The Legend of Min Hong

Furthermore, Min Hong could sense that the more he pulled her out of that belief, the easier it was to for everyone else to relate with her…

An example was her sharing her resources, and cultivation base, which was a stark contrast to the way she introduced herself at the start of the journey, and as a result, Min Hong decided to reward her with the first kiss he would personally initiate, and this action caught the princess by surprise…

About half an hour later, they finally reached the Land of Stones...

Min Hong told Gong Yi that it would be a good idea if they disembarked their flying ship before they reach the borders of this city; something Gong Yi and the rest of the group agreed to as the Pirate Leader suggested to Min Hong that they would be able to find enough resources to buy in the Land of Stones to help fortify the flying ship…

Min Hong then gave the Pirate Leader 1000 High Grade Spirit Stones to buy all the materials necessary and told them that they would be back within a month…

Then they headed towards the city in the manner Gong Yi had suggested, because if the ten of them were to enter the city at one, they would instantly become obvious and a potential target for trouble...

Moreover based on what the Pirate Leader had told them on their journey here, they knew there was a probability that an expert on the level of Fifth or the Sect Leader might as well be laying low within this city, and they would rather be better off laying very low, than causing troubles for themselves…

Thus, they entered the city according to their ranks, with Min Hong and Gong Yi leading the way in their unassuming cloaked hoods and bamboo hats…

They decided to put a ten meter distance between themselves, and the rest of them were to follow the same path Min Hong and Gong Yi had passed since they were the scouts of the group…

After Min Hong and Gong Yi came, Ki Ting and Pi Xi, and after that Bai Yi, Tong Tian and Xiao Gui, then finally; Su San Rin Chen and Princess Cui…

They all wore different outfits to prevent someone spotting the similarities amongst them; and whilst the ladies wore masks and their hooded cloaks, the guy wore bamboo hats on the cloaks…

They were able to avoid detection and also found the inn they would be staying pretty quickly since the Pirate Leader had given them the directions and hidden routes to the 'Diamond Crust Inn'…

On getting to the inn, Min Hong and the rest of the group were stunned speechless by what they were seeing, and this was because on the contrary to how the name of the inn sounded, this inn was exactly the solar opposites on every possible front…

In fact, the pen where the Hong Dynasty [District 21] kept all their mounts and beasts was a luxurious place to live in when compared to what was standing in front of them, and even if they were to note anything about the inn, it would be the fact that it is a very big building made from piling stones together, just like how kingdom walls were built in ancient times, and that was all…

Even the plaque displaying inns name were already dilapidated and slanting announcing to everyone that it might fall off at any moment, but that was not what pissed the group off the most, it is their blatant daylight extortion and insane policies that were unprecedented to the group on many levels…

One must actually pay an upfront, nonrefundable fee of one High Grade Spirit Stone before one could actually see the room they were going to stay in, and afterwards they would pay another High Grade Spirit Stone after that should they decide to lodge in it…

But that couldn't even scratch the surface when compared to their policies…

Firstly, only one person could live in any particular room… Secondly, any gathering of any kind must be done down within the diner…

Thirdly, no cultivation within the inn, and the reason they gave was because some people might end up damaging their rooms which to Min Hong's group was already damaged by all means…

Thirdly, after the attendant had received their High Grade Spirit Stones, then she told them that their payments had to be daily which meant that, to live within this inn for the entire month, each of them had to spend 30 High Grade Spirit Stones, and that was for the lowest Tier…

Apparently, the seven story tall inn, had the reception area on the ground floor, a diner on the first floor, then a lodge on the second floor; a VIP diner on the third floor and a VIP lodge on the fifth floor, with the sixth and seventh being the VVIP diner and lodge…

Furthermore, for each increase in status, one had to add another 2 High Grade Spirit Stones to their already existing payment, which meant it would be 3 High Grade Spirit Stones daily for the normal lodging which looked like a 50 dollar a day motel in the US, and then 5 High Grade Spirit Stones for the VIP daily, and finally 7 High Grade Spirit Stones for the VVIP level…

That means for Min Hong's group to get the worst form of accommodation in the Dogon Empire, they would have to pay 7 High Grade Spirit Stones for it, out here in the Land of Stones…

If one calculated the ten of them, which amounts to 70 High Grade Spirit Stones per day, and when one calculates how long they would be spending in the Land of Stones, that level of wealth alone was enough to start a family within the Dogon Empire…

But there were things that made the Diamond Crust Inn the best inn in the entire city; Firstly, the inn was owned by the Diamond Crust mercenary group; the strongest faction one could find in the entire Land of Stones, and they were all blatant bandits...

But despite all that, no one would dare call them that, thus they simply referred to them as mercenaries, and what that gives the residents of the inn is utmost security, because anything that happens to anyone who lodges within this inn would serve as a challenge to the entire Diamond Crust Mercenaries…

Secondly, was the fact that it was a hub where one could find almost all the strongest experts within the Land of Stones, thus it is a place to not only build connections, but also make powerful friends within the Land of Stones…

Then lastly, it was simply because there was no other inn in the entire Land of Stones…

Not like there were no inns, but because other ins were extremely inhabitable when compared to the Diamond Crust Inn, and this was because the everyone was scared of competing with the Diamond Crust Inn in their business line, because that would be equivalent to competing with the entire Diamond Crust Mercenary group…

But for those who wish to still enter such a business, they had to pay a certain level of tax which was roughly 70 percent of their yearly income, which means to open an inn within the land of stones, one might actually go bankrupt just from paying the starting tax alone…

Then after that, all inn owners would be subjected to a further 50 percent monthly income tax by the Diamond Crust Inn; something they do by flaunting their strength, and sending groups of barbarians who were only looking to plunder these inns, take their girls and destroy other stuffs…

That way, anyone who wants to open an inn in the Land of Stones would always make deficits all through their lives, and that was an efficient way to ensure that the Diamond Crust inn had no competitors…

But whilst the rest of Min Hong's group gazed at these guys with venomous gazes, Min Hong had no choice but to applaud the manner at which they approached things;

You want to start a business, be ready to sustain loss every single day of your life, and even if you are still adamant about starting the business, then you would not only suffer loss, but have to face the extra loss in damages when they come to collect their taxes…

"This is going to be fun…" Daniel echoed within Min Hong's mind…

"These guys are basically the main reason why we are here, do you guys have any ideas on how to solve this?" Min Hong mentally asked Little Fei and Daniel…

It wasn't like he didn't have the perfect idea on how to do it, but he was just using that method as a way to better involve Daniel and Little Fei into the daily life of the hosts they were living within, and as a matter of fact, Min Hong had already decided that when it came to matters of their expertise, he would allow Little Fei and Daniel to control his body at the appropriate times…

"I might have some ideas…"

"But first we have to gather information…"

Daniel made the first half of the statement whilst Little Fei chipped in the second half, and being who Little Fei was, there is always a reason for everything he says or does...

Thus, Min Hong decided that they stay in the VVIP area, whilst the rest lodge in the VIP area, since it was his and Gong Yi's job to scout and gather information…

Thus they paid their fees and lodged in. After lodging within, they rested for the day and decided to go down to the diner to get a drink, and whilst they were there, their group scattered all over the inn in a bid to get information about the Land of Stones, but this was when the group found themselves in their first dilemma...

They had to wear bamboo hats and masks so as to hide their identities in the streets of this city, but doing that within an inn full of drunkard would have an opposite effect, since they would be the odd ones out, and should a drunkard decide to pick on them because of that, and a fight broke out, then there would be in a lot of trouble; thus, Min Hong decided that they only pull their hoods over their heads…