Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1617A – Divine Stone Tribe

Having spent many years in the Western Barbarian Territory, Zhou Dafu, who had become very experienced, never realized that the Barbarian Clan was actually such a nice group of people to conduct deals with. One after another, he had completed many deals at an astonishing speed and a low cost. It was simply beyond his imagination.

Profit, it was a huge profit! Just this one trip was enough for him to achieve the same returns as he had gained in ten years…in order to suck up to the marquis, these barbarians were selling things to him for ‘almost nothing’. It was almost as if they were giving it to him for free.

If it was before, Zhou Dafu would feel uneasy whenever he earned money. After all, what the marquis did in the Western Barbarian Territory was rather taboo. However, when they returned to the Imperial Capital, nothing happened to the marquis. In fact, he had received a promotion…so, what else did he have to worry about!

Mentally calculating the profit that he could keep for himself when this deal was over, he and the team of Desolate Area cultivators were all smiles. They could not help but feel that following Marquis Chongwu and doing things under his command was a fortune that was hard to come by in all their lifetimes!

Of course, it was important to earn money, but Zhou Dafu also did not dare to interfere in matters where he was not needed. These barbarians had secretly and outrightly tried to get more information from him for the sake of getting closer to the marquis. Hmph, I can tell the difference between having to earn money and acting appropriately! There are some things that I will never divulge.

As a result, those barbarians that had tried to bribe him but did not get anything in return were scolding him frantically and cursing his ancestors in their hearts.

However, when they turned around to meet him, they were full of smiles once again and greeted him warmly.

It was to the point where some strong barbarians felt sullen over their own behaviors…these people never thought that there would be a day when they would look so pathetic in front of Desolate Area cultivators!

Zhou Dafu could play dumb, but as the saying went, ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’. The Tribe Leader of the Green Willow Tribe felt happy, but at the same time, he very quickly felt the burden of receiving so many gifts.

After hesitating, it seemed like if he still did not make a trip down to visit Marquis Chongwu, those strong barbarians who had been showering them with gifts were going to go against them. He could only grit his teeth and request an audience with Marquis Chongwu.

The good thing was that he was successful. After entering the camp, Marquis Chongwu, who had shut himself in closed-door meditation, very quickly accepted his request.

“Greetings, Marquis,” the Tribe Leader bowed and greeted him.

Qin Yu looked at him thoughtfully before smiling, “Tribe Leader, your face is glowing. It seems that during this time, you’ve been enjoying a huge fortune.”

The Tribe Leader laughed bitterly before cupping his hands, “Marquis, please stop teasing me.” He took out a storage ring and offered it with both hands, “Inside this storage ring are half the gifts that we have received recently. The Green Willow Tribe has been penniless and we need expenses in every aspect to continue developing our tribe, so I will be thick-skinned and take some of the gifts that were meant for Marquis.”

Qin Yu looked inside the storage ring, “I don’t want the things inside here; just take it as the rent that I’m paying for staying here at your tribe.” He then continued, “After all, our team of Desolate Area cultivators have also become rich because you were willing to give us this piece of land for us to stay on.”

The Tribe Leader hesitated for a while before he raised his head to look at Qin Yu’s expression. He then nodded and put the storage ring away, his smile becoming bigger, “Our Green Willow Tribe would not complain if there were many generous customers like Marquis!”

Of course he knew that ‘paying rent’ was just an excuse. What Marquis Chongwu really cared about was the Green Willow Tribe’s attitude from when they were facing the four other tribes that had joined forces.

This was what ‘reciprocation’ looked like. It was precisely because of this that he hesitated to just keep the storage ring for himself in the first place and tried to give it to Marquis Chongwu. It might mislead the marquis to think that the Green Willow Tribe had huge ambitions for itself. Doing it this way showed his intentions more clearly.

Qin Yu laughed and extended his arm, “Don’t just stand there and talk. Tribe Leader, please take a seat. I brought with me some tea leaves from the West Desolate and the taste is rather good. Try it.”

He reached out to grab the teapot, but the Tribe Leader quickly stopped him, “I do not dare to trouble the marquis to make tea for me! Let me do it myself.” The Tribe Leader poured a cup of tea for himself, drank two sips, and gave a thumbs up, saying, “It’s good tea, good tea!”

Qin Yu half-smiled, “It seems that Tribe Leader did not visit today just to share fortunes with me. If there is anything else, please just say it.”

The old Tribe Leader looked astonished as he coughed lightly, “Marquis, you are wise! There is an old saying amongst barbarians that goes, ‘if you eat your neighbor’s cattle, you have to repay them with some fertilizer’...in short, our Green Willow Tribe has accepted many gifts, so we need to do some favors for them in return.”

Taking a glance at Qin Yu, the Tribe Leader took out an old sheepskin scroll from his sleeves and said, “These are the tribes that gave us the most lavish gifts. All these tribes are extremely powerful and rich and they hold most of the wealth in the Western Barbarian Territory. They have already given their word, that if the marquis is willing to help them, they are willing to fork out a huge amount of money to repay you.”

Qin Yu sipped on his tea, drumming his fingers lightly on the table.

The old Tribe Leader regained his composure and nervously added, “Marquis, please rest assured. Our Green Willow Tribe has made the necessary checks beforehand. I assure you that these tribes did not participate in whatever has happened before.”

Qin Yu smiled, “Tribe Leader, you’ve worked hard. I’ll take a look then.” After a pause, he continued, “But I can’t promise that I’ll choose to help some of them.”

The old Tribe Leader smiled and nodded, “When I accepted their gifts, I only promised them that I would bring this list to the marquis. Now, I have already completed my end of the bargain. Whatever you decide is up to you; the Green Willow Tribe has no opinion.”

On the sheepskin scroll, there were the names of six barbarian tribes. Qin Yu looked through all of them before he put the scroll down without a word. The Boundary Breaking Seal needed to continue being built, otherwise, he could not cement his position in the West Desolate. This was Qin Yu’s goal for entering the Western Barbarian Territory this time.

In actual fact, in this period of time, even though he had always been cultivating, he had already formulated a plan in his heart. The Boundary Breaking Seal could not be built at any random place.

For example, this time, Qin Yu had gotten a blueprint along with the materials needed to build the Boundary Breaking Seal. The Divine Stone Tribe was the West Desolate’s top shortlisted target, and they happened to be the first one on this list.

The Tribe Leader sipped his tea quietly. Like he said before, he had completed his end of the deal once he sent the list to Qin Yu.

As for who the marquis would pick at the end, that was up to him…indeed, the old Tribe Leader was a smart man.

“Tribe Leader.”

“Yes, Marquis?” The Tribe Leader put down his tea cup.

Qin Yu smiled as he rolled up the sheepskin scroll, “The Divine Stone Tribe is the first on the list. Did they give you the most gifts?”

The Tribe Leader’s face reddened slightly as he nodded, “I do not dare to hide it from Marquis. The Divine Stone Tribe sent over Stone Essence that was produced by their totem in the newborn state. It can greatly speed up the growth of my tribe’s totem. In terms of price and usefulness, it is indeed the most precious gift we can receive.

“However, that is not the reason why the Divine Stone Tribe is the first on the list. Marquis, you know that our tribe’s totem was struck by lightning and was struggling to live for all these years. Because of this, my Green Willow Tribe had been on the decline ever since and our status has fallen drastically. The only reason why we could hold our ground for so many years despite our totem’s health and not have anyone bully us was because of the Divine Stone Tribe’s assistance. Thus, my Green Willow Tribe has a very good relationship with the Divine Stone Tribe. Even this time, when the four big tribes joined forces, the Divine Stone Tribe also outrightly condemned them and put huge pressure on them.”

Qin Yu nodded, believing that the Tribe Leader would not lie to him about this matter. After thinking for a while, he smiled and said, “Then, I’ll pick the Divine Stone Tribe.”

The Tribe Leader was ecstatic and he got up to bow to Qin Yu, “Thank you, Marquis!”

Qin Yu replied, “Friendship is important, but there are some other things that can’t be lacking as well. Tribe Leader, do you understand what I mean?”

The Tribe Leader pounded on his chest and said, “Marquis, please rest assured. The Divine Stone Tribe’s totem, the Divine Stone, has been stuck at a bottleneck for two hundred years. Because of this matter, the tribe has pulled out a lot of their hair. As long as Marquis is willing to help them, even if you wanted the stars from the skies, I’m sure they would get them for you!”

He blinked a few times before continuing in a low voice, “In fact, to tell you the truth, out of all these wealthy tribes, the Divine Stone Tribe has a much better background…”

Qin Yu raised his eyebrows, “Tribe Leader, you seem to have more to say.”