Jingming Shang had been going about his day after having finished the tiresome merchant council meeting. He had to admit that while he had joined the merchant council for the benefits and prestige; it was now proving to be quite a hassle.

He had joined the merchant council so that he could get some power and also stay away from the bigger political dramas. But now that very drama had found him and infiltrated the council.

Of course, Jingming Shang wanted to know the entire situation before he actually rejected anything, but he had a hunch that it was not going to be according to his wishes. Thankfully, he had managed to stay in a neutral position in the end.

Right now, he just wanted to go to his residence in the city and relax while having some good wine that he had recently bought from the First Sun Kingdom. It was said to be a special one made from the coconuts that grew on the island nation and were their specialty.

Unlike the other members of the council, Jingming Shang didn't really have any extra security and he simply walked out alone. After all, security would only work if they were stronger than him.

Jingming Shang was at the mid stage of the Core condensation realm and thus didn't really need any protection. At least in the city itself. If there was anyone that was going to attack him, they would need to be many times stronger than him.

Even those at the late or peak stage of the Core condensation realm would be unable to attack him as he was confident in defending against them and even if he could not defeat them, he had the confidence to escape with his trump cards.

Perhaps only a Nascent Soul realm cultivator might be able to attack and harm him. But if it really came to that, then Jingming Shang was already doomed. He had already learned from the previous lessons a few decades ago and avoided stepping on the toes of people that were stronger than him by a large margin or too influential.

This had saved him from most problems, but there were still some people he would inadvertently offend. For people like these, he would show a genial demeanor on the front while plotting to get rid of them later.

After all, unlike a lot of other merchants and cultivators, Jingming Shang knew a lot of secrets about the world and the people. He even knew a few people that were at a very high cultivation base such that there were only a handful of other such cultivators on the continent.

Jingming Shang had the trust that they would be able to save him if he was ever truly in a pinch. 

But he had never expected that he would be in danger today. He was kidnapped literally in the middle of a street like a toddler and he couldn't even do anything. He tried to scream, but the hand that was clamped on his mouth was like an iron vice.

The same could be said for the other hand that was wrapped around his waist. The strength of the person that was holding him was far stronger than him and no matter how much he resisted he couldn't do move.

But when he finally looked below him, he finally understood the kind of situation he was in… he was flying! 

This meant that the cultivator that had just kidnapped him was at the very least a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, and a strong one at that. Jingming Shang had a couple of defensive talismans on his body that should have been able to defend against the cultivator for at least a second.

But they had never even activated or were perhaps stopped before they could ever reach the full activation. This confirmed the fact for him that he was in utter and absolute trouble. He tried to take a look at his attacker but could not due to his head being held in place.

They flew for about thirty seconds before landing. Jingming Shang felt the grip on his waist and hands loosen and the hand on his mouth being lifted. As soon as this happens, he threw out a spiked ball at his attacker and retreated.

~DENG~

Jingming Shang then saw the man who had kidnapped him slapping away the mid grade spirit weapon as if it was a rubber ball. 

"Wh-what?! How?!" Jingming Shang couldn't help but say.

He finally took a proper look at his kidnapped and saw his appearance. The man had a mask on his face and was dressed in rather modest clothes. While they weren't particularly luxurious, they weren't bad either and looked to be new.

Other than this, the man had a gold ring with green patterns on his right hand and nothing else. He didn't even have any weapons on his body as of now. But Jingming Shang was sure that the ring on his hand was a spatial storage treasure.

Jingming Shang extended his spirit sense and tried to probe his attacker, but met with resistance. No matter how much his spirit sense tried to proceed, it was blocked by the attacker's own spirit sense, which was dense like mud. 

"Have you had enough, Jingming Shang?" Lin Mu finally spoke.

"Who- who are you? And how much compensation do you want to let me go?" Jingming Shang questioned right away.

He had already understood that there was no way he would be able to fight against someone at this man's cultivation base and hoped that this man would be tempted by his riches. 

"Ahahaha," Lin Mu couldn't help but laugh upon seeing Jingming Shang's response.

He had kept him restrained because he wanted to get away as soon as possible. But didn't expect this man to act like this.

"Did you forget me, Jingming Shang?" Lin Mu asked.

"Who-who are you?" Jingming Shang asked while trying to remember all the people he had offended till now.

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