist Nation, although vast, are actually some barren lands in the Southern Cosmic Sea. The resources produced each year are quite limited. However, this Southern Origin City, merely a neutral city, has accumulated resources that are many times greater than what he controls.
Not to mention, just the great emperor experts here outnumber those in his territories in the Southern Cosmic Sea by an enormous margin.
Of course, Qin Chen understood that the city lord's mansion controlling such a city would certainly have some kind of tribute system. They might be sharing profits with other forces or paying protection fees to even older forces in the cosmic sea. The intricacies of these arrangements would likely take time to figure out.
As both sides conversed, they arrived at the third floor of the World Loan Hall.
The third floor of the World Loan Hall is grand and spacious, with very few people inside, only some serious-looking staff with extraordinary demeanor.
Upon seeing Qin Chen and his party enter, those staff members immediately bowed respectfully, their expressions very courteous.
“My Lord, this third floor of the World Loan Hall is specifically for receiving great emperor experts,” Xi Guang, the overseer, said with a smile as he walked. “I wonder if the two Lords are here to rent a cave dwelling or to purchase one directly?”
“Rent a cave dwelling? Do you look down on my Lord?” Saroya frowned and said unhappily.
“I dare not,” the Old Elder hurriedly replied. “I was just inquiring as a matter of routine. After all, some great emperor experts passing through Southern Origin City may only stop briefly to conduct some transactions or stay for cultivation before quickly leaving. Purchasing a cave dwelling is not convenient for such short stays, so quite a few great emperor experts choose to rent instead.”
“Can my Lord be treated the same as those?” Saroya scoffed.
“Indeed, Lord Qin Chen and Lord Yerosha are naturally different,” the Old Elder smiled.
Qin Chen glanced at Saroya speechlessly.
This guy was a bit too ostentatious.
“I plan to temporarily reside in Southern Origin City, so I need to purchase a residence,” Qin Chen said, also looking at the Old Elder.
Clearly, the Old Elder's words were quite interesting. As a subordinate institution of the city lord's mansion, the city lord's mansion could entirely gauge his attitude towards Southern Origin City based on whether he chose to rent or purchase a cave dwelling.
“Alright.” The Old Elder nodded. “For the two Lords, the cave dwellings we prepare in Southern Origin City are all located in the core area, where the laws of the universe can be perceived most clearly.”
“Please take a look, my Lord.”
The Old Elder raised his hand, and with a buzz, a huge orb of light appeared in the hall, dispersing to clearly present the structure of Southern Origin City. The Old Elder gently pointed at a certain part, and the three-dimensional layout of that area was clearly displayed in Qin Chen's perception.
In that space, the positions and sizes of some cave dwellings were clearly marked.
Each area indicated how many cave dwellings there were, which ones were occupied, and which ones were vacant.
“My Lord, the vacant cave dwellings in the core area of Southern Origin City have already been marked. The cave dwellings vary in size, and the prices are also indicated. My Lord can choose freely. If the individual cave dwelling is too small, one can also purchase several at once for a small fee for resetting materials. Our World Loan Hall can assist in connecting multiple cave dwellings together.”