Chapter – 80
Instantly Becoming a Tycoon
“Brother Qin Mo, there’s something you may not know. Fifth Master is the fifth-ranking authority of Qingyun Stronghold,” Shan Xiong explained at that moment.
“My apologies for the discourtesy,” Qin Mo said with a nod.
“No need for such words. Since you came with Brother Shan, you are naturally a friend. In the future, if you need anything or wish to do business, you can come directly to me. Within the city market, you normally need to pay a ten-percent tax, but with me, you can skip that entirely.” Fifth Master smiled warmly.
“I do have something I’d like to ask of Fifth Master,” Qin Mo said directly.
“Speak freely.” Fifth Master lifted his hand invitingly.
“I want to forge a good blade,” Qin Mo said.
“You use a blade?” Fifth Master’s eyes lit up. Then he said with enthusiasm, “Perfect timing! I also use a blade. You’ve truly come to the right place today. Within a radius of a hundred thousand miles, only the weapon forges of Qingyun Stronghold create the finest arms. Brother Shan’s Blue-Steel Axe was forged by someone I commissioned.”
“This axe is too light. I need something heavier, easy to carry, and durable.” Qin Mo listed three requirements in a row.
But Shan Xiong and Fifth Master both looked strained. Too light? This axe weighed eight hundred jin—how was that light?
“How heavy does Brother Qin need it to be?” Fifth Master asked.
“Two thousand jin,” Qin Mo replied without hesitation.
He needed to train the Overlord Heavenly Blade technique, but he didn’t have time to practice slashing repeatedly. Instead, he would use a heavier blade—one swing would equal ten swings of a normal blade.
His right hand was crippled, and his left hand had always been just auxiliary. To quickly master a left-handed blade style, he needed an extremely heavy weapon.
But as soon as he finished speaking, Shan Xiong and Fifth Master both froze. A two-thousand-jin blade—how massive would that be once forged?
More importantly, Qin Mo wanted it convenient—meaning compact, similar in size to a normal blade. That would require top-tier materials, and such materials were incredibly hard to obtain.
Even if they truly forged such a blade, would Qin Mo even be able to lift it?
Their reaction was understandable. A typical cultivator at peak Eighty-One Aperture Great Completion had at most around nine thousand jin of strength. Wielding a two-thousand-jin blade in battle—only a madman or a fool would do such a thing.
Blades were different from swords. With only one edge, a blade’s strike was direct—simple yet overwhelmingly powerful.
And because its power came from a single direct chop, a proper blade needed speed. The best blades were never extremely heavy, nor feather-light—they followed the principle of balance.
“This blade cannot be forged,” Fifth Master rejected decisively. “First, the materials are too rare. Even if the materials are gathered, finding a smith capable of forging such a weapon would be extremely difficult. Only the Eight-Star Human King tribes might have such craftsmen.”
“Can’t the requirements be changed?” Shan Xiong looked at Qin Mo as though he were a monster.
“No,” Qin Mo answered just as firmly. Disappointment flashed in his eyes. “Seems I’ll have to find another method.”
“It’s not completely impossible,” Fifth Master suddenly said. “Brother Qin has good luck. Your visit coincides with our once-in-ten-years auction. Under normal circumstances, I’d truly be unable to help you—but at the auction, goods from every tribe within a hundred thousand miles will appear. Perhaps you’ll find something useful there.”
After speaking, he handed Qin Mo a plaque. “This is a VIP token. If you’re interested, bring it with you and attend tomorrow.”
“Even if you don’t find what you need, it’s worth seeing,” Shan Xiong said with a smile.
“Thank you.” Qin Mo took the token and bowed.
“Right, weren’t you planning to join the army?” Shan Xiong added. “There happens to be an opportunity here.”
“Brother Qin intends to enlist?” Fifth Master said with surprise.
“The foreign races are invading. As humans, it’s our duty to give everything we have.” Qin Mo replied.
“Excellent! With heroes like Brother Qin, the day we drive out the foreign races will surely come.” Fifth Master praised him, then asked, “Do you have a military badge?”
“Military badge?” Qin Mo suddenly remembered that when he had advanced to Warrior rank in the Hammerstone Tribe, he’d received one—but it had never been useful.
He fumbled through his belongings for a while before pulling out a stone badge. “Is it this?”
The moment he took out the badge, Fifth Master abruptly stood up, eyes wide with shock. Even Shan Xiong was staring in disbelief.
“What?” Qin Mo grew alert, thinking they had discovered his identity.
Fifth Master snatched the badge and examined it carefully. It was a blood-red badge, so deeply colored it was starting to transform.
“Brother Qin, you certainly hid your true capabilities well!” Fifth Master said, even more excited than when he’d seen the cloud-leopard pelt earlier.
“What do you mean?” Qin Mo asked, puzzled.
“You really don’t know, or are you pretending not to?” Shan Xiong said suddenly. “Your badge is filled to the brim with military merit. The Human Race classifies badges in nine colors: gray, black, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Purple is the highest.”
Hearing this, Qin Mo finally remembered—when he first received it, the badge was a dull gray. Now it had become crimson red.
“Brother Qin must have fought in battles against the foreign races before, killing quite a number of them. Only then would your badge record so much merit.” Fifth Master handed the badge back, though his expression was now serious and respectful.
Bloodline represented talent.
Military merit represented one’s earned honor.
This honor wasn’t gifted by heaven—it was gained through one’s own blade. The more foreign races one killed, the more the badge changed color.
A crimson badge meant Qin Mo had slain numerous enemies. Within the Human Race, warriors with high military merit were universally respected.
On the battlefield, with Qin Mo’s badge, he could directly command a ten-thousand-man war legion. That was the privilege of military merit.
Furthermore, badge-holders could go to any major tribe and exchange their military merit for resources. Each redemption emptied the badge’s stored merit, but the color remained and would continue accumulating toward the highest—purple.
It was said only by killing an Ancient Ancestor of a foreign race could one earn a purple badge. Aside from the Sacred Emperor, almost no one in history had done so.
“At least ten foreign-race Myriad-Captain elites must be slain to gain this much merit,” Shan Xiong said dryly. His own badge was still a pale black.
To advance from white to gray required killing one thousand foreign races.
From gray to black—ten thousand.
From black to crimson—slaying ten Myriad-Captains. That was the minimum.
Of course, merit was not manually recorded—it was judged by the will of the Xuánhuáng World. Badges could not be forged, and merit could not be faked.
A Myriad-Captain was roughly equivalent to a cultivator at the Cauldron-Opening Realm.
Qin Mo had not slain ten Myriad-Captains. But he had killed Qian Xing, the young clan leader of the Corpse Race’s Yongkuixing branch, along with hundreds of Corpse Race warriors and an elite squad. This was why his badge had turned deep crimson, nearly orange.
Clearly, the world’s will viewed Qian Xing very highly—he was a Corpse Race prodigy with immense latent merit.
“How many spirit stones can the merit in my badge be exchanged for?” Qin Mo asked eagerly. This was something he had risked his life to earn.
“This…” Both men fell silent. Qin Mo really looked like someone who had never seen spirit stones before.
“You’ll need a Heaven-Earth Stone to measure it. We aren’t sure of the exact amount. But judging by the color transformation, at least ten top-grade spirit stones.” Fifth Master said. This was his conservative estimate. Given Qin Mo’s badge color, the true amount was likely far higher.
“I’m rich!” Qin Mo rejoiced internally. What were top-grade spirit stones?
A hundred mid-grade stones could be exchanged for one top-grade stone—and they were priceless, found only in top-grade spirit veins.
Converted to low-grade stones, one top-grade stone equaled ten thousand.
Ten stones equaled one hundred thousand.
How could Qin Mo not be excited? He had never even seen that much wealth before.
It reminded him of something from his original world—creatures known as “nouveau riche.”
And now, he himself had instantly become one.
“Where do I exchange it?” Qin Mo asked.
“…” Fifth Master and Shan Xiong were speechless again. They seriously doubted whether Qin Mo was truly a genius from a major tribe.
But if he wasn’t, how could he have such military merit—and such terrifying strength?
“Only Five-Star Tribes and above can exchange your badge’s merit. But here in Qingyun Stronghold, you can exchange it as well,” Fifth Master said patiently.
“Qingyun Stronghold is a tribe?” Qin Mo asked, confused. Only tribes possessed Heaven-Earth Stones.
“Of course not. But Qingyun Stronghold does have Heaven-Earth Stones, and they’re high-grade ones. My elder brother stole them from a major tribe back in the day.” Fifth Master said proudly. His elder brother was, of course, the chief of Qingyun Stronghold.
Qin Mo was stunned. The stronghold chief was far more ferocious than he’d imagined.
“If Brother Qin wishes to exchange now, I can have someone verify it immediately,” Fifth Master continued.
Exchanging military merit benefited tribes as well. Heaven-Earth Stones would rise in grade, enhancing the region’s spiritual energy and the tribe’s prosperity. High-grade Stones could even undergo Cauldron Opening, nourishing a spirit vein.
Even though Qingyun’s Heaven-Earth Stone was stolen, it had taken root here, able to raise the region’s aura and luck.
Thus, Fifth Master was extremely eager for Qin Mo to exchange here.
Qin Mo naturally didn’t refuse and handed over the badge again. He was not worried about tampering—unless someone was willing to oppose the will of the Xuánhuáng World itself, military merit could not be stolen.
The will of the world was everywhere—it was formed from the body of the Pangu Sacred Emperor. Although Pangu had long perished, he still held the Human Race’s destiny.
