Sage maintained his infirm appearance and a large number of Hoplites acted as a guard, escorting him around camp as he installed a very powerful alarm formation. It was also quite expensive. One of the most foolproof methods, anything containing energy would also need to be carrying a token keyed to them or the formation would sound an alert and point out the energy source. There was always a way to get around any defense or alarm, but this one was quite difficult to circumvent. The tokens would self destruct if the person they were keyed to died, and only the person in charge of the formation could key new tokens.

There was of course ways around it, but those methods were definitely not easy ones. Sage was hoping that the Cloudmetal Consortium didn’t know any groups with such extremely strange methods, or at least they wouldn’t go to such lengths without a second round of negotiation. Thankfully, he was correct. Things were quite calm for the next few days and the Cloudmetal Consortium’s reinforcements arrived. The group wasn’t much larger than the first one that had arrived. That said, they were of a completely different level.

The opposition they now faced hadn’t just double in quantity. The new group make the original group look like a bunch of children. Sage was surprised to see that their discipline was almost a match for the Hoplites. Bugs that were born with their combat skills already built in, and these Cloudmetal Consortium men were comparable in their precision and execution. Even so, their own defenses were many times stronger than before. The assassin’s had circumvented the walls and troops, something their new alarm system should make much more difficult.

Another meeting was arranged, this time with Black Saber and Whitestaff standing as Sage’s bodyguards. King was still recovering from his injuries and spending his time in Tiankong Palace being attended to by his dozens of wives. He didn’t have the healing ability that Sage did, so he would be out of commission for a few months unless they purchased a powerful healing pill. Sage offered to do so, but King was enjoying being nursed so he denied the help. If Sage had been in more trouble he might have forced him to take the pill, but for now he was still optimistic.

Before the meeting, Sage used his Twin Soul to do a little reconnaissance. He kept the Twin Soul well away, so he could only see and not hear what was going on. An older gentleman was wagging a finger and probably yelling at Li Song and Li Zhen. The pair of siblings had their heads down. Li Song seemed to be talking back and then the older man yelled some more and Li Song looked dejected. Li Zhen spoke for a bit and looked apologetic. Then she bowed and brought Li Song away with her. The three had been standing outside of a large tent and once the two siblings left, the older gentleman went into the tent. After some time, the man came back out with a somewhat annoyed look on his face. Heading to the tent that Li Song and Li Zhen went into. Sage didn’t want to risk the Twin Soul so he summoned it back.

The next day they had their first official meeting. They set up a simple canopy outside of the gates and Sage waited there with Black Saber and Whitestaff. The rest of the Hoplites and the flying cavalry were at full readiness. They didn’t have to wait long. A small group from the Cloudmetal Consortium came to join them. A lone carriage rolled out to them. It was pulled only by regular horses, a measure to show their sincerity. The driver and the footman on the back of the carriage were both powerful warriors. Just the way they moved and carried themselves gave it away before they could even reach the range of having their aura’s examined.

When the carriage got close enough, many Spiritual Senses spread out and clashed against one another. Neither side attacked the other, letting the opposition feel them out. Three people were inside the coach, two older men and one woman. The scan of Spiritual Sense was for either side to search for traps and finding none the carriage continued approaching. It stopped a few dozen feet from the canopy and the three people stepped out. The two men both looked middle aged. A pair of refined and distinguished old gentlemen. One of them was the man that Sage had seen yelling at Li Song and Li Zhen. He was walking to the side and slightly behind the other man. At the lead man’s other shoulder was the woman. She was quite lovely, and physically looked to be in her thirties. She was no longer a stunning youth, but that didn’t rob her of her charm.

The man in the lead stepped under the canopy where Sage was standing to greet them. He still wore many bandages around his body and looked heavily injured. Of course, the remaining injuries were pretty superficial. All the deep and internal damage had already been healed. Sage bowed his head, “I am Ling Sheng. The Jade Horde greets you.”

“Ahh, the Jade Horde. We have heard great things about you back in the capital. Who knew their leader was so young! Quite a thrilling story. A tribe of demi-humans fighting back against discrimination. The rumors say you were injured and the Hoplites nursed you back to health. Then you chose to devote your life to paying back their kindness.”

Sage bowed his head a bit more deeply, “You flatter me. Rumors are always blown far out of proportion. They can’t be believed.”

“Hah. You saying that makes them sound even more true.”

Black Saber and Whitestaff stayed to the sides, ready and alert to stop any suspicious movements their new ‘guests’ might make. The man in the lead reminded Sage of a politician. His dark hair had a peppering of silver at his temples, and he didn’t seem affected by the severe attitude of Sage’s two guards. The coach driver and footman were also just as alert and waiting only a dozen yards from the canopy. Each side had three people in the canopy. The Cloudmetal Consortium had backup just a dozen yards away, but Sage’s helpers were in the hundreds, though they were a few hundred yards away.

“My name is Mao Rong. This is Zhu Jin, my assistant, and this is my right hand man, Li Dong. I came from the main office of the Cloudmetal Consortium at the Capitol. I hope we can come to an agreement here.”

There were no threats, but there also wasn’t any promises otherwise. Sage nodded his head, “I hope the same. I would offer you tea, but I fear you wouldn’t trust me. So, shall we continue with the formalities, or go straight to business?”

“Very straightforward. Why don’t we just get the business out of the way first? If we can settle things easily enough, we can move right on to being friends. So, what are your demands? ”

Sage could tell this man was very experienced, “Very well. I could use negotiating tactics like with the two from before, but then we’d both just start discussing the strength of our two sides. Then we’d inevitably get into another conflict to prove our claims.”

Mao Rong nodded his head, and a little smile crawled onto his lips, “Correct. We would then get to see whether or not your defenses are stronger than my troops.”

“Yes, and then we would enter a battle of attrition. The Jade Horde would likely fall, but it would certainly be costly to the Cloudmetal Consortium, depending on how fiercely we resist you. So, let’s skip all that.”

Mao Rong waved his hand, asking Sage to continue. Meanwhile, Li Dong was just standing in silence, impressed by his bosses’ manner. Zhu Jin on the other hand, was smiling and waiting patiently as if she’d seen this sort of thing many times.

“My proposition is as such. The Jade Horde retains ownership of the Cloudmetal Charcoal mine. For two million spirit stones, we promise to never sell it to anyone else.”