Chapter 49: Selecting a Site at Mingling Mountain

In the morning, at a mountain fifteen kilometers from Heaven Dou City, seventeen kilometers from Sunset Forest, and twenty-one kilometers from Tiandou Royal Academy.

Lingxu's two wings spread out behind him as he circled at an altitude of five or six hundred meters.

Below him was a small mountain just over four hundred meters high; it was neither particularly tall nor particularly low.

The entire mountain body was relatively flat, suitable for construction.

The mountain's environment was very beautiful, with rich vegetation.

The water resources were especially abundant, as there was a natural small lake in the center of the mountain at least the size of five football fields.

This place belonged to a hereditary Baron of Heaven Dou City; his ancestors were once Marquises who had performed great service for the Heaven Dou Empire, so regardless of how his descendants fared, they could hereditarily maintain the title of Baron.

But because the family had not produced any powerful Spirit Masters in recent generations, and due to poor management of the family, the entire family had long been in a state where their expenses exceeded their income.

In the end, this piece of land was the only thing they had left that was worth showing off.

It just so happened that Ling Bufan wanted to rent land, so they agreed almost without a second thought.

Of course, part of this was their desire to cling to Ling Bufan, as Ling Bufan was the Deputy Hall Master of a branch of the Spirit Hall and also a powerful Spirit Douluo.

After flying several circles, this mountain stretched all the way down to the Sunset Forest.

Low-level Spirit Beasts occasionally appeared in the forest, but not many.

Covering an area of nearly ten thousand mu, Lingxu thought of the school he attended back on Blue Star, which was over two thousand mu.

It took ten minutes to walk from the dormitory to the classroom; ten thousand mu was more than enough!

After descending the mountain and landing, Lingxu took the initiative to say: "Baron Sun Hong, your place is not bad. For the first time, I want to rent it for thirty years. State your rent!"

Before Lingxu stood a middle-aged man in his early forties, but his soul power was relatively low, only in the early twenties, with no potential for development at all.

Sun Hong smiled: "Young Master Lingxu, Hall Master Ling, this Mingling Mountain is the main source of our family's current income. The Mingling Lake inside produces a rare ingredient, the Green Jade Carp, as well as some rare trees, medicinal herbs, and so on!"

"If you rent the whole thing, including all the resources inside, the price will not be cheap."

The family had encountered difficulties; his child had finally awakened an innate soul power of level three, and as long as they cultivated well, they could revitalize the family once they reached the level of Soul Ancestor or higher in the future.

After all, in the current Heaven Dou Empire, a Soul Ancestor could become a general.

With innate level three soul power, it would not be difficult to become a Soul Ancestor as long as there were enough resources; it was even possible to become a Soul King or a Soul Emperor.

But the family's current finances could not support the child to attend the best academy in Heaven Dou City.

In short, one word: they were short on money.

Lingxu said: "You state the price first, and we will see if we can accept it."

Ling Bufan also looked at Sun Hong and nodded, saying: "State the price!"

Sun Hong said: "Currently, our family's annual income from Mingling Mountain is over two... two thousand Gold Soul Coins. You want to rent this entire mountain and develop it as you please, which will cause us even more losses, so the price will be more than that."

"Um... all things considered, including the resources inside and the rent, how about ten thousand Gold Soul Coins a year? Thirty years would be three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. As for the deposit, let's count it as fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins, for a total of three hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

Three hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins would be enough to solve the family's current predicament.

With a little frugality, it would be enough for the family's expenses for over a decade, and it would also allow the child to attend Tiandou Royal Academy.

A dozen years would also be enough to wait for the child to grow up.

Hearing this price, it seemed reasonable!

A huge mountain top, completely left for his own development—but Lingxu had inquired before coming, and the income from this mountain was actually not high.

Lingxu said: "Three hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins, Baron Sun Hong, isn't that a bit too high? We came to you with sincerity, but it seems you are not that sincere."

"Your so-called rare ingredient is expensive; one fish can bring you ten Gold Soul Coins in income, but as far as I know, you have overfished in recent years, and the Green Jade Carp are already very scarce. Last year, you caught less than ten, which didn't even cover the cost of fishing."

"Other good, aged medicinal herbs have almost all been picked. The quality of the medicinal herbs your family has sold in the last two years has also been getting worse by the year. All in all, the high-value resources in this mountain have already been mostly taken by you."

"Two thousand Gold Soul Coins or more was during your best times; now, having two hundred Gold Soul Coins would be good. You want to charge me ten thousand Gold Soul Coins for the resources plus rent?" Lingxu analyzed.

It was fortunate that he had inquired in advance, otherwise he really would have been a sucker.

He had millions of Gold Soul Coins now and was quite wealthy, but Lingxu was not stupid.

Ling Bufan's eyes shifted, looking straight at Sun Hong.

He was only at level twenty-something; how could he withstand such pressure?

"I... Hall Master Ling, you say, you say how many Gold Soul Coins it should be." Sun Hong was so scared he almost knelt down.

Ling Bufan said: "Rest assured, we will give you a fair market price, and we certainly won't let you suffer a loss. If you are unwilling, you are free not to rent to us; I see two other mountain tops here that are quite nice."

"Okay, okay." Sun Hong nodded repeatedly. He had just opened his mouth like a lion, not knowing the other party had come prepared, and now he felt some regret.

Lingxu said: "I see it's not easy for you. I asked around, and for a mountain like this, the rent for mountain forests ten kilometers outside Heaven Dou City is about three Silver Soul Coins per year. Even if this is a ten-thousand-mu area, that's thirty thousand Silver Soul Coins a year, which converts to three thousand Gold Soul Coins."

"Secondly, we are going to build some things here, which may change this mountain, and your loss of resources is a reality, so I will give you a subsidy of five hundred Gold Soul Coins a year for the losses. Rent plus resource loss totals three thousand five hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"Thirty years of rent is one hundred and five thousand Gold Soul Coins, and I'll count the deposit as five thousand Gold Soul Coins, for a total of one hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. What do you think?"

One hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins was already a normal price on the market.

In fact, if this were elsewhere, the annual rent would not exceed one thousand Gold Soul Coins.

But this was outside Heaven Dou City, so the price was naturally a bit higher.

Moreover, the resources here were almost exhausted, but there were positive aspects: first, the geographical location was good, and second, the environment inside was indeed quite nice.

"One hundred and ten thousand?"

Sun Hong was slightly disappointed, but he knew that if he missed the opportunity before him, absolutely no one else would offer a price higher than one hundred and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins in the future.

"Fine, I'll rent it, but I want the money all at once, not in installments!"

Lingxu nodded and said: "That's fine. Once the contract is drafted and filed with the relevant departments in Heaven Dou City, we can pay you in full."

Paying all at once was certainly fine; as long as one had the strength, one wouldn't fear the other party taking the money and pulling any tricks. Besides, with Ling Bufan's level eighty-four soul power, would they dare?

(End of chapter)