Chapter 160: Contact

A small treehouse had popped up on a tree in Blue Swamp Forest.

At this moment, Su Chen was sitting inside the treehouse, concocting a new medicine — he was planning on using it to specifically deal with the Black Wind Lord.

Even though he wasn’t afraid of the Black Wind Lord, that didn’t mean that he would wait around without making any preparations for him.

Strategically looking down on the opponent yet tactically taking them seriously was the attitude every experienced warrior needed to have, even if they didn’t consciously realize it.

Just as he was in the middle of refining, however, the Origin Formation Disk he had on him suddenly began to heat up.

Su Chen pulled it out. It was actually the transmission Origin Formation Disk that Shi Mingfeng had given him.

It was them?

How did they get in contact with him?

And here? Had they come to the Beast Race’s territory?

Su Chen was extremely shocked.

He placed the Origin Formation Disk on the table and activated it. A streak of light shone forth from the disk, revealing Night Demon’s shocked and excited appearance. Behind her stood Shi Kaihuang and the others.

“Thank the Heavens! We’ve finally found you,” Night Demon yelled happily.

They were really quite exhausted from chasing after Su Chen all this time. Even though he was only traversing through the border region, this ‘small’ region was quite large, and so they were quite lucky to have run into him.

“Night Demon? Shi Mingfeng? How in the world are you guys here?” Su Chen asked.

“Ha, you’re asking me? Getting in touch with you really wasn’t easy. You guys ran here so fast and actually went to the Beast Race’s territory!” Night Demon yelled excitedly.

“You guys?” Su Chen was confused for a brief moment before he understood. “You thought I was with the Heavenly Might Battalion?”

“Is that not the case?” Night Demon was taken aback.

Su Chen smiled and didn’t say anything.

Shi Mingfeng said, “So you really did separate from the Heavenly Might Battalion.”

He wasn’t surprised at all at this point. They were having so much trouble catching up with Su Chen earlier that he was already beginning to suspect that Su Chen was on his own.

Su Chen didn’t answer that question. All he said was, “Why are you guys looking for me?”

“The Immortal Temple wants to do some business with you,” Shi Mingfeng said directly. He understood Su Chen’s temperament, so he didn’t waste any time beating around the bush.

“Resources?” Su Chen squinted. He also understood the Immortal Temple quite well and what kind of attitude they had.

Shi Mingfeng chuckled, “That’s right.”

Su Chen replied, “Right now, you guys are in the area where resources are the most abundant. The Beast Race has already left to deal with the Ferocious Race, so right now this place is at its quietest and safest.”

“This place has quality while the Heavenly Might Battalion has quantity,” Shi Mingfeng replied. “We want both. Actually, in terms of accumulating and saving up money, quantity is more important than quality.”

The resources produced in the Beast Race’s territory were extremely rare and hard to come by, and by human territory standards, they were impossible to find. Some of them were so rare that it was impossible to even put a price tag on them, but because of this it was very hard to sell them. If the selling price was too high, no one would buy them, but if the price was too low then you would have lost out. Even more annoying were the many resources that had never been seen before, as it was almost impossible to fully determine their properties.

In comparison, the Ferocious Race had fewer resources, but most of their resources had a price tag on them and they also came in larger quantities. The large quantity and low price meant that these items could be sold all over the place and generate a constant stream of income, unlike those legendary “priceless” items.

The Immortal Temple would rather have the resources with a price than “priceless” items.

In that sense, they had a completely opposite viewpoint compared to Su Chen’s.

Anything Su Chen could buy with money was not important; only these priceless resources were useful to him.

And it was because both parties had completely different needs that there was a possibility for cooperation.

As such, when Su Chen heard Shi Kaihuang’s words, he laughed. “You want the resources that the Heavenly Might Battalion plundered from the Ferocious Race’s territory? That’s fine, I can reply on behalf of the Heavenly Might Army. At the same time, I also need a few things.”

“Rations, water — whatever you need, please just let me know,” Shi Mingfeng said extremely “generously.”

Su Chen guffawed. “Using commonplace rations and water to purchase precious medicinal ingredients? Brother Shi, you’re playing a beautiful hand. Did you think that the Heavenly Might Battalion and I would be incredibly moved by your proposition? How many rations were you planning on using to exchange for a thousand-year-old stalk of Three-Bladed Grass? Two stones worth? And how much water for a Frosted Lotus Fruit? One or two pots?”

Shi Mingfeng grinned sheepishly. “Sending these supplies all the way over here wasn’t easy. You should know that not everyone can cross the border as easily as you can.”

“I know that. So that’s your reasoning for trying to buy these resources for a thousandth of their selling price, right?”

Shi Mingfeng replied, “If there weren’t any benefits to be had, who would be willing to take such a risk? If you don’t agree with the price, we can discuss further. How many stalks of Three-Bladed Grass do you have? I’m willing to use ten stone’s worth of rations to trade for a single stalk.”

A thousand-year-old stalk of Three-Bladed Grass could fetch thousands of Origin Stones in Long Sang Country, while one Origin Stone could buy at least four stones worth of rations.

The gap between these prices was truly shocking.

Even so, Shi Mingfeng was confident that the Heavenly Might Battalion wouldn’t have much choice in the matter. One stone’s worth of rations was enough to feed fifteen soldiers for a day, but this Three-Bladed Grass wouldn’t be able to give a single soldier even a mouthful of food. The Ferocious Race’s territory was exceptionally desolate, and the Heavenly Might Battalion’s ability to harvest resources should be limited, so it would be impossible for them to gather enough food to sustain themselves. Su Chen might be able to sustain them for a while, but not forever.

Of course, he had merely opened with this price so that Su Chen could negotiate with him. But no matter how high of a price Su Chen was able to haggle it down to, the Immortal Temple would still be able to make at least a hundred times profit.

“Your tone makes you sound so generous,” Su Chen laughed. “But I believe that General Li and the others wouldn’t agree to such a price.”

“How much do you want?” Shi Mingfeng asked.

Su Chen shook his head. “It’s not a matter of how much. I was never planning on exchanging them for rations in the first place.”

“What?” Shi Mingfeng was stunned.

Using these rations to exchange for spiritual herbs was the backbone of the Immortal Temple’s plan from the beginning. With this as the foundation of their trade, no matter how wide Su Chen opened his mouth, the Immortal Temple would be able to attack while advancing or defend while retreating. Using common resources to exchange for rare materials meant that the Immortal Temple wouldn’t lose out no matter what kind of agreement was reached.

However, Su Chen had rejected this proposal with a single sentence.

Shi Mingfeng tried to hold back the agitation in his voice as he asked, “Doesn’t the Heavenly Might Battalion need rations?”

Su Chen replied, “Yes, but we don’t need to get them through this way.”

Shi Mingfeng was totally at a loss for words. “Then what do you want?”

Su Chen smile slightly. “The same as you — rare plants, spirit herbs, resources that contain large quantities of Origin Energy…… all of which you can find here within the Beast Race’s territory.”

“What?” Shi Mingfeng was taken aback.

He still was having some trouble understanding.

Su Chen said, “There aren’t many opportunities to steal resources from the Beast Race’s territory. It would be a pity for me to work alone. Since you guys are here, then you should accompany me and go crazy in harvesting the items here. You want Three-Bladed Grass? That’s easy, just pick some ingredients here that you have never seen before and any one of them will be enough to get you ten stalks. If they’re higher quality, you might even get more than that.”

Shi Mingfeng finally understood that Su Chen wanted to use them for hard labor, for them to go and pick these herbs for him.

The problem was that the resources he was talking about belonged to the Heavenly Might Battalion. On what basis did Su Chen have the authority to bargain with the Heavenly Might Battalion’s wealth?

However, Shi Mingfeng suddenly understood what was going on when he saw Su Chen’s self-confident expression.

Perhaps Su Chen’s influence in the Heavenly Might Battalion far outstripped what they had previously predicted.

“How will we conduct the exchange?” At that moment, a black-robed, cloaked individual standing next to Shi Mingfeng spoke up.

“This is……” Su Chen glanced at him and didn’t say anything else.

Shi Mingfeng hurriedly introduced him. “This person is Astin. He is from the Resurrection Door and is responsible for the southern region of the Ferocious Race’s territory. Originally, we were planning on cooperating with him to send rations to the Heavenly Might Battalion, but now it seems like there’s no such need anymore.”

“Our cooperation can still continue,” Astin said.

Su Chen glanced at him and thought momentarily before replying, “Then after the Beast Wave ends.”

If they were going to make an exchange, then Su Chen needed to return to the Heavenly Might Battalion. That was the only way he could use the Heavenly Might Battalion’s hand to control the exchange. Of course, doing so would waste time, and given that this was the best time to plunder this area, wasting time was the same as wasting money, lives, and the future. How could Su Chen possibly choose to do something like that?

As such, he had proposed to wait until the Beast Wave had ended before making the exchange.

In any case, successfully harvesting resources from the Beast Race’s territory didn’t depend on strength or the amount of storage space available in the Origin Rings.

Shi Mingfeng didn’t have any objections to this proposal, but Astin obviously couldn’t accept it.

The duration of the Beast Wave was not set. Small ones might recede after a month, while larger ones could last for longer than three months.

Su Chen’s provocation of the Beast Race would prolong the duration of the Beast Wave, so this one might even last for half a year.

Danba had no interest in waiting for half a year.

Astin said, “I hope to make the exchange sooner rather than later. The Resurrection Door has been in dire need of resources lately. We managed to harvest a few precious resources on our way to look for you, so I hope that we can make an exchange soon.”

Su Chen still refused. “I cannot leave the Beast Race’s territory right now to go and look for the Heavenly Might Battalion.”

Astin anxiously said, “I can sell it to you on credit first.”

“Sell on credit?” Su Chen was taken aback, and a trace of suspicion flashed across his mind: if the Resurrection Door needed resources, how could they temporarily sell to him on credit? That was totally illogical. If you allowed someone to accumulate an outstanding debt, then that meant that you weren’t in serious need of resources at the moment.

Also, the Ferocious Race’s resources might be rare for most humans, so the Immortal Temple’s plan of hoarding them was reasonable, but they shouldn’t be rare for the Resurrection Door, right? Even if they couldn’t harvest resources wantonly due to their status, that didn’t mean that they absolutely had to get resources from him!

Why would the local bully ever need to hire an external force to obtain local resources? The proper order had been flipped!

Su Chen’s misgivings only grew stronger as he tightened up his guard.

Su Chen maintained his expression. “That sounds like a pretty good deal, but this is an extremely rare opportunity. There won’t be many chances for me to move around as I please in the Beast Race’s territory, and every day that I waste is a pity. I would still prefer to do business with you after the Beast Wave ends.”

Astin then said, “If Sir Su agrees to have the exchange earlier, we are willing to propose a better price.”

Even Shi Mingfeng felt a bit surprised by this turn of events.

Su Chen glanced at Shi Mingfeng, then at Astin again, and lowered his head in thought for a moment before he finally said, “If we do a one-to-five rate of exchange, then we can do a transaction three days from now.”

Astin immediately asked, “Where?”

Su Chen glanced deeply at him before saying, “There are some marshes to the south of the Black Forest. I will be waiting for you there.”

As he spoke, he waved his sleeves, ending the transmission.

The Gravel Lizard Tribe’s armies were stationed near the borders of the Beast Race and the Ferocious Race.

Danba sat within the Ferocious Race camp’s main tent, reading over the battle reports. He slowly said, “Astin has already gotten in contact with Su Chen and has confirmed that he’s not with the Heavenly Might Battalion. He went to the Beast Race’s territory alone to try and steal resources, further angering the Beast Race and prolonging the Beast Wave. Astin also made a deal with him to make an initial exchange three days from now. Their transaction will be conducted…… through credit.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go to the Beast Race’s territory right now and wipe that bastard out!” Bayan howled loudly.

Danba stared at Bayan coldly, then said, “If you want to go so badly, then take your personal battalion with you and go kill him. What do you think?”

“Me?” Bayan was obviously startled.

“You don’t mean to tell me that you and your thousand-man battalion won’t be able to take care of a Yang Opening Realm cultivator, right?” Danba replied calmly.

Bayan licked his lips excitedly. “Of course not. I will personally hand the human’s head over to you.”

“Then I’ll be waiting for the good news,” Danba replied indifferently.

Bayan left immediately. Kubrick, who was standing to the side, anxiously said, “Young Chieftain, Bayan is still the Head Chieftain’s son. Is it really appropriate to send him on a risky mission like that one?”

“I’m not sending him on a risky mission,” Danba unexpectedly replied. “I’m sending him to his death.”