Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 932 - 931 - Price of Doing Business

Mythra was as gorgeous as ever. Her crimson and green skin was well complemented by the black and gold robes she currently wore with the blazing star on the back.

She was the head of the Starfire House guild. It was one of 3 powerful auction houses currently on the Celestial Fields but with all things considered, hers had a rather unfair advantage.

The Frey Clan was a place of production monsters!

She did not rely on them, however, to keep profits flowing in and it showed as when she arrived at the rather damaged front gate of the Belnath Consortium headquarters, she was treated as royalty more than a business woman.

"Our humble association greets Lady Mythra!" She put her braided hair behind her shoulder as she pulled her hood down.

"There is no need for pleasantries in these trying times, Pillar. We are able to supply more materials and products but you are all closer to the distressed areas. I am here on the order of True Lord Lind Frey." She made it clear that the large human in front of her should not waste time and affirmed who sent her.

The large man was sweating profusely but nodded as he wiped his balding crown. Cultivators usually were in far better health but if they used pills or elixirs to force their cultivation, the effects similar to aging were not unexpected.

Mythra made no comment nor stared at him as he quickly straightened what looked like a jacket for a much smaller frame on his simple shirt and pants attire. They moved up the road but she glanced around before some confusion crossed her face.

"Have you already rebuilt your facilities?" The man nearly fell at her question. She was an esteemed Immortal while he was only a peak Moon Tier, so any question she asked had to be answered promptly.

"We were a bit fortunate in that the damage was not as bad as it looked." She nodded but continued following him.

The acrid smell of leather whipped past them but they were quickly past the shops they came from. She noted no sign of concern or worry in the workers. They were, in fact, smiling at all the work they had to do.

She understood the joy of profit but in the current circumstance she could not help but compare how the Frey Clan masters were grim faced and developing baggy eyes as they worked non-stop to make batches for all in need.

Rasker healers were in much the same boat as critical cases were brought via the Frey Clan ships as quickly as possible if teleportation was too dangerous.

They finally came to a rather ornate mansion. Castle was not even close to the right term as it was more artistic than any kind of defense. The sprawling grounds had much higher concentration of Qi thanks to several arrays she noticed on the way in.

The manicured grounds were equally beautiful with cherry trees in constant bloom over ponds and pavilions set up with dark wood to blend in more with the natural background. The buildings themselves were open with gilded decorations.

If she was not mistaken she saw several layers of primordial gold being used. A grade 6 material that had to be nurtured for over 10,000 years before it could be considered pure.

It was being used as a decoration on the eaves of the roof! She also saw grade 7 light crystals being used in the lamps leading up to the main entrance.

The stone of the steps was viridian granite! It was naturally warm and highly sought after for making hearths that needed no wood to burn! Why was it being used as steps?!

She saw further opulence and waste. It was fine to decorate your base but be humble about it! All these materials had far better uses than demonstrating how wealthy you were!

She suppressed a sigh as they came to the double doors propped open. Just like the rest she recognized a peak grade 6 wood. It was stifled wood. It could absorb staggering amounts of Qi unlike anything else. It was effective in holding prisoners to keeping a healing ward stable depending on how it was refined.

Using it as a door was pointless as she saw no inscriptions at all! It was purely decorative once more!

She also noted no damage at all in the entire mansion. While the headquarters was the heart of their group, they had many branches across the local powers.

They also had specialized areas for their peak experts in the city but the lower grade ones had to make do in the branches.

Pillar led her inside to the opulent and frankly garish decorations. More silver, gold, and other precious materials were used with no other purpose than to show off. She could not hide her frown briefly but Pillar was just looking ahead.

The deal was critical to them as she well knew. If the new trade deals could be made permanent, the profits were staggering to consider!

Mythra finally felt an Immortal in range. She also was happy to see some practical defenses at long last but they were only around certain rooms.

They were greedy idiots but not completely stupid, it seemed.

Pillar knocked on a dark golden wooden door that opened quietly to reveal a large meeting room. She noticed the Immortal was not in the room but nearby.

She sneered internally. Did they think she would feel pressured? She was a Shard Tier Immortal. Only a fool would think such a weak being would bother her.

The unified voices of the men in the room greeted her before Pillar led her to a seat opposite their entrance. It was the first thing that put her on alert but only in that the Immortal was directly behind her in the wall.

"Greetings gentleman. As I told Pillar, I am in no mood for messing around. Critical supplies are needed and while we are getting them to our direct allies, the Frey Clan does not have direct access to the other powers suffering. Your Consortium has the distribution we need. All good so far?" Smiles spread on the old and young alike.

They all saw the Immortal and Heaven Stones flowing like a river from such a moment but Mythra was now the one to smile.

"Here are the conditions." Jade slips flashed out to each member which they accepted happily. She waited as the smiles vanished from all their faces.

"What is the meaning of this, Lady Mythra?!" A young man with slicked back black hair shot up. The badge on his chest revealed he was a peak grade 6 alchemist but she did not care one wit for his pale faced anger.

"We have studied how you all do business for some time so we had initially been planning to have a similar discussion a few centuries from now when your experts caught up to ours, but the current situation requires drastic action. I am not, however, going to simply let you have free access to our products. We only need you to get them where they are needed and will pay you handsomely for that access." She now had a wide smile as her aura flared.

All flinched but the conditions were too harsh!

The Frey Clan would teleport sealed supplies to be marked for their destinations. The seals could not be broken by any member of the Belnath Consortium or they would be forced to pay a penalty. They had to swear Oaths to this effect for everyone involved in the transport of the goods!

Any attempt to examine or decipher what is inside the sealed containers would also result in stiff penalties.

One of the penalties was the crippling of the offender!

Just for attempting! None of those present had any illusions that formations or weavings would be applied to the packages thus they knew the Frey Clan was being serious!

"It is perfectly reasonable to let us have some benefits from this deal, Lady Mythra!" Pillar finally spoke up as profits being on the line gave him courage. Other heads nodded but she sneered openly at them.

"As was stipulated, not only will we cover the costs of wages, teleportation resources, and even protection, but we also offer a generous bonus once the project is completed to our satisfaction." It was not a bad deal at all but it was clearly a closed deal.

They would not be able to pass along any information to their production masters that way!

"We see no reason we cannot benefit from this in a different way. Instead of a bonus, we would be happy to take a sampling of the grade 7 elixirs and pills the Frey Clan is famous for." An older man spoke up and offered a counter to the current deal. Mythra was about to speak when she felt her ring warm up.

Enough time had passed.

"Well, gentlemen, I am afraid the deal was non-negotiable but since you are so opposed to it, let me offer something a bit more inline with what you deserve." Some smiles spread as they saw a light at the end of the tunnel but none noticed their Immortal had vanished from the wall.

"Instead of the exorbitant charges you assess on your customers and those that use your teleportation network, we will simply replace you." Her words were met with dead silence before anger made all their faces crimson.

Yet an aura swept over the entire mansion as space was torn open at the very door of the room! A man with emerald hair trailing down his back and crimson robes emerged. His face was a thundercloud of anger before a dead demon was tossed onto the glossy table surface.

The figures in the room blanched several shades of white at that moment.

Mythra knelt as she smiled.

"Welcome, True Lord Frey. I believe you found what you needed?" He nodded at her words before several figures blurred into the room and crippled all of the men there!

"Per my judgment, the Belnath Consortium leaders and all the way down to guild masters, conspired to attack all other powers for their own profit while using the Fiends to increase their leverage. It was clever to use your branches and businesses to hide the information network." Lind loomed over the weeping men as they lost all their cultivation in a few breaths. "The price of doing business is being able to accept the consequences gentlemen. I think you should ponder that in your next lives."

The men were taken screaming from the room as they knew what fate awaited them! Many of the newer powers never believed the benevolent Lind Frey could be so terrifying but by the time most did, it was far too late.

"Mythra, take over their network and begin teleporting to all the rest in need. Take whoever you need. Rasker is sending us help as well." She nodded and smiled. She had been the distraction while Lind infiltrated their records and secret areas.

They had a lot of circumstantial proof but the final proof were the odd areas that had Fiend Qi nearly suppressed. As she looked around the mansion she also had an idea.

"Lind, we could dismantle this place for the supplies the refiners and formation masters need too." He looked around and nodded as well. In a single moment, the Belnath Consortium was destroyed before anyone even knew what was going on. All evidence of its existence swiftly followed.