Qianye heard the duo’s words clearly. He also got the idea to gift the box of gems to Nighteye—perhaps she would like it?

Qianye was never the type to attract ladies’ favors, nor did he understand the intricate thoughts of a girl. Song Zining would probably urge him to go ahead with the plan if he were here.

However, Qianye couldn’t help but laugh wryly when he recalled how easily Nighteye had slaughtered the six-armed giant. The vast power gap between the two and Nighteye’s change in character after her awakening wasn’t something that could be solved with a few gems.

Bloodline was the most important asset in the Evernight world, and one’s strength would decide their class. The concept of being well-matched existed in the other faction as well.

The soaring snake would never travel with the forest python, and the falcon would never fly with a sparrow.

On the other side, Lan Xincheng had already come to a decision. “Very well, this box of gems will count as a box of Dragon Scale Moss. One more jar of white-fruit wine and everything in the booklet is yours.”

“Deal.” Qianye nodded.

“These things are easier to trade.” Lan Xincheng picked up that thick booklet.

The lists in there were rather long, but their contents were just ordinary strategic resources. Their advantage was in their large numbers and not their quality. Most of the equipment in there could be used to outfit the mercenaries from Dark Flame, but that was the extent of it. In terms of equipment grade, they were about equal to that of the Imperial elite corps.

In truth, Lan Xincheng had already obtained a bountiful harvest even without this booklet. Rewards from the Empress were certain.

Things were simple now. Most of the special products from the neutral lands could be exchanged. With enough shipping capacity, even lumber from the Black Grove was a good commodity. Other people might not be able to extract lumber there, but Qianye was different. He could fell each tree with a slash.

Ultimately, Qianye bought off the list with a hundred pieces of lumber and a handful of other resources.

Lan Xincheng was full of smiles, and Qianye was also quite happy.

A lot of these things could be produced in the neutral lands, but their quality wasn’t optimal. Even Southern Blue was quite lacking in scale in the eyes of the Empire. It would be rather difficult to find ten tons of these tactical resources, even the ordinary alloy plates. There were only a handful of bigger refineries in the entirety of the neutral lands.

With this batch of resources, Qianye could complete the construction of some key workshops. Their progress had been lagging due to the lack of resources. These factories were for the production of precision components and processing of special materials, the most important node in the production chain. Without them, no airship would be able to fly.

All the goods on the lists had long since been prepared, and the airships carrying them were just outside of the neutral lands, ready to drive into the Eastern Sea. The Empire had made ample preparations because Ji Tianqing knew just what Qianye had in hand and what he urgently needed. With her pulling the strings from behind, things naturally went well.

While waiting for the goods to arrive, Qianye took two airships to the Black Grove and cut down a hundred logs. The entire forest began to turn visibly restless toward the end, but he didn’t really cut down that much and the aura he let out intentionally kept the natives at bay. The strange beasts didn’t come out to court death, either.

The Imperial transports arrived soon after Qianye got back to Southern Blue.

Ten whole transport barges, along with six destroyer escorts, filled the airship port to the brim. Qianye transferred thousands of mercenaries and dozens of trucks over. Even then, it took one day and night to transfer the goods into the warehouses.

Manager Song would allocate these resources, so Qianye didn’t need to worry about them. Qianye stayed behind at the airship port to keep an eye on the engines, main cannons, and high-grade components as they were loaded onto two cargo airships.

While the loading was underway, Lan Xincheng said to Qianye, “Sire, we should be heading back now. Our harvest was simply too bountiful, so much so that even Prince Cheng might not have thought of this.”

“This Prince Cheng is?” Qianye was alerted by the unfamiliar name.

“Prince Cheng is His Majesty’s uncle in terms of seniority. He currently aids the Longevity Monarch and is in charge of equipment and training.”

At this point, Qianye understood that Prince Cheng was likely the superior of Lan Xincheng’s superior. Lan Xincheng was probably the prince’s trusted agent since he could report directly without answering to his superior.

The relationships within the military were complicated. The Longevity Monarch was the biggest mountain, with ten marshals each acting as smaller, individual ones. Other outsiders were also trying to reach into the military. For instance, Empress Li, the Minister of the Right, and even the four major clans were trying to establish their own power in the army.

Qianye had no interest in these relationships, but the large amount of resources Lan Xincheng had brought made him curious about the power behind him.

Qianye said, “I still have some Greysteel Thread Grass and Starry Sky, also…”

Lan Xincheng was all smiles after hearing about the resources in Qianye’s hands. Both of these materials were important ingredients for military-use medicines, his specialty. The general’s eyes twitched as he said, “Sire, just take out whatever else you have. We two might not be capable in other regards, but we do have good judgment.”

Nodding, Qianye produced three items—a bottle of moss, an unknown rock, and a bottle of void colossus marrow.

Lan Xincheng picked up a tiny piece of the moss and sniffed it. He then put it in his mouth and closed his eyes to taste the item. Qianye was speechless as he looked on. These things were from the Great Maelstrom, and most of the things there were toxic. Besides, some of them contained powerful poison with no antidotes. True venom didn’t rely on quantity. Little Zhuji’s poison was enough to kill the man ten times over.

Lan Xincheng finally opened his eyes and muttered, “This poison… mm, is extraordinary! As I see it…”

His words started to turn slur, proof of how powerful this poison was. A shocked Fang Zhan stabbed a special antidote into Lan Xincheng’s body, and then made a small cut on his tongue to let out a pool of purple blood.

Only after that did the general manage to speak. “As I see it, the poison can be processed into a new special drug! Although its uses aren’t clear, I can say that the army will take it! As for the price, I’ll make sure you’re satisfied.”

That void colossus marrow was something Master Lu had given Qianye to incorporate into East Peak. Later on, the item was spared as the mysterious existence in the Pond of Life took action. It was a big win for Qianye since a jade lotus head was used to strengthen East Peak instead.

After hearing the uses of the marrow from Qianye, and through careful inspection, Lan Xincheng understood the item’s value. His eyes lit up immediately. This was an extremely rare material that could meld two polar materials into one. Its most direct use would be to add new material to a grade-nine origin gun, giving it a new attribute.

The higher the grade of an origin gun, the more difficult it was to upgrade. Additionally, the price of adding attributes would increase exponentially each time. For instance, a four-attribute gun would be twice as expensive as a three-attribute gun of the same grade.

Each and every grade-nine gun possessed extreme firepower. Adding a new attribute was equal to giving wings to the proverbial tiger, especially if it was well-chosen. For instance, an origin gun with great firepower could be upgraded to have a thirty percent longer range. That would turn a short-range firearm into a long-range weapon, a peerless asset in gunfights.

Or a shotgun with immense firepower that would put great burden on the marksman—its requirements could be lowered to that of a grade-eight weapon, but the damage would be nearly twice as great.

Although there was barely enough marrow for a grade-nine origin gun, one could carefully allocate it to a forward location. Finding the right attribute wasn’t a problem since the Imperial treasury contained ample amounts of them in stock.

Fang Zhan picked up the remaining stone and observed it for a long while, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“How is it? Do you know what it is?” Lan Xincheng asked.

Fang Zhan replied, “The origin power aura is quite intense.”

“You don’t say! Everyone knows that. Give me specific details!” Lan Xincheng was impatient.

Fang Zhan rolled his eyes. “There are no specific details! I’ve never seen or heard of it before, but I know that the origin power is quite intense.”

Lan Xincheng’s brows twitched. “It’s a new ore then?”

“Most likely.”

Lan Xincheng knew people like Fang Zhan usually understood ores quite well. Since he had said so, this ore was probably something never seen before. And from how dense its origin power aura was, one could say for sure that it was extraordinary.

Someone in the great empire would surely find a use for such a special material.

Lan Xincheng returned the three treasures to Qianye reluctantly. “Just these three?”

“No.” However, Qianye did not bring out anything more.

“Then… what does Sire Qianye want? I’ll go back and think of a way to meet your expectations.”

“Skycloud-grade kinetic sails, phoenix-grade main-cannons, and earth-grade engines.” Qianye opened his bloody maws.