Chapter 131: Crisis!

Neither man was in a hurry to discuss the business transaction.

The elderly man in fine robes, having heard Ye Mo claim that the spiritual weapons were produced by his own workshop, felt a desire to cultivate a relationship with him. Ye Mo appeared to be only eighteen or nineteen years old, with a cultivation base at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. At such a young age, it was hard to imagine him being the owner of an artifact-refining workshop. The elder speculated to himself that Ye Mo was likely the young heir of some established workshop, out on his own to handle sales as a form of commercial training in preparation for eventually taking over the family business.

Not rushing into the trade, the elder began to chat enthusiastically about spiritual teas, offering critiques of various famous teas from the East Sea islands, which greatly broadened Ye Mo's horizons.

"By the way, we have been talking for so long, yet we haven't exchanged names. I am Lu Tong. May I ask how to address you, fellow Daoist? And which workshop are you the young heir of?"

Only after a long conversation, once he and Ye Mo had grown quite familiar, did Lu Tong finally inquire about Ye Mo’s identity.

"So it is Shopkeeper Lu. Is this a shop owned by the Lu family? I am Ye Mo. This workshop is indeed mine, though I am not the heir to any family workshop," Ye Mo replied candidly.

He knew that the various shops in Qingyun Immortal City were more or less backed by noble clans. He was aware of the Lu clan; while not considered one of the most prominent cultivation families in the city, they were far from insignificant and owned several commercial properties within the city.

"Ye Mo?" Lu Tong was startled, as if the name sounded familiar. He thought carefully, looked Ye Mo up and down, and asked in surprise, "This name of yours, fellow Daoist Ye, sounds familiar. The tenth-place finisher in the previous City Lord assessment at the Qingyun Immortal Academy was also named Ye Mo. Is that you?"

"The newly appointed City Lord you mentioned is indeed me. However, Shopkeeper Lu, why would you take note of an Immortal Academy assessment or a cultivator like me?" Ye Mo asked, slightly stunned. He admitted it quite readily but was puzzled as to how anyone would recognize an obscure, newly appointed immortal village lord like himself.

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare! So it really is City Lord Ye. A pleasure, truly a pleasure! I only heard the name by chance. Last year, a disciple of the Lu family also participated in the City Lord assessment, but unfortunately, he failed to make the list. That is how I came to know of City Lord Ye’s name. For a loose cultivator to become an official City Lord of the Immortal Alliance—that is something that hasn't happened at the Qingyun Immortal Academy in decades, or perhaps even a century."

Lu Tong immediately stood up and bowed, his face full of astonishment, clearly showing much more respect than before. Once one becomes an official City Lord of the Immortal Alliance, one ranks among the true power-wielders in the East Sea cultivation world, with a status far higher than that of an ordinary cultivator. This status was not something a mere shop or workshop owner could compare to.

"Is that so? Fellow Daoist Lu seems to have more confidence in me than I do myself," Ye Mo said with a wry smile.

"City Lord Ye, if that is the case, then these Red-Fire Sword Armors must be produced by your immortal village, right? Regarding the price, I will offer you the highest wholesale rate of eighty-five spirit stones per piece. I guarantee you will be satisfied," Lu Tong said as he sat back down, immediately offering the most generous terms.

He understood clearly that negotiating with an immortal village lord was far from the same as negotiating with a workshop owner. If the Ye Immortal Village developed well, it would mean the potential to trade in all kinds of spiritual elixirs and artifacts. Furthermore, a key point was that Ye Mo was a loose cultivator with no family background. This meant there was little interference from noble clans in the Ye Immortal Village, and consequently, fewer competitors for the Lu family. The Lu family might not even be able to get a foot in the door of other newly established villages with noble backgrounds.

"Very well, that price is acceptable," Ye Mo nodded.

Shops in Qingyun Immortal City had to pay taxes and needed to earn enough spirit stones to sustain themselves. After deducting rent, taxes, and staff wages, the profit margins were not high. The Ye Immortal Village needed a stable distribution channel.

The two reached an agreement instantly and signed a contract for the supply of first-grade spiritual weapons at eighty-five spirit stones each. As for the quantity, it would depend on the production capacity of the Ye Village workshop and how much they could expand. Once the Ye Village workshop satisfied the needs of their own village cultivators, the surplus would be sold to the shops in Qingyun Immortal City. Currently, the Ye Village was not very prosperous and lacked external loose cultivators, meaning they could not sell much locally and had to rely on the main city.

After paying Ye Mo one hundred and seventy spirit stones for a set of Red-Fire Sword Armors, Lu Tong smiled and said, "City Lord Ye, when you deliver the next batch, I can provide you with a gift."

"What kind of gift?" Ye Mo asked, intrigued. The shopkeeper had just handed him a catty of Snow Mountain spiritual tea; what else could he be offering?

"There are over a thousand islands in the Aolai Sea region, and the thirty-six main immortal cities have each sent ten newly appointed lords. With so many people and so few islands, don't you want to know the background of these people?" Lu Tong stroked his beard with a knowing smile.

"Shopkeeper Lu can find out such information?" Ye Mo was surprised. Such intelligence would be extremely useful to him. The more detailed the information he had on other immortal villages, the more secure he would feel.

"The assessments for all the immortal cities have already concluded, and everyone is heading toward the Aolai archipelago. The identities of these City Lords are public, making it easy to gather information on their backgrounds. My Lu family, being in business, often collects and uses this type of data. I will spend some time compiling it for you. Consider it a small contribution from me to help the growth of your village. Just don't forget me when the Ye Village has other high-quality goods to sell in the future. Besides spiritual weapons, my Lu family has connections for trading other spiritual items as well. No matter what you are selling, City Lord Ye, you can come to me. I will always give you a satisfying price," Lu Tong said eagerly.

Ye Mo certainly wouldn't refuse and agreed immediately. As long as the price was right, it didn't matter who he sold to.

"The new City Lords of the Aolai archipelago should all be arriving one after another soon. The flames of war are about to ignite in the Aolai Sea region. City Lord Ye, please take care of yourself and make haste to develop your village," Lu Tong said, bowing with sincere expression.

"Farewell, Shopkeeper Lu."

Ye Mo knew Lu Tong was hoping for comprehensive cooperation with the Ye Village to profit from it, and he did not decline. What he lacked most right now were connections, sales channels, and intelligence—all of which Lu Tong could provide. Moreover, the old man knew how to handle himself, and Ye Mo did not feel any aversion; cooperating with Lu Tong and the Lu family was not a bad thing.

After purchasing some spiritual herbs in the city, Ye Mo headed toward the teleportation hall of Qingyun Immortal City. His mood was somewhat heavy. The Immortal Alliance required all City Lords to arrive at the Aolai archipelago and establish their villages within five months. By his calculations, four or five months had already passed. All three hundred and sixty new City Lords would be arriving within this timeframe. With over a thousand islands of various sizes in the Aolai archipelago, the influx of over three hundred City Lords would surely lead to intense competition. Conflicts like the one he had with the Min family village were inevitable, and he needed to prepare early.

Returning from the teleportation array to the Ye Village Lord's Mansion, Ye Mo found Chang Fei waiting to see him.

"City Lord, today at the watchtower on the mountain peak, we observed four or five large sea vessels passing through the waters around us. A-Shui followed them for a stretch on Da Jin, and those ships did not choose to settle on any spiritual islands near us. It was a false alarm. However, with island space in the Aolai archipelago being so tight, it is only a matter of time before other immortal villages take root in our vicinity," Chang Fei reported.

Upon hearing this, Ye Mo grew tense. "So many ships passed by today?"

Ye Mo frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Gather all the cultivators; we must discuss this. I think we need to occupy more of the surrounding minor islands."

Soon, excluding Gao Jian, who was stationed at the Red-Fire Mineral Island, the other cultivators arrived at the Lord's Mansion.

"Brother Ye, let's hurry and occupy the surrounding resource islands! Let's grab them all. If anyone dares to compete with us, we'll fight them!" Wang Hu exclaimed, clenching his fists and shouting loudly. He had tasted the benefits; the vast mineral fields of the Red-Fire Mineral Island had quickly allowed him to become an artifact-refining apprentice, improving his skills and earning him a large sum of spirit stones. The refining acolytes in the workshop had also benefited greatly. For an artifact refiner, this was deeply satisfying.

The others were also filled with battle intent. Ever since Ye Mo brought back the Red-Fire Sword Armors, Yuan Qi pills, and gunpowder formulas, the strength of the entire Ye Immortal Village had begun to grow rapidly. They had constructed several bronze cannons and gunpowder weapons, installed at the village gates and near the island harbor to protect their ships. Many of the village guards had already begun wearing the Red-Fire Sword Armors. With their strength increasing, they had become more confident. The five Earth-Slave guards and the others all showed intense combat spirit; if Ye Mo gave the order, they would undoubtedly charge to the front without hesitation.

Of course, other cultivators had different reactions, as their personalities dictated their thoughts.

"Whatever Brother Ye says, we'll do," Yang You said with a blank expression, not overthinking. He wasn't good at analytical matters; he just needed to execute orders.

"The great chaos of the Aolai archipelago is about to begin," Mo Ling said with some concern.

"City Lord, I believe we should be cautious. Without sufficient strength, even if we occupy the minor islands now, it will be hard to defend them," Chang Fei said with a grave expression. According to the rules of the Immortal Alliance, only the immortal village and the main island it resided on were inviolable and protected by the Alliance. Other minor islands were not protected; if they were seized by other villages, there was nowhere to appeal, and it came down to pure strength.

"It would be best to identify which resource islands are worth occupying as soon as possible, and which barren islands are not worth wasting manpower on. Our village has limited personnel; we must use them in the most critical areas," Lin Zhi said in a deep voice after everyone else had expressed their views.

"Lin Zhi is right. We need to survey the islands within a few hundred miles and set our targets," Ye Mo nodded at Lin Zhi.

"City Lord, we only have one sea vessel; our transport capacity is insufficient. This bottleneck must be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise, it will be very troublesome later. Even with three heads and six arms, we cannot withstand simultaneous attacks from several villages. Our minor islands will eventually be seized by others," Chang Fei added.

"Sea vessels?" Ye Mo frowned. "This is a troublesome matter. Even if we purchase them from Qingyun Immortal City or the Donglai Spiritual Island, it will take months to sail them here—it's too slow. It seems we have no choice but to build our own shipyard and produce our own ships as soon as possible. We will also need to purchase ship design blueprints and recruit shipbuilders... I'm afraid that will cost quite a few spirit stones. However, very few immortal villages in the Aolai Sea region currently have their own shipyards. Building one will give us an advantage."

Ye Mo felt a headache coming on. He only had a few thousand spirit stones left, and it looked like they would have to be spent.