The messenger had already had his qualifications confirmed, and he bowed politely as he handed over a scroll. Then the messenger straightened his back and left the hall a bit quicker than normal. Wu Chang was, as usual, an open book. He looked apprehensive as he opened the scroll, and as his eyes scanned over the contents his face fell. His brows scrunched up and he just handed the letter over to Black Saber. Black Saber read it quickly, just glancing at it before handing it to Sage. Just as Wu Chang’s emotions were very obvious, Black Saber’s were a mystery.

Sage read the scroll and then threw it onto the ground. Usually, he would have kept as straight a face as Black Saber, but he couldn’t help himself. The message was just too absurd.

“Who do they think they are? Did Lai Liang become a Provincial Governor when I wasn’t here for a few weeks? The Lai Clan has gone completely insane. What gives them the right to demand 4 million Spirit Stones?”

Wu Chang's angry voice cut right to the chase, but Black Saber’s response was sober, “The Lai Clan doesn’t just control the Dawn Mountain County. Four of the individual City Lords that sent us angry messages are from the Lai Clan. With four out of the ten cities in Dawn Mountain province behind them, if they spend some money they can get the entire province to back them against us.”

“Who cares if they get the whole province, what right do they have to come after us? We just killed a bunch of slave dealers! They’re scum that are better off dead.”

“Slavery is not illegal in the Dou Kingdom. They’re claiming they were business partners, and the Jade Horde killed them to undermine their province.”

Sage stepped in at this point, “Alright, enough. Complaining about them isn’t going to fix the situation. What do we do? What are our options?”

Wu Chang clapped his lips shut and then looked over at Black Saber. His eyebrows rose up his forehead, like he’d only just now realized the magnitude of what the message represented. It seems he was too angry to realize what was going on.

“Wu Chang, you’ve been a City Lord for decades, haven’t you? What are the options? Can’t you appeal to the Prefect of Jade Spirit County? If we don’t pay them within a month, they're going to march on Lionheart Town.”

There was a little gleam in Black Saber’s eye, but he said nothing. Instead just standing there silently and looking at Wu Chang. With Sage also staring at him, Wu Chang threw up his hands, “How the hell am I supposed to know!? These positions are held by the strongest! If they defeat me, it just means they get to install their own City Lord in my place! The Prefect of Jade Spirit County doesn’t care, he will just make sure that whoever takes over keeps submitting their yearly tithe. That bastard was probably worried the Jade Horde was going to get strong enough to take over the county. He’s probably gloating about Dawn Mountain and Red Jungle Counties coming after us.”

Sage looked over at Black Saber, “Summon every member of the Jade Horde that aren’t necessary to protect our interests. Seems we’ve met our first real crisis. Get the men to start fortifying Lionheart Town. Wu Chang, start contacting every City Lord you know. You’ve got to have a few friends, right? Find us allies, I’m going to look for more money.”

The three of them separated, heading off to try different methods of solving the issue. Sage went to the manor he’d been given by Wu Chang and started researching new products. Unfortunately, he’d already built and researched the most lucrative ideas he could think of back in the Holy Flame Sect. He couldn’t reproduce any of the designs or it would create a lead to link his two identities. Eventually, when he revived the Lang Clan the secret would be spilled, but he had no idea how many years he still needed to maintain his cover for. He was quite sure that a few Nascent Soul Cultivators were interested in capturing him because of what happened to his Human Seal at that auction.

He’d been very careful to keep from using anything that linked him to his old identity, but there were a few leaks. The steam powered harpoon and net launchers, as well as the half-finished tank were all produced in the Holy Flame Sect. That said, they were part of a secret weapons program that Sage was involved in. Those weapons wouldn’t be revealed to the public any time soon. There were also a few times in which Sage had used an insect or two, but Insect Tamers weren’t rare, especially in the Dou Kingdom. He’d been quite careful not to be seen using his main combat insects, keeping them at small sizes or using them for travel or surveillance in secret.

Sage had just come from an auction in which he liquidated as many of his spoils as possible, but upon his return it’s already proven to be far from enough. Wu Chang’s connections didn’t seem very reliable, so Sage had to earn more Spirit Stones himself. If he had enough time, earning millions of Spirit Stones was an inevitability. The problem was, he didn’t have time. They were hanging a sword over his head one month into the future. Well, it wasn’t his head, it was Lionheart Town that was in trouble.

If we don’t have a guaranteed solution in a few weeks, we’ll just have to leave Lionheart Town and move the Jade Horde back to Bronze Tiger Province to strengthen our foundation.

Sage busied himself with researching different ideas. He had to come up with something that wouldn’t just make money, it also had to be impressive. If its value wasn’t immediately recognized by the people of this world, there was no way he could use it to make an impact in just a few weeks. If he could create something that they instantly recognized as valuable, then he could get advances on Spirit Stones or strong backers that would want exclusive deals or contracts. If it was amazing enough, he was sure even the Royal Clan of the Dou Kingdom would directly attempt to recruit him.

Foolish. If I could get the Royal Clan’s attention, then I could have got the Royal Clan of the Shihou Kingdom involved back before I had to go on the run from the Holy Flame Sect.

Even as frenzied as he was, he didn’t make much progress on his many research projects and the two weeks passed rapidly. Sage called a meeting of the Jade Horde commanders and entered the main hall to see Black Saber, Wu Chang, Whitestaff, and the three Strongfist Brothers.

“Whitestaff and the Strongfist trio! Good to see you. I only wish our reunion was under better conditions.”

Whitestaff had been in charge of the defense of Horde Home, while the Strongfist brothers were running their mercenary operations in Bronze Tiger Province. They were the easiest to get in touch with, while Bi Hongbing and Abbot Kunga were still busy recruiting and establishing the Jade Horde’s presence in other provinces. They didn’t have any permanent locations established, and they were outside the range of normal messaging devices. Sage was already low on funds when he left for the Dou Kingdom, so there was no way he could afford an expensive Twinned Messaging Jade like Peak Master Zhen had given him. A pair of such devices was usually sold for about half a million Spirit Stones. Eventually he planned to get an even more expensive set of eight linked Messaging Jades to give to the Leader and all Seven Stars of the Jade Horde, but that would require millions.

Sage walked over to where the six commanders stood in a semi-circle at the head of the hall. As he walked up, they were all looking at him expectantly. He could only shake his head, “I was unsuccessful. How about the rest of you? Do we have any other options, or do we have to pull out of Lionheart Town?”

Wu Chang and Black Saber shook their heads. Sage was silent, but kept his emotions from showing on his features. The same stony gaze they had become used to. It had once inspired confidence, making him seem so sure of his actions, but now it seemed hollow and empty.

To his right, Whitestaff cleared her throat, “We do have one more option.”

Sage turned towards her, “We do?” At that point he noticed something flash to his left.

Why does Black Saber have his blade drawn?