Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After returning to the castle, Yang Ling observed, that Elder Klive had sent an old man by the name of Khadanja to bring over a hundred Alchemists as expected.
The two parties sat together in the meeting hall after the introductions were made.
“Sir, we have rushed over here as promised. In fact, we have also brought several ingredients with us that can be used to create magical staffs under the elders’ instructions. Might I ask when you can give us the new maps of the terrain?”
Khadanja was dressed in black and held a crutch-like magical staff. Even though his mustache had turned white, his mind still remained sharp, his gaze soulful. After a few more simple formalities, he immediately asked again for Yang Ling’s progress on sketching the maps, as if he could not wait.
With more and more mysterious figures entering Wissen Town, it seemed like the Dark Association was also under a lot of pressure!
Seeing how Khadanja was in a hurry, Yang Ling knew that the situation was unfavorable for the other party.
According to the report from the intelligence team, Parrot, more and more troops and adventurers had swarmed into Wissen Town after the Livenza Alliance openly announced their support for the Magical Beast Territory. Among those people were mysterious figures who had come with the intention of finding the relics of the giant dragon.
Unlike the ordinary troops and adventurers, these mysterious people of unknown backgrounds generally did not care about matters in the territory. They would either shut themselves in their dwellings or head to the vast Terras Forest, not coming out for weeks.
Even though they all belonged to different factions, almost all of these mysterious figures had powerful abilities, their tracks and actions erratic. Parrot had sent people to shadow them, but they had all been easily shaken off every time.
But none of the personnel had suffered any injuries or deaths as of yet. If they were in danger, they could display the token of the Magical Beast Territory and be safe. At the very worst, they had been knocked unconscious. It looked like the factions were unwilling to come into direct conflict with the leader Yang Ling, who had an immense home-field advantage, no matter how strong they were.
“This…” After pretending to be put on the spot and hesitating for a moment, Yang Ling said, “To tell you the truth, I’ve had difficulties with my cash flow due to resistance from the alliance of large merchant associations, as well as my accumulation of Magical Beast Essence Crystals and Magical Beast Eggs in the Beast Taming Ground. I’ve been busy with the affairs of my territory as of late. If I cannot create the magical staffs and sell them out successfully as soon as possible, the outcome would be…”
“He’s been settling the affairs of his territory as of late?” Khadanja thought. Khadanja was old and had seen a fair bit of the world. He immediately understood what was going on after listening to Yang Ling. “Sir, you can leave the matter of creating the magical staffs to us. We can create the first batch of magical staffs in just three days!” he said.
Seeing Yang Ling perk up, Khadanja paused before continuing, “The Dark Association has many members and requires a large amount of Magical Beast Essence Crystals and magical staffs every year. In fact, we have several merchant associations under us that specialize in dealing with these matters. As long as the price is right, we can engage in a deeper collaboration!” Khadanja said as he took out a piece of vellum from his robes, handing it carefully over to Orlando.
Orlando softly recited the contents after getting Yang Ling’s signal, “Low-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals, two thousand. Mid-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals, eight hundred. High-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals, fifty. Low-grade fire element magical staff, five hundred. Low-grade earth element magical staff…”
The piece of vellum was not large, but it listed a string of numbers, filling the entire piece of paper. The items to be purchased included everything that had accumulated in the Beast Taming Ground, including low-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals, Magical Beast Eggs, and young Magical Beasts. In fact, they even included the hides of Magical Beasts.
“One million Purple Crystal Coins, I’ll hand everything over to you in three months!” Yang Ling asked directly for a million Purple Crystal Coins after taking out a piece of paper and running the calculations.
“A million Purple Crystal Coins is seriously too much, sir. Five hundred thousand is the most we can do!” Khadanja instantly lowered the price by half after shaking his head. He seemed less like an Alchemist and more like an old, scheming merchant.
After a round of negotiations, both parties took a step back and agreed on eight hundred thousand Purple Crystal Coins. Khadanja readily handed over half of the amount in advance. It was a win-win situation for both parties.
Yang Ling received four hundred thousand Purple Crystal Coins to deal with the problems at hand, as well as another stable business partner. Khadanja successfully completed his mission, he had not only obtained a large number of resources, but also represented the association in further solidifying their relationship with Yang Ling. This way, without a doubt, Yang Ling would also gain the time needed to scout the areas that were hard to access and thereby help the association sketch out detailed maps of the terrain.
After the delightful cooperation, Khadanja got to work with the rest of the Alchemists. With Goode’s immense help, the materials and facilities they needed quickly got into place.
By this time, because of the resistance from the large merchant association, the Beast Taming Ground had accumulated a substantial number of low to mid-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals. Because of this, they did not have to worry about acquiring the materials needed to create magical staffs.
In order to quickly recoup his capital, and more so to break the resistance of the large merchant associations in his territory in one fell swoop, Yang Ling decided to split his attention and focus on the various spenders individually.
On the Tailun Continent, only one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand people were Spellcasters. Most of those that were lucky enough to cultivate magical spells would stay as a low to mid-level Spellcaster the rest of their lives, some even stagnating at Magical Apprentice. To them, a good magical staff was the fastest way to improve their abilities.
But even magical staffs of the lowest grade cost thousands of Purple Crystal Coins, and those that were slightly better cost tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of Purple Crystal Coins. To most of the Spellcasters who were born as commoners, these magical staffs far exceeded what they could afford, making it so that developing their abilities was a slow process.
As expected, a giant commotion would arise if a batch of decent-quality magical staffs at a fraction of the market rate appeared for sale!
Unlike the Spellcasters who were born into average families, Spellcasters who were born into noble families sought after high-quality magical staffs. They would even spend hundreds of thousands of Purple Crystal Coins for a high-grade magical staff. High-grade magical staffs would often be auctioned off at a high price every time they were seen due to their rarity. There was an element of luck involved.
As expected, there no noble Spellcasters would bear missing the opportunity to bid when a batch of high-grade, or even premium magical staffs appeared before their eyes!
Selling low-grade magical staffs at wholesale prices while focusing on the auctions of the high-grade magical staffs would definitely create an uproar in every human-populated city. As long as he planned it well, the name of the Magical Beast Territory would definitely skyrocket. They would definitely entice merchant teams from all over the land to swarm into the territory. When that time came, the resistance of the large merchant teams in his territory would naturally lose their power!
Yang Ling would purchase Magical Beast Essence Crystals at a high price and sell the low-grade magical staffs at a low price, then recoup his capital through the unique and rare high-grade magical staffs. This way, he would be able to reduce the profits of the large merchant associations when it came to the sale of Magical Beast Essence Crystals, and quickly monopolize the resources related to Magical Beasts in the territory, or even in the entire Tailun Continent, establishing a solid foundation for control over the Hunter Association that was soon to be set up.
A substantial number of low-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals and corpses of Magical Beasts had accumulated within the Beast Taming Ground. There were no problems when it came to creating low-grade magical staffs, and even if they had not had enough low-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals, he could have gotten Viola to lead a team into the forest to capture them. But, because of the limitations in their abilities, they had a severe shortage of the resources needed to create high-grade magical staffs. They did not have enough high-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals, nor did they have the corresponding corpses of the Magical Beasts.
There were no Magical Beast Essence Crystals of high-level Magical Beasts or their corpses in the Beast Taming Ground, but that did not mean that there were none in Yang Ling’s territory!
After weighing the pros and cons, Yang Ling decided to dig out the Essence Crystals of the Flying Dragons he had used to set up a Spirit Gathering Spell Formation, then retrieved the corpses of the Flying Dragons he had found in the Flying Dragon Valley, quickly gathering the ingredients.
“Sir, this… These are all Essence Crystals of the Twin-legged Flying Dragon!” Khadanja was incredibly excited when he saw Yang Ling bring over a few dozen Essence Crystals from Flying Dragons as he stroked on the unblemished corpses of the Flying Dragons.
The reason for the rarity of high-grade magical staffs, other than requiring Alchemists with a higher level of skill, was, more importantly, the lack of high-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals and the corpses of the corresponding Magical Beasts. High-level Magical Beast Essence Crystals were hard to find, but the corpses of the corresponding Magical Beasts were even rarer!
High-level Magical Beasts were hard to track and had powerful abilities, making them naturally hard to hunt and kill. It was even harder to obtain the corpse of a high-level Magical Beast with its spine completely undamaged.
The most important part of a Magical Beast’s carcass was its spine, which gathered most of the Magic Beast’s energy. When creating a magical staff, even though bones from other parts of a Magical Beast’s carcass or Purple Sandalwood could be used instead of the spine, the effects would be far weaker.
After calming himself down, Khadanja became even more shocked when he saw the unblemished corpses of the Flying Dragons. He had heard that Yang Ling had killed the Sword Saint Santiago in Montson before he had come to Wissen Town. It looked like it was not just by sheer luck. Yang Ling’s true abilities must be much stronger than anyone imagined them to be for him to have been able to kill this many Flying Dragons.
After a moment of deliberation, Khadanja said, “Sir, while the Twin-legged Flying Dragon is not a premium Magical Beast, these unblemished corpses are hard to come by. I can make at least ten Dragon Bone Magical Staffs if you give me three days!”
After he knew the extent of Yang Ling’s true abilities, he realized that the elder’s choice was correct. He was going to create magical staffs to the best of his ability and display the strength of the Dark Association. If even Yang Ling, a youngster who had only recently come out to train, had such powerful abilities, the abilities of the family behind him must be even greater. Being able to work together with a powerful family of Summoners that has existed for millennia would definitely bring about great benefits to the association.
Flying Dragon Essence Crystals and complete corpses of the Flying Dragons, coupled with the unique understanding and vast experience of the Dark Association of creating magical staffs, the Dragon Bone Magical Staffs they created would definitely be exceptional, their power far superior to what an average person could imagine. Khadanja believed that he would definitely be able to successfully complete his mission!
