With the arrival of the caravan, the streets were crowded with people, and mobile phone booths were everywhere. Many tents were also set up in the city's central square. With the gloomy news of the war spreading throughout the remaining quarter, people forgot their worries and found this happy event. This caravan was unlike the ones that came from other mid-level clans. This one featured many new external forces, as well as many people from all over the southern part of the country. The Shen Clan was famous for producing new recipes, as well as for the brilliance of any Gu, even a fifth-grade Gu, without a single failure. "Ah, I fear this will be my last time coming to the Shen Clan's city. I hope you do well this year, my brothers. If we can purchase the rights to one of the new Gu types during the auction, we will become rich."
"The Lan Clan has a very good offer. They will compensate you for any failure in refining your Gu. Your guests demonstrated their confidence, even when asked to refine a fifth-grade Gu." They refine it without fail, thanks to the Gu House (Millennium Refinement Tree) that the young Lan Xi designed, their most prized possession.
"These may be the last days of the Shen Clan, so this may be my only chance to learn from their refinement skills so I can finally finish my horizons."
"Brother Lan Xi, stop running. This kind of behavior shouldn't be done by someone of your stature."
Lan Jin shouted, trying to stop his brother. His brother had strangely participated in the previous days. He was happy, and a goofy smile was plastered on his face at all times. He would sometimes dance while walking around. In front of people, it was embarrassing. Lan Jin wanted to pretend they weren't his brothers, but their almost identical faces made no sense to him.
"Stop acting like this, Lan Jin. The caravan only comes once a year, so we should enjoy ourselves and celebrate to the fullest."
Lan Shi paid no attention to his brother's words, accustomed to Sky's individuality, not accepting any members to participate. The Lan family's improper behavior is not acceptable with the Lan family's prestigious status. This was due to his hatred of his father. Perhaps this was because throughout his life, he found the Lan family at the top, with the exception of the other members of the party. He didn't live in their humble past.
"Here you go."
"Brother, gambling is not appropriate..."
"Yes, I know. There's no one in the Lan family who doesn't care about this. Then it's not considered gambling if I always win."
The group entered the gambling room. It was a medium-sized area with a reddish hue. Inside a platform were four rows of entries containing the Gambling Stone. There were several Gu Masters wandering around, trying their luck at finding a Gu worm inside the Black Stone.
As for Lan Shi, he didn't have the opportunity to try his luck. He could analyze the material and determine whether the stone contained a Gu worm or not by looking at its composition. Because of this, Lan Shi always found Gu worms inside the Gambling Stones.
One time, when he was young, he got excited and opened every stone to find Gu worms. He got into trouble with the owner of the Mar Hall, who approached the caravan leader. Eventually, it was agreed that Lan Shi would only open one stone each time the caravan came. While Lan Shi was examining the stones that had been thoroughly searched for Gu, a girl in front of him fell to the ground, holding a single piece. "Si Xuan!!" ....
The Shen Clan's Transmission Hall
The Shen Clan's Wenwu clan greeted Ying Yuan, the caravan leader.
"Hahahahahaha. The Shen Clan's generosity and hospitality surpassed all the rumors."
Ying Yuan praised after drinking a glass of wine.
"Thank you, brother. I was afraid you wouldn't be satisfied with our reception. We're going through a period of austerity. As you know, ever since the oppressive Liu Clan banned trade between us and our clan, we've been running low on all sorts of materials."
Wenwu suddenly shifted to the main topic, wanting to quickly complete the delivery and get back to business.
Ying Yuan understood the message and the situation.
"Sigh... What the Liu Clan is doing is unacceptable to the Righteous Path. He knows that their various efforts to conquer Huangjin Mountain are not hidden from the Righteous Path clans of the Southern Border. We are ready to support you with all our resources."
Ying Yuan shared his hand with some services that include a group. Third-grade farming tools were also included, and there were even fourth-grade boxes.
"This is only a small part of the assistance we will offer you. I hope you will accept it."
"I don't know how to thank you. Our clan will never forget your kindness."
This was a sign that the deal had been broken.
In fact, the war that would take place on Mount Huangjin was important to all the major clans in the Southern Border. It would inevitably decide Lan Shi's fate—whether he lived with the Shen Clan or the Kim family, who were taken by the Liu Clan.
With Lan Shi's cheap life, he was able to reach the Southern Border and change the balance of power among the major powers.
Because of this, the power of the clans allied with the Shen Clan increased. Lan Shi represented a great asset to whoever acquired it. Since the clans outside Huang Jin Mountain were unable to intervene in the war, any clan that did so would involve the rest of the clans, leading to a major war between the Southern Border Clans. Lan Shi's death would be certain, something no one wanted. This caused the Southern Border Clans to be divided into two groups: one group supported the Liu Clan, as they were the stronger party and had the greatest chance of winning the war. However, there was a significant downside, as Lan Shi would likely die or flee if they won the war. The other group supported the Shen Clan, despite being the weaker party, as the probability of Lan Shi surviving if they won the war was much greater. As for the Gong Clan, no one bet on it. After the reception, Ying Yuan asked Wen Wu,
"Who's stronger, your Clan or Liu Clan?"
"Well, if the Liu Clan used 100% of their power they might cause us a little trouble."
"But would you lose?"
"Nah we will win"