Tianhua Domain.

Traveling from the Bafang Domain to the Tianhua Domain by teleportation array, hopping array to array, took the better part of a day.

But to get from the Tianhua Domain to White River City, there was no corresponding teleportation gate open at all. The reason, supposedly, was the state of war — the dozen-odd “regions” within the Tianhua Domain, its nearly a thousand “continents,” and its tens of thousands of “nations” large and small were all embroiled in a chaotic melee. What Yue Yang found most incredible was that this chaos had already dragged on, on and off, for close to three thousand years, and still hadn’t died down.

Countless warriors had fallen in battle, yet the fighting never ceased. In truth, it couldn’t cease.

Not unless the greater part of the Tianhua Domain’s powers were wiped out entirely.

The more people died, the deeper the hatred was forged.

The more races and factions joined the fray, the more violently their interests collided, and the more hopelessly tangled their relations became.

Within the Tianhua Domain, there were no just nations and no just armies, no righteous warriors — everyone was a sacrifice fed into the meat grinder of war, and at the same time an executioner who helped work the grinder’s crank…

Countless mercenaries.

Or Heavenly Realm warriors invited by the various powers to fight on their behalf, all dropped dead here.

If you piled up their bones, the heap would likely form a mountain range several thousand meters high and stretching hundreds of kilometers.

And yet, for the sake of the profits before their eyes, or to hone their martial skills on the battlefield, every single day countless warriors still came pouring into this Tianhua Domain — this mill of flesh and blood!

“Welcome to you, wealthy and courageous merchants.” Nowhere in all the Heavenly Realm was a merchant more welcome than in the Tianhua Domain, because any merchant who dared come here was among the bravest adventurers in the world. Though the Tianhua Domain’s three domain emperors fought one another to the death, for the sake of sustaining the war they had, without prior arrangement, each proclaimed the same decree: no one was permitted to rob or kill a merchant without cause, and any who did — national ruler or below — would be tried and beheaded. A merchant’s goods, life, and freedom would enjoy the greatest protection the Tianhua Domain could offer, and no one was allowed to confiscate or seize a merchant’s goods or freedom without cause…

With merchants, and with the goods they brought, the war-stricken commoners of the Tianhua Domain could go on living.

The armies needed supply even more.

And the three rulers — each with the strength to contend for the position of domain emperor — could go on fighting for the seat of the Tianhua Domain’s foremost ruler. In the Heavenly Realm, if a single powerful domain emperor arose within one domain, that was a tremendous blessing; if two equally powerful domain emperors arose, that was a bad thing; and if, as now, three equally powerful domain emperors arose all at once, then it was a nightmare that drove men to despair!

Before coming to the Tianhua Domain, Yue Yang had already looked into its situation. Like many others, he disguised himself as a wealthy merchant and formally set foot in this land of chaos. With a merchant’s identity for cover, he could go almost anywhere — reaching White River City was, of course, no trouble at all.

Of course, since he was a merchant, goods were indispensable.

Especially for someone like Yue Yang, coming to the Tianhua Domain for the first time — without a large stock of goods as his passport, the border sentries would never let such a “suspicious character” through. Slipping in secretly wasn’t out of the question, but there was no need for Yue Yang to duck and hide like some cellar-rat. Entering openly and honestly, and earning a bit of extra coin off the goods along the way — wasn’t that better? The Tianhua Domain had very high-quality Spark-Flower ore, one of the materials Yue Yang needed to make war-beast bracelets.

Yue Yang rode at the front in a luxurious airship together with Princess Qianqian, Yue Yu, and the Drunken Cat Imperial Lady — the three women.

Behind this cargo-free luxury airship followed a fleet of ships, loaded with a full fifty broad-beamed cargo vessels of grain and ten long, narrow fast ships of fine wine. Baoguo, from Eternal Night City in the Southern Heavenly Realm, served as head of the merchant company… As for the guard detail, it was made up of Flying Locust and Flower Panther — originally of the Wild Bull Regiment, who later surrendered and joined Eternal Night City, and who had volunteered for this escort mission.

And then there was the surrendered trio who had already earned Yue Yang’s deep trust — Zhongguan, Baima, and Heitu.

As for Yonghui and Yue Su, whose strength had been badly diminished, Yue Yang didn’t yet trust them one hundred percent, so he decided to leave them out in the cold for a while.

Although Zhongguan, the guard captain, was only Sky-rank Level Three in strength, the truth was that in a place like the Tianhua Domain — steeped in endless war — that was already quite respectable. With a whole batch of guards at Sky-rank and above, Yue Yang’s fleet could well be called a lavish one; even setting aside the merchant identity, it was plainly a smuggling run, yet no one would dare rob it!

Five Sky-rank experts as guards?

That kind of strength — among all the many merchant companies of the entire Tianhua Domain, even if it didn’t crack the top ten, a spot in the top twenty was ironclad, and no one would dare dispute it!

“Fifty ships of grain? And ten more of fine wine? That’s too much — no, we can’t take it all. Never mind our own guild; even if you gathered every merchant in all of Jinyang City together, we still couldn’t take it all. Perhaps you don’t know what price grain fetches here… I dare say the number who starve to death in the Tianhua Domain is ten times the number the war kills! Honored Master Baoguo, please, sit, sit — no, of course we wouldn’t dare conceal a single thing from you; for a super merchant company such as yours we hold nothing but the utmost respect. It’s only that we need to muster more hands. Please, give us a little time. I dare say that not only every merchant in all of Jinyang City, but even the soldiers and commoners with their eyes gone white from hunger, will sing the praises of your generosity. You’ve come so timely, so magnificently. I swear, if you hadn’t come, then within another month at least a fifth of the people here would have starved — no fewer, likely more… Master Baoguo, please, sit down, I’ll notify the city lord at once. Rest assured — even without your five Sky-rank guards, at a time like this no one would dare lay a finger on your goods!” When the fleet arrived at a place called Jinyang City, Ouba — the local’s largest grain merchant, and the one with the keenest nose — was the first to rush over and welcome them. The moment this fellow heard that all fifty ships were laden with grain, he leapt up in excitement, so beside himself he nearly called Baoguo “Father” on the spot.

“Grain, we have plenty. These fifty ships are just a small test — we’re weighing the prospects of doing business in the Tianhua Domain, whether an investment like this will pay off.” Baoguo put on the airs of a proper master.

The Baoguo of today was no longer that little peddler of before, bullied so wretchedly he hadn’t dared even to breathe too loudly.

After coming to know Yue Yang, his fortunes had made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

And of course, he wasn’t the only one whose fate had changed that way.

There was also that fat toad, Jude!

Even though Baoguo was the company head leading this expedition, on account of seniority he still had to call the fat toad “Guild Chairman” as a mark of respect. After all, before entering the Heavenly Realm, Yue Yang had already handed the entire Titan Merchant Guild over to Jude to manage. And the fat toad had not disappointed Yue Yang’s hopes — he ran the Titan Merchant Guild splendidly, to Yue Yang’s great satisfaction. That outstanding performance had also made Jude the fat toad the very first toad-folk in all the Sky Tower — indeed in all the Heavenly Realm — fortunate enough to be fused with dragon blood… Had it not been for the fact that fat Jude’s constitution was simply too poor to withstand a stronger bloodline reforging, Yue Yang would even have bestowed upon him the supreme honor of ancient dragon blood.

Since he wasn’t very familiar with matters in the Heavenly Realm, the fat toad was also willing to share power, handing this expedition’s leadership over to the round-headed Baoguo.

He himself took charge of playing support, working alongside to coordinate the merchant company’s affairs.

And so the fat toad won even more of Yue Yang’s approval, and of Baoguo’s respect!

“Master Baoguo, I swear this place is absolutely worth investing in. With grain, you can own everything here — human lives included! In this place, there is nothing that grain cannot buy!” The grain merchant Ouba thumped his chest, giving Baoguo his guarantee.

“In that case, I’ll speak plainly.” Baoguo laid out his terms directly: “We want Spark-Flower ore.”

“Spark-Flower ore is a military-restricted commodity…” The moment Ouba heard it, his face crumpled like a bitter gourd.

“If you don’t have it, then we’ll be on our way!” Baoguo wasted no words at all.

“Wait, wait, Master Baoguo, please don’t be angry — please do hear us out. It’s not that there’s no Spark-Flower ore, but ordinarily it’s all bought up by the national ruler, smelted and refined and forged into weapons. The domain emperor has issued a strict order forbidding any trade in Spark-Flower ore, above all its outflow. Trading it openly is a beheading offense.” The grain merchant Ouba was full of bitter complaints.

“But we don’t need to trade it openly, do we, clever Ouba? Have you never considered that? So long as you hand over the weapons captured on the battlefield — those scraps of junk — for us to dispose of, then we can donate grain to you, and fine wine besides. Think it over carefully, Mr. Ouba. Sometimes winning a man’s friendship is a simple thing, especially friendship delivered right to your doorstep. But once that friendship departs, then no matter how you may wish to, there’s no calling it back.” Baoguo’s silver tongue had been honed back in Eternal Night City, and most importantly, he held the grain in hand — even with a hundred mouths, Ouba couldn’t out-argue him!

“How infuriating — is this any way to treat guests?” Jude the fat toad threw another log on the fire from the side.

“Wait, wait a moment, honored masters, please, whatever you do, don’t be angry. Your proposal is an excellent one, but we need someone to make the decision. I believe the city lord will agree to this fine offer — I’ll go find him at once. Please, do give us this chance.” The grain merchant Ouba had no choice but to yield. His granaries were so empty they’d starve a rat, and now that he’d chanced upon a fleet — and a fleet packed with grain, no less — even on pain of beheading he could not let it slip away before his very eyes.

As for Spark-Flower ore being untradeable?

Quite right!

We won’t trade it — we’ll just give it to a friend for free, and that settles it!

And with a merchant company as impressive as this one, surely even if those above found out, they’d turn a blind eye and pretend not to have seen a thing.

While Baoguo and Jude were teaming up to browbeat the grain merchant Ouba, Yue Yang was busy studying his route. The merchant company was merely a stepping-stone to ask directions by — the place he truly meant to reach was White River City.

The trouble was that White River City lay almost at the very center of the Tianhua Domain; no matter how you went, it was never close, and it too was a land of endless war.

That snake-haired sorcerer, the eldest young lord of one of the four great families — why had he arranged to meet Yue Yang there? Could it be that White River City hid some secret? Was there a divine artifact there? Or some rare treasure about to emerge into the world? Or perhaps some ruin lay there, so that the snake-haired sorcerer, barely escaped from the Earth Demon Divine Temple, was in such a rush to hurry over and hunt for treasure?

“Have you noticed? At White River City — no, across this whole broad stretch of territory — it’s all rivers, lakes, and swamps!” Princess Qianqian abruptly put her finger on a key point.

“The cities here, if you were to plot them out like this, seem to form a strange pattern.” Yue Yu voiced the discovery she’d made over these past few days.

“Ah, I’m ashamed to say I haven’t found anything…” Seeing Yue Yang glance her way, the Drunken Cat Imperial Lady hurriedly waved her hands.

“Let me think it over!” Yue Yang felt that both Princess Qianqian and Yue Yu had spotted something important, but not the whole of it. What sort of secret did White River City truly conceal? Was it really as simple as an ordinary city of the Heavenly Realm?

Baoguo and Jude, who had just boarded the luxury airship to make their report, saw Yue Yang deep in thought over the map, and quickly turned and quietly slipped away.

Compared with what he had to do, the guild’s affairs weren’t worth mentioning.

Best not to disturb him — that city lord and the grain merchant Ouba, they could handle themselves!

(End of Chapter 921)