Chapter 1243: Trade and Expansion

After all, anyone with a brain would know who to choose between an ordinary Heaven realm Artisan and a terrifyingly powerful Saint Alchemist.

Lin Yun nodded and said nothing. Gandaph personally arranged a laboratory for Lin Yun and let him continue his transcription of the truth runes. Lin Yun heard the news the next day.

The Starry Sky College's announcement already spread and everyone knew about it. The Jackson Family echoed the announcement by expelling Layford from their family, he was abandoned...

"Merlin, let's get rid of that guy. He has been abandoned by his family. Kill him and get his soul for me..."

Shawn had become addicted to tearing apart Heaven Rank powerhouses' souls. He wanted Lin Yun to capture a Heaven Rank powerhouse, and it couldn't be better now that one of them was already Lin Yun's foe.

Lin Yun ignored the excited Shawn and kept transcribing the result of his research. With this arrangement, being alive was worse than dead for Layford. He ended up truly isolated. Not only did the Starry Sky College blacklist him, his family expelled him. Even if this was only what happened openly, it would be really hard to take.

The next day, Lin Yun got ready to take the crystal plates to the Starry Sky College. These things were worth quite a bit, and more importantly, these things could be exchanged for a lot of benefits from the Starry Sky College. According to previous trades, the research of these 1,800 truth runes could be traded for at least three planes from the Starry Sky College. And these wouldn't be ordinary planes.

But the Starry Sky College didn't immediately take possession of these crystal plates. Instead, Lin Yun was led to Gandaph's mage tower.

Seeing the small mountain of crystal plates in front of him, Gandaph's eyes flickered with a fanatical expression. Even if he was a Saint Alchemist, these crystal plates contained a lot of knowledge even he didn't know.

There is no end to truth-seeking. This was the alchemists' motto.

More importantly, Lin Yun hadn't recorded his research on paper, he had used crystal plates. This ensured that the recorded information would remain as close as possible to their true meaning. This was critical.

Gandaph didn't immediately check the crystal plates after receiving them and instead directly handed a box made out of Star Essence Gold to Lin Yun. The box was covered in numerous seals, and once the seals were removed, the content of the box was exposed in front of Lin Yun.

The box was divided into six small slots, each with their own seal ensuring that the content of each slot wouldn't affect the others.

There were six crest-like things inside the box, but they all had different designs. Even their aura was completely different.

Amazement flashed in Lin Yun's eyes as he saw these six crests.

Six planar keys!

The keys recording planar coordinates. Under normal circumstances, there would only be one planar key by plane. This represented six planes!

Making a planar key wasn't easy, a Saint Alchemist had to take care of the most important part. The coordinates were sealed inside the planar key and entering the plane could only be done with the planar key. Without the planar key, even if one knew the coordinates and arranged a Planar Path, it might lead them directly into the endless void.

In the future, a planar key represented a plane. Many alchemists would craft counterfeits and sell them as independent planes.

But that kind of counterfeit techniques didn't exist in this era. Every planar key carried the aura of a plane's origin.

"Here are keys of planes our Starry Sky College completely conquered in exchange for those crystal plates. They have just been conquered and we didn't have the time to start exploiting them, these planes are still very rich in natural resources. All these planes have unique resources not found in Noscent."

Gandaph smiled as he introduced the six planes, but Lin Yun unexpectedly didn't take them right away.

The six planes had just been conquered and had yet to be exploited, but the requirements for the planes to be exploited were already met. He only needed to send manpower to get benefits. And these were planes with resources that weren't produced in Noscent.

This was equivalent to spending time and labor to process raw materials into a sweet cake and offering it to him. It was such a good thing, and there were six of them. Lin Yun didn't believe that the research of 1,800 truth runes was worth that price.

After all, every conquered plane was a huge expense for a mage force. The process from the start of the conquest until they obtained the natural resources of the planar path could take a few hundred years. Even if it went well, it could take a few decades.

It cost so much time and resources to get those planes ready to be harvested, yet they were given to Lin Yun. That price was too high, it was at least double what Lin Yun had been expecting. In terms of value, it might be two or three times more important.

Lin Yun didn't believe that the Starry Sky College could be generous enough to take a loss.

"Dean Gandaph, although the transcript of the mysteries contained within 1,800 truth runes is valuable, it can't completely express those truth runes' mysteries. Six completely conquered planes that hadn't been exploited is far too much for that."

Gandaph immediately understood what Lin Yun wanted to ask by pointing out this issue.

"Comprehending 1,800 truth runes during your first gathering has already broken our Starry Sky College's record by more than double the number of truth runes. There are many truth runes' mysteries that we have never researched among those.

"Six completely conquered planes might be a lot under normal circumstances, but it isn't in this case. This can also be considered as an explanation from our Starry Sky College to you for yesterday's matter.

"Naturally, there is another matter I hope Sir Mafa could agree to. There is a certain Sir that'd like to meet you."

Hearing this, Lin Yun instantly understood, it was due to that person.

They spent so much effort just to meet, how could Lin Yun refuse? Moreover, from Gandaph's expression, it didn't seem to be a bad thing.

"I wonder which Sir wishes to meet me?"

Lin Yun started pondering. Someone that even a Saint Alchemist like Gandaph called Sir... There weren't many of them in the Odin Kingdom. He made some guesses, but he couldn't be certain.

Gandaph shook his head, still smiling.

"I can't speak of this matter at will. You'll understand when the time comes, if you agree."

Lin Yun didn't pursue his questioning and agreed.

"Alright, I agree to this matter. But not now, it'll be left for another time..."

Gandaph didn't say it had to be now and nodded instead.

After leaving the Starry Sky College, Lin Yun pondered about managing these six planes. The best method was to directly let the Gilded Rose manage them.

While Lin Yun was still in the Raging Flame Plane, the Gilded Rose had already expanded to over eighty branches. Over eight hundred alchemists had been nurtured in the stores, from the most ordinary Alchemists, to Master Alchemists, they had everything.

As for Lin Yun, after returning from the Raging Flame Plane, the Gilded Rose started rapidly expanding once again. With the territories Lin Yun possessed in the Raging Flame Plane as a foundation, and the Steel Fort, which had become the plane's center of commerce, no one could stop the Gilded Rose's expansion.

When Lin Yun was in charge of the Merlin Family, he took advantage of that opportunity to tutor Faleau. Faleau rapidly progressed under Lin Yun's special care and he could now barely count as an Artisan.

After the Gilded Rose annexed the Merlin Family's business network, their expansion met no resistance. In addition to their original potioneering business, they were now dipping into refining, puppeteering and the field of array.

With a developed business network as a foundation, good alchemy techniques, and an outstanding research team, the Gilded Rose could regularly come up with new potions that would be considered superior goods.

When comparing products with the same effects, the Gilded Rose was the most stable and had the best results. The side-effects were minimal or non-existent, and more importantly, they had the cheapest prices. This was critical.

In addition, the Gilded Rose had things that other shops didn't possess and goods that couldn't be imitated. With potions as their weapons, they rapidly took over the entire Andlusa Kingdom's market.

The biggest share of the Raging Flame Plane's potion market was also held by the Gilded Rose. With unique alchemy products as their foundation, their business was flourishing. In addition to the raw materials produced within Lin Yun's territories, the few big Beastman Tribes within the Raging Flame Plane were all cooperating.

As for the Grey Beastmen that followed Lin Yun early on, they had broken away from the times when they couldn't eat until satiety. They were all very rich and in terms of wealth, the average Grey Beastman could absolutely compare to the richest Beastman of the other tribes.

The Grey Beastmen's fort was already a true city of steel. It had already expanded three times and there were eight huge mana reactors within, offering a steady flow of mana to the entire city. The city's defensive abilities could definitely withstand the pressure of a steel army and a dozen Heaven Rank powerhouses, and no one would dare to cause trouble.

With the alchemy team already able to research independently, alchemy potions was no longer the main focus, they had already started studying magic battleships.

The Gilded Rose has already researched floating battleships stronger than what was currently available in Noscent. Under Faleau's lead, although they couldn't compare to the worst magic battleship available in the future, the prototypes displayed some power.

Faleau clearly remembered the words Lin Yun had casually said. The Bone Plane had already been opened for the Gilded Rose, and at the time, Lin Yun had said that if they had a magic battleship, a team of Great Mages might be able to casually sweep through the entire Bone Plane.

But that kind of research required huge funds, it needed a lot of golds. Faleau had kept those words in mind and the Gilded Rose's current development was greatly linked to Lin Yun's casual words from back then.

As for the Andlusa Kingdom's alchemist guild, they were now fully cooperating with the Gilded Rose. The first item was a large-scale mana reactor researched by the Gilded Rose. Many mage towers would be using it to increase their defenses or to allow them to research even more things.

The core of the large-scale mana reactor of the Andlusa Royal Family's defenses had been made with the Gilded Rose' help. With the support of wealth and power, the Gilded Rose could expand as long as they wished to. It could truly be said to have wealth equivalent to an entire nation.

In addition to having over eight hundred alchemists, there was several thousand Apprentice Alchemists, and the mercenary groups, small families, autonomous alchemists and mages amounted to a huge number.

But now, those that knew that the Gilded Rose was related to the Merlin Family, to Lin Yun, were extremely few in numbers. Instead, Faleau had become quite famous. The Andlusa Royal Family was paying attention to Faleau. If the Gilded Rose fell, the entire Andlusa Kingdom would suffer.

Because the mages and swordsmen that survive thanks to the Gilded Rose were just far too numerous to be counted. The Gilded Rose had earned the trust of the masses.

There were people who wanted to go after the Gilded Rose, but very few of them would dare to act upon their urges. A middle-sized force of the Andlusa Kingdom ended up having their entire residence turned into a big hole the day after they robbed a caravan of the Gilded Rose.

The wealth equivalent to an entire nation wasn't just for show, even the Odin Kingdom didn't dare to ignore the Gilded Rose. When Lin Yun came to the Odin Kingdom, the Gilded Rose was already preparing to expand to the Odin Kingdom. Lin Yun calculated the time and figured out that the negotiations should have been more or less settled.

The Starry Sky College's six planes rich in natural resources would be managed by the Gilded Rose. There was no pressure at all, it didn't matter even if they weren't completely conquered. The Gilded Rose's team in charge of conquering planes had been enlarged a while ago. With the Intrepid as a research study, even if their magic battleship imitations couldn't compare to future Noscent's magic battleships, they could compare to the smallest magic battleships.

Moreover, their mana crystal cannons had broken through a bottleneck, even if their researched mana crystal cannons couldn't compare to the Intrepid, they weren't too inferior.

As Lin Yun was thinking about these things, someone from the Gilded Rose came to give a report to Lin Yun.

"Sir Merlin, Sir Faleau's negotiations with the Odin Kingdom are more or less complete. A total of eight major forces, as well as some smaller forces, agreed to cooperate with the Gilded Rose. The Odin Royal Family even sent a prince.

"Sir Faleau intends to organize an exhibition in ten days to reveal the power of our Gilded Rose. Sir Faleau sent me to inquire if Sir Merlin has any instructions."

Lin Yun inwardly sighed, 'Faleau is really talented. The Gilded Rose is becoming more and more prosperous with every passing day. If gold is mentioned in the Andlusa Kingdom, the first reaction would be to think of the Gilded Rose. Alchemy items are originally profitable, but if the success rate is higher, the profits would increase a few times...'

Lin Yun put the six planar keys in a box made of Eternal Gold Essence and handed it to the person before him. This was Faleau's closest assistant and he could be said to have a high status in the Gilded Rose. He could be at ease leaving it with him.

Moreover, this box could only be opened by Faleau. If anyone else tried to crack the box open, the six planar keys would instantly be delivered to Lin Yun's Demiplane. He didn't have to worry about anyone snatching them.

"Give this to Faleau, this contains the planar keys of six conquered planes rich in natural resources, tell him to take care of them."

Faleau's assistant was terrified and received the box very cautiously. He couldn't hide the reverence in his eyes as he looked at Lin Yun.

'So powerful... When the Gilded Rose just started operating, most of the core alchemy techniques were managed by Sir Merlin. Although Sir Merlin doesn't participate in the management, without the materials he provided, the Gilded Rose would have been unable to stay open.

Only

'Six planes rich in resources, this is something that gold can't buy. With these six planes, the Gilded Rose's materials would never be under others' control and we might be able to expand even further. No wonder Sir Merlin is confident in the growth of the Gilded Rose in the Odin Kingdom...'

Ignoring the reverence in the eyes of Faleau's assistant, Lin Yun thought for a bit and took out a dozen sheets of paper before writing down a large number of raw materials he needed. A few of them couldn't be found openly.

"Give this to Faleau and tell him to prepare these for me, I need them."

The assistant didn't care how precious the materials were and professionally put away the note. To the Gilded Rose, there may be alchemy items that couldn't be found, but the materials that couldn't be found were very few in numbers. After all, many alchemy items made from specialties of the Abyss could only be found in Lin Yun's shop! And there were many similar things.

Lin Yun shook his head with a smile as Faleau's assistant left. He had been hearing Faleau's name in the past few days. He had just reached the Artisan realm, yet he was already more famous than some first-rate Artisan of the Starry Sky College.

Even if someone didn't know the name of a mage family's patriarch, they knew about Faleau. The rich and tyrannical Gilded Rose expanding to the Odin Kingdom didn't require a small amount of gold. When it came to spending money, the merchant family of the Odin Kingdom, the Henry Family, couldn't compare to the Gilded Rose. In the past six months, Faleau's spending could be likened to burning through money.

With such huge benefits, the Families of the Odin Kingdom would definitely act like sharks attracted by blood. But, after seeing the strength of the Gilded Rose first-hand, the sharks would naturally turn into good-natured collaborators.