Chapter 41: Only Waiting for the Three Month Deadline
"Then may I ask, Brother Demon Goat, what business do you have with me?"
Chen Ming narrowed his eyes and quietly prepared himself for a fight.
Seeing Chen Ming's guarded posture, Brother Demon Goat was not surprised at all. Instead, he stirred his Spirit Power and released the intense pressure of a Spirit Ancestor.
Although this Spirit did not look high grade, and its Spirit Ring configuration could be described as a pile of trash, he was still 3 major realms above Chen Ming. Relying on his Spirit and Spirit Power that was already close to Spirit Grandmaster level, Chen Ming could fight an ordinary Spirit Grandmaster and even win, but 3 major realms...
To put it simply, at the Spirit Saint level, an Ultimate Attribute could allow one to fight 20 ranks above their level. Meanwhile, Evil Spirit Masters, with their unique traits and berserk evil Spirit Power, were already extremely troublesome among those of the same rank. An elite among them could practically be treated as being one whole realm higher.
Tang Wulin from Douluo 3 relied on his Golden Dragon King bloodline to suppress certain dragon type Spirit Masters, and Lan Xuanyu's strength was even less something that could be judged by normal standards. Neither of them could be used as an example.
If Chen Ming could cross 30 ranks and flatten a Spirit Ancestor head on, then his Spirit would not be Abomination, it would be Nurgle.
Chen Ming assumed a fighting stance more to show toughness than to truly fight.
"Since you've come here, shouldn't you pay some tea money? This first floor has the best environment, so the price should naturally be higher." Brother Demon Goat sized Chen Ming up. "I can tell you're a newcomer, so I won't ask for much. One price, 30 gold coins, and we'll treat it as your tribute to the local boss."
"Thirty?" Chen Ming sucked in a breath of cold air.
Because Jie Zhen had leaked the information in advance, Chen Ming already knew that every Spirit Master entering a new area would be squeezed for 10 gold coins. But hearing the number 30, he was still directly shocked.
Was this bastard's opening price not a little too outrageous? Even if he was setting the price high in order to leave room for bargaining, this was still excessive.
"I might have 3 or 5 gold coins, but for 30 gold coins, you might as well just take my head and see whether it's worth that much," Chen Ming replied with a grimace.
"It's fine, you can owe it first. I'll just charge you 30 percent monthly interest," Brother Demon Goat said. He had never expected a newly arrived Spirit Master to be able to produce such a sum anyway. He was only looking for an excuse to cause trouble.
"I understand the rule of paying respects, but isn't Brother Demon Goat being a little too ruthless? At that price, I wouldn't be able to pay it back even if I sold myself."
"Eh, how can you say that?" Brother Demon Goat revealed an evil smile. "Selling yourself can definitely pay it back."
"I happen to have a job here, mining deep underground. Although it's a bit hard and exhausting, you can earn 1 gold coin a day, which makes 30 gold coins a month. I think we're fated, so I'll hand this job over to you."
If the person in front of him had only been a Spirit Grandmaster with a few Spirit Masters backing him up, Chen Ming would have fought to the death right there, trading serious injuries to take them all out. But against a Spirit Ancestor, he could only grit his teeth.
"Doesn't Brother Demon Goat fear offending the Elder by doing this?"
"Elder? The Elders within the Cult are different from branch Elders. The status of a Cult Disciple is higher than that of a branch Elder. Besides, this mining work serves the cultivation of a certain Consecrated Elder. Normally, you wouldn't even have the chance to get such a good opportunity."
The grotesque bully narrowed his eyes, and a trace of killing intent leaked out as he looked at Chen Ming.
"What? Could it be that you're unwilling?"
Chen Ming took a deep breath. After a moment of silence, he forced out a smile and nodded.
"Since Brother Demon Goat has said so, how could I refuse? But which Consecrated Elder is this work for?"
"That is not for you or me to know. Great figures like the Consecrated Elders don't even bother looking at people like me, much less you. Hmph..." Brother Demon Goat snorted mockingly.
"In that case, let me tell you the rules of this place and the mine."
"Mining is one day on, one day off. Every morning, someone will knock on the doors and gather whoever is scheduled to go that day. We won't overwork you. Just 8 hours a day. Each person must mine at least 200 catties of ore to earn 1 gold coin. After that, for every extra 100 catties of ore in a day, you get another 1 gold coin."
"If you take a day off, 2 gold coins will be deducted."
"As for the rules here, I am the boss, a 4 ring Spirit Ancestor. All the water here is under my control. If you want to drink or use water, you must pay. One silver coin per liter, and it's only sold for 6 hours a day."
"If you want to use the spirit tools in the room, that's 1 gold coin a month for wear and tear."
"As for food, you can buy it from the pavilions. Those are all shops that have paid me. If you want to do business here in Bing 3 Cave, you can also rent a shop from me. I only want 30 percent of the profits plus a base fee of 10 gold coins per month."
"However, if there is already a pavilion doing the same kind of business you want to do, then you'll have to start bidding. Whoever pays more gets the right to operate here."
"In this place, everything follows 2 rules. First, might makes right. Second, whoever pays more is right. Either your fist is bigger than mine and whatever you say becomes the truth, or you have to pay for everything you want to do. If you hand over enough money, naturally no one will dare touch you."
Hearing this, Chen Ming finally understood why a Spirit Ancestor would remain in this area instead of moving to a place with better facilities and a better environment.
This was clearly a monopoly. He was acting as a local gang leader, squeezing every Spirit Master living in this cave.
When Chen Ming thought about how there were at least dozens of rooms here, his heart twitched. Food, water, and basic daily necessities were essentially all controlled by this man. In one month, the amount he could squeeze out from the Spirit Masters living here alone would already amount to several hundred gold coins. In a year, that would be several thousand.
Gold coins were not pebbles. In the current era, gold coins had already depreciated by about 10 times compared to 10,000 years ago, but their purchasing power was still very strong.
A normal family of 3 only needed about 1 gold coin to survive for a month. A thousand gold coins was already a considerable fortune for most Spirit Masters. And the total amount this man could draw here each year from various fees was definitely far more than just a simple thousand gold coins.
Chen Ming strongly suspected that this person was only the leader of this area, and that there had to be a backer and a protective umbrella above him. There was definitely some high level Evil Spirit Master secretly controlling the residential zones of many low level Evil Spirit Masters, restricting their most basic needs in order to continuously squeeze gold coins out of them year after year.
"I understand."
Chen Ming nodded. He reached toward his waist and took out 2 still warm gold coins along with some loose bronze and silver coins.
Naturally, this was not Chen Ming's own money. It was money he had scavenged from the corpses of the people he had looted. Most of it had been hidden in a spirit tool, with the spirit tool itself well concealed, while a small portion was left on his body for emergencies.
"This little brother is a newcomer and didn't understand the rules. I've troubled Big Brother to waste so much breath explaining everything to me. I've only just moved in and don't have much on me, so I can't properly treat Big Brother to a drink. Please forgive me. Consider this my tea money for Big Brother."
Chen Ming handed over the gold coins, his face full of flattery.
Yet his heart remained perfectly calm. Knowing when to bend and when to stand tall had never been a problem for him. In an environment where the difference in strength was absolute, insisting on being stubborn and fighting head on was what only fools would do.
After all, Chen Ming had worked a job in his previous life. Smiling on the surface while cursing in his heart, praising someone with his mouth while thinking "f*** you" in his mind, was already second nature to him.
Although Chen Ming dared bet that Zhang Peng must have left something nearby to observe him, Chen Ming did not want Zhang Peng's impression of him to sour over such a minor issue.
At the same time, he also felt that if he were truly beaten up, as long as he was not crippled or killed, Zhang Peng would absolutely not interfere.
Right now, his identity was only that of a newly joined Evil Spirit Master, not the Disciple of some Consecrated Elder. When one lacked overwhelming power, one could only rely on overwhelming intelligence.
Of course, he would definitely record this name in his little notebook.
.....
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