"'Xue Qinghe', how much longer until he arrives?"
"About three days. He will bring the City Lord of Suoto City with him. After we finalize the cooperation agreement, the Heaven Dou royal family will not interfere in the subsequent establishment of the association. We can deal directly with the City Lord of Suoto City."
"Is this the Heaven Dou royal family's intention?"
"It's a condition Ning Fengzhi managed to secure for us. The Heaven Dou royal family agreed to this point first, albeit helplessly, even before the negotiations."
Su Ming curled his lip.
"What 'helplessly'? They were already incapable to begin with. Suoto City is located in the Balak Kingdom. The Heaven Dou royal family's control over the Balak Kingdom has long since declined. This so-called concession is just going with the flow."
Zhu Jiuyang showed a look of sudden understanding.
He hadn't thought of that point; he had assumed it was Ning Fengzhi returning a favor due to his recent guidance of Ning Tianya.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Su Ming finished the work in his hands ahead of schedule.
He was still very much looking forward to the upcoming meeting.
Fifth floor, in the newly vacated conference room.
Su Ming observed the travel-worn and somewhat disheveled 'Xue Qinghe' sitting opposite him.
He hadn't expected 'Xue Qinghe' to participate in the meeting directly in this guise.
"We were attacked by some bandits on the road. Caught off guard, it delayed us a bit. My apologies."
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, the fact that you ventured deep into the Star Luo Empire to come to Gengxin City to negotiate with us shows your sincerity, which we appreciate. As for the time, it's exactly as agreed; Your Highness need not feel any pressure."
'Xue Qinghe' stood up and introduced the three people behind him.
"These two are my guards, responsible for my safety during this trip. This is Shen Quan, the City Lord of Suoto City."
He had indeed brought the City Lord of Suoto City.
"..."
After a lengthy and tedious negotiation, both sides have preliminarily agreed on the terms of cooperation.
The terms were similar to those with the Star Luo Empire: the Heaven Dou Empire also had to hand over fifty percent of its rare metal share directly to the association. After further distribution of parts to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the Spirit Hall, the empire itself would ultimately retain only twenty percent of the rare metals mined within its borders.
Su Ming noticed that 'Xue Qinghe's expression wasn't unpleasant.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince seems quite satisfied with this agreement."
"The Heaven Dou Empire can accept all these terms. There is just one point I hope the Blacksmiths Association can accommodate."
"Oh?"
Su Ming looked at 'Xue Qinghe' curiously.
'Xue Qinghe' adopted an apologetic manner.
"Apologies for making your association witness such a spectacle. The bandit attack I suffered was likely due to a leak of my whereabouts, probably related to the Balak Kingdom. Therefore, if your association encounters obstacles from the Balak Kingdom while establishing the new branch, you can leave this matter to our Heaven Dou royal family to handle. We will give your association a satisfactory resolution."
Su Ming's gaze flickered.
This Qian Renxue she's playing a clever game.
Planning to come to Gengxin City for negotiations from the start was all to set up this move, right?
Since she wouldn't die anyway, she could instead take the opportunity to take action against the Balak Kingdom.
"If we encounter obstacles, then we may have to trouble Your Highness."
Su Ming thought for a moment and did not refuse 'Xue Qinghe's request.
It wasn't that he was being nice to 'Xue Qinghe' for no reason, but purely because the association itself didn't have that much spare energy.
There were Spirit Douluo-level experts within the Balak Kingdom. The entire Blacksmiths Association only had Zhu Jiuyang, who was a Spirit Douluo. If the Balak Kingdom truly obstructed the establishment of the branch, he certainly couldn't afford to tie up a Spirit Douluo for that reason.
"Thank you for your understanding."
After expressing thanks, 'Xue Qinghe' took his leave.
Su Ming watched him leave, then took a deep breath.
"I've long heard that the current Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Emperor is quite shrewd. Seeing him today, the reputation is indeed well-deserved," Zhu Jiuyang said.
"Teacher, the association's manpower is limited now. Who should we send to Suoto City to be in charge of establishing the association?"
"This teacher—" Zhu Jiuyang's words stopped short.
He wanted to say he could go, but then he wondered what would happen to Gengxin City if he went to Suoto City?
"Who do you think should be sent?" Zhu Jiuyang asked. "You're not planning to go yourself, are you, kid?"
"I'm certainly not going."
Su Ming rolled his eyes.
It's too dangerous over there.
Having just learned that he's being targeted by Tang Hao, would he run off to Suoto City?
Tang Hao's whereabouts during the six years Tang San studied at Nuoding Academy are uncertain; some think he was solely accompanying A Yin, others believe he traveled around the continent occasionally. But his location around the time Tang San finished at Nuoding Academy and went to Shrek Academy can be determined.
Right now, it's still half a year before Tang San enrolls at Shrek, but who knows how long establishing the association over there might take?
"If you don't go, and I don't go, then who should go?"
"Who was the representative for that group of Spirit Masters organized by the Star Luo royal family to join the association?"
"Dai Weis. He is the current eldest prince of the Star Luo Empire. Although his cultivation is somewhat lacking, he has considerable authority."
Su Ming nodded.
"Let him do it. Have him supervise the construction of the Suoto City Blacksmiths Association," Su Ming said. "The disciples from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, including the batch of Spirit Masters the Heaven Dou royal family plans to send next, should all come here to Gengxin City. The Spirit Masters sent by the Star Luo royal family should be sent to Suoto City."
Hearing Su Ming's plan, Zhu Jiuyang's eyes lit up.
This was a good idea.
Now there were factions within the association. Their faction was the core, mastering the core techniques. Then there were the Heaven Dou faction, the Star Luo faction, and factions like the Spirit Hall and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Under Su Ming's arrangement, the Heaven Dou faction would remain here in Gengxin City (which is within the Star Luo Empire), while the Star Luo faction would go to Suoto City, located within the Heaven Dou territory!
This directly placed the two major factions within hostile empires.
"Excellent idea."
"The Star Luo Empire, for the safety of their own people, will also help us open up communication between the two associations."
There are no other cities between Gengxin City and Suoto City, and the border between the two empires lies along their connecting line.
Establishing two association branches requires ensuring information exchange between them is key, so breaking down the information barrier between the two cities is very important.
According to Su Ming's arrangement, this could make the two empires proactively push the association to connect the two cities.
Su Ming's gaze grew profound.
It wasn't just that. Sending Dai Weis to Suoto City had another reason.
Dai Mubai was over there. If Dai Weis were sent there, conflict was inevitable.
When that happened, Xue Qinghe could take action to deal with the Balak Kingdom, and Su Ming could also seize the opportunity to extract some benefits, such as establishing a city on the border.
A city belonging solely to the Blacksmiths Association!
By that time, he would proceed to bring the two branches together, merging them back into a single association.
As for Lou Gao's insistence that Gengxin City is the association's birthplace?
Hah, the association has long since changed.
He had already shown the utmost respect possible to the blacksmiths of the past.
But for the association's development, Su Ming couldn't keep making concessions forever.
"This is a long-term plan. By the time this city is established, Teacher, you will at least have Titled Douluo-level combat power. The association having a city as its base will also give us more confidence..."
(End of Chapter)