Chapter 539: 493 Competition

At the mention of "Your Highness," even Jiang Shenyi and Bai Zhi were somewhat bewildered. Immediately after, Jiang Shenyi was the first to react, saying, "Your Highness... Your Highness Jinwu?"

This young master nodded slightly and said, "The weather is nice today, so I came out for a walk."

Both Jiang Shenyi and Bai Zhi could not help but stand up straight, feeling a bit constrained, yet they could not help but steal glances at Jinwu.

Although all members had been briefed before setting out on this trip, and everyone knew that Zheng Yun might be replaced by a Sword Immortal incarnation at any time—having prepared mentally and tactically—this was the first time everyone except Tang Zhao had seen a Sword Immortal incarnation with their own eyes.

A Sword Immortal! Rare in the Human World! The first time seeing one!

Although Jiang Shenyi had his pride, he could not help but feel awestruck by the legendary Sword Immortal. Needless to say, Bai Zhi was even more so. Jiang Shenyi had been conducting research within Zhaoyang Base and had some understanding of Jinwu, but Bai Zhi had only been seconded from the Jing'an Division before this departure, and her understanding of everything was separated by a layer.

Although Bai Zhi had excellent results and considerable experience in the Jing'an Division, which was why she was chosen, she was not even a Sword Guest yet. To her, a Sword Immortal was a conceptual existence that she had only longed for in her dreams, filled with a sense of unreality. For a moment, with a Sword Immortal truly by her side, she was quite at a loss.

It was the white fox, whose sleep had been growing longer recently, who opened its eyes. A pair of eyes like rubies looked at Jinwu and said, "It really is Your Highness. Did you suddenly switch places after waking up from your afternoon nap? I felt something was strange at the time, but I didn't dare to recognize you."

Jinwu said, "Yes, I knew you had noticed. You are good, very sharp." He nodded to Tang Zhao again, "Azhao is naturally familiar with me, so that goes without saying."

Tang Zhao smiled. There was a connection between him and Jinwu; they were intimate at first sight, so how could he not recognize him?

Of course, even without a special connection, Tang Zhao could tell. The temperaments of the two were vastly different; Zheng Yun could pretend to be a young master like Jian Chenglong, but he could not fake Jinwu's pride and warmth. And Tang Zhao had deep contact with both, which was unique. If he could not recognize him, no one could.

He asked, "Since Your Highness is out, are you going up the mountain with us?"

Jinwu said, "No, I just have an interest in strolling around today. As for going up the mountain... let that kid Zheng Yun go."

Hearing his tone, Tang Zhao knew he was still wary of Wangliang, fearing that his identity would cause fluctuations when passing through the mountain's security checkpoints and lead to him being exposed, so he chose a stable plan.

But with Jinwu's arrogant personality, he would not admit that he was intimidated.

Tang Zhao did not expose his shortcoming either. He skipped the topic and said, "I heard that Your Highness took the manor's Sword Guests out with you. Did you get along well? That old fellow Xing Cang was so unhappy his face hung low. Did you gain anything?"

Jinwu said, "I did observe something interesting. Or rather, something disgusting—it is the scent of Wangliang." He paused slightly and said to Jiang Shenyi, "Let Jiang speak first. He had something to say before you came in."

Jiang Shenyi was quite happy. Jinwu actually remembered his name; although it was only one character, it showed he knew of his existence, which was an honor. He immediately said, "Alright, then I will speak first. I went to take over those children and took the opportunity to look at the method of creating Sword Slaves on Wangliang Mountain. It is actually a variant of Rune Formula application, very crude. It wastes manpower and is inefficient. In essence, it uses the children's Inspiration as wind-quality material and various materials as earth-quality. But earth-quality materials cannot dissolve into wind-quality materials, so they use a special tool, the Shadow Box, to compensate."

Speaking of his specialty, Jiang Shenyi was instantly radiant and eloquent: "The so-called Double-Layer Shadow Box consists of two layers of material; the upper layer is shadow, and the lower layer is the shadow's settling Shadow Oil. One water, one fire. The principle is to first let the earth-quality material dissolve into the water-quality, then let the water-quality dissolve into the fire-quality, and then into the wind-quality, wrapped layer by layer. The Rune Formula uses..."

The more he spoke, the more excited and professional he became. Except for Tang Zhao, who nodded frequently, the rest—human and non-human alike—were not interested.

After criticizing the crudeness of the Shadow Box, Jiang Shenyi began to talk about his own plan: "Using other schemes to replace ordinary Sword Slaves is hardly technical work. The reason no one bothers with it is that it is too low-end and there is no profit for a Talisman Sword Master. Cleaning materials is at most preparatory work in the way of Rune Formulas; who wouldn't do it while they're at it? Take our Zhuoyu Villa, for example; we have five methods, three of which are universal. I have improved them, and there are two that are the most convenient and affordable—good quality and cheap. The first is the Stacking Absorption Method, using a three-layer Rune Framework..."

He went on at length, and several people broke into a sweat. As the person most qualified to interrupt him, Jinwu refused to show that he did not understand these things, so he held his ground and refused to speak. Tang Zhao pondered more and more as he listened. Finally, the white fox spoke up: "So, you can clean materials without using Sword Slaves, and it's faster, better, and cheaper than using Sword Slaves?"

Jiang Shenyi said, "Of course. This is not a difficult matter."

Bai Zhi hurriedly interjected, "As expected of Mr. Jiang. No wonder that old thing was wailing and howling as soon as he heard about not using Sword Slaves and adopting other methods. The entire manor on Wangliang Mountain relies on the Sword Slave business to get rich. And while precious Sword Slaves are valuable, they are rare; ordinary money is still made through the trade of ordinary Sword Slaves. If there is a better and faster method, wouldn't that dig up their foundation?"

Tang Zhao asked curiously, "Was Xing Cang very anxious when he heard this just now?"

The white fox said, "Yes, he was almost crying when he heard there would be no need for Sword Slaves, saying that this absolutely cannot happen, and that if they don't produce Sword Slaves, they will become the target of public criticism. From what I saw, he was genuinely emotional; it might not have been an act."

Bai Zhi said, "Actually, if that is truly the case, I suggest we don't bring up the cleaning of materials for now. Cutting off someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents; how could it not invite hatred? We are here on a mission, not primarily to release Sword Slaves. Let's prioritize the main task; why create extra complications? Once the great task is accomplished and even Wangliang Mountain is wiped out, what will those manor owners amount to?"

Jiang Shenyi sighed and said, "That's true. I didn't come here to do this either, but just did it while I was at it."

At this moment, Tang Zhao suddenly said, "If that old man was genuinely emotional, it might not be a business problem. Although I don't want to say it, perhaps from an economic perspective, the method of using Sword Slaves to clean materials is more competitive."

Before Jiang Shenyi could retort, he said, "Didn't you say that even ordinary people can use that Double-Layer Shadow Box?"

Jiang Shenyi opened his mouth, then finally sighed.

Tang Zhao said, "The principle of the Shadow Box is simple and crude, the operation is easy to understand, and the consumption... the consumption is not expensive either. Slaves are endless, ordinary Sword Slaves are not precious, and the shadow in the Shadow Box is likely produced by Wangliang Mountain itself, so the supply chain is stable. There is also the so-called economy of scale. Customers approve of it; relying on the meticulous work of a Talisman Sword Master probably cannot win."

Although it was disgusting to say so, Tang Zhao realized that perhaps the productivity on Wangliang Mountain was more advanced, and it coincided with his own research direction.

"As for Xing Cang crying, if we don't count the possibility that he was just acting, assuming he was truly worried, it wasn't because not using Sword Slaves would steal people's jobs and lead to being targeted. It is more likely because of other, more serious problems."

For example...

"For example, would releasing ordinary Sword Slaves lead people to think about further liberating precious Sword Slaves? Compared to ordinary Sword Slaves that only exist to make money, are the Sword Slaves that can truly wash Sword Seeds the unique foundation of Wangliang Mountain? If ordinary Sword Slaves are released, then perhaps the crisis will approach the precious Sword Slaves, shaking the entire ecology of Wangliang Mountain?"

The white fox asked blankly, "Foundation? Isn't the foundation of Wangliang Mountain just Wangliang? Are Sword Slaves considered a derivative of Wangliang? What foundation is there to speak of?"

Tang Zhao said, "Sword Slaves were not originally derivatives of Wangliang. Anyone can create Sword Slaves outside; it is simpler than cleaning materials, without the need for any tools, not even a Shadow Box. You just need to put the Sword Seed into the Sword Slave's body. There are two difficulties. First, the Imperial Court does not allow it, stipulating that creating Sword Slaves is a capital crime."

He smiled and said, "Regardless of that, there are always people who don't need to follow the law. Even if major sects, including the powerful forces at the Qianxian, have issued similar bans, some people still don't comply. But the Sword Seed invading the Inspiration is truly too painful, exceeding human physiological limits. Therefore, Sword Slaves are very fragile. They die suddenly very easily, and even restricting their movement doesn't help; the heart and brain simply give up, and a relatively precious, qualified Sword Slave is gone. If you use medicine to alleviate it, the cost is high, so it's not cost-effective."

"But it is said that Wangliang Mountain has solved this problem. Although the Sword Slaves on Wangliang Mountain live in great pain and suffer inhuman torture, most of them can actually last for several years, and some—and it's not just one or two people—can persist to the end and become Sword Guests. This is not something that can be achieved by willpower alone; Wangliang Mountain must have special means. This means might be related to Wangliang, or it might not. But in any case, only Wangliang Mountain can do it."

"Although it might only be a part, this is one of the reasons for Wangliang Mountain's existence. Many powerful forces and important figures need Sword Slaves, and only Wangliang Mountain can create them, so Wangliang Mountain is irreplaceable. Even if it harbors filth, it can survive. From this point of view, although Sword Slaves cannot be considered the foundation of Wangliang—for Wangliang, they are dispensable—for those who rely on Wangliang Mountain to survive, they can be considered one of the foundations."

"If one could really replace precious Sword Slaves and use a cheap and simple method to wash Sword Seeds, Wangliang Mountain might truly lose its value, and its death would not be far off."

Tang Zhao smiled when he reached this point: "If they really think so, they might be worrying for nothing. Cleaning materials and washing Sword Seeds are technologies on two different levels. Cleaning materials is easy, but washing Sword Seeds is different; that is a realm involving the Soul and Inspiration."

His Glasses were broken now, and he could no longer take out Sword Seeds or release Sword Slaves. There should be no one in this world who could...

Just at this moment, Jiang Shenyi suddenly said thoughtfully, "That's right, it's not impossible..."