Qianye was in no mood to argue with Song Zining. Seeing the seventh young master’s flippant attitude of schadenfreude, he had to try fairly hard to resist the urge to kick the other party.
There was no solution to this situation. Qianye also knew that he wouldn’t get an answer from anyone else.
The loading of military supplies took an entire three days. After everything was ready and the fleet was formed, a small squadron of three airships arrived at the port.
A dozen or so men walked down from the vessels, whom Song Zining introduced to Qianye. “This is the second young master of the Luo family. This is the Yin family’s fifth elder. As for this person, he has a deep relationship with us, Zhang Xu of the Zhang clan. Let’s get along from now on.”
Qianye was still puzzled after being dragged over to greet these strangers. He had no idea what they were here for, but he noticed that they were all from major aristocratic families. Two of them were managerial-level characters from famed merchant companies.
The difference was that everyone was overly respectful toward Qianye this time, almost like a pack of tail-wagging puppies. Qianye had rarely enjoyed such treatment, so he couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.
After the introductions were over, Song Zining said, “Everyone is interested in our venture on the Fort Continent. Just like Jundu, they decided to contribute what they can to the cause. They will follow you over there to take a look. Of course, not just any random person can stroll around your territory, but these families are very sincere. Their sincerity will arrive very soon.”
None of the men seemed offended by Song Zining’s unceremonious address. After waiting for him to finish, they crowded over in a hurry and began expressing their sincerity.
They were indeed sincere—some provided armor, some weapons, and others ammunition and medicines, all quality products from their family industry. From what Qianye knew, these resources were being offered to him at a price lower than the original. Additionally, none of them demanded advance or down payments. Everything was provided for him to use first and repay in future mineral resources.
Qianye didn’t even need to worry about prospecting and mining. There were those willing to provide all equipment, technology, and manpower for the industry, while others would take charge of the transportation. Apparently, they had already decided on their roles beforehand. There was practically no room for arguments.
Those equipment and arms might not be free, but there was no timeline for repayment. Such a term was no different from allowing him to pay back if he had the money or not if he didn’t. It was almost giving them to him for free.
Later on in the discussion, Qianye understood that a dozen or so aristocratic families were sponsoring his expansion efforts on Fort Continent. Naturally, he couldn’t forget about them once his pioneering efforts had borne fruit.
What puzzled Qianye was why so many aristocratic families would suddenly run over to form a good relationship with him. The contrast was a bit too abrupt after experiencing conflict at the Bai family.
Song Zining seemed to know what Qianye was thinking. “Even Sire Jundu has endorsed you, what are you worried about? Don’t hesitate to accept them, just don’t forget everyone when you make profits.”
Everyone chimed in on the words.
“Exactly! What Sire Zining says is reasonable!”
“As long as you don’t forget us, we can even gift these goods to you.”
“Very true!”
“This little bit of money is nothing, harmonious development is much more important.”
Everyone was so passionate that Qianye had no choice but to nod. After agreeing, he felt somewhat embarrassed at his hesitation. What was there to consider about such a favorable gift of money?
The atmosphere became even friendlier after he accepted the deal.
Stroking his beard, one of the elders said in a wise tone, “Sire Qianye’s breakthrough to the divine champion rank has shaken the world. People like us can only gaze in admiration. I’m a bit curious, I wonder if you can show us your powers and broaden our horizons?”
This topic was actually quite sensitive, so Qianye glanced at Song Zining.
Song Zining said after some thought, “People will find out a divine champion’s powers sooner or later. Everyone here is a friend, so it’s no problem to tell them.”
Qianye thought more or less the same. The entire world knew of Zhang Boqian’s void traversal powers at this point. Considering how often Qianye was in battles big and small, his fame would surely spread far and wide. His divine champion powers could not and need not be hidden.
Qianye’s divine champion powers were gradually taking form after the consolidation of his origin crystal. He knew what they were but had never actually used them before. Since Song Zining was not in objection, Qianye stopped hesitating and ordered the men to open a box of alloy armor plates.
These armor plates were a token of “sincerity” from the Zhu family. Their family industry was famous for armor plates that could be installed on city walls, defensive structures, or used as shields for heavy infantry. The sturdiness of the material was only second to airship armor.
Qianye asked the men to stack the armor plates and fix them to the ground. The thickness of this stack was over one meter, more or less comparable to a battleship’s general armor.
Everyone here was knowledgeable, so they immediately realized Qianye’s intentions. This thickness was just about the standard of an ordinary divine champion. This also meant that a divine champion could actually attack and board an airship if they could withstand the incoming attacks.
Setting such a standard when he had just ascended meant that he was going to demonstrate in earnest. Everyone was excited because such opportunities were rare. They held their breaths and waited in silence.
Qianye stood before the stack of armor plates and, channeling his origin power, threw a light punch.
The attack startled everyone. They weren’t divine champions, but they had seen divine champions in action. Qianye’s attack seemed underpowered, far from the level of being able to blast through the armor plates. Moreover, even close to the moment of contact, they never saw any origin power fluctuations. Any later than that and it would be too late.
It was at this time that the sound of cracking joints echoed throughout Qianye’s body. The sounds of roaring thunder overlapped repeatedly as a deluge of origin power burst out all of a sudden!
“Excavator!” One of the more knowledgeable members exclaimed.
Pushing Excavator to its ninth activation meant that he had reached the point of perfection. This was the Pointer Monarch’s secret art and actually had nothing to do with his divine champion powers. So, what was Qianye’s intention in putting it on display?
Before these people could figure out the answer, Qianye’s punch had already blasted the armor plates!
A terrifying aura erupted from Qianye’s body at the moment of contact, and his origin power actually shot up by an entire level! With the Excavator already in action, his strength increased exponentially at that moment!
The punch made no noise, but the entire airship port trembled! Something shot out from the stack of armor plates, flew across the landing area, and slammed into one of the airships, producing a large hole on its side.
The armor plates didn’t move at all, but there was now a hole at its center, and the cut surface was as smooth as a mirror.
The crowd went utterly silent.
A gulp was heard only after a while. Someone’s swallowing woke everyone up at that point.
The elder who asked Qianye to display his powers said in a trembling voice, “Sire, did you use your divine champion powers just now?”
Qianye nodded. “Yes, right at that moment.”
The elder’s eyes went wide. “It can stack with Excavator?”
This was a meaningless question. Qianye using the Excavator first proved that the two could work together. It was just that everyone was shocked to the point of doubting their own common sense.
There was still one person who wasn’t willing to let it be and was intent on making it clear. “Sire, does this mean your power can instantly increase your origin power?”
Qianye nodded. “Yes.”
That person’s mouth fell open. “Your all-out attack is already indefensible, to begin with, now, you’re able to increase the damage further. This… this…”
Everyone was similarly dumbfounded.
Qianye’s attack power was already famous throughout the land, especially after injuring the Demoness with three Shots of Inception at Indomitable. After advancing to the divine champion realm, he was naturally stronger than his peers in terms of strength. Now that his divine champion power worked to increase his attack power in tandem with Excavator, everyone felt that they had lost track of the math. How powerful was a single attack from Qianye?
The stack of armor plates had clearly recorded the might of that punch just now, and it didn’t even look like Qianye had gone all out. The group crowded around the plates, studying and touching them. They still couldn’t believe what had just transpired.
That elder from before was the first to come to. He ran over and tugged on Qianye’s sleeves, saying, “Our family is willing to double our token of sincerity, please don’t refuse us!”
This woke everyone up. All of them swarmed over and started bidding in turn, adding from fifty percent to double their initial offer.
One of them cried out, “Our Zhu family is willing to contribute a thousand elite private soldiers to Sire Qianye’s command and pioneer the land together!”
Everyone fell silent at this suggestion.
Contributing soldiers was different from offering money and supplies. Basically, every party contributing soldiers to a pioneering war had the right to claim land afterward. However, Qianye was not a subject of the Empire, and thus, this new land on Fort Continent would be an independent nation. Qianye would be the ruler even if he didn’t crown himself king. At most, there would be a nominal allegiance to the Empire as a vassal nation.
This meant that if the aristocratic families here were to contribute troops, they would become Qianye’s subordinates, a vassal’s vassal. This was a stark difference from being the Empire’s vassal.
Also, a thousand elite soldiers wasn’t a small number. These aristocratic families had their own standards for an elite soldier. It would be offensive if the troops weren’t high enough in rank, so it was better to not make such an offer.
The fate of these troops would be at Qianye’s complete mercy once delivered. If Qianye were to fail in his pioneering efforts, these troops would be buried along with his forces.
A friend immediately dragged the man back and whispered, “Brother Yue, are you crazy? This is no small matter! You must think carefully.”
The man whispered back, “I’m very clear-headed! The most powerful characters on the continent are dukes. Just look at Sire Qianye’s power, how can ordinary dukes take a single blow from him? Those backwater fogeys are really afraid of death. Unless their home base is under threat, they probably won’t appear no matter how Sire Qianye takes over the territory!”
Everyone came to a sudden realization.
