1125: Dynamics of the azure sapphire kingdom (1) 1125: Dynamics of the azure sapphire kingdom (1) “What’s his cultivation realm?” Yang Qing muttered as he continued reading through Li Gang’s file.
The report didn’t contain much, only the baseline details the Flying Shadow Hawk had on him—his cultivation realm, his position, and when he joined the company.
Li Gang was a second-stage palace realm expert.
While that didn’t place him among the upper echelons of the Vast Blue rchant Company, it still granted him considerable influence.
Despite its renown, Vast Blue was ultimately a rank-three organization, with its strongest mbers only reaching the late stages of the palace realm.
From the file Yang Qing had, none of them had reached the peak stage.
The company’s most powerful mber was at the tenth stage, followed by two at the ninth and another at the eighth.
Including those four, the company had a total of eighteen palace realm experts—ten in the middle stage or above, while the remaining eight, Li Gang among them, were at the early stages.
Within such a lineup, Li Gang’s second-stage strength gave him so standing within the organization, and his assignnt as Yue State’s branch manager made sense.
Still, Yang Qing couldn’t shake the thought that a middle-stage palace realm expert, or at least an early-stage cultivator who had reached the fourth stage, would have been a more fitting choice for such a lucrative territory.
But then again, the continent was vast—imnsely so.
As lucrative as Yue State was, there were plenty of places just as profitable, if not more, and perhaps that was where the Vast Blue rchant Company concentrated its higher echelons.
After reading further into Li Gang’s file, Yang Qing finally understood why he had been stationed in Yue State—he was a native.
Born and raised there, he had deep roots in the region.
That alone had likely played a role in his assignnt, even back when he was just an eighth-stage core formation expert.
After all, there were tis when a local snake was mightier in its own territory than a visiting dragon.
Being a rchant, at its core was built on relationships, and being a local of Yue State, gave Li Gang an edge over the rest in the form of the relationships he had built.
So it made sense for him to be assigned the post.
But beyond that, nothing in his file explained why he would do sothing as uncharacteristic as outsourcing the transportation of the heart-quenching mulberry dew.
The risks involved were too great, risks he could have easily avoided had he used the other ans available to him.
A thoughtful look appeared on Yang Qing’s face as he mulled over the possibilities.
Factional dispute, maybe?
For an organization as prominent and wealthy as Vast Blue—especially as a rchant company—it wouldn’t be surprising for it to have internal strife and competition.
If such things were common even in sects that claid to have their eyes and hearts set on the Dao, then how much more would there be in a rchant organization that pursued profit above all else?
The report did confirm that competition existed among its mbers, particularly the branch managers, which was to be expected.
The company likely operated on a rit system based on earnings.
However, while the competition was intense, it wasn’t to the extent that a branch manager would gamble with a precious resource.
“Maybe the updated report will have sothing,” Yang Qing muttered as he shelved the matter for the mont and reached for the next talisman—the one containing information about the Azure Sapphire Kingdom.
Of all the information he had requested, this was the only one that was up to date.
As he picked up the talisman, he paused briefly, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face.
“I should have ten or so hours before the tiline Fan i gave for sorting out the commission,” he murmured, the thought dispelling whatever hesitation remained.
Just like before, the mont the talisman finished transmitting all its recorded information, it vanished.
Yang Qing closed his eyes as he slowly started going through the information.
Since he wasn’t going into it blind, having already known a few bits and pieces about the Azure Sapphire Kingdom, he quickly sifted through the introductory part of it, before finally arriving at the at of it, which was what he really needed: the kingdom’s current structure, particularly in terms of power dynamics.
The long and volatile conflict between the royal family and the noble families hadn’t just devastated the royal family’s Azure Sapphire Mountain—the nobles had suffered fractures as well.
Their situation only worsened when infighting broke out after the royal family sealed itself off, forcing a stalemate.
Before the kingdom plunged into war, it had been ho to twenty-seven noble families.
However, after the pyrrhic and calamitous conflict, that number had dwindled to thirteen.
Of the original twenty-seven, eight noble families had fallen in the battle against the royal family—an undeniable testant to how brutal the fight had been and how formidable the royal family was.
The remaining six perished when the nobles turned on each other, leaving only thirteen survivors.
Danger and fortune always went hand in hand—a truth proven ti and again in this world, where every tale of treasure and wealth was accompanied by a staggering death toll.
Countless cultivators had perished or been grievously injured in their pursuit of fortune, and the sa held true for the nobles of the Azure Sapphire Kingdom.
A great of their numbers had fallen over the years because of the wars, but in exchange, those that survived it were levels stronger to their prior abilities.
Those thirteen noble families that remained were far more dangerous both individually and collectively than they had ever been when they were twenty-seven.
Constant battles, ever-present dangers, and the absorption of resources and territories from fallen houses had propelled them to new heights of power.
Among them, five families stood above the rest, having made the greatest leaps in strength.
These five were now known as the Five Great Noble Families of the Azure Sapphire Kingdom: the Zhong, Peng, Sha, Kang, and Wan families.
Even though he had half-expected it, Yang Qing was still surprised to see the Wan family—Bai Chen’s connection—listed among the kingdom’s Great Noble Families.
But considering what he had heard from Liu Ying about the Wan family head, it made perfect sense.
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