Chapter 347 - 346: Complex Connections, Zhuge Builds Instruments

Yue Lingling was of a more mature type and was actually a decent person.

She just had bad luck, having encountered scum like the father and son of the Meng family.

She and Li Jing were old acquaintances.

Although their interactions were limited, they could talk easily because of their past experiences.

They entered the room.

Yue Lingling ushered Li Jing to sit down, with desserts, snacks, and drinks laid out in front of him like a feast.

If you knew her, you would understand that this was how she treated her guests.

If you didn’t know her, you’d think she was planning to have a tea party with a male best friend.

Li Jing felt somewhat helpless about this, but he didn’t feel right about rushing her, so he could only watch her busily prepare.

Finally, after much fuss, Yue Lingling sat down.

Seeing this, Li Jing didn’t rush into the main topic and asked.

"Did you really go abroad when you stopped broadcasting a while ago?"

"I did, but I didn’t stay for long. It was merely a brief excursion to clear my mind."

Yue Lingling shrugged.

"However, after returning, I felt somewhat desolate and closed myself off at home. It took a while to realize that no matter how stormy life is, one must continue living. Nothing is insurmountable."

"Indeed, some things are not worth obsessing over."

Li Jing nodded.

"Oh, it’s all in the past. Let’s not talk about it."

Yue Lingling waved her hand and smiled.

"Thanks to you, my live stream, which had been stagnant since I had taken a break, got revitalized. The tip you gave during the morning live stream made me top the charts multiple times. Even the platform directly got in touch with me, expressing their wish to sign a contract with me, offering a monthly salary of more than a hundred million, aiming to repackage me as their pillar of strength."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing raised his eyebrows and said,

"That is indeed cause for celebration. With the platform’s strong support as long as you perform well, you won’t have to worry about your livelihood in the future."

"Don’t worry, I will seize this rare opportunity and I won’t make the same mistakes again."

Yue Lingling replied with a thin smile.

Although they don’t interact often, she knows Li Jing’s personality.

What she considered a tremendous favor was, for Li Jing, a simple task.

They were people from two different worlds from the start.

Li Jing didn’t feel happy because she kept thanking him.

It would be better if she provided some news he was interested in, rather than enunciating thanks.

To prevent further unnecessary chatter, Yue Lingling said,

"As for Fox Master, I don’t know much. My interaction with him was limited and thus, the information I can provide is not substantial."

Then she launched into explanations.

"What I do know is that he was originally from the Lingnan Fox Clan, but he also has his own personal power. In his own words, the Demon Beast Union is merely a stepping stone for him. His main focus is not on the union, but abroad. In the Demon Beast Union, his official title is honorary director, and he is not in charge of any particular branch."

Li Jing listened to her account with narrowed eyes.

That the Fox Master used to be from the Lingnan Fox Clan, but no longer belongs to the clan now, was something he had already deduced.

These points weren’t important.

What was notable, as Yue Lingling pointed out, was that the Fox Master used the Demon Beast Union as a stepping stone, and the main development of the power behind him was outside Longyu.

First, there was quite a bit to consider about these facts.

This Fox Master, who has a Seventh Realm cultivation level, is merely an honorary director of the Demon Beast Union, not a leader.

Clearly, the union knows that he has his own development.

Being so secretive, would the union accept this?

Probably not.

Even though the Fox Master is powerful in cultivation, the Demon Beast Union, which has quietly become a huge force spread all over the country, would not lack a Seventh Realm cultivator.

What’s crucial is, accepting the Fox Master would mean introducing an unstable factor into the union that could potentially take advantage of the union for his personal gains at any moment.

It would be no surprise if the union had a similar plan to use the Fox Master as a stepping stone, not just accepting him because of his strength.

Pondering over this, a few things were clear.

The Demon Beast Union mainly operates domestically, but if they could expand abroad, they would probably not refuse, right?

The Fox Master, whose main focus is overseas, could provide an opportunity for them.

That the Fox Master himself needs the Demon Beast Union as a stepping stone also shows one thing.

The force that stands behind him is not powerful enough to support him in having a good development prospect overseas. He needs a stronger patron.

Him joining the Demon Beast Union is a symbiotic relationship.

So here comes the question.

As the Fox Master connects the Demon Beast Union for overseas development, what overseas force is he dealing with?

The only group that Li Jing can think of is the Rebirth Society.

Only the Rebirth Society, the powerful evil demon coalition organization that is so well-established overseas that even the Supreme Church is helpless against it, would qualify to connect with a behemoth like the Demon Beast Union.

As for the connection between Rebirth Society and the force backing the Fox Master, Li Jing had speculated about it earlier.

However, he rashly assumed that the Fox Master was the leader of the Lingnan Fox Clan.

He thought the crimes committed by the Rebirth Society in Lingnan were related to them, subconsciously linking the two.

It seems now that the Rebirth Society is not connected with the Lingnan Fox Clan, but rather with the Fox Master who leads the connection with the Demon Beast Union.

In this, the Fox Master plays the role of a middleman.

The Fox Master, the Rebirth Society, and the Demon Beast Union join forces and cooperate. It won’t be too difficult for them to stir up some trouble under the Lingnan Fox Clan’s nose.

In fact, because the Fox Master was expelled by the Lingnan Fox Clan, he might have the intention to retaliate.

However, the reputation of the Lingnan Fox Clan is a deterrent.

Despite collaboration among the three parties, the victims are the people of Lingnan.

They didn’t have the ability or courage to metaphorically shit on the Lingnan Fox Clan’s head.

Having secretly considered this, Li Jing turned to Yue Lingling for enquiry.

"Did the Fox Master ever disclose the forces behind him?" he asked.

"Not much."

Yue Lingling shook her head and replied.

"He briefly mentioned having six Fox Kings beneath him, each with strength not inferior to his own. In principle, they are all equals, operating together."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing raised an eyebrow.

Six Fox Kings, each with a strength not inferior to the Fox Master?

Are these to be six, Seventh Realm fox demons?

How much would all of them be worth?

Looking back.

Including the Fox Master, he has a force of seven Seventh Realm fox demons behind him.

Now, this is somewhat thought-provoking.

The Lingnan Fox Clan is illustrious.

Given their reputation among the fox demons, it’s reasonable they could attract many fox demons to join.

But what attracted six Seventh Realm fox demons to the Fox Master and his forces?

If they have the power of the Seventh Realm, wouldn’t joining the Lingnan Fox Clan be more pleasing?

Why would they want to side with the Fox Master?

Even if they have a shared purpose, it wouldn’t make sense for six of them to gather this way.

These six who are following the Fox Master probably have connections with the Lingnan Fox Clan!

Only a super-rich clan like the Lingnan Fox Clan could potentially bring together seven Seventh Realm fox demons.

With this analysis, Li Jing suddenly understood why the Fox Master was expelled from the Lingnan Fox Clan.

He must have been creating factions within the Lingnan Fox Clan and attempting to establish his own power.

Such a rogue behavior would not be tolerated by the high-ranking members of the Fox Clan.

Not to mention, having the Fox Master and his six cohorts together could possibly pose a significant threat to the tranquil life of the Lingnan Fox Clan.

...

After communicating with Yue Lingling and learning some significant information, Li Jing asked some questions about the Fox Master himself. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much valuable information and decided to let it go.

After staying at Yue Lingling’s place for an hour, Li Jing decided to leave.

He was not in a hurry to return to the capital, but instead went to the Spirit Item Trading Market in the North City.

No matter the outcome of his inquiry with the Fox Master, it was necessary to drop his body off at Xu Jiayi’s shop for an appraisal and to arrange the sale, right?

The Fox Master’s corpse, of course, is valuable.

But it might be a bit challenging to sell due to its immense value.

Sixth Realm Great Demon components can be considered as once-in-a-lifetime finds.

For the Seventh Realm, even a public auction may require a long warm-up period before selling it.

The key issue is, the number of people who can afford it is small.

And even Jianghai alone might have difficulty absorbing it.

Theoretically speaking.

It would be more appropriate to deal with this in the Spirit Item Trading Market in the capital.

But since Li Jing did not know anyone there, he did not feel at ease to leave something so valuable.

The issues in the capital’s Spirit Item Trading Market were not minor, and a large share was controlled by the Seven Great Families.

Who knows what tricks they would pull?

If the Seven Great Families found out that he was the seller, they might cause quite a lot of trouble for him.

At least, he needed to hand it over to someone he trusted and who would help cover for him, without revealing too much information.

Upon arriving at Jianghai’s Spirit Item Trading Market, Li Jing easily found Xu Jiayi’s shop.

Before he entered, he saw Xu Jiayi sitting listlessly on the counter, looking bored and staring blankly at something.

Seeing this made Li Jing frown slightly.

The others weren’t so much of a problem.

But Xu Jiayi’s absent-minded expression made her look like a love-struck teenage girl.

Could she be...

In love?

Intrigued by this, Li Jing said as he entered the shop,

"Jiayi."

Xu Jiayi, sitting on the counter in a daze, didn’t notice him coming in.

Startled by Li Jing’s voice, she looked up and saw it was him, her eyes immediately shining.

"Brother Jing!" she exclaimed.

Her sugary sweet call of "Brother Jing" almost caused Li Jing, who had just stepped in, to stumble.

The dignified Seventh Realm cultivator nearly had a slip and fall.

Barely managing to recover without embarrassing himself, Li Jing looked up to see Xu Jiayi on her feet with an eager expression, walking out of the counter area.

Her long, milky-white legs created a hazy afterimage as she swiftly closed the distance between them in a few steps. Without uttering another word, she pulled his arm and held onto him tightly.

Xu Jiayi was one of the girls who naturally had a slender figure.

Such an act didn’t exactly give much pleasure.

Li Jing even felt a little sorry for her.

What a fine girl!

If only she had a bit more...

While feeling sorry, Xu Jiayi exclaimed aloud with a glowing expression,

"Brother Jing, did you just come back from the capital?"

Li Jing paused for a moment, his expression gradually becoming strange.

Initially, he didn’t give it much thought.

Xu Jiayi directly tells him, the person her soul is entwined with, the one she’s infatuated with, is indeed him.

This chick sure is cheeky...

Due to dealing with the Fox Master, Li Jing did not pay much attention to the aftermath of last night’s event.

It can be confirmed that.

Black Street was stormed last night by a joint force of Dong Ye City Inspection Bureau and Management Bureau, it definitely made the news.

The capital destroyed another base of the Demon Beast Union, it also probably made the news.

Xu Jiayi’s deep concern for him must have come from watching the news.

What’s outrageous is.

She doesn’t know that he was involved, and she even has no idea that he went to the capital, yet she managed to guess it correctly.

But then again.

There are traces to follow.

Destroying the Demon Beast Union base is not Li Jing’s "privilege".

In the last few months, Longyu has been actively carrying out crackdown work with different degrees of gain around the world.

But that, Xu Jiayi has nothing to do with it.

On the other hand, thanks to Li Jing, her store received many high-quality goods.

Feeling both amused and helpless, Li Jing nodded at Xu Jiayi, who was hanging by his side.

"Yes, I did it."

Upon receiving a positive response, Xu Jiayi tightened her arm around his waist, surveyed left and right, and lower her voice.

"So, did you also destroy the Demon Beast Union base in the capital last night?"

"If I said I didn’t, would you believe me?"

Li Jing grinned.

Xu Jiayi smiled flirtatiously upon hearing this.

"I wouldn’t."

Then, she asked excitedly.

"What good stuff did you bring this time?"

"There’s not much, only one item."

Li Jing shrugged.

"What? Just one?"

Xu Jiayi frowned, showing a hint of disappointment.

Having a VIP customer like Li Jing who provides regular "premium" goods has certainly raised her standards.

A single item or two is no longer satisfying for her.

Even if it’s from the Six Realm, it’s just so-so.

You should know, she’s even handled the priceless Dragon Horn before.

Within the Six Realms, the Dragon Horn that can be directly used to forge Immortal Items is undoubtedly a top-tier item, there’s no going beyond it.

Li Jing only brought one item this time, which leaves her somewhat uninspired.

But having one item is better than none.

"Let’s go, go, go, let’s head to the appraisal room."

Xu Jiayi said, while dragging Li Jing to the appraisal room, she explained.

"The Dragon Horn and some Six Realm materials that Brother Li brought last time were all taken by big clients from other cities recently. My store made a fortune and our reputation soared. I was worried about not having quality goods to retain our customers. I’ve been hoping for your arrival so much and no matter what you brought this time, my store won’t profit off you."

Guessed it, this Xu Jiayi’s certainly blunt.

When she’s thinking of him, she calls him Brother Jing.

When she’s not, he’s just Brother Li.

Li Jing, of course, is not concerned about these details.

Hearing her words now, his eyebrows raise slightly.

The materials from both Mr. Zhang and Mr. Long were mostly stored in Xu Jiayi’s store, and only a part of them were dealt with initially.

Selling the goods is something that can certainly be done.

For such quality goods, there will always be people who need them as long as they’re available.

But people with the financial backing to afford them wouldn’t buy and keep them for no reason before a specific purpose is clear.

It takes time to fully sell these goods.

Especially that Dragon Horn.

If the luck is bad, it might be left unsold at Xu Jiayi’s store for years.

When Xu Jiayi decided to take the Dragon Horn initially, didn’t she say it was hard to sell? It would probably end up as a store’s treasure.

It hasn’t been a few months since then, and now even the Dragon Horn has been taken away. This is quite surprising.

With curiosity in his heart, Li Jing asked.

"Who took the Dragon Horn?"

Xu Jiayi naturally wouldn’t hide anything from Li Jing.

The items were actually given to her at a petty price.

Her shop definitely made a huge profit from it.

Now she didn’t hesitate at all and replied.

"Zhuge family from the capital."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing frowned.

There is only one Zhuge family in the capital, one of The Seven Great Families.

Similar to the demeanor of the Sima family who proudly claims to be scholars, the Zhuge family is a somewhat different type among The Seven Great Families.

The descendants of the Zhuge family are all skilled in Artifact Refinement.

But instead of refining regular objects, they dabble in machinery.

Selling the machinery produced by family descendants has also become Zhuge’s family main business, in addition to some regular deals.

The machinery, are significantly different from conventional artifacts like flying swords.

First of all.

Artifacts from the machine technology are not created using conventional artifact refinement methods. Their quality can’t be raised through consecration, the quality of the artifact is fixed as soon as it’s created.

Secondly, these artifacts are often made up of countless intricately crafted separate components which form one complete machine artifact through special assembly techniques.

Compared with conventional artifact refinement, machine artifacts have their own pros and cons.

The inability to raise its quality is a serious downside.

But at the same time.

The advantage of these artifacts is they can be fashioned directly into Immortal Items for use, and the cultivation level of the user is not restricted.

Their operation is reliant on the subtle machinery techniques.

The cultivation level of an individual plays a role, but the actual amplifying effect on these machine artifacts is extremely limited.

An artifact equivalent to an Immortal Item in the hands of a Seventh Realm cultivator and a One Realm cultivator would not differ greatly.

Of course.

An artifact equivalent to an Immortal Item can’t be simply crafted; it requires a large number of materials to be refined into parts of at least Immortal Item standard.

The Zhuge family uses unconventional refinement methods, but the nature of crafting is essentially a high-stakes gamble.

Who can guarantee that they won’t be cursed with bad luck, and turn the materials used for crafting an Immortal Item into a Precious Item or even a Mortal Tool...

If such high-stakes gambling fails several times, no one can afford it.

Even the Zhuge family, one of the Seven Great Families, is not an exception.

In the millennium since the establishment of Longyu, the Zhuge family has crafted only around a hundred Immortal Item level machine artifacts.

More than half were crafted during the war years with financial support from the Longyu government and were used in warfare.

Subtracting those custom-made orders, the Zhuge family has personally crafted just over a dozen Immortal Item level machine artifacts.

The Zhuge family’s recent acquisition of the Dragon Horn reveals an impending plan to construct another Immortal Item level machine artifact.

Then, the question arises.

Why are they doing this?

To make money?

Who would they sell it to?

There is no war happening at the moment, who would be bored enough to buy such a thing?

To use it themselves?

The Zhuge family already has several Immortal Item level machine artifacts as part of their establishment; there’s no need to go to great lengths to create another one.

Creating such a thing, it’s not like you can just whip it out and use it casually.

Li Jing was confused, but he didn’t dwell on it.

At least for him, the prospect of the Zhuge family wanting to create another Immortal Item level machine artifact was great news.

Although a single Dragon Horn from Mr. Long...

Even without any mistakes, it still couldn’t form a complete Immortal Item level machine artifact that should be assembled by countless intricate parts. The Zhuge family needs to collect more materials.

Wouldn’t this create a sudden spike in market demand?

As he entered the appraisal room with Xu Jiayi, Li Jing confirmed his query.

"When the Zhuge family bought the Dragon Horn, did they mention any other demands?"

"Nothing like that."

Xu Jiayi replied, adding.

"But they didn’t just buy the Dragon Horn. They also purchased some of the superior auxiliary materials accumulated in our store. It’s clear that they intend to carry out a large-scale refinement of an Immortal Item level machine artifact."

As she spoke, she continued.

"They definitely have demands. However, for the Zhuge family, our shop might not be qualified to accept their orders. Top-tier items like the Dragon Horn are not something that stores like ours can easily acquire, they must have other sources..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Jing pulled out the separated body of the Fox Master still lying on one side.

With a "thud, thud", Xu Jiayi was slightly taken aback.

She instinctively looked over, and immediately became flustered.

A fox demon.

Nine tails.

It’s the awakening of an exclusive and rare talent of the fox demons. Thousand Faces.

In terms of value, the tails of a Thousand-faced fox demon are somewhat less valuable than a Dragon Horn.

But the advantage is in the quantity.

Any fox demon that has awakened the Thousand Faces talent will have nine tails.

And any snake demon that has awakened the Dragon Transformation talent, even if it has reached a high level of cultivation, would only have two Dragon Horns.

Like Mr. Long, he only had one.

It’s a treasure, there’s no doubt about it.

What really flustered Xu Jiayi was...

She realized that she, a person with a Junior Appraiser Certificate, couldn’t determine the grade of this Thousand-faced fox demon.

Junior-level might not be the best.

But even so, she’s still a professional appraiser.

What she lacks is the practical appraisal experience, but her discerning eye is not lacking.

Her family runs an appraisal shop, and they’ve handled a wide range of goods of every quality.

Given her sharp eye.

If a Six Realm monster were thrown in her face, she could easily discern its place.

She can’t see...

That only leaves one possibility.

She has never seen this grade...

She rubbed her eyes, determined that she couldn’t discern any clues, and could only feel the profound energy within its body. Stuttering, Xu Jiayi looked at Li Jing.

"What’s the cultivation level of this fox demon?"

"Seventh Realm."

Li Jing replied with a shy smile.

"..."

Xu Jiayi.