Gui Liao’s words caused Zha Gu to become anxious. Over the past two years, the amount of Black Ink Coin he had earned from Yang Kai was more than what he had earned in his entire life, so how could he be willing to give up on the benefits he had obtained? But if it was really as Gui Liao said, if Yang Kai learned of this matter and report it to the Territory Lord after he came out of seclusion, there would be no way to clean up this mess.
Although he felt that the Territory Lord wouldn’t care about such a trivial matter, Yang Kai’s identity was still different. He was a Human Race Artifact Refiner, and the Territory Lord also valued him greatly. What if the Territory Lord wanted to help him?
Zha Gu looked towards Gui Liao with a worried expression, “Does Sir Gui Liao mean… to return everything I ate to him?”
Gui Liao sneered and didn’t answer, instead asking, “Zha Gu, how long have you been a Feudal Lord?”
Zha Gu didn’t know why Gui Liao suddenly asked this, but he still answered truthfully, “It’s been about 3000 years.”
“3000 years, yet you’re still struggling in the Feudal Lord level. Don’t you want to advance further and become a Territory Lord?”
Zha Gu said solemnly, “Which Feudal Lord doesn’t have the ambition to become a Territory Lord? Unfortunately, there’s no suitable opportunity.”
Just like the cultivation of the Human Race’s Open Heaven Stage, the cultivation of the Black Ink Clan also required accumulation, but the Human Race could refine all kinds of cultivation resources, while the Black Ink Clan couldn’t. The growth of the Black Ink Clan’s strength depended on devouring the World Force and transforming it into their own Ink Force, as well as directly absorbing the Black Ink Nest’s Ink Force to enhance their strength.
Just like the omnipresent Ink Force in the territory of the Black Abyss Territory Lord, it was produced by the Black Ink Nest and could be absorbed and refined by every Black Ink Clan. The Ink Force here was equivalent to the World Energy of the 3000 Worlds.
However, there were simply too many Black Ink Clans living in this territory, and everyone was absorbing and refining them. No matter how hard Zha Gu tried, he couldn’t absorb much, so it wasn’t very helpful to his growth.
“Opportunity…” Gui Liao smiled slightly, “The Territory Lord once said that opportunities are not something you can wait for, but rather something you create yourself.”
Zha Gu’s heart skipped a beat as he stared at Gui Liao, “Sir Gui Liao means…”
Gui Liao suddenly changed the subject and stared at him, “Do you want your own fief?”
As soon as he said this, Zha Gu’s breathing became much more rapid and he immediately nodded, “Of course I want it! The reason why I worked so hard to earn Black Ink Coin was because I wanted to buy a child nest from the Territory Lord. However, now that the Territory Lord is recuperating, the Black Ink Nest has closed, and I don’t have enough Black Ink Coin.”
Although he had relied on Yang Kai’s Artifact Refining skills for the past two years to earn a fortune, the amount of Black Ink Coin he had accumulated was only about three hundred thousand. For a Feudal Lord, this was already a massive amount of wealth. In terms of Open Heaven Pills, this was three billion Open Heaven Pills.
A Black Ink Clan Feudal Lord corresponded to a Seventh Order Human Race. In this world, there were very few Seventh Order Human Race masters who could possess so much wealth, so it was the same for the Black Ink Clan.
However, in order to obtain his own fief, not only did he need to be a Feudal Lord level, but he also needed to own his own Black Ink Nest! Only then would he be qualified to apply for a fief from the Territory Lord.
As for the lowest grade Black Ink Nest, it was worth at least five hundred thousand Black Ink Coin!
Ordinary Black Ink Clan Feudal Lords would never be able to accumulate so much wealth even if they spent their entire lives. This was also the reason why there were so many Feudal Lords in the Black Ink Clan, but there were very few Feudal Lords who had fiefs. Even if one had enough strength, they wouldn’t be able to afford the Black Ink Nest.
Once he obtained his own Black Ink Nest, whether it was his daily cultivation or his healing during critical moments, it would be extremely convenient. For example, although Zha Gu was injured after returning from this great battle, because the Territory Lord had sealed the Black Ink Nest, he was unable to enter it to heal himself, so he could only hide in his own ancient castle and slowly lick his wounds. His injuries healed extremely slowly, but with the help of the Black Ink Nest, his recovery rate would obviously be much faster.
With his own Black Ink Nest, Zha Gu could cultivate in it and quickly increase his strength, quickly reaching the standard for becoming a Territory Lord.
Possessing his own Black Ink Nest was a lot of benefits, not to mention that with the Black Ink Nest, he would be able to obtain his own territory, attracting even Low Rank Black Ink Clans to settle down here. If those High Rank Black Ink Clans wanted to become Feudal Lords, they would need to borrow the power of his Black Ink Nest. At that time, they would also need to pay a certain amount of money, allowing him to continuously make money.
Not to mention all of this, if a war were to break out, he would have the authority to recruit all of the Black Ink Clan members who lived in his fief. At that time, he would be able to organize his own army to fight against the Human Race, and if he were to perform a meritorious service on the battlefield, he would receive a huge reward.
So on the Black Ink Clan’s side, a Feudal Lord with a fief was completely different from a Feudal Lord without a fief. Zha Gu had always wanted to own his own Black Ink Nest and fief, so he had worked hard over the years.
Gui Liao suddenly asking him such a question made Zha Gu’s imagination run wild, secretly anticipating it.
Sure enough, Gui Liao smiled and said, “If you really want a fief, it’s easy, I can help you.”
Zha Gu’s throat suddenly went dry as he asked excitedly, “How can Sir Gui Liao help me?”
Gui Liao said, “Your strength is already enough, you also need five hundred thousand Black Ink Coin to buy the child nest… How much do you have now?”
Zha Gu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Three hundred thousand!”
Gui Liao nodded slightly, “Then you're still short of two hundred thousand. It’s fine, I can lend you what you lack, you can return it to me in the future.”
Zha Gu said, “But even if I have enough Black Ink Coin, now that the Black Ink Nest is sealed, I won’t be able to obtain the Black Ink Nest. I’ll have to wait until the Territory Lord and the others come out.”
The Black Ink Nest owned by the Black Ink Clan’s Feudal Lords had all been separated from the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. The relationship between the two was like that of mother and child, so it was called the child nest.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Nest owned by the Territory Lord was separated from the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, so it is the child nest of the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest, the same principle.
The Black Ink Nest required a massive amount of energy to divide a child nest, so each child nest required a massive amount of Black Ink Coin to purchase, so it was impossible for them to be given to a Feudal Lord who needed them for no reason. Of course, if they performed a great service, they might even be rewarded.
So even if Gui Liao was willing to lend money to Zha Gu, Zha Gu was currently unable to do anything.
Gui Liao continued, “As for the child nest, I happen to have one in my possession. It was originally prepared for me, but the Territory Lord thought highly of me and wanted me to help manage his territory, so he didn’t let me leave, so I never used it. Now that I’m about to become a Territory Lord, the child nest is of no use to me, so I can sell it to you.”
Such a coincidence? Zha Gu was both surprised and stunned.
These past two years, he had quietly exploited Yang Kai’s reward in order to buy a child nest for himself, but even now, he had not collected enough Black Ink Coin.
Who would have thought that not only was Gui Liao willing to lend him money, but he was also willing to sell him his child nest.
With Zha Gu’s understanding of Gui Liao, he naturally understood that he wouldn’t be so kind.
So, in his excitement, Zha Gu cautiously asked, “Does Sir Gui Liao have any conditions?”
Gui Liao chuckled, “Zha Gu, oh Zha Gu, I knew you were born intelligent, but now it seems like it’s true. Naturally, there are conditions, but there are no disadvantages for you.”
“Please explain yourself, Sir Gui Liao!”
Gui Liao said seriously, “When you have your own fief, bring Yang Kai over and let him continue refining artifacts. I can introduce you to some rich Feudal Lords who are far richer than your friends. In the future, I want half of the profits from refining artifacts! In addition, I want him to help me refine two artifacts, one for offense and one for defense.”
To ask for half the profit at once, this was indeed greedy. However, if it was some rich Feudal Lord, the price could be higher. After all, the guests he had introduced to Yang Kai were all like him, without their own fiefs and could only rely on the Territory Lord’s territory to survive.
As for helping Gui Liao refine two artifacts, that was secondary.
Zha Gu pondered for a moment before asking, “Sir Gui Liao, how much do you think is reasonable to collect compensation for helping others refine artifacts?”
Instead of answering, Gui Liao asked, “What do you think?”
Zha Gu thought to himself, 'I’m asking you a question, but you’re asking me. Are you bored?' Thinking so, he said honestly, “Right now, the price I’ve given those Feudal Lords is thirty thousand Black Ink Coin per artifact. If it’s the Feudal Lord that Sir Gui Liao introduced, how about fifty thousand?”
If it was fifty thousand, excluding the seven thousand he had to give to Yang Kai, the remaining half for him and Gui Liao will be about twenty-two thousand. Although it was only a little bit less than his own twenty-three thousand, it wasn’t much worse.
What’s more, obtaining a piece of land and Black Ink Nest in advance was a great deal.
In his opinion, fifty thousand was already a lot. After all, when he asked for thirty thousand, many of the Feudal Lords weren’t willing to pay, and if the price was any higher, it would be too much.
“A hundred thousand!” Gui Liao coldly spat out.
“What?” Zha Gu almost wondered if he had heard wrongly as he stared at Gui Liao in shock.
“One hundred thousand, it’s settled.”
“Sir Gui Liao!” Zha Gu couldn’t help asking, “Isn’t this price a bit too high? Is there a Feudal Lord willing to pay such a great price for a treasure?”
Gui Liao smiled disdainfully, “Don’t confuse the Feudal Lords you know with the guests I want to introduce to you. Those are all Feudal Lords who own their own fiefs. Do you think that the wealth of these Feudal Lords who have the ability to purchase child nest is too low? The artifacts refined by human race Artifact Refiners are highly sought after among them, but because the Artifact Refiners of the Human Race have all been recruited, even if they want the artifacts, they have no way of obtaining them. If someone can help them refine artifacts at this time, not to mention a hundred thousand, even if it’s higher, there will still be people who will agree. After all, they only have one life, and Black Ink Coin are just worldly possessions.”
Pausing for a moment, Gui Liao said, “Moreover, if the Territory Lord comes out of seclusion, this business won’t be able to continue. The Territory Lord will definitely send this Yang Kai to the King City. If we don’t take advantage of this opportunity to collect some rewards, how will we have a chance in the future? Don’t worry, you just need to take Yang Kai to your fief. As for the guests, I will introduce them to you, you just need to entertain them.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
Martial Peak