"The Son of Heaven Society... So that's the organization that Long Aotian established." Zhong Yun rubbed his chin. "Despite being part of the Immortal Faction, it was never publicly announced what organization Long Aotian joined. Some say he joined the Warlord Society or the Golden King Society, the two greatest societies of the Immortal Faction, so it's a little unexpected that he created his own group. His ambitions must run deep."

 

"We have factions and societies?" Yan Xiaolong asked. 

 

"Yes, Young Master. The sect is divided into many societies, but are under two factions: the Immortal Faction and the Sage Faction. The Immortal Faction had less than ten societies, including this new Son of Heaven Society which would be the ninth, while the Sage Faction has over twenty. However, the former is stronger than the latter. We of Iron Sword Peak are part of the Warlord Society, the strongest society in the sect. The second strongest would be the Ethereal Society of the Sage Faction, followed by the Golden King Society, Heavenly Demon Society, Lightning Society, and so on." 

 

"That's a lot of names I'm not going to remember. Hah..." Yan Xiaolong sighed. "So somebody else is already doing the mafia business. Scamming, slave trading, sex trafficking, and killing. Yeah, I'm not all about that. Actually, I'll reconsider that scamming one..." 

 

He looked at Young Master Shen again. "Okay, so what else does the Son of Heaven Society deal with? What's your goal?" 

 

"Young Master Yan, I'm only aware that our members have the duty to collect as many spirit stones as possible. As a reward, we would be given good fortune in the form of cultivation arts, dao techniques, immortal treasures, or cultivation resources. We aren't sure what the spirit stones are used for, but we were told to never asked questions and keep the society's name as low-key as possible. Even in public, we're told to announce that we're members of the Golden King Society which we used to be in." 

 

Young Master Shen spoke honestly. Although he kept an arrogant demeanor, it was clear that he was also an immense coward. A thoughtful expression appeared on Zhong Yun's face.

 

Yan Xiaolong said, "So this Long Aotian is involved with illegal dealings and the sect does nothing about this? Even if this guy is incredible, that doesn't mean he'll get a 'free pass' for everything, right?" 

 

"Well actually, the Son of Heaven Society has many businesses and members. If we ever get caught for doing wrong, the society will bail us out or abate the punishment, so lots of people try to join when the find out about us. Some other members say that we're backed up a few grand elders. Many low-ranking members are involved with crime, but most are involved with ethical, fair trades like teaching, security, pharmacy, or engineering. The society does not really care how we get spirit stones, as long as we get it. We are also involved with...” 

 

Hearing all the markets Young Master Shen listed, Yan Xiaolong bit his lip. "So that means there are lots of businesses from your society, right?" 

 

"Yes, Young Master Yan." 

 

"And you're willing to do pretty much anything for spirit stones, right?"

 

"Yes, Young Master Yan." 

 

"It's all good as long as you get it, right?" 

 

"Yes, Young Master Yan." 

 

"Then if I give you some spirit stones, will you tell me if the Han Clan sent you or not?" 

 

"Uh... That goes against our code to never reveal our client's identity."

 

"Damn, so you're useless to me!" 

 

"Ah! No more tentac- HAHAHAHA!!!" 

 

......

 

After some time, Yan Xiaolong looted Young Master Shen and his goon before kicking them out of his palace. He sat at the desk again with Zhong Yun. 

 

"Let's see... Everything adds up to eight hundred-thousand spirit stones."

 

"Meh."

 

"At least we are closer to our goal. Beside that, I think we just learned something completely shocking." 

 

"Agreed." 

 

"Young Master, what should we do? If what Young Master Shen said was true, that means that Long Aotian's Son of Heaven Society is extremely powerful. Even our Warlord Society only has the backing of five grand elders, and their society has a 'few' too? I also thinking that the Han Clan sent those con artists over to us as well." 

 

"Con artist... Con artist... Con artist... Artist... Artist... Ah! I got a great idea!"

 

"Huh? What is it, Young Master? Are we going to report this to Lord Tie?" 

 

"What? No. People in the upper echelon probably know about this. There’s no point to tell him about it. Soon or later, they’ll make their debut and someone else will take care of it for us.” Yan Xiaolong cleared his throat. “Anyways, I know that there's something that this world is bound to not have enough of. There was one market that Shen guy didn’t mention." 

 

"And that is?" 

 

"Go bring me some ink and a brush, Zhong Yun. I'm going to start drawing... art. Have you heard of 'doujins,' Zhong Yun?”

 

“No?”

 

“Well, I think you'll have as much fun as I do."  

 

Yan Xiaolong and Zhong Yun stayed inside the palace on Iron Sword Peak for two weeks.

 

......

 

The Hall of the Inner Court was divided into many buildings. One such particular building was the library that contained millions upon millions of jade-slips. It was divided into three levels. The First Level contained books. The Second Level contained immortal techniques and martial skills. The Third Level contained the most precious scriptures, classified records, Void-Tier cultivation arts. 

 

Just the First Level alone made up more than ninety-percent of the entire library’s space. The northwestern region was a special location for entertainment. Every jade-slip here contained books of knowledge and fun. Some even contained picture books or full galleries inside of it. Though, they were guarded by a pay-wall and only gave a preview. 

 

A scholarly young man in green robes and glasses walked along the shelves and was searching for a particular jade-slip. In the distance, he saw a familiar young man. 

 

“Brother Ren, hello!” The green-robed man said. 

 

The other young man clasped his hands and greeted his friend. “Well if it isn’t Brother Sui. Fancy meeting you here.” 

 

“Yes. I came here to look for the next chapter of my favorite jade-slip novel.” 

 

“Oh? Is it the one about the guy being chased by Death itself?” 

 

“Yes. Unfortunately, the next chapter has been halted for a while. I came around here to see if it’s been released or not. It seem it has not, though.” 

 

“Hahaha! Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the next chapter will come out soon. Very soon. On the other hand, check this out.” The other young man handed his friend a jade-slip. “I found out about this last week from another friend. It is a very... interesting read.” 

 

“Hm?” The green-robed man view the content of the jade-slip. “Oh? It’s a picture book?” 

 

“No, no, no. More than that. Way more than that! Keep on looking.” 

 

“Who is this person? Doujin King Yan Yun? There’s several people in the sect with this name.” 

 

“It’s probably a pseudonym. Hurry up. Read it.” 

 

The green-robed man listened and continued to read the content. The longer he read, the redder his face became. 

 

“B-Brother Ren, w-what is this!?” 

 

“Keep your voice down, fool! Do want to attract a librarian? They’ll confiscate this.”

 

“B-But this completely violate the library’s code.”

 

“No it doesn’t. Something like never had never been seen before so there’s no rules to break. Have you even seen something like this? I’ve read thousands of interesting jade-slip novels, but I’ve never seen something like this. I never knew some drawings could be... so enticing.” 

 

“How much is it?” 

 

“A hundred spirit stones.” 

 

“That much!?” 

 

“You read it yourself. You TELL me if it’s worth that much.” 

 

“Hmm...” 

 

The green-robed man placed his interspatial ring on the jade-slip and gave away a hundred spirit stones. The complete content of the jade-slip entered his disciple medallion; it would be contained in there for all time. Any tampering or hacking of the disciple medallion would result in a backlash from the medallion itself. It was a system that made sure copies of these jade-slips were not pirated. 

 

“Who else knows about this?” 

 

“A lot of people. I heard that a different story appears everyday. Each copy cost a hundred spirit stones, but are so worth it.” 

 

“Whoever drew these are making bank. Hmm... This story is called ‘The Tale of A Nerdy Girl In Glasses That Became A Prostitute For Drugs?’” 

 

“Yep. It is a... good story. Heh heh.”