The furious demon god…
Judging by the intensity of its effects, it was definitely red-grade.
The problem was that it was an item!
Everyone knew that item enhancements usually had explosive effects, far beyond what their assigned grade would indicate. Their effects were always beyond-grade.
However, the enhancement effects of items usually had a time limit, or to put it more directly, they were consumables.
Gao Ming's card was extremely valuable.
Upon use, it could completely boost his strength by two tiers, but only for 15 minutes.
In terms of effect, Bai Ye made a huge profit.
In terms of cost-effectiveness, Gao Ming clearly swindled Bai Ye.
However, a black-grade item…
These were Bai Ye's own words. Black-grade items were considered black items, so there was no issue with that. Moreover, Bai Ye wasn't looking to make a profit by trading with Gao Ming.
After receiving the item, Bai Ye said, "The martial arts region I mentioned has a place called Ju Xian Manor. Once the restricted zone is triggered, it becomes Blood Battle at Ju Xian Manor."
Gao Ming asked, "What are the trigger conditions?"
Bai Ye replied, "You go and stake out the entrance of Ju Xian Manor. Kill all the riders who come out of the manor. You can get Hero's Post from them. With the Hero's Post, you can trigger the Blood Battle at Ju Xian Manor."
Gao Ming nodded and asked, "Anything else I need to pay attention to?"
Bai Ye said, "The quest is bidirectional. You can help the Heroes, or help Qiao Feng. If you want the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, help Qiao Feng. Otherwise, you can stand with the Heroes. The You brothers' dual shields are also considered first-class martial arts, and they are black-grade. More importantly, they have a son named You Tan Zhi."
Gao Ming inquired, "What's so special about this You Tan Zhi?"
"He has nothing to do with this restricted zone," Bai Ye chuckled. "If you're interested, we can discuss it later. I can only tell you that the martial art You Tan Zhi mastered is the golden-grade Ice Silkworm Poison Palm."
Gao Ming fell into thought.
Bai Ye was essentially telling him that he needed to make a choice.
Firstly, he was guaranteed to obtain a black-grade martial art.
However, helping Qiao Feng meant a chance to obtain the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, which were an ultimate-grade martial art. Helping the You brothers meant a chance to obtain the Ice Silkworm Poison Palm.
The Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms were undeniably more powerful. However, all ultimate-grade martial arts were incomplete fragments. On the surface, they appeared to be golden-grade, but the power of fragmented scrolls was greatly reduced.
Whereas the Ice Silkworm Poison Palm was clearly complete in one volume.
Bai Ye sat down beside him and asked, "How long will it take you to gather your forces?"
Gao Ming snapped back to attention, looked at Bai Ye, and tentatively asked, "How many people do you think will be needed?"
Bai Ye smacked his lips. He only wanted to sell the restricted zone, not act as a consultant.
However, Bai Ye did have intentions of forming a connection with the Evil Spirit Group.
Bai Ye wished to accelerate the progress of the World Battlefield. The three major powers were unavoidable. Selling the restricted zone was also an attempt to help the Evil Spirit Group develop faster, so they could confront the Hidden Dragon Society sooner.
Only when the two major powers clashed would the progress of the World Battlefield likely accelerate.
Bai Ye intended to give the Evil Spirit Group a boost, but simply giving them a restricted zone would hardly affect the overall situation.
Therefore, Bai Ye's intention was to use this opportunity to establish a long-term relationship with the Evil Spirit Group.
In that case…
He would be a consultant then!
"The value of this restricted zone lies in these two paths. Normally, one would choose the Ice Silkworm Poison Palm. The difficulty with ultimate-grade martial arts lies in collecting fragmented scrolls, which requires spending a lot of time in the martial arts region. The Ice Silkworm Poison Palm, on the other hand, is much simpler; you just need to follow the You brothers' storyline."
"The subsequent difficulty and complexity of both paths determine the overall difficulty of the restricted zone itself. Helping Qiao Feng is certainly more difficult, while helping the You brothers is simpler."
Gao Ming asked, "So, we should choose the You brothers?"
Bai Ye smiled and said, "The question you asked me earlier was how many people would be needed."
Gao Ming was stunned. That's right, Bai Ye's answer seemed unrelated to his question.
Bai Ye continued, "Based on my analysis, do you think choosing the You brothers is more suitable? While the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms are good, everyone knows that collecting them completely is too difficult."
Gao Ming nodded. At that moment, he had indeed thought so.
"Congratulations, everyone else thinks so too," Bai Ye said, patting Gao Ming's shoulder with a smile. "The martial arts region isn't very popular, and there are no neutral zones near Ju Xian Manor. So, estimating, it should be about forty to fifty chosen ones sent into the restricted zone."
Gao Ming was not an idiot. After being subtly guided by Bai Ye, he more or less understood the implication.
At the same time, his gaze towards Bai Ye held a hint of apprehension and fear.
Gao Ming had actually asked how many people were needed to complete the restricted zone quest, while Bai Ye was telling Gao Ming that most people would choose the You brothers' faction.
Then, the answer became clear.
To kill more people, one had to choose Qiao Feng's faction.
And how many people would the Evil Spirit Group need to dispatch to kill all forty to fifty chosen ones?
Their lines of thought were completely different.
And Bai Ye's line of thought made Gao Ming feel afraid.
Although this was bound to happen, and controlling restricted zones was naturally for killing people to obtain more God Stone fragments, and what the Hidden Dragon Society did, their Evil Spirit Group would also do.
However, sometimes the fact that something would happen was one thing, and being able to say it so casually was another.
Gao Ming took a deep breath and said, "I will arrange for personnel as soon as possible. Please wait a moment."
Bai Ye waved his hand indifferently. "I'll wait here."
Gao Ming nodded and proceeded to make contact.
If this matter were handled by the Hidden Dragon Society, it might have been arranged quickly. However, the Evil Spirit Group was newly established and clearly did not have many personnel yet, nor could they cover too many areas.
However, since Gao Ming was recruiting at the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps, it indicated that the Evil Spirit Group likely had some people in the surrounding areas. Even if there were no one in the martial arts region, they could dispatch people from the supernatural region.
Boredly, he accompanied Gao Ming as they guarded the standees. After about three hours…
Gao Ming looked at Bai Ye and said, "We've triggered the restricted zone. The quest is exactly as you described."
Bai Ye smiled and asked, "The rewards are also the same, right?"
Gao Ming nodded.
Bai Ye said, "Then, the transaction is complete. I can leave now, correct?"
"Of course, of course," Gao Ming quickly agreed. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "May I presume to ask, for the restricted zone in the primordial domain, what is the reward for the quest?"
Bai Ye replied, "A red-grade ability."
Gao Ming exclaimed in surprise, "A red-grade one?"
"That was a fairly large-scale restricted zone, conservatively estimated to involve over two hundred people," Bai Ye said. "Therefore, that restricted zone cannot be opened at the moment, and I cannot prove that everything I said is true."