In the middle of the previous month, after the Flying Boat arrived, a Spirit Wave communication Magic Array capable of sending and receiving signals over long distances had been built in the Market District here.
The array's main function was to passively receive broadcasts from high-level Puppet Masters and, at critical moments, send out requests for aid or other messages.
After the headquarters of the Universal Profits Merchants' Association established contact with this place, it used the array to communicate with the local branch and adjust prices and business strategies.
Recently, they had learned an important piece of information through their own channels and taken the opportunity to inform Helm Master Qiu: the true identity of the financial backer behind the Heavenly Dragon Gate.
As it turned out, the organization supporting the Heavenly Dragon Gate and Centipede Daoist from behind the scenes all along was a merchant alliance comparable to their own in scale, known as the Everflow Merchants' Association.
This association had major clients akin to Territorial Lords elsewhere as well. It rarely entered the fray itself to participate in local conflicts, but Heavenly Dragon Peak was different.
The Golden Sun Gate had originally been unaware of this spirit peak. By the time they discovered the conflict of interests, the bets had already been placed and hands withdrawn from the table; changing things was no longer easy.
Although the Everflow Merchants' Association feared the Golden Sun Gate's power and dared not interfere too much, it was equally unwilling to abandon its interests here. A spirit peak blessed land, dozens or even a hundred blessed lands besides, and a Shaman Folk population numbering in the tens of millions were more than enough to make them take desperate risks.
Moreover, Li Chen was not the Golden Sun Gate itself. Although he