Chapter 229

Chapter 229: Why Pay Back Money Earned with Skill?

Feeling the puzzled gazes of the elders, Ye Chen smiled slightly. “Offering interest is naturally to attract them to deposit their spirit stones in Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment.

“As for the spirit stones deposited by the cultivators, half of them will remain untouched as a withdrawal guarantee to ensure we can provide spirit stones when cultivators want to withdraw.

“The other half will be used as loans, lent to cultivators or major forces, charging them interest!

“For savings, we will offer an interest rate of one ten-thousandth per day.

“In other words, depositing one high-grade spirit stone will earn one low-grade spirit stone in interest each day.

“For loans, we will charge an interest rate of five ten-thousandths per day.

“Borrowing one high-grade spirit stone will accrue an interest of five low-grade spirit stones per day.

“The difference in these rates will be our profit.

“Users can directly borrow money through Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment.

“The main revenue of Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment will come from the interest generated by users borrowing money.”

After finishing, Ye Chen smiled at the elders.

The elders were astonished by the way Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment generated revenue.

Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment even had a borrowing function?

Let cultivators deposit spirit stones, then lend those spirit stones to others.

This idea amazed the elders.

There were pawnshops in the cultivation world that indirectly offer loans.

But the issue was they lend their own spirit stones to others to earn interest.

But their Saint Master’s approach was simply outrageous.

Half for savings, half for lending.

They didn’t even need to use their own spirit stones.

Just acting as a middleman, earning interest effortlessly.

This way of making money was beyond everyone’s imagination.

With interest involved, the elders didn’t mind depositing their spirit stones in Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment.

Although the interest wasn’t high, if they deposited ten thousand high-grade spirit stones,

they could earn one high-grade spirit stone in interest every day without doing anything.

In a year, that’s three to four hundred, enough to do many things.

Why not do it?

But the question was, wouldl there be so many people borrowing spirit stones?

If everyone deposited their spirit stones for the interest, but few cultivators borrow money, their Sacred Land would incur a huge loss.

Paying a substantial amount of interest for nothing.

The Foreign Affairs Elder voiced his concern.

Ye Chen smiled slightly and said, “When borrowing money becomes convenient, the amount of spirit stones borrowed by cultivators will exceed your expectations.

“Seeing a suitable spiritual artifact but lacking one middle-grade spirit stone. Previously, they would give up and buy it later.

“But if they can immediately borrow a middle-grade spirit stone from Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment,

“Do you think they will borrow it?

“For instance, about to break through but lacking enough spirit stones to prepare adequately.

“If they can borrow spirit stones from Heavenly Origin Quick Communication at this time, what do you think they will choose?”

With a few words, Ye Chen made the elders ponder deeply.

Ye Chen’s lips curled into a smile.

If borrowing money was convenient, the number of people choosing to borrow would exceed imagination.

In his previous life, that payment company initially only lent to enterprises.

The annual lending scale was around a trillion.

But after launching applications for personal borrowing, in just one year, the lending scale grew to over ten trillion, increasing more than tenfold.

This showed how high the demand for personal loans was.

Although this was the cultivation world, human nature remains the same.

The result would not differ much.

Seeing the pondering elders, Ye Chen continued, “Not only ordinary cultivators but also major forces are our target customers.

“For example, a force wants to expand its production scale but lacks spirit stones.

“In the past, their only option was to save up until they had enough spirit stones, which would undoubtedly miss opportunities.

“But now, they can borrow spirit stones from us to expand immediately, increasing their income.

“They only need to pay some extra interest.

“What do you think they will choose?”

The elders’ eyes brightened upon hearing this.

Listening to the Saint Master, Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment’s business seemed promising.

At this moment, Elder Wang Changchun excitedly suggested, “Saint Master, you are wise!

“But isn’t the interest too low?

“One high-grade spirit stone accrues only five low-grade spirit stones in interest per day, and we have to give away two, leaving us with only three. It feels like we’re earning too little.

“The pawnshops in the cultivation world charge extremely high interest rates.

“We could follow this tradition!”

The elders nodded in agreement.

Ye Chen’s lips twitched.

These elders have the potential to be capitalists.

Charging exorbitant interest was common practice in the cultivation world.

Borrow ten, get nine, repay thirteen.

In the modern world, this would be considered usury.

But in the cultivation world, it’s standard.

Ye Chen sighed. “You elders are too ruthless!”

The elders: ???

Saint Master, did you just call us ruthless?

Saint Master, did you forget about selling low-grade magical items for a middle-grade spirit stone?

The elders were speechless.

Ye Chen then became serious and said, “The loan interest cannot be too high.

“Exorbitant rates lead to many borrowers defaulting, increasing the bad debt rate.

“It would also damage our reputation.

“A reasonable interest rate benefits both the cultivators and us.

“With a reasonable rate, cultivators can repay the loan, and we can earn steadily.

“Is the low rate unprofitable?

“Indeed, borrowing one high-grade spirit stone for a month only accrues thirty low-grade spirit stones. It doesn’t seem much.

“But quantity brings quality.

“What if Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment lends out a billion high-grade spirit stones? Imagine the daily interest.

“When the amount of money lent reaches a certain scale, the daily interest will be substantial.”

The elders were enlightened.

It seemed their Saint Master wasn’t being ruthless this time.

And his reasoning was sound.

But a new concern arose.

The Foreign Affairs Elder worriedly said, “Saint Master, what if the borrowers don’t repay?

“If it’s a small amount, we can send people to collect the debt.

“Our Heavenly Origin Sacred Land’s powerhouses can recover any debt.

“But if the amount is too large, our Sacred Land might not be able to handle it.

“Not only would we lose the interest, but the principal too!

“If cultivators know their spirit stones are lent out but can’t be recovered, they would panic and withdraw their deposits.

“We wouldn’t just fail to make money, we would actually lose money.”

The elders also grew worried upon hearing this.

Debt collection was a significant issue.

Pawnshops had collateral to rely on. If you didn’t repay the loan, they sold your items and always made a profit.

But what about their Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment?

Ye Chen nodded slightly. “That’s indeed a good question.

“However, I’ve already considered it.

“The Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment, which will go live in three days, won’t have a loan feature yet.

“I’ll add the loan feature once I’ve completed the risk control system and minimized the possibility of bad debts.

“The period before the loan feature is added will give users time to deposit their spirit stones. Without deposits, loans can’t happen.”

Ye Chen hadn’t developed the loan feature yet.

Risk control was a major project that needed to be perfected to ensure profitability.

Otherwise, loans would turn into charity, giving away money.

In his previous life, many small loan companies charged exorbitant interest.

They focused on user interest, but many users targeted their principal.

Once they got the cash, they deleted the app.

No matter how much you urged them, they wouldn’t repay even a cent.

Money borrowed through skill — why repay it?

Some villages even had everyone take out loans, causing numerous small loan companies to go bankrupt.

This was the consequence of poor risk control.

Risk control was even more critical in the cultivation world.

With many dangers in the cultivation world, if someone died, who would repay the loan?

All these factors needed to be addressed before the loan feature could be added.

“You don’t need to worry about the borrowing feature!

“Besides storing and withdrawing spirit stones, Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment supports online payments.

“It also supports remote transfer.

“For example, if your friend is far away in Huoyan City and suddenly needs spirit stones, but you’re too far to lend them directly.

“With Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment, you can enter their communication ID and name to transfer spirit stones instantly.

“No delay. It reaches them in one second.

“Elders sending spirit stones to juniors cultivating in sects used to have to travel personally, which was risky. Now, even with express delivery, it takes two to three days and incurs extra fees.

“With Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment, all these hassles are eliminated, and the spirit stones go directly into the recipient’s account.

“They can then use it for online shopping or withdraw it as they please, which is incredibly convenient.”

In essence, Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment was a combination of online payment and banking from his previous life.

With nearly three thousand Heavenly Origin Pavilions established, they served as bank branches.

The elders’ eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Listening to the Saint Master, Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment sounded like an excellent application.

Once the loan feature was perfected, they could make money effortlessly.

It would be incredibly satisfying.

Seeing no more questions from the elders, Ye Chen assigned tasks, “Ensure that all Heavenly Origin Pavilions are prepared for deposits and withdrawals.

“Standardize the deposit and withdrawal procedures.

“In three days, Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment will officially launch.

“We will run a promotion at launch. All payments made through Cloud Flash Payment will get a 2% discount!

“Whether it’s the Immortal Net Auction House, Immortal Net Cloud Classroom, online shopping, or delivery fees!

“All Heavenly Origin Quick Communication services will get a 2% discount if paid through Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment!”

Promotional activities were necessary.

On Earth, there was a tradition of saving money in banks.

But when online payments first emerged, they struggled to gain traction.

People were wary of depositing their money online, fearing a crash and losing their principal.

In the cultivation world, cultivators would have even greater concerns.

Thus, not only must interest be offered, but also discounts.

Various incentives were needed to get cultivators to use Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment and become accustomed to online payments.

Once they used it frequently and felt secure, they would naturally be willing to deposit their spirit stones in Immortal Net Cloud Flash Payment to earn interest!