Douluo: Unparalleled General, Starting by Deceptive Thousand-Snow-Peak 20

Chapter 20: Self-Reliance – Emptying the Treasury

“Kasna?” Nan Feihuang looked at the large map of the room, finally locating the approximate location of this small village on the Star Luo border. “It’s actually in such a remote place. It seems that the Min Clan is truly impoverished.”

“Yes, they chose to settle there precisely because the cost of living is low,” Xun Yu said. “After the four single-attribute clans were abandoned by the Haotian Sect, they suffered heavy casualties under the Martial Soul Temple’s siege. Since then, they have been scattered in various places, barely surviving.”

“However, the other three clans have advantages: the Li Clan excels in forging, the Yu Clan in construction, and the Po Clan in alchemy. Only the Min Clan has nothing but speed. Although they are skilled in intelligence gathering, unless they join a certain force, who would dare to let someone from outside their organization handle intelligence? They simply have no other source of income.”

“And Bai He is extremely proud, refusing to let family members accept subsidies from the Martial Soul Temple. If it weren’t for the consistent support of the Po Clan, they would have collapsed long ago.”

Hearing this, Nan Feihuang sighed, “Alas, a clan that once produced a Soul Sage—they wouldn’t necessarily lead their clan to rise, but at least they could live comfortably. Yet, the Min Clan, despite having a Soul Douluo, has been driven almost to bankruptcy because they offended the Martial Soul Temple. How tragic.”

“However, their misfortune presents an opportunity for us. Xun…Yu, come with me.”

Nan Feihuang took Xun Yu to the palace treasury. Recently, he had finally discovered a loophole in the name curse affecting Xun Yu.

He found that Xun Yu would only transform into a “苟或” (a play on words, suggesting someone cowardly and incompetent) when his name was called continuously. Therefore, by separating the two characters, he could call him correctly.

So Nan Feihuang dragged out the pronunciation of the first character, a clever workaround. He finally managed to call Xun Yu by his name correctly. Sometimes, for convenience, Nan Feihuang decided to use another name – after all, Xun Yu’s courtesy name was Wenruo. (Although this naming convention doesn’t exist in the Douluo Continent, it would serve as a private nickname between Nan Feihuang and Xun Yu, similar to how someone might have a nickname like “Elai”).

“My lord, it’s too early and impossible to subdue the Min Clan now,” Xun Yu reminded him. Recently, Nan Feihuang had suddenly ordered people to monitor the four single-attribute clans, leading him to believe that Nan Feihuang was interested in these forces.

Nan Feihuang, while sharing a lot of information from the original story with Xun Yu, hadn’t been completely thorough.

He had forgotten to mention some things.

For example, he wasn’t truly interested in the Min Clan itself, but in the treasure Bai He possessed: the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng!

“Wenruo, the Min Clan has a medicinal herb I desperately need: the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng. This divine herb possesses the power to defy heaven and earth. In terms of healing injuries and restoring the body, even the divine herbs in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Eye can barely compare. With this herb, I’ll be 100% confident in curing my mother’s injuries and helping her break through to the Title Douluo realm. Her cough has been getting worse lately; I fear that the accumulated blood stasis and hidden injuries are unresolved. If we don’t treat her soon, she may not only be unable to break through her bottleneck but also face a shortened lifespan,” Nan Feihuang worriedly said.

After coming to this world, the most important person to him was his mother, Lan Xue, surpassing all others.

Therefore, he absolutely must heal Lan Xue’s injuries.

Xun Yu understood, “So that’s it. The lord’s true goal isn’t to subdue them but to obtain the divine herb they possess.”

“That’s feasible. The Min Clan is desperately short of money; we can buy it with a large sum.”

“Exactly. However, we must seize the opportunity. Yang Wudi has an excellent relationship with the Min Clan, and he understands the true value of the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng. If he interferes, things will become difficult. Fortunately, Bai He, fearing that his treasures might be swindled away, has been keeping it a secret from him. We need to acquire the herb before Yang Wudi returns to the Min Clan, creating a fait accompli,” Nan Feihuang smiled.

As they spoke, they arrived at the treasury.

Since Nan Tianchen’s ascension, he has strived for frugality, and Lan Xue had also taught Nan Feihuang from a young age not to waste money, so Nan Feihuang had barely accumulated any assets.

There was no other way; he had to be self-reliant.

The Ancient Thunder King Country royal family had two treasuries: the Treasury and the Treasure Pavilion.

Nan Feihuang could enter the Treasury freely and take whatever he liked because it only contained antiques, valuable calligraphy and paintings, and jewels.

These were useless to Soul Masters, though they could still fetch a good price on the market when sold to collectors.

The Treasure Pavilion, however, was only accessible to Nan Tianchen and Lan Xue, the King and Queen.

It housed the Ancient Thunder King Country’s true treasures, such as soul bones. Although the Ancient Thunder King Country wasn’t as wealthy as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, possessing countless soul bones, it still had some.

They had two or three ten-thousand-year soul bones in stock, and four or five thousand-year soul bones.

If Nan Feihuang couldn’t obtain good ones himself, Nan Tianchen would give him these to absorb.

“Snap!” Nan Feihuang snapped his fingers. “Wenruo, move it!”

“Yes, my lord!” Xun Yu summoned his subordinates.

Although he was a child, the soldiers he summoned were all adult figures. Besides combat, they were also useful for many other tasks, handling things inappropriate for a child.

More than twenty servant soldiers quickly emptied the entire Treasury, placing everything into storage soul conductor devices, and then transporting them to the auction house.

By the time Nan Tianchen found out, Nan Feihuang had already exchanged all the treasures for money.

He received eight million gold soul coins.

Nan Tianchen gasped, clutching his chest in anger.

“You rebellious son!” As a king, he was also a collector of treasures. The Treasury contained many calligraphy and paintings from famous masters and thousand-year-old antiques that he had painstakingly collected.

If his son liked them, taking one or two to play with would be fine, but to completely empty the treasury? And then sell everything!

“Alright, alright, they were just things for looking at. You know that Huang’er has never been someone lacking in judgment. He suddenly needs this much money, there must be a reason. Don’t be angry,” Lan Xue gently stroked her husband’s chest to calm him down.

Seeing that Nan Tianchen was still fuming, calling him a rebellious son repeatedly, Lan Xue frowned, “If you continue to be angry with Huang’er, I’ll be unhappy too, cough…”

Hearing his wife cough, Nan Tianchen quickly said, “Xue’er, don’t get agitated. The imperial physician said you can’t get angry, lest it causes a heart attack. I won’t be angry with Huang’er anymore.”

“You’re right. It’s…it’s just some trinkets. I don’t mind!” To comfort his wife, Nan Tianchen forced back his tears.

Nan Feihuang could understand Nan Tianchen’s feelings. It was like a male otaku whose painstakingly collected complete set of figurines was taken by a mischievous child.

How could he easily swallow this anger?

But for his mother’s sake, Nan Feihuang could only inconvenience his father.

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