hotmtlnovel Chapter 86 Materials
Chapter 86 Materials
"Red Star."
Alkaid uttered these two words.
How did the Red Star emerge just when the Liao Family was finally dealt with?
But then again, what's the Liao Family? Continue reading stories on empire
Nothing but a lackey of Red Star.
In the Liao Family era, the people of Red Star lived an above-all existence in Dayu Country, doing as they pleased without inciting significant public outrage.
Even if they caused trouble in Dayu Country, the Liao Family would be the first to clean up the mess, mitigating any potential adverse effects.
As is common with subordinates following their leader's example, with the Liao Family behaving in this way, all officials in Dayu Country handled cases involving Red Star people with extreme caution.
Even a minor injury to a Red Star person was treated as a major diplomatic incident; police escorts would rush them to the hospital to demonstrate the close relationship between Dayu and Red Star.
The Red Star favorably viewed the Liao Family for their prudence.
Now that he had destroyed the Liao Family...
No need to guess what it meant for Commander Shangguan to summon him at this time.
"Trouble."
Alkaid frowned.
Being summoned by Shangguan Xiong, he could hardly avoid a reprimand.
However, the conflict between him and the Rebirth Society was irreconcilable, unless he was willing to wait for his own slaughter. Subsequently, he would inevitably face the Rebirth Society's thunderous retaliation.
Behind the Rebirth Society was the great nobility of Red Star, which meant there was little room for maneuver between him and Red Star.
"It's all about who owns the dog before you beat it."
As Alkaid spoke, his slightly knitted brows relaxed.
Forget it.
There was no avoiding it, now that it had come to this...
If Shangguan Xiong wanted to intervene, he might as well kill him.
"Speaker, Shangguan Xiong is a Red Star person. Those among the Red Star who reach the rank of general all have noble blood without exception. The compound surname is indeed one of the Red Star nobility's surnames. Such Red Star nobility, if not handled well, will inevitably cause great trouble.
I know that with the Speaker's talent and potential, leading Dayu and standing toe-to-toe with Red Star is not a vain hope in the future, but right now..."
Yue Xingzhou advised, "It is not wise to intensify conflicts with Red Star. It's better to be cautious. Go this time, give them a perfunctory response and get past this issue..."
"Wait."
Before he could finish, Alkaid, deep in thought, regained attention and glanced at Yue Xingzhou, "Are you saying that there is a family behind Shangguan Xiong?"
"Yes."
Yue Xingzhou nodded seriously.
"Beat the underling and the senior shows up?"
Alkaid asked again.
Yue Xingzhou was startled, then immediately his pupils constricted, and he hurried to explain the consequences, "If something happens to Shangguan Xiong, the Shangguan Family will not take it lying down! Moreover, with Shangguan Xiong's official Red Star rank, if a major general dies in our Dayu, Red Star will surely investigate thoroughly, and Dayu will certainly face turmoil."
He was obviously reminding Alkaid of the potential consequences of such an action.
"I know."
Alkaid responded.
He pondered and then waved his hand, "Tell Shangguan Xiong that he walks his broad road, and I walk my own log bridge..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he shook his head, "These words probably won't mean much. However, although he's not likely to care, we still need to convey our message, after all..."
He slightly slowed his tone, "Don't say that you have not been forewarned."
Yue Xingzhou took in the words with a grave expression and nodded.
He had predicted this outcome.
Although...
After a while, Alkaid had roughly finished reviewing the information on the Shangguan noble family.
"Okay, I have some idea of how to resolve this matter," he said, looking at Zong Yan. "Take the logistics team and follow me to Emperor Yu's Mountain Villa. I will be cultivating there for a while, and you will also take this time to give them a proper round of intensive training."
"Emperor Yu's Mountain? Good," Zong Yan nodded.
"Get ready, we'll leave in the afternoon," Alkaid declared.
Zong Yan left in response.
Once he was gone, Alkaid turned his attention to the Shangguan family's information in his hands.
The Shangguan Family has one Divine Intent and four Martial Saints, which essentially represent the main branch and the four major sub-branches.
Shangguan Xiong is the sixth son of Shangguan Jinlong, the main branch.
However, there is quite a bit of competition between the main branch and the four sub-branches within the Shangguan family.
"If Shangguan Xiong really intends to take the stage for the Liao Family, I'll just find some time to make a trip to Red Star and kill Shangguan Jinlong directly. Then, with the Shangguan Family in chaos, he'll have no time to bother me," Alkaid said.
...
In the afternoon.
Alkaid traveled by car to the vacation villa on Emperor Yu's Mountain, which originally belonged to the Liao Family.
After settling in, Alkaid relied on the Great Earth Furnace Secret Technique, continuously searching for the most suitable place to cultivate.
It must be said that the ancestors of the Liao Family seemed to have experienced experts among them.
Alkaid roamed the mountain for a day and finally concluded that the most suitable place for cultivation was actually a scenic spot only two miles from the Liao Family's vacation villa called Dragon Wander Creek.
The layout of the mountains and rivers here was far superior to that of Jingyun Mountain.
Thereupon, Alkaid decided to cultivate in this place.
Just as he planned to begin his cultivation, news came from Su Chiming: the nine major noble families had sent congratulations gifts at the same time.
Some were key assets from various places, others were divine weapons, and still others included long-overdue taxes.
The income from these assets made Alkaid quickly perceive something, and his gaze instantly focused on the ancient tree in his Spiritual World.
To be precise, it was on the branches of "Martial Path."
Thanks to the branch of "Businessman"'s generous gifts over the past half a month, the "Martial Path" branch, which was at the Eighth Rank, advanced at an astonishing pace.
To this day, with Dayu Country newly settled and congratulations from all sides, carrying assets amounting to over a trillion, the "Martial Path" branch, which had been growing noticeably slower, finally broke through the peak of the Eighth Rank and stepped into the realm of the Ninth Rank.
"Finally... Ninth Rank," Alkaid felt somewhat emotional.
He could clearly sense that pure money was becoming less and less effective in increasing the experience of the "Businessman" branch.
On the other hand, divine weapons and treasures were more effective in increasing experience.
For this reason, he specially estimated Liao Zhenguo's Heavy Star gloves and Bian Liancheng's Crescent Blade; according to the experience growth of "Businessman," the former was equivalent to four hundred billion, and the latter was as high as two hundred billion Red Star Currency.
This was several times higher than the estimated value of these two items.
"Indeed, money to a certain extent is just a string of numbers and does not have tangible value. Ninth Rank is already the pinnacle of Divine Demon Body Refining. To aspire further... purely relying on money, it would probably take hundreds of trillions..."
The entire wealth of Dayu Country doesn't even come close to one-tenth of that number.
If he wanted to progress further, to glimpse beyond the Ninth Layers of Divine Demon Body Refining...
Either, he must become the ruler of Zhongzhou, or he must conquer Red Star...
Or perhaps...
"Immortal Soldiers, Demon Artifacts," Alkaid muttered these two terms.
These were items stronger than Divine Weapons and could not be measured by money.
After a while, he focused his attention back on the "Martial Path" branch.
Ninth Rank is called Star Transformation.
This step requires merging the Heaven and Earth Furnace with oneself, transforming into something akin to a starfield magnetic force.
Because this level is far removed from conventional Martial Path cultivation and also because it is only at 1% progress, Alkaid was unable to comprehend this realm well.
However, the Dao Fruit from the Perfection of the Eighth Rank was a bit unexpected for Alkaid.
"Life Force Field."