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

Following the method of communication left behind by the other party the previous time, Yang Ling found a black-robed man staying at the Shangri-La. The latter brought Yang Ling through treacherous paths and over mountains before they arrived at their outpost in the forest, half a day later. Yang Ling did not expect to coincidentally bump into Maryse, who had also just returned, before meeting Elder Klive.

“Oh, Sir Yang Ling?” the black-robed Maryse exclaimed in surprise, and smiled coldly. “Sir, I did not think that we would meet this soon!”

After her repeated failures, she hated the detestable Yang Ling to the core. If not for her worry that she would attract the attention of others and affect her teacher’s plan, she would have long ago infiltrated Wissen Castle to turn Yang Ling into a skeleton using her Dark Magic.

“Miss Maryse, to think that you got even more alluring during the short time we have been apart!” Looking at the alluring Maryse, Yang Ling smiled faintly and said, “Beautiful, you are too beautiful!”

Too beautiful?

Maryse’s hair stood on end in her fury. She saw Yang Ling looking at the flower pinned near her chest, recalling how he had spouted nonsense the last time they had met. But she did not have the chance to react as Yang Ling quickly followed the black-robed man into Elder Klive’s tent. She did not have a chance to erupt.

She stomped impetuously, but Maryse knew she had no choice but to leave. No matter how angry she was, she did not dare be insolent in front of her teacher. There would be an opportunity to punish Yang Ling if she waited by the door. She did not believe that Yang Ling would be able to stay in her teacher’s tent forever.

Maryse became angrier the more she thought about Yang Ling, while Yang Ling conferred with the elusive Elder Klive. He did not beat around the bush, but said immediately, “Elder, I need two hundred experienced Alchemists who can make magical staffs, and the sooner the better. As an exchange, I’ll help you look for the relic of the giant dragon. My family has a unique approach when it comes to searching!”

Yang Ling summoned a few Horned Bee Beasts, instructing them to fly into the distance. He then quickly drew out the surrounding terrain using the information the Horned Bee Beasts transmitted back to him.

As an elder from the Dark Association, Elder Klive not only had abilities that ran deep beyond comprehension, he was also a very scheming man. Yang Ling knew that rather than beat around the bush in front of a person like that, he might as well get straight to the point so that they would not waste each other’s time.

The other party needed the relics of the giant dragon. Yang Ling believed that the elder would be satisfied with the condition for exchange after understanding his abilities. SInce he had already agreed to help the leader of the Wolf Troops, Kerband, in searching for the relics of the giant dragon, he did not mind selling the same information twice.

Simultaneously commanding a large number of Magical Beasts to scout the area?

Indeed, after feeling the faint, unique ripples of mental energy in the air, looking at the terrain of the outpost Yang Ling had quickly drawn out, Elder Klive quickly understood Yang Ling’s abilities, and he had a hard time hiding his mounting excitement.

Over this period of time, the association had invested a huge amount of resources and manpower trying to find the relics of the giant dragon as quickly as possible, but the results were negligible. As more factions swarmed into Wissen Town, with the quick arrival of the Church’s elites, the situation was getting more chaotic and critical. The had to hurry and find the relics of the giant dragon.

After a moment’s deliberation, Elder Klive said, “A hundred Alchemists. Also, the Dark Association will have the priority when it comes to purchasing the magical staffs you made, at a forty percent discount!”

Over this period of time, even though he had spent most of his energy on searching for the relics of the giant dragon, he had had someone report the situation in Wissen Town to him daily. Hearing Yang Ling ask for Alchemists experienced in creating magical staffs, he did not have to think too hard to understand his motives.

There were many Magical Beasts in the Terras Forest, and it was not hard to make a stockpile of premium magical staffs as long as there was enough manpower. Since Yang Ling had something to ask of him, he naturally would not miss out on such a good opportunity. After all, the association needed a large amount of premium magical staffs every year, too.

It was a little difficult to assemble two hundred Alchemists at a moment’s notice, but gathering a hundred of them quickly should not be too big of a problem. Trading a hundred Alchemists for a living map was unquestionably worth it. With Yang Ling’s help, they would be able to search deeper into a few areas of interest.

After scouting around for a long period of time, the association had narrowed down their target’s location to a few areas of interest. But the overall radius was still large, and the fact that an average person would not be able to get near many of the places made the search that much more difficult. But Yang Ling was different. He could command Magical Beasts to scout any area. With his help, and with a detailed map, he would be able to quickly pinpoint areas where the relics of the giant dragon could be.

Furthermore, Yang Ling had a mysterious background. Cooperating with the powerful family of Ancient Summoners behind him would be beneficial to the association. They would obtain a powerful ally and shock the overbearing Church. In fact, they could even one day ask them to enter dangerous environments to tame powerful dark element Magical Beasts, creating an army of powerful Mythical Beasts.

Even though it was only a hundred Alchemists, it was enough in Yang Ling’s eyes. He had achieved his aim for the journey!

As long as he used the hundred experienced Alchemists well, he would be able to create a good number of premium magical staffs. More importantly, with their leadership and guidance, he would be able to gain an endless stream of benefits if half of the Gnomes or human craftsmen learned how to create magical staffs.

“Forty percent is too little, Elder, you wouldn’t want to see me bankrupt, do you? Ten percent is the best I can do!”

“Thirty percent!”

…

After a round of haggling, Yang Ling arrived at an agreement of a twenty percent discount with the elder. The one hundred Alchemists that the elder promised would be transported from various places through the Magical Teleportation Formation three days later, and in exchange, Yang Ling was to draw the maps of the areas of interest in ten days. It was a win-win situation!

Before he left, looking at the heavily guarded Magical Teleportation Formation in the outpost, Yang Ling had a thought and said, “Elder, your association is powerful and possesses the loyalty of many Spellcasters. Could you help me build a Magical Teleportation Formation at Black Water City and at Wissen Castle?”

The safest way to conduct a large-scale excavation of the Five-colored Crystal Vein was to build a Magical Teleportation Formation at the Taildon Valley and Wissen Castle. But, for the sake of confidentiality, he could not allow the members of the Dark Association to know of the existence of the Five-colored Crystal Vein. Considering this, building a Magical Teleportation Formation at Black Water City was also a decent option!

“I’m sorry Yang Ling, setting up a Magical Teleportation requires Black Obsidian, Fantasy Crystals and a large amount of premium crystal ores. Even I cannot help you if you don’t have the required ingredients!”

As a space element sage level Spellcaster, Elder Klive himself was an expert in setting up Magical Teleportation Formations. Unfortunately, that process required a lengthy list of rare crystals. Even the entire Dark Association only had a few Magical Teleportation Formations.

Fantasy Crystals?

Elder Klive’s words meant more to Yang Ling than he intended. While Elder Klive said that he could not help, Yang Ling saw a glimmer of hope. The Black Obsidian was not a problem. There was quite a number of them under the Sumeer tribe’s care at the Wilderness of Siberia. He would be able to bring carts full of that material back, much less one or two.

Even one premium crystal ore might be incredibly rare to an average person, much less a large batch of them. But it was not a problem to him. As long as he got Goode to increase the speed of the Five-colored Crystal Vein’s extraction, he might be able to gather them in a few days.

Since that was the case, the problem lay in where he was going to find the so-called Fantasy Crystal!

After learning about the shape and characteristics of the Fantasy Crystal, Yang Ling left, feeling deeply rewarded. The Five-colored Crystal Vein harbored a large variety of crystal ores, and it was not impossible that it also had a substantial number of Fantasy Crystals.

Yang Ling mounted his Unicorn and left as quick as the wind, charging out of the door of the Dark Association’s outpost. In the end, Maryse, who had waited for some time, was caught off guard and missed her opportunity. The few traps she had spent so much time on did not have any effect, much to her anger.

After returning to Wissen Castle, Yang Ling ordered Orlando to find Goode quickly, then instructed the latter to hasten the construction of the military factory, as well as increase the rate of excavation ata the Five-colored Crystal Vein.

Now that he had a hundred experienced Alchemists, enough Magical Beast Essence Crystals, and a sizeable amount of manpower, the next problem was to deal with the excavation at the Five-colored Crystal Vein. As long as he could extract a substantial amount of premium crystal ores and sell them through his Wissen Merchant Team or Harribell’s Boulade Merchant Association for crystal coins, his capital chain would remain safe.

Furthermore, the Five-colored Crystal Vein harbored a wide variety of crystal ores. There was a good possibility that he would be able to set up a convenient Magical Teleportation Formation as long as he found the so-called Fantasy Crystal. When that time came, he would be able to conduct a large-scale excavation of the Five-colored Crystal Vein. Even if any accidents were to happen, he would be able to help them from the Wissen Castle!

With the guarantee of the capital chain, he would be able to continue buying Magical Beast Essence Crystals and Magical Beast Eggs from the adventurers, further pressing on the sales of resources relating to Magical Beasts of the large merchant associations, completely monopolizing these resources.

This way, purchasing the Magical Beast Essence Crystals and Magical Beast Eggs at a high price while aggressively selling magical staffs that had high profit margins would create a virtuous cycle, gradually increasing the adventurer’s reliance on the Beast Taming Ground. He would then be able to build the first Hunter Association on his territory when the time was right!

In Yang Ling’s preliminary plan, the military factory was the spearhead of the territory’s overall development. It would produce a large amount of magical staffs, but it would also allow the Gnomes to draw Magical Spell Formations to create magical armor and weapons. It would allow Rumi, the dwarves and craftsmen to create various miniature bombs, as well as allow Alice to research various lethal poisons.

Of course, the military factory would only sell magical staffs at the beginning. As the secret weapon of the territory, the magical armor of the dwarves and the poisons created by Alice were not for sale.

As an exchange, Yang Ling was supposed to draw out the terrain of a few areas of interest for the Dark Association. After resting for a night, Goode rushed in in a hurry just as he was prepared to head to the first location.

“Sir, the Twin-headed Ogre Braska had sent someone to travel through the night to deliver this piece of news. They once again found Crystal Diamonds in the Five-colored Crystal Vein, in fact, they also discovered a few drops of Crystal Marrow!” Goode was incredibly excited, nervously looking around as he spoke, afraid that someone would hear this alarming piece of news.

They found Crystal Marrow?

Goode was incredibly excited, and Yang Ling soon joined him in glee. In Montson, a Crystal Diamond was enough to cause a stir amongst the nobles, much less the rare and precious Crystal Marrow!