"Where did you get this sword from!"

Barely after her fingers touched the blade of my sword, she raised her eyes and looked at me sternly. From her voice, I could see that she realised the worth of this weapon and the implications behind the fact that I possessed it.

"That shouldn't matter, should it? As long as I will get the answer that I'm looking for, I will place it as collateral for the sake of guaranteeing your profit from my plan. If it won't work, this sword will be yours. Isn't that a great transaction?"

While it held an insane worth for her, I was able to do even better swords now. Just by investing a bit more points in my crafting ability, even better weapons would come out of my hand, especially if I were to get my hands on even better materials. The only question that remained was whether she would be willing to sabotage her faction in Bakari auction house for the sake of my plan!

"You are right, it doesn't really matter. As for your question, Katenari family supports draconic sabre sect. My faction in this shared business of Bakari house is supported by their rival, Heavenly Sword sect. As for the enrollment that I proposed to you, you could choose between a sword sect being their lower branch and the main body of the organisation. Does that answer satisfy you?"

Looking at a dangerous glint in her eyes, I quickly understood that she was being honest while considering snatching the sword away if that wasn't the answer I wanted to hear. I'm glad I placed my bets correctly. While this sword didn't hold any real monetary value to me since I was able to replicate it with ease, the fact that it was a twin sword to the one I gifted to Eve gave it a lot of sentimental worth!

"Those were exactly the words I wanted to hear. As for what I want you to do, is to completely pull out of the Bakari house and establish a new one. While it would be good to keep it under wraps, when I will be ready, I will need you to promote only a single auction among the top experts from the entire city, excluding draconic sabre sect and Katenari family. I can assure you if that sword that got sold earlier today reached a good price, the ones that I will provide for you won't be even placed in the same league!"

While my idea was daring, it was the best way to stir some trouble for Katenari house while bounding their rival to my side. Only by putting them at a great odds I would be able to hide in the shadow of the conflict to continue causing the trouble!

"You sure know how to aim big!"

Putting an exasperated expression on her delicate face, Venna seemed to be genuinely impressed. Staging the war between major powers while being at the level of a simple outer disciple in both of them was surely a daring act!

"But pulling out of the Bakenari house? There is no way I will agree to do that, even if you put this sword as collateral. You need to show some results at first! Also, I would like to know what put you at odds with this insanely powerful family. Did they bully you or something? You should know your place then!"

"I won't force you to pull out of it immediately, but considering basic business relations, you can't open your own house without abandoning the previous one? Otherwise what would be the point of cooperating for the sake of attaining complete monopoly?"

While Venna's face instantly paled when I brought this point, it's not like it was hard to understand it with just a bit of modern knowledge. No matter how you call it, the way the business works are the same across the ages. If you dip your head into the entire medieval history, most of the conflicts that decided how the modern world look like had an economical background! The colonisation of the Americas happened because Seljuk Turks cut off the trade route to from India to Europe, making the western countries look for an alternate route. Even the entire American Revolution started partially with the Boston Tea Party caused by oppressive taxation policy of that time.

If I wanted to create a serious conflict between the parties, I had to hit their income. By making Venna's faction pull out of the shared business and helping her make her own auction house successful with my own products would greatly affect the overall income of the other sides. If the new investment brought enough of the money, pulling other sects to the party would be the next step, while isolation those that didn't comply with my own requests!

"I won't ask how did you found out, but you are turning to be more and more interesting person even than I initially judged you to be. So, this sword will be collateral for me investing in a project that will be abandoned if your products won't meet the mark?"

"Yes, but with one limitation. I will need it for my duel that will happen right after the tournament will conclude. I hope it won't be a problem for you."

While I'm sure that my weapons will be valuable enough to stir some unrest on the market and sway some big players to join our side, I can't foresee everything that will happen. Just in case I would lose my wager here, I need to secure this part of the deal so I won't be left without a weapon for my standoff with my dear cousin!

"Okay then, I can accept these terms. But before we shake the deal, would you mind letting me know what do you have against Katenaris? Seeing how you are ready to risk such an insane weapon just for the chance to poke them slightly, I'm curious what makes you soo resolved!"

Well, I guess if I want her to keep my side later on where Eve's legacy will be revealed, I need to give her the news in advance.

"The girl you saw me with, my fiancee, is actually a descendant of the Immortal level cultivator from Katenaris. From what I heard, they intend to use her for blood merging, hence my dedication to burying their entire clan."