A ray of hope

"Don't you worry. I will never abandon you", Xie Long murmured softly. It was strange but he could somehow understand the great sword's emotions.

One thing about the sword confused him the most. It seemed like there were more than one voices trying to communicate with him. The emotions were very chaotic. So, he could only interpret a basic idea about what the Cardinal sin wanted to express.

The sword quivered slightly in response to his words. Xie Long felt his connection with the Cardinal sin deepened after he understood it's emotions and comforted it.

"Senior brother Long, are you really going to pick this sword?", Li Ting asked. She felt concerned after seeing Xie Long picking up an abandoned sword. The sword seemed slightly special but Li Ting and the beautiful attendant from the Hongyun pavillion had seen many powerful weapons in their lives. So, the sword in Xie Long's hand appeared ordinary to them.

"Yes, I will take this sword", Xie Long nodded his head. Others could not understand but he had a feeling that this sword was extremely special.

"Young master, can you really use this sword?", the beautiful attendant asked. The sword had an extremely long body. Xie Long was six feet two inch tall in height yet the sword could reach upto his neck in length. Such a weapon could only be wielded by those cultivators who focused on bodily strength and brutish power.

Xie Long had a tall but thin body. He had a scholarly and refined appearance unlike those of body cultivators who had bulging muscles and fierce appearance. So, the beautiful attendant couldn't understand why Xie Long was picking up such a heavy and long sword which could only be used by those brutish cultivators.

"Yes, I think I can use this sword well. Can I ask for a customized belt so that I can carry this sword on my back", Xie Long asked.

"Senior brother, carrying around such a sword will be inconvenient for you. I will ask elder sister Mei for a spatial ring so that you can store your clothes and sword", Li Ting spoke.

"Spatial ring? That will be very useful but it is not cheap", Xie Long frowned slightly.

"Senior brother, if you are reluctant to take elder sister Mei's help, you can take my spatial ring", Li Ting removed an azure coloured ring from her fingers as she spoke and offered it to Xie Long.

"Little girl, don't speak nonsense. Why would my little brother will be reluctant to take my help", a familiar voice came from the distance. Xie Long, Li Ting and the attendant turned their heads towards the entrance and found Yan Mei walking towards them with a bald elder.

"Young miss", the beautiful attendant who had brought Xie Long and Li Ting to the weapon storage bowed upon seeing Yan Mei.

"Grandpa Hong", Li Ting called out happily after seeing the bald elder. A smile appeared on the bald old man's face upon seeing Li Ting.

"Little Ting, what mischief are you causing today?", he asked with a smiling face.

"Grandpa Hong, let me introduce you to senior brother Long. He is very powerful and talented", Li Ting spoke.

"Greetings senior", Xie Long slightly bowed towards the bald elder out of courtesy.

"A capable young man indeed. Cultivate properly. Hopefully you can help out little Mei in future", the bald old man spoke after observing Xie Long for a moment. Xie Long felt his chest tightening as if the old man could see through his emotions.

"Little brother, Grandpa Hong is incharge of the Grand fortune building. Besides that, he manages all the inflows and outflows of the information of the Hongyun pavilion. Besides weapons, pills, cultivation techniques and magical beast pets, our Hongyun pavilion deals with all sorts of information around the world", Yan Mei spoke.

"Then does senior have any news about the Oak valley town?", Xie Long asked with nervousness and anxiety on his face.

"Young man, calm down first. We can talk about your matter after you finish your business here", elder Hong spoke. He nodded his head towards Yan Mei before leaving the weapon storage.

"You can leave as well. I will look around with little Mei and my little brother", Yan Mei looked towards the beautiful attendant who had took Xie Long and Li Ting into the weapon storage.

"Understood", the attendant nodded her head. But she took a sneaky glance at Xie Long's face before leaving.

"Elder sister, what does elder Hong mean? Can't he speak to me here?", Xie Long asked with a frown on his face. He was feeling very anxious to hear news about his mother. So, he felt extremely unhappy after elder Hong's delay.

"Little brother, you may not know this. But everything in the Hongyun pavilion has a price. Even my father and I am not excluded from that rule. The information about the Oak valley town is a Bronze tier information. If we involve the background of the people involved, this information will become a silver tier information. All higher tier information has a single person restriction. So, it is not possible for elder Hong to disclose the information publicly. We need to follow proper procedure to access the information", Yan Mei spoke.

"So complicated! What are these information tiers and how high their price tags?", Xie Long looked towards Yan Mei.

"Information in the Hongyun pavilions have seven tiers. As we are only a perfecture based pavilion, we only have access upto five tiers of information. They are Yellow tier, Black tier, Bronze tier, Silver tier and Gold tier.

A yellow tier information costs a hundred to thousand low grade spirit stones depending upon rarity and usefulness of an information. A black tier information costs one thousand to five thousand low grade spirit stones. A bronze tier information costs five thousand to ten thousand spirit stones depending upon rarity and usefulness of an information.

As for silver tier information, there value can no longer be measured in low grade spirit stones. They costs a hundred to thousand middle grade spirit stones", Yan Mei explained.

"Elder sister, thank you very much. I will repay you the spirit stones as soon as possible", Xie Long looked towards Yan Mei with a grateful expression on his face.

"If you dare repay me in spirit stones, I will not longer accept you as my little brother. If you make our relationship so transactional, what will happen if one of us can't repay to others", Yan Mei spoke with mock anger on her face. Xie Long felt his heart warmed up slightly after hearing Yan Mei's words.

"Then I will shamelessly accept elder sister's favour", Xie Long replied.

"Here, take it as well. You can put away your sword inside it", Yan Mei gave a spatial ring to Xie Long.