Chapter 3310
Chapter 3310: The Sword Emperor’s Choice (Three)
Jian Chen glanced at the Sword Emperor deeply and said, “Has the Sword Emperor come to visit me specially to ask me this?”
“Yes!” The Sword Emperor stared straight at Jian Chen and directly admitted it.
Jian Chen did not immediately answer him. He took out a jade bottle and poured out a cup of medicine steadily before drinking it.
The medicine in the bottle had all been extracted from Lifesoul Flowers. Right now, it was no different from water to Jian Chen. He needed to take a small sip every once in a while.
After ingesting the medicine, comfort immediately spread through Jian Chen’s soul. The cracks in his soul were being nourished, recovering at an extremely gradual rate.
Jian Chen shut his eyes as if he enjoyed the feeling of having his soul nourished very much. Only after quite a while did he say slowly, “I don’t belong to any ruler.”
Surprise appeared in the Sword Emperor’s eyes. After a moment of thought, he said, “Fellow, are you aware that the matters of the Peace region are not as simple as they seem on the surface? Behind the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King is a ruler. Aren’t you afraid of the ruler behind the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King when you opposed him?”
“That doesn’t seem to have anything to do with you,” Jian Chen said.
“Of course it does. Originally, I had already made my decision. I would lead Sword Emperor city into submitting to the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King once he arrived to ensure the survival of my clan. However, the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King left silently after visiting you.”
The Sword Emperor stared at Jian Chen deeply and continued, “Before this, I thought you belonged to one of the two other rulers seeing how you opposed the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King, so I specially came to learn more about the situation, which would allow me to make the correct decision.”
“But I never expected it to actually be different. However, while you don’t belong to either ruler, you don’t seem to be afraid of the ruler behind the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King.”
“You want to know exactly where my confidence to fear none of the three rulers comes from.” Jian Chen smiled faintly.
The Sword Emperor sighed gently. “I’ll be honest with you. My Sword Emperor clan doesn’t want to submit to any ruler, much less serve another. If there is any other choice, our Sword Emperor clan would obviously like to consider it.”
Jian Chen looked at the Sword Emperor and said nothing.
The Sword Emperor’s expression suddenly became stern. He stared at Jian Chen brightly and lowered his tone slightly. “Fellow, you possess battle prowess on par with heavenly kings. Someone as powerful as you is already enough to attract the careful attention of rulers. If you’re willing, our Sword Emperor city is willing to offer up thirty percent of our profits. We only hope that you can protect our Sword Emperor city, allowing us to remain independent.”
Sword Emperor city did not just represent a city, but the range of influence of an organisation. Within the range of influence of this organisation, Sword Emperor city only served as the capital. There were many other towns beneath the capital.
But without any exception, all towns and businesses that lay in the range of their influence had to pay a large sum of taxes to Sword Emperor city. Even the three merchant unions of the Peace region were no different.
As a result, Sword Emperor city’s yearly income from taxes was quite an impressive sum. After all, it was one of the nine imperial cities of the Peace region.
Apart from that, there were many mines and medicinal gardens that lay in their range of influence, which also provided Sword Emperor city with a tremendous amount of wealth every year.
Right now, the Sword Emperor was offering thirty percent of all of that. The wealth involved was so great that even heavenly kings would be tempted.
With that, Jian Chen sank into a moment of silence before saying, “I can ensure the independence of Sword Emperor city, maintaining the current situation, but I have a condition.”
“What condition?” The Sword Emperor’s eyes lit up.
“Cooperate with the Xia Merchant Union in gathering Lifesoul Flowers for me. I require an extremely large number of Lifesoul Flowers.”
“Xia Jianming is already gathering them right now, but the Xia Merchant Union can only gather a portion. There are still many clans and organisations that are holding onto their Lifesoul Flowers in the Peace region, refusing to sell them. There’s nothing that the Xia Merchant Union can do about these Lifesoul Flowers either. After all, if they refuse to sell them, it’s not like the Xia Merchant Union can take them by force.”
Jian Chen looked at the Sword Emperor and said, “I want you to gather all the Lifesoul Flowers that these organisations are holding onto.”
“No wonder the Xia Merchant Union has been purchasing Lifesoul Flowers en masse in the Peace region, causing the price to multiply. So you were in need of them. But what do you need so many Lifesoul Flowers for?” The Sword Emperor was curious, but when he saw Jian Chen’s petrified legs, he sank into his thoughts again. “Alright, I agree!”
After a slight discussion, the Sword Emperor left the courtyard and returned to his estate.
“An expert on par with heavenly kings? Even the eight heavenly kings refuse to become involved with the mess that the Peace region is in. Can he really protect our Sword Emperor city?” Ancestor Li immediately frowned when he learnt all this from the Sword Emperor. “Before a ruler, who stands a chance? Not even heavenly kings stand a chance.”
The Sword Emperor stood before the window and gazed in a certain direction of the city. He said slowly, “He’s relatively special, as I can see no reverence at all to rulers from his expression. When I mentioned the rulers to him, he remained calm the entire time. His expression had not changed at all.”
“Even the Mayhemless Heavenly King does not possess this kind of composure.”
“So what if he’s composed? That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Don’t tell me you think he stands a chance against the rulers?” Ancestor Li shook his head gently.
“I’m obviously not depending on him being able to stand a chance against the rulers. The rulers are so powerful that no heavenly king stands a chance. However, this only costs our Sword Emperor city thirty percent of our profits.”
“Amidst the clash between the three rulers, if he really can maintain Sword Emperor city in its current condition, then that would be the best. If he can’t, then we’ll change with the circumstances and choose a ruler to yield to.”
Ancestor Li nodded in response. He understood the Sword Emperor’s thoughts. He was grasping for any and all rays of hope. No matter how dim they were, he had to make an attempt for the future of the clan.
The Sword Emperor clan had ruled over the Peace region for far too long. Unless they had truly run out of options, neither of them wanted to yield to anybody.
Afterwards, the Sword Emperor got to work. An order was sent out from the estate towards all the organisations of various sizes within their range of influence. The order only contained a single message—make all the organisation sell their Lifesoul Flowers.
Even though the current Peace region was a little restless due to the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King’s actions, the imperial cities still possessed their weight. Faced with the Sword Emperor’s personal order, none of the organisations within the range of influence of Sword Emperor city dared to defy it. They all offered up the Lifesoul Flowers they were holding onto.
As a result, the Xia Merchant Union purchased Lifesoul Flowers for hefty prices across the entire Peace region, while the Sword Emperor specially targeted all the clans that lay in the range of his influence.
Under their combined efforts, all the Lifesoul Flowers in the range of influence of Sword Emperor city ended up in Jian Chen’s hands in the shortest amount of time possible.
Jian Chen remained in secluded cultivation within the courtyard, extracting the essence from these Lifesoul Flowers and condensing droplets of spiritual fluid, which he used to nourish his soul.
The Xia Merchant Union strengthened with each passing day in the Peace region. Under Jian Chen’s secret assistance, they occupied all of the businesses in the nine imperial cities with unstoppable speed, truly unifying the commerce of the Peace region.
With the expansion of the Xia Merchant Union, even more Lifesoul Flowers gathered towards Jian Chen’s hands.
Under the accumulating effects of tremendous amounts of Lifesoul Flowers, more and more cracks were healed in Jian Chen’s soul.
As his soul gradually recovered, the laws he could use became stronger and stronger too.
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His strength was gradually recovering.
“Master, basically all of the Lifesoul Flowers that can be purchased in the Peace region have already been bought out. There are still some Lifesoul Flowers that many clans in the eight other imperial cities are holding onto, but they refuse to sell them to us.” Half a month later, Xia Jianming appeared before Jian Chen.