I have an endless army of warriors, rampaging across the heavens.

Chapter 165 Let's set a small goal first: earn 100 million a year!

Breakthrough Pill!
Three types of Level 6 Breakthrough Pills—

"The first is called 'Yuanli Dan'."

"The second is the 'Block-Breaking Pill'."

The third is the "Merge Pill".

Each of these abilities can temporarily grant a level 5 sorcerer some of the power of a level 6 sorcerer, making them very useful in dealing with emergencies.

In addition, they allow fifth-level sorcerers to experience and appreciate the mysteries of sixth-level sorcery in advance, thus providing them with some ideas and experience for their future attempts to reach sixth level.

Firstly, to save one's life.

Their future prospects.

"The 'Mirror-Breaking Pill' has these two great uses, so its value is naturally considerable."

Zuo Jing opened the auction catalog provided by the Izumo Auction House, which listed the starting prices for three types of Breakthrough Pills.

among them--

“The starting bid for ‘Yuanli Dan’ is 20 kJ.”

"The starting bid for the 'Breakthrough Pill' is 25 kserkins."

"The starting bid for the 'Melting Pill' is 30 kJ."

Yidan is more expensive than Yidan.

Outrageously expensive!

Zuo Jing quickly calculated: "One gram of Serkin is worth 2000 gold coins, so 20 grams would be 1 gold coins."

Many level 5 sorcerers earn and spend as much as they want, but they may never be able to save up 40,000 gold coins in their entire lives.

This is undoubtedly an astronomical price.

"Many level 5 sorcerers spend their entire lives saving up 40,000 to 50,000 gold coins to exchange for Serium, all for a breakthrough pill like the 'Yuanli Pill'."

"A final gamble."

"Achieving Level 6 will bring great fortune and a lifespan increase dramatically."

"If it doesn't work out, then all is lost."

Gongye Yunshan sighed with emotion.

He was also a level 5 sorcerer, but unlike ordinary rogue sorcerers, he was also the head of the Gongye Trading Company, so his wealth was naturally much greater than that of an ordinary level 5 sorcerer.

A breakthrough pill like the 'Yuanli Pill' would normally require a lifetime of accumulation to obtain for a level 5 cultivator, but Gongye Yunshan had already used it once. Unfortunately, when he thought he was in top condition to break through to level 6, he suffered a crushing defeat.

The Breakthrough Pill that I bought for 4.8 gold coins back then has gone to waste.

Even Gongye Yunshan felt a pang of heartache.

Fortunately, he later saved up an even more valuable Breakthrough Pill, so this time he didn't have much interest in the three Breakthrough Pills. Instead, he set his sights on the 'Contract Scroll' and the 'Level 6 Pet Egg'.

But Sakyo is different——

"If I cultivate incantation techniques, I will eventually reach level five, and sooner or later I will need a level six breakthrough pill."

"Prepare in advance, so you're better off than never."

This is one aspect.

But that's only a minor aspect.

After all, Zuo Jing had only just obtained 10 secret manuals from Gongye Yunshan and hadn't even officially started cultivating them yet. He was still far from reaching level five or six, and it was possible that several years would pass before he reached level five and attempted to break through to level six.

Perhaps five years.

Perhaps ten years.

But it doesn't need to be much. Even if Zuo Jing is given only three years, he dares to guarantee that he will definitely achieve the 'sixth level breakthrough pill freedom' by then.

therefore--

"These three Level 6 Breakthrough Pills are useful to me, but not much, and not necessary in the short term."

"But if we could acquire these three Level 6 Breakthrough Pills and use them to hire or recruit Level 5 Spellcasters, or even train a Level 6 Spellcaster, that would be far better than simple Breakthrough Pills or gold coins and serpentine that you can't take with you when you die."

Zuo Jing's eyes lit up.

Over the past few days, he has roughly compiled a strength comparison table of 'Assassin-Martial Artist-Sorcerer', making a simple comparison of the three's strengths. It may not be accurate, but it's passable.

Sorcerer - Warrior - Death Soldier

一级（强身健体）——1~2阶（练力、通力）——1~6级死士（1.1~2.0倍身体素质）
二级（属性生成）——3~6阶（整劲、劲力增幅、劲力外放、脏腑极赢）——7~10级死士（3.0~6.0倍身体素质）
Level 3 (Curse-Power Gauze Robe) – Stages 7-12 (Power Circulation, Muscles and Bones Resonating, Skin as Tough as a Drum, Flesh as Lively as a Living String, Tendons as Stringless as a Bowstring, Bones as Steel-Forged) – 20-500 Death Squads (Self-Destruction)

Level 4 (Cursed Armor) – ? ? Rank – At least 1000 suicide soldiers self-destruct.

Level 5 (Cursed Wings) – ? ? Rank – ? ? ? Famous suicide bomber self-destructs

Level 6 (Qi Induction) – ? ? Tier – ? ? Famous suicide bomber self-destructs

among them.

The strength of a level four sorcerer already surpasses that of the level twelve martial artists that Zuo Jing encountered in Dayan and Kuangshan. Therefore, they can roughly correspond to martial artists starting from level thirteen. However, Zuo Jing has not yet been able to come into contact with level thirteen and above, so he cannot accurately determine their strength.

Therefore, starting from the fourth-level sorcerer, there is no corresponding martial arts combat strength.

but.

Zuo Jing had encountered fourth-level sorcerers before, such as Duan Pingqiu, a fourth-level sorcerer who was in charge of a large-scale operation. At that time, six eleventh-level assassins self-destructed at the same time, accompanied by dozens of low-level assassins on the second and first floors.

This only managed to expose Duan Pingqiu and blast away Da You Qi Xing; it posed no fatal threat to a level four sorcerer.

"A level 11 assassin has 7+3=10 times the quality in the three stages of blood burning state, comparable to a level 10 martial artist. Its self-destruction is equivalent to a level 11 martial artist's full-force attack, or the combined self-destruction of 128 low-level assassins."

"The self-destruction of six level 6 assassins was equivalent to the self-destruction of 768 low-level assassins."

"But even so, it didn't pose much of a threat to Duan Pingqiu, and it couldn't even seriously injure her."

Therefore, it can be inferred that a level four sorcerer can only withstand the self-destruction of 1000 low-level assassins.

That's really impressive!

If level four is already this strong, what about level five?
"2000 low-level assassins?"

"Still 5000 low-level assassins?"

Zuo Jing guessed at least 5000.
Based on this calculation, recruiting a level 5 sorcerer would be equivalent to 5000 assassins. Given the generation speed of a level 11 Jade Remnant, it would take 34 days, a little over a month. Considering the resurrection speed of a level 11 Jade Remnant, after 5000 assassins self-destruct, it would take 17 days for them all to resurrect, a little over half a month.

A level 5 sorcerer can be as effective as 5000 assassins.

And what does Zuo Jing need to pay?
It might just be one or two Breakthrough Pills, with a total value of 20 to 40 grams of Serkin, or 4 to 8 gold coins.

Is it too much?

"not much!"

"How long have I been in the Spellcasting Continent?"

"I only have a few assassins here?"

"But in just four or five days, with only a few hundred assassins, they have already made at least 200,000 gold coins. Even if they recruited a level 5 sorcerer at 80,000 gold coins, they could recruit three or four."

Is it worth it?
It's a bargain!

"Yeah!"

"This is the correct way to use suicide squads."

"The Dream of the Red Chamber model has great potential."

Zuo Jing quickly prepared his speech in his mind—

With his abilities and resources, he could easily use the Breakthrough Pill as the ultimate reward to keep those level-five sorcerers hooked and attract their attention, and then use gold coins or performance points as payment for motivating them on a daily basis.

in this way.

It becomes possible to recruit level 5 sorcerers.

"An ordinary level 5 sorcerer's net worth is around 40,000 gold coins."

"However, the lifespan of a level 5 sorcerer is generally around 150 years old, while those level 5 sorcerers who can accumulate a net worth of 40,000 are generally over 120 years old and have been at least 30 or 40 years since they were promoted to level 5."

As for young level 5 sorcerers, or newly promoted level 5 sorcerers, 40,000 gold coins are just an unimaginable but distant sum of money for them.

After all, even a level 5 sorcerer's annual income is only about one or two thousand gold coins.

The poor ones who aren't good at making money may even have an annual income of less than a thousand.

There's no guarantee that many people will make a lot of money. Let alone earning a thousand or two thousand a year, even ten thousand or twenty thousand might not be enough to sustain them, so let's not even go there.

"I'm using the Breakthrough Pill to keep a Level 5 Spellcaster on the hook."

"Offer a commission of 2000 gold coins per year to hire a level 5 sorcerer."

"Once the 10 gold coins from Gongye Trading Company arrive, I can easily hire 50 level-five sorcerers, maximizing my strength!"

Zuo Jing pondered the matter repeatedly, increasingly convinced that throwing money around was the best strategy. Suicide squad, self-destruction?
What a waste!

The best use for assassins is still to make money!

How to make money?

"Simple!"

“There are far more than a thousand cities like Wuyun City in the entire Luoyan Empire.”

“Every city has more or less ‘thirteen veterans’, not necessarily thirteen, but more or less.”

"Even if we only collect 2000 gold coins as protection fees from each local elder every year, that's 2 per city a year, and 2000 million per thousand cities a year!"

work to earn a living?

Robbery?

None of these make money as fast as this!
Zuo Jing thought it over and over again and found it increasingly promising: "I can subdue the Gongye Trading Company in four days. In a year, I can subdue 90 forces of this size. If I add the influence of making an example of them and killing them to scare them, the number of forces that compromise will increase by at least three to five times, maybe even four hundred."

Four hundred a year.

It will take about two years to achieve full coverage of the Luoyan Empire.

after that.

Then from the big city to the small town.

Then from domestic to international.

The continent of Spells is visible to the naked eye to have three great empires and a chaotic delta in the middle with a territory far larger than the three great empires.

"If we could take them all—"

hiss!
Zuo Jing gasped.

Shouldn't we set a small goal every year?

Absolutely!

……

Ah!
There's great potential in collecting protection money.

Besides.

The "Dream of the Red Chamber Model" should continue to be promoted and developed.

This requires starting with the Breakthrough Pill. After all, a fixed salary of 2000 gold coins per year might not be enough to attract many level 5 spellcasters. If those level 5 spellcasters were willing to join a certain force, they could easily earn a salary of one or two thousand gold coins.
Why don't they go?
Why do I only earn a few hundred or a thousand yuan a year?
It's not that I don't want to earn money.

It's simply because I don't want to be constrained.

"Each major power has a level 5 or even level 6 sorcerer in charge who can provide guidance."

"It also offers rare resources such as spells, cultivation techniques, elixirs, and magical artifacts as a lure."

"Almost all the level 5 sorcerers we can recruit are already taken."

"The remaining level five rogue cultivators are either yearning for freedom or have high aspirations but low abilities."

"I want to recruit them, but it will be quite difficult."

"In terms of conventional resources, I have no advantage whatsoever compared to those major forces with level six sorcerers in charge."

"But the good thing is that the 'Dream of the Red Chamber Mode' is a bounty and mission mode. There are so many mercenaries on this Spellcraft Continent. If I establish a force, I can bypass the Mercenary Guild to issue missions and have an endless number of intermediate and advanced spellcasters at my disposal."

To achieve this, not only do you need a lot of gold coins, but you also need to have mithril, serpentine, inkstone, and other high-end resources to motivate sorcerers to work hard and compete to do tasks for 'Dream of the Red Chamber'.

Ah!
Ado.

Let's start with the Breakthrough Pill!
……

"Gongye Yunshan".

"The 'Contract Scroll' and the 'Pet Egg' are being auctioned together, with a starting price of 500 grams of Serkin, which is almost the entire life savings of a level six sorcerer. It would take almost the entire Gongye Trading Company to afford it."

"Instead of joining forces with the other companies and fighting to the death, why don't you lend some Serkin to my Ironblood Mercenary Group? I think even if we take all three Breakthrough Pills, it won't amount to more than 100 grams of Serkin. Gongye Trading Company should be able to provide that, right?"

"Don't worry, I will definitely pay back this hundred, and it won't take more than six months."

"Furthermore, in the next six months, as interest, the Iron-Blooded Mercenary Group can summon eight hundred righteous men to serve you at will. You can cause trouble in whose house you want, strike at your nemesis, and eliminate dissidents. You know best how useful these righteous men are, so I won't waste any more words."

"What do you think?"

Zuo Jing looked at Gongye Yunshan.

Gongye Yunshan was shocked and had a headache.

Zuo Jing was shocked to hear that he was asking for 100 grams of gold. Damn it, he said it so easily, but that was a full 20 gold coins. He just lent it to him like that. It was outrageous!
The second surprise was that Zuo Jing was willing to borrow righteous men.

Eight hundred righteous men?

Eight hundred elite warriors!

That's incredibly powerful!

As Zuo Jing said, Gongye Yunshan had personally experienced the ruthlessness of these "righteous men." The enemy only sent 330 suicide soldiers, yet they caused chaos in Gongye Trading Company, and the shops almost completely collapsed.

If the Gongye Trading Company had 800 loyal followers, wouldn't that mean they could potentially destroy two, three, or even four or five equally powerful businesses?

This, this, this!
Invincible!
Gongye Yunshan was moved, but this was also the source of his headache.

after all.

This iron-blooded mercenary group just ruined the Gongye Trading Company and even extorted a large sum of money from them.

Now you need to borrow money again?

They might even need to cooperate?

Isn't it a bit too fast for them to change their tune?
Gongye Yunshan's mind raced, but after thinking it over, he shook his head and said, "I'm sorry."

He has thought it through clearly.

Those eight hundred righteous men look very appealing, but they may not actually be there. Even if they are there, they may not actually obey. And even if they do obey, what good are they?

Are you really going to sabotage your competitor's business?
you can!

However, this kind of "simple and unpretentious business warfare" is too likely to provoke hatred and could easily invite reciprocal countermeasures.

He has assassins.

The other side even has a level 5 sorcerer!

How can we break through this chaos that's causing trouble everywhere?
In the end, it's just a lose-lose situation; that's not how you do business!

These assassins are only well-versed in the secretive tactics of mercenary groups like the Iron-Blooded Mercenary Group; they are of little use to legitimate businesses like the Gongye Trading Company.

on the contrary.

If they join forces with several other companies to acquire a level 6 pet egg, on the one hand, in the long run, they will have the potential to have a level 6 combatant in their ranks, which can break the upper limit and enable Gongye Trading Company to achieve a breakthrough.

on the other hand.

Through the level 6 pets, the several families they joined forces with were able to unite more closely, and in the future they would truly be of one mind and share weal and woe, which is where the real value lies.

Therefore, Gongye Trading Company must participate in the auction of 'Contract Scrolls' and 'Pet Eggs', otherwise it will be excluded from the circle by the other companies, or even abandoned by the times.

Zuo Jing guessed Gongye Yunshan's thoughts and advised, "Think about it again. The friendship between the Iron Blood Mercenary Group and the Soul Hall is not something that can be easily obtained!"

Not easily?
Too easy!
Gongye Yunshan remained silent.

What Soul Palace!
What Iron-Blooded Mercenary Group!
That sounds sophisticated and high-class.

But what?

One hundred thousand gold coins!

Secret Techniques!

That's it!

That's exactly what they want!

Oh, right.

Now there are three more Breakthrough Pills.

how?

Does the Iron-Blooded Mercenary Group not even have a level six cultivation technique? Or even a Breakthrough Pill?
Does that mean the Ironblood Mercenary Group doesn't even have a single Level 6 Sorcerer?
No Level 6?

That's pure trash!

What else is there to say?

Gongye Yunshan had already figured out his thinking—

This group of people!
Absolutely rubbish!
……

(End of this chapter)