Published: February 10, 2025
Ye Zhongming was surprised but not delighted by the gesture of goodwill from the five rings society.
This organization would not engage in a losing deal. They had their eyes set on the genetic life forms of Cloud Summit, and by proposing such a cooperative approach, it proved that as long as Cloud Summit agreed to collaborate, they could recoup their costs, or rather, leverage this collaboration to earn greater profits.
Liu Chengyu was very adept at understanding people's psychology. After testing the waters, he was certain that the Bright Moon Bloodstone was what Ye Zhongming needed, which is why he chose to negotiate in this manner.
In fact, he succeeded. Once the Bright Moon Bloodstone was delivered into Ye Zhongming's hands, would he refuse? Could he remain indifferent to a material that could create the Moon Sand War Knife?
Moreover, they were getting three pieces, tripling the margin for error!
Ye Zhongming would definitely keep these stones, and thus he would inevitably agree to collaborate with the five rings society.
Would he keep the items and then go back on his word?
Not to mention that Cloud Summit, which valued reputation, and Ye Zhongming would never do such a thing; even if they had that intention, under the current external circumstances, it would be utterly impossible.
Counting Cloud Summit’s enemies, there was the zero commerce association and the Radiant World Army, both temporarily silent yet unknown when they might strike; the divine hall with its backbone forces having fled; the ambiguous resistance zones, and the prickly threats from the Yama Tree… If organizations like the five rings society were added to the mix, Cloud Summit would truly be surrounded by enemies.
What truly made Ye Zhongming bide his time was that he had a major battle to fight. On the Temple of Dawn's side, there could be nine-star evolvers. The overwhelming power of such individuals left a deep impression on him in his past life, and now, as he was about to face them, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous and anxious.
To be honest, encountering such figures in the secret realm would mean he couldn't win; at most, he could escape using the Key of the Secret Realm.
If he were on Earth, Ye Zhongming would certainly avoid provoking them.
So, when a wooden box containing three exquisite stones was delivered to him, Ye Zhongming accepted them decisively.
Let’s cooperate; given Cloud Summit's current strength, he wasn’t afraid of the five rings society trying to trick him. As long as both parties took what they needed and cooperated happily, it would be fine. If they really tried any tricks, he would deal with it.
The Bright Moon Bloodstone was neither the most precious material he lacked, but it was definitely the hardest to obtain since its uses were limited and its quantity was very low. Now that he had acquired three pieces, Ye Zhongming immediately started sourcing the remaining materials he needed.
In terms of channels, besides searching on his own, he would also take on bounty tasks from the Puxing Town Exchange and purchase from the Ogre Chain.
He was just a step away from completing the task, and Ye Zhongming didn’t mind spending a little extra money.
In the gaps of acquiring these materials, he resolved the second matter before entering the secret realm.
Dr. He.
This guy had been much more subdued after Ye Zhongming returned to Cloud Summit, especially after Cloud Summit's people killed the eight-level elite monster, the iron lock prisoner. He even showed enthusiasm for contributing to the construction of the villa and specifically approached Ye Zhongming with several ideas and suggestions.
But Ye Zhongming was well aware that all of this was a facade.
If the nine-star King Ling Kun wasn’t stationed in the laboratory, if Cloud Summit hadn’t used just three battle teams to kill the iron lock prisoner without any losses, would this guy still be so compliant?
The answer was no; one could guess by looking at what he had done in the laboratory previously.