107: Refiner Alliance

The next day, a message was sent out from the Flood Dragon Palace: ten days later, Linlang Pavilion would open for business, primarily dealing in top-grade Magical Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts. On the opening day, there would even be Medium Grade defensive Magical Artifacts up for auction. Once this news broke, the entire outer perimeter of the Cloud Sea Marsh was in an uproar.

Some Cultivators were extremely excited. They had been Demon Generals for many years but lacked suitable Spiritual Artifacts because there were too few Artifact Refiners in the outer Cloud Sea Marsh. Those capable of refining Spiritual Artifacts were even rarer, and they sold their wares at inflated prices, resulting in the vast majority of Demon Generals having no Spiritual Artifacts at all.

Those with slightly higher strength and status set their sights on the defensive Spiritual Artifact up for auction. Although the auction would certainly involve a premium—after all, rare things are expensive—some people were naturally willing to pay.

However, some Cultivators were unhappy about this, namely the several Second-Grade Artifact Refiners. They had their own loose coalition called the Artifact Refiners Alliance, a small group of five Artifact Refiners. They were all Second-Grade Artifact Refiners, but they were frauds who had only occasionally managed to refine a Spiritual Artifact to achieve a Breakthrough; they lacked the ability for large-scale production. Their Alliance had an ironclad rule: only one Spiritual Artifact could be sold per year to control the price of Spiritual Artifacts in the outer Cloud Sea Marsh.

The five Demon Generals were: Chigu Demon General, whose true form was a Chigu Fish; Bixian Demon General, whose true form was a Bixian Civet; Qingmo Demon General, whose true form was a Qingmo Snake; Qinggu Demon General, whose true form was a Qinggu Ox; and Wuyang Demon General, whose true form was a Wuyang Crocodile. These were the five Artifact Refiners.

Now, they were gathered together to discuss the impact Linlang Pavilion would have on them.

The leader of this Artifact Refiners Alliance was Chigu Demon General, who also had the highest cultivation at the Fourth Layer of Foundation Establishment. Sitting in his seat, his entire face looked extremely troubled. "Everyone, I presume you've heard the news about Linlang Pavilion. An orthodox Second-Grade Artifact Refiner has finally appeared in the outer reaches of the Cloud Sea Marsh. Will there be any way for us to survive in the future?"

Bixian Demon General was a woman, and her voice carried a hint of sharpness and spite. "This demon must have ulterior motives. Otherwise, he should have made a name for himself back when he was a First-Grade Artifact Refiner. Coming out only now, he surely intends to deal with us. Why don't we finish him off before he grows too powerful?"

This was actually what all of them were thinking. Their Artifact Refining techniques were truly mediocre, the Spiritual Artifacts they could refine were few and far between, and their success rate was very low. To make money, they had to charge inflated prices. Over the years, they had relied on their monopoly to acquire massive resources with their flawed techniques, allowing them to quickly increase their strength during the Foundation Establishment Stage. If they lost this advantage, they would revert to being ordinary Demon Generals, which was unacceptable to them. Therefore, they had to get rid of Linlang Pavilion.

However, Qingmo Demon General spoke up at this moment: "Everyone, have you perhaps forgotten that there is a Demon King speaking for him? Black Shark Demon King himself has spoken, saying he has a stake in Linlang Pavilion. Can we really go and destroy it? If we offend Black Shark Demon King and he decides to kill us, it won't be difficult for him."

After he finished speaking, everyone fell silent. Although they were Artifact Refiners, they were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage. In front of a Demon King, they were merely slightly larger ants, completely lacking any ability to resist. Therefore, destroying Linlang Pavilion was an extremely risky move; if they did it, their end might be even more miserable. No one dared to try.

Bixian Demon General spoke again: "So we just do nothing? Let him step all over us, cut off our financial path, and let us waste our lives away at the Foundation Establishment Stage? I'm not willing. Are you?"

She didn't need to look at their expressions to know they were unwilling. They had offended many people by acting this way over the years, yet they had continued their monopoly without hesitation. For what? Was it not for the resources to cultivate? For a moment, everyone was silent.

After a long time, Chigu Demon General spoke up. He was the leader of this group, and at this moment, he had to make a decision, or they would be close to disbanding.

"How about this: we certainly cannot attack Linlang Pavilion directly. After all, provoking a Golden Core Stage Demon King is too risky; it would be reasonable for him to actually take offense and kill us. Therefore, we can only act against that Second-Grade Artifact Refiner—that Azure Scale Demon General. Let's focus on recruiting him. If we can get him to join us, that's the best outcome. Otherwise, we'll kill him. I've checked; he's just a Cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment Stage. The five of us can certainly defeat him."

This idea gained the support of most people. Chigu Demon General glanced at Bixian Demon General.

"Bixian Demon General, I'll leave this to you. Tell him that if he joins our Alliance, he must pay a ten percent tax, and the pricing of all Spiritual Artifacts must be approved by us. Of course, we will help him build his reputation and even help promote his refining to the outside world. Go and talk to him. It's best if he agrees. If he doesn't, don't act rashly; come back, and we'll deliberate further before taking action. Go, time is short."

Bixian Demon General stood up. "Fine. Since Big Brother has made the decision, I'll make the trip. I hope he's sensible. If he accepts our terms, we can grant him some dignity. Otherwise, his only path will be death. Everyone, wait for my good news."

Gu Yuchuan didn't know yet that a group of people had already targeted him. He was still organizing the interior decorations of Linlang Pavilion, doing some soft furnishing. Decoration was like that; every time you looked at it, you had new ideas. In these past few days, he had been constantly adjusting the decor, nearly driving the building master crazy. Meanwhile, the maidservants and Song Chuan had officially started their duties; they understood all the Magical and Spiritual Artifacts and had standardized the procedures for receiving guests.

At this time, Song Chuan came in: "Great King, we have standardized all the guest reception procedures. Would you like to personally inspect them?"

This was certainly necessary. Gu Yuchuan knew that the skills of the sales staff had a significant impact on sales; this was a must.

He nodded. "Good. I'll go out now and then walk back in. You all treat me as an ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator who has come to buy things and host me properly. I want to see your abilities. If you pass, I will reward you. Alright, go tell them to prepare. I'm going out now."

After saying that, he walked out. Looking at the magnificent Linlang Pavilion before him, a sense of pride welled up within him.