As Tang Peng headed towards Long City's front gate, all of the guards were amazed at the skill the master had. They had seen the Brutal Pirates assault the merchant carriage, but they did not dare to stop them, as they would only be sent as cannon fodder.
The city did not pay the guards enough to have experts among them who could actually do something. They could only watch at the side, hoping for some bounty hunters to rid them of this menace that plagued Long City.
They did not expect that someone who could actually deal with the trio actually appeared out of nowhere. This haggard looking person decapitated Kuai Jian with a chop to the neck, turned Pang Zi into a pig like figure, and even summoned a Desert Devil to finish off that incredibly powerful Xiong Tou. Not to mention, he had this god-like ability to turn into sand. SAND! It was as if he was a cultivator of the legends.
"Sir, would you like to redeem the bounty for the Brutal Pirates?" As Tang Peng approached the city gate, one of the guards nearby asked him about the reward. One of the guards also slipped off to inform the person who had set the bounty.
"There's a reward for killing them? Sure." Tang Peng accepted it without any hesitation. It was money he earned from his own hard work, even if it meant killing people. The concept of money was not foreign to him. Money was basically the god of the big empires.
"Can you believe it? The Tang merchants did not even show any gratitude to you for stopping the Brutal Pirates, but they even tried to claim the rewards instead? Do they still even have a heart?"
"Yeah, they're treating us as if we do not have any eyes! They don't deserve the coins!" The guards expressed discontent about the behaviour of the carriage which Tang Peng had saved.
"Small matter, small matter. At least I've got the gold coins already, right?" Tang Peng smiled jovially as a hooded man wearing a black cloth appeared, taking out a bag of golden coins. The sound of coins clinking against each other made his smile even wider.
"On behalf of Emperor Li, Long City extends its welcome to such a fierce master like you. Eliminating the Brutal Pirates is a commendable act that allows you to enter the capital of our Life Providence Empire." The man smiled, as he handed the pouch of gold coins to Tang Peng.
"Right, do you have an identity token? That way, I can promote your token to golden rank." The hooded man inquired about Tang Peng's identity.
"Oh, I was planning to get citizenship. Will there be any problems regarding that?" Tang Peng replied bluntly.
"No problems at all. In fact, that makes it even easier. Just take this gold token and directly register at the Registry nearby." After handing the gold token to Tang Peng, the hooded man then scurried away.
"Well, that was simple." Tang Peng could not believe that gaining citizenship of Long City was so convenient. Just by killing some bandits, he was able to gain access to Long City.
As Tang Peng now held the golden token, the guards immediately lifted up the gate, allowing him to enter Long City's inner walls. As Tang Peng crossed the gate, the gate then shut down behind him, preventing any intruders from coming in or out.
As Tang Peng entered Long City, the first thing he encountered was the bustling market. Numerous consumers were here, haggling with the vendors for a lower price and searching for items that they needed.
Tang Peng was at first overwhelmed at the large volume of people crowding the market, and the noise that came with it. However, it made him feel like he had returned to his lively village life, which elicited a small smile from him.
"Excuse me, do you know where the registry is?" Tang Peng asked a random passer-by in the market. The passer-by was wearing a pair of silk slippers, while wearing a light blue cloth with golden embroidery. After scanning Tang Peng's appearance, that passer-by looked at him with disdain.
"Long City has really deteriorated to the state where they would let it a random nobody into here? Guards!!!" The arrogant passer-by haughtily called out some city guards to come to his side.
"What's the problem here, Mr Liu?" A couple of city guards came to that Mr Liu's aid. They weren't the city guards that Tang Peng saw earlier, so they turned up their nose at a beggar-like figure. The purple robes couldn't hide his low class identity.
"Check this beggar's identity! Who knows if he snuck in here?" Mr Liu ordered the guards to do a thorough search of Tang Peng's body.
He was in a very bad mood today, ever since Long City revealed that he would have to pay more taxes now. He was tired of these filthy commoners leeching off of his profits! Beggars like them should be kicked out of the city!
"Uhh... this should be enough to prove I'm a citizen, right?" Tang Peng scrambled for the golden token and showed it to the guards. The city guards narrowed their eyes as they looked at insignia of their king on the golden token.
"Sorry, respected VIP!" The city guards bowed their heads to Tang Peng, and kneeled on the floor. Tang Peng scratched his hair awkwardly, while Mr Liu was left stunned.
He had spent so many years as the top merchant selling Qi Condensing Potions and the like to numerous cultivators, contributed so much to the city, and yet, only achieved the silver token. This meant that he had offended someone really big! Mr Liu's eyes rolled back, before he collapsed onto the floor.
"Can you guys lead me to the Registry now?" Tang Peng asked the city guards. He had not suffered any losses or damage to himself, so he did not hold any grudges against Mr Liu.
"Sure thing!" The guards slowly walked towards the registry, while Tang Peng walked behind them. The people in the market all made way from him. They were only of the basic token rank, and could not afford to offend a VIP of Emperor Li.
"So, your name is Tang Peng?" When Tang Peng arrived at the Registry, the receptionist there registered his name as a golden token recipient. The benefits of the golden token was that he would receive a 30% discount in all official shops, while he could borrow up to 100,000 golden coins from the banks.
"Sir, would you like to go for basic grooming? A look like this is not suitable for a VIP like you." The receptionist drily recommended some places that Tang Peng should go to for buying a new place, grooming himself, and buy some shoes to stop walking barefoot.
After thanking the receptionist, Tang Peng went to those places and bought on their advice. He spent 27 golden coins on a large mansion in the high class section of the city, a gold coin to trim his unruly beard and turn his hair into a bun, before finally using 3 gold coins to buy golden silk slippers that were engraved with a self cleaning rune.
With all of this done, it marked the transformation of Tang Peng from a small village boy to Long City's newest noble!