Chapter 138
Maybe Hunchback Tian was someone important 100 years ago, and he had the lofty and unyielding character of a powerful warrior. However, 100 years had gone. The dignity and pride inside him had frittered away.
Hunchback Tian had tried to reach the Fate Wheel Realm for 80 times during the 100 years which meant that he was a Kung Fu addict. Or, that the only thing that kept him living was to reach to the Fate Wheel Realm. As long as someone was willing to provide him with Mystical Materials for him to get to the Fate Wheel Realm, he could become the horse keeper if needs be.
Warriors at the peak of the Soul Pond Realm was not that great. If he relied only on himself, he could not get his hands on a large amount of Mystical Materials and Xuan Crystals fast, especially at the Thousand-island Lake.
The Thousand-island Lake was only this big. The best territory was occupied by the Bai Family, and the rest was divided up by the eight Fourth-rank forces.
All the Fourth-rank forces had powerful warriors at the Fate Wheel Realm. Unless it was death that Hunchback Tian wanted, he would not go and offend any Fourth-rank forces.
Maybe he could ransack a Third-rank force, but one mustn’t forget that any Third-rank force was affiliated to a Fourth-rank one. Perhaps he could ransack once, but how could the Fourth-rank forces not get angry if Hunchback Tian did it multiple times?
Fourth-rank Families turned their noses at Hunchback Tian. Third-rank ones could not afford to raise him. Hunchback Tian’s situation was not looking good. It would be seen from the fact that he had joined several dozens of forces in the 100 years. Therefore, Lu Li was certain he could win Hunchback Tian over.
Plus, there was the reputation of Ming Yu. How dare Hunchback Tian offend him?
Hunchback Tian’s edge was worn down. He was a man that would bully the weak and fear the strong. He would pretend to be helpless and miserable in front of the one that he could not afford to anger.
Lu Li had chosen to take Hunchback Tian in because there was no powerful warrior protecting the Blood Evil Island. They had no absolute deterrent force.
How long could they live off the reputation of Ming Yu? If Ming Yu did not show himself within a year or two, how would the nearby forces think?
Also, Lu Li himself didn’t want to use Ming Yu’s influence. He was not sure whether Ming Yu was his father’s acquaintance or Ming Yu was just here to ask around? All in all, he would prefer not to do anything ill-considered if he could not use Ming Yu’s fame in case something would happen.
The Blood Evil Island would develop fast in the future. It was inevitable that someone would covet the island. Relying only on Green Dwarfs would not bring them absolute domineering power. They needed a powerful warrior to personally attend to garrison duty.
There was no doubt that Hunchback Tian was a nice choice. This man had no ambition. As long as his needs were met, he could be ordered about.
As for…
How to get Xuan Crystals? Lu Li was not worried about this. There was only a set market size for Blood Caterpillar Fruits. If they could not expand the scale and grow more of this, he could plant something else.
For example, Fire Fairy Lucid Ganoderma and Netherworld Root!
These two types of elixirs were rare and pricy. Lu Li hadn’t thought about growing them before for
Madam Yan had the desire to cooperate with him on these two kinds of elixirs. Lu Li felt the time had come, and they could try to grow them to see the results.
Once they could grow high-quality Fire Fairy Lucid Ganoderma and Netherworld Roots, the Liu Family would practically own a Xuan Crystal mountain. It wouldn’t be a problem for them to earn several millions Xuan Crystals a year. To raise one Hunchback Tian would be plainly easy.
Lu Li didn’t share his thoughts with anyone. The Blood Evil Island was not yet stabilized completely. Maybe there were many spies on the island. He planned to do it in another two months.
Lu Li minded Hunchback Tian no more. He went back to the Dragon Elephant Mountain to cultivate and leave the other matters to Patriarch Seven.
Hunchback Tian became the director of the Hall of Combat, in charge of the safety of the Blood Evil Island. Patriarch Seven and Hunchback Tian agreed that Hunchback Tian would get 50,000 Xuan Crystals every month and then the rest of the Xuan Crystals would be given to him by the two-year deadline. When he got the three million Xuan Crystals, he would go and buy the required Mystical Materials by himself.
Hunchback Tian was happy. He was not afraid that the Liu Family was going to default. He was now like the hatchet man hired by the Liu Family using Xuan Crystals to be responsible for protection…
Hunchback Tian was a responsible person. He didn’t need to cultivate now. He just had to wait till he collect all the Mystical Mysteries so he could try to get to the Fate Wheel Realm. He had lived for more than 150 years. Two-year time was a short span of time.
Under Hunchback Tian’s guidance, the Liu Family purchased some Formation Stones and built some special Inhibition Formation which markedly increased the defensive ability of the Blood Evil Island. Regular scouts would find no way to sneak into the Blood Evil Island. Only powerful warriors at the Soul Pond Realm could sneak in.
After six or seven days, everything was set on the Blood Evil Island. Hunchback Tian wandered around the island every day and enjoyed fine food and wine. Average warriors of the Liu Family all treated him with politeness. His life was easy and comfortable.
Time went by. Soon, 20 days had pa.s.sed. Today was Xu Chen’s birthday. Early in the morning, Liu Yi sent someone to ask Lu Li to go down the mountain. Lu Li was the Island Owner, so he must present himself for this kind of social situation.
Lu Li knew it was inevitable. He took a bath and changed into a somewhat gorgeous robe. Together with Liu Yi, Patriarch Seven, Hunchback Tian and 10 Green Dwarfs, he set off towards the G.o.d-down Island by taking the battles.h.i.+p.
Lu Li didn’t have to worry about trivial things such as presents. Patriarch Seven had that prepared. However, Hunchback Tian was kind of unwilling to come. He said his duty was to protect the Blood Evil Island, not being Lu Li’s sidekick…
Lu Li only mentioned "breaking the promise" and Hunchback Tian behaved himself and followed them. As far as Hunchback Tian was concerned, the connection hiding behind Lu Li was Ming Yu whom he could not afford to offend. If Lu Li really broke the promise, how could Hunchback Tian be bold enough to offend Lu Li?
Young Master Xu Yaoyang of the Xu Family personally received the guests at the dock. He was somewhat stunned seeing Lu Li come with 10 Green Dwarfs and a powerful warrior at the peak of the Soul Pond Realm. But then he came to his senses. Lu Li was trying to demonstrate his strength to the nearby forces.
Without doing any background check, Xu Yaoyang already knew who Hunchback Tian was after a few looks. He didn’t say anything, but deep inside, he secretly sneered and said to himself that Lu Li was deceived.
"Hold the Mighty Heaven Halberd for me!"
As the battles.h.i.+p pulled in to sh.o.r.e, Lu Li threw the Mighty Heaven Halberd to Hunchback Tian. The latter flew into rage at once. He murmured, "Island Owner, what kind of person do you think I am? Having me hold the weapon for you? Do you need me to hold a horse for you?"
Lu Li looked at him casually and said in a cold voice, "Hunchback Tian, are you still not clear about your ident.i.ty? You are nothing but a small deacon of our island. Have you seen deacons of other forces refusing to take their Island Owners’ orders? Do you want to quit? We can terminate our agreement. I have been thinking lately, and I do feel that we will suffer losses with you…"
"No!"
Hunchback Tian was terrified. He said while gritting his teeth in anger, "This is a one-time thing. If you cross the line in the future like this, I will quit."
"Let’s go!"
Lu Li just waved his hand and he took the lead to walk towards the dock. Hunchback Tian followed him, looking devastated. Then it was Patriarch Seven and Liu Yi. The Green Dwarfs stayed at the back.
There were many battles.h.i.+ps anch.o.r.ed at the dock. Many forces from nearby came early in the morning. They all gave Lu Li a sidelong glance when he got off the s.h.i.+p with a group of people following him. The 10 Green Dwarfs at the back of the team were too obvious to not attract people’s attention.
Having 10 Green Dwarfs were almost equal to having 10 warriors of the Soul Pond Realm. Plus, there was Hunchback Tian at the peak of the Soul Pond Realm. Lu Li’s demonstration of strength held back many Island Owners and Patriarchs of many forces in power. Many people asked about and they all felt relieved when they knew it was Lu Li from the Blood Evil Island. They were impressed.
Of course…
When people found out who Hunchback Tian was, they secretly shook their heads. Lu Li got the worst of it. Many years later, perhaps Hunchback Tian would make the Blood Evil Island go bankrupt?