In front of Yang Kai, Zha Gu had said that one artifact would receive ten thousand Black Ink Coin as a reward. In Yang Kai’s opinion, this was already quite a lot, but in front of these Feudal Lords, he had actually doubled the amount.
His intentions were obvious. If not for this, why would he have tried so hard to promote this matter? If there were no benefits, Zha Gu would not have been willing to do so.
In this way, if he could refine one artifact, according to his agreement with Yang Kai, he would only need to give Yang Kai seven thousand Black Ink Coin, while he himself would be able to obtain thirteen thousand Black Ink Coin, earning more than Yang Kai.
Since Yang Kai helped him refine those two artifacts, Zha Gu had already seen a path of wealth in front of him. As a Feudal Lord of the Black Ink Clan, how could he not desire to own his own fief? However, this required a massive amount of Black Ink Coin, and even though he had gone through many life and death situations on the battlefield, it was still difficult for him to accumulate enough wealth. If he could obtain this fief this time, his dream would definitely be fulfilled.
A Feudal Lord with his own fief and one with no fief was completely different.
Many of the Feudal Lords in the hall were making a ruckus, all of them angry at Zha Gu for asking for such a high price, unable to bear it. Zha Gu turned a deaf ear to all of this and slowly walked back to his seat, calmly saying, “Everyone here, each of you has a limited artifact!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall fell silent.
A Feudal Lord frowned and asked, “Zha Gu, what does that mean?”
Zha Gu smiled and said, “It’s what I mean.”
The various Feudal Lords looked at each other, unable to understand why Zha Gu suddenly had such a restriction. Logically speaking, refining one Artifact would receive a reward of twenty thousand Black Ink Coin, so naturally the more one refined, the better. No one would complain about earning more.
Zha Gu looked around with a solemn expression, “Does everyone think he can always help you refine artifacts?”
The winged Feudal Lord’s expression suddenly changed as if he had thought of something, “You mean…” Saying so, he pointed towards the sky.
Zha Gu nodded slightly, “More than ten years ago, the King City suddenly summoned the Human Race’s Artifact Refiners. Any Artifact Refiner Black Ink Disciples was recruited. I’m sure everyone knows that my Black Ink Disciple also knows a thing or two about Artifact Refining, but his Artifact Refining skill isn’t very good. Even so, he was still recruited. As for what the King City is doing, all of us Feudal Lords have heard about it. This is a grand plan that will determine the future of the Black Ink Clan, so we can’t afford to be careless. Even Black Ink Disciple, who knows a little about Artifact Refining, was recruited, so how could Yang Kai be an exception? The reason why no one cares about him now is because the news hasn’t spread yet, and the Territory Lord is still healing his injuries. If my guess is correct, when the Territory Lord comes out of seclusion and finds out that he is a Human Race Artifact Refiner, he will definitely be sent to the King City to participate in that grand scheme. At that time, no matter how many Black Ink Coin you spend, you will not found anyone to help you refine any artifact.”
These words were reasonable, and everyone knew it, so all of the Feudal Lords nodded.
Therefore, after understanding the current situation, even if they were somewhat reluctant to part with their twenty thousand Black Ink Coin, now they were somewhat worried.
If Yang Kai was really sent to the King City, they really wouldn’t be able to find a suitable Human Race Artifact Refiner.
Immediately, one of the Feudal Lords asked, “Zha Gu, how long will it take him to refine one artifact?”
“Two or three months,” Zha Gu replied, glancing down, “There are more than a dozen of you here, and each of you will need to wait two or three months for him to refine a single artifact. This will probably ensure that before the Territory Lord comes out of seclusion, all of you will be able to obtain a single artifact, which is why I have such a restriction. Of course, no one knows when the Territory Lord will come out of seclusion, so if the Territory Lord comes out early, some of you may not even be able to get it.”
As soon as these words came out, an impatient Feudal Lord immediately shouted, “Twenty thousand it is, I want to refine one!”
Immediately after, a Feudal Lord chimed in, “I also want one.”
In an instant, the hall was filled with the sounds of fighting. Zha Gu smiled and nodded.
It wasn’t easy for them to settle this matter, so Zha Gu asked the various Feudal Lords to go back and collect the necessary resources before sending them away.
Seeing them leave so eagerly, Zha Gu felt extremely happy.
In less than two hours, a Feudal Lord returned, bringing with him all the materials needed for refining artifacts and twenty thousand Black Ink Coin as reward. Afterwards, Zha Gu personally went to the underground cave to see Yang Kai and inform him of the Feudal Lord’s size and requirements.
Yang Kai made a mental note to focus on refining after Zha Gu left.
For the next few days, Yang Kai continued to refine artifacts in the underground cave, he didn’t need to worry about restoring his cultivation resources. Zha Gu’s side was well equipped, so all he needed to do was provide the required artifacts for the Feudal Lords.
For every artifact he refined, Zha Gu would give him seven thousand Black Ink Coin.
Day after day of Artifact Refining allowed Yang Kai’s proficiency in Artifact Refining to rapidly grow.
When he was helping Zha Gu refine that Treasure Armor, he had spent two months on it. After two years, it would only take him forty or fifty days to refine it, and its quality had also improved.
However, Yang Kai had been refining these artifacts for a long time now, and all of them were offensive artifacts, none of them were Treasure Armor. It was obvious that the Black Ink Clan had a special interest in offensive artifacts, while the life-saving artifacts were secondary.
Over the past two years, Yang Kai had produced nearly twenty artifacts.
As time passed, Yang Kai’s reputation as an Artifact Refiner gradually spread through the Feudal Lords, and the number of Feudal Lords who were attracted to him increased. The reward for the Artifact Refining process also rose to thirty thousand Black Ink Coin.
At this moment, the Feudal Lords who were originally invited by Zha Gu felt much better and instead felt like they had profited.
As for the reward, Yang Kai had never been aware of it. For the past two years, he had only focused on refining artifacts in the underground cave, and even if he knew about it, he wouldn’t care too much about it. Everything he had done was to better implement his plan. The more Black Ink Clan people sought him out to refine artifacts, the more his reputation would spread, making it easier for him to act in the future.
Now, his Artifact Refining skills had improved greatly compared to two years ago. Although he was far from Grandmaster level, he was still at a great master level.
Great Master, Grandmaster, and Great Grandmaster were all the differences in ranks of Artifact Refiners. Although there was no system, they were still recognized by the world.
Only those who were qualified to refine High Rank artifacts could be called Grandmaster!
Yang Kai could only refine Mid Rank artifacts now, so he was only a Great Master.
He was waiting, waiting for Black Abyss to come out of seclusion. Counting the days, it would probably only be a few years.
Inside Black Abyss Ancient Castle, one of the Black Ink Clan’s Feudal Lords slowly retreated while Gui Liao wore a thoughtful expression.
He had summoned this Black Ink Clan’s Feudal Lord because he had some questions, but who would have thought he would hear such an unexpected piece of news?
This Black Ink Disciple named Yang Kai was actually an Artifact Refiner and his skill in Artifact Refining was not low!
This surprised Gui Liao greatly. Previously, when Yang Kai and Liu Zian fought, Gui Liao had punished the two of them separately. Originally, he had thought that with the Profound Female Spirit Fruit as a constraint, Yang Kai would quickly give in, but in the past two years, there had been no news of him.
Gui Liao didn’t take this matter to heart. As the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple, it was impossible for this human to travel too far, so he should be hiding somewhere on the floating continent to recuperate.
Perhaps he was waiting for the Territory Lord to come out to uphold justice.
Gui Liao had originally thought so, but who would have thought that this fellow would actually run over to Zha Gu’s side and help the Feudal Lords refine artifacts. When he learned of this news, Gui Liao was also shocked. The Feudal Lords might not know how valuable a human race Artifact Refiner was, but as a trusted aide of Black Abyss, he was extremely clear about it.
The Royal Lord was currently planning a grand plan that would determine the fate of the Black Ink Clan and it was closely related to the Human Race’s Artifact Refiners. It could be said that any Human Race Artifact Refiner was an extremely precious talent to the Royal Lord and would be greatly valued.
A human race Artifact Refiner was no longer just a Black Ink Disciple.
Because of this, even with his status, it was not appropriate for him to humiliate Yang Kai, otherwise, when the Territory Lord came out of seclusion, he would be severely punished.
However, it was impossible for him to just give in like this. As the noble Feudal Lord of the Black Ink Clan, how could he lower his head to a mere Black Ink Disciple?
After pondering for a moment, Gui Liao called out, “Liu Zian!”
In the shadows behind him, Liu Zian stepped forward, “Master.”
“Go to Zha Gu and tell him I want to see him.”
“Yes!” Liu Zian acknowledged.
In less than two hours, Zha Gu appeared in front of Gui Liao and respectfully asked, “Does Sir Gui Liao have any orders for me?”
Gui Liao looked at him quietly, “Zha Gu, I heard you earned quite a few Black Ink Coin recently?”
Zha Gu was slightly startled, but soon his expression returned to normal as he smiled flatteringly, “Does Sir Gui Liao know?”
He was also well aware that this matter could not be hidden from the Gui Liao, and the scene in front of him was something he had anticipated.
Gui Liao coldly snorted, “Before the Territory Lord came out of seclusion, he ordered me to oversee his territory. How could I not know that such a thing had happened? Zha Gu, how dare you! Since that Black Ink Disciple is an Artifact Refiner, why didn’t you immediately report to me? Instead, you left him to refine Artifacts with you.”
Zha Gu bowed slightly and said, “Sir Gui Liao, that human is, after all, the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple. If he wants to stay with me, I won’t be able to chase him away.”
Gui Liao sneered, “You don’t want him to leave, do you? Thirty thousand Black Ink Coin for a piece of artifact is something you won’t be able to earn for a long time.”
Zha Gu smiled awkwardly, “Sir Gui Liao is wise.”
“How much did you give that human?” Gui Liao asked again.
Zha Gu’s face was filled with hesitation as he struggled for a moment before saying, “I told him that one artifact cost ten thousand Black Ink Coin, I’ll take thirty percent.”
“Amazing!” Gui Liao wore a mocking expression, “He worked so hard to refine this artifact for seven thousand Black Ink Coin, but you managed to obtain twenty-three thousand. You really treat him well, aren’t you afraid he’ll report you to the Territory Lord?”
Zha Gu’s face paled, “Sir Territory Lord shouldn’t bother with such trivial matters, right?”
Gui Liao calmly replied, “That’s hard to say, after all, the Territory Lord thinks highly of him.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
Martial Peak