"What?" The three elders, each half a step into Fusion, sprang to their feet in fury upon hearing their servant's report.
"That brat actually slaughtered our cultivators openly in our market?"
"He's far too arrogant!"
"Big Brother, you're at the helm of our lineage. You have to confront that brat. We can't let him run wild like this!"
The old man addressed as Big Brother shook his head. "Third Brother, don't let anger go to your head. What can we do?"
"Right now, Black Tortoise Ancestor wants that brat to stay so he can strip him of his resources."
"He's voluntarily teaching the Mechanical Insect Refining Method to the people of the Ten Villages, and even giving them spirit stones for the refining. Either way, he's bleeding resources, which is exactly what Black Tortoise Ancestor wants."
"We can't object."
"Second Brother, look at him. Big Brother's dodging the issue again. Think of something, or our Tan clan won't be able to swallow this insult."
The Tan Family's Second Elder pondered for a long while before saying, "Big Brother has a point. However, we can use Black Tortoise Ancestor's name to make him bleed a little more. That would count as revenge."
"Oh?" The Tan Family's Grand Elder immediately raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Since they want to trade in our market, we can invite them in and charge a little extra in management fees."
"That would be within the rules, wouldn't it?"
"And what pretext would we use?"
"An additional percentage levied on outside goods, of course. What's there to discuss? He's an outside cultivator to begin with."
"Hahahaha! That's a great idea, Second Brother. Not only will we get a cut of the profits, but we'll also keep reminding everyone that this so-called Second Elder is an