A Grand Artisan giving gifts to a Master Artisan, courting a Master Artisan's favor? It was simply inconceivable.
Yet at that moment, this inconceivable thing had truly happened.
Inside the Ying Family estate, a group of Clan Elders held a closed-door discussion, their feelings a mixture of delight and worry.
"Since Grand Artisan Li began his campaign against Chess Mountain, he has recruited troops, expanded his armaments, and invested in building Workshops and mines across the region. Even so, his total expenditure probably amounts to no more than ten billion."
"Yet now, to secure a secret agreement with our Ying Family, he is offering ten billion in transactions in one stroke, with profits exceeding a billion."
"And with all the treasures, materials, and techniques added in, their value is somewhere between several hundred million and a billion!"
"This really is... ah!"
The members of the Ying Family were no fools. They all knew this money would not be easy to take. One careless step, and it would become the price paid for the lives of their entire Lineage.
"What course should our Ying Family take now?" the Ying Family Head solemnly asked the Clan Elders. The time had come to abandon any notion of playing both sides and make a choice.
One Clan Elder said quietly, "At this point, do we still have a choice?"
The Ying Family Head faltered, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"True enough."
"Master, all legions are ready."
Inside the Black Shark Flying Boat, Heavenly Pivot split off the Heavenly Authority persona, converting the various reports from the battlefield into data and projecting them as realistic maps and other displays.
The finest troops and commanders had all been drawn together and moved into their designated positions. They needed only a single order from Li