Martial Peak
chapter-5078

Zha Gu instantly became apprehensive upon hearing Gui Liao’s words. Over the past two years, the amount of Black Ink Coins he had earned off of Yang Kai was significantly more than what he could possibly make in his lifetime. With so much wealth in his possession now, he naturally wouldn’t want to give it up; however, just like what Gui Liao had said, if Yang Kai found out about it and filed a complaint with the Territory Lord after the latter left the Black Ink Nest, Zha Gu would be doomed.

Although he believed that the Territory Lord wouldn’t care about such a trivial matter, Yang Kai’s identity was special after all. Not only was he a Human Artifact Refiner, he had also gained the Territory Lord’s favour. What if the Territory Lord was willing to stand up for him?

An anxious Zha Gu gazed at Gui Liao, “Sir Gui Liao… do you think I should give all the money back to him?”

Gui Liao sneered. Without directly answering his question, he asked, “Zha Gu, how long have you been a Feudal Lord?”

Even though Zha Gu had no idea why the other man suddenly asked about it, he still replied honestly, “I’ve been a Feudal Lord for 3,000 years.”

“You’ve been stuck as a Feudal Lord for 3,000. Have you ever thought about ascending to become a Territory Lord?”

Zha Gu said solemnly, “It is every Feudal Lord’s dream to become a Territory Lord one day; however, there’s never been an opportunity for me.”

Just like Open Heaven Realm Masters, accumulation was key to a Black Ink Clansman’s cultivation. However, Humans could refine all sorts of cultivation materials while that wasn’t possible for the Black Ink Clan. There were two ways Black Ink Clansmen could grow their strength. First, they could absorb World Force and convert it into their own Black Ink Strength. Secondly, they could directly absorb Black Ink Strength produced in Black Ink Nests to enhance their powers.

The omnipresent Black Ink Strength in Hei Yuan’s territory was born from the Black Ink Nest, and every Black Ink Clansman could absorb it freely. Black Ink Strength in this place was like World Energy in the 3,000 Worlds.

However, there were innumerable Black Ink Clansmen living in this territory, and everyone was absorbing and refining the ambient Black Ink Strength. With so many people sharing the Black Ink Strength, Zha Gu wouldn’t be able to absorb a lot of it to strengthen himself regardless of how hard he tried.

“An opportunity, huh…” Gui Liao smiled, “Sir Territory Lord once said that we shouldn’t wait for opportunities to come to us, we have to create them for ourselves.”

Suddenly realising something, Zha Gu looked fervently at him, “Sir Gui Liao, you mean…”

Gui Liao stared fixedly at him and changed the topic by saying, “Do you want your own Fief?”

Upon hearing that, Zha Gu felt his breathing becoming hurried. He instantly nodded, “Of course I do. The reason I’ve been trying so hard to earn Black Ink Coins is that I want to buy a sub-nest from Sir Territory Lord; however, he’s recuperating now, and the Black Ink Nest has been shut. Moreover, I don’t have enough Black Ink Coins.”

Although he had earned a lot of money by relying on Yang Kai to make artifacts, he had only amassed 300,000 Black Ink Coins. This was a considerable sum of wealth for a Feudal Lord as 300,000 Black Ink Coins were worth about 3 billion Open Heaven Pills.

A Feudal Lord was equivalent to a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and there were rarely any Seventh-Order Humans who possessed so much wealth. It was the same case for the Black Ink Clan.

In order to own a Fief, not only did a Black Ink Clansman have to become a Feudal Lord, but they also had to possess a Black Ink Nest of their own, only then would he have a right to apply for a Fief from the Territory Lord.

Nevertheless, the lowest Rank Black Ink Nest cost 500,000 Black Ink Coins.

The average Black Ink Clansman would never be able to amass so much wealth in his lifetime. This was the reason there were so many Feudal Lords but only a small number of them had their own Fiefs. Although they were powerful enough, they didn’t have sufficient finances to purchase a Black Ink Nest.

Once a Feudal Lord possessed his own Black Ink Nest, it would be far more convenient for him to cultivate or recuperate when he was injured. For example, after Zha Gu returned from the battlefield, even though he was wounded, he was unable to enter the Black Ink Nest to recuperate as the Territory Lord had shut it. He could only go back to his own castle and wait for his wounds to heal slowly. However, if he had his own Black Ink Nest, he would recover far more quickly.

By owning his own Black Ink Nest, he could also cultivate inside it and increase his strength rapidly so that he would stand a much better chance of becoming a Territory Lord.

There were many benefits to owning a Black Ink Nest. One such benefit was that he would have his own Fief, which could attract a lot of lower-rank Black Ink Clansmen to settle in his territory. If High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen wanted to ascend to become Feudal Lords, they would have to get the help of his Black Ink Nest’s power. By doing so, they would have to pay him a fee. That would bring him a steady source of income.

Besides that, he would also have the right to conscript the Black Ink Clansmen living in his Fief when war broke out. By then, he could establish his own Army to fight against the Humans. If he made a contribution on the battlefield, he would be rewarded handsomely.

Feudal Lords with their own Fiefs were very different from those who didn’t have their own Fiefs. It was Zha Gu’s dream to have his own Black Ink Nest and Fief, and he had been working hard to achieve it.

When Gui Liao asked him such a question all of a sudden, he couldn’t help but fall into his wild thoughts as he secretly anticipated what the other man would say next.

As expected, Gui Liao said with a smile, “It’s not hard for you to get your own Fief. In fact, I can help you with that.”

Zha Gu felt his throat tightening as he asked agitatedly, “How are you going to help me, Sir Gui Liao?”

Gui Liao replied, “You’re strong enough, but you’ll need 500,000 Black Ink Coins to buy a sub-nest. How much money do you have now?”

After hesitating for a moment, Zha Gu said meekly, “300,000.”

Gui Liao nodded gently, “You need another 200,000, then. It’s fine. I can lend that much to you and you can pay me back when you have the money in the future.”

Zha Gu said, “Even if there’s enough Black Ink Coins, the Black Ink Nest is shut now. How am I supposed to get a sub-nest? I’ll have to wait for the Territory Lords to come out.”

The Black Ink Nests owned by the Feudal Lords were bred from the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. The relationship between them was like that of a Mother and her children. That was why the Black Ink Nests owned by the Feudal Lords were called sub-nests.

On the other hand, the Black Ink Nests owned by the Territory Lords were bred from the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Similarly, they were the sub-nests of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.

It required a lot of energy to breed a sub-nest from a Black Ink Nest, so every sub-nest cost a substantial amount of Black Ink Coins. It wouldn’t be given to a Feudal Lord for free, with the exception of if he had made a massive contribution.

Therefore, even though Gui Liao was willing to lend Zha Gu some money, even the cleverest woman could not cook a meal without rice.

Right then, Gui Liao said, “I happen to have a sub-nest with me. I prepared it for myself back then; however, Sir Territory Lord has ordered me to help manage his territory and never lets me go. That’s why the sub-nest is still unused. Now that I’m about to ascend to become a Territory Lord, the sub-nest is useless to me. I can sell it to you.”

[What a coincidence!] Zha Gu was both shocked and pleasantly surprised.

Over the past two years, he had been exploiting Yang Kai just to get enough money to purchase a sub-nest, but he hadn’t managed to earn enough Black Ink Coins even now.

It never crossed his mind that not only was Gui Liao willing to lend him some money, but he would also sell his sub-nest to him.

Given his understanding of Gui Liao, Zha Gu knew that the other man wasn’t a kind-hearted person; hence, while he was excited, he asked cautiously, “Is there a condition attached to this deal, Sir Gui Liao?”

Gui Liao started chuckling, “I’ve always known that you’re clever, Zha Gu. It seems that I was right about you. There’s indeed a condition, but it won’t harm you in any way.”

“Please make it clear to me, Sir Gui Liao.”

With a solemn expression, Gui Liao said, “When you have your own Fief, I want you to bring Yang Kai to that place and make him continue refining artifacts. I can introduce some wealthy Feudal Lords to you who are much richer than your friends. Also, I will take half of the profit from the sale of these artifacts. Additionally, I want him to refine two artifacts for me first. One offensive artifact and one defensive artifact.”

Zha Gu thought that the other man was indeed greedy by demanding half of the profit. With that said, they could command a higher price from wealthier Feudal Lords; after all, just like him, the customers he introduced to Yang Kai were Feudal Lords who didn’t have their own Fiefs. Feudal Lords who relied on the Territory Lord to survive naturally were not affluent.

As for making two artifacts for Gui Liao first, that wasn’t really an issue.

After giving it a thought, Zha Gu asked, “Sir Gui Liao, how much do you think we should charge our new customers for artifacts?”

Instead of answering his question, Gui Liao asked, “What do you think?”

Zha Gu thought that the other man was a bit ridiculous for just throwing the question back at him, but despite what he thought, he still replied, “I’m currently charging my existing customers 30,000 Black Ink Coins per piece. As for the Feudal Lords that you know, why don’t we charge them 50,000 per artifact?”

If they charged 50,000 per artifact, other than the 7,000 Black Ink Coins that had to be given to Yang Kai, the remaining money would be equally split between Gui Liao and him. That way, he would still get 21,500 Black Ink Coins. It was only slightly less than the 23,000 he was receiving now, which was the amount of money he could get by exploiting Yang Kai on his own.

Furthermore, the deal would be worth it since he was able to get a Fief and a Black Ink Nest.

50,000 was a huge sum in his eyes; after all, when he demanded 30,000, many Feudal Lords were unwilling to pay for it. They would cross the line by asking for a higher price.

“100,000,” Gui Liao said coldly.

“What?” Zha Gu thought that he had misheard him as he gazed at him in shock.

“100,000. It’s decided.”

“Sir Gui Liao!” Zha Gu couldn’t help but call out, “Isn’t this price somewhat exorbitant? Will those Feudal Lords be willing to pay such a price to get an artifact?”

Gui Liao sneered, “Do not compare the Feudal Lords you know to my associates. They are all Feudal Lords who have their own Fiefs. Do you think Feudal Lords who can afford to buy sub-nests are not wealthy enough? They’re all eager to obtain artifacts made by Human Artifact Refiners; however, since all the Artifact Refiners have been sent to the Royal City, they aren’t able to get their hands on them even if they want to. If there’s someone who can refine artifacts for them, they’ll even agree to paying more than 100,000; after all, they only have one life, and they can always earn more Black Ink Coins.”

After a pause, he went on to say, “Moreover, when Sir Territory Lord leaves the Black Ink Nest, this business will naturally have to stop. He’ll definitely send Yang Kai to the Royal City, so if we don’t seize this opportunity to earn more money now, there won’t be such a chance again in the future. Don’t worry. You just have to bring Yang Kai to your Fief, and I’ll introduce some customers to you. You just have to serve them.”