Chapter 343: Protection Fee?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
A few days later, at the location of the Great Mountain Alliance’s Mechanism City.
In the defensive battle a few days ago, due to the enhancement of the Thousand Mechanisms Sphere, the power of the mechanisms in the Mechanism City had increased greatly, and there was also the Great Sea Floating Wood Tree Sea that Jiang Li had set up.
The casualties of their cultivators were not serious. However, the large number of damaged mechanisms still required a lot of materials and time to repair.
It turned out that the group of elite disciples from the Ink Sect had not chosen to establish another sect.
It played a very key role after joining the Great Mountain Alliance.
Not only did the Great Mountain Alliance gain an additional Soul Formation cultivator, under their guidance, the standards of the various sects’ Mystic Gate cultivators also clearly increased.
Most of them could already repair and build their own mechanisms.
However, today, a group of uninvited guests arrived.
Two large s.h.i.+ps dragged by ferocious flood dragons sailed into the defensive territory of the Great Mountain Alliance for some reason.
To be able to use flood dragons to pull the s.h.i.+p, this was undoubtedly the wars.h.i.+p of the Dragon Transformation Island.
No matter what, it was the few elders stationed here by the Great Mountain Alliance of the Eastern Region that personally received them.
However, the other party had no intention of giving face to small rural forces. The moment they spoke, it was a very excessive request.
“What? We have to pay you 500 armored masks every month?! Isn’t your island asking for a little too much!”
The Great Mountain Alliance Elder was extremely indignant.
The battle at the front line was difficult. Every time they fought, they would lose quite a number of people. It was hard to say if they could gather 500 Armored Trolls in a month. Now, the Dragon Transformation Island wanted 500.
If the Great Mountain Alliance really did as they wished, they would be dragged into the mud of this war until they died.
“Hmph, going too far? A small rural faction dares to boast shamelessly.”
The few people who got off the s.h.i.+p had long expected the Great Mountain Alliance’s retort and were disdainful.
“This Mechanism City is in a dangerous place. It has always been attacked by war. It’s not easy to deal with, right?”
“We can tell you a piece of news. Now, the Thousand Crane Tower in the east has already abandoned its encampment and retreated its disciples. There’s only an empty city ahead of you.”
“If you agree, then my Dragon Transformation Island’s fleet might be able to a.s.sist you, but you don’t agree. Hmph, you probably can’t endure the sea beasts that stretch for 50 kilometers.”
“You have to think carefully if you’re going too far.”
The people from the Thousand Crane Tower had retreated?
Everyone from the Great Mountain Alliance was shocked when they heard this.
Apart from a large number of forces who wanted to join the Divine Judgment Hall and establish strongholds in every seafront to defend,
There would also be medium-sized Divine Judgment Masters in the Divine Judgment Hall presiding over the overall situation.
The Thousand Crane Tower was the flagbearer of this sea area! Their immortal crane group ate a million sea beasts as food, and they reproduced quite a large group in this sea area. Every time they suffered a tide, they could endure extremely great pressure.
However, for some reason, the fleet of the Thousand Crane Tower had been attacked recently.
It was said that the losses were extremely heavy. Some Soul Formation elders were even heavily injured.
During this period of time, they finally could not stand the disturbance and took the initiative to withdraw from the front line, returning to the back area to deal with the hiding enemy.
However, once they left, the pressure on the remaining forces would suddenly increase.
After the Dragon Transformation Island learned of this news, they sent a fleet here.
On the surface, it was to take the initiative to share the pressure.
However, in private, they extorted protection fees.
500 Armored Troll masks per month did not sound like a lot.
However, most small sects could not save up so much in a month. They were afraid of being targeted by the Dragon Transformation Island, so they could only take out the resources they had acc.u.mulated to fill this gap.
They only hoped that the Divine Judgment Hall could send other members in time to change this situation. Otherwise, as time pa.s.sed, they would definitely be extorted to death.
Hearing this news, the higher-ups of the Great Mountain Alliance also felt a heavy pressure.
If there was only no Thousand Crane Tower ahead, the situation would not be especially bad.
After all, the Great Mountain Alliance was formed by the entire Great Mountain Region. Although it was not comparable to medium-sized Divine Judgment Hall members, it was still much stronger than ordinary sects.
However, the problem was that not only did the people from the Dragon Transformation Island not help, they even kicked them while they was down.
“How is it? A mere 500 Armored Trolls can exchange for a month of peace. Don’t make a mistake you’ll regret.”
Someone from the Dragon Transformation Island took out a white pearl from somewhere and stuffed it into his mouth. Then, he puffed his mouth and whistled strangely.
The sea water not far away immediately churned. Be it ordinary sea fish or lone sea beasts, when they heard this voice, they all jumped out of the water and swam over.
When they saw that scene, the expressions of the people from the Great Mountain Alliance immediately changed. The people of the Dragon Transformation Island actually had the ability to control the sea beasts.
If Jiang Li was here, he would definitely be able to recognize that the small white pearl was a merman’s tear.
However, the size and quality were far inferior to the 57 pills he had consumed earlier.
With the power of the sea contained in the merman’s tears and the Dragon Transformation Island’s dragon blood cultivation method, controlling the weak sea beasts in a small area was their specialty.
Although they were definitely not as terrifying as true mermen, these sects on the front line were already afraid of the sea beast tide. It was too easy to use them to scare people and collect protection fees.
This was a blatant threat.
The Dragon Transformation Island was hinting that if they did not pay the protection fee, they would lure the sea beasts in the other areas over.
They did not need to remember the factions who had paid the protection fee. They only needed to remember the factions who had not paid the protection fee.
“This… we need to discuss it first.”
Such a decision was equivalent to betraying the interests of the entire Great Mountain Region. None of them could agree immediately.
Without Jiang Li around, they had to at least go through the Great Mountain Conference.
“Give it to them!”
“Friends from the Dragon Transformation Island have come from afar. Consider the 500 Armored Troll masks a welcome gift from our Great Mountain Alliance.”
While the higher-ups of the Great Mountain Alliance were hesitating, Jiang Li’s voice sounded from afar.
In next to no time, a flowing light descended into the city and transformed into Jiang Li.
He took a few steps into the main hall and casually waved his hand. Swoos.h.!.+ The sound of bone armor plates colliding continuously sounded. Five stacks of armor plates appeared under his hand.
Each stack of a hundred was the number they requested.
Some of the armors were still covered in blood and flesh. Clearly, they were new goods that had been pried off not long ago.
“Interesting, it seems that the Great Mountain Alliance is not an incompetent small sect.”
“Is this the Alliance Leader of the Great Mountain Alliance? You’re indeed young and promising.”
“Little brother, what’s your name? Have we met before?”
At this moment, the female captain of the Dragon Transformation Island who had been sitting at the side with her legs crossed and not speaking suddenly became interested.
Jiang Li was slightly surprised when he saw this person. This was Captain Sasha who he had seen from afar when he came out of the Ghost King Desolate Ground earlier.
However, he had disguised himself at that time, so this female captain should not recognize him.
“Little brother, if you’re willing to stay on my s.h.i.+p for a month, I’ll make the decision to forgo these 500 Armored Troll masks. I don’t want them anymore.”
“Little brother, what do you think?”
Staying on the s.h.i.+p for a month? She was clearly craving his body.
At that time, this female captain had issued a reward to get someone to capture Jiang Li and bring him to her bed. He did not expect that she would still target him after suppressing the Dragon Blood Dragon Qi on his body the second time they met.
It was not that Jiang Li was pure and innocent, but that he simply did not like the “smell of the sea”.
Captain Sasha did not insist.
After receiving what they wanted, the cultivators of the Dragon Transformation Island did not stop. They jumped onto the wars.h.i.+p and drove towards the next unlucky person’s territory.
Of course, if they knew that the dragon blood in Jiang Li’s body was practically not inferior to that of a pure-blooded dragon, that woman would definitely not let him off.
Seeing this group of uninvited guests leave, the people from the Great Mountain Alliance immediately cursed. However, in the end, their strength was inferior to others and anyone could bully them.
“Alliance Leader, where have you been these few days? It’s too dangerous outside now. If there’s anything important in the future, let us follow you.”
“As for the Dragon Transformation Island, we originally planned to send a message to ask your opinion.”
“The people from the Dragon Transformation Island are going too far. Even if they take the armor plates, they won’t help us.”
Everyone communicated, but no one complained about Jiang Li handing over the Armored Troll masks so readily.
This was because Jiang Li’s prestige in the Great Mountain Alliance had already been established.
After contributing greatly to the alliance to solve the big trouble time and again, there was also the existence of the Hidden Rock cultivators.
The current Alliance Leader Jiang had strength, influence, reputation, and achievements. No one questioned his decision anymore.
Otherwise, it would be ugly if the Hidden Rock cultivators came to find them at night.
“It’s fine. Our possessions are not so easy to obtain.”
“Since they’ve taken it, I naturally have a way to let them block the calamity. 500 Armored Troll masks is nothing.”
Jiang Li meant something deeper.
For a thrifty person like him, if there was no special reason, how could he be willing to let others scam him?
Some of the 500 Armored Troll masks had been tampered with.
There was a tracking method used by the n.o.ble Armored Trolls. Coincidentally, that method was broken by Gallonfran.
The Armored Trolls had lost a stronghold and were most likely seeking revenge.
The small Great Mountain Alliance could not withstand it. Now that someone said that they wanted to protect them, it was a good thing.
“In addition, check this batch of armor plates. Then, I’ll have to trouble Martial Ancestor to personally make a trip down and exchange these armor plates for merit points.”
Jiang Li handed over another storage bag.
A high-level Soul Formation cultivator took it and took a look. Even with his knowledge, he gasped on the spot.
When the others saw this colleague’s reaction, they curiously took it and took turns to check.
However, everyone had the same expression after reading it.
The Great Mountain Alliance had been stationed here for several months and had obtained very little. They had never seen so many Armored Trolls at once.
“Jiang Li, how did you do it? Where did you get so many armor plates?”
They were thinking if Jiang Li had gone out to rob some sect’s warehouse.
“Nothing. I attacked an island of those monsters these past few days. There should be about 80,000 Armored Troll masks here. With these, we’re one step closer to the million mark.”
Jiang Li did not explain much. He waved his hand and left, leaving behind an unfathomable back.
…
In the deep sea crack, after kidnapping the remnant soul of one of the Nine Sons of the Ancestral Dragon, Ba Xia, Jiang Li directly returned to the encampment of the Great Mountain Alliance.
However, what was a little regretful was that Ba Xia, who had fallen for Jiang Li’s trick, was unwilling to tell him even a single word.
As a result, he could not take away the huge tortoise sh.e.l.l that looked like a treasure.
“Master Dragon, look, I’ve already released you from the Dragon Pearl. Shouldn’t you fulfill your promise?”
Jiang Li tried to persuade it again.
Then, there was only one response. It was the roar of a dragon.
Although Ba Xia could not escape from Jiang Li’s buff, it could not be hurt anymore.
The huge tortoise’s desire was freedom and to kill Jiang Li, so he was naturally unable to satisfy it.
It was probably quite difficult to pry out the Ancestral Dragon cultivation method that Jiang Li wanted from this tortoise’s mouth.
After exiting his consciousness, Jiang Li walked into the coffin.
Due to the fact that it had been opened in the deep sea earlier, a lot of seawater had entered the coffin. The ground was still a little wet.
After cleaning up, he gathered all this seawater into a small lake for the merman tribe that had already come under him. With them in their Great Mountain Alliance, the future battles would be much easier.
“Young Master.”
At this moment, Qin Shuman floated over from afar and bowed charmingly in front of him. She bowed skillfully and cunningly.
The quality of this Seven Roads Ghost City Lord’s clothes had always been poor, especially every time she saw Jiang Li, they always slipped off her body.
“You’ve been doing quite well recently. Thank you for your hard work.”
She was the earliest senior subordinate who had followed Jiang Li to conquer the world. Ever since she came out of the Seven Roads Ghost City, she had been working nonstop.
Managing Jiang Li’s coffin, taking care of Green Mountain Residence, training the ghost soldiers, and printing black talismans was absolutely worthy of praise.
Jiang Li was very satisfied with this capable female ghost.
He looked up and saw that not long after, the Yin Burial Ghost Soldiers floating above the coffin had nearly doubled in size.
After Jiang Li became the Alliance Leader, the entire Great Mountain Region was his backyard.
Under the operation of the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn, an endless stream of souls were sent over. The number of qualified ghost soldiers had already reached an astonis.h.i.+ng 1.83 million.
As long as the two coffin nails given to the Great Mountain Alliance were refined, the Yin Burial Coffin could begin to advance to the medium-grade Earth-rank.
At that time, Qin Shuman would probably have even more work.
“Where is Gallonfran? Where is she?”
Jiang Li gave her a high-grade Profound-rank illusion artifact. This kind of unorthodox artifact had always been rare, and it was truly rare to be able to reach this rank.
Then, he looked around and did not see the strange doctor he had just kidnapped, so he asked casually.
Qin Shuman was very happy to receive the useful artifact. When she heard Jiang Li ask about another “woman”, she seemed to be a little unhappy.
A faint and sorrowful expression appeared in her eyes.
“Young Master is really a heartless person. You still think about other women when you have me.”
“Sigh, I’m really unlucky. She’s there digging holes. Isn’t she just young master’s new lover?”
Jiang Li was speechless. This illusion master really loved to perform.
Especially with the Divine Statue clone that contained the various experiences of human life, it was comparable to a dramatic TV series.
It provided Qin Shuman with countless inspirations.
Jiang Li followed the direction she pointed at and indeed saw a flower field that had been dug out in the corner. Corpses of all shapes and sizes were being thrown out from within.
The current Yin Burial Coffin looked like a beautiful scene. Under the cold wind, the flowers and gra.s.sland formed by the spider lilies and carefree gra.s.s swayed with the wind. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a paradise.
However, below this sea of flowers was actually filled with various corpses that were more than a hundred feet thick.
There were the remains of cultivators who had died in several major battles, the corpses of demon beasts that Jiang Li had casually killed, the ancient variant race Yin Corpses in the underwater graveyard, and the vast number of Asura World monster corpses gathered at the Hundred Tempering Mountain.
There were too many of them. Unknowingly, they piled up more than ten stories high in the coffin.
Qin Shuman would choose some of the better quality ones for her ghost soldiers to possess, but most of them were still piled there and no one cared about them.
To the Armored Troll doctor, Gallonfran, these strange corpses were basically no different from treasures.
After arriving here, besides helping Jiang Li modify dozens of bait armor plates to give to the Dragon Transformation Island, she plunged into the pile of corpses and excitedly searched for the dissection targets that she was interested in.
Even when Jiang Li arrived, she was unmoved.
“Fran, come up and broaden your horizons. Don’t you want to see another world?”