Steady Cultivation: Starting With the Perk “Work Hard, Rest Hard” - Chapter 638: A Deal with the City Lord

The Old City Lord was taken aback and asked, “An artifact refining shop?”

“Correct!” Su Yuan nodded.

“Are you worried about the Alliance’s forced conscription? Opening a shop is indeed a good method to offset mandatory conscription. However, I alone am useless in this matter. I belong to the Third Frontline and cannot act as a shill either. But I do know some friends on the Second Frontline. If you are already facing forced conscription, I can help make contact.”

The Old City Lord had thought of many things.

Hearing this, Su Yuan was instead stunned. “Forced conscription?”

The Old City Lord was now the one surprised. “Fellow Daoist Seven Stars doesn’t know? Once your strength reaches Tier 30 or above, you must go to the Second Frontline. You can stay in the Third Frontline for a period, but not for too long, unless you hold some official position or meet other special conditions to be exempt from this conscription! Although conscription is an obligation, it also has benefits. You can receive basic welfare allocated by the Alliance, obtain guidance, and so on!”

Su Yuan shook his head. “I haven’t been to the Second Frontline.”

As soon as these words fell, the Old City Lord fell silent. All his previous speculations were overturned. If Su Yuan wasn’t from the Second Frontline, it meant the other party had broken through to Tier 45 on his own without receiving the Alliance’s training. This was simply unbelievable.

The Old City Lord digested this for a moment before asking, “Then what is Fellow Daoist’s meaning?”

“I want to take on some Tier 40 artifact refining orders, but without reputation, no one will place orders. So, I wanted to ask Fellow Daoist to place a Tier 45 artifact refining order. I will then refine it to complete the order, establishing a track record. As for the fee, I can…”

“Wait!” The Old City Lord immediately interrupted. “Master Seven Stars, are you saying you can refine Tier 45 Dominator Artifacts?”

His tone was filled with utter astonishment.

“Exactly. I am skilled in artifact refining, so being able to refine Tier 45 Dominator Artifacts is considered normal. I have already refined one Tier 45 Dominator Artifact, so I do have some experience,” Su Yuan said.

The Old City Lord took a sharp breath, then pondered for a moment before saying, “Forget about the shill business. I personally do wish to possess a Tier 45 Dominator Artifact. If I had a suitable weapon before, those two Scavengers would definitely have been dealt with by me!”

He sighed again. “It’s just that my wealth is limited. The materials I have on hand now are barely enough for two refining attempts. I simply don’t have the money to hire a master-level artifact crafter. The asking price of a master-level artifact crafter is far too high! Master-level artifact crafters are scarce talents within the Alliance. Every time they take action, it’s enough to bankrupt someone.”

Hearing this, Su Yuan asked, “You mean you want me to refine it? I cannot guarantee the success rate.”

The Old City Lord said seriously, “Let’s not even talk about success rate. I will entrust both batches of materials to Fellow Daoist for refining, as long as Fellow Daoist does not charge an action fee! As for whether they can be successfully refined, we’ll leave it to fate!”

Upon hearing this, Su Yuan nodded. “Alright, I will refine the Dominator Artifact for you. I will do my best with both batches of materials. If one is successfully refined, you get one. If two are successfully refined, you get both!”

The Old City Lord didn’t mind this arrangement. He didn’t believe refining could succeed easily, so he readily agreed.

Then, he simply asked, “What is Fellow Daoist’s artifact refining shop called?”

“Just called the Seven Stars Artifacting Shop!” Su Yuan said.

“Good!”

The Old City Lord searched and quickly found Su Yuan’s online shop. He immediately placed a custom order. Through the Merit Points Mall, he transmitted all the materials he possessed and those exchanged with Merit Points to Su Yuan via the mall. This was following the mall’s procedure, which deducted a certain handling fee in the middle, all payable with Merit Points.

The action fee was displayed as ‘privately negotiated and settled.’ This way, anyone looking at the transaction record later wouldn’t know exactly how much the action fee was.

Su Yuan accepted this commercial order, promising to deliver the Dominator Artifact to the client upon successful refinement, but not guaranteeing the refinement success rate.

This order was thus concluded. The two batches of materials, totaling over three hundred types, were all received by Su Yuan, awaiting only his action to refine them.

Seeing this, the Old City Lord said, “I entrust this matter to Fellow Daoist Seven Stars!”

Su Yuan laughed heartily. “Thank you for your trust, Fellow Daoist Yan Feng. I will definitely refine it well for you. Perhaps I can successfully refine both Dominator Artifacts!”

The Old City Lord gave a wry smile. “If Fellow Daoist Seven Stars truly can refine two Dominator Artifacts for me, then I might not continue staying in Black Flame City. With these two Dominator Artifacts, my strength would increase greatly. I might even go to the Second Frontline to wage war properly again!”

Su Yuan said, surprised, “Fellow Daoist Yan Feng no longer wishes to be City Lord?”

“Heh, I originally stepped down precisely because my strength was too weak among peers of the same realm. If my strength were sufficient, I too would want to fight my way back and stand shoulder to shoulder with my old friends in battle. I’ve also had enough of being City Lord; it’s not very interesting.”

The Old City Lord laughed. “When the time comes, if Fellow Daoist wishes, I can pass the position of City Lord to you! With my recommendation, this matter would certainly be approved.”

Hearing this, Su Yuan shook his head with a smile. “Fellow Daoist Yan Feng, you should continue guarding this city! I might not necessarily be able to refine two master-level Dominator Artifacts!”

“Hahaha!” The Old City Lord also didn’t take it seriously.

The two continued their conversation.

The Old City Lord spoke a lot about matters of the Second Frontline, allowing Su Yuan’s understanding of the Second and Third Frontlines to grow.

What surprised Su Yuan was that the Third Frontline wasn’t just this area they were in. The one hundred million Chaos Dominators here were merely one sub-district of the Third Frontline. The number of sub-districts in the Third Frontline was more than imagined. Even the Old City Lord didn’t know the exact number.

Just based on what the Old City Lord knew, there were at least ninety-nine sub-districts in the Third Frontline.

The Third Frontline was actually located on the periphery of the entire Chaos Alliance, not the inner core. This exceeded Su Yuan’s understanding. He originally thought the Third Frontline was protected within the interior of the Chaos Alliance, but the reality was the opposite.

The front line facing the Scavengers was actually the most core position. So how did the Scavengers get to the core? Wouldn’t they pass through the Third Frontline?

The Old City Lord also didn’t reveal much, because when he withdrew from the Second Frontline before, his realm was only Tier 39. At that time, he was merely a soldier.

Their casual chat ended.

The Old City Lord suddenly said, “Next to where I live, there happens to be an empty mansion. If you don’t mind, you can live there, right next to me as a neighbor.”

“Where?” Su Yuan was taken aback.

“In the central area of the northern part of the city. The location is quite good. Most importantly, the mansion has the largest and best supply of Chaos Flame, suitable for your artifact refining.”

“That works too!” Su Yuan did not refuse and gladly accepted.

Thus, after the banquet ended, Su Yuan directly headed to the mansion provided by the Old City Lord and moved in.