Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Overseas Business! Monopoly of the Giants!

Yan Bailu felt particularly ashamed at this moment.

In the hearts of cultivators in Mingwang Province, the cultivation world of Great Yan Province had always been considered inferior to Mingwang Province.

Yet, as the leader of the Celestial Sword Sect, she still couldn’t afford the price even after Ye Chen lowered it repeatedly.

Looking at the Sacred Land’s abundant floating immortal mountains, she felt even more embarrassed when she thought about the humble appearance of the Celestial Sword Sect.

The comparison was truly painful…

Ye Chen listened to Yan Bailu’s explanation, nodding thoughtfully.

Mingwang Province was the largest province in the entire cultivation world, with a market of hundreds of billions of cultivators, and nearly fifty Sacred Lands, great sects, and transcendent forces like dynasties.

Thus, the competition in Mingwang Province’s consumer market was particularly fierce.

The Celestial Sword Sect had an especially pure heritage, focusing solely on swords. However, their skills in the other six techniques of cultivation, such as alchemy and formation, were very average.

Although the Celestial Sword Sect excelled in sword crafting, the swords they made were exclusive mind swords, which were in harmony with the intent of the refiner and could not be sold to others.

This led the Celestial Sword Sect to rely on mining veins and secret realm production to survive.

As everyone knows, selling materials yields the lowest profits.

Despite low income, the Celestial Sword Sect’s expenses were extremely high.

The materials required to craft mind swords were incredibly expensive, and without these swords, disciples couldn’t learn the sect’s heritage.

The Celestial Sword Sect had to cover the cost of their disciples’ mind sword materials, which consumed most of their revenue.

Adding other miscellaneous expenses, they could barely maintain a balance between income and expenditure.

Thus, as the sect leader of the Celestial Sword Sect and a late-stage Deity Transformation cultivator, Yan Bailu was in a particularly miserable situation, having only 200,000 high-grade spirit stones on hand.

Ye Chen pondered over this.

Yan Bailu, feeling embarrassed, looked at Ye Chen and said, “Saint Master Ye, I know it’s unreasonable to request paying only 200,000 upfront.

“I’ll give Saint Master Ye 200,000 high-grade spirit stones first, and please don’t sell the vertical eye of the Golden Lion King to anyone else. In 30 years… no, 50 years, I’ll return with 2 million high-grade spirit stones to complete the purchase.

“Is that acceptable?”

Ye Chen heard this and smiled, shaking his head.

Yan Bailu’s eyes dimmed, realizing she might not have a chance.

As for taking it by force? Yan Bailu disdained such actions, and besides, although the Heavenly Origin Sacred Land had no Great Advanement cultivators, it did have an immortal weapon.

Even if her Great Advancement elders came, they would be walking to their deaths.

Disappointed, Yan Bailu was about to take her leave, sighing lightly in her heart, lamenting how poverty stifled ambition.

She made up her mind to find a profitable path for the Celestial Sword Sect when she returned, determined not to embarrass herself again like this.

However, Ye Chen’s voice rang out at that moment:

“I’ve already instructed the elder to fetch the vertical eye. It will be brought here shortly.

“Master Yan can take the vertical eye first. As for the spirit stones, consider them a debt.”

Yan Bailu was stunned upon hearing this.

The next moment, a cultivator arrived in the grand hall.

It was the internal affairs elder who had welcomed her earlier.

He held a jade box in his hands and offered it to her.

When the lid was opened, a single eye lay quietly in the jade box.

A wave of eerie energy instantly filled the entire hall, seemingly capable of captivating one’s soul.

Yan Bailu, surprised and delighted, was also a bit puzzled.

When did Saint Master Ye send a transmission to the elder?

Her divine sense was strong, but she hadn’t sensed anything.

But there was no time to think about this now.

This vertical eye was precisely what she needed.

The eerie energy emanating from it was even denser than she had imagined, proving that the Golden Lion King’s Three-Eyed Divine Lion bloodline was incredibly strong.

If she could refine it into her sword formation, its power would be greatly enhanced.

Yan Bailu’s lively eyes were filled with equal parts longing and hesitation.

Ye Chen had been so generous and trusting, but she felt a bit uneasy.

After all, the vertical eye was worth a fortune.

How could she just take it?

She hesitated and looked at Ye Chen, saying, “Thank you, Saint Master Ye, for your trust, but I…”

Ye Chen waved his hand, “No need to decline, Master Yan. I trust your character!”

Yan Bailu smiled bitterly upon hearing this.

Her character wasn’t in question — she would definitely repay any debt she owed.

But the issue wasn’t whether she wanted to repay it, but whether she could.

Surely, she wouldn’t drag it out for thirty or fifty years.

Ye Chen chuckled, “Master Yan, are you worried about not being able to repay the spirit stones?”

Yan Bailu nodded, embarrassed.

Ye Chen snapped his fingers, “How about we collaborate? I have a business venture in mind, and if we work together, the profits could be substantial.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Bailu hesitated and shook her head, “Thank you for the offer, Saint Master Ye, but we’re too far apart, so it wouldn’t be convenient.”

Looking at the extravagant spiritual energy and the thirty floating immortal mountains of the Heavenly Origin Sacred Land, it was indeed absurdly luxurious.

This indicated that the Heavenly Origin Sacred Land must have some highly lucrative businesses.

However, Mingwang Province was even more prosperous, full of countless opportunities.

Her elders and disciples would surely be reluctant to come to Great Yan Province.

Ye Chen smiled, “Don’t worry, Master Yan, this business doesn’t require your Celestial Sword Sect’s cultivators to come to Great Yan Province.

“You only need to operate from Mingwang Province.

“If done well, the annual profit could be in the millions of high-grade spirit stones.”

Yan Bailu’s eyes widened, round as full moons.

She couldn’t believe what Ye Chen was saying.

The Celestial Sword Sect’s annual income was only about 500,000 high-grade spirit stones.

And this business that Ye Chen spoke of could earn millions in a year?

Making spirit stones in Mingwang Province was not easy.

The competition in Mingwang Province’s market was extremely fierce.

She thought Ye Chen might not have been to Mingwang Province, which explained his confidence.

She sincerely looked at Ye Chen and explained, “Saint Master Ye, Mingwang Province has nearly fifty transcendent forces. Although some have declined, most are monopolists in certain fields. For example, the high-end pill market is almost entirely monopolized by the Dao De Sect.

The market for Dao artifacts is dominated by the Feathering Sect.

“Other markets are also monopolized by various transcendent forces or top-tier factions. It’s extremely difficult for outsiders to break in.”

Ye Chen listened and smiled.

In his previous life, this would be a textbook case of monopoly by giants.

But that didn’t matter.

Collaborating with the Celestial Sword Sect was just the first step.

He didn’t intend to compete with the local forces for business.

So, Ye Chen looked at Yan Bailu and said, “We’re not going to compete for business!

“On the contrary, we’re going to bring them business.”

Yan Bailu listened, her face full of confusion.

The market is only so big.

If you want to earn spirit stones, how can you not compete for others’ business?

Ye Chen saw the confusion in Yan Bailu’s eyes and smiled. “Simply put, the business I want to do is to sell Mingwang Province’s products to Great Yan Province’s cultivators!”

Upon hearing this, Yan Bailu immediately shook her head to dissuade him. “Saint Master Ye, this business has actually been attempted by a force in Mingwang Province before.

“But even for a Nascent Soul stage expert, transporting goods from Mingwang Province to Great Yan Province takes a year for a round trip, which is too long.

“Moreover, while the pills and magical artifacts from Mingwang Province are of better quality, they are also more expensive. After adding transportation costs, the price doubles.

“The force that tried this business initially chose to sell their products in the East Sea Martial Emperor City, but most of the cultivators there couldn’t afford them and they ended up losing everything.

“After that, no one dared to think about doing cross-prefecture business anymore.”

Listening to Yan Bailu, Ye Chen smiled slightly. “The transportation issue is easy to solve!

“I plan to establish a cross-province teleportation array, using Penglai Island as a transit point to connect the two regions.

“Once the teleportation array is built, it will take less than half a day to travel from Mingwang Province to Great Yan Province, so the transportation problem will naturally be solved.”

Hearing this, Yan Bailu’s pupils suddenly contracted.

Establishing a teleportation array to connect two provinces.

Given the distance between the two provinces, how massive would the investment be to build such a teleportation array?

Even the Dao De Sect or the Feathering Sect wouldn’t dare to do such a thing, right?

No matter how wealthy the Heavenly Origin Sacred Land is, they couldn’t possibly afford such extravagance.

Yan Bailu wanted to say something.

But Ye Chen continued, “As for the sales issue, it’s actually even easier to solve!

“First of all, there are a billion cultivators in Great Yan Province, and many of them are quite affluent.

“They all have huge consumption needs.

“The reason the previous cross-province force failed is because their reputation was too small and too few people knew about them.

“If no one knows about the products, how could they be sold?

“But my Heavenly Origin Sacred Land is different. My Heavenly Origin Sacred Land can showcase the products to any cultivator in Great Yan Province.

“Thus, the products can be easily sold to cultivators who need them.”

Yan Bailu showed a look of disbelief.

Showcase the products to everyone?

That’s simply impossible.

Even the strongest Sacred Land couldn’t achieve that.

Seeing Yan Bailu’s expression, Ye Chen smiled lightly and flicked out a Heavenly Origin Little Spirit Communicator. “Try this, and you won’t doubt my words anymore!”

Yan Bailu took the ring, puzzled as she examined it.

A low-grade magical artifact?

What use does this have?

But seeing Ye Chen’s expression, she still put the ring on her slender jade finger.

In the next moment, Yan Bailu’s fair face showed a look of shock, her mouth gaping in astonishment.

Ye Chen then calmly explained to Yan Bailu. “This item is called the Heavenly Origin Little Spirit Communicator!

“Although it’s just a low-grade magical artifact, it has various functions.

“For example, no matter where you are, you can use it to communicate with others.

“And the Immortal Net Auction House allows you to auction all kinds of treasures!

“Of course, bidding while in Mingwang Province won’t help since there won’t be any delivery.

“As for the Immortal Net Cloud Classroom, it’s a teaching application.

“You can even have your Celestial Sword Sect elders give lectures on it. Sword cultivation knowledge from Mingwang Province will definitely attract the interest of many cultivators.

“The tuition income alone might rival the income of your Celestial Sword Sect.

“And the Immortal Net Weibo is used to keep up with major events across the world.

“You can share some interesting stories from Mingwang Province on it!

“With your status and beauty, you’ll surely attract countless followers, and you can earn a lot by accepting advertisements.

“As for express delivery, it won’t concern you for now.

“The Immortal Net Taobao line is similar to the overseas shopping model I mentioned.

“I will create an overseas shopping section on the Immortal Net Taobao line.

“Your Celestial Sword Sect can photograph and write descriptions for some products from Mingwang Province, then list them in the overseas shopping section…

“When a cultivator here places an order, you can purchase the corresponding product and send it through the teleportation array…

“After that, we will handle the delivery and ensure the product reaches the cultivator who placed the order…”