Douluo Continent: Ice Phoenix Rebuilds Her Skills and Enrolls in Tianshui Academy

Chapter 31 The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, which cannot be bypassed, is a veritable conglomerate!

There was no training in the afternoon; Hyotei kept asking Chu Han to take her and Yukito out to play.

Chu Han thought it would be a good opportunity to go to the blacksmith's shop to see if there were any suitable materials for basic weapon forging, so he agreed.

Chu Han was wearing a mask.

Because of his exceptionally outstanding appearance.

If we don't do some concealment, there will be a lot of trouble.

Chu Han came out to go shopping, not to refuse invitations from wealthy ladies.

Despite wearing a mask, people still came up to chat with her.

Fortunately, there were far fewer people wearing masks.

As requested by Hyotei, Chu Han bought some food and then went to a blacksmith shop.

This is the best blacksmith shop in Tiandou City.

The shop owner is a high-ranking Soul Master, and the utensils he makes are expensive. He mainly makes ironware for nobles and Soul Masters.

After Chu Han entered, he saw a burly man struggling to hammer an iron block.

Upon seeing Chu Han enter, the man stopped what he was doing, wiped his sweat, and said:

"Sir, would you like something made to order or purchased on-site?"

Chu Han pondered for a moment.

They didn't say they wanted to buy anything.

He wants to learn weapon crafting, which requires a weapon crafting room. Building a weapon crafting room that meets his requirements quickly would be quite expensive.

He could just work as an assistant at the shop and borrow the shop a little, but his method of forging weapons was completely different from blacksmithing, and if others saw it, it would be troublesome.

"Oh, I want to forge a soul tool, but I'm struggling to find the materials. Do you have any here, shopkeeper?"

Chu Han asked this question mainly because he wanted to obtain some rare ores; whether they were needed for refining soul tools was irrelevant.

The shop owner was slightly taken aback. Everyone who came to him wanted him to make things; no one had ever asked him to buy raw materials.

The store manager hesitated for a moment, "Well...we only sell finished products..."

Chu Han could understand. After all, rare materials often became the hallmark of a blacksmith shop, and the price could double with just a little processing, so the shopkeeper was naturally unwilling to sell them.

"Manager, may I ask how you obtained these rare raw materials?"

The store manager has nothing to hide about this.

"Aside from some private channels, the biggest channel is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's Chamber of Commerce. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's Chamber of Commerce is spread throughout the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire, various small kingdoms, and even as far as the far north and across the ocean."

"Therefore, the Chamber of Commerce is incredibly large and rich in resources. Some of them are located in remote areas where no kingdom has been established yet, or even directly occupied by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. When they collect local resources, they also drive the development of the local backward economy."

"In fact, many small business associations are already struggling to survive, so everyone is pretty much the same. They all source their goods from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, where the prices are relatively fair."

What the shop owner didn't say was that as long as one was willing to bribe the head of a branch of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's merchant guild, or someone in charge within the guild, one could get an even cheaper purchase price.

This is something Chu Han needs to figure out for himself.

Chu Han nodded slightly.

But deep down, I was filled with emotion:

This isn't some kind of chamber of commerce; it's a chaebol!

In an instant, Chu Han seemed to understand why, even though most of the major sects and academies were located within the Heaven Dou Empire, and almost all of the seven major sects were within its borders.

Moreover, the economy of the Heaven Dou Empire is significantly more prosperous than that of the Star Luo Empire.

But why is the Heavenly Dou Empire weaker than the Star Luo Empire?

The lifeblood of a nation lies in its economy!

The Heavenly Dou Empire is just a hollow shell; it's riddled with countless bloodsucking worms. How could its foundation not be weak?

How could they avoid being repeatedly defeated by the Star Luo Empire?

Chu Han couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"What a disaster! Isn't this just like the ancient world where merchants and martial arts masters hold power?"

Within the sea of ​​consciousness.

Hyotei was completely bewildered. "Chu Han, what are you talking about? What does 'creating a sin' mean?"

Xue Di frowned. "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's merchant guilds are spread across various countries, especially in the Heaven Dou Empire, where you can see their presence even in small towns. It sounds impressive, but upon closer inspection, it's rather chilling..."

Chu Han: "It's not just the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. Sects like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon School, Elephant Armor School, and Fire Leopard School all have their own businesses. It's just that they are not as prosperous as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. Most of them are still focusing on cultivating their own small plot of land."

"They live on the soil of the Heaven Dou Empire, so they will naturally pay taxes to the Heaven Dou Empire. However, I'm afraid they have a lot of tricks to evade taxes, such as secretly changing their books."

"Moreover, the Heavenly Dou Empire coexists with them. If Emperor Xueye obediently plays with his concubines in the harem and fights with Xingluo, no one will care. But if Emperor Xueye wants to carry out any kind of institutional reform, he will probably become the target of everyone's criticism in an instant and meet a tragic end."

In comparison, the Star Luo Empire does not have as many sects.

But they utterly crushed the Heavenly Dou Empire...

The Snow Empress sighed softly, "The human world is indeed complex. Chu Han, there's a lot I don't understand. Since these sects have already established themselves in the Heaven Dou Empire, why don't they help the Heaven Dou Empire become stronger? Wouldn't it be better for everyone to prosper together?"

Chu Han sneered, "How could that be! The current situation between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire is exactly what these sects want to see! Heaven Dou can't beat Star Luo, so they can only rely on them. Not only can they not break ties, but they also have to be humble and treat them like royalty."

"Many sects support the Heaven Dou Empire, but most of them only express their stance verbally. Even the Clear Sky Sect, which is rooted in the Heaven Dou Empire, supports the Star Luo Empire; this is probably an unspoken understanding among these sects. They don't want any country to be annexed!"

"If Xingluo were to annex Tiandou, would Emperor Dai Zhen of Xingluo allow these parasites and cancerous growths to fester on the empire like Emperor Xueye did? If Tiandou were to annex Xingluo, Emperor Xueye would have no external enemies, and his next target would be their internal vampires!"

Hyotei felt dizzy and lightheaded, and she loudly summarized:

"Anyway, humans are all bad news!"

Xue Di chuckled to himself.

"Bing'er, what's the real difference between soul beasts and humans? It's just that the battles between soul beasts are simpler and more brutal, while human empires are full of intrigue and backstabbing."

"Think about it, those soul beasts you ate in the far north, didn't they all see you as a bad person?"

Hyotei snorted coldly.

"Who told it to be so unlucky? I'm hungry, so I have to eat."

"Chu Han, I'm hungry. Go buy me something else to eat! I want to go back to that dessert shop again!"

Chu Han shook his head slightly, thanked the blacksmith shop owner, and went to the dessert shop.

(End of this chapter)