In the cities of the Blood Peak Continent, the official, legitimate store is naturally Bloodridge Castle.
"Moonwheel City isn't as barren as I imagined." Jason walked through Bloodridge Castle in Moonwheel City, looking at the goods for sale around him; both the quality and variety were quite impressive.
Jason has changed his appearance. Because he rarely goes out and few people recognize Jason soul aura, no one would recognize him.
Arriving at the counter selling Amethyst, he bought out the entire stock in one go, and asked the sales clerk, who looked on in astonishment, "Our Moonwheel City doesn't seem to lack goods, so why do people outside say that this place isn't wealthy?"
The female sales clerk already sensed that the person in front of her was someone of considerable importance. Given the recent unrest in the city, she was unsure how to answer and simply replied perfunctorily, "Our Moonwheel City is adjacent to the Star Mist Sea, and there are many trading caravans coming and going, so we have a wide variety of goods."
Sensing the other party's perfunctory attitude, Jason didn't ask any more questions. He toured all three floors and then went around to the staff area behind Bloodridge Castle.
Go directly to Alhaitham, the person in charge of Bloodridge Castle.
Alhaitham is a veteran in Bloodridge Castle. It is said that before that, when the Indigo Prefecture was still ruled by the Four Divine Beasts, he was the second-level manager here.
Later, the city lord changed, and the two successive Bloodridge Castle stewards changed several times. Now it's Alhaitham's turn to be the steward. As for the previous Bloodridge Castle steward, because he was Airding's confidant, Jason did not accept his loyalty and executed him directly. The steward did have a lot of wealth.
Jason raised his question again. The highly experienced but youthful-looking Alhaitham hesitated for a moment, apologized, and closed the office door before speaking.
"Lord City Lord, you should be familiar with the changes in the situation of our Indigo Prefecture over the past ten thousand years, right?"
Jason nodded. "I understand the general idea, but I'm a little lacking in the details."
Alhaitham continued, "Based on its geographical location and the characteristics of its subordinate areas, our Moonwheel City should have been a trading city."
Moonwheel Cliff is adjacent to the Star Mist Sea, and the surrounding waters are calm and safe. To the north and south are "Haitian Prefecture" and "Starmist Prefecture," making it the junction of three prefectures. Our Moonwheel City has no valuable minerals or crops. Therefore, developing the city into a trading city has been a consensus among almost all successive city lords.
"But why didn't it develop?" Jason gestured for the other person not to be shy.
Alhaitham sighed and said, "The city lord should have heard that the ancestors of the Four Divine Beasts Clan were four Sovereign, right?"
Seeing Jason nod, Alhaitham explained, "Back then, the Four Divine Four Divine Beasts Clan Four Divine Beasts Clan was at its zenith, and the entire Indigo Prefecture was controlled by them. This must have displeased the Blood Peak Sovereign, so the Sovereign deliberately isolated Indigo Prefecture from the twenty-three other palaces on the Blood Peak Continent."
Our Moonwheel City, situated at the intersection of three prefectures, instantly became useless, because the major powers within the "Haitian Prefecture" and "Starmist Prefecture" simply did not trade with us; only a few small merchants would secretly engage in small transactions with us.
Jason had heard about this before; the information Beirut had given him about the Indigo Prefecture was quite detailed and contained records of it.
"What about the Four Divine Beasts Clan? Since this is their territory, they won't just watch it decline, will they?"
After a moment's thought, Alhaitham said, "Lord City Lord, please forgive my bluntness. I have lived for over two billion years and dealt with the Four Divine Beasts Clan many times before their decline, so I know them very well."
The Four Divine Beasts Clan acts domineeringly, is arrogant and self-important, and lacks any foresight. Their previous strength was entirely due to the power of their ancestors and their own bloodline talents. In reality, their members are not particularly outstanding in terms of individual abilities, whether in cultivation or in dealing with people.
They have no plans for their family's future, relying solely on their strength to expand recklessly, making enemies in various planes and showing no restraint even towards their allies. Judging from their actions, I believe they have no allies, only their own kind, enemies, vassals, and strangers.
Alhaitham was unaware of Jason's relationship with the Four Divine Beasts Clan, so he told Jason a lot.
Jason made no comment. "The affairs of the Four Divine Beasts Clan are beyond our control; let them develop as they will. Do you have any suggestions for Moonwheel City as it is now?"
Alhaitham realized he had gotten a little emotional, and after calming himself down, he changed the subject. "Lord City Lord, before the Four Divine Beasts Clan declined, they controlled all the resources within the Indigo Prefecture. Only Indigo City and Mier City, where members of their own clan served as city lords, were relatively prosperous; the rest of the cities were suppressed."
Jason asked, "Were the Lord of the Indigo Prefecture and the Lord of Mier City both direct Four Divine Beasts Clan back then?"
"Yes."
Jason nodded, signaling the other person to continue.
"Later, the Sovereign of the Four Divine Beasts Clan died, and the Indigo Prefecture underwent a series of changes within ten thousand years. In fact, our Moonwheel City is much more prosperous than before, and at least some of the commercial trade within the palace has gradually returned to normal. The situation in the other cities is similar."
Our Moonwheel City is situated right next to the Star Mist Sea, a geographically advantageous location. Especially since we recently opened up some trade with the "Haitian Prefecture" and "Starmist Prefecture," unfortunately, trade with these two prefectures has been suspended again, resulting in significant losses. That's why the previous city lord Airding, bet on the Eight Great Clans in an attempt to recoup those losses."
Jason said he understood. It seems that after Beirut became the city lord, the Blood Peak Sovereign reclassified Indigo Prefecture as "someone else's territory," isolating it once again.
Alhaitham stopped speaking, clearly assuming that Jason, as the city lord, should already know what to do by now.
"I cannot support the Eight Great Clans; my position aligns with Lord Beirut's. As for trade with the ' Haitian Prefecture ' and ' Starmist Prefecture,' that's beyond my control."
Jason's stance makes it impossible for him to bet on the Eight Great Clans; as for the Four Divine Beasts Clan, it's clear from the original story that they are not innocent, a fact confirmed by Alhaitham. Jason has now decided to only befriend the Azure Dragon Clan's Yulan Lineage, to which Linley belongs, while maintaining only superficial relations with the rest of the Four Divine Beasts Clan members.
As for the predicament of the Indigo Prefecture, it is entirely based on the fact that Beirut is an alien Sovereign, something Jason cannot change.
"Given the current situation, the only option is to expand the trade route between Moonwheel City and Star Mist Sea, and strengthen trade between Moonwheel City and several cities within Indigo Prefecture," Jason said to Alhaitham.
The other party seemed to have been prepared, after all, if there had been a chance for things to turn around, the previous Airding would not have continued to trade with the Eight Great Clans in secret, even after the Blood Peak Sovereign had hinted at maintaining neutrality.
Jason left Bloodridge Castle, not really taking Moonwheel City's predicament to heart.
The long lifespan of Deity-level makes it extremely difficult to completely eliminate the remnants of a faction; Jason would need at least five thousand years to fully control Moonwheel City.
According to the original story, Linley become Sovereign by then. Blood Peak Sovereign was merely a Lower Sovereign; it was uncertain who would give whom the time of day.