91: Chapter 91 Another Transaction, Resources Galore

The fragrance of the Medicinal Field had not yet dispersed when the bluestone slabs in front of the Main Hall began to tremble.

It was not an earthquake, but ten heavy spiritual energy transport mechs descending from the sky. Their tracks crushed over the edge of the mountain-protecting array's light barrier, and like ten steel behemoths, they landed steadily on the outer city platform.

As the hatches opened, Spiritual Qi mixed with the cold air of metal rushed out. The first box to be poured out contained fist-sized Red Sun Spirit Ores, which clattered into a small mountain.

Chen Wuwang stood on the high platform. He did not greet them, nor did he smile; he merely lifted his chin.

"Inspect the goods."

As his voice fell, three clansmen who appeared to be deacons immediately stepped forward, holding earth vein detectors to scan the ore pile, then pulled out talisman papers and stuck them onto the surface of the metal ingots.

The talisman papers instantly turned golden. One of them even "popped" with sparks—it was high-grade Thunder-Pattern Steel, with purity exceeding the standard.

The envoy from the great clan stood beside the second mech, his expression looking a bit strained.

He had expected to be able to haggle down the price; after all, they had just reached an agreement yesterday, yet today the Family suddenly sent a message saying: "The goods are more abundant, so the rules must change."

He cleared his throat: "Head of the Chen Family, we agreed on a one-for-one trade yesterday. You all... doubling the price to require three portions of resources for one portion of medicinal plants, isn't that a bit too ruthless?"

Chen Wuwang did not look at him; his fingertips tapped lightly on the hilt of the dagger at his waist, the rhythm identical to the one from the Medicinal Field yesterday morning.

He raised his hand, and a translucent image appeared in the air—the real-time monitoring screen of the Medicinal Field.

On the left, three ridges of traditionally cultivated medicinal plants were still just showing tender sprouts, while on the right, three ridges stimulated by weak spiritual energy pulses had already grown to half a person's height, their leaves shimmering with a jade-like luster, and their root Systems spreading out like a net.

"Do you see that?"

His voice was not loud, but every word was like a nail: "Three years on the left, three months on the right. This batch of medicinal plants can be harvested today, used for Alchemy tomorrow, and save lives the day after."

The envoy's brow twitched: "But... the convention is..."

"Convention?" Chen Wuwang sneered, waving his hand directly: "Shut down the array."

As his voice fell, a muffled sound came from the direction of the Medicinal Field. The spiritual light of the teleportation array instantly extinguished, and with it, the image lost its signal.

The envoy looked up abruptly: "What is the meaning of this!"

"It means nothing."

Chen Wuwang finally turned around, his silver-white hair flicking in the wind, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye gleaming with a cold light: "You can go buy from someone else. Among the Seven Clans, who doesn't want to survive?"

"Who doesn't want to become stronger? If my Family doesn't sell, there will naturally be others scrambling to buy."

He paused, his lips curving slightly: "But time waits for no one. By the time you finish discussing, my third batch of medicinal plants will already be in the Pill Furnace."

The envoy's lips moved, but in the end, he did not speak again.

He knew that this time, the Family had truly grasped the lifeblood.

The news of the mutated medicinal plants in the Medicinal Field had spread throughout the affiliated small clans last night. By this morning, three villages had already taken the initiative to send spirit soil and labor, begging only to be able to trade for a seedling to try planting.

At this rate, if they dragged it out for another three days, the Family wouldn't even need to sell—others would be kneeling to offer resources just to beg for cooperation.

He gritted his teeth, took out a Jade Slip from his sleeve, and slammed it onto the table: "Fine! Three-for-one it is! But I want to watch the medicinal plants being packed with my own eyes. If even one is missing, this trade is void!"

Chen Wuwang nodded: "Very well."

He snapped his fingers.

In the direction of the Medicinal Field, six small transport mechs soared into the air. The hatches opened, revealing the neatly stacked medicinal plant roots inside—each one wrapped in specially made spirit mud, the root Systems intact, and the Spiritual Qi undissipated.

After landing, they unwrapped one on the spot. The detector scanned it, and the medicinal purity reached 97 percent.

"Is it up to standard?" Chen Wuwang asked.

The envoy stared at the data, his expression changing repeatedly, until he finally squeezed out a single sentence: "... It is."

The trade officially began.

The ten heavy mechs unloaded their cargo one by one: Red Sun Spirit Ores, Dark Iron Mother Ingots, century-old warm jade, fragments of sealed ancient array diagrams, high-grade talisman paper scrolls...

The Spirit Ores alone piled up into three small mountains, enough to support the upgrade of the Family's mech production line for the next half year.

Chen Wuwang stood the entire time; he did not sit, nor did he smile. He personally nodded to confirm every single item entering the inventory.

The System interface flashed silently in the depths of his consciousness: [The proceeds from this round of trade have been recorded in the Family reserve]. He did not look, nor did he need to—he had already calculated these numbers in his head eight hundred times.

As the last box of Thunder-Pattern Steel was unloaded, the envoy finally breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his hands: "We have delivered everything according to the agreement, and the medicinal plants have been inspected. As for what we are to take away..."

"You may go." Chen Wuwang waved his hand, "Take it slow on the road, don't drop anything."

The envoy snorted coldly, turned around, and prepared to board the mech.

Before stepping onto the ladder, he paused, looked back at the direction of the Medicinal Field, and said in a low voice: "The next trade will not be this straightforward."

Chen Wuwang ignored him.

Not until the ten mechs soared into the sky and left, their engine roars disappearing into the clouds, did he slowly exhale.

Below the high platform, the deacons had already begun counting the resources, and cheers could be faintly heard.

Someone shouted: "How many new mechs can this trip be exchanged for?"

"At least twenty!"

"The third phase of the defensive tower cluster has a chance now!"

The news seemed to grow wings, flying along the communication optical network toward the territories of the Seven Clans.

In less than half an hour, congratulatory messages from various clans poured in: the Xu Family sent three carts of spirit wine, the clan elders of the Li clan personally sent sound-transmission Jade Slips, and even two small clans that had originally been wavering submitted applications for attachment, begging only to join the technological cultivation plan.

The morale of the people was completely stabilized.

Chen Wuwang returned to the Main Hall and sat in the central seat. A holographic report floated before him—resource classification, reserves, available cycles, and subsequent distribution plans were all clearly listed one by one.

He did not look at the report; his fingers began to tap on the armrest again, one, two, the rhythm steady.

Outside the window, the sunlight was just right, shining on the resources piled up on the outer city platform, making them glisten.

Yet his gaze remained fixed on the outline of the distant mountains.

It was excessively quiet there.

He lowered his head, called up the real-time logs of the border detection System, and with a swipe of his fingertip, changed the patrol frequency from once every two quarters to once every half-quarter.

He then took a microchip from his sleeve and gently pressed it into the interface at the corner of the table.

"Ashes Contingency Plan · Preparatory Level," remained on standby.

He knew that this deal was done, but a bigger storm was yet to come.

The more resources there were, the more people would be eyeing them.

He remained composed and opened the intelligence briefing—the first page was a secret report from the Zhao clan: last night, three secret spiritual power fluctuations swept across the southeast cliff zone, and their trajectories did not match the great clans' reconnaissance talismans.

He narrowed his eyes, marked this item in red, and placed it on top.

Then he closed the briefing and picked up his teacup to take a sip.

The tea had gone cold.

He did not ask for a refill.

Outside the hall, the sunlight shone on the boundary marker of the "Eastern Wasteland Alliance," casting a long shadow.

The end of the shadow pointed directly at the gate of the Main Hall.

Chen Wuwang sat inside, his back straight, motionless.

Like a blade hidden in its sheath, waiting for the wind to come.