"Island Owner Lu?"The group of Liu Family disciples was confused. When did Lu Li become the Island Owner? Shouldn’t their Family Patriarch Liu Yi be the Island Owner?
Patriarch Seven reacted very fast. He waved his hand and said without even thinking, "Go and inform Island Owner Lu that Island Owners of Killers Island, Devil Island and the Black Fox Island are here to request an audience with him."
Lu Li now was their s.h.i.+eld. Whatever the relations.h.i.+p between him and Ming Yu was, at least the outside world believed Lu Li was Ming Yu’s Young Master.
Patriarch Seven would have lived so many years in vain if he did not know to exploit this ident.i.ty of Lu Li. Patriarch Seven had some understanding of Lu Li’s character. He never liked fighting for power and profit, nor was he fond of interfering in the business of the Liu Family. Even if they really elected him as the Island Owner, Lu Li probably would still not run those affairs.
Patriarch Nine and the rest also came to their senses. Patriarch Seven winked at Patriarch Nine. Soon, those Patriarchs started spreading the word out secretly that nothing about Lu Li could get out. Those violated the rule would be killed with no mercy.
As long as the Liu Family people didn’t reveal the information, the outside world would regard Lu Li as Ming Yu’s Young Master. Then the Blood Evil Island would be safe naturally. Who on earth would have the guts to offend the Blood Evil Island at the risk of being hunted down by Ming Yu?
After a moment, the one that went to send the message came back. He whispered something to Patriarch Seven. Patriarch Seven looked at the messengers of the three islands indifferently and said, "Our Island Owner Lu has said that he is curing his wounds and he will not come out to entertain guests. He takes to his heart the kindness of you three islands. Later, he will go to your islands and repay with thanks."
The face of the messenger was dreadfully pale. He bowed with his hands cupped in front of his chest and went back to report. The three Island Owners on the three battles.h.i.+ps were frightened.
Curing wounds?
Madman Lyu that day forcefully hit Lu Li that almost killed him. Kindness? Thanks? Clearly, these were sarcastic words.
The three Island Owners gathered together and discussed about it. They sent several other messengers to bring six chests of treasures to the dock. They said many pretty words and left the treasures there saying those were for Lu Li to cure his wounds.
The messengers also stated that when the three Island Owners got back, they would immediately set off to find other elixirs and deliver them to the Blood Evil Island for Lu Li to stay in good health…
When Patriarch Seven heard what the messengers had to say, he accepted the stuff unwillingly and said some random words in reply. He expressed that he would pa.s.s their words onto Lu Li, but he could not say for sure what was on Lu Li’s mind.
The messenger went back. The three Island Owners could breathe again. At least the Blood Evil Island had accepted their things. There was still room for hope.
The three Island Owners thought about it and went to the dock to try every possible way to persuade Patriarch Seven in person. Then Patriarch Seven reluctantly nodded and said he would try to reason with Lu Li to make no more fuss about the things in the past and bury the hatchet, etc...
The three Island Owners went back with disturbed minds. Patriarch Seven had someone bring the six chests back to take a look. All of them couldn’t believe what they saw. Inside the six chests were precious pellets, Mystical Materials, and one of them was full of Xuan Crystals…
The treasures in the six chests had a value of at least 300,000 Xuan Crystals on rough calculation. The three Island Owners would continue to send things over depending on the situation. It was like the Liu Family got all the stuff without efforts.
Patriarch Seven called upon all patriarchs and Liu Yi for a meeting. They elected Lu Li as the new Island Owner of the Blood Evil Island with a unanimous vote.
When Liu Yi informed Lu Li about the news, he didn’t say anything. It didn’t mean much to him whether he was the Guest Warrior or the Island Owner. They were just t.i.tles. His status in the Liu Family was already high enough.
Seeing the eagerness in Liu Yi’s eyes, he found it hard to say no so he nodded yes. However, he clearly stated that he would just a.s.sume the position, and that he wouldn’t attend to any affairs of the Blood Evil Island.
Lu Li’s reply actually made Patriarch Seven and the others happier. What they wanted was Lu Li minding no business. If Lu Li were to take part in everything, they would be upset about it.
Now that the outside menace was gone, the remaining six patriarchs of the Liu Family gathered together to discuss the future development of the Li Family.
First was the matter of powerful warriors. The Liu Family was in dire need of powerful warriors to protect the Blood Evil Island. Ming Yu had his reputation for sure but he had left. Lu Li didn’t indicate explicitly about his relations.h.i.+p with Ming Yu. Therefore, Liu Family’s strength must be enhanced.
The easiest and fastest way to improve the fighting capacity of the Family was to buy Green Dwarfs. The treasures sent by the three islands were worth 300,000 Xuan Crystals. All the properties of the Blood Evil Island were gathered and calculated. The amount of the wealth was shocking. There were 500,000 Xuan Crystals alone. All the other a.s.sets, treasures and Mystical Materials were worth two million Xuan Crystals.
Therefore…
Xuan Crystals was not a problem for the Liu Family. Each Green Dwarf was 50,000 Xuan Crystals. Patriarch Seven decided to pay back the 400,000 Xuan Crystals they owed the Heaven Prison Chamber of Commerce first and then buy another 10 Green Dwarfs.
That and the five remaining ones would give the Liu Family 15 Green Dwarfs in total. They wouldn’t be afraid even if the three islands launched a joint strike.
At the same time, Patriarch Seven planned to bring several hundreds of thousands of Xuan Crystals to the G.o.d-down Island and ask them to acknowledge the Liu Family’s status and let the Liu Family be an affiliated force of the G.o.d-down Island. If G.o.d-down Island nodded yes, the Blood Evil Island could be stabilized completely.
In the meantime, all the warriors among the indigenous people of the Blood Evil Island that could cultivate Xuan Energy were gathered together. They were given a large amount of pellets to help them better their combat ability by force. The number of warriors of the Liu Family was too small. They were severely undermanned.
…
Discussions were over. Patriarchs of the Liu Family commenced tending to their businesses. Liu Yi and a group of patriarchs went to a branch of the Heaven Prison Chamber of Commerce at the G.o.d-down Island to sell the countless treasures they brought with them. When they got the Xuan Crystals, Liu Yi brought a patriarch with her to the Heaven Prison Island to find Chief Steward Bai.
Patriarch Seven, even with his wounds unhealed, went to find patriarchs of the Xu Family, the Overlord of the G.o.d-down Island. He planned to give the hundreds of thousands of Xuan Crystals he brought to the Xu Family.
Little did he expect—
The Patriarch of the Xu Family dared not to take the Xuan Crystals. The Chief Patriarch of the Xu Family received Patriarch Seven in person. The Chief Patriarch personally acknowledged that for now on, the Blood Evil Island was the Liu Family’s territory, and the Liu Family didn’t need to pay any tribute. His att.i.tude couldn’t be better.
The Chief Patriarch of the Xu Family even cordially invited Lu Li to pay a visit to their island and pa.s.sed the greetings from their Island Owner Xu Chen to Lu Li. He also said that after a few days when Lu Li’s wounds were cured, he would sent someone to convey his greetings to Lu Li, etc…
Patriarch Seven was so happy internally. Xu Family clearly was aware of the fight at the Blood Evil Island and Ming Yu kneeling down.
There was only one Fifth-rank force in the entire Thousand-island Lake, i.e. the Bai Family, the Family of the Old Man of the Heaven Prison. There were eight Fourth-rank forces and the G.o.d-down Island was one of them.
With three Soul Pond Realm warriors, a force would become a Third-rank one. With three warriors of the Fate Wheel Realm, the force would be a Fourth-rank one. The G.o.d-down Island had three warriors at the Fate Wheel Realm and their Island Owner Xu Chen was at the peak of the Fate Wheel Realm.
Which Realm was Ming Yu at?
The Eternal Realm. He ranked among the top 10 on the Warlord List. Many years ago rumors had it that Xu Chen was about to break through to the Eternal Realm. But how could he ever compete with Ming Yu even if he did?
Hence, Xu Family valuing Lu Li so much could be explained easily.
Patriarch Seven was relieved completely. With Lu Li as their s.h.i.+eld, the Blood Evil Island would be quite safe for at least a short time.
However…
Liu Yi came back the next day with a piece of bad news—the Bai Family’s att.i.tude to her was a lot aloof than before. Previously, she only had to pay 40,000 Xuan Crystals for one Green Dwarf, but now it was 50,000 Xuan Crystals. A doorstep delivery service would be an additional 50,000 Xuan Crystals.
"Can it be about Ming Yu?"
The rumor of Ming Yu turning down Bai Family’s recruitment and indirectly causing a lady of the Bai Family committing suicide for love came to Patriarch Seven’s mind. His feelings were in turmoil.
Bai Family was the Overlord of the Thousand-island Lake. If the Bai Family was offended, it would be hard for the Liu Family to move a single inch forward.
…