Sea Cultivation: Giant Ships and Heavy Artillery Knock on the Door to All Races

Chapter 307 Giving Up! The Middleman Makes the Difference

Lin family secret room,

Lin Haichao convened a meeting of senior members of the Lin family.
Although they promised Island Master Mei that this matter would not be leaked, discussing it internally within the Lin family does not count as leaking it.

"...That's how it happened. It's quite complicated, and I'm not sure what to do. What are your thoughts?"

After explaining the cause and effect of the matter, Lin Haichao looked at the crowd.

This gathering was not only attended by members of the Lin family's Golden Core stage, but also by members of the Lin family's Golden Core seed stage, all of whom had the right to speak.

"The Tomb of the True Lord? The Blood Puppet True Lord? Is this an opportunity or a calamity? How credible is it? I'm not optimistic!"

Lin Qianfan was the first to raise doubts and was not optimistic about the matter. On the one hand, he felt that there were too many suspicious things involved, and on the other hand, the Rainbow Mist Sea gave him confidence. The Lin family's future development focus should be on the Rainbow Mist Sea, rather than taking risks to explore the True Monarch's Tomb.

It should be noted that Nascent Soul cultivators are great figures who live for thousands of years. Even if they leave behind tombs, they are certainly not places that ordinary people can find. Even if they do find them, they may not necessarily obtain the opportunities within.

Is it true that a person's actions are good when they are about to die?
Stop dreaming!
Even in death, a villain remains a villain. Nascent Soul demon cultivators don't mind leaving behind methods to harm those who come after them before they die, finding pleasure in doing so!

Therefore, it is still unknown whether this matter will bring good or bad fortune, especially since this Blood Puppet True Monarch is a Nascent Soul Great Demon who acts without any scruples. Who knows whether entering his tomb will be to search for treasure or to die?
"Where in the world are there so many sure-fire opportunities waiting for people?"
Since it's something related to the Nascent Soul stage, some necessary risks are inevitable. Even if we don't personally explore the Nascent Soul tomb, we should at least seize the initiative first.
We should first get our hands on what Island Master Mei mentioned, and then make further judgments based on more information. After all, the Ma family patriarch's strength isn't that great!

Lin Qiansuo's idea was more radical; he wanted to break the rules and forcibly control the Ma family patriarch. After all, his path to growth was simpler and smoother than Lin Qianfan's. However, Lin Qianfan did not refute him, since the real decision-making power was in the hands of the family's elders. He only needed to express his opinion, and they would have their own considerations.

"What about you two? Share your thoughts!"

Lin Haichao then encouraged the remaining people who hadn't spoken to share their opinions.

"Based on past records, Blood Puppet True Lord is a complete and utter heretic who never follows any rules or morality in his actions."
If it truly is a Nascent Soul tomb left behind by him, then the probability of finding a Nascent Soul opportunity within is likely slim. Even if such an opportunity or inheritance exists, it would certainly come with immense risks, and my Lin family clearly lacks the ability to withstand such risks.
To be on the safe side, I think we shouldn't get involved in this. Since we don't intend to get involved, we should be decisive and not touch it at all! Otherwise, we might get ourselves into trouble later!

Lin Qianxue's view was more conservative. Although Blood Puppet True Monarch was a figure from hundreds of years ago, many things about him could be found out. It was unlikely that such a person would kindly leave any opportunities for future generations. On the contrary, if one rashly got involved in this matter, it would be difficult to extricate oneself later.

"I also hold a conservative view on this matter. The outer sea is not as stable as the inner sea. We have almost no foundation there. If we rashly set foot there to search for treasure, we will most likely end up doing the work for someone else. After all, we have no connection with Blood Puppet True Monarch, yet this matter has reached us. It is somewhat illogical. I'm afraid there is no way to keep this secret."

In her closing remarks, Lin Lihong also advised the elders that those who have spent a lot of time at sea are more cautious when faced with great temptations, as they all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

The Lin family currently only has these four Golden Core seeds. The others are either still under observation or their cultivation level is not high enough for promotion. The Lin family's Golden Core seed sequence is currently in a state of "better to have none than to have bad ones".

For example, Lin Qianyu has already completed the Golden Core Seed assessment, but his family has only granted him partial rights and plans to postpone granting him the title of Golden Core Seed, which can be considered a way of keeping a low profile.

"Very good, you have not disappointed me! You have not been blinded by the family's brief prosperity in recent decades, and you have been able to maintain independent thinking when faced with great temptations!"

"The Blood Puppet Master is famous for refining blood puppets and using them in battle. It is said that he has a very powerful near-fourth-tier blood puppet battle formation, and even a fourth-tier blood puppet."

Only a few hundred years have passed. If his tomb has truly been unearthed, the probability that the fourth-tier blood puppet is still active is not small.
If ordinary Golden Core cultivators rashly venture into this, they will likely never return. Therefore, I advocate abandoning this matter. What about you?

After Lin Haichao finished expressing his views, he looked at the other Golden Core cultivators. The internal atmosphere of the Lin family was quite good; they could generally sit down and discuss important matters calmly.

"The Mei family and the Ma family both come from the outer seas, and what he said was very logical and interconnected, so it is highly likely that the existence of the Blood Puppet True Monarch's tomb is true. However, our goal should not be the True Monarch's tomb, but to profit from this information!"

Lin Rongrong cut to the heart of the matter, finding out what the Lin family truly needed.

"I have a feeling that the Mei family is not being honest. Although they provided us with information, aren't they also plotting against us?"

Lin Dayan stroked the scepter, dissatisfied with the Mei family's actions.

"If they were in their shoes, they probably wouldn't have had a better choice. This is the tragedy of small forces: they control the information gap but can't leverage it, only managing to grab a tiny bit of residual profit..."

The Mei family is too small, with only one member at the early stage of the Golden Core realm. Their resources are too limited, so they dare not negotiate with a powerful force that is stronger than the Lin family and is unfamiliar to them. They might not be able to get out of there. Therefore, they can only choose the Lin family, which has a good reputation and is their neighbor.

However, the Lin family, possessing the same information, could negotiate with a larger power because they had more resources and could secure more benefits, even if they had to share some with the Mei family.

Finally, the Lin family reached a consensus:

That is, the Lin family currently lacks the ability to locate the True Monarch's tomb, and the Lin family is not in a hurry to achieve Nascent Soul stage. In addition, there are too many suspicious points in this matter.

Therefore, I plan to resell this information directly!
As for who to sell it to...
After listing several buyers, Nascent Soul cultivators were first ruled out.
The will of Heaven is unpredictable! Nascent Soul forces are very flexible in their dealings with Golden Core forces. If they benefit from this, that's one thing; perhaps they'll even offer rewards to demonstrate their fairness.
However, if they suffer losses because of this, they are likely to be punished afterwards. At that time, not only will you not be able to ask them for benefits, but you may also have to bear some collateral losses, which is not worth it. Therefore, it is best not to sell such uncertain information to Nascent Soul forces.

Moreover, after the Lin family reported the news of the Soul Devouring Incident on the west coast of the Silent Sea last time, they did not receive any substantial reward, and the matter was simply dropped. Therefore, the Lin family is not willing to show goodwill to the Nascent Soul forces again in the short term.

After all, the Lin family had far too little to offer when facing them!

"Lingji Island? Cangxia Mountain? Or..."

The large Golden Core forces in the four regions of the Inner Sea are all Lin Family's target customers. Having gained one, they are even more eager for another. Now that they have Golden Core cultivators in the late stage, they will be even more eager for the title of "Nascent Soul".

"Let's sell it to Spirit Island. If they benefit, it will improve our future relationship; if it causes them significant losses..."

The second half of the sentence was left unsaid, but everyone understood that although the existence of Lingji Island had not yet suppressed the Lin family's development, as the Lin family continued to grow stronger, friction between the two sides was inevitable in the future.

"What's the asking price? What would be a reasonable price?"

"We need to ask the Mei family about their true intentions, whether they genuinely want to enter Yunyan Immortal City or have other motives. Since the information was provided by the Mei family, we should respect their wishes."

Lin Haichao then met with the anxious Island Master Mei again, making it clear that the Lin family did not want to get involved in this matter, but could help Island Master Mei sell the information and inquire about his true asking price. "Impressive! The Lin family has indeed shown great understanding and knows when to advance and retreat to reach this point. In truth, my Mei family also dares not hope for a Nascent Soul opportunity; we only wish to use this matter to move to Cloud Mist Immortal City for further development!"

Island Master Mei never expected that the Lin family would so decisively abandon the "True Lord's Tomb," which was a great opportunity that could potentially lead to the direct inheritance of a Nascent Soul True Lord! They actually gave it up just like that!
"Alright, I'll try my best to get it for you. But please forgive my bluntness, you're doing just fine on Lingjiao Island, why do you want to move to Yunyan Immortal City? There's bound to be infighting there, especially after the three families start governing together, all sorts of conflicts will definitely be more acute!"

"I'm not afraid to admit it, but I just feel that the spiritual veins on Lingjiao Island are too low-level, only at the early stage of the third rank. There's no future there. Even a third of Yunyan Immortal City would be better than staying on Lingjiao Island."

"I see! I'll get this sorted out for you as soon as possible! But I can't guarantee anything, I can only say I'll do my best!"

"Thank you! Whether this matter succeeds or not, the Mei family will always remember the Lin family's kindness!"

After receiving more detailed information and proof from Island Master Mei, Lin Haichao immediately took the sea route to Lingji Island.

……

Spirit Island
Lin Haichao's trip went very smoothly. The Spirit Trace Island Master's eyes lit up when he heard the words "True Lord's Tomb".

It's not his fault. Since breaking through to the late Golden Core stage, he's had it too easy these past few years, earning everyone's respect and even flattery, which has given him a sense of superiority over the Western Regions.
Deep down, he naturally longed for the Nascent Soul realm. There have been many people in history who rushed to the Nascent Soul realm in one go. Not everyone needs to stop and pave the way for future generations. After all, who isn't a genius who can reach the late Golden Core stage?

He naturally took Lin Haichao's visit to sell his product very seriously and listened carefully to Lin Haichao's terms.

The Mei family's demand was to obtain the qualification to reside in Yunyan Immortal City. On this basis, Lin Haichao added a Breakthrough Pill, a Breakthrough Pill that could help Lin Rongrong break through from the mid-stage of the Golden Core to the late-stage of the Golden Core. It was quite an exorbitant request.

However, the request was rejected on the spot by the Lord of Lingji Island. On the one hand, Lin Haichao only revealed a few words and did not provide any substantial evidence, so he was not worth the price. On the other hand, they could not produce such a Breakthrough Pill. Such a thing could only be exchanged in Thousand Star City, which required paying a huge price.

More importantly, Lingji Island does not want to see another late-stage Golden Core cultivator emerge in the Western Regions, as this would dilute their interests. However, this is just Lin Haichao's talk; Lin Rongrong is still a long way from the late-stage Golden Core realm, and the other party knows that this is just rhetoric.

Realizing that the Lord of Lingji Island was indeed very eager to obtain information about the True Monarch's Tomb, after some back and forth, the other party gave the Lin family a Breakthrough Pill that could help the early Golden Core stage break through to the middle Golden Core stage as a thank-you fee, and promised to help the Mei family settle in Yunyan Immortal City.

"What a loss! So it was the Mei family!"

Upon learning that it was to help the Mei family exchange territory, the Lord of Lingji Island naturally understood that the original source of this information was the Mei family. However, Lingji Island and the Mei family were not familiar with each other and had not even established diplomatic relations. Naturally, he knew that the Lin family had profited from the difference of one Breakthrough Pill.

That's what a broker is; without a broker, this business wouldn't be possible!
Even the Lord of Lingji Island should thank Lin Haichao for choosing to sell this information to him, rather than to other large Golden Core forces, or even to a big mouth like Tingfenglou.

"Quickly, invite Master Ziyu over here!"

Lingji Island had previously planned to support Master Ziyu to settle in Yunyan, thereby further spreading Lingji Island's prestige to the heart of the Western Regions.

But now that we've agreed to help the Mei family, we have no choice but to cancel the previous plan. If we were to directly take two seats, it would be too blatant, like a robbery, and would offend many people.

...

A single move can have far-reaching consequences. After obtaining clues about the Blood Puppet True Monarch's tomb, the Lord of Lingji Island began to take frequent actions.

First, they publicly stated that they would establish a friendly cooperative relationship with the Mei family, and then directly announced that they would support the Mei family's move into Yunyan Immortal City.

Then, the Lord of Lingji Island personally went to Yunshang Secret Island, met with the Ma family patriarch, had a "friendly" exchange with him, and ruthlessly dealt with the two foolish demon kings who were causing trouble in the area.

"Sigh~ I never expected things to turn out this way, but it's good this way too, I've finally let go of some thoughts I shouldn't have had."

The patriarch of the Ma family sighed. Although he knew he would eventually lose control of this thing, especially after making a mistake in his haste to summon the blood puppet and reveal it to the public, he did not expect it to be recognized so quickly.

However, it's also a good thing. The Ma family's foundation is too weak, and if they keep holding onto this thing, they will be easily wiped out. Although the Lord of Lingji Island had an element of force in his actions, he still allowed the Ma family to receive the reward they deserved, so the Ma family didn't really suffer a loss.

First, the Lord of Lingji Island helped Ma Jiaxin heal his injuries, completely removing the stubborn mutated snake venom from his golden core, thus sparing Ma Jiaxin from Daoist harm and ensuring it wouldn't affect his future cultivation.

Secondly, the Lord of Lingji Island personally took action to eliminate the demon scourge. The two-headed snake lizard and the purple electric snake eel, who had been showing off their power and attempting to co-rule the city with humans, did not even last three moves against the Lord of Lingji Island.

The third reason was to retaliate against the Qi family of Guanlan Immortal City. The Ma family patriarch strongly demanded that the Lingji Island Lord sabotage the Qi family's support for Bibo Zhenren to settle in Yunyan Immortal City in order to achieve an alternative expansion.

However, the Lord of Lingji Island offered a better solution: first, agree to the matter and let Bibo Zhenren enter smoothly to swindle the initial investment of Guanlan Immortal City. Then, let the Ma family join forces with the Mei family to get rid of Bibo Zhenren. This way, the Qi family's investment would go down the drain, and the three parts of Yunyan Immortal City would be divided into two.

Both companies are from overseas, so it's reasonable for them to resort to underhanded tactics, right?

The Ma family patriarch cursed the Spirit Trace Island Master's non-stick behavior in his heart, but he had no choice but to agree to it; one must be worthy of respect when others give them face.

"Grandpa, don't worry about this. If this matter is successfully completed, it may be a good thing for the Ma family."

"Oh? Why do you say that, Xin'er?"

"Although the Blood Puppet matter is an opportunity, the timing of obtaining it is not good. In fact, our Ma family is destined not to be able to hold onto it. It is better to get rid of it as soon as possible and throw away this hot potato."

Although this time the interests of the Immortal City were divided up, the demon scourge was also completely eradicated, and the future development of the Immortal City will only be better.

As for the Mei family? They're nothing to fear. On the contrary, after someone divided up the interests of Yunyan Immortal City, our Ma family won't stand out so much anymore!

"That's right. Take good care of your injuries. We'll need you to govern the Immortal City in the future!"

In previous years, Yunshang Secret Island did indeed decline, but it has stabilized in recent years. Especially in recent years, with the continuous influx of foreign investment, the resurgence of Yunshang Secret Island is a foregone conclusion. And the Ma family occupies the most central territory, so their future prosperity is inevitable!

(End of this chapter)