Chapter 136: Hunchback Tian
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
Lu Li went back to the Dragon Elephant Mountain to cultivate after Xu Yaoyang and Xu Fangfei left. Two days later, messengers from the Killers Island, the Devil Island and the Black Fox Island came again to request an audience with Lu Li.
Lu Li didn’t meet them. The messengers left, leaving about 200,000 Xuan Crystals-worth of treasures behind. Patriarch Seven vaguely indicated that the matter before was now water under the bridge and they would coexist in peace from now on.
The farm of the Liu Family was ready. They started growing Blood Caterpillar Grasses on a large scale. They planted 10,000 this one time and bought back more than 1000 Blood Rhinoceroses.
The blood pond was huge. Blood inside could be sustained for 10 days. Lu Li only had to leave the mountain every 10 days. Ten days later, the Heaven Prison Chamber of Commerce delivered the 10 Green Dwarfs. This time, the Blood Evil Island could enjoy complete safety.
One warrior after another would come to the Blood Evil Island for shelter during this time. Even though there were not too many of them and their realms were not high, the Liu Family was pleased. What the Liu Family needed the most was people. Granted, there might be spies from other forces, the Liu Family still decided to put these people to use first.
But these newly joined people had no right to be near to the farm. They could only be in charge of some chores like patrolling outside the island and doing errands, etc..
Another 13 days passed. The first batch of Blood Caterpillar Fruits became ripe. There were 6000 of them. If they could sell at the original price, that would be more than 100,000 Xuan Crystals.
Patriarch Seven and Liu Yi went to the Heaven Prison Chamber of Commerce in person. When they go back however, they looked disheartened. The Heaven Prison Chamber of Commerce had forced the price down, 20 Xuan Crystals for one Blood Caterpillar Fruit. That was 50,000 Xuan Crystals less in total than the last time.
The explanation given by Chief Steward Bai was that there were so many Blood Caterpillar Fruits from the Liu Family. The market size was only this big. The Heaven Prison Chamber of Commerce did not do business with forces outside of the Thousand-island Lake. so they couldn’t sell them all.
Chief Steward Bai also set bounds to the quantity. He asked Liu Yi to bring no more than 10,000 Blood Caterpillar Fruits per month. The Heaven Prison Chamber of Commerce could not take more.
However, Chief Steward Bai made a promise that this was the lowest price. In the future, if they wanted to reduce the price again, the Liu Family could sell the Blood Caterpillar Fruits to other Chambers of Commerce and their previous agreement could be abrogated.
"Is it really about Ming Yu?"
Why did the Bai Family change their attitude towards the Liu Family so abruptly? Lu Li could not figure it out. But even with a price of 20 Xuan Crystals per Blood Caterpillar Fruit, the Liu Family could still make a fortune. If they could do the business for a few years, the wealth of the Liu Family would be remarkable.
Everything was going towards a good direction. The Liu Family was providing Lu Li with endless Heaven Xuan Pellets. He needn’t worry about resources for his cultivation. Without anything going wrong, it would only take him five or six months before he could reach the latter stage of the Spirit Sea Realm.
Lu Li indeed was cultivating very quickly, but that was relying on a continuous supply of Heaven Xuan Pellets. How could average warriors have this kind of treatment?
Not even Liu Yi enjoyed this kind of treatment back at the Wu Ling County. Liu Family back then had a large family to support. There were too many warriors in both the Internal Clan and External Clan. Apart from the kid that awakened the "Raging Flames" Bloodline, nobody had the right to use resources without any limit.
Lu Li’s speed of cultivation was very fast, two times faster than average warriors. Liu Yi and Patriarch Seven and the others all took notice of the fact. They, however, thought that it was because Lu Li had a natural endowment that was incredible. But Lu Li was a puzzle so others felt like they couldn’t ask too many questions.
Lu Li had no idea of the speed of cultivation for the other warriors. He never even wondered about it. He put all his mind and soul on cultivation. He wanted to get to the Eternal Realm so he could figure out a way to be teleported to the Lu Family and then go to find Lu Ling in the Cyan Plains.
The Blood Evil Island was stabilized now. They were not in want of Xuan Crystals. The Patriarchs of the Liu Family all had limitless resources. Patriarchs that were at the initial stage and middle stage of the Spirit Sea Realm were not desperately trying to reach the latter stage. Patriarch Seven and Patriarch Nine were getting ready to break through to the Soul Pond Realm.
Many indigenous warriors were given many pellets to help them to improve combat abilities. The Liu Family put together six teams of 3000 warriors with about 400 or 500 of them at the Xuan Wu Realm.
The Liu Family wished to use the boundless resources to nurture these men to the peak of the Xuan Wu Realm and then help dozens to reach the Spirit Sea Realm. The Liu Family’s strength could be improved thusly.
Eight days later, the tranquil Blood Evil Island experienced quite a stir. A man came to the island, a warrior came to seek shelter from the Liu Family. It had caused a sensation because the man was at the Soul Pond Realm, and at the peak of this Realm!
Because of Ming Yu’s fame, many warriors had been coming to the Blood Evil Island recently. But a warrior at the peak of the Soul Pond Realm coming was a bit weird. Every one of the Liu Family was nervous. If the old man did anything rashly, maybe he could wipe the entire Blood Evil Island out by himself.
When Liu Yi received this man, she at once sent someone to inform Lu Li. Lu Li quickly got down the Dragon Elephant Mountain with a Green Dwarf and arrived at the Blood Evil Fortress where he saw the powerful warrior that came to them.
The old man was approaching the end of his days. His hunchback made him look like a camel. His hair was white as snow, and so were his eyebrows which were long as well, falling beyond his face. On his withered face was pride. He was very arrogant.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
This moment, the old man was sitting behind a golden table. He banged the table loudly with his large hands. He squinted at Patriarch Seven and others and said, "Island Owner? Where is your Island Owner? I the Hunchback came from so far away and this is how you treat an old man? I have been sitting here for half a day now and nobody has told me the truth. Your Island Owner does not show himself. What kind of hospitality is this? I just want to say one thing. Are you going to make me the Chief Patriarch of the Blood Evil Island? If not, I will leave now."
Lu Li didn’t go in rashly. He winked at Liu Yi who was inside. Liu Yi walked out quietly and Lu Li asked, "What is going on? Have you made clear about the background of this man?"
Liu Yi nodded and said, "Patriarch Lu has found out. This man is called Hunchback Tian. He is quite famous at the Thousand-island Lake. He had reached the peak of the Soul Pond Realm 100 years ago. He is here with sincerity. But… we cannot accept him."
"Oh?" Lu Li raised his eyebrows out of surprise and asked, "Why is that?"
"We cannot afford to have him…"
Liu Yi sighed slightly, "100 years ago, Hunchback Tian had reached the peak of the Soul Pond Realm. During the past centenary, he had joined more than 40 forces but they all sent him away. This man is crazy. He will try to make it to the Fate Wheel Realm every year. He has tried 80 times, and every time, he has failed without an exception…"
"More than 80 times?"
Lu Li touched his nose embarrassedly. He kind of got what Liu Yi was saying. Patriarch Cai of the Liu Family once told him that the wealth of the Liu Family could only support a warrior to try to get to the Fate Wheel Realm for three times. Based on Lu Li’s estimation of the Liu Family past asset, it would cost at least three million Xuan Crystals for one try at the Fate Wheel Realm!
Hunchback Tian would make the try every year. That meant every year they had to give him three million Xuan Crystals. Any one of the Third-rank Families wouldn’t have the ability to support him. Fourth-rank Families? They were in no lack of Soul Pond Realm warriors. What would they need Hunchback Tian for?
"He has tried for 100 years and failed? And he still wants to do it?"
Lu Li was speechless. Talent was important for the path along Wu Dao. Since he had tried 80 times without success, he was destined not to reach the Fate Wheel Realm in this lifetime. The Hunchback Tian was a Kung Fu addict.
However, as long as the Fate Wheel could be constructed, it would give one another 500 years of life, and Hunchback Tian, in this case, wouldn’t have to die. Lu Li understood. Nobody wanted to die. Everyone wanted to try desperately. Once the Fate Wheel Realm could be reached, a new world would present itself.
Lu Li asked after some consideration, "How many Xuan Crystals can the Family make for a year?"
Liu Yi thought about it and said, "Without anything going wrong, about more than two million Xuan Crystals a year. But our expenditures are huge now. We will be lucky if we can have a surplus of nearly one million Xuan Crystals."
Lu Li sighed lightly and said, "We really cannot support him…"
…