Chapter 847: Surging Dark Tides
Apart from comprehending the basic laws of the seven pieces of the debris of the stars, Lin Li did not slack in reading the Book of Eternity. Having really seen the power of the Sanctuary powerhouses, Lin Li had a deeper understanding of the issues mentioned in the Book of Eternity.
The things recorded in the Book of Eternity were more than just powerful magic spells. It also included the detailed experience of each stage of the journey that the God of Mages took to enter the Sanctuary-realm. Reading the Book of Eternity was just like following Geresco from the Legendary-realm to the Sanctuary-realm, and making the best choices at every junction after breaking through the obstacles along the way.
That was probably the reason Geresco, who had left the Book of Eternity behind, had such great faith and confidence that the person who obtained the Book of Eternity would be able to enter the Sanctuary-realm in a very short time to accomplish the great feat of sealing the big rift.
Having comprehended the debris of the stars and read the Book of Eternity, Lin Li didn’t forget to continue incubating the Dragon of Destruction’s crystal. Actually, he still wouldn’t be able to hatch a descendant of the Dragon of Destruction like Tutankhamun and Nefa. His main purpose was to acquire the experience of the Dragon of Destruction through the infusion of mental strength into the Dragon Crystal of the Dragon of Destruction, as well as the mastery of the Laws of Darkness and Destruction.
After settling the matters at the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine, followed by the purification of Rodhart in the underground palace, Lin Li went on to visit Gran Town where the status of the Tower of Dusk in the Breezy Plains was discussed. With this all done, he finally had some rare leisure time in the Tower of Dusk. However, Lin Li was actually busier than ever, and his days were all fully packed. He had a hectic schedule, and kept himself busy to improve his strength and step into the Sanctuary-realm as soon as possible.
At the same time, the development of the Tower of Dusk had also begun to get back on track, while the impact of the suppression by the various forces gradually disappeared. However, just like Lin Li had expected previously, not all forces gave up on opposing the Tower of Dusk. Even if they didn’t dare to make any extreme attacks on the Tower of Dusk due to the warning from the Ashen Warlock, they would still resort to commercial threats, which were not restricted by the Ashen Warlock.
However, with the natural disintegration of the alliance of forces that boycotted the Tower of Dusk, the remaining ones that were still targeting the Tower of Dusk seemed rather weak, and could not come up with many methods.
Initially, almost all the forces of the Breezy Plains—except the Malfa Family and the Glittergold Trade Union, which were close to the Tower of Dusk—had all stopped supplying various raw materials like ores and herbs to the Tower of Dusk. Hence, the Tower of Dusk had no choice but to make up for the shortage of raw materials by increasing the orders from the Ledin Kingdom and the Elven Kingdom. However, that naturally caused the costs to increase accordingly.
After the gathering in Gran Town ended, the news of the Ashen Warlock being impressed with the Tower of Dusk was spread around the Breezy Plains, and various forces immediately resumed supplying materials to the Tower of Dusk. There were even some forces that took the initiative to lower the price of raw materials in order to salvage their relationship with the Tower of Dusk. After all, after the Tower of Dusk’s status was confirmed, it was undoubtedly ranked among the top powers, together with the Mithril Alliance which was part of the three major forces. Including the Glittergold Trade Union, those were now the five major forces of the Breezy Plains. Without a strong background, no one would be willing to fight against such a powerful force. Otherwise, they would be the ones losing out.
However, there were also several forces that were still refusing to give up, especially the George Family. It was not a member of the five major families of the Mithril Alliance, but it was said that the Mithril Alliance intended to let it join them and become the sixth family of the alliance. The George Family started off with a mining business, and had been in the Breezy Plains for almost a thousand years. They also had several excellent mines.
In fact, the strength of the George Family might be similar to that of the Malfa Family in the past, or perhaps slightly inferior. Compared to the five major families of the Mithril Alliance, it was way inferior, and was far from being qualified to join the Mithril Alliance. However, the George Family happened to have a mine that produced a rare magical metal known as the Dark Crescent Tungsten. It was produced in small amounts, but it was exactly what the Forging Workshop of the Tower of Dusk needed.
Initially, the Dark Crescent Tungsten was not valued by the Smithing Masters, because it was not easy to refine, and the usage and dosage were difficult to grasp. However, Lin Li was a Smithing Guru who definitely knew how to use the Dark Crescent Tungsten. Only a small amount of Dark Crescent Tungsten would be used in forging, and as long as one mastered the precise dosage and usage of it, there would be no need for any mageweaths in order to make weapons sharper or stronger. Hence, the Forging Workshop of the Tower of Dusk had long used the Dark Crescent Tungsten in forging, making it one of the necessary magical metals.
Although the Tower of Dusk also had a swamp mining area which produced various rare magical metals, the output could not keep up with the demand. Hence, they had always been purchasing large amounts of Dark Crescent Tungsten from the George Family to make up for the gap. There were many forces operating forging businesses, and the Tower of Dusk was the only one that purchased the Dark Crescent Tungsten in large quantities. Those who were conscientious would definitely be able to see how important the Dark Crescent Tungsten was to the Tower of Dusk. Hence, it was not surprising that the George Family would refuse to supply the Dark Crescent Tungsten.
Didn’t the Ashen Warlock say that no one was allowed to disrupt the current peace? We were merely refusing to sell our belongings, so no one could say anything about that, aye? Although the George Family would make less money for a short period of time, the mine was not going to become damaged. We would even get to join the Mithril Alliance. What was not to love?
Since the Dark Crescent Tungsten was a rare magical metal, it couldn’t be found anywhere else[1]. Although the Tower of Dusk still had several raw material supply channels, it still wouldn’t be easy to make up for the gap.
The Archmage Seth who was in charge of the Forging Workshop tried plenty of methods, but still failed to get a piece of ore from the George Family. Hence, he had to report it to Lin LI.
“He’s just a clown who’s trying to stir trouble. Since he doesn’t want to sell it, let him be,’ Lin Li said calmly after hearing the report.
Soon, the George Family discovered that not only did they stop receiving orders for the Dark Crescent Tungsten, they couldn’t sell other ores, either. The various trade unions that usually ordered ores from then had all received a new and cheaper source of supply overnight, and that was the Tower of Dusk.
Doesn’t the Tower of Dusk have its own Forging Workshop? Why have they begun selling ores again? The George Family tried to find out the reason from the various trade unions, only to hear that the output of the Tower of Dusk had decreased, and the ores that they produced were more than enough. Hence, they had to start selling them. The George Family obviously wouldn’t be so silly as to believe that reason. The Tower of Dusk was clearly trying to take revenge on them because they refused to sell the Dark Crescent Tungsten.
The Forging Workshop of the Tower of Dusk did have their output affected, but they didn’t have to rely on selling ores to maintain a livelihood. Besides, the ores that they had sold to the trade unions were not from surplus caused by a reduced output. The current ores for the Tower of Dusk were either from their own territory or purchased from the Ledin Kingdom. Not only did they have an abundance of them now, they would have more than enough when the operation of the Forging Workshop was in full swing.
Most of the ores used in the Forging Workshop of the Tower of Dusk were actually high-quality ones from the Ledin Kingdom, while the ones sold to the trade unions were all mined from the Tower of Dusk’s territory. The quality was similar to that in other areas in the Breezy Plains.
The George Family had also thought of lowering prices in a bid to win their customers back. However, the benefits that the trade unions obtained were beyond just low prices. It was said that they also had other business partnerships with the Tower of Dusk. Hence, they definitely wouldn’t give up the Tower of Dusk and return.
When the George Family realized the situation, they had no choice but to look for the Mithril Alliance in a bid to come up with a solution. After all, they were working for the Mithril Alliance. However, the five families of the Mithril Alliance were all ancient families that had existed for over a thousand years, and they didn’t lack those ores. Although they were wealthy enough to purchase the ores from the George Family, it wouldn’t be sustainable in the long run. It would just be like them providing for the George Family.
The Mithril Alliance thought of another solution, and that was to purchase the Dark Crescent Tungsten ore directly from the George Family. However, after giving it some thought, the George Family realized that selling the ore to them didn’t seem to be able to solve the current issue that they were facing. Besides, they would only be valuable to the Mithril Alliance if they had the Dark Crescent Tungsten. Even if they might not stay strong until the end, they would still be fit to negotiate with the Tower of Dusk.
“If you can’t help us, we’ll have to talk to the Tower of Dusk!” After several failed negotiations, the George Family finally couldn’t stand it any longer. It was mainly because they didn’t know when the matter would end, and the mining of ores was the mainstay for the George Family. Without this source of income, there would almost be no way to keep the family alive.
“Don’t worry, we have spent a ton of money to poach some senior smithing masters from the Tower of Dusk. I believe that we will soon be able to experiment and find out the formula for the usage of the Dark Crescent Tungsten. By then, we will be able to share the formula with you,” the person from the Mithril Alliance said confidently.
However, could things really go so smoothly? Since the emergence of traitors, the Tower of Dusk had been strengthening their security measures, and Lin Li had also come up with various means to ensure the confidentiality of their information. The Dark Crescent Tungsten that the blacksmiths in the Forging Workshop had come into contact with was actually a mixture of several rare magical metals of fixed proportions, some of which would change in high temperature, and some would become impurities during forging. Even a Smithing Guru might not be able to find out the real formula through experiments on reversal.
That was all. In the face of repeated questions from the George Family, the members of the Mithril Alliance became more and more indifferent. After looking at them a few times, they decided to stop responding.
Having understood that they had been abandoned, the George Family was filled with regret. Initially, they had been cooperating well with the Tower of Dusk, and yet they had stirred up such a huge conflict because they had blindly trusted the Mithril Alliance. In the end, they were the ones to suffer. An elder of the George Family stood outside the Tower of Dusk for three days and three nights, and even signed a series of agreements that were similar to deeds of sales. Finally, the conflict was resolved.
The George Family was not the only force that the Mithril Alliance had made use of, but all the forces faced similar outcomes. Back when they were facing the boycott by almost all the forces in the Breezy Plains, the Tower of Dusk stood strong and did not fall. How could they be defeated by a few clowns that were out to make trouble?
Lin Li didn’t waste too much time and energy on dealing with the despicable and lowly tricks of theirs. Instead, those seemed to be amusing matters that balanced out his busy life. At the same time, Lin Li’s own strength also improved significantly every day. Although he was already at the peak of the Legendary-realm, he could still clearly feel that he was slowly advancing towards the Sanctuary-realm.
However, an invitation letter from the Glittergold Trade Union caused Lin Li to temporarily pause. At the beginning of the invitation letter, Hoffman first apologized again for leaving Gran Town early, and then for being unable to visit the Tower of Dusk in person. He also mentioned the purpose of his invitation, and that was for Lin Li to take a look at the potion formulas that they had purchased at high prices. The other reason was to introduce Lin Li to the major shareholders of the Glittergold Trade Union, and forge closer partnership ties at the same time.
The Tower of Dusk had many business partners, but the Glittergold Trade Union was undoubtedly one of the most important ones. Hence, Lin Li had to give Hoffman some face. Although Lin Li was eager to reach the Sanctuary-realm, getting to know a few more major shareholders of the Glittergold Trade Union and forging closer partnership ties wouldn’t take up too much of his time.
Besides, Hoffman was a Master of pharmaceutics who had the strong financial support of the Glittergold Trade Union. The formulas that he had were probably not inferior to the Pharmacist Guild’s. He even said that the potion formulas were interesting, and many pharmaceutics Masters were at a loss for what to do about them. Hence, Lin Li was indeed very curious.
Lafalia City was the largest commercial center of the Breezy Plains and the place where the Glittergold Trade Union was located, and was also known as the granary of the Breezy Plains. Apart from the headquarters of the Glittergold Trade Union, almost half of the trade unions in the Breezy Plains had chosen to station their headquarters here. One reason was that it was convenient for commercial exchanges, and another reason was its safety.
The Felan Kingdom did not appoint a castellan for the Lafalia City. In the beginning, Lafalia City was just an open-air black market in the Breezy Plains, which gradually developed. Afterwards, the Glittergold Trade Union invested plenty of money to build the famous commercial capital. Perhaps the President of the Glittergold Trade Union could be considered the castellan of Lafalia City.
The Glittergold Trade Union was extremely wealthy, and could be considered a tycoon. Hence, it definitely wouldn’t hesitate to invest in tightening the security of its own place.
[1] It’s probably a mental shortcut of the author, and we need to add “in the Breezy Plains”.