"Junior Brother, the biggest problem plaguing our Human Race right now is still the issue of resources." Mi Jinglun sighed from within the Grand Hall of the General Affairs Office. "Over the years, the various Heavens and Paradises have built up some reserves, but with humanity now confined to over a dozen Great Domains, the channels through which we can obtain resources are far too few. Especially now that the number of high-order Open Heaven cultivators among the Human Race is surging year by year — their cultivation demands an enormous amount of resources. Relying alone on the accumulated stocks of the Heavens and Paradises won't hold out for many more years. Last time you brought back a good haul, but that only managed to offset the deficit from constructing the Ink Retreat Platform!"
"When it comes to resources, there's really nothing to it but increasing supply and cutting expenditure. But we are warriors — warriors need resources for cultivation, need resources for healing. How can we cut expenditure? If we actually did that, how could we expect our soldiers to slay enemies on the battlefield, drenched in blood? We can only look for tricks outside the box. Over these years, the War Merit required to exchange for resources at the Supply Division has been climbing every single year. Take a simple Fourth-Order resource for example — compared to a thousand years ago, the War Merit needed has already risen by a full twenty percent! And yet some fool who doesn't run the household has no idea how expensive rice and firewood can be, and comes running to the General Affairs Office to pester me, demanding I lower the exchange prices!"
He was talking about Ouyang Lie. Yang Kai knew about this matter — Ouyang Lie had even sent word to him through others, claiming the prices at the Supply Division were unreasonable and asking him to speak with Mi Jinglun about it.
"Ah!" Mi Jinglun sighed once more. "Do you think I wouldn't want to lower the prices? It's simply impossible! Every last point of War Merit was earned by our soldiers trading their own lives. Each and every one is precious beyond measure. If there were any way, would the General Affairs Office really do this? Unfortunately, there's no perfect solution in this world."
"Then there's increasing supply. Right now, the Human Race has only two channels for obtaining resources: mining from the new Great Domains, and raiding the Ink Clan's resource transport convoys. But the resources in the new domains are also finite — after so many years of mining, I'm afraid they won't last much longer either. Raiding the Ink Clan convoys may be a costless venture, but it comes with enormous risk, and the profits are difficult to stabilize."
In the past, across the Three Thousand Worlds, while there had been no shortage of Open Heaven realm warriors among the Human Race, high-order Open Heaven cultivators were truly rare. High-order Open Heaven had always been the exclusive domain of the Heavens and Paradises, and generation after generation, those who had achieved high-order cultivation were sent to the Ink Battlefield to resist the Ink Clan. Countless numbers had perished there.
So on the whole, the resources circulating in the markets of the Three Thousand Worlds had been sufficient for the Human Race's warriors.
But now the situation was different. Humanity was hemmed in within a dozen-odd Great Domains, the channels for mining resources had shrunk, and the number of high-order Open Heaven cultivators had grown. One increasing and the other decreasing meant that demand for resources had surged dramatically. Though every major Heaven and Paradise had emptied its reserves, it would be difficult to hold out much longer.
Hearing Mi Jinglun's complaints, Yang Kai also realized the severity of the problem. While the issue of resources had always plagued the Human Race, he had never thought too deeply about it before. Only now did he understand that it had become a pressing matter that demanded an immediate solution.
If the day came when humanity's resources ran dry, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Since Senior Brother has brought this up, do you have any solution?" Yang Kai asked gravely.
Mi Jinglun said, "I've given it considerable thought. If we want to resolve this now, we can only look outward. Don't you have a route that leads directly to the Ink Battlefield? I'd like to ask you to send some personnel over there to mine resources at the Ink Battlefield!"
The resources of the Ink Battlefield were vast beyond measure. Within those dead World carcasses lay a wealth of resources. If they could truly go to the Ink Battlefield to mine, it would greatly relieve the pressure of the Human Race's resource demands.
"That can be done!" Yang Kai nodded immediately. "Just arrange it, Senior Brother, and I'll deliver the people when the time comes. But Senior Brother, if they do go there, they'll need powerful protectors. The Ink Clan is also mining resources at the Ink Battlefield — if our people run into them without any strong fighters on our side, they'll suffer losses easily."
Mi Jinglun nodded slightly. "I'll take that into consideration."
Yang Kai rose to his feet. "Then I'll await Senior Brother's orders."
After leaving the General Affairs Office, Yang Kai didn't go far. Instead, he made his way to the Xuanming Domain. In a sense, he was still nominally the Corps Commander of the Xuanming Corps.
Ever since he and Six Arms had first established the agreement that Eighth Order humans and Ink Clan Domain Lords would not enter the fray on the battlefield, the fighting in the Xuanming Domain had never been as intense as before.
Without clashes between the powerhouses of both races, it was at most battles between Lords and Seventh Order cultivators. Everything within the Xuanming Domain was under control.
The rising young talents of both races were making their names on battlefields like the Xuanming Domain, honing themselves. Great battles were rare, but small skirmishes never ceased.
But for someone like Ouyang Lie, an Eighth Order of the Human Race, the days felt tedious and flavorless.
Eighth Order cultivators were not permitted to intervene in battle, yet they needed to remain stationed in the Xuanming Domain as a safeguard against the unexpected. After several thousand years of this, Ouyang Lie had grown bored beyond measure.
Otherwise, he never would have bothered himself with the Supply Division's affairs — it was all born of idleness.
He had requested transfer from the Xuanming Domain multiple times, asking to be sent to the Qingyang Domain or one of the other six domains where Eighth Order cultivators were allowed to fight, but Mi Jinglun had shot down every request!
Ouyang Lie had been so furious he nearly swore a blood oath to sever ties with Mi Jinglun, and on several occasions had seized the pretext to march to the General Affairs Office and berate Mi Jinglun into the ground.
The moment he caught sight of Yang Kai arriving, Ouyang Lie's eyes brimmed with tears. He clamored for Yang Kai to affix his Soul Imprint on the transfer order documents!
The main reason Ouyang Lie had not been transferred out of the Xuanming Domain all these years was that Yang Kai had been elusive as a dragon — head seen but tail never found.
Yang Kai was the Corps Commander of the Xuanming Corps, and Ouyang Lie was one of his subordinate generals. Even if the Human Race's General Affairs Office wanted to reallocate personnel from the Xuanming Corps, they couldn't very well bypass Yang Kai, the Corps Commander — otherwise what was the point of having one?
Mi Jinglun had told Ouyang Lie long ago that as long as he could get Yang Kai to stamp the transfer documents with his Soul Imprint, the General Affairs Office would have no objections whatsoever.
But where was Ouyang Lie supposed to find Yang Kai?
Before this, Yang Kai had been in seclusion at the World Tree, not to be disturbed — and that seclusion had lasted two thousand years. Then, just as word finally reached him that Yang Kai had emerged, Ouyang Lie had rushed back to the Star Boundary only to find Yang Kai long gone once more.