Book 7: Chapter 67: Infernal (1)

As Dyon was finally preparing to leave toward Chaos Universe, an uproar was blazing through the martial world, unbeknownst to him.The first bit of news sounded the death of former Head Void and the instatement of his son, Kaori Void as the new head of the kitsune clan.How this news became public knowledge was truly baffling, especially considering the fact that Kaori sealed the clan and recalled all youths in training back. Even Kaori would have been stunned to know that this had somehow become common knowledge… However, with a bit of thought, he would have understood exactly how this happened.In the end, it was too late to stop the spread of news. The death of a clan head from a top 30 quadrant wasn’t anything to ignore, however Kaori’s swift action stopped the Shruti from being able to take advantage.All kitsune withdrew from the tower, returning to their home quadrant and stopping the enemy’s ability to use them as leverage or spies for their clans.After this, the kitsune withdrew their armies from gates that bordered their and the Shruti’s territory.According to reports, instead of fighting for gates, Kaori directly commanded the release of all tower ownerships but one. On the surface, this move seemed stupid, but even Aritzia Sapientia’s eyes glowed with a fierce light when she read the reports.If the kitsune only had to defend one tower for every gate the Shruti could attack from, that meant that they could apply the least amount of manpower to achieve the best benefits.And, even if the Shruti managed to conquer that final tower, so what? The Shruti would still have to then attack on kitsune soil. Something they weren’t ready to do. No one wanted to fight pyric wars, which was why campaigns were mostly just used to temper young geniuses.When clans began to realize that the Sapientia News Network was useful for more than just giving updates on the latest gossip and could actually be used for keeping tabs on the large movements of important clans, subscriptions skyrocketed.If Dyon had known about this, he would have laughed like a little girl. In just a few months, profits jumped from just 10 to 20 dao stones, to over 100 a month!This was a true blessing in disguise. The Sapientia suddenly understood that what Clans values most wasn’t information on the latest fight between the Masked Wife Stealer and his love rivals, but rather practical news about movements of clans and large corporations.Because this realization dawned upon them, when Clara presented phase two, their resistance was far less than it would have been before.With the implementation of phase two, a new tier of subscriptions would be included on a clan to clan and sect to sect basis instead of individual.By paying a hefty fee per month, clans could create what Clara called a “forum”. Using this “forum”, they could post job listings for experts in combat, formation theory, alchemy and so on. In addition, they could also provide rewards for information they needed and missions they wanted completed.Originally, the Sapientia would have been opposed to this idea. This was because it would have given various clans and sects dominions of their own over something the Sapientia wanted to control exclusively. But, by presenting it just when they felt the greed for increased profits, Clara’s idea weeded its way through with ease.Surprisingly, the first organizations to sign up were assassin organizations. The convenience of using the Internet over back alleys was clearly the most useful to them. Coupling this with the fact the Sapientia promised perfect anonymity, and the fact everyone knew the Sapientia were famous for neutrality, and even those big underworld bosses felt at ease.Even though the fee for even the lowest tier of “forum” was 100 dao stones, these organizations paid without blinking an eye.Information networks soon followed suit, unwilling to be left behind. Although the Sapientia News Network provided the news, in order to keep their unbiased stance, they could only publish information that was relatively benign.For example, they could publish about the Emperor Giant Clan’s young master being embarrassed. But they couldn’t do so if it was the actual Head of the Emperor Giant Clan. They had to draw a line that was impossible to cross over.However, various famous information networks like Lotus Vein and Enigmatic Tunnels had no such reservations and released information wantonly on a tier-based system.The Sapientia higher ups had their eyes light up when they saw just how effective this second phase was for them. Not only were the profits mind numbing, they could by proxy receive information on every quadrant without paying a single dime.Next, another surprising contestant stepped up to the plate. Some of the most famous brothels began to promote their events and push new virgin belles they had recently acquired on their own forums. Sometimes the betting on the virginities of these maidens would reach millions of celestial stones, causing the Den Mothers of these establishments to faint of happiness.This wasn’t even the end of profits either. Every transaction had to be done anonymously, which meant that the only establishment they could rely on was Sapientia Bank. For every transaction made, the Sapientia were able to take a small percentage for handling fees, causing their revenue to balloon to new heights.However, all of this didn’t mean that individuals stopped being interested in the normal SNN… In fact, this was proven quite soon as a bomb shell was dropped on the martial world.Madeleine Sacharro, with a cultivation age of less than 12 years old, shattered the saint barrier and became a true celestial realm cultivator…