CHAPTER 324: CHAPTER 44: BIG GOLD PATRON

"My condition is to trade the Five Elements Bamboo in exchange for a defensive Xuan Crystal Cannon," Helian Sheng understood that both he and Yue Jinghua were smart people, and there was no need for beating around the bush in front of smart people.

Helian Sheng’s abnormal behavior when encountering Ice Bamboo on the way to Fengdan County must have already been reported to Yue Jinghua by Hong Yao, without missing a word.

"Bamboo? Is the bamboo from Fengdan County that valuable?" The bamboo in Fengdan County grows well; with the advent of spring, bamboo forests cover the hills far and wide. Compared to the invaluable Xuan Crystal Cannon, this trade seems obviously unfair, Yue Jinghua remained calm, waiting for Helian Sheng to continue.

"Lord, the Five Elements Bamboo I request is not ordinary bamboo," In the continent, Arrow Bamboo has been used to make various types of long and short bows because of its flexibility and fast-growing advantage.

But that was during the ancient times of the continent; after the first vestige of nature’s spiritual energy appeared in the skies of the continent, both the Human Race and creatures underwent mutations.

Under the influence of the continent’s spiritual energy, both Dark Practitioners and Dark Beasts have extremely tough bodies and fur, making ordinary Arrow Bamboo nearly incapable of killing a Dark Beast.

Unable to be used for making bows and arrows, Arrow Bamboo is only used for crafting low-cost bamboo materials and firewood. Thus, in the mountainous areas of Fengdan County, Arrow Bamboo grows everywhere, and villagers are even too lazy to cut it down.

Five Elements Bamboo? What is that?

Helian Sheng took out the Ice Bamboo he had previously stripped; he had fashioned it into an arrow shaft and cast an ordinary horseshoe iron as an arrowhead, simultaneously, he fired the Ice Arrow into a wall.

On the wooden wall of the wooden house, upon contact with the bow and arrow made of Ice Bamboo, a layer of frost appeared on the wall, as if a small Water Attribute Ice and Snow Dark Array had been added.

"This is the Ice Bamboo I accidentally discovered by Nameless Lake in Fengdan County, carrying a Water Attribute. It can instantly freeze prey for about the duration of one breath. What I want is this attribute-infused bamboo, the Five Elements Bamboo. If you discover any new attribute of bamboo in your territory, I will forge a defensive Xuan Crystal Cannon for you," Helian Sheng, as the heir to a family specializing in cannons, handles more than just cannon development in his family.

The production of Xuan Crystal Cannons is lengthy, and the Xuan Crystal Ore used to make cannon ammunition is found in only a few locations across the entire continent. The ammunition is costly, and without substantial family wealth, ordinary people can’t afford it; for instance, the last time with Li Geshu, if she had enough Xuan Crystal Cannon ammunition, she would not have been so easily killed by Yue Jinghua.

For this reason, within the Ruison Federation, only a small portion of elite forces can use Xuan Crystal Cannons, and most state military forces use specially made bows and arrows. To capture Dark Beasts and defend against foreign enemies, these powerful arrows are made from materials like iron and copper, but this greatly increases the burden on soldiers and decreases shooting range.

Because of this, Helian Sheng personally has also been searching for alternative materials for a long time, but to no avail.

Until he came to Fengdan County, where he discovered Ice Bamboo with distinctive patterns, this bamboo, which seemed to only have a few more ice-blue stripes than ordinary bamboo, actually carried the power of Water Attribute ice and snow. Moreover, the flexibility of this type of bamboo was also more than double that of ordinary bamboo.

This seemingly insignificant discovery was, for Helian Sheng, an incredibly good piece of news.

If an arrow were imbued with the Five Elements Attribute, especially when encountering Dark Practitioners who have cultivated the Five Elements Dark Technique and natural Dark Beasts infused with the Wood from Dark Beasts, the opposing attributes of the Five Elements could result in astonishing effects.

It’s worth noting that, in the Eastern Continent alone, the proportion of Dark Practitioners and Dark Beast Wood carrying the Five Elements Attribute is as high as eighty percent.

Such an agreement that could bring high returns was reached by him using just a few Xuan Crystal Cannons; for Mr. Helian, this deal was extremely cost-effective.

Thinking of this, Mr. Helian’s smile became even more brilliant.

Ice Bamboo by Nameless Lake? Yue Jinghua vaguely remembered that about three months ago, she and Little Boy Yue Chen spontaneously went ice skating on the Nameless Lake. Feeling an itch in her hand, she carved a Spirit Wood Pattern on that cluster of bamboos.

Strictly speaking, that Spirit Wood Pattern shouldn’t even be called a Spirit Wood Pattern. It was only a carving made by Yue Jinghua who had partially copied the beautiful Beast Patterns from the body of Snake Woman Ge’er using spiritual power on the bamboo. Could it be that Dark Beast Patterns of the Dark Magical Beast could also work on spirit wood?

This means, Spirit Wood Patterns could also affect Dark Beasts.

Mr. Helian was secretly delighted, and Yue Jinghua was ecstatic about her discovery.

Regardless of whether her discovery was true, just the Ice Bamboo alone, where she only copied part of the pattern from Snake Woman Ge’er and it showed freezing properties, what kind of incredible power would a batch of bamboos carved with complete patterns unleash?

Despite the turbulent ecstasy in her heart, Yue Jinghua suppressed her joy, furrowed her brows, and with a long sigh said, "Mr. Helian, you are really putting me in a difficult position here, think about it, just to grow a cluster of Ice Bamboo requires a lot of manpower, material resources, and mental effort. Now Fengdan County is so poor they can barely scrape by, not even a proper Lord Mansion exists, where would we find the leisure to cultivate Five Elements Bamboo? Why don’t you come back in five, ten, or maybe twenty years after the territory has been properly developed," Yue Jinghua sighed deeply, looking every bit the lord who pleads for the people and is weary from the effort.

Mr. Helian felt a thump in his heart, reluctantly replied: "Lord, that time frame is a bit too long."

"Alas, I don’t want it either, but if I could have a large amount of investment funds for territorial development now, like five or six hundred million Fifth-Order Xuan Pills a year, maybe in one or two years I could focus on cultivating the Five Elements Bamboo," Yue Jinghua continued to bemoan poverty.

"One or two years is still too slow," Mr. Helian said with a stern face.

"What if there was an investment of ten million Fifth-Order Xuan Pills? I guarantee delivery in half a year," Yue Jinghua assured boldly, patting her chest.

Mr. Helian’s face darkened, staring at Yue Jinghua, his expression, if glares could kill, Yue Jinghua would have died millions of times.

"Lord, you are really asking for the moon," Mr. Helian certainly did not want to be the gullible one.

"An annual investment of ten million Fifth-Order Xuan Pills, only need three years, Fengdan County will start generating profits, in five years you’ll have your initial investment back. Moreover, I plan to double the population and area of the territory, with such demands, Mr. Helian, do you still think it’s too much?" Yue Jinghua picked up a sharp paring knife and elegantly sliced through the back of a roasted suckling pig.

The seemingly effortless cut went to the bone, while Yue Jinghua’s eyes carried naked ambition.

That expression, Mr. Helian was all too familiar with, for the same look had appeared countless times in his own eyes.

They were the same type of people, those born to stand above others and rule among men.