Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 380 Bargaining
Huh?
When Li Wei heard the price, he was stunned. So cheap? He was prepared to be ripped off.

Because warhorses are a scarce resource.

A two-star warhorse can usually sell for 800 to 1200 gold, which is almost the price of a three-star enchanted equipment.

A Samsung Warhorse can usually sell for 2000-2500 gold.

Now this one is directly 500 gold per horse. Could it be that they are all discarded warhorses that barely qualify as two-star warhorses?

Li Wei didn't rush to speak. He picked up two pet cards and could immediately check the two warhorses inside. In addition to the specific attributes of the warhorses, he could also check their age, personality, and growth potential.

Yes, this is a very important standard. An old two-star warhorse can probably be bought for 800 gold.

A young, two-star warhorse might cost 1200 gold, while a more ordinary one might only cost 1000 gold. That's the market price.

However, a two-star warhorse with high growth potential could sell for several thousand gold coins, or even tens of thousands of gold coins.

This thing isn't mass-produced; there's no fixed price for thousands or tens of thousands of horses. The price depends on the individual.

As a result, Li Wei looked at them all and found them to be quite good. None of the twenty two-star warhorses were old, their personalities were not too extreme, and their growth potential was average, meaning they could be continuously upgraded to four stars at most.

So, according to Li Yue, it would take at least 23,000 gold coins to acquire these.

This woman turned out to be very generous.

"My lord, are you satisfied with this batch of warhorses?"

At this moment, the woman with the messy handwriting smiled and spoke.

"Indeed, but I'm a little curious, since this price is rather unusual. Or perhaps, you have something in mind?"

"Indeed, I do have a request, or rather, every spellcaster who puts himself on the tavern's recruitment list as a mercenary has the same request, which is his graduation project, namely, a one-star mage tower."

"A spellcaster who cannot design and build a one-star mage tower on his own will never be able to rise to prominence, and may never even be able to advance to a third-tier spellcaster, let alone become a mage."

"These twenty two-star warhorses were merely a token of my goodwill. If Your Excellency would allow me to use this magic mine to research and construct a one-star mage tower, then I am willing to sign a one-year contract with you. During this period, I am willing to serve as an advisor within your territory, without requesting a salary from you. I only need to provide assistance to my research and construction to the best of my ability."

"If I fail to successfully build a one-star mage tower a year from now, I will leave voluntarily and am willing to pay a compensation fee of ten thousand gold coins. This is the reason I want to make a deal with you, my lord. You may take these twenty two-star warhorses; you can pay me back in a year..."

Mage Tower?
That's it!

Li Wei suddenly realized, and then thought of the red-clothed witch in Ron's territory, wasn't that the same?

Sigh, it's time to demystify it. Spellcasters are actually no different from other professions.

"I'm still a little curious. You should have your own territory, so why don't you build a one-star mage tower within it?"

Li Wei asked again.

"It's very simple. My territory has lost its magic power. It's just an ordinary three-star territory with only 20 square kilometers of legal area and 50 square kilometers of illegal area. It barely provides me with less than 3000 gold coins in profit each year. If I had the opportunity, ability, and resources to build it during the expansion mission, I would never have hesitated."

"In fact, I can say without reservation that if I hadn't sold off 150 elite free citizens from my territory over the past decade, I think my territory would be bankrupt by now."

"This is also a small, free piece of advice for you, my lord. Unless your territory is large enough and produces enough in the future, no matter how high-spirited you are today, or how hard you work to cultivate and strengthen the free people, these elite free people will become the noose that strangles you in the future."

"It's the simplest logic. With thousands of free people and a high birth rate, the population can expand to several thousand in just over ten years, and then to tens of thousands. But your territory is only less than a hundred square kilometers. How could there not be problems?"

"Unless your territory can become a behemoth like Ver City, and you can become a true five-star lord, of course, there will be all sorts of troubles."

"May I ask one more question? What's this about selling off the elite free citizens of the territory?"

"What else could it be? They're allowed to leave the territory to work as mercenaries and earn money. But usually, they sign a five-year contract. After five years, they can choose to return to the territory or go to a big city like Ver City. Once they've broadened their horizons, they won't look down on their old little mountain village anymore, right? But by the time they regret it, it's too late. That's what they call being sold off."

"However, esteemed lord, if you had a one-star mage tower in your territory, you would certainly not end up in my situation. As the mage tower gradually upgrades, you could even take the initiative to plunder other regions or open up your own front, although the risks would be great. But at least anything is possible, isn't it?"

Hearing this, Li Wei roughly understood. "Could you allow me some time to consider it?"

"Of course, I will not force you to do this, my lord. This is a two-way street, a matter of mutual consent. There is no need to be too shy. In the past fifteen years, three lords have already refused me. It is no big deal. Many of humanity's troubles come from excessively high demands and aspirations. Once you lower your demands and expectations, you will find that your troubles will be much less."

"Thank you for your guidance."

Li Wei nodded, thought for a moment, and then, right in front of this sloppy older woman, upgraded the one-star magic mine to two stars.

It consumes five silver-quality tokens, plus 5000 gold coins.

The problem is not big.

Because he currently has quite a few tokens in his possession.

In fact, if he wanted to, upgrading directly to a three-star magic mine wouldn't be too difficult.

At this moment, the disheveled older woman looked at the two-star magic mine in front of her, which was 1.5 meters in diameter and rose to a height of 45 meters. Her eyes flickered slightly, as if she was somewhat moved.

"My lord, can we upgrade it to three stars? There are too many free magic particles in this river. It's such a waste to just let them go. Once we upgrade it to three stars, we can be safe and sound within a 50-mile radius. If we're lucky, we can gather 50 units of magic power in three months."

"Alright!"

Li Wei nodded, and with a thought, the twenty black iron tokens were combined into ten silver tokens, simultaneously consuming 10000 gold coins to unlock the three-star magic mine once again.

At this point, with a whooshing sound, the pale blue magic tower transformed into a structure with a diameter of two meters and a height of sixty meters.

It's spectacular, but of course, if you keep a distance of ten meters, you won't be able to see anything.

"Great!"

The woman with the messy handwriting gave a compliment and then fell silent; she seemed a little bitter.

That can't be right.

Li Wei didn't think much of it and asked in detail, "If you were to take control of this magic mine, how exactly would you do it? It seems that this magic mine can operate on its own and draw magic from the surrounding area."

"Your Excellency, things are not that simple. 'Self-operating and self-absorbing' means that the magic mine will evenly absorb all the magic within a fifty-mile diameter area, which will first affect the farmland of the territory."

"So if a spellcaster like me were in control, I could choose the area to absorb the magic particles more flexibly. For example, I would focus on this river, because there are undoubtedly more magic particles floating in the river than on the land on both sides."

"However, there is one thing I need to remind you, sir. Somewhere upstream of this river, there must be incomplete magical artifacts existing in the form of meteorite fragments. If you have the opportunity, you might as well investigate and perhaps find something."

Upon hearing this, Li Wei not only looked at the sloppy woman with newfound respect, but also took out the magic emblem blueprint after a moment's thought. "Can you make this?"

"Huh? A Sequence 3 magic structure, primarily defensive. Magic runes made from this foundation can withstand at least three fatal blows. If paired with a four-star quality plain armor, it can be immediately upgraded to a five-star enchanted armor. Each of these items costs at least 10,000 gold coins to make, and the price increases by another 5,000 gold coins for each additional fatal blow it withstands. In any case, this is definitely high-end magic, at least for anything below six stars."

"As for whether I can make them, of course I can, but I won't lie. Sequence three magic is profound and complex, and I've only scratched the surface. If I were to make magic emblems, I could at most create one that could withstand four fatal blows. But those truly powerful and talented spellcasters can even create magic emblems that can withstand six, seven, eight, or nine fatal blows. Those kinds of magic emblems are almost impossible to break unless you use sequence four magic to counter them."

It turned out to be the case.

Li Wei's heart skipped a beat. "What if I wanted you to help me create such a magic emblem?"

“No problem, I can make one for you in ten days. But this process will consume five units of standard magic power, and the production cost is 5000 gold coins. That's the cost price. However, if you allow me to join your territory, become your advisor, and support me in building a one-star mage tower here, I can guarantee that I can make three magic emblems for you within a year, for free. Of course, you'll have to provide the magic power and materials. How about it?”

At this moment, Li Wei was a little tempted. He really wanted to take the magic emblem blueprint to Hathaway to see it, but then he thought that Hathaway was currently busy building her mage tower, and even if she could make it, she wouldn't have the time.

Some things require a head-on confrontation, with no room for compromise, and that's the only way, because bottom-line principles cannot be yielded.

However, if one doesn't know how to ask for things appropriately, then one becomes shameless.

If Hathaway really agrees, then Li Wei will have to concede enough benefits in other areas.

(End of this chapter)