Protect Our Patriarch

……

For a moment, the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy felt a chill run down her spine.

If the Yuan Shui Azure Dragon clan were to be tamed by the Wang's Clan, this family would become incredibly formidable in the future.

On the surface, the Changning Wang's Clan seemed like a local power, but the deeper one delved, the more mysterious and unfathomable they appeared.

Meanwhile.

Wang Anye watched as Wang Anxin eloquently discussed the cooperation plan, with clear logic and meticulous thought, demonstrating strong capabilities. He felt both gratified and somewhat envious.

In terms of implementing specific industry tasks, Wang Anxin was much stronger than him. After all, Anxin had started from the bottom, rotating through various clan industries, gaining rich work experience.

In contrast, Wang Anye spent more time fishing and collecting resources, with relatively less work experience.

Wang Anye had mentioned to his great-grandfather that he wanted to start from the middle and lower levels of the clan industries to accumulate experience and live like ordinary people.

However, his great-grandfather earnestly told him, "Anye, the clan is not yet wealthy, and there are many places where money is needed. When you go out and pick up things for personal use or sale, the comprehensive output already matches the value of two core clan industries."

To make the clan wealthy as soon as possible, Wang Anye could only grit his teeth and continue his annual money-collecting work. Even though he was now so sick of seeing valuable things during his outings and fishing that he felt like throwing up, he still diligently collected wealth and resources.

Ah, how he envied those who only needed to go to work every day.

"No, no! Our dragon clan has a huge appetite~ The profit distribution you Wang's Clan proposed is unreasonable!" Ao Juechen pressed his hands on the table, his whiskers flaring like an octopus's tentacles, "As a ninth-rank elder like me, when I'm happy, I need to eat a fifth-rank Great Swamp Fierce Crocodile per meal, and when I'm not, I need two. And I eat three meals a day! Therefore, I believe we should at least get eighty percent of the share."

A middle-aged man with a goatee in the negotiation group, Murong Qiubai, calmly said, "A fifth-rank Fierce Crocodile, after removing the inedible parts, weighs fifteen to twenty thousand pounds. Although it's not as expensive as the fifth-rank Snow-patterned Spiritual Beef you just ate, it still costs five Top Gold per pound. At the lowest estimate, it would be sixty-five thousand Top Gold per crocodile. Calculating based on you being happy every day, it would be about two hundred thousand Top Gold a day, and over seventy million Top Gold a year on crocodile meat."

"And our human Emperor spends only six million Top Gold on food a year!"

Murong Qiubai was a typical talent who graduated from a high-level clan school and had been promoted to the position of Deputy Chief Financial Officer of the Swamp Development Department, arranged by Wang Anxin to be part of the negotiation team.

Ao Juechen's flaring whiskers halted, and he stared blankly for a long while before slamming the table in anger, "Our dragon clan eats this much, and you, a mere Lingtai Realm human, have no say! Believe it or not, I could eat you in one bite!" With that, he started to bare his teeth and claws again.

"Being aggressive won't work. I've seen plenty of strange, unreasonable, and fierce classmates in our clan school, and I'm used to it. I'm Murong Qiubai, and I only believe that numbers don't lie," Murong Qiubai said calmly.

Beside him, Wang Lilong was enjoying a post-meal snack made from roasted seventh-rank deep-sea giant octopus legs. Hearing this, she glanced curiously at Murong Qiubai. Wasn't he an old classmate of hers?

How strange, she thought. In the clan school, she never encountered strange, unreasonable, or fierce classmates. On the contrary, every classmate was kind and friendly, treating both people and dragons with respect.

"Then... how about seventy percent?" Ao Juechen found the Wang's Clan too troublesome, drafting a cooperation framework with a dedicated Chief Financial Officer involved. Unlike their dragon clan, where a few elders would gather, discuss, and make decisions.

"Our development department has invested heavily, and after a series of precise calculations, we believe that a thirty percent pure profit share for your dragon clan is most reasonable. We ask Elder Juechen for guidance," Murong Qiubai said, presenting a complex financial report to Ao Juechen.

Ao Juechen glanced at the report, immediately feeling a headache and dizziness. He closed the report and said, "Sixty percent, no less."

"The Southern Desolate Swamp is vast and requires massive manpower and resources for development. We also need to dredge and deepen the Dragon Swamp for your residence to increase comfort," Murong Qiubai shook his head, "And your dragon clan, with only a little over a hundred dragons, plays too small a role in the cooperation. If you insist on a high share, as a financial officer, I can only suggest the development department abandon the swamp development."

Subsequently, both sides engaged in a fierce "tug-of-war," and after several days, they successfully reached a series of framework agreements. The two main points were:

First, profit distribution. After deducting input and maintenance costs, the dragon clan would receive forty percent of the profits, which could be settled in Top Gold or Immortal Crystals, or compensated with crocodile meat.

Second, a mutual defense alliance agreement. Based on the friendly cooperation and win-win situation, both parties formed a mutual defense alliance to maintain long-term future interests.

As the negotiations concluded, the Wang's Clan members felt a great weight lifted from their hearts, filled with joy.

The Great Swamp held enormous potential. Once developed, it could form a vast agricultural and aquaculture industry chain. Especially since the Great Swamp Fierce Crocodile was a fast-growing fierce beast, its drawback was being carnivorous and prone to cannibalism.

Typically, humans did not raise carnivorous fierce beasts for spiritual meat due to high feeding costs and low cost-effectiveness.

However, by enclosing the Great Swamp, the Wang's Clan could acquire large amounts of cheap land, plant specially improved pasture and coarse grains, and develop concentrated farming locally to reduce feed meat costs.

Additionally, Divine Realm experts and dragon clan elders could rearrange and isolate the chaotic spiritual veins in the swamp, creating spiritual vein nests for each crocodile, reducing losses from cannibalism.

They could also release fast-growing fish fry and scatter aquatic plant seeds to increase fish populations, supplementing a significant portion of the crocodile's food source and indirectly lowering costs.

According to the development department's explored crocodile farming techniques, raising crocodiles was very profitable. The larger the scale, the lower the overall cost.

The Wang's Clan's newly developed canning technology could effectively process crocodile meat, significantly extending its shelf life and freshness. Compared to ancient methods like curing and smoking, canned meat would be more popular with the military and other units.

When marching to war, maintaining the troops' vitality and morale with spiritual meat cans would greatly reduce logistical costs and pressure, providing a significant advantage.

Moreover, crocodile skin could be tanned into excellent leather. Even leather armor made from third-rank crocodile skin would be great equipment for Qi Refining Realm soldiers, being lightweight, durable, and offering strong protection.

Of course, it couldn't compare to the elite black armor of the Xuanjia Army, given the vast difference in cost. If all ordinary soldiers in the Great Qian wore crocodile leather armor, overall combat effectiveness would increase by at least thirty percent.

In Wang Shouzhe's view, the benefits of mass-producing crocodile leather armor were greater than adding a national defense artifact.

Therefore, despite the Wang's Clan often saying in negotiations that they couldn't handle it and might withdraw from the Great Swamp, it was merely rhetoric. In reality, the Great Swamp was crucial to the Wang's Clan and the Great Qian's future development.

While the Wang's Clan members were secretly rejoicing, Ao Juechen, feeling like a victorious general, walked with his hands behind his back, his whiskers pointing skyward. The negotiations over the past few days had been exhausting, but the results were satisfying.

Negotiating with the Wang's Clan was too tiring and difficult.

Ao Juechen felt as if he had aged decades from the exhaustion, but the outcome was delightful for the dragon clan.

With this cooperation, the Yuan Shui Azure Dragon clan only needed to oversee and suppress the crocodile population slightly. Crocodiles were very obedient when they saw dragons.

With minimal effort, the dragon clan's future population could exceed a thousand, no longer a dream.

Ao Juechen and the other dragons were thrilled at the thought of over a thousand Yuan Shui Azure Dragons galloping in the Dragon Swamp, their blood boiling with excitement.

In conclusion!

This historic cooperation left both parties quite satisfied, like dry wood meeting a raging fire, or a lonely woman meeting a passionate man, quickly moving on to the next phase.

What the Wang's Clan didn't know was that at this moment, a massive old dragon was coiled in a water swamp dozens of miles away.

He was using a Yuan Shui divine ability—[Thousand Mile Yuan Shui Mirror]—to watch the dragon and human negotiations as if they were live broadcasts on the water-like mirror surface before him.

"Good, good, good! Juechen truly is the wise one of our Yuan Shui Azure Dragon clan," the old dragon's face showed satisfaction, "To have secured the greatest benefits from the stingy humans."

"From now on, my dragon descendants will grow more and more."

With that, the old dragon soared into the sky, transforming into a human elder in an instant, tearing open space and teleporting directly to the negotiation site.

A massive pressure descended.

Old Yao and the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy, responsible for overseeing the scene, were shocked by the terrifying pressure. Could it be...

"Welcome, Ancestor Dragon."

Ao Jiuxiao, Ao Juechen, and Ao Longtian hurriedly saluted.

Ancestor Dragon? Wang Lilong stopped eating her snack, blinking at the Ancestor Dragon. When she was young and not yet a dragon, she had seen the Ancestor Dragon with other flood dragons.

The Ancestor Dragon was kind to the flood dragons, regularly holding lectures and meetings to share cultivation insights, survival rules, and the glorious past of the Yuan Shui Azure Dragon clan.

"You child, not bad, not bad," Ancestor Dragon's gaze fell on Wang Lilong, his eyes gentle and approving, "At such a young age, you've already reached the late seventh rank. The ninth rank is promising in the future."

"Ancestor Dragon Grandpa, you're not going to take me back to the dragon clan, are you?" Wang Lilong asked weakly.

"No, since you have a bond with the humans, and they treat you as one of their own, you can stay wherever you like," Ancestor Dragon said kindly. He had already observed the scene and found that the Wang's Clan treated Lilong as family.

Seeing a part can reveal the whole.

Because of this, Ancestor Dragon had a favorable attitude towards the Wang's Clan and secretly transmitted to Ao Juechen to cooperate with the development department led by the Wang's Clan.

"Thank you, Ancestor Dragon Grandpa," Wang Lilong was overjoyed and relieved, "Father and Mother, and the family treat me very well. I want to stay with the clan."

"That's fine. When you transform, you can return to the Dragon Swamp to do so, and Ancestor Grandpa will personally protect you," Ancestor Dragon clearly had high hopes for Lilong's future, believing she had a chance to reach the tenth rank.

Currently, only two dragons in the Yuan Shui Azure Dragon lineage had reached the tenth rank.

At this time, Wang Anye also stepped forward on behalf of the Wang's Clan to salute, "Wang's Clan direct descendant Anye, greets Ancestor Dragon Senior."

He was well aware that this Ancestor Dragon was probably the most formidable being in the wilderness surrounding the Great Qian. Even Ancestor Canglong of Guilong City was only at the peak of the tenth rank, unable to break through to the eleventh rank.

"Good, good, good. You young man are not bad. We Yuan Shui Azure Dragon clan agree to the conditions you discussed earlier," Ancestor Dragon had noticed his respect and care for Lilong, this "elder."

"Thank you, Ancestor Dragon," Wang Anye saluted again, "In fact, this cooperation is just the beginning. Earlier, while playing in the East Sea, I discovered a very good underwater spiritual vein. Once our Yuan Shui Azure Dragon numbers increase, we can build a Dragon Palace on the seabed of the East Sea to expand our influence. We can call it the 'East Sea Dragon Palace.'"

"East Sea Dragon Palace? What a majestic name," Ancestor Dragon and the other dragons were itching with excitement at the thought.

The name East Sea Dragon Palace was something Wang Anye had learned from stories his great-grandfather told him as a child. In those tales, there was an East Sea Dragon Palace, and he had always wanted to visit the treasure-filled palace.

After collaborating with the Yuan Shui Azure Dragon clan, he immediately connected it to his childhood dream.

"Good, good, good. The future of our Yuan Shui Azure Dragon clan is promising!" Ancestor Dragon was even more delighted, "Bring the contract, let's sign it!"

After receiving the contract, he quickly signed his name, stamped it, and left a unique aura.

The dragon clan members were all joyful, feeling like they were about to prosper.

This mindset was like being poor for a long time and suddenly receiving a huge compensation after the old house was demolished.

"Sigh~ Old Yao," the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy sighed, "I feel like the gap between people is even greater than the gap between people and pigs. Is our task... just completed like this?"

"Completed," Old Yao nodded, "Anye has always been lucky since childhood."

"The next task seems to be finding some relic, right? I heard it's called the Blood something relic?" the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy said, pretending to be serious, "I hope Young Master Anye continues to be lucky and finds clues within ten years."

As she knew, her master believed that finding clues within fifty years would be very smooth, relying on a war to cover and build a forward intelligence station.

But just as she finished speaking, the Ancestor Dragon, who had just signed, suddenly looked up, "What? Did you just say Young Master Anye is looking for the Blood something relic? Could it be the Blood Venerable's relic?"

No way? The Red Enchantress Demon Envoy and Old Yao couldn't help but glance at each other. They had just mentioned Anye's luck, and now the Ancestor Dragon might provide a task clue?

It shouldn't be, it shouldn't be!

Things couldn't be so coincidental, the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy thought, assuming the Ancestor Dragon had just heard of it.

In her view, solving the dragon clan crisis and the Blood Venerable task were both major tasks. Completing one smoothly was already a bit unbelievable.

It couldn't be that both tasks...

"Senior knows where the Blood Venerable's relic is?" Wang Anye's eyes lit up.

"Of course I know," Ancestor Dragon said casually, "It's buried right under our Dragon Swamp. For years, our dragon clan's ancestral rule forbids entry."

"Then, Senior, may I explore it?" Wang Anye asked tentatively.

"You may," Ancestor Dragon agreed readily, "You can take it all."

This exchange between one person and one dragon immediately left the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy feeling unwell!

What kind of absurd development was this?

……