Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 1092: An Investment in the Future

Li Yu sat on the wooden balcony of his pagoda and watched the morning sun reflect off the calm waters of the Five Star Lakes. Capturing sentient aquatic beasts for his future legion presented a heavy moral burden that he just settled in his mind to bear. It also presented a logistical challenge he was not ready to face alone just yet. Li Yu decided to wait for one of his parents or his grandfather to return and help him navigate the complicated task of securing powerful creatures in the wild. That decision freed his mind to focus on the main pressing issue blocking his path to supremacy and the much tougher issue to solve. He needed to generate wealth, not just a small amount of wealth, wealth that would eventually need to rival the Zhan Clan if he wanted to fulfill his goal. The wealth did not need to start there though, it could be much lower and he could work his way up.

Raising an army required an ocean of resources that he simply did not have or any means of getting. Cultivators and beasts alike needed spirit stones, pills, rare herbs and other natural materials. Li Yu possessed a decent personal stash from his recent adventures but funding a growing legion would drain his storage rings in no time at all. He could also not rely on the generosity of his direct family forever either, he wanted and had to forge his own independent path.

His thoughts drifted toward the various factions he interacted with during his journey and settled firmly on the Golden Horizon. The merchant guild stood as one of the wealthiest groups in the cosmos and they treated him extremely well during his time at the vanguard camp. The regional manager had given him a premium flying ship and a high tier sword for free. He followed that up with a golden box full of additional wealth during his banquet and stood out in Li Yu’s mind.

He thought it would be best to secure some sort of partnership with them to gain the resources he needed but a glaring problem immediately presented itself as he pondered the idea.

‘What could a junior cultivator like myself offer an ancient merchant guild?’ Li Yu pondered but did not know the answer to. They were such a powerful group with endless capital and established trade routes across countless realms. There was not much if anything at all that he could provide them in the present moment.

His thoughts then drifted towards asking them for an investment in himself and his future army, something that he could repay them at a later time. What he needed was an influx of resources right now to get going and his army could perhaps earn more resources as time went on.

Securing a loan might be the easiest route but he did not want a loan hanging over his head with accumulating interest rates and strict repayment schedules. He was being selfish and wanted a true investment. If they believed in his potential, they could fund his rise to power and he could help them where they needed it once he became stronger. Li Yu worked up his courage to at least go and ask them for a formal meeting even if they laugh him out of the room.

Li Yu left his pagoda and flew toward the central administrative peaks of the Zhan Clan headquarters. He walked into the logistics hall where countless ledgers floated in the air guided by busy scholars, or as scholarly as one gets in the Zhan Clan. He approached the elders in charge of external trade and explained his desire to visit one of the Golden Horizon branches.

The elders were very accommodating to the grandson of the Worldkeeper and quickly agreed to send word through their communication arrays to set up an appointment. They informed him that the regional manager he dealt with before was named Jin Yubo. Li Yu smiled as he finally learned the first name of the generous merchant for the very first time.

With the meeting arranged, Li Yu gathered some of his forces as he wanted to present a strong presence during the first meeting. He called upon his two core wardens to accompany him on the diplomatic mission. Fenric and Oram emerged from their secluded house wearing their dark Eidolon Court armor and followed their young lord without question. The trio walked toward the spatial array the Zhan Clan maintained for long distance travel and trade with the Golden Horizon. The array masters calibrated the coordinates for the Golden Basin Realm where Jin Yubo maintained his primary base of operations.

The silver portal hummed with spatial Qi and the three men stepped into the void. The transition was smooth and they emerged onto a sprawling teleportation platform located high above a bustling metropolis. The city of Ten Thousand Scales stretched out beneath them like a glittering jewel of commerce.

Li Yu walked to the edge of the platform and observed the endless flow of wealth that was being exchanged. The sky was filled with countless flying ships navigating designated aerial trade routes. Merchant vessels of various sizes floated between towering skyscrapers constructed from polished stone and gold accents.

There were no wooden wagons or slow beasts of burden on the clean streets below. Everyone operating at this level of trade possessed storage rings and there would be no mortals wandering these streets. Workers unloaded boxes filled with dozens of storage rings containing mountains of goods and exchanged them rapidly on the landing pads. The sheer scale of the commerce was breathtaking to witness and made Li Yu feel a bit dizzy. If he could have just a fraction of this wealth, he could maintain the budding form of his army.

A group of armored guards wearing the crest of the Golden Horizon approached the platform. They were notified of Li Yu visiting so they bowed respectfully and offered to guide him to where he needed to go. Li Yu and his two wardens followed the guards through the bustling skyways and headed toward the central guild building.

The central headquarters of the Golden Horizon was a towering palace of wealth. The floors were lined with rare spirit jade and the air smelled of premium incense that calmed the mind. The guards led the trio into a spacious and opulent meeting room located on the highest floor with large windows overlooking the city.

Li Yu stepped through the gilded doors and expected to see Jin Yubo waiting alone. To his surprise, an older cultivator sat beside the regional manager at the long mahogany table. The older man was introduced as Jin Bao, the father of Jin Yubo and a high ranking executive member of the guild.

After receiving word of Li Yu wanting to visit their headquarters, Jin Yubo was terrified. The merchant remembered how Li Yu had a bizarre effect over his mind during their last encounter and feared he would give away the guild treasury against his own will this time. Jin Yubo called his father for support and Jin Bao traveled there to confirm his own suspicions since he knew far more about their lineage than his son.

Li Yu took a seat across from the two merchants while Fenric and Oram stood like immovable statues behind his chair. Two very powerful cultivators stood behind Jin Bao and Jin Yubo as well and acted as the personal bodyguards for the wealthy merchants. The tension in the room was thick as the two sides evaluated one another.

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"It is good to see you again, Guild Master Yubo," Li Yu started with a polite smile. "And it is an honor to meet you, senior Jin Bao. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me."

"The pleasure is ours," Jin Bao replied with a calm and measured tone while sipping a cup of tea. "We heard you had a specific proposal for the Golden Horizon. We are merchants and we are eager to listen to a new business venture, especially one from the esteemed Zhan Clan."

Li Yu nodded and decided to get straight to the point instead of wasting time with political pleasantries.

"I need a vast amount of cultivation resources," Li Yu explained while resting his hands on the table. "I am in the process of developing a personal army from the ground up. Equipping and feeding a legion requires capital that I do not currently possess. I am asking the Golden Horizon to invest in me right now. In return for your funding, I will help your guild out where you need it when my army and I reach a greater level of strength."

Jin Yubo felt a familiar heat rise in his chest the moment Li Yu made the request. His logical merchant instincts warred against a sudden and overpowering compulsion to agree immediately. He opened his mouth to offer Li Yu the keys to the city vaults but Jin Bao raised a hand to silence his son before a word could escape. The older turtle beast maintained his calm demeanor and looked at the young human with a critical eye.

"That is a bold request," Jin Bao said smoothly but with a smile. "You are asking for a fortune based on future promises that might never bear fruit. Why should we invest such a staggering amount of resources in your personal army? The Golden Horizon is incredibly wealthy but we are not fools. We can easily use those same resources to build our own private army, one that we control personally. Would that not be a better investment for our guild?"

Li Yu listened to the counter argument and acknowledged the logic behind it. He leaned forward slightly and maintained eye contact with the senior merchant as he was prepared for it.

"While you can certainly build your own force," Li Yu countered with a steady voice, "what you would be missing is me. You would miss out on my specific qualities and the unique way I am going to have my forces. More importantly, an army is only as strong as the spearhead leading it. I intend to become a spearhead that no one in the cosmos can stop."

Jin Bao tapped his fingers against the mahogany table and let the words hang in the air. If anyone else was saying such a thing, they would have been laughed out of the room already. "So your proposal is pretty much just an investment in you. We are investing in Li Yu, rather than the troops."

"Yes, pretty much," Li Yu confirmed without hesitation. His confidence came from the way that Jin Yubo had always treated him, confidence in himself and his own instincts telling him this was the right place for this. While he didn’t understand it, he felt this was the place for him to do this. "You are investing in my future and my character. I promise you will not regret it. I am confident I can be incredibly useful to your guild in the future. When you face an obstacle that money cannot move, I will be the one to move it for you."

The two powerful cultivators standing behind the merchants exchanged a brief glance as they both couldn’t take it anymore. They thought Li Yu was arrogant and extremely crazy for making such demands with so little to offer. Even if the boy came from the Zhan Clan, is grandson of the Worldkeeper and held ties to the Li Clan, it made no sense for a supreme merchant guild to invest so heavily in a single junior. The two believed the merchants would laugh the boy out of the room any moment now.

However, Jin Bao did not laugh. He sat in silence and studied the young man sitting across the table and his own feelings that were going on internally. The older merchant figured a lot of things out from this brief interaction. He felt that same undeniable pull in his bloodline to do whatever Li Yu asked for. It was a compulsion woven deep into their souls by their ancient founder. Jin Bao knew much more of their hidden history than Jin Yubo did and from this, he finally realized exactly who Li Yu was.

He thought back to the ancestral teachings passed down through the generations regarding the creator of the Golden Horizon. The founder Kui had left strict instructions and soul bindings upon the high ranking members of their lineage. The prophecy spoke of a lord they were meant to serve when the time was right.

The Golden Shell Phalanx was also trained in secret for eras waiting for this exact moment. They were a group while a part of Golden Horizon which funded them, they did not answer to or communicate with them. Those were the Ancestor’s orders, they were independent and did things on their own. They had also only been pulled out once since their founding, when Khaos had asked for them during Li Canghai’s rescue. Khaos had used one of the three requests that was granted to him by the ancestor.

'Li Yu is the one!' Jin Bao concluded in his mind. 'I am sure of it. It makes no other sense for my very instincts and my soul to be screaming at me to accept this wild proposal.'

Jin Bao then smiled internally and was extremely excited as it would be his generation that the prophesied time had come. ‘We have found him, Ancestor! We will not let you down.'

The older merchant stopped tapping his fingers and offered a warm smile to Li Yu. To the utter surprise of the two bodyguards, Jin Bao nodded his head.

"I agree to your request," Jin Bao announced clearly. "The Golden Horizon will invest in you and your army."

Li Yu blinked in surprise. He expected a much longer negotiation process or a firm rejection. "You agree? Just like that?"

"We have an eye for identifying true value," Jin Bao chuckled softly. "We will provide you with the resources you need to build your army, just tell young Jin Yubo what you need and we will deliver it to you monthly. In return for our funding, we ask that you help the Golden Horizon out at least three times in the future when we call upon you. Whether we need a trade route secured or a dangerous rival dealt with, you will answer our call three times."

Jin Bao made these terms so there would be some sort of condition but it was an impossibility for them to ever ask anything of Li Yu. If he truly is the one the ancestor had foretold about, which he should be, he stood above all within the Golden Horizon organization. He but needed to command and all would be done according to his instructions.

Li Yu did the math in his head and knew it was an astonishing bargain in his favor. He was receiving an unbelievable amount of capital upfront for a mere three favors that might not even happen for decades. He clearly felt something was off about the entire situation and about this entire organization since he had met them but could not figure out what it was. Li Yu spent a time dealing with this group and their extreme generosity defied standard mercantile logic.

Despite his confusion, his instincts told him the merchants could be relied upon and counted on. He felt a deep sense of security telling him they were not tricking him into a trap or binding him to a cursed debt. Li Yu decided to trust his gut and accept the blessing standing before him. He did make a large mental note that he should do his best to repay them in the future though.

Li Yu stood up and extended his hand across the table. "You have a deal, Jin Bao. Three favors for your investment. Thank you, truly."

Jin Bao stood up with a big smile and shook his hand firmly. "May our partnership bring endless prosperity to us both."

Jin Yubo could only be stunned that it was his father that was making this deal. It was a deal that he wanted to make but was scared out of his mind to accept. Yet, here was his father accepting the same deal and Jin Yubo was dumbfounded.

The terms were officially settled and Li Yu felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders. The first major hurdle standing in the way of his dreams was cleared and smashed. He now had the funding to build his forces, hopefully a force that can stop at the top of the Myriad Realms one day. The only thing left to do was gather the army itself and what better place to start than right here in the Ten Thousand Scales City.