"What!" Zhang Tao shouted, standing up from his seat with wide eyes.
"You're saying all five thousand Li's soldiers were vanquished by one thousand Su's soldiers without killing a single soldier from the Su clan?" he asked, still in shock.
"Yes," Zhang Bo responded. He did not believe the news at first until he confirmed it.
How strong were the Su's soldiers to make the Li clan soldiers helpless against them?
After relishing in the shocking news, Zhang Tao slowly sat on his seat, lost in thought.
"We must get our hands on the Metal Bone Construct," he said with deep determination.
Now, everyone knows things have changed with the introduction of the Metal Bone Construct.
Any clan that doesn't have the Metal Bone Construct will be vulnerable against those that have it.
"I should go to the Su sacred clan immediately," he murmured and stood up from his seat.
Southern Barren Land.
Inside the Huang manor, Huang Yan was discussing how to fulfill Su Yen's order when the news of the Li massacre was announced.
"Are you telling the truth?" a middle-aged woman asked.
"Yes," responded the informant.
"I told you. We should not contemplate this matter anymore and quickly give them what they need before other families replace us," Huang Guo said seriously.
"You must not forget we must not let the pirates get their hands on this armor before we eradicate them. If so..." His voice trailed, leaving the rest to their imagination.
The five elders inside the hall exchanged glances and saw the deep worry on each other's faces before turning to look at their clan master.
"Clan master, I think we should follow their demand," said the first supreme elder.
Previously, it was these elders who were stopping Huang Yan from giving the Su what they demanded, but now they changed their minds like chameleons.
Seeing this, Huang Yan shook her head and gave the command.
"Go to the Su sacred clan and relay the news to them. The ships and the port are ready. They can start using them anytime they want," Huang Yan said, looking at her younger brother.
"Right away, big sister," Huang Guo responded with a light smile on his face.
Meanwhile, in the western barren land, the situation was as tense as ever.
Inside Willow City, the main city for the Li Clan, all the pedestrians were filled with panic and were talking in hushed voices.
It was no secret that all the soldiers from the Li clan had been killed, leaving no one behind.
Now, everyone was on edge, thinking the Su soldiers would attack the city after taking all the towns under the control of the Li clan.
Subsequently, in the main hall of the Li clan, the situation was chaos.
Bang! Bang!
"How dare they?" a voice shouted, full of madness. He threw the nearby jar against the wall, shattering it to pieces.
Yet, the deep fury in his heart didn't lessen. His red eyes roamed the hall and took anything he could lay his hand on and smashed them, venting his anger.
"I will kill them. I will kill them all," Li Xian shouted, his eyes bloodshot, veins protruding from his forehead.
This was the first time the Li clan would find themselves in such a desperate situation.
All the towns under them had been taken, leaving only the city for them.
Previously, they were one of the strongest sacred clans in the barren land.
But now, they were the weakest, and also, their survival was hanging by a thin thread.
The city and the clan depended on the smaller towns for resources, but now, everything would be going to the Su sacred clan.
How could he accept this?
"Contact the Blood Whisperer," he said with a forced calmness.
"What!" Li Jun widened his eyes, looking at Li Xian with wide eyes.
"Clan master..."
"Are you questioning me?" Li Xian interrupted with fury, turning his red eyes to him.
"No. No," Li Jun shook his head under the heavy fury of Li Xian.
He took a deep breath and bowed. "I will contact them immediately."
'I hope this will not be the doom of the clan?' he thought and left the hall with large strides.
*****
Sitting on the main seat, Su Yen looked at the smiling elders below and asked.
"How is the expansion of our businesses?"
Stepping forward, Elder Hua said with a proud smile, "We've expanded the size of each of our stores and also opened four more stores in each of the towns and cities."
She paused for a bit before she continued, "Now, our weekly profit is estimated to be around ten thousand gold coins."
Huh!
Everyone inside the hall sucked in a cold breath. This was a massive amount of money that none of them had ever seen in their lives.
When the clan was still in its peak state, it never made such a massive profit.
If they were told such a massive profit was possible for the clan, they would have retorted with disdain, but now… it's happening.
"Good," Su Yen nodded. "This is just the starting point. We must not be blinded by the profit and stop progressing. Remember, our strength is the most important thing," he reminded everyone.
Hearing this, everyone nodded. They weren't kids who wouldn't know their priorities.
Su Yen turned to his elder brother. "How are the new towns the Li clan gave us?"
"The nine town lords did not give us any problem. Following your command, I stationed ten soldiers in each town to support them."
"Good. How about their mines?" Su Yen asked. That was more important to him right now.
"Their mines are way better than ours. From them, we will secure more than ten tons of iron ore every month."
"Good," he nodded.
"With this, we won't need to strain our mines any longer."
The sales of the Metal Bone Construct were still in their infancy. And each day, the sales would continue to grow before saturation.
However, the time for saturation was not now. The Cloudweaver City had a population of tens of millions, while the smaller towns under them had around three to five million.
What about other barren land cities and towns? Therefore, the population of the barren land was nothing less than one billion people.
And right now, fifty million of such a population had not yet bought the Metal Bone Construct.
Thinking of this, Su Yen smiled lightly.
"Let's begin the construction," he said seriously.
"What construction?" the quiet Su Lan asked with a trace of confusion etched on her face.
It was not only her that was puzzled; everyone inside the hall was full of puzzlement.
They looked at Su Yen intently, waiting for him to continue.
"Do you know why I asked our soldiers to guard the Dreadshade forest?" Su Yen asked.
Before they could respond, he continued. "We need to change the clan location, and it's going to be at the center of the inner region of the Dreadshade forest."
Meanwhile, in a secluded part of Willow City, a lone building stood hidden in the shadows, untouched by the city's bustling life.
The moonlight cast eerie, elongated shadows around it, and an unsettling silence hung in the air.
Suddenly, a figure, clad in a dark, hooded cloak, approached with swift, silent steps.
As he reached the building's door, he paused for a moment, then knocked in an unusual rhythm, as if speaking in a secret code.
The door creaked open just a crack, revealing a pair of bloodred eyes.