Molting the Mortal Coil

Wu Chang seemed slightly taken aback, but he recovered quickly, “Ahh, is that so? Quite an interesting decision to come to me rather than the property management office. I envy the boldness of youth. Which property are you wanting to purchase?”

Sage, in the guise of a general of the Jade Horde, donned an overbearing smile. He stared directly at Wu Chang while he spoke, “I want the mountains and the area around them that borders Lionheart Town.”

A bead of sweat appeared on Wu Chang’s forehead. It was the only thing that gave away his sudden uneasiness, but Sage was quite perceptive now and he noticed it. Sage had already gathered information about the City Lord of Lionheart Town before arriving. In fact, Lionheart Town had been one of the first places he’d sent a Falconer to train Falcons. He’d been gathering intelligence on everyone in town for quite some time. Wu Chang was known for being bad at hiding his emotions. That said, he was already level 58. He was amazingly powerful for the City Lord of just a town. Or at least, that’s what many might think if they were to compare to other towns. It actually wasn’t that strange.

Wu Chang was not a part of any large Clan or Sect. His own self created faction handled the cities affairs for him. Other towns or cities could have much weaker City Lords, but only when they had the backing of a first rate group. For example, the city where the Kang Clan lived, had a City Lord that wasn’t even rank 5 yet. Instead, the City Lord was chosen for their administrative talents. They actually answered to the Head of the Kang Clan. Wu Chang on the other hand, had to be his own backer. As such, most unaffiliated City Lords were extremely powerful individually.

Sage didn’t plan on fighting with Wu Chang, so he wasn’t worried by how powerful the man was. Instead he had prepared many plans for what Wu Chang might say next.

“Are you referring to the Lang Clan graveyard?”

Sage nodded. In response, Wu Chang could only stare in silence. He seemed to be thinking things over, “So, you understand what property it is you’re wanting to purchase?”

“I did my research, and I understand your reservations. Jiang Hua marked that ruin as off-limits. He also hasn’t been back to check on it since it happened nearly a century ago, right?”

Wu Chang didn’t say anything, just staring at Sage.

“I also know that the area is already being used by others. All the bordering properties already spill through the holes in the old wall and use the land. You’re also letting people take advantage of the mountains and taxing their gains.”

Wu Chang kept silent. His eyes actually darted around the room looking to make sure there was nobody else. He even waved and gave a signal to one of his guards.

“You’ve already secretly exchanged benefits with people that are making use of the land. You just haven’t dared to officially sell any properties to avoid offending Jiang Hua.”

Wu Chang finally couldn't take it any longer, he took a few steps back, raising his voice, “What do you want? Who sent you!?”

“I’m here on behalf of the Jade Horde. We want to purchase the land. Don’t worry, we aren’t fools. You will simply split the land into two parts. The main hall with its engraving will be one part, and the rest of the land will be another part. It is within the rights of a City Lord of the Dou Kingdom to reclaim abandoned land within your domain.”

Wu Chang stayed on edge till one of the guards ran up and whispered something to him. Then he calmed down somewhat, but his eyes were narrowed as he spoke, “It’s true I can reclaim the land in my domain, but that land was never owned by Lionheart Town. The Lang Clan was established at the same time as the town.”

Sage held back a smile from his lips.

Perfect! It’s not just a rumor, but the truth.

“Is that so? Well, then even easier. You don’t even have to sell it to us. Then Jiang Hua won’t even have anything to be upset about. In that case, I will pay you handsomely to merely enforce the laws of Lionheart Town. Get the ‘squatters’ out of the land and make it known that the mountains are private property.”

Wu Chang was flabbergasted, he couldn’t even answer. He just looked at Sage like he was a simpleton.

“I told you I would pay handsomely, didn’t I?”

Sage chuckled and smiled at this time, “Forgive me for teasing you. Of course you wouldn’t be willing to take such a risk for just Spirit Stones. Don’t get upset just yet, please allow me to show you something.”

He waved his hand making a mannequin and a weapon rack appear. The mannequin was an armor stand, and it wore the armor of the Jade Horde. More impressively, the armor had the golden scrollwork on the trim just like his own did, and it also had a bright white crest on top unlike the black of normal Hoplites, and the brown of human cultivators. Sage had passed the leadership of the Jade Horde on to Black Saber so he no longer had a golden crest on his helmet. He only had the brown crest of a human member, and the golden scrollwork was what marked him out as an officer. The weapon rack had all the equipment of the Hoplites on it. The Horde Halberd, Arrow Wall, and a Stumblebow.

“What is all this?”

Sage smiled at Wu Chang, “I am here to invite you to become one of the Seven Stars of the Jade Horde. The Seven Stars answer only to the Leader of the Jade Horde, and gain a direct share of the Jade Horde’s earnings. As one of the Seven Stars you would hold one of the highest positions within our organization and be privy to all our secrets. You would of course have the right to recruit your current subordinates, given they can pass the standard tests for their positions. You will also be able to equip them with our weapons.”

Wu Chang’s face was a flurry of different emotions. Anger, confusion, annoyance. Then as more was explained he suddenly smiled and his eyes almost glittered. During the hours that he had kept Sage waiting outside, he had someone gather information on the Jade Horde. They’d been around less than a decade, but they made heavy use of a new race of demi-humans and had already expanded to nearly half of the whole Kingdom. Sage stepped back from the equipment and let Wu Chang examine them.

Sage waited patiently. He had of course chosen this tactic after researching Wu Chang. In his youth, Wu Chang had joined a small Sect. He had a tight group of friends and treated his Sect like family. Unfortunately, tragedy struck and the sect was annihilated. Wu Chang was the only survivor. After training harshly for a decade and after meeting a few fortuitous opportunities, Wu Chang got his revenge on the ones that destroyed his Sect. His vengeance achieved, he chose to settle down. With his great power, and the help of the Chong Clan, he took the City Lord position of Lionheart Town from a toady the Fu Clan had installed. Unfortunately, the Chong Clan didn’t want him. They only wanted to get the Fu Clan’s influence out of their province.

From what Sage could tell, Wu Chang had been using the City Lord position as a way to combat his loneliness. None of the large Sects would give an outsider any real power, the mid-sized Sects didn’t want him to undermine their authority, and Wu Chang wouldn’t join a small Sect because it reminded him too much of his original Sect. Many powerful groups recruited ‘external elders’, taking skilled people into their ranks. At the same time they would only trust them with simple matters, and even after many years they still never be trusted completely. They would only ever trust their own disciples that could be brainwashed throughout the entirety of their training to faithfully serve them.

Wu Chang also got more and more cynical as he aged. The longer he went without joining any of the various powers, the more picky he became. He spent more and more energy on forming his own faction because none of the others could interest him. They would just be a substitute for his old home, but how could they live up to it? Sage also knew this, so he had to go all in. Obviously, gaining such a powerful cultivator to the Jade Horde would be a huge boon, but the only way he had a chance was to flood him with benefits.

Black Saber had already made large changes. The Strongfist Brothers had been demoted. They used to all be members of the Seven Stars, but Black Saber downgraded them into jointly sharing a single position. They had run into some trouble and nearly suffered great losses because the three were working separately. They were much stronger when together, and also happier. So, after the demotion, their benefits were split in three, but they were actually pleased. In addition to Black Saber being promoted, there were three slots in the Seven Stars to fill. When Sage asked for the right to pick one, Black Saber took it as a reduction in his burden. Now he only had to find two powerful cultivators!

With Wu Chang looking at the gear, the bait was dangling and it was time for Sage to hook him!