I Can See Your Combat Power-Chapter 998 - Two Hundred Ninety-Two Cut Expenses and

Chapter 998: Chapter Two Hundred Ninety-Two: Cut Expenses and Save Resources

Chapter 998 -Two Hundred Ninety-Two: Cut Expenses and Save Resources

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Although it was only their first meeting, Tang Luo keenly sensed an inexplicable hostility from Ji Chen, which prompted him to frown and ask, “What exactly does Ji Chen have to say?”

“Ji Chen just wants to inquire how the Tang Clan, as allies of our clan, intends to reciprocate after taking three million spirit herbs and precious grasses from Beimang every year!”

With his hands resting on the arms of the chair, Ji Chen leaned slightly forward, staring into Tang Luo’s eyes, and said, “As members of noble families, the Saint Child should understand that no one’s resources are brought by the wind. In the past, when the Tang Clan was a weaker force tucked away in a corner of Xiling, our clan naturally did not demand much. But now, as the Tang Clan has become a top-tier power with seven great cities under its control and countless strong players from the Fierce Realm, shouldn’t some sincerity be shown?”

“Hmm… So that’s the reason.” Tang Luo chuckled with a hint of realization, turning his head to glance at the expressionless Ji Fu and then back at the imposing Ji Chen, as he softly laughed and said, “You make some sense, but I wonder, what kind of sincerity does the Ji Clan desire?”

Ji Chen sat up straight and indifferently said, “That is for the nobles to consider themselves. However, there’s one thing the Saint Child should realize: when farmers leave leftovers for dogs, it’s to give them the strength to guard the house. If one day the dog stops barking, do you think the farmer will continue to feed it?”

Comparing the Tang Clan to a guard dog and the spirit herb transactions as feeding was almost an insult, and even Ji Fu, who was beside them, couldn’t help frowning.

Tang Luo, who originally seemed relaxed, also caught on to Ji Chen’s words.

The Ji Clan could not have been unaware that these three million spirit herbs and precious grasses were a compensation given by Ji Fu to their ally, the Tang Clan, for the exclusive control of the Minor Spiritual Realm’s Blood God. With Ji Chen coming forward and insinuating a desire to discuss the terms of this compensation, the intention was undoubtedly to reneg on Ji Fu’s promises.

Had this been merely an oversight on Ji Chen’s part, Tang Luo would not have taken it seriously as there were too many young people who did not know the immensity of the heavens and the earth. However, considering Ji Fu’s displeased yet silent demeanor, it appeared that Ji Chen’s presence represented a certain voice within the Ji Clan.

And the true master of this voice, even the Saint Child Ji Fu, had to treat it with great importance.

If Tang Luo had initially taken Ji Chen’s words as a young person seeking to express their own views, he now had to treat them with utmost seriousness. Tang Luo’s eyes flicked, and a plan came to mind.

“What Ji Chen has said makes a lot of sense. The three million spirit herbs and precious grasses yearly indeed put the Tang Clan in an awkward position!”

With an appearance of remorse, Tang Luo responded, “Originally, Saint Child Ji Fu promised such resources because of the Blood God’s spirit that once presided in the Minor Spiritual Realm, but who could have expected the Fox King’s spirit to explode so violently, not only causing the Ji Clan to lose a small Spirit Realm, but also a massive amount of resources each year. Reflecting on this, the Ji Clan has truly been too generous!”

Upon hearing Tang Luo’s words, Ji Fu’s expression suddenly became very strange, almost in disbelief.

His impression of Tang Luo remained from years ago, and in his memory, despite Tang Luo’s extraordinary talent, he was the kind of person who would flip the table and ensure mutual destruction if things did not go his way.

The very first time they met, Tang Luo had dared to use all of his clan’s strength to scheme against him, even threatening to crush the Boundary Breaking Stone after a mere disagreement.

In subsequent negotiations, the Tang Clan displayed an almost insane character from top to bottom, especially the moment Tang Luo held the clan’s token, a moment Ji Fu would never forget for the rest of his life.

The saying goes that against a man who courts death, not even an armed force can stand; when an entire clan unites, they can traverse the world unchallenged.

The real reason Ji Fu was willing to form an alliance with the Tang Clan was not only because of Old Master Xu’s mediation, but also because he believed that if pushed too far, this group of madmen truly would drag the Ji Clan down with them!

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And subsequent news confirmed that Tang Luo did not change his temperament despite the growth in his strength, victorious against Yankong, defeating Cao Changqing, and outwitting the chief disciple of Dapeng Mountain.

Even when facing the elite from the Sacred Land Sects, he did not show any courtesy. Ji Chen had just started speaking, and he truly feared the two would come to blows, but what was happening now?

Not to mention Ji Fu, even Ji Chen felt surprised. Apart from being the prime disciple of the Lingxiao Sect, he was also the legitimate son of Ji Xuanyuan, the commander of the Slaughter Immortal Army of the Lingxiao Sect.

As the primary force of the Ji Clan’s lineage, the Slaughter Immortal Army’s foundational techniques were the Battle Edge Tactics and the Undying Battle Body, both of which required a massive amount of spiritual medicine resources to cultivate.

However, spiritual medicine and precious grasses have stable growth cycles. To ensure long-term sustainable development, each clan allocates quotas to their lineage’s Slaughter Immortal Army every year.

Ji Fu’s promise to the Tang Clan and Elder Xu was four million a year, and with such a scale of divine medicine and precious grasses, the Lingxiao Sect would have to bear half, which is two million a year. The remaining shortfall of two million would then be distributed among other factions of the Ji Clan.

Developing a medium to small-sized divine mountain to the utmost extent without harming the spiritual veins can yield tens of millions of divine medicine plants every ten years. Even if calculated annually, there would be several million plants of yield.

This would not only meet the needs of the Lingxiao Sect disciples and Slaughter Immortal Army soldiers, but there would also be a considerable surplus after completing the alchemy process.

However, with an extra expenditure of two million a year, the Lingxiao Sect’s medicine gardens began to suffer from deficits.

To solve this, there were essentially two options: increase income or reduce expenses.

All of the divine mountains in the Beimang region, except for Tai Xuan Divine Mountain, had been occupied by the Ji Clan. To increase income, one would have to either attack other states or enhance production or shorten the growth period, but these were not overnight tasks.

For this reason, increasing income was not a viable solution, so the Lingxiao Sect began to cut costs by significantly reducing the spiritual medicine quota for the soldiers of the Slaughter Immortal Army.

After all, this was not a thousand years ago. With martial arts flourishing for a millennium and the system evolving, the Sacred Land Sects had all completed the development of single-person fusion techniques.

The value of a master had greatly increased, whereas the system of soldiers in formation was gradually being phased out due to high costs from the premier strength ranks of the various Sacred Land Sects. The Ji Clan, aiming for the pinnacle of the Sacred Land, naturally would not contradict this trend.

For these reasons, Ji Xuanyuan, the commander of the Slaughter Immortal Army of the Lingxiao Sect, had no good feelings toward the Tang family in Xiling.

Ji Chen’s intervention also represented the stance of the Red Cloud Mountain Slaughter Immortal Army; they wanted to reclaim the resource supply from the Tang Clan, which would allow them to restore the spiritual grass quota for the Slaughter Immortal Army!

After understanding Tang Luo’s character, Ji Chen had planned several arguments to provoke Tang Luo into action, but to his surprise, Longxi’s Pride, known for his explosive and unmatched temperament, actually showed weakness at his mere threat?

But the fact that the opponent could admit weakness was also good news. Suppressing his astonishment, Ji Chen smiled and nodded, “It’s rare for Tang Tianjiao to have such profound understanding. After all, taking so many spiritual medicines every year without much achievement is likely to cause dissatisfaction among the clan members. How about this, we reduce the original annual quota of three million spiritual medicines to some extent. I presume that fifty thousand plants a year should be sufficient for the current capacity of the Tang Clan, right?”