Chapter 267: Free Lunch
In Frost Iron City, Gongsun s.h.i.+ was in seclusion.
Su Wen had already left. The Demon Race had sent a request to negotiate a while ago.
Su Wen brought Lu Jun along.
Meanwhile, in the city, a few people had already gathered.
Barbarian Emperor Torch Dragon.
Devil Dragon Ao Jing.
There were also representatives from the nine G.o.d Sects.
As well as some other miscellaneous experts.
However, this did not include the experts of the Chu Country.
This meeting was instigated by Murong Qiu.
Basically, they had excluded the Chu Country’s experts and instead specially invited the neutral high Grade Heaven Rankers.
He did not fancy those small families and countries either.
He knew very well that those people would not have much say in this group.
Murong Qiu swept his gaze over everyone and said with a smile, “Everyone, I invited all of you here this time because I have an important matter to discuss with all of you.”
“What is it?” the Barbarian Emperor spoke out.
He was about four meters tall and was extremely huge as he sat there. The totem of the Torch Dragon was tattooed on his body.
He had a full head of purple hair.
He was also an 8th Grade Heaven Rank cultivator!
It could be said to be close to the top combat power in the world.
Murong Qiu said seriously, “This matter is regarding Su Wen. Now that he is negotiating with the Demon Race, the two Saints have handed everything to Su Wen. What I want to say is that he can discuss this matter, but the benefits after this cannot be monopolized by the Royal Family of Chu.”
Everyone remained silent when they heard this. No one wished to add on.
In an instant, the atmosphere turned awkward.
The Zhou Emperor was seated together with the Zhou Patriarch. His eyes were narrowed at this moment, and it was unknown what he was thinking.
It was no wonder that these people did not speak. Seeing that Su Wen’s combat strength could already be considered at the top of the human race and that he had a deep relations.h.i.+p with the two Saints, it was no wonder that he did not speak.
If he spoke rashly now, wouldn’t he offend the other party instead?
However, Murong Qiu did not care. In any case, their Yan Country had already offended Su Wen.
He said in a low voice, “Everyone, you have to think this through carefully. This Heaven Earth Merit is a resource, and also a foundation. If Su Wen wants the Chu Country to monopolize everything, then the Chu Country’s Royal Family will definitely have countless experts, let alone Su Wen.
He alone can fight against an 8th Grade Heaven Rank with just a 4th Grade Heaven Rank cultivation. That’s equivalent to going against a Demon Race general! His combat strength is incomparably formidable! If his cultivation increases, will anyone here be his match?”
“And?”
The Devil Dragon King Ao Jing said, “So what if his cultivation is high?”
Murong Qiu said seriously, “Didn’t you think that he might unite the world?”
The Devil Dragon King didn’t think much of it. “Aren’t you just spouting nonsense? Unifying the human world? How? Capture all of us Heaven Rank beasts and imprison us?”
Murong Qiu :”…”
These words did make sense…
These Heaven Rank beasts didn’t seem to be afraid of a possible unification at all.
At this moment, the ancestor of the Flame G.o.d Sect spoke as well. “Brother Murong, you seem to be too worried. Whether the world is unified or not isn’t important to us sects. After all, the upheaval of the royal authority has its own Heavenly Dao. If Su Wen is able to suppress the world one day, unifying the world isn’t a bad thing!”
He did not care. In fact, the stronger Su Wen was, the better!
In any case, Su Su had already reserved the position of the next Sect Master of the Flame G.o.d Sect. So what? Could it be that Su Wen could still destroy his own daughter’s sect?
At this moment, these people really didn’t know about Su Wen’s relations.h.i.+p with the Flame G.o.d Sect.
After all, Su Wen had never publicly announced that he was a member of the Flame G.o.d Sect.
Yu Shensu also glanced at Murong Qiu and said, “This Lord seems to be thinking too much. There are definitely benefits to this matter, but it’s basically impossible to say that everything is equal. It’s inevitable that it will lean towards Chu.”
Everyone was an old fox who had lived for countless years. They were not fools. Who in charge of managing matters would not try to benefit their own family?
Was there even such a thing as not being biased towards one’s own family?
Yu Shensu however understood Murong Qiu’s worries.
She could only softly console him, “As long as it’s not too much, there’s no need for us to fuss about it!”
Zhang Qian stood up and walked out, leaving behind a sentence.
“Don’t worry about what didn’t happen. It’s not too late to discuss this when he’s really unfair!”
Barbarian King Torch Dragon thought for a moment and smiled, “I think so too!”
As he spoke, he stood up and left as well.
The Devil Dragon and the Flame G.o.d Sect left one after another.
Obviously, before there was any outcome, these people did not want to have anything to do with Murong Qiu.
They knew that there would definitely be something fishy about the distribution of profits.
However, this did not mean that the Chu Country would be the only powerful country.
And Su Wen might only target a few to be disadvantaged… such as Yan Country.
They knew very well that ever since the alliance started, the Yan Country was the only one who had conflicts with Su Wen. Hence, everyone in the Yan Country was worried.
Murong Qiu wanted to rope in some people in advance to compete with Su Wen.
But these people were not stupid!
If their own interests were not affected, why would they bother with Murong Qiu?
Seeing that the representatives from the major powers left, the others also left.
Emperor Zhou pondered for a moment before smiling and walking away.
In the end, only the few Heaven Rank Murong family members remained in the room.
Murong Qiu’s face was ashen.
This time, it was obvious that his plan had failed.
On the other side, a thousand miles away from Frost Iron Pa.s.s…
Su Wen arrived at the agreed location.
On the human side, Su Wen brought Lu Jun. On the demon side, there were slightly more people, but they too brought a small group of only three.
One of them was Mo Youhan. She was a 9th Grade Heaven Rank cultivator with two other Heaven Rank experts by her side.
However, both the other two were not of low grades either.
However, Su Wen was not afraid. Even if the situation turned hostile, he believed that he could escape!
Mo Youhan looked at Su Wen and introduced herself. “The number one general of the Demon Race, Mo Youhan!”
Upon hearing this name, Su Wen’s heart tightened.
This woman was actually able to become the number one general of the Demon Race. It seemed like she was not simple.
But speaking of Mo Youhan, there was no need to talk about her appearance. Other than the silver horn on her head, she was not inferior to any human beauty.
Furthermore, Su Wen could clearly smell a faint fragrance from her body.
As for the other two, one was from the Flame Demon Clan, while the other was from the Shadow Clan.
The Flame Demon Clan was tall and their entire body was burning with dark red flames. As for the Shadow Clan, their appearance could not be seen clearly. Their entire body was wrapped in a black cloak.
The two of them did not introduce themselves.
This time, they were mainly here to listen.
The discussion had nothing to do with them.
Mo Youhan looked at Su Wen and smiled. “Shall we start now?”
Su Wen smiled. “Alright!”
Lu Jun and Su Wen brought some living creatures with them!
On the other side, Mo Youhan had also brought some creatures from the Demon Realm. They had all kinds of strange appearances.
There was a three-legged snake and a four-legged creature with a toad face.
The two sides exchanged their creatures, and Su Wen casually struck one of them to death!
He closed his eyes and sensed for a moment.
Indeed, an extremely minute amount of Heaven Earth Merit was added to his body.
If not for his powerful soul, he would not have been able to sense it.
However, this was enough.
He turned to his next target and similarly killed it.
Mo Youhan was doing the same thing as him.
Both sides were testing the benefits of killing these creatures of different grades.
As expected…
From the results of the test, the stronger the living being, the more merit they would be awarded.
There were also some minute effects when it came to the race and the strength of the creature’s physical body.
Su Wen let out a big grin.
This was good!
Both sides finished testing out the theories.
Mo Youhan looked at Su Wen and asked with a smile, “Lord Su, do you have a plan?”
Su Wen nodded and said, “It’s already confirmed now that we still have to obtain the Heaven Earth Merit Points according to the strength of the living beings themselves. However, those who are not of the same grade as us don’t provide much merit.
Since that’s the case, we can do this. If we provide any living beings in the human world, your devil race will have to provide the living beings of a higher grade. We’ll exchange three for two!”
Mo Youhan retracted her smile and calculated, “If we provide a higher grade living being, even if it’s at the rate of giving two for three, it might not be appropriate!”
Su Wen smiled and said, “Lady Mo might have misunderstood. It’s not you giving two and getting three, rather it’s us giving two in exchange for three of yours!”
Mo Youhan’s brows furrowed as she raged, “Ridiculous! Lord Su, aren’t you going too far! You’re providing a lower grade, yet you want to exchange it for more of our higher grade creatures. Isn’t that laughable?”
Su Wen smiled and said, “Is it funny? I don’t think it’s funny! If we counterattack now, I’m afraid the ones who suffer will be your people, right?”
To put it bluntly, Su Wen was bullying others!
Su Wen looked at Mo Youhan and said, “Now, we have two Saint Rank experts. If you can call another Saint Rank expert, then it’s not impossible to renegotiate this plan!”
“You…”
Mo Youhan looked at Su Wen angrily.
However, she knew that if she was in his shoes, she would probably ask for even more benefits!
Su Wen looked at Mo Youhan and said, “Lord Mo, you have to understand. Every Saint represents a faction. You have to give them enough benefits.”
“Hehe!” Mo Xin looked at the seriously explaining guy in front of him with a look of exasperation.
She also knew very well that if they went to negotiate with the other Demon tribes, they would naturally have to share the benefits with them.
Su Wen looked at the two fellows behind her and said with a smile, “As for the method of transactions, I think we should use the method of cascading down the missions to the lower ranks, as well as have a centralized form of trading. I suggest we open up a Human-Devil Marketplace!”
“Huh?” Mo Youhan was stunned.
What did he mean? Why did she not understand at all?
“Lord Su, please enlighten me.”
Su Wen said with a smile, “There are many martial artists in our human and demon worlds. There are naturally many people who want to share the benefits. Therefore, the more living beings traded, the better. Isn’t that right?”
Mo Youhan nodded.
Su Wen continued, “But if we only use our own people to nurture and capture living beings, then this matter won’t be so easy. You don’t want to share the benefits of the living beings you nurture with others, right? Therefore, be it you or us, we must let the others nurture their own living beings to trade, right?”
Mo Youhan pondered for a moment and agreed. She nodded again.
Su Wen’s smile widened as he watched her gradually become more inclined. He then raised a question. “But here comes the problem. Once there are too many people nurturing living beings, how should we trade?”
Mo Youhan replied without hesitation, “Just do it in private!”
“Will that really be the case?” Su Wen looked at Mo Youhan with a smile.
He did not need Mo Youhan to reply as he continued, “It’s inevitable for there to be dirty dealings in private. Once these people kill each other, I’m afraid a war will break out between humans and demons!”
Su Wen’s eyes flashed with excitement as he said, “Therefore, our two families will each gather the living beings nurtured by the human and demon races before establis.h.i.+ng a trading area for the human and demon races. We will send experts to guard the area to prevent some people with ulterior motives from causing trouble!
Firstly, we can unify the rules and trade to prevent any conflicts and undisciplined people. Secondly, we can also allow the others who want to partic.i.p.ate to come here without any worries. Of course, our human world intends to collect 10% of the transaction management fees. As for how your demon world does, whether it’s charged or free, it’s none of my business.”
“Hiss!” Mo Youhan gasped!
She looked at the innocent facade of Su Wen standing in front of her..
Black hearted! This guy was really a black hearted merchant!
She only did a rough calculation and understood what Su Wen was planning!
He would get the others to take care of it, and then they would do nothing and just sit there and take 10% of the benefits!
10% did not sound like much, but it had to be known that the number traded between two worlds would definitely be huge1
Moreover, in this way, the transaction channels were completely in the hands of Su Wen and the Demonic Tribe. To put it bluntly, unless the other demons directly killed the human martial artists, they would be controlled by the Demonic Tribe.
If I don’t like you, I won’t let you join the trading area.
What a great monopoly!
In an instant, Mo Youhan saw the bright future!
The more people who wantonly promote this transaction model in the Demon Realm, the greater their benefits.
Who wouldn’t want to become stronger without any risks?
Did they really think that the lives of the demons were not lives?
Su Wen smiled and said, “In order to express our sincerity, we are also willing to provide you with the services of cultivating species for free. I’m not afraid to tell you directly that there is a woman in our human world who is extremely good at this kind of thing. As long as you provide some samples of species first, we can quickly help you carry out optimized cultivation.”
Mo Youhan looked at Su Wen in front of her and was slightly shocked. “You want to optimize our rearing for free?”
Su Wen said with a sincere expression, “Of course, our human world is very sincere in completing the deal with you. This is also for our partners. After all, you can only keep up with our needs if you breed more creatures.”
Mo Youhan pondered for a moment before replying, “I understand what you mean. I have to report this matter to the Emperor! As for the specifics, I’ll give you the news after we’ve looked through it!”
“Alright!” Su Wen agreed immediately before taking out a bottle of perfume from his spirit artifact.
Handing it to Mo Youhan, he smiled. “General Mo, this is a type of fragrance from our Mortal Realm. When you spray it on your body, it can make your body smell clean and fragrant. I’ll give it to you as a sign of goodwill, General Mo.”
Mo Youhan looked at the item in Su Wen’s hand. It was a crystal clear gla.s.s bottle with a strange head on it.
She had never seen such an item before.
Su Wen knew that she had never seen it before, so he casually pressed down and sprayed out the fragrance.
The unprecedented fragrance made Mo Youhan’s eyes light up!
She took it and smiled. “Then I’ll thank Lord Su.”
As she spoke, Mo Youhan flew away with the other two.
Lu Jun hurriedly came over and said with a smile, “Lord Su, good move. I think that woman is extremely happy now.”
Su Wen naturally did not give her a random gift.
When he was talking to Mo Youhan just now, he had smelled the faint fragrance on her body. He could clearly tell that it was a fragrance similar to rouge. It could be seen that Mo Youhan had a preference for such things.
That was why he decided to play this move. There were always benefits to gaining some favorability.
That perfume was naturally from the last draw…
As for why he didn’t give it to the women at home… Those who understood women would naturally know why.
(TL Note: When one gets and the other sees…. it’s GGWP)
Su Wen and Lu Jun also rushed back to Frost Iron City.
After meeting Gongsun s.h.i.+ and Su Changqing, Su Wen reported everything that had transpired.
After that, Su Wen said with a smile, “What I mean is this. For living beings of the same quality, we’ll exchange in sets of ten for eleven of theirs. If we take out that extra 10% we received as benefits to be given out, Senior Gongsun will take 60%, and 30% will belong to this junior. As for the remaining 10%, it will be given to Ao Jing! However, to the outside world, we’ll announce that each of the two Saint Rank beings are taking 45%, so as to prevent some people from being dissatisfied.”
Gongsun s.h.i.+ raised his eyebrows.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to refuse, Su Changqing smiled and said, “My son did the right thing. Senior Gongsun is currently the only Saint Rank human, yet he can’t defeat that Demon Emperor. This is truly outrageous, you really have to strengthen your cultivation.”
Gongsun s.h.i.+: “….”
He didn’t even know how to refuse.
Su Wen looked at Gongsun s.h.i.+ and said, “Senior Gongsun, even though these living beings are very weak and provide very little merit, there are still a lot of them. When the time comes, the more you kill, the more you acc.u.mulate. I believe it will still be beneficial to you.”
Su Wen knew very well that as the strongest, Gongsun s.h.i.+ had to obtain the most benefits.
This was what it meant to be good at handling matters. What should be given to others could not be missing!
If Su Wen took all the benefits, it might not be a big deal in the short term, but as time pa.s.sed, Gongsun s.h.i.+ might become dissatisfied.
This was not the time for internal strife.
Furthermore, what Su Wen obtained was the benefits of the entire human race. 30% was already a lot!
Whether it was nurturing an expert in his group or using it himself, it was more than enough.
As for why Ao Jing was given 10%, the reason was very simple.
After all, the human world needed the battle prowess of these Heaven Rank beasts.
However, these vicious beasts would definitely not farm and breed the low grade vicious beasts like livestock.
This way, they could not possibly eat meat while others watched, right?
If the spoils were uneven, there would be problems.
Hence, Su Wen planned to give Ao Jing and the others 10%!
Gongsun s.h.i.+ frowned and said, “Why do you want Ni Hongxiao to nurture living beings for them? And you don’t want any benefits in return?”
This was something Gongsun s.h.i.+ could not figure out. In his opinion, Su Wen could use this as a request to obtain some benefits from the Demonic Tribe.
Su Wen said with a smile, “Senior Gongsun, the most unpleasant thing in this world is free lunch! I’ll provide them with free species cultivation, and the number of living beings cultivated by the Devil Race will greatly increase. Firstly, it’s convenient for us to obtain living beings to kill. Secondly, Senior Gongsun, think about it carefully. If the number of living beings cultivated by the Demon Realm surpa.s.ses us, what will happen?”
Gongsun s.h.i.+ was still deep in thought.
Su Changqing helped him out of the predicament and said, “At that time, it will be difficult to sell the living beings in the hands of the various races of the Demon Realm. As long as supply outweighs the demand, there can only be one outcome. The Demonic Tribe will definitely prioritize their own people to trade with us, and once they do so, the other tribes will be displeased, and internal strife might arise!”
He looked at Su Wen with admiration in his eyes. “At that time, the Demon Race will only have two choices. The first is to suppress everything with an iron fist! The second is to think of a way to increase the number of creatures being traded. Once we refuse, if the Demon Race doesn’t want to start a war, they will decrease their asking price! At that time, we will exchange for more creatures of the Demon Realm.”
“The benefits of the human world will be greater.”
Gongsun s.h.i.+ looked at the father and son in front of him and muttered, “Too sinister!”
That’s right, they were really too sinister. It was impossible to see through this trap.
Su Wen smiled and said, “Of course it won’t be like this in the early stages. We have to let the demons have a taste of the benefits. In the future, we have to control the output well. We can’t let the ratio increase too much to prevent the Demon Race from completely falling out with us.”
As he spoke, he glanced at Gongsun s.h.i.+ and sighed. “Senior Gongsun can’t beat him in a fight, so we can only waste more time in scheming and planning.”
Gongsun s.h.i.+ :”…” It seemed like he would never be able to go past this embarra.s.sment..