Deal With Hal Family
After his mastery of Law of Water had reached the Elementary Understanding, he decided to focus on cultivating. After all, he had no plan or resources that could help him improve his mastery of the other path so he should stick with the cultivation route for now.
When he had reached the time limit, he left the room and bowed slightly to the ancestor, who was waiting at him in front of the door.
"Thank you, ancestor," he politely said, the ancestor making a noncommittal humming noise.
"This is just my investment in you. Maybe in the future, you will help me, who knew?" the ancestor replied.
Ryker nodded before leaving the room, making the ancestor sigh, "That boy sure used a lot of the accumulated energy, huh? Luckily he had not reached the Genesis Core yet or he would drained the past years' accumulation,"
-x-
Ryker was playing with a piece of paper, thinking about an idea that had been going through his head. His action was noticed by his lovers, who all remained close watching him without knowing what he was planning.
Finally, he looked at Era, motioning for her to come close. He whispered something to her, the young woman's eyes widened before going into a deep thought. After a while, she nodded. Ryker gave her a peck on her forehead before leaving the room.
-x-
Solail was surprised when one of his servants told him Ryker asked for a meeting. He was also surprised to get his father while at it. He didn't know what was it about but with him being their respective guest, a lifelong friend of their family, and unofficially considered the family's lucky star, it must be something important.
He reached an empty room, Ryker had been waiting there with a serious look on his face. The patriarch gave a curt nod before taking a seat. Soon, his father arrived, taking a seat next to him.
Ryker quickly started, "You must be wondering why I call you here? Well, I want you to take a look at this," he threw a piece of paper at the two.
They raised their brows before checking it. Their eyes widened as they read the information written on it.
"Is this true?" Solail asked, his mind reeling. If this was true, then it could change a lot of things.
"Most likely. I don't go to the area yet but I have seen something that made me believe the map is the real deal," he replied.
The elder looked at the piece of paper with an inscrutable look. He then looked at Ryker, "What do you want?" he asked, making him smile. Solail's eyes widened as he quickly understood what his father asking.
"If I have my way, I would like to keep all the treasure and resources there for myself. But that would be impossible. Not to mention the location is not that far from the city, it is also located in a region filled with powerful beasts.
There is also the fact if I opened the passage to the treasure's location, some kind of sign might be released, attracting many other cultivators and powerful forces to the area. So, I decided to go with a plan that would net me the most benefits," he explained.
"So, you plan to negotiate with us?" the patriarch asked.
"Yes, and no," seeing their confused expression, he explained more, "I want to get as many forces in Mariz City to enter the treasure's place," seeing how they were about to object, he cut them off, "The way I see it, if the Hal Family monopolize all the treasures, it might lead to some of the more powerful forces to feel jealous and might do something stupid.
However, if the treasure's location is made known to all, then it would be a competition depending on the strength of the family, one that the three Great Families and Noble Family have an advantage on,"
"True, if we try to swallow all of it, then we will be the target of public scrutiny. But if we made it known, then there would be no complaints as it would be based on one person's strength, plus, luck," the patriarch exclaimed.
Ryker smiled, though, it was not fully his idea. He had talked about it to his family about sharing the intel with the Hal Family alone. Both Miriam and Esran had advised him against it, telling him to spread it to all the great forces. In hindsight, their foresight is truly incredible, especially Esran.
"Of course, considering the map belonged to my family, then I would like to get something for selling the information," he said, pointedly looking at the two. It didn't take long for the two leaders to understand his meaning.
"You want to use our connection to sell the copied maps. You knew we would take some kind of compensation," if it was before, he would disdained to ask for something like this. But they would be selling a map about the possible location of an Earth Source Realm expert treasures so they could ask for an exorbitant amount for even a single piece.
"How much do you want to ask for it?" the patriarch asked, bracing for what is most likely a huge amount of resources. Ryker gave his price, making the two people in front of him look at him weirdly.
"That is a lot, but we could ask for more," the patriarch said.
"Of course, that is the price that I will give the Hal Family. For the others, it would be twice as much. Except for the other Great Families and Noble Family. I will waive about 30 percent if they do me a favor, the same thing as well for the Hal Family," hearing he said something about a favor, the two narrowed their eyes before the older of the two asked.
"Explained," Ryker smiled, before telling them about it. Hearing his proposal, the two nodded, "It is something that will make people think about it but they will agree to it. Of course, because you don't ask for help, you must want to do things on your own, am I correct?" the patriarch asked.
"Yes, this is personal. So, I only want to ask them to not intervene when it happens. After all, the capital has already undergone an upheaval so they might not want something to happen with their force.
With me selling the location of a possible treasure trove, they will look the other way, after all, what is a single selfish family to possible treasures belonging to an Earth Source Realm expert,"