Chapter 129: Offering a Sacrifice

“In our current situation, isn’t thinking about making money off of perfume a bit farfetched?” Hei Juan looked at the excited Zi Di, the corner of his mouth twitching somewhat, “We still need to leave this island alive.”

“Yes, yes.” Many people endorsed Hei Juan.

Zi Di’s excited eyes scared them a little.

Nevertheless Zhen Jin was pondering inwardly, Zi Di’s proposal had actually made his heartbeat faster. Because the Bai Zhen Clan suffered isolation and suppression, and with a vast ocean separating them, even if they could assist Zhen Jin, he feared any help would not come in time.

When Zhen Jin reached White Sands City in the future, it is only natural that the more gold coins he had on hand, the better. Zhen Jin only had one slave, Lan Zao. Everyone else required a salary. If he became White Sand City’s Lord, building a new city and operating it needed a large amount of invested funds.

Blindly relying on the clan was unacceptable, it would be best if Zhen Jin could be self-sufficient and even fund his clan.

Unlike those who were worried, Zhen Jin knew the truth.

“I have the core, the more time I have, the stronger I become! The main threat on this island are the magic beasts. But these magic beasts, with regards to me, are already becoming increasingly weaker.”

“The impression of a divine scion knight has already had a real impact on the people. In the future when I transform in front of everyone, as long as it’s to a finite degree, it won’t arouse suspicions in others.”

“The two blue dog fox wolves are already dead. Currently the entire group is very safe, the sole worry is the teleportation……”

In the tent, Zhen Jin was the one most affected by Zi Di’s proposal.

The young knight looked at the girl’s purple eyes, his gaze exposing his appreciation.

“Perhaps my fiancé learned medicine in order to study how perfumes are made?”

“Danger contains opportunities. I would have never though the blue dog fox wolf’s perfume could be such a business opportunity! Zi Di deserves to be called the President of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance.”

Zhen Jin’s thoughts lingered in his mind, however he still remained silent and did not stand by Zi Di.

Upon seeing no one supporting her, Zi Di immediately said: “Then don’t bother with money making or popular commodities, in order to increase our chances of survival, I believe it is still necessary to capture a blue dog fox wolf alive. As long as I have the perfume as a basis, I can make a corresponding compound that can subdue other magic beasts or destroy the effects of the blue dog fox wolf’s perfume, either would be extremely helpful.”

Everyone remained silent.

If Zi Di had not said such strange things either, they definitely would have approved profusely.

But now, everyone understood Zi Di’s true intentions.

Cang Xu coughed: “As far as I know, all high grade perfumes are magic potions. Their refinement costs are very high, require alchemists and pharmacists, and even need to use magician towers as workshops. Perfume storage and transportation costs are also enormous, besides the target market is only limited to nobles and the upper class.

Zi Di immediately retorted: “This is a magic potion!”

She pointed at the wolf corpse: “Don’t tell me you think that is an ordinary fragrance? Can an ordinary fragrance influence a silver level magic beast? Or even many at once? The blue dog fox wolf should have abundant magic power that far exceeds any other silver level magic beast. It is precisely because of its internal magic power, that it can make such a perfume.”

“Hold on, doesn’t the blue dog fox wolf lack an internal magic crystal? It cannot balance the magic power in its body.” Someone immediately refuted.

Zi Di shook her head: “It is not actively using it, rather it is doing so passively. It is like using a magic material to a shallow degree. Building on this analogy, it is like Zong Ge’s bone white hammer and Lord Zhen Jin’s spider blade. As a result, pure magic was not combined to make the perfume, rather it uses the magic power accumulated in some material. Such as the blue dog fox wolf’s blood? Or its internal moisture?’

“When Lord Zhen Jin brought back information, he saw the blue dog fox wolf kill and eat a silver level flying squirrel leader. At the time, I found that quite strange. Thinking about it now, it is very possible the blue dog fox wolf needed to replenish its magic power to process more perfume in its body. Based on the blue dog fox wolf’s intelligence, it understands the benefits of keeping the silver level squirrel leader. But it still chose to eat it, doing so must have had more benefits than detriments, otherwise it wouldn’t have done that.”

Everyone’s expressions became solemn, Zi Di’s analysis was reasonable.

The purple eyed girl then excitedly said: “If it is like this, then we don’t need to hire alchemists and pharmacists, employing them is too costly. Loyalty is also a crucial thing, as long as the enticement is big enough, even the most tightly protected medical formula will be leaked.”

“We only need to keep many blue dog fox wolves to make their perfume. We can even gather and sell the base perfume directly, or perhaps add some alcohol into the mixture.”

“Eh……the cost of feeding might be high, but as long as a blue dog fox wolf eats magic beast meat, it can produce perfume. After a comprehensive calculation, our perfume manufacturing costs should be lower than normal producers.”

“Our raw materials, transportation, and manufacturing costs are bigger. However as long as we control the blue dog fox wolf, the source of the perfume, we can monopolize this kind of perfume. A monopoly makes business simple, because we can set the perfume’s price.

“Huge profits give leeway; it allows us to travel a high-end route and create a luxury good. As we walk this path, we can make complimentary soaps and shampoos, creating a plethora of goods to display.”

“This is something well worth doing!”

“Perfume is already popular among upper class humans, in the wake of war and trade, we can spread our perfume to the upper class of other continents; like the Lava Continent, the Life Continent, the Secluded Devil Continent, and even the Wilderness Continent.”

“The perfume market is very vast!”

Zi Di words were confident and frank.

Everyone was dumbfounded, why had the subject returned to this again?

Everyone looked at the wolf corpse, feeling an unexpected and inexplicable bitterness from it.

The blue dog fox wolf had been a huge threat to them, and it was a crafty enemy. Zhen Jin and Zong Ge seemed like heroes going through a challenge when they had used all of their strength to kill one.

This kind of existence ought to be shown sufficient respect, but this young president now considered it a source of easy money.

“It's a pity, a real pity. I cannot study the perfume with a dead blue dog fox wolf.”

“If we can capture one alive, I can extract its perfume and conduct a series of tests.”

“Hold on my Lord, isn’t there still one alive?”

Zi Di’s eyes glistened.

Everyone was in a somewhat strange mood, after hearing Zi Di’s analysis, it seemed having a blue dog fox wolf still alive was a good thing?

“No, I already converted that one.” Zhen Jin shook his head internally, then he opened his mouth, “The magic beast corps is formidable, we have to fight them while simultaneously struggling to grab their commander. That is very troublesome. Currently, everything is for survival. Only by surviving, is everything else possible.”

Zhen Jin’s words made everyone nod and let them breathe in relief.

Everyone somewhat understood Zi Di’s nature, and at this moment, they felt the young knight was more reliable.

“If this wolf corpse does not have much value, I wish to offer as a sacrifice to my master, Grand Emperor Sheng Ming.” Said Zhen Jin.

The atmosphere in the tent immediately turned solemn.

“Of course!” After reacting, Cang Xu was the first to reply.

Zhen Jin looked at Zong Ge, the latter immediately smiled and said: “Templar knight, this is your spoil of war.”

Although Zi Di wanted to dismember the wolf corpse into potion materials, she supported Zhen Jin without the slightest hesitation: “Our survival and victory was all thanks to Emperor Sheng Ming’s protection, we indeed should sacrifice to him!”

Even Hei Juan suggested: “We must build an altar, then hold a sacrificial ceremony. It’s a pity we don’t have a priest to preside over it.”

This is a world of gods, even if some don’t believe in them, they are respected deeply.

Sacrificial offerings were common, one can say they even happen frequently. In humans, beastmen, fishmen, and other races, there exist many sacrificial ceremonies for all sorts of gods, the absolute majority of which have already become traditional festivals.

There are many exquisite things involved when giving offerings to the gods.

Usually a particular god has distinct tastes when it comes to offerings.

The drow race’s main god is the Spider god, it likes trials by fire, if the trials by fire succeed, the corpses of others from them are the best offering to it.

Humanity’s Great Duke Mai Xiang is also a living god, his believers offer the first of their rice crops on his altar.

Offerings are not limited to materialistic things.

For example, every Dharma Great Duke is one of humanity’s greatest magicians while simultaneously being one of the living gods. Believers that give them new research can usually receive their rewards and even concern.

Offerings can also be some kind of action.

For instance, in beastmen tribes, sacrificial ceremonies are usually used to start a war against other tribes. Regardless of the result, all wars were the best sacrifices to these gods.

As far as Emperor Sheng Ming was concerned, he was a god of wisdom, light, and victory.

His believers after obtaining a great victory, as an individual or as a legion, will use their outstanding military service as an offering. After building a simple altar or temple, they will hold a large amount of sacrificial ceremonies and wholeheartedly praise Emperor Sheng Ming. The larger the sacrifices, the number of participants, pious believers, and outstanding military services, the more Emperor Sheng Ming pays attention and promotes the priest overseeing it, he even might bestow his godly favor.

Sacrificial offerings were normal and often a serious affair.

As a divine scion knight, Zhen Jin wanting to sacrifice the blue dog fox wolf to Emperor Sheng Ming was very normal.

Everyone not only understood this, but also suggested: build an altar, hold a sacrificial ceremony, and include other beast corpses in the offering.

Everyone was afraid of neglecting the gods.

But Zhen Jin shook his head: “After escaping this place, I will hold a vast sacrificial ceremony in White Sands City. But doing so now is out of the question!”

“My master is a wise god; he would be disappointed if he saw me squander valuable manpower right now.”

“I will offer a sacrifice alone, this wolf corpse is not the best offering, but it is still a suitable one.”

“The other magic beast corpse should serve as magic potion materials, weapon materials, or as food.”

No one had any objections. 

Notes

Everyone is afraid of neglecting the gods, but no one minds when the gods neglect them near constantly. It’s all a pyramid scheme to collect resources in the end I suppose. Gods cannot exist or operate without belief, so they simply trick the masses into giving them their accumulated power and knowledge in exchange for some choice rewards. If the gods were truly benevolent, this world would be far different.