Volcanic Age

Three weeks later, in Weng'An Town, Guizhou Province.

"Hahaha, this is great! Excellent!" Li Yicai danced around and laughed with joy, celebrating the weight of the pouch in his chest pocket.

For the past three weeks, the Gold Will Merchants had been handling the provisions in Weng'An. This led to the rapid expansion of his company.

The Guizhou province was dangerous for merchants. However, at the same time, it was full of opportunities. Due to the constant conflicts, the consumption of provisions was fast.

That meant that supplies were just as frequent, and that in turn, meant that trade would increase, which was a huge boon for him.

Li Yicai's wealth grew the more he traded.

Over the past two or three weeks, trust in Li Yicai and the Gold Will Merchants under him had increased significantly. They had already become rather famous.

Li Yicai, as expected of someone who would later be called the Merchant King, was an incredible merchant. He utilized his talent in trade to the fullest to earn money, consistently supplying the right provisions at the right time. He never disappointed anyone with quality, either.

What Li Yicai did was simple: he bought high-quality items at affordable prices and sold them at suitable prices. His skills were unmatched.

Shen Tujun, the branch head of the Martial Alliance Kaiyang branch, had recently shown interest in his skills, and Li Yicai managed to get an order from him.

It had only been three weeks since he started trading in Weng'An, yet, he had already climbed his way up to Kaiyang. It looked like there wasn't long left until he expanded throughout Guizhou.

He also used other methods to earn money. Over time, the Gold Will Merchants began to trade in weapons. It wasn't anything special yet; they simply picked up discarded weapons from the battlefield and sold them to the smithies in the provincial capital. Then, they bought low-quality weapons from those smithies at cheap prices and sold them to wanderers and other cultivators on the front lines.

While some wanderers were blinded by wealth, or some thug groups usually targeted merchants, they gave up after hearing that they had ties with the Weng'An branch of the Martial Alliance and Shen Tujun.

In Guizhou, only the Evil Valley, that opposed the Martial Alliance, posed a threat to the Gold Will Merchants.

"Hehehe! It's money!" Li Yicai giggled strangely, rejoicing.

Money, especially gold, satisfied a certain part of his heart. He preferred counting money to sleeping with women. Honestly speaking, he didn't know why people liked drinking and sex.

"If you want to smell or toy with something, you should do it with money. Hehe, my lovely little ones. I could just die."

Li Yicai buried his face in the pile of silver coins in front of him, gently rubbing them with his face. His eyes were filled with bliss.

It hurt a bit at first, but it soon turned into pleasure.

"Buhihi! Hehehe…."

It was a kind of lunacy that even the Demonic Cult and the Blood Cult would find alarming.

"Ah, I am truly indebted to Great Hero Zhou. Without him, I would still be sucking on someone else's ass right now."

Li Yicai pulled his face away from the pile of silver coins.

"I wish I could repay my debt, but he is no longer in this world, great hero, ehem, Young Master Zhou."

His manner of calling Zhou Xuchuan began to deteriorate.

"Young Master Zhou. I hope you reach the heavens. I offer you a silver coin in rememb— wait, no, a silver coin is too much. He is no longer of this world anyway, is he? Then three coppers? Two coppers? Actually, even one copper is too much. It's not like the dead have any need for money. Let's just send him my condolences."

Li Yicai clasped his hands together.

"Zhou… what was his name again? I can't even remember."

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Li Yicai forgot about this Zhou-something.

Knock, knock-

"Who's there?" Li Yicai asked, putting away his silver coins.

"Head merchant, some martial artist wishes to meet you," said the cultivator outside the door.

"Does that person look rich?"

"He looks dirt poor."

"Did he say he's from the ten major organizations, the five major family clans, or the Martial Alliance?"

"He's a wanderer."

"Is he famous?"

"He's nameless."

"Chase him out!"

If it was before, he might have entertained them, but he had no time for such people right now. It was much better to find something else more worthwhile to do.

"Yes." the cultivator curtly replied, concluding the conversation.

This time, Li Yicai took out his gold coins and began counting. The smirk on his lips reached his ears and looked unpleasant.

Knock knock-

"Gosh, what now?!" Li Yicai stood up.

"May I come in?"

A voice from outside requested, though it belonged to a different individual from before.

"Alright, enter!"

Yet, the voice sounded familiar, leading him to assume it was another escort from the company.

Creak

The door opened, and a young boy who looked fifteen entered.

"Ack!" Li Yicai screamed and fell on his butt. "Y-y-you are—!"

He pointed at the boy with trembling hands.

"It seems you're doing well, head merchant. Are you ready to rob the treasury?"

"Aaaack! It's a ghost! You must be a ghost!"

Li Yicai clutched his money bags, shrinking back in fear.

"Let's not go around assuming other people are dead, shall we?" Zhou Xuchuan grinned and turned around. "Come in."

"What should I do with this fallen cultivator?"

Behind Zhou Xuchuan was a boy who looked to be around nine or ten years old. He also looked more frail than his peers.

"Don't tell me he's…" Li Yicai's eyebrows trembled at the sight of the boy.

"He's Zhuge Shengji. Know him?"

"There are two ghosts here! Begone! I have no money for you!"

Li Yicai panicked and started screaming again.

"Is there no one outside?!"

"You're noisy, head merchant."

Zhou Xuchuan swung his fist, creating a hole in the wall with a resounding thud.

"I'm alive and well, so please shut up. I have something to discuss."

Li Yicai raised his head, looking at the wall that now had a hole in it. Then, he stood up from his position and kowtowed as though he hadn't behaved erratically some moments before.

"The world said you were dead, great hero, but I have never doubted your survival!"

Li Yicai was shameless.

*

Three weeks ago, a piece of news shook the entire martial world.

The Watertop Spearman Lu Dalang, one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, had died in the hands of Fourteenth Sword Hero Qiu Feng.

News of experts always attracted a lot of attention in the martial world. As a result, the events of that day spread rapidly

"But why did they even fight?"

"Don't those river bandits ask for a toll when someone crosses the Yangtze River? It seems that the children from the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family couldn't tolerate the humiliation and struck first."

"Whoa, they're definitely the future of the ten major organizations and the five great clans. It's great that they took action. They're truly cultivators of the Orthodox Faction. They did a good job."

The Nine Water Gangs called themselves protectors and righteous thieves, but it was all just nonsense. They were ultimately just thieves who robbed other people.

Not just martial artists, even normal citizens seemed refreshed after hearing the news.

"But that resulted in the death of two great children, didn't it?"

"It's truly unfortunate."

Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji were classified as missing. This led to an uproar in the Orthodox martial world. One was a member of the distinguished Lotus Pavilion of the Mount Hua Sect, and the other was the son of the clan head of the Zhuge Family. The fact that they were both killed by river bandits was huge news.

The Mount Hua Sect, and the Zhuge Family, being the victims, appeared ready to attack the bandits at once.

"Do you know about this?" Li Yicai paused, taking a sip of tea.

"Yes, I've heard rumors about it. But I don't know what happened after that."

"I see." Li Yicai nodded and continued. "Before the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family could take action, the Nine Water Gangs claimed it was justified self-defense."

"They're lying. There was no such thing."

"Most people should know that. Your death caused big waves here in Weng'An too. Because of that, I managed to hear some additional details."

The problem was that the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family were not denying their claims. This was because of the widespread rumors.

Moreover, the cultivators, and even most people living in the Central Plains, believed that the group from the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family had attacked the Nine Water Gangs first without being able to ignore the injustice. That was what they were being praised for as well.

However, if they were to refute that, then the two organizations would be put in an awkward position. It might imply that they would usually turn a blind eye to the injustice caused by the Nine Water Gangs. If that were to happen, they would receive more criticism instead. That was why they refrained from refuting the claims of the river bandits.

Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji's statuses weren't ordinary, but they weren't important enough for the two organizations to undertake such controversy.

"In the end, both sides did nothing. As you know, due to the other factions in the martial world, neither the Mount Hua Sect nor the Zhuge Family can act freely, right?"

Confronting the Nine Water Gangs directly would result in tremendous damage. That would break the balance, and potentially lead to a war that targeted the weakened Orthodox Faction.

"And now, you and Young Master Zhuge have returned. What in the world happened?" Li Yicai stared at them, still in disbelief.

"We were swept away much farther than the rest of our group after falling into the Yangtze River. We nearly reached Hubei."

It was difficult to take care of Zhuge Shengji, who was injured and had lost consciousness, but fortunately, they managed to survive.

"Then, we journeyed south from Hubei to Hunan before returning to Guizhou. That took a while."

"No, but why did you come back? Hubei is the domain of the Orthodox Faction… and the Zhuge Family is there, right?"

"Exactly." Zhou Xuchuan replied with a mysterious smile. Before Li Yicai could say anything, he added, "If Shengji or I were discovered, it would cause a stir, and we would be returned to our respective sects and clans and receive protection. That would mean we wouldn't be able to leave for a long time. If we do that, we'd be leaving the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief for years."

"Oh!" Li Yicai exclaimed. "But… no, nevermind."

The treasury wasn't going anywhere. However, there was the possibility that someone else would discover it if they were to delay it by a few more years.

If he went this far, then there might really be something to it.

He had heard about three weeks, no, a whole month ago, but he was still half skeptical. To be precise, he hadn't given it much thought. He just had things prepared so that he could obtain the rights to trade provisions.

Today, however, he had changed his mind after seeing that Zhou Xuchuan had visited him in secret.

"Did you bring Young Master Zhuge here for the sake of confidentiality? You're meticulous, alright. You saved a person, and even prepared for the plan. You truly are a great hero." Li Yicai rubbed his hands together and flattered.

"No, that's not the case. Shengji is our partner. Without him, it's impossible to rob the treasury."

Zhou Xuchuan told Li Yicai about the mechanisms installed in the treasury.

"Are you sure there's a treasury in there?" Zhuge Shengji, who was listening from the side, questioned doubtfully.

"Whether I'm sure or not, you should follow me. Little brother, you wouldn't ignore the request of someone who saved your life, would you?"

"...Urgh."

Zhuge Shengji looked like he had something to say, but he chose to remain silent. Ever since Zhou Xuchuan saved Zhuge Shengji, he had forced the latter to follow him under the excuse that he had saved his life. Shengji hated it, but he felt indebted, so he followed Zhou Xuchuan regardless.

"Well then, head merchant. Are you ready?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"I'll follow you, great hero!"