Since they’d taken the respectful approach, the most relevant members of the Lang Clan were able to assemble properly to greet them. That meant those most skilled in business were in attendance, namely Ling and the Clan Leader, Yating. Yating inherited a sense for business from his mother, and this acumen got him the spot as the Clan Leader. They needed a shrewd manager that wouldn’t overextend or lead them into bad investments, not just in their business ventures, but their other activities as well.

Sage as well as many others of the Lang Clan with important positions were also present to greet the representatives from Thousand Treasures. Of course, that was only for the initial greetings. Thousand Treasures had to bring along a huge group to show off their prestige. They brought a hundred guards equipped in some very expensive matching gear sets, armored from head to toe with each of them carrying a dozen expensive one off weapons. More impressively they arrived on a true Flying Ship, the huge Magical Tool being so expensive that it was equal to the entire net worth of multiple third rank powers. As one of the most wealthy groups in the Dou Kingdom, they took this opportunity to flaunt their power: money. Each Flying Ship was like a mobile Sect. The defensive arrays it carried were more powerful than most Sect Protecting Arrays, and that was if the prospective attacker could even keep up with it as it flew rapidly across the sky.

The cheap propeller powered Airships were like snails in comparison to a Flying Ship moving many times faster than sound. What was even more intimidating was that they were large enough to carry around an army of Cultivators and were mounted with weapons that could threaten other Sect Protecting Arrays. They truly embodied the idea of burying one’s enemies with a mountain of money.

Even so, the Lang Clan wasn’t worried by the Flying Ship at its gates. Others might be intimidated by its might, but they only found it to be impressive. While a Flying Ship was powerful, it wasn’t invincible. The downside to making so much power mobile was that it had a much more demanding power source. The expenditure to attack or defend against sect sized arrays was much higher than it would be for a massive sect on its own. They had to use more moderately sized arrays which made them more complex and expensive and they couldn’t rely upon the land beneath the sect to draw power from. Mobile Qi Gathering arrays were far less efficient than one a sect would have and they’d have to spend a fortune on dense Spirit Stones to fuel its offensive abilities.

The Lang Clan wasn’t rich enough to afford such a massive toy, but that didn’t mean they feared it. They had been careful to keep their people in only two main locations, both of which were very well protected by powerful arrays. If Thousand Treasures tried to attack them with the Flying Ship the expenditure necessary by both sides would be very uneven. Perhaps if this Flying Ship was floating over the Jade Horde’s field base they might be a little worried, but here in Lionheart Town? They were utterly confident. Well, mostly at least. There was still a chance that Thousand Treasures was hiding some secret super weapon they knew nothing about. They were operating for so long and with so much money there was no telling what they might have.

After the initial greeting and an extravagant party thrown to welcome their friends and guests, the real meeting was held. They put on a good show to the outside world, not wanting the public perception of their relationship to be strained, even though both sides had more serious business to discuss. In a secluded chamber, three from the Lang Clan met with three from Thousand Treasures. Sage and his wife Ling were sitting to the side of Yating, the Clan Leader. Across from them was a similarly matching team. An old couple was sitting beside a beautiful woman with a sensual smile.

“I didn’t realize the illustrious Zhuge Family would be coming to pay us a visit. It’s always a pleasure to see you, Miss Xinyan. It is my honor to greet you Zhuge Haoran and Zhuge Xinya.”

Yating started things out with a bit of flattery and polite greetings even though all six of them knew exactly who everyone else in the room was. Sage hadn’t dealt with the Zhuge family in specific before, but just the single afternoon was more than enough time for him to gather all the information he needed. The Zhuge Family was one of the main influences behind Thousand Treasures. This super massive company was essentially a large-scale alliance between many families of Blacksmiths and Formation Masters. With the new Lang Clan’s intelligence gathering abilities they found the secret behind the rise of each of the Four Major Businesses. For Thousand Treasures it was the fact that the Formation Master families were masters of the rare Transportation Array.

By maintaining a monopoly on this array, they were able to create a cheap and efficient transportation network. With this advantage they could supply their Blacksmiths with cheaper raw materials and transport the goods they created to every corner of the Dou Kingdom. It also meant the goods of local smiths could then be brought out and pedaled to every market and not just their local city. Magical Tools with very specific functions that weren’t very valuable in one location might be very useful far across the Kingdom. Thousand Treasure’s transportation system drove many of the traveling merchants out of business.

The costs of using Transportation Arrays were higher than simple convoys, but the sheer variety of goods on offer made up for that. Most traveling merchants bought goods from one place, then sold them in another place they were more rare and valuable. Thousand Treasures did this same thing but on a massive scale. Many merchant groups that specialized in long distance trade were put under by them. The profit margins were the highest, but so were the risks and costs involved. Thousand Treasures’ ability to send things great distances instantaneously with similar costs to long distance caravans put them on top. They wasted money on the shorter trips, but the convenience still made them a giant of industry. Things got even worse when they teamed up with the Black Dog Company and Iron Mountain.

Iron Mountain was just as disruptive in the banking industry, while the Black Dog Company unified mercenaries allowing them freedom and essentially unionizing them against their employers. Now the mercenaries had a set of unified rules and also prices and safeguards against bad employers. The Black Dog Company’s secret was actually related to their mercenary badge. It was very hard to cheat which enforced their rules, and also helped them track down offenders.

Iron Mountain on the other hand was far more interesting. Somehow, they were in control of many Secret Regions, pocket dimensions they could use as vaults. It was unknown if they could make them or were just very good at finding them, but either way they controlled many of them and this gave them the most secure vaults around. They also had extremely powerful defensive arrays, detection arrays and highly trained security forces.

The Black Dog Company was given the duty to protect short distance transportation and Iron Mountain stored their great wealth and excess supplies. These three teaming up birthed the Three Major Businesses, which then became four when Lotus Valley joined them a few centuries later. Lotus Valley’s power came from its information network, one which the Lang Clan had been bumping into quite often lately. In fact, they were pretty sure that Lotus Valley would be coming to visit them next if the negotiations with Thousand Treasures didn’t go well.

The beautiful women across the table from the three of them responded to Yating with a smile, “You’re such a flatterer, but I don’t think this is the place for teasing. Our parents are watching after all.”

Yating smiled pleasantly, but it was obvious he was not amused by the overly flirtatious nature of the woman.