Broken Weapons and Shattered Blades
A single thread cannot make a line, and a single tree cannot make a forest.
Power comes from the lower classes.
These two sentences were often said by a civil servant friend of Ling Yi's in his previous life.
However, in the extraordinary world of the Douluo Continent, where individual power belongs to oneself, these two statements only apply to a part of the story.
If we look at the entire Douluo Continent, before one's power reaches the level of Titled Douluo, or even the level of Tang Chen or Qian Daoliu, one is not qualified to say "fist is power" on the Douluo Continent.
However, if limited to a certain place, even a One-Ring Soul Master might be able to boast like that.
The Water Wood Duchy is very small, and the big figures within it are indeed not considered big figures when placed within the territory of the suzerain state, the Heaven Dou Empire.
However, the Marquis who stands at the top of the power structure of the [Water Wood Duchy] not only possesses the strength of a high-level Soul Emperor, but also commands an army of tens of thousands, making him a force that cannot be ignored.
If such a person were to converse with a high-ranking figure in the Heaven Dou Empire, he would naturally be the one standing and listening.
However, if you are buying raw materials from local bullies or powerful figures who have established themselves in a city or region, you will almost never encounter the egregious situation that occurred with the Blacksmith Association of the Water Wood Duchy, where prices not only did not decrease but actually increased with each increase in purchase volume.
What are the Blacksmith Association in the Water Wood Duchy?
The strongest are only a few Soul Ancestor, there isn't even a Soul King, and the total number of members is only two or three thousand.
Among them, there are fewer than a hundred formal Soul Master with Soul Ring!
Therefore, it is natural that it will not be valued by raw material suppliers.
Initially, due to a lack of understanding of the situation, discounted sales occurred in response to the large-scale centralized procurement. Later, with the enthusiastic participation of the blacksmith community in the [Water Wood Duchy], it became known to those who were paying attention to the area.
When it's time to cut their losses, these raw material suppliers will naturally not hold back.
A Soul Master family that can control a mine, with a Soul King Rank expert in charge, is a formidable force when facing the Blacksmith Association.
However, when the five military commands controlled by the five marquises of the [Water Wood Duchy] were replaced, these raw material suppliers, who were backed by Soul King and Soul Emperor, immediately became the parties in a fair trade.
As for the five marquises, will they try to take advantage of the Blacksmith Association and squeeze even more out of it?
It's still those two sentences.
A single thread cannot make a line, and a single tree cannot make a forest.
Power comes from the lower classes.
Living within the power structure of the [Water Wood Duchy], let alone the five marquises, even the nominal ruler of the duchy, Grand Duke Mu Feng, cannot arbitrarily slaughter a new force with two or three thousand members and influence throughout every corner of the duchy!
After discussing the future operational guidelines of the Blacksmith Association's Water Wood Duchy branch with Old Master Jin, Ling Yi informed the old man that he would soon be returning to his territory in North Mouth River Town. He said that for any further association matters, he could send someone to deliver a letter to him. Then, he went to rest at his residence, which belonged to him as the vice president, behind the headquarters.
He will stay in "Wood Plant City" for about two days, partly to help the old man handle various matters, big and small, of the "Blacksmith Association," and partly to wait for the arrival of the Ye Luo and Yue Qing brothers.
Over the next two days, Ling Yi accompanied Old Master Jin to meet with the liaison officers who happened to be in ' Wood Plant City ' to report on the various situations encountered by blacksmith shops and Blacksmith in the towns and villages below. Ling Yi also gave his suggestions and asked these liaison officers to pass on the messages to their subordinates.
Similarly, through these people, Ling Yi learned how many members there were in the current [Blacksmith Association - Water Wood Duchy Branch], and what their blacksmithing levels, Martial Soul types, Soul Power Level, and so on.
Over the past two years, as the Blacksmith Association's Water Wood Duchy branch has flourished, its members have tangibly benefited, naturally attracting many non-blacksmiths to apply for membership.
Most of these people are Soul Scholar, with a few having exhausted their potential One-Ring Soul Master.
Adhering to the principle that Ling Yi had initially set—to accept all comers— Old Master Jin recruited everyone.
Those willing to learn forging were assigned to learn from Blacksmith; those with other aspirations were assigned to roles such as liaisons, procurement coordinators, and cargo escorts.
The core principle is to make the best use of resources and talents!
Excluding the blacksmiths in the five military departments of the Duchy, there are a total of 689 blacksmith shops in the entire [Water Wood Duchy], distributed in the three major cities and various towns and markets, with more than 2,700 blacksmiths and blacksmith apprentices.
There were four Blacksmith: two Soul Ancestor, one Soul Elder, and one Grand Soul Master.
There are 75 senior blacksmiths, including two Soul Elder, 18 Grand Soul Master, 23 Soul Master, 30 Soul Scholar, and two ordinary people.
There are over 800 intermediate-level blacksmiths, 25 Grand Soul Master, 17 Soul Master, and about 400 Soul Scholar and ordinary people.
Among the junior blacksmiths and blacksmith apprentices, including those who joined later, the number of One-Ring Soul Master is no more than two hands' worth.
The entire group of blacksmiths, even if all of them were added together, would only amount to a little over a hundred Soul Master. To those outside who were unaware of the exact numbers, it would probably be less than a hundred Soul Master.
Even so, blacksmiths are already the group with the largest proportion of Soul Master among all professions.
It is foreseeable that in the future [Water Wood Duchy], the blacksmith profession will definitely be the first choice for all Soul Master with limited potential and no hope for the future.
The chances of these people's children having Innate Soul Power aptitude are much higher than those of the general population of the principality.
Even if the children of these blacksmiths don't become blacksmiths in the future, they are still the most likely to join the Blacksmith Association, given similar pay.
Currently, apart from Ling Yi himself, no one in the vast [Water Wood Duchy] has been able to perceive this conclusion.
Because in everyone's common understanding, Soul Master is a kind of inherited power that is based on bloodline.
Everyone subconsciously feels that a truly powerful force must have been established by a strong individual with a powerful bloodline.
Even the Spirit Hall, which is willing to accept all commoner Soul Master in the entire Douluo Continent, is a super power formed by a group of high-quality Martial Soul families, with the Angel Qian Clan Family as its leader.
Which of those cardinals, Platinum Bishop, elders, and deities doesn't have a family influence, large or small, behind them?
In Ling Yi's view, this kind of preconceived notion is truly a wonderfully flawed concept based on information asymmetry.
It's just a matter of how long this information gap will last before some smart people notice it.
Fortunately, the Blacksmith Association's foundation is too weak, so in the early and mid-stages of development, there is basically no need to worry about being targeted by those big shots.
Time flew by, and two days later, at the east gate of "Wood Plant City".
Senior Brother Zhang Tie, along with some members of the Blacksmith Association, saw Ling Yi off.
Zhang Tie's gaze swept over Zhang Mufeng behind Ling Yi. He didn't say anything to his youngest son, but instead said to Ling Yi, "Junior Brother, the things you asked me to collect for you have been collected quite a bit over the past year. The first few batches have already been sent to your territory..."
Pointing to the scene of baskets being loaded onto trucks not far away, Zhang Tie continued, "This is what we've collected in the last month. Same as before, it's 30% of the finished product price, which is considered material costs..."
At this point, Zhang Tie shook his head, looked at Ling Yi who was watching the loading of the truck, and said with some confusion, "Junior brother, these things are all scrap. Except for a small portion that can be melted down into materials for use, most of them can only be used to make some farm tools, which is a kind of waste utilization."
What use do you have for collecting all this scrap metal?
Following Zhang Tie's words, Zhang Mufeng, who was standing behind Ling Yi, also looked in the direction the two were looking.
Inside those baskets were none other than broken and incomplete weapons: broken swords and sabers, spears and iron clubs broken into several pieces, and axes and hammers cleaved in two...
Thank you to readers [Book Friend 20190823125707289, Burning Dark Green, Blue Ice Rose Knight, Shuyou Support Thank You, Supreme Mysterious Heavenly Daoist, Black Iron Tip, East Potato Shreds, A Moment Earth Stopped] for their monthly tickets, thank you to readers [Innate Five Supreme Daoist, A Person with a Name] for their rewards, Xie Da for your recommendation tickets and continued reading! Xie Da! (*^▽^*)
I made a blunder yesterday. I stayed up all night writing three chapters, setting them to update at 8 a. m. as a bonus chapter before the book went on sale, but I later realized that they were published as public chapters.
I had to ask the editor to find out that it was supposed to be released at noon; I posted it too early. o(╥╥)o
Okay, there was a lack of effective communication. The editor probably thought I knew, and I thought I knew too, because the first VIP chapter of my last book was released at 8 a. m.
Oh well, I've already sent it, so I'll stop thinking about it. Thinking about it too much will only make me feel upset.
Anyway, let's just release it quietly. As for the big updates, we'll have to see how things go in the future. After all, I have a main job, so it's hard for me to keep up with the update schedules of full-time authors and certain "tentacle monsters".
That's all for now, time to sleep.