Chapter 437: Stupefied
Translator: Irene Editor: TYZ, KLKL
What a pity. Kang Ding’s desire to identify the beast bone now was quickly shattered because of the visitors that came knocking one after another, disallowing him to continue his study.
A few minutes later the shop was filled with people. Kang Ding scanned the room and noticed that some of the enterprises which he hadn’t notified were here as well. They’d probably heard the news since these fellows were well-informed.
Those who came weren’t of low ranks. They were, at the very least, major persons in charge and they’d all brought along appraisers from respective enterprises. Each in charge had a solemn expression on their faces. The A-grade liquid was worth getting involved in.
During an era where there was a fire liquid deficiency, there was never an over-emphasis on the significance of an A-grade fire liquid.
There wasn’t any more space in the shop, but visitors came in an unending stream. Kang Ding felt a headache upon realizing that he’d underestimated people’s interest in the high grade fire liquid.
Without any better options he said, "There’s a bigger room outside, let’s go there."
He did not wish to offend any enterprise, big or small.
There had been more than one enterprise that came to look for him, seeking first-hand, exclusive news and that were willing to offer a bountiful reward.
Kang Ding rejected them since he was very clear about his own position. Once he branded himself as an associate of a certain enterprise, it was going to be difficult to gain trust from others. The entrusters would also lose confidence as well thinking that he was servicing a certain enterprise, and lacked fairness.
As such, whenever he had something good, Clearwater City’s main enterprises would be informed so he had decent relationships with respective enterprises. None of them were willing to offend him, in fear of losing their rights to acquire news.
The big room outside the shop was originally a warehouse, but was modified into a place to receive his entrusters. It was very spacious inside, but the crowd filled it up nevertheless.
There was no noise as respective witnesses were all looking on in all seriousness. Those accompanying were even more cautious. The atmosphere within the room was grave and solemn.
Kang Ding stood on the stage. Knowing what those below were thinking, he kept himself from being superfluous, and instead took the colorglass bamboo out directly. There was still about a quarter of fire liquid left in it.
"This is a new kind of fire liquid. Till now, I’ve not seen anything similar in any records. It’s very clear, like water, and looking at it from outside the bottle, it’s difficult to imagine that it’s actually a kind of fire liquid. It’s made from lava."
The crowd stirred. The liquid in the bottle was as clear as water, so it was difficult for them to associate it with sticky, red lava.
"It’s not clear how this type of fire liquid is being refined, but what’s certain is that it’s been through repeated refinements. We have no concrete information, but I predict it to have gone through over ten refinements before reaching such a clear and transparent state."
Admiration and confidence was present in Kang Ding’s tone.
"Being able to be classified as A-grade, this fire liquid’s most unique feature is its pureness and highly perfected state. It has no impurities at all, hence its transparency. At the same time, the fire elemental energy it contains is of an extremely high grade, which is why I believe it’s been through multiple refinements. If it serves as a fire liquid, it can practically blend in with any other fire liquids. In other words, a few drops of it is enough to raise the grade of a fire elementalists’ ordinary fire liquids."
The crowd stirred even more now. They were all proficient business people and understood what this meant.
It meant that more people could utilize this kind of fire liquid.
The rich could use all their fire liquid on this type of new fire liquid, whereas poorer fire elementalists could also purchase a few drops to upgrade their own fire liquid.
Before finishing his explanation he threw an even heavier surprise toward the audience below. "If it doesn’t serve as fire liquid, fire elementalists of Master level and above can consume it directly to quickly replenish their fire elemental energy. There’s no side effect."
Boom! The crowd below dispersed in an instant.
Each face was filled with agitation. They’d already seen a golden light path from earlier and now they saw an even more dazzling and luxurious path.
It might be difficult to pick out the richest people, but masters were definitely the richest bunch.
They were all of high statuses and countless people were willing to pay them huge sums in exchange for protection. Money to them was just a number. And wasn’t this type of fire liquid, with its ability to immediately replenish their fire elemental energy, considered a life-saving item? When it came to guarding their lives, cost wasn’t an issue at all.
And with this, what an enterprise could acquire wasn’t just money, but also a master’s friendship.
A Master’s friendship was much more important than money.
Before the city expansion announcement, society had been stable and orderly. Under Elders Guild’s suppression, being a Master wasn’t a great deal. Which family did not have at least a few Masters under their roofs?
In the Wilderness, however, whatever order there was collapsed and Elders Guild had no time to oversee things as well as before. Powerful Masters then became the real despots.
Luckily, Masters weren’t as powerful as Grandmasters, who were able to laugh at the world beneath their feet and disregard the huge number of elementalists.
But a Master did gain more privileges. Their words carried more weight. No city chief would carelessly dismiss a master’s opinions. It was ten times more expensive to engage a Master now.
This was the new era.
In this context, a Master’s requirements instantly became top priority. This was no different from the situation in Jadeite Forest, save for the fact that the strongest player in Jadeite Forest was Dai Gang, a Grandmaster, and his needs were always the most important needs.
Upon hearing that this type of fire liquid could be consumed directly by Masters, everyone had trouble restraining themselves.
Amid their excitement, they felt rather curious as well. If it was a rare and special treasure they could simply attribute its existence to luck. However, this magical fire liquid had been refined, so who was the refiner?
Who could produce such a high grade fire liquid?
Such a high grade fire liquid would most definitely be produced in low quantities. How many drops were there?
Doubts filled their hearts and at the same time, they were thinking about how to win this intense competition.
Their heads were aching, but soon there was no time for that.
Kang Ding looked at the record chart in his hand, saying, "The entruster lives in Cotton Tree Tavern. Mister Ai."
The moment he finished his sentence, sounds of chairs crashing down were heard as some anxious people were already rushing forward.
Ai Hui did not know that Cotton Tree Tavern was already packed. His gang was still strolling leisurely. That brief episode at the market had been long forgotten.
The market was a place to get a hold of goods, but they needed them in large quantities, which only enterprises supplied. Most importantly, they had no money. They had to sell off some goods.
Ai Hui and gang had sold their fire sacks. The market value of scarletfire flying foxes’ fire sacks was stable and each was sold at about a hundred essence elemental beans.
The main use of fire sacks was to refine fire pouches.
Fire sacks weren’t as big as fire vats. They were more portable, but weren’t able to store sufficient fire liquid. Since there was a lack of fire elemental materials, the forty sacks on Ai Hui’s hands were quickly sold off.
Four thousand essence elemental beans gave Ai Hui and gang their first income.
It would’ve been a generous amount if it had been one elementalist to possess all of it. But for it to belong to a whole city, it was merely a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood.
Flaming bones were priced much lower than the fire sacks. One piece was worth only twenty elemental energy beans. Mind you, elemental energy beans and not essence elemental beans!
The exchange rate between essence elemental beans and elemental energy beans changed daily. An essence elemental bean could be converted into three hundred elemental energy beans today. The conversion rate was significantly lower than before since elemental energy beans were more valuable these days. This also highlighted the fact that the Wilderness needed more lower grade elemental energy beans than higher grade and purer ones.
The market price of flaming bones meant that the pile of bones they’d brought weren’t even worth forty fire sacks.
Ai Hui’s intestines were turning green from regret. If he’d known that fire sacks were this valuable, he would’ve treated the flying foxes with more care. When facing the bats, he’d completely forgotten how difficult a situation they were being put in.
Ai Hui was a little anxious. Where were they going to get the money?
He felt a different kind of pressure.
In the past, he was only responsible for himself and, at most, Lou Lan and Fatty. Now, hundreds of people and a whole valley were involved, so the pressure was definitely different. If they did not earn enough money and weren’t able to replenish their goods, all work would held back. There wouldn’t be elemental food to provide and trainings would be affected.
Being a leader wasn’t easy!
Seeing Ai Hui’s frowning face, Shi Xueman couldn’t help but ask, "Should I ask my family for assistance?"
Shi family had valuable inside information so providing some funding wasn’t a big problem.
Ai Hui shook his head. "We’ll continue to think of solutions, the appraisal result isn’t out yet. It’s not that simple to borrow money from your family. It doesn’t matter if we owe you money but owing your family money would be troublesome."
Shi Xueman kept quiet. He was right.
Father would be glad to support her when it came to her own affair, but things became inconvenient when her family was involved. The money belonged to the family, so many pairs of hands would reach out for payment if they were to borrow money from the family. She wasn’t in favor of using her family’s money as well, unless there was absolutely no choice.
Wait a minute. It didn’t matter if the money belonged to her? Was he not planning to return that eighty million yuan?
Shi Xueman glared at Ai Hui.
Lou Lan spoke loudly and confidently, "Ai Hui will think of something!"
At that, Ai Hui’s worries were forgotten. He raised his brows, laughing, "You have foresight, Lou Lan!"
Shi Xueman, who was staring at him just a moment ago, couldn’t help but smile too.
The tavern wasn’t far off from the alley.
At the entrance of the alley Ai Hui stopped.
There was a huge crowd in front blocking the whole path. Many pulled their collars and waited excitedly, their faces flushed.
Ai Hui asked uncertainly, "Have we come to the wrong place?"
He remembered very clearly that their tavern was located in a remote spot and its surroundings were rather unfrequented. It wasn’t this lively before.
Zhao Boan had a suspicious look on his face. He looked around, saying, "I think it’s here."
Ai Hui looked at Lou Lan. There was no way Lou Lan would get them lost.
Before Lou Lan could speak, the crowd noticed the gang standing by the entrance. Quickly, all eyes were on them.
Ai Hui cleared his throat, feeling as if he was being watched by a pack of wolves with rapacious and thirsty eyes.
"He’s here!"
"Is that him?"
"Go ask!"
...
The crowd stirred and gushed, flood-like, toward Ai Hui and gang.
What was going on?
Standing by the alley entrance, Ai Hui was stupefied.