Chapter 623 - Two Familiar Faces

“Get ready to rumble?”

Qin Nan was stunned, before a grin appeared on his face.

Sima Kong, the only man marked with five black lines in the history of the Trading Alliance. His ident.i.ty and background could not be underestimated.

Thanks to him, the Mortal Appearance-Changing Technique had allowed Qin Nan and the others to switch their ident.i.ties in the upper district to prevent themselves being hunted down.

“I’m not sure what he’s up to this time. I’d better send word to Longhu, and head to the Northern Street.”

Qin Nan transmitted his voice before summoning a rift and teleporting to the Northern Street.

The royal palace was situated in the south of the city, while the Trading Alliance was in the north.

These two formidable presences had occupied half of White Tiger City each, and would normally stay out of each other’s business.

Meanwhile, the Northern Street was filled with vendor stalls and cultivators, resulting in a lively scene.

The street belonged to the Trading Alliance, thus the vendors were required to pay a certain amount of Primary Stones to the Trading Alliance before they could set their stalls up.

Qin Nan scanned the area and headed straight to the headquarters of the Trading Alliance.

“Mm?”

Qin Nan halted his footsteps. His side glance vaguely captured a familiar figure. After taking a closer look, he realized that the person was Jiao Zhe.

Jiao Zhe was once the genius of the lower district, who had become the leader of one of the divisions of the Trading Alliance.

He was the one that had notified Qin Nan when the Fan Clan and the Ji Clan were planning a scheme against him.

As such, Qin Nan was quite impressed with Jiao Zhe’s character.

Qin Nan’s first thought was to greet Jiao Zhe, but his hand froze in mid-air as he recalled that he was not Qin Nan but Duan Qing now. Therefore, Jiao Zhe would not know who he was.

“Jiao Zhe!”

Qin Nan yelled out.

Jiao Zhe turned his head around and was stunned seeing Qin Nan, “Do I know you?”

Although Qin Nan’s current ident.i.ty of Duan Qing was famous in the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom, not everyone knew his appearance.

“I met you at the Trading Alliance of the Ninth City before. It was quite a long time ago, so you might not remember me.” Qin Nan brought his fists together.

“Is that so?”

Jiao Zhe was startled. The young man’s cultivation was quite remarkable, thus he should have been able to remember him easily.

“My friend, I’m sorry. I’m in a rush at the moment. Shall we find a place to catch up later?” Jiao Zhe said with a hint of apology.

Qin Nan let out a smile and nodded his head. Jiao Zhe was still his same old self, a polite and humble man.

Jiao Zhe turned his head around and said with a sincere tone, “Senior Divine Swordmaster, I really like this sword. I’m Jiao Zhe, the leader of the Trading Alliance’s division at the Ninth City. I only have seventy thousand Primary Stones with me. If you don’t mind, I will pay double the remaining Primary Stones to you in the future.”

Qin Nan glanced at the stall hearing this.

On the stall were a few swords, each with an ancient pitch-black look and a formidable aura. It was understandable why Jiao Zhe was interested in acquiring one of them.

By the way, the name Divine Swordmaster—it felt like he had heard this name before?

“No way, if you don’t have the Primary Stones now, it means that its destiny is not in your hands. Now leave.” A cold voice could be heard, which turned out to be from the vendor of the stall, the Divine Swordmaster.

Qin Nan raised his head and saw an old man sitting with his legs crossed wearing a black robe.

The old man’s eyes were closed while he breathed at a steady pace. It felt like his presence was a sword himself.

“Divine Swordmaster, Divine Swordmaster…”

Qin Nan mumbled to himself and suddenly recalled, Wasn’t this Divine Swordmaster the extremely famous expert in the lower district?

Previously, while Qin Nan was still at Jianghuang City, he had managed to discover three treasures from junk at the Ancient Gambling Store. One of them was a manual of a sword art invented by the Divine Swordmaster.

The same manual was traded by Qin Nan with Sima Kong for the Mortal Appearance-Changing Technique.

“Senior Divine Swordmaster…” Jiao Zhe wore a wry smile while staring at the sword, before he shook his head and let out a sigh, “Senior is right, maybe I’m not fated enough for the sword as you said…”

The Divine Swordmaster still had his eyes closed.

Suddenly, Qin Nan let out a smile and said, “Cultivator Jiao, don’t give up yet. I believe you’re quite destined to have the sword.”

Jiao Zhe was startled. He did not expect the words from a stranger.

Jiao Zhe immediately blurted out, “My friend, this is Senior Divine Swordmaster, we should not be rude——”

“Destined? Why do you a.s.sume so?” The eyes of the Divine Swordmaster sprang open like two swords being drawn out of their sheaths, emitting a sharp glow.

Qin Nan showed no sign of being intimidated as he calmly spoke, “If I’m not mistaken, senior is from the lower district, and you left a manual recording everything you’ve learned in your life. I happened to find the manual, which looked ordinary on the surface, but its true content is only revealed after being burned with fire.”

The words left the Divine Swordmaster in astonishment, “You found the manual?”

“Indeed, but unfortunately I’m a saber user, thus I’ve traded it with someone more suitable.”

Qin Nan said honestly.

The Divine Swordmaster hesitated for a moment while staring at Qin Nan’s face, and failed to detect any sign that he was lying, thus a smile appeared on his face as he said, “I did not expect to b.u.mp into two juniors from the lower district here. Fine; Jiao Zhe, right? I will sell you the sword for seventy thousand Primary Stones.”

“Senior, this…”

Jiao Zhe was startled. He did not expect the tables to turn so rapidly.

“I’ve always kept my word.” The Divine Swordmaster swung his hand and threw the sword to Jiao Zhe, who was stunned for a moment before turning joyful. He immediately took the Primary Stones out and expressed his grat.i.tude.

“You don’t need to thank me, thank him instead.” The Divine Swordmaster waved his hand.

He was confident that the young man had indeed acquired the manual as even the masters of the Trading Alliance had failed to find the true secrets hidden in the manual.

Meanwhile, this young man had a formidable aura, thus it was reasonable that he was able to find its secrets.

“Friend, you have my thanks!” Jiao Zhe turned around and said in a serious tone.

Qin Nan waved his hand. He was happy to offer his a.s.sistance to someone he had known in the past.

“I can see that your cultivation is quite extraordinary. I believe you have quite a reputation in the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom, right?” The Divine Swordmaster suddenly asked.

“I’m Duan Qing, I’m not that famous at all.” Qin Nan wore a gentle smile.

As he finished speaking, the Divine Swordmaster and Jiao Zhe were left with blank faces, before they were replaced with utter astonishment.

“Duan Qing?”

The top genius who had an eighth-grade Di ranked Martial Spirit, Duan Qing?

How was that not famous at all!

Almost everyone knew his name!

“You’re… Duan Qing?”

Jiao Zhe collected his thoughts. His eyes flickered with a complicated feeling.

Duan Qing had suddenly become famous around the time when Qin Nan had disappeared. Was this a coincidence?

“Duan Qing?”

Meanwhile, an imperious voice could be heard.

Following this, an uproar took place at the Northern Street.

Many vendors were dumbfounded, their faces filled with disbelief.

Why was the Leader of the Trading Alliance here today?