Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After toiling for the entire day, many people would habitually head to the bar to get a few drinks. Every time they did, they would check to see if there were any new notices posted outside the bar. In this period of time, the wall outside the bar had basically became the leader’s notice board.

This day, just as night had set, when the human traffic of the bar was at its highest, a soldier hung an eye-catching notice outside the bar. It instantly attracted a crowd. Soon, all of the people bubbled with excitement at the contents of the notice!

“My god, they’re conferring the hunter Viola the title of Earl, an Earl!” One of the hunters shouted, unable to comprehend what the notice decreed.

“Other than the title of Earl, he even received a piece of land by the sea! My god, this is a conferment to a hunter, am I seeing things?” A soldier rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

…

The crowd was in an uproar of disbelief. This was especially so for the adventurers who had to face battles and wander around in the outside world day after day. They became excited.

Having roamed the continent for many years, they had seen merchants get conferred the title of nobles, warriors that had been granted the status of noble. In fact, they have also seen soldiers earn the title of noble. But they had never seen or heard of an adventurer being conferred the title of a noble!

Even though earls were the nobles with the lowest status, it was but an impossible dream to an average person, and especially so for the roaming adventurers. An average adventurer would be satisfied if they could earn a little more crystal coins and live a more presentable life. None of them had ever considered becoming an influential noble through hunting!

But there was now a living example of that dream!

Viola was undoubtedly an exceptional hunter within the circle of adventurers. He was bold yet meticulous, and was very experienced. Coupled with his forthright personality, he had many friends in Wissen Town. But no matter how exceptional he was, no one would have expected that he would become a noble in just a short span of days, a noble that was envied by all!

A few days before, Viola’s reward had just been deducted at whim by the merchant Curtis and was still fretting over the compensation to the families of his fallen partners. To think that he had only worked for Yang Ling at his Beast Taming Ground for a few days before he became an influential noble.

The eyes of the hunters in the crowd turned red, as if they had just picked up the Essence Crystal of a high-level Magical Beast. The notice on the wall had ignited their childhood dreams like a torch, rekindling the ambitions they had had when they were younger.

As long as they had a chance, no one would wish to live a lowly life similar to a Garsie Dog. No one would want to work while dealing with the merchants’ unreasonable demands. No one would want to be subjected to the teasing and mockery of the soldiers after working easily as hard as anyone else.

The news on the notice spread quickly, and soon, Wissen Town was in an uproar. There were packs of people outside the door, every adventurer trying to squeeze forward. Witnessing the contents of the notice in person was currently their biggest dream.

“I have roamed the entire Tailun Continent, but I have never seen a leader that is so fair and generous to us hunters!” one scarred, experienced hunter awed.

“That’s right, if not for the generosity of the leader, the wife and kid Aster left behind would be in trouble. They wouldn’t have anything to eat or a place to stay. They might even have to beg for food. Luckily, that lad Viola signed an agreement with the leader before he entered the forest, and his family got a full one thousand Purple Crystal Coins as compensation after he died!” marveled another.

“That’s right, even if the reward was a little lower, it is much safer to do business with the leader!” agreed a third.

…

The adventurers stayed up all night discussing the issue. Some of the more intelligent people hurried over to the Beast Taming Ground by the Donau River during the night, and some even made their way straight for Wissen Castle. Some of them actively mentioned that they would like to work for Yang Ling, while others signed agreements as fast as they could, promising that they would only work with Yang Ling’s Beast Taming Ground in the future. They hoped that they could one day become a noble with their own rights and respect.

On the second day after publishing of the notice, most of the adventurers had once again turned to work with Yang Ling’s Beast Taming Ground. The large merchant associations were unable to purchase bulk Essence Crystals even after they raised their reward offers even more.

Just like that, the Beast Taming Ground had established a monopoly on the market of Magical Beast Essence Crystals and Magical Beast Eggs, and in just a few days. Business of the Beast Taming Ground was booming, while the earnings of the large merchant associations were pitifully low. It did not take long for the people in charge of the various merchant associations to become anxious.

Yang Ling, who was a leader, had a powerful army, and the various large merchant associations would naturally not consider challenging him directly. But that did not mean that they lacked any means to retaliate.

One day, while Yang Ling and Alice were researching Flowing Venom’s notes, Goode walked in quickly in a fluster. His brows were tightly knit, his face filled with worry.

“Sir, the merchant associations are refusing to buy the Magical Beast Essence Crystals, Magical Beast Eggs and young Magical Beasts that come from the Beast Taming Ground. They would not budge even when we lowered the price.” Goode was filled with worry. “It looks like the merchant associations worked together and adopted a unified approach!”

On the surface, the business of the Beast Taming Ground was booming, but it did have a fatal weakness!

Even though they had managed to purchase many Magical Beast Essence Crystals, Magical Beast Eggs and young Magical Beasts from the adventurers, the current profit model of the Beast Taming Ground was simplistic. What they were doing was merely the beginning stages of processing the items before reselling them. Other than the Wissen Merchant Team he owned, most of the items were resold to the large merchant associations.

That in itself was a serious hidden threat. As long as the large merchant associations joined forces and boycotted them, then the Beast Taming Ground would be under immense pressure. All this while, Goode had reminded Yang Ling many times, fearful that monopolizing the resources related to the Magical Beasts would invite intense retaliation from the large merchant associations. To think that the thing he worried about the most had indeed happened, and much earlier than he had expected.

Goode had long known of the hidden threat, and though Yang Ling had not said anything out loud, he understood it as well. Magical Beast Essence Crystals, Magical Beast Eggs and young Magical Beasts were the richest, most alluring resource that the Magical Beast Territory possessed. As long as he managed those well, he would be able to bring in an endless stream of crystal coins.

It could be said that whoever controlled the resources related to the Magical Beasts controlled the economic lifeblood of the Magical Beast Territory. Even if he was not going to set up a Hunter Association or obtain the support of many adventurers, Yang Ling would never allow the large merchant associations to hold the economic lifeblood of his territory. This conflict with the large merchant associations would erupt sooner or later, but he had not expected it to come so soon!

Against the resistance of the many merchant associations, Yang Ling knew that he had to execute the plan he had devised to counteract this!

After a moment’s deliberation, he gave a decisive order, “Goode, from today on, mobilize all of our resources and build a military factory. Order the Mountain Dwarves, Alchemists and Gnomes to focus their energies on creating magical weapons and armor, and create magical staffs with the Magical Beast Essence Crystals as fast as possible. Tell them to also make a stockpile of miniature bombs!”

The Magical Beast Essence Crystals and Magical Beast Eggs were very profitable, but the profit margin on magical staffs was even higher. If they made magical staffs with the Magical Beast Essence Crystals from the Beast Taming Ground and shipped them to Montson or Bavaria for sale, the alliance of the merchant associations would naturally dissolve.

From then on, they would not only establish a firm control over the Magical Beast Essence Crystals, Magical Beast Eggs and young Magical Beasts, they would also have the complete support of the adventurers, building a strong foundation for the official establishment of the Hunter Association!

Build a military factory? Goode shook his head in disbelief. It was much easier said than done!

Building a military factory of massive scale required a lot of cheap labor, and more importantly, many experienced craftsmen and Alchemists. This was especially so if they wanted to make the magic staffs. Not every Alchemist could make them!

Furthermore, in order to purchase a large number of resources related to Magical Beasts, and in order to recruit experienced hunters, the capital chain of the territory had already been stretched to the limit. Building a massive military factory would require a large investment of crystal coins. Where would they get the money? The outcome would be disastrous if their capital chain broke!

“Sir, the idea of creating magical staffs ourselves is great. But that requires a large number of crystal coins as well as experienced Alchemists, and our current situation seems…” After hesitating for a moment, seeing Yang Ling knit his brows, Goode trailed off, knowing not to say anything further.

“Leave the Alchemists to me,” grunted Yang Ling dismissively. “You only need to be responsible for the general planning. We have to build the military factory as quickly as possible!” Yang Ling understood Goode’s worry even if he did not acknowledge it. He continued after a brief pause. “If we really do not have enough crystal coins, we can think of ways at the Five-colored Crystal Vein in Taildon Valley!”

Goode shuddered when he heard Yang Ling say this. The Five-colored Crystal Vein could be said to be the Magical Beast Territory’s greatest secret. There was an entire outpost of Ogres there, preventing anyone from entering the area.

The Five-colored Crystal Vein was a double-edged sword. If used well, it could provide the territory with an unimaginable amount of crystal coins. But if news of it leaked out accidentally, the outcome would be many times, even many dozens of times more disastrous than the merchant associations’ revolt!

“Goode, you shall safeguard this Space Ring personally in the future. I give you full authority to deal with the excavation of the Five-colored Crystal Vein.” Yang Ling spoke as he took off the Space Ring he had picked up in the Taildon Valley some time before, then continued. “No matter what, you have to ensure that the capital chain continues to operate!”

After giving Goode a few additional instructions, Yang Ling summoned his Unicorn and quickly left the castle. It was clearly impossible to recruit enough experienced Alchemists in Wissen Town quickly, and asking for Harribell’s help would only add to her troubles.

Thinking about it, the only faction that could supply him with enough Alchemists was the Dark Association that were conducting a large-scale search for the relic of the giant dragon in the forest.

Yang Ling believed that Elder Klive would not reject his request as long as he had something of equal value to trade. Recruiting a bunch of Alchemists might be very difficult for him, but it should not take too much effort for the Dark Association. After all, even though they were weaker than they had been in the past, the Dark Association was still a massive organization. A skinny camel was still larger than a horse!