Chapter 121: Opening Titan's Gate.
While Yao Jun and Guo Luo were traveling to and around the Grand Quan continent, Wan Yi and the others were working on building up their organization, Titan's gate. Violet Sky Town was the place where they had decided on starting, as it was one of the safest options available to them.
At the center of the town stood the house of the town ruler. The house was four floors tall and painted a vibrant purple. The lanterns that hung from the roof were not the normal red, instead shining with a dim blue light.
At the top floor, Wan Yi and the others were gathered in a small office. The walls of the office were lined with bookshelves as well as paintings, a few potted flowers standing in the corners. At the center of the room stood a small table covered in papers as well as two ornate couches.
“Very well Senior Xiang. While it pains me to sell them so cheaply, your silver tongue has convinced me.”
Sitting on one of the couches was Wan Yi and her group, while a fat middle aged man with slick black hair and a small beard was sitting on the other couch. The fat middle aged man shook his head as he spoke, raising his hands like he had been defeated in a battle.
“Excellent. It seems like we must thank you, City lord Mao.”
Yang Long stood up from the couch with a bright smile, reaching out with his arm and shaking the fat man's hand. The fat man was the ruler of this town, Mao Cai. Upon entering the house of the town ruler in order to purchase the houses they wanted, they had all given false names and pretended like Yang Long was their leader, as he looked the oldest.
“No need, no need. You are paying for the houses after all.”
Mao Cai responded with a loud laughter as he shook the hand of Yang Long. He had pretended like he sold the houses for cheap, but they had actually ended up being sold for the correct market value. It was clear to him that there was someone among their group who knew a bit about finances and prices.
“Then if you don't mind, I will be taking those deeds.”
Yang Long took out a large amount of money from his interspatial ring, holding it in one hand while reaching out with his other. Once Mao Cui placed the deeds to a few houses in his hands, Yang Long handed over the money.
“If you ever find yourself needing anything, you can simply come find me.”
Mao Cui escorted the group out off the building, even waving at them as they left. People who were capable of spending so much money like it was nothing were always worth befriending.
“We got the houses for the market price, so we still have more than enough money to spend on equipment as well as materials.”
After they left Mao Cui, Wan Yi counted over how much money they had left. They originally only planned on buying the one house, but it turned out that a few of the surrounding houses were also available, so they decided to buy them as well, allowing them to have more space.
“Brother Yantian will need ores, a small forge, as well as tools. Brother Ren will need a cauldron, herbs and Demonic beast materials, as well as a source of fire. As for you Yang siblings, you will need a large amount of Spirit Stones as well as Demonic beast materials.”
While walking towards the houses they bought, Wan Yi went over all the things they needed to buy. Yun Yantian knew how to forge some weapons and armors, Lin Ren knew how to make some medicines and pills, while the Yang siblings knew how to create arrays.
“We should also buy large amounts of dried food and water that we can store away. We never known when it will come in handy.”
Lin Ren spoke up from the side as they were walking. If they had dried food and water stored away, if something were to happen, they would be able to hide away inside their headquarters and sustain themselves for a little while.
“We should also hire some people to connect all the houses, making it easier to go from one to the other.”
Yun Yantian also spoke up. They had bought several separate houses, so they were not connected. Hiring contractors to connect the houses would allow them to quickly and easily go from one area to the next.
“Very well, I will take care of it. I trust that you all know what you need, so I won't say much more. Let us meet up outside the buildings when we have purchased all that we need.”
After hearing their suggestions, Wan Yi nodded her head. Everyone had an interspatial ring containing a large amount of money, so they would each be in charge of buying what they needed. In the hands of Wan Yi was most of the wealth that Yao Jun had managed to take from Ash Barrens City, while Yang Yuhuan held almost all the wealth of the Yang clan, so if there was one thing they did not lack, it was money.
The group split up, Yang Long and Yang Yuhuan buying materials for drawing up arrays, while at the same time getting acquainted with several shop owners in the town. After all, having more connections was always a good thing.
Yun Yantian headed for the various blacksmiths as well as any shop that sold ores. As he could not carry most of the items, he made the people of the shop transport them to the buildings. Finding a fire source was the hardest part for him, as it was fairly rare.
Most blacksmiths had inborn powers that let them conjure and control fire, as it would help them while smiting. But for those who could not do that, they could still purchase a fire source and use that instead. A fire source was a special type of material that could release fire, the more Qi it was given, the stronger the fire it would release.
“Just a quick one maybe?”
Lin Ren stood outside of a brothel, smelling the enchanting smell and taking in the vibrant colors. He had always had a fondness for women, so whenever he entered a town or city, he would often head directly to a brothel.
“Nah, I better finish my job first.”
He ended up shaking his head, walking away from the brothel. He had a fondness for woman, but he also knew how to prioritize. Right now it was more important for him to purchase all the things he needed, the fun could come after that.
Herbs and Demonic beast materials were very easy to purchase as almost any shop would sell them. As for the cauldron, he found a blacksmith that specialized in cauldrons and bought one that he found suited him.
He also needed a fire source, as creating pills and medicines required breaking down the herbs and Demonic beast materials, extracting their essence, and then fusing the various essences together into a single whole.
Wan Yi had the easiest time buying all the things she needed. She first found a company that specialized in renovating houses and hired them to connect all the houses they had bought, having them start work immediately.
After that, she purchased large amounts of dried meat and barrels of water from various shops, having them transport it to the houses. She also bought other things that they might end up needing, like some furniture, as well as some spices, dried herbs, and cooking utensils.
After buying the things she needed, Wan Yi took a trip to the town square to see what they offered. As she walked through the square, she spotted a man selling five Demon Race slaves, three young men and two young women.
“How much for those five?”
Wan Yi walked up to the man selling the slaves, pointing at the Demon Race slaves as she spoke. She was using a special technique to hide her Demon Race aura and features, so she looked just like a normal human.
“The five of 'em? I'll let ya have them if ya give me 200 gold.”
The man looked at Wan Yi with an uninterested expression. To him, Wan Yi looked far too young to have enough money to buy slaves.
“Take it. I'll take them.”
Wan Yi brought out 200 gold and handed it to the man, not even haggling about the price. 200 gold for five young Demon Race slaves could be considered quite expensive, as it would be 40 gold for each one, while a normal one only cost 20 gold.
But Wan Yi did not care, she would purchase these five slaves no matter what the price was. They were from the Demon Race, from her race, the race she had sworn to protect. How could she just sit back and watch them get sold as slaves?
“Aight. Ya heard the lady, yer her problem now.”
The man quickly took the money, his face lighting up with a large smile. He handed the chain that bound the five slaves to Wan Yi, happily waving at her as she brought the slaves away.
“I will not hurt you. What are your names?”
Wan Yi could not let anyone in the town know that she was from the Demon Race, not even these slaves. So she could only assure them that she would not hurt them. Once she found a good opportunity, she would release them and let them go free.
“I am Sun Jie, this is my brother Sun Jin. That is Lang Fue, while those two are Lei Da and Lei Dai.”
One of the slaves, a tall male youth with some green feathers growing out from his neck and back, answered after Wan Yi spoke. He first pointed to himself, then to another male youth who also had feathers growing out from his back, but his were blue.
He then pointed to the last of the male youths, a short and lanky youth who had a whip-like tail growing on his rear. The last two he pointed at were the two female youths. They were slightly thin and pale, but their skin was surprisingly smooth and they had good figures. They both had orange hair as well as a fox tail growing out from their rear.
As the sun started setting, everyone returned from their respective shopping trips, meeting up outside the houses. They had bought a total of five houses, one which could be used for smiting, one for creating pills, one where they could all live and have meetings, one they could use to store items, as well as one that they could use for cultivation and training.
The company Wan Yi hired to connect the houses only hired special cultivators, so by the time the sun was setting, three of the five houses were already connected. Over the next few days, the various shops transported over the various items that the others in the group had bought, placing them in the respective rooms and buildings that the others chose.
“I have a proposition that I would like to bring up.”
After spending nearly an entire month in Violet Sky Town, the entire group was gathered around a large table made out of a single solid slab of stone. They would meet like this every day, contact Yao Jun, and then talk about how they would go about growing their organization.
The five Demon Race slaves that Wan Yi had bought were clad in light blue robes that served as their work uniforms. After buying them, Wan Yi had put them in charge of cleaning as well as preparing food, paying them a certain amount of salary every month.
They were currently going around the table serving tea to Yun Yantian and the rest. They also knew that they were not working as slaves, but as actual workers, so they were very happy with how things had ended up. They also knew that the group that had hired them actually contained another two people, but they were currently out on a small journey.
“What proposition?”
Yang Yuhuan gently sipped her tea as she looked at Wan Yi. The two of them were the ones who knew the most about actually running an organization, so it would most often be them who came up with ideas.
“I suggest we soon start expanding Titan's Gate, taking in more people. The forging, alchemy, as well as array inscribing is going well, so we can soon start selling some items. Since we will need to train up the new people, the sooner we get that done, the better. Once you finish inscribing array's on the buildings, we could even offer to set up arrays for others in the town.”
“I also suggest that we create two new divisions, one for combat and one for espionage. I have already talked with Brother Jun, and he says that as long as you guys agree, he will not mind. Out of all of us, Yao Jun is the strongest as well as the best at combat. Guo Luo's power allows her to easily move around unnoticed, so I suggest that Yao Jun is put in charge of the combat division, while Guo Luo is put in charge of the espionage division.”
“Of course, we will not hire any people for these editions until they return, so that they can be in charge of training them. What are your thoughts?”
Wan Yi had spent some time thinking about this. Any large organization needed spies as well as it's own little army. Since Yao Jun and Guo Luo had nothing else they could help with in Titan's gate, and they just so happened to fit these two divisions perfectly, Wan Yi had talked with Yao Jun about putting them in charge of these two divisions in the future.
“No problem, it sounds like a good plan.”
The others spent some time thinking about it, but could not find a reason why they should not do this, so they all nodded their heads and agreed. They could even say that Yao Jun was perfect as the leader for the combat division, as he was not only the strongest and most focused on combat, but could also carry large amounts of troops around thanks to his Demon God's Gate. Guo Luo on the other hand, while she was perfectly suited to espionage, might need some training at the start.
And just like that, Titan's Gate officially started selling some of the wares they had created, as well as setting up arrays for people in the town. They also started buying some more slaves, allowing them to work with either the Yang siblings, Yun Yantian, or Lin Ren.