A burly-looking young man sat in a corner of the tavern with a large number of people occupying the tables all around him.
All of them had their seats arranged in such a manner that the burly-looking young man always remained within their view. As such, when someone mentioned Lunar-Spark Palaces name, they all heard it clearly.
The Lunar Spark Palace, the mega-city with nearly a dozen mines and an economy exceptional even among the top ten mega-cities of their Eastern Continent, was relatively close to their Flaming Crescent City as such they all seemed eager to hear what these recent rumours were about.
"Of course, of course;"
Young Master Li nodded his head and with a disgusted expression he scoffed.
"The Lord of Lunar Spark Palace?"
"That devilish bastard?!
The one who turned out to be one of those vile immortal bastards?!"
He swore with righteous indignation as silence eclipsed the rowdy tavern with just the mere mention of the word 'Immortal'.
Looks of horror surfaced on the faces of everyone in the tavern as they all seemed to have recalled the countless crimes and cruelties committed by those devils in human skin–the animals who referred to themselves as the 'Cultivators of Immortality' or 'Immortals'.
For a short while, nobody dared so much as blink their eyes. Their expressions displayed the immensity of the terror they held towards those cruel Immortals.
In this moment of stillness the only sound that could be heard was of chewing and gulping, all originating from a single table inside the tavern.
'tsk… that fool's ruining my performance;'
Young master Li secretly glanced at the table nearest to the exit, at a hooded person in black cloak.
Helpless to do anything he retracted his gaze and cleared his throat to shift the people's attention towards him.
"On the 7th of last month, exactly at midnight, the citizens of Lunar Spark palace heard sounds of explosions from the city lord's mansion;"
"Later that night, when the Azure-Dragon Warriors arrived at the scene, they were shocked to discover corpses numbering in thousands with clear signs of being used as blood cauldrons in the destroyed parts of the mansion!"
"It was only then that the City lord's real identity as an Immortal was revealed."
Hearing his explanation, the previously silent tavern erupted with hushed conversations–some expressing pity, others muttering profanities under their breath.
The majority however, did not respond in any manner whatsoever–and rightfully so.
After all, the cruelty of the cultivators was hidden from nobody.
They were the bunch infamous for abducting common people to use them as blood cauldrons to extend their lifespan, such crimes were only expected of them.
They waited for a moment, looking at Young Master Li with expectations, hoping for him to continue but Young Master Li stayed put, smiling at them with a punchable face.
The wait lasted for only a second longer as a particularly impatient man, clearly used to Young Master Li's way of doing things, threw a couple of gold coins at him with an annoyed expression.
On the opposite side, Young Master Li caught the gold coins with practiced ease and continued.
"The Azure-Dragon Warriors searched the entirety of the mansion but that fatty and his children were nowhere to be found;"
"In the end, after a thorough investigation, they finally managed to trace him down…
Dead, in the very pile of corpses that he had created!"
Young Master Li's last sentence triggered a wave of astonishment among the guests of the tavern.
"The Lunar Spark Palace Lord is dead?!"
"Who would dare do such a thing?!"
They could hardly believe it.
As the ruling class above everyone else, the Domain lords enjoyed a status envied by millions if not billions of people.
They represented the apex of the Northern Continent. For a person like that to die could be only described as shocking beyond words.
"Who was it? Are the three hegemons behind it?"
Someone murmured the possibility that seemed the most obvious. In their limited knowledge only the three hegemons seemed powerful enough to do such a stunt.
"No, i..it must be someone else!"
The impatient man from before immediately refuted this guess.
"For the three hegemons, a domain lord is just an ant not worth their time. It can't be them!"
The impatient person sneered and glanced at Young Master Li only to see him remain quiet with the same annoyingly calm smile that the regulars of this tavern were used to.
Sighing, the impatient man and everyone else could only grumble in their mind and throw some more gold coins at Young Master Li to make him speak.
Cough
"Since you are so curious;"
"I'll treat you all with generosity!"
Young master Li declared boldly with a particular emphasis on 'generosity' in his sentence as he pocketed every last one of the gold coins thrown at him with incredible swiftness and ease.
"It was done by a big-shot from the Seven Elements Sect!"
The Seven Elements Sect?
The guests exchanged puzzled glances.
"Never heard of them?"
Young Master Li commented looking at the confusion on the drunkards' faces and gave them an all too familiar smile, completely oblivious to the curious and expectant gazes directed at him.
This continued until a few drunkards, having had enough of this greedy fellow's antics, seemed to be ready to teach him a lesson or two.
"Sit down! Sit down!"
"Why resort to violence? I was just building suspense!"
Young Master Li laughed nervously, inwardly lamenting the fact that he could no longer profit from this particular news any longer.
"The Seven Elements Sect is ….."
Young Master Li went on describing the Seven Elements Sect.
It was a large-scale organisation well on its way to becoming an equal to the three hegemons.
Its origins were mysterious, appearing two years ago for the first time where it intervened in the war of the Vermilion Cult and Church of Exalted Moon, forcing them to temporarily pause their war.
The three major factions—'The Army' of Red Elves, 'The Church of Exalted Moon' of Lunar Spawns and 'The Vermilion Cult' of Humans, all seemed to turn a blind to its rising influence in the central continent and in addition the Seven Elements Sect seemed to possess a limitless wealth.
Young Master Li mentioned a few more things about the Seven Elements Sect and eventually ended it all with a single line;
"The Seven Elements Sect seems particularly keen on hunting down Immortals."
He gazed around at the people who did not seem in the mood for any further gossip after realising that this matter involved the major factions.
Sighing with disappointment, Young Master Li gestured to someone else to raise a different topic and continued gossiping about a variety of things from all over the place.
The more he talked, the heavier his pockets became.
After an hour or so of non-stop talking, when Young Master Li judged he had enough gold coins to spend lavishly for the next few days, he stood up from the table.
"Alright everyone, it's time for me to leave;"
He said and made his way towards the exit of the tavern under the disappointed gazes of the onlookers.
As he passed by the table nearest to the exit, covered entirely with dishes, plates and bowls, he curiously gave the hooded figure a once over only to freeze mid-step.
On the opposite side the hooded figure, Di Tanxue too, looked back at him with killing intent flashing briefly in his eyes hidden under his hood.