Volcanic Age

The Gold Will Merchants had grown at an impressive speed and scale.

In just a few years, it becomes completely unrecognizable.

Normally, having so much money would attract all sorts of vermin, including thieves and robbers.

However, the Head Merchant had blocked all of those pesky interruptions with money, recruiting those in power through bribes and kickbacks.

With such strong backing, there were few who could afford to mess with him and his merchants.

Of course, some were still blinded by greed and forgot the value of their lives, but they were all easily handled by the guards.

While the Head Merchant had become outstanding in terms of power, wealth, and military might, he didn't stop there.

His greed was like the ocean.

Thankfully, he was never blinded by his greed to the point where he couldn't judge right or wrong. He didn't go too far in order to obtain more wealth.

He didn't revel in pleasure or indulge in extravagance, mostly using his increasing wealth as a means to make more money.

While ordinary people who obtained great wealth often spent their money recklessly and ended up in ruins, the Gold Will Merchants’ philosophy made them an exception.

"Money is something that always makes its way around. It's so much better to spend money on making more money than on getting drunk or quenching lust. Tsk, tsk, but people just don't understand that."

"Ha, ha, ha!" Li Yicai laughed, his bulging belly showing. It was the stereotypical laugh of a greedy merchant.

Looking at the money lying in front of him made him hungrier instead of full. He just wanted to do what was necessary to satisfy this ravenous hunger quickly.

Hunger and greed were Li Yicai’s driving forces.

"Seems like your laugh is still the same, Head Merchant!"

Right then, he heard someone's voice from outside the door.

"What?! This voice!"

Li Yicai jumped up from his seat, the taels stuck between the folds of his clothes, falling to the ground and making a loud noise.

To think that someone who was so obsessed with money that he was called a plutophile by those around him had just dropped all of the money he was holding in his hand.

That was how shocking and important what just happened to him was.

“Great, Great Hero?!”

Boom!

The door flung open as Li Yicai scrambled out. He had even forgotten to put on his shoes and ran out in his socks.

"To think that's the Merchant King… ha…"

Zhou Xuchuan smiled bitterly at the sight.

***

The table was covered in all kinds of delicacies.

Wild vegetables harvested from nearby were at one end, while entire silver pomfrets freshly caught from the Bohai sea lined the table, served raw or grilled whole.[1] That wasn't all, with entire roasted porks and other meats that one would only see at major banquets filling in any gaps.

"Oh dear, it's been such a long time since I was last graced with your presence.

Li Yicai continued to bow and laugh.

Even though five years have passed, he had remained the same.

"Please raise your head before you speak. Don't you think we should at least make eye contact while we converse?"

Zhou Xuchuan shook his head helplessly as if there was no helping Li Yicai. It was only when the Head Merchant heard the exasperation in Zhou Xuchuan’s voice that he lifted his head.

"I was just trying to show that my respect for the Great Hero hasn't changed even with the passing of the seasons, so please, I beg for your understanding."

Li Yicai rubbed his palms together.

"Anyway, both you, Great Hero, and you, Young Hero, have grown into really handsome men during the time we've been apart. As soon as I saw you, I was completely entranced."

"It's amazing to see how little someone can actually change," Zhuge Shengji said, unable to contain his admiration.

Li Yicai treated Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji with great hospitality. He also made sure not to have any servants or maids around so they could talk comfortably about the secret only three of them knew.

What had happened at the Three-Eyed Godly Thief's treasury was still confidential.

Although they talked about what had happened so far while they ate, the actual important information had already been communicated through letters beforehand.

During their meal, they mostly spoke about the situation within the murim and the affairs of the Gold Will Merchants.

It was only after finishing the meal and clearing the table that they got to the point.

“Head Merchant. We’ll need some weapons in the future.” Zhou Xuchuan began.

Li Yicai’s demeanor instantly changed. His sly smile vanished, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"By weapons, you mean…?"

The Gold Will Merchants had been dealing in weapons for quite some time. Zhou Xuchuan was well aware of this, leading to his direct questioning.

"While I don't know the exact time, war will definitely break out in the not-too-distant future."

Li Yicai's eyes widened, stunned by Zhou Xuchuan's words. Zhuge Shengji, on the other hand, wasn't surprised.

Zhou Xuchuan had already explained everything to him on the way there.

The tomb of the Ominous Demon is underwater, submerged to the point where it can't be restored. But that doesn't mean that'll be the end of things.

Regardless of what they had gathered for, the members of the seven major forces that would ignite the Seven Swords War still hadn't left. The Dark Heaven Association was still in control.

They had hidden moles and traitors within the Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and even the Demon Cult, all ready for the coming clash.

All their preparations ensured that the Seven Swords War would happen, and Zhou Xuchuan was convinced that they would find another opportunity to incite the forces and start a war.

Plans wrapped in plans, with alternatives ready at every stage to replace any failed plans. That was one of the most terrifying things about the Dark Heaven Association.

"So, a war. I can smell money. You'll need not only weapons but also medicine," Li Yicai said, grinning as his eyes narrowed.

He was by no means a good person. His moral sense barely existed, and he was fine with just about anything as long as it made him money.

Of course, that said, he didn't commit any evil deeds that violated the laws of heaven.

He had to maintain the bare minimum of decency. Otherwise, he'd lose trust.

For merchants, trust was both their lifeline and god.

As much as he wanted money, he desired efficiency.

That was what it meant to be the Head Merchant, the Merchant King Li Yicai.

“Is there anything else you need? It'll be easier to prepare with more details."

"Are you really taking Hyungnim's words at face value?" Zhuge Shengji asked curiously when he saw Li Yicai not questioning Zhou Xuchuan's prediction in the slightest.

Even he, the sworn brother, had required a detailed explanation after Zhou Xuchuan's confession when he first had the situation explained to him.

But Li Yicai didn't have any of those same questions. While there had been the slightest hint of doubt in his eyes, it soon disappeared.

“Sniff, sniff. It smells like money. My sense of smell has never been wrong. More than anything else… nothing the Great Hero has said to me has turned out to be wrong so far. I've been able to make a lot of money doing as the Great Hero commands."

At its root, their relationship was only worth its weight in taels.

However, for Li Yicai, that gold was everything. It was more important than any words or evidence. Nothing mattered more to him than the taels he could make.

Money was more important to him than life or family. It was the center of everything in the world and held everything in its arms.

Others couldn't understand where Li Yicai was coming from, but that didn't matter.

The only thing that mattered was that it was important to Li Yicai.

While the Merchant King pursued profit, he also valued the basics of trade above all else.

Equivalent Exchange.

Trust.

That was how Li Yicai had built his reputation in the future. History had proven his methods effective, which is why Zhou Xuchuan trusted the Merchant King and left the preparations in his capable hands.

Knowledge Is Power.

"It won't be that difficult for us to get our hands on gold, tools, or medicine. So, I think we should focus primarily on manpower," Li Yicai said, precisely addressing what Zhou Xuchuan wanted.

"Above all, we need to focus on recruiting martial artists. It doesn't matter if they're wanderers, it doesn't matter if their cultivation or techniques are poor; just focus on people you can trust and control."

“Managing people is this small merchant’s specialty. Don't they say that with enough money, you can control demons? Please leave it to me." Li Yicai reassured him.

***

There was a significant change in the Dark Heaven Association's master plan.

They had originally planned to use the tomb of the Ominous Demon as an opportunity to start a war, but somehow, things went wrong, and their mission failed.

Still, things were far from over.

Even though the tomb of the Ominous Demon was no longer useful, there were other ways to get around the issue.

War could still be incited through the moles and troublemakers they had planted, provided the right opportunity presented itself.

"We'll be making an emergency substitution."

So, they prepared for that opportunity once again. While they could have used this emergency substitution in other schemes, this current war was more important.

“With whose technique?”

“The Blood Monk!”

Unbelievable!

“Oho!”

Admiration could be felt all around.

“Isn’t this a significant deviation from the original plan?”

"Well, the Shaolin Temple will most likely take action."

The Blood Monk was someone from four hundred years ago. Originally a promising genius at the Shaolin Temple, he had been expelled for breaking the Temple's commandments.

He would have ten comprehensions with every single concept he heard and gain enlightenment regarding any technique on his own.

The murim across the Central Plains praised him as an unrivaled genius, and he lived up to everyone's expectations.

It didn't take long for the Blood Monk to learn everything the temple had to offer, and he quickly became a leading figure.

As time passed, there was no one in the Temple who had anything left to teach him. Eventually, he was allowed to enter the Sutra Depository.

The Sutra Depository was not only the Shaolin Temple's library of Buddhist scriptures but also a place where all its techniques were stored.

Allowed to read them all, the Blood Monk absorbed the techniques like a tree blossom in bloom. Some of the methods in the Sutra Depository were incomplete, but thanks to his comprehension and efforts, he finally completed some of the more abstruse techniques the Shaolin Temple had given up on.

Because of this, the Shaolin Temple entrusted the Blood Monk with the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon Classic, the greatest of all the Buddhist techniques in the temple's depository, and their unsurpassed divine art, expecting its most abstract and abstruse portions to be interpreted and completed.

However, in the end, the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon Classic couldn't be completed. To be precise, it could have been, but the Blood Monk chose not to.

The Blood Monk was so avaricious when it came to martial arts that he even ended up dabbling in taboo arts. In the end, he descended into the demonic art sealed within the depository.

This unrivaled comprehension genius not only mastered the demonic art but also created a new technique by combining the demonic art with the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon Classic.

“Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic!”

As if mastering the demonic art wasn't been enough, he went insane and combined the divine art, the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon Classic with the depravity of the demonic art!

Despite his contributions to the Shaolin Temple, this was indefensible.

He was apostatized and sentenced to life imprisonment to prevent his technique from being leaked.

When a monk of the Shaolin Temple was cast out and became an apostate, the muscles of each limb would be severed, and their dantian shattered.

Knowing this, the Blood Monk escaped from the Shaolin Temple without hesitation and was pursued by the Hundred and Eight Arhats.

The following battle became the greatest shame in the history of the Shaolin Temple.

Most of the Hundred and Eight Arhats were defeated by the Blood Monk.

In terms of technique, The Blood Monk was said to be an unrivaled genius. Moreover, he had absorbed all of the secret techniques and arts of the Sutra Depository. Not only at the time but even throughout Shaolin history, there were few as strong as Blood Monk.

The Shaolin Temple had even requested for help from the Martial Alliance and the Righteous Faction but still failed to kill him in the end.

"If the Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic is verified, then the Hundred and Eight Arhats will surely come forward. Although they may be a bit of a nuisance for us, since they're the exact opposite of the Demon Cult, they would surely create tension. Then, war would break out without any more effort on our part."

"I see. It's an excellent choice."

"However, the variables are still quite extensive, so be careful. Unlike the Grimoire of the Sunken Spiral Castle, the Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic is not a prohibited art.”

From the Shaolin Temple's point of view, demonic arts were considered the same as prohibited arts. However, the Demonic Path didn't consider the classic to be a prohibited art in the slightest.

While one would become the public enemy of Shaolin if they cultivated the Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic, things would be much easier since one could rely on the Demonic Path.

In any case, anyone who practiced a demonic art wouldn't be welcome in the Righteous or Evil Factions.

"Crack!! While I may not know who he is, I'm not going to let that bastard have an easy death after ruining everything!"

1. Wild silver pomfrets from the Bohai Sea are very prized and very expensive. Real wild silver pomfrets are actually one of the most expensive fishes to purchase in the US by weight, sometimes more expensive than steaks. Also, it's almost impossible to find (you'll normally only find lesser pomfrets mislabeled or farmed). ☜

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