Chapter 4411 — A Rich Reward Makes a Brave Man
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
At Wei Zhao's question, the escorts of the Sky-Holding Escort Agency all turned their eyes to Qi Wenmo as well. Chief Escort Qi Mingyuan was seated on the platform as a judge, so the disposition of forces for this gathering had fallen entirely upon the young master Qi Wenmo, and with it the future and fate of them all.
"Brother Ling asks well. At every Southern Continent Escort Gathering, though the forms of competition differ, the agencies that ultimately achieve good results have all employed one and the same strategy—without exception." Qi Wenmo smiled somewhat mysteriously.
"Oh?" Wei Zhao's interest was piqued.
"The strategy is simple enough: a rich reward makes a brave man!" Qi Wenmo glanced at the escorts around them, lowered his voice, and confided to Wei Zhao: "The old master gave his instructions long ago—no sparing the prize money in this contest. That's why I began making preparations well in advance. Otherwise, would I have needed to scrape and borrow so long to pay back that three hundred thousand spirit jade we lost to the Hong family last time?"
Wei Zhao was suddenly enlightened. So it really had been preparation long in the making.
"Listen well, everyone! In this round, whether you defend or raid, win or lose, any man of our agency who takes the field will receive a reward of fifty thousand spirit jade!" Qi Wenmo announced to them all.
The moment the words fell, the escorts of the Sky-Holding Escort Agency drew a collective sharp breath, and even Wei Zhao felt somewhat shaken. Fifty thousand spirit jade was no small sum; many an escort could toil desperately for over a decade and still never amass such savings. The Qi father and son had truly spared no expense!
Yet on reflection, in a killing contest this cruel, every contestant who stepped onto the field was staking his life, and once on the field it meant nine chances of death to one of life. This was no idle talk—without sufficient profit, who would willingly risk his life for nothing?
Only under a rich reward would men become deathsworn. Nor was it only the Sky-Holding Escort Agency; the rewards the other agencies present offered their contestants were all incomparably generous. To contend for a good ranking at this Southern Continent Escort Gathering, this was the barest minimum of outlay.
Of course, for the various agencies this outlay was not entirely without return—quite the contrary. If one could win in the contests, and even cut a brilliant figure, the returns would be far richer than ordinary folk could imagine.
This referred not to the contest prizes, but to the great merchant guilds specially invited to witness the proceedings on site. All of them had made verbal commitments beforehand: many of their large orders to come would be signed on the spot with the agencies of the winning side!
When that time came, the interests involved would be far from a matter of a few tens of thousands of spirit jade—they would be nothing short of astronomical, enough to sway the rise or fall of any escort agency whatsoever. Even the Five Great Agencies were no exception.
These orders were not only astonishingly profitable but directly determined market share—crucial, in a word. So Qi Mingyuan and Qi Wenmo, father and son, even if only to preserve this influence, had to spare no expense and strive for certain victory!
Fifty thousand spirit jade! Faced with such a lavish reward, the escorts of the Sky-Holding Escort Agency one and all began to breathe heavily. To be sure, every other agency had likewise offered generous rewards, but those reaching the figure of fifty thousand spirit jade were few and far between.