Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Three days passed by in a flash!
In those three days, Yang Ling had concentrated his efforts and created a full eighty Magic Hunting Cards. Having been familiarized with the process, he became increasingly fast at creating the cards. Unfortunately, there was no progress in the functionality of the cards for the time being!
Eighty Magic Hunting Cards were enough to build four teams of hunters. But Yang Ling did not immediately hand the cards over to Viola after successfully creating them. The conditions for the creation of a Hunter Association were getting more and more ripe. The best opportunity to reveal the Magic Hunting Cards would be when the association was officially set up.
As expected, Aaron had been unable to make an exact replica of the Magic Hunting Card after nearly three days and three nights. He had spent a large amount of energy and materials creating a few samples. The sizes of the crystal ores were exactly the same, and they could also seal Magical Beasts, but each Summoner could only carry one of these crystals at a time, which meant that there was a fundamental difference to Yang Ling’s Magic Hunting Card.
In the beginning, he had thought that it was due to a difference in material and had asked Goode for a first-grade crystal ore. He then asked for a premium crystal ore after failing a few more times.
After frantically trying first-grade crystal ores of various elements, he asked Goode for a Crystal Diamond out of frustration. Goode gave him a precious Crystal Diamond after consulting Yang Ling. In the end, the outcome only disappointed him again after experimenting with it for a full day.
Aaron still did not give up after ascertaining that it was not a problem with the material. He would either spend his day pacing around a pile of crystal ores or staring blankly into space while holding a thick book on magic, completely oblivious to the fact that three days had long passed. Yang Ling’s men did not disturb him per their instructions, allowing him to continue researching the problem.
Even though Aaron had no choice but to sign the magic contract, Yang Ling knew that he had to find some other method if he wanted Aaron to stay out of his own volition. To a cynical Genius Alchemist who did not care for fame or status like Aaron, there was no meaning in crystal coins. Giving him a good environment for his experimentations and a large number of rare resources was undoubtedly a better idea.
Aaron’s experiments resulted in failure after failure, while Khadanja and his group achieved massive success! When Yang Ling had reached the Beast Taming Ground, they had already created a full hundred low-grade magical staffs and ten high-grade Dragon Bone Magical Staffs!
“Sir, look at the power of these Dragon Bone Magical Staffs!” Khadanja was incredibly excited after having successfully created the first batch of magical staffs, speaking as he signaled for a black-robed man nearby to test out the power of the Dragon Bone Magical Staff. Even though his eyes were bloodshot, he looked as though he was full of energy, as if he was more excited than Yang Ling himself.
Clutching the Dragon Bone Magical Staff in his hand, the black-robed man slowly began murmuring. A substantial amount of active fire element Magical Elements gathered in the air. Then, as he lifted his right hand, a raging wall of fire suddenly appeared around them in an instant!
“Raging Hellfire?” Yang Ling’s heart shook as he saw the purple flames soaring into the air beside the black-robed man. The black-robed man was a high-level Spellcaster at best. He did not expect him to so easily cast such a high-level magic spell, one that usually required at least the abilities of a fire element Magical Tutor.
According to Yuna’s memories, the Raging Hellfire had devastatingly destructive capabilities in a large-scale battle. The greater the Magical Energy and mental energy of the caster, the greater the radius of the wall of fire, and the longer the wall would last.
As it exhausted an exorbitant amount of Magical Energy, even a highly experienced fire element Magical Tutor could only cast the spell after preparing it for some time. To think that the black-robed man had successfully cast the spell in an instant!
Could this be the true power of the Dragon Bone Magical Staff?
Yang Ling was shocked once again when he fetched a Dragon Bone Magical Staff and closely examined the pulsing Magical Energy within it. After calming himself down, he created a basketball-sized fireball beside him with just a thought. His current fireball technique was drastically different from the one he used in the past.
“The Twin-legged Flying Dragon is not a premium Magical Beast, but a magical staff created using Flying Dragon Essence Crystals and a complete Flying Dragon’s carcass would have powers equal to a magical staff created using just the Essence Crystal of a level nine Magical Beast!” After a moment’s deliberation, Khadanja continued, “Sir, if we ship and sell the Dragon Bone Magical Staffs to a large city, each of them would fetch at least two hundred thousand Purple Crystal Coins!”
“Each of them would fetch at least two hundred thousand Purple Crystal Coins?” he thought. Yang Ling remained expressionless as he stroked the powerful Dragon Bone Magical Staff and looked at the excited Khadanja, but his heart had been hit by waves of emotion. Magical staffs were indeed profitable. Not counting the hundred low-grade magical staffs, selling just the ten Dragon Bone Magical Staffs would ensure that his territory need not worry about having sufficient funds.
“Unfortunately, there’s not enough time. We need a few days at the very least to reach Montson, much less Bavaria!” Yang Ling said as he shook his head, thinking about the distance between Wissen Town and the large cities.
Even if the Dragon Bone Magical Staff could recoup a large amount of his capital, it would take at least half a month while the funds in the territory became tighter and tighter. If the Wissen Merchant Team that had transported a batch of premium crystal ores for sale in Montson did not return with crystal coins, he might have to stop some of the development projects.
“Not enough time?” Khadanja thought. Seeing Yang Ling knit his brows, then thinking about the current situation in Wissen, Khadanja quickly realized what was going on. He deliberated for a moment before saying, “Sir, we have a Magical Teleportation Formation in the forest. If you give us three Dragon Bone Magical Staffs, our association would help you solve all your problems!”
“No, one at most!” Yang Ling thought he remembered the Magical Teleportation Formation in the outpost of the Dark Association.
“Two!” Khadanja’s eyes lit up as he touched the immensely powerful Dragon Bone Magical Staff.
After a round of negotiations, the two parties arrived at an agreement of two Dragon Bone Magical Staffs and fifty thousand Purple Crystal Coins, achieving mutual satisfaction. Following that, Yang Ling ordered Goode and Khadanja to work together and head quickly to faraway Bavaria through the Magical Teleportation Formation.
For their trip to Bavaria this time, aside from selling the magical staffs and quickly recouping a large number of crystal coins, what was most important was to cause an uproar there so as to entice the large merchant associations to enter the Magical Beast Territory. By doing so, they would be able to end the resistance against his territory by the merchant associations from Montson.
Even though the Boulade Merchant Association under Harribell has also dabbled in the market of Magical Beast Essence Crystals, Magical Beast Eggs, and young Magical Beasts, Yang Ling believed that he would definitely be able to obtain Harribell’s support and help given enough compensation. Coupled with the help of the Dark Association, Goode would definitely be able to successfully complete his mission if no accidents occurred.
After seeing Goode and Khadanja depart with the magical staffs, Yang Ling did not stay any longer and returned to the Wissen Castle as soon as possible. He wanted to take advantage of the time and create a few more Magic Hunting Cards. Unexpectedly, he had just entered the castle when the old butler Murbaqi walked over with large strides.
“Sir, Christian from the Waize family has come once again and has been waiting for you in the meeting hall for some time. He says that he has something to discuss with you, do you…” The old butler Murbaqi could only shake his head as he remembered Christian, who would not leave no matter what he said.
“The Waize family?” Yang Ling shook his head as he remembered Christian, who had not been seen since spending eight hundred thousand Purple Crystal Coins on a forest of Anacardia. The other party coming was definitely here this time for the imprisoned Steve. He quickly walked toward the meeting hall after a moment’s deliberation, the old butler Murbaqi following closely behind him.
As expected, Christian voiced the motive behind his visit after a few formalities. Other than expressing that he was going to do large-scale harvesting of Anacardia and build a sizeable shipbuilding facility by the sea, he also hoped that Yang Ling would release the imprisoned Steve.
“Sir, Steve’s mother had me bring along some gifts. I hope that you will allow Steve to return to the Banto Empire with me because of how much the woman misses her son!” Christian said as he shot looks at the aide beside him. The aide understood his intentions and instructed the servants to carry in crates upon crates of gifts.
Two Magic Crystal Cannons…
A crate of high-grade Magic Spell Scrolls…
…
The Banto Empire had forged their kingdom using magic, and they had the most Spellcasters in all of the Tailun Continent. Even so, Magic Crystal Cannons and high-grade Magic Spell Scrolls were very rarely seen. It looked like the Waize family had pulled out the big guns in order to redeem Steve, the leader that had descended into Wissen Town awhile back.
After taking a sip of rum, Yang Ling said, “The situation was very tense back then and Steve returning to the Banto Empire might not have been a good thing at the time. But now that things are calm, I no longer have to worry about his safety on his journey home!”
After a moment’s deliberation, Yang Ling decided that with the current state of the situation, to continue imprisoning Steve would have lost its tactical meaning. Rather than reaching a deadlock with the Waize family over Steve, he might as well accept their gifts and agree to their requests. After all, one more enemy meant one more obstacle, while having one more friend meant one more way out in times of need.
After receiving Yang Ling’s instructions, Orlando left. Soon after, he returned and brought forward the seemingly lifeless, pale Steve.
“Young Master, are you alright?” Looking at Steve’s frail body, Christian asked as he quickly stepped forward.
Looking at Yang Ling nearby, then seeing Christian rushing toward him, Steve rubbed his eyes hard. It was as if he was not sure if this was reality or a dream.
Even though he had not been subject to physical torture while he was imprisoned, the feeling of being cut off from the outside world, the stark contrast between being a leader and a prisoner, the disappointment of being scorned by Maryse… All of these had taken a constant toll on Steve’s mental state. He had long ago reached the point of breaking down even though he had only been locked up for a few months. It was as if he had spent an eternity there.
“Hehe, I am great. I did not expect you to still remember me, the Young Master!” Steve shook his head and pushed away Christian, who had been supporting him, before glaring at Yang Ling as if he wanted to eat him alive.
“Oh yes, Sir Christian, there’s something I’m embarrassed to tell you about!” After pretending to hesitate for a moment, Yang Ling continued, “Perhaps because he is missing the lavish life in the capital, or from longing over Miss Maryse whom he had met in Wissen Town, but Young Master Steve’s mental state at this time has not been too normal. He frequently jumps and laughs alone. You best think of a way to handle him as soon as possible after returning to the Banto Empire, or his illness could get more and more serious!”
“Mental state has not been too normal?” Hearing Yang Ling say this, then looking at the dazed Steve, Christian thought about it as he knit his brows in worry. Steve, who was by his side, nearly vomited blood in anger. His vision turned black, his body shook, and he almost fell to the ground!
