Martial research master

Li Meng traveled through the areas and decided to visit the Taiwan mountains before returning to the academy. He wanted to secretly check out the situation within the borders, as well as collect the list of materials from the mountains that would go into the blend of herbs for body cultivation.

He decided to approach the subsidiary of Thunder Academy first. Once he went in, he was once again greeted by the old man who was in charge of the subsidiary.

"It's good to see you again." The old man said.

"Same here. I would like to thank you for helping me complete my mission here."

"It is our job as the caretaker of the subsidiary. This is a place where students like you are to be groomed. I am sure you haven't come here just to greet me."

"No, I haven't. I have a favor to ask you. I need to collect some herbs which are only found in the Taiwan mountains."

"You understand that the bandit assault and two failed expeditions while you were within the city has affected the supply of all the herbs and resources we were receiving."

"It shouldn't be that bad. Although you and the Bandits are in a tug of war, the supply of resources always finds its way into the market. The only thing is, what price it will cost me."

"Way more than the usual ones. It is even higher when it comes to extremely rare high-grade herbs." The old man didn't extrude any energy when Li Meng visited last time either. He asked the Keeper to verify this old man's cultivation base.

"It is in the peak of the intermediate Qi emperor. He is on the verge of breaking through the next realm. You need to be careful while dealing with this guy. He is not someone you could take on."

"I understand that. But it remains that his position is lower than mine. He needs to follow my orders and grant me favors."

"I would like to buy a very long list of herbs." Li Meng handed the old man a long list of all the materials required. There were around a hundred mentioned, with the quantities required.

"Just a single piece of all the mentions will cost you a quarter of what this makes in a whole year. This is way too big a transaction."

"You don't need to worry about the money. Just get me the information on ways to get my hands on all these materials. I will find my way to get them. Who knows, I might not even need to use money."

"I have some of these within the treasury which we will be happy to impart on you." The old man was hesitating. He knew Li meng's identity as being one of the top students whose authority supersedes him. This was a huge loss for the subsidiary.

"You will be provided adequate compensation for all the materials which come from this branch. As for the others, get me all the information you can. You can leave the rest for me to decide on."

"I will get you the information by the end of the day. Anything else I could assist you with?"

I would like to know about the whole situation within the city and the mountains. What are the bandits doing as of now?"

"The Mad-lions have already fixed their status as the rulers of the easter borders. They have managed to set up an assembly with them being the leaders. There was an attack on their base during the time of your mission, but they recovered extremely fast after their actual leader returned."

"Their actual leader. Weren't there two brothers who created the Mad-lions.'?"

"There were three brothers who created it. The third brother was the one responsible for their expansion to become one of the top bandit groups in the eastern borders. The two brothers managed to breakthrough Qi Emperor which solidified the group's position in the region. They were the ones responsible for the creation of the assembly."

"But the third brother is the one who acts as the main power. He is the most talented one and the most powerful one too. He broke through into QI Meperro recently, and no one knows his true abilities.  We know that he is a Heavenly law user, but we don't know about the number of laws he has connected with."

"The instantly took over the situation. He consolidated all the rebels who arose due to the attack, and the Mad-lions are officially the rulers of the eastern borders."

"Has there been any peculiar acts from the Mad-lions?"

"They have been trying to find the group responsible for the attack at their base, but they still couldn't find them." The old man said. Li Meng was impressed by the connection the old man had established in the region. He managed to get so much news from a region like the Tawan mountains.

"I will be waiting in my room then." The old man called a servant to arrange a boarding room for Li Meng and left the room.

...............…

"I guess I need to verify the situation after all. I didn't expect the third guy to return so soon. We need to go to the area."

"I will prefer for you to verify the situation away from the group. You should try to reduce the burden by distracting the group in another direction. Maybe even starting a small war between the groups within the city and the bandits."

"We can't follow the same plan as before. They are not going to fall for that again. They will immediately suspect that this was the same situation as before, and the city forces would most probably give up on the situation."

"They play it on the Bandit side. They believe that the city forces are taking action against them. Have them act against the city forces. " 

Li Meng remained silent and analyzed the situation. It sounded fair.