……

"So, Chaos Origin can actually be found in gambling stones?" Wang Shouzhe was taken aback, never expecting that a casual gamble would yield both a Chaos Spirit Stone and Chaos Origin.

However, he reacted quickly, immediately taking out a jade box meant for storing Chaos Origin and, with a thought, collected the three strands of Chaos Origin into it.

Originally, there were three strands of Chaos Origin in the jade box, but one had been used by Changchun Immortal, leaving two. With this unexpected gain, the stock increased back to five strands.

Satisfied, Wang Shouzhe smiled as he put away the jade box.

Chaos Origin is a treasure, the more the better~

Next, he took the cut stone fragments, wiped off the dust, and indeed found a Chaos Spirit Stone inside.

Since it hadn't been processed yet, the Chaos Spirit Stone looked a bit rough, and its color was not as vibrant as a polished one, but it was undoubtedly a Chaos Spirit Stone.

Though not large, it could still be cut into a standard Chaos Spirit Stone, with some leftover scraps. Those scraps could be used for personal cultivation or exchanged for Immortal Spirit Stones. Roughly calculated, they could be exchanged for more than a dozen Immortal Spirit Stones.

All in all, this was a huge profit~

"This, this, this..."

Everyone present was dumbfounded by the scene, especially Yun Tiange, whose dignified phoenix eyes were wide open, clutching her chest in disbelief.

This, this, this, wasn't it said that nine out of ten gambles are losses?

Shouzhe, are you deceiving me?

Wang Shouzhe was speechless.

Since crossing over, his luck seemed average at best. While the Wang's Clan had developed smoothly under his leadership, it was more due to his meticulous planning and careful strategy than luck.

That he could open a Chaos Spirit Stone and Chaos Origin this time was entirely unexpected.

However, from another perspective, Wang Shouzhe's luck wasn't bad.

For instance, marrying Ruolan and having many outstanding descendants was a sign of great fortune.

If An Ye was truly a child of destiny, then by seniority, Wang Shouzhe would be the grandfather of destiny.

From this angle, opening a Chaos Spirit Stone and Chaos Origin didn't seem so outrageous.

"I'm ruined, ruined beyond belief." Cai Youdao's heart shattered as he staggered back a few steps, tears streaming down his face as he looked at the "sky" of the portable cave mansion, lamenting, "Why, why didn't I just cut open the stone? Chaos Spirit Stone, Chaos Origin, oh, disciple, I've let you down, I might as well just die..."

This was his biggest loss in life, second only to the time with Li Ci...

"Cai Youdao." Seeing him about to crash into the house, Wang Shouzhe sternly stopped him, "Don't be impulsive, calm down first."

"Young Master... are you perhaps..." Cai Youdao's sobbing stopped, a glimmer of hope in his squinted eyes.

It seemed the Young Master's heart was still soft...

"Don't overthink it." Wang Shouzhe put away the Chaos Spirit Stone raw ore, leisurely saying, "Though my wooden house looks simple, it's made of top-grade spiritual wood worth a fortune. If you break it, I'm afraid you can't afford to pay."

"Young Master, you might as well let me die!" Cai Youdao immediately burst into tears again, sneaking glances at Wang Shouzhe while crying, "My heart is shattered into pieces, beyond repair, just let me die~~"

"If you want to die, do it outside... the flowers and plants here are expensive." Wang Shouzhe pointed to the nearby portable passage, kindly reminding him.

Cai Youdao was choked, unable to cry anymore.

"Young Master, you're too heartless." Cai Youdao wiped his tears, looking at Wang Shouzhe with a forlorn expression, "I've lost everything, can't you at least comfort me? After all, I am a family enshrinee personally recruited by you."

"Yes, I was negligent." Wang Shouzhe nodded seriously, "I'll assign you more dangerous and heavy tasks so you can earn more and make up for the losses soon."

"Also, this is a lesson: gambling long enough, you'll lose! Another lesson is that greed leads to big losses. If you hadn't thrown in the last dozen or so scrap stones... Another lesson is that small losses accumulate to great fortune. I didn't hold it against you, and great fortune came... I'll write these lessons and stories into the Wang's Clan family teachings, and you'll have a place in the family stories..."

"Young Master, you really know how to comfort people~ Hearing you say that, my heart hurts even more." Cai Youdao clutched his bleeding heart, looking utterly dejected.

"Shouzhe~" Jiang Yuling snapped out of her shock, swaying her hips as she approached with a flattering smile, "You hit the jackpot this time, how about rewarding some scraps to your loyal subordinates? Let everyone share in your joy."

"That makes sense." Wang Shouzhe nodded in agreement, then waved to Ji Yue'er, "Ji Enshrinee has worked hard recently and completed tasks well. You can have the leftover raw ore scraps."

"Ah!? Yue'er thanks the Young Master!"

Caught off guard by the surprise, Ji Yue'er's face lit up with joy.

In an instant, she dove into the pile of ore scraps like a hungry dog, collecting the miscellaneous spirit stones. In the end, they totaled around four to five million Immortal Crystals.

Such a reward made Ji Yue'er smile so widely her mouth couldn't close, throwing flirtatious glances at Wang Shouzhe: "Young Master is generous, Yue'er decides to save her virginity for you, to use whenever you wish."

Wang Shouzhe was speechless.

With Ruolan not around to keep them in check, their audacity was skyrocketing~

However, Ji Yue'er was smart, never intending to keep the millions of Immortal Crystals to herself. Instead, she divided them into three parts, keeping one for herself and using the other two to curry favor with Yun Tiange and Jiang Yuling, giving Yun Tiange a share worth two million Immortal Crystals.

"Ji Enshrinee is thoughtful."

Yun Tiange was quite pleased, a smile appearing on her bright face.

But she wasn't interested in the small sum and generously waved it off: "No need to count my share, just split it with Yuling."

With that, her eyes darted towards Wang Shouzhe, seemingly eyeing more valuable treasures.

But with so many people around, as a dignified Immortal Emperor, she couldn't bring herself to act, having to wait for a more opportune moment...

"Thank you, Immortal Lord Tiange."

Ji Yue'er, unaware of Yun Tiange's thoughts, happily split the money with Jiang Yuling.

As a result, Jiang Yuling was overjoyed and her impression of Ji Yue'er greatly improved: "Ji Enshrinee is good, loyal. If anything happens, I'll have your back."

Everyone was happy, except for Cai Youdao.

Cai Youdao was still wallowing in heartache and regret, clutching his heart in pain.

Money, it was all his money~~

After this little "episode," everyone finally had time to sit down and have tea.

The [Tranquil Heart Immortal Tea] produced by Di Xiu was truly effective in calming the mind. Even Cai Youdao, after drinking two small cups, felt at peace, as if the huge loss was no big deal.

Moreover, his weakened soul in the Lingtai Purple Mansion seemed to be soothed, becoming much more stable.

But just as he was about to drink a third cup, Wang Shouzhe kicked him out of the portable cave mansion, citing the need for a confidential meeting. As a new enshrinee, Cai Youdao's security clearance wasn't high enough to attend such core meetings, and his task was to guard the door.

Cai Youdao was frustrated, but as an enshrinee, he had no reason to refuse his first task, so he reluctantly went to guard the door, grumbling.

After he left, the meeting began.

Ji Yue'er took out a pile of contracts and reported to Wang Shouzhe: "This trade was a win-win for both parties. Excluding transportation costs, the profits for our Holy Domain Development Corporation are astonishing."

The [Holy Domain Development Corporation] was established in the last 150 years, with major shareholders including the Wang's Clan representing the Great Qian families, the Immortal Dynasty, the Demon Dynasty, the Myriad Demon Nation, the Treasure Pavilion, and some smaller shareholders from various countries.

The Wang's Clan, as the core leader of the Great Qian Group, held a 30% stake. The Immortal Dynasty and Demon Dynasty each held 20%, the Myriad Demon Nation and Treasure Pavilion shared a stake, with the Treasure Pavilion holding slightly more, and the remaining 18 human nations collectively held 20%.

The Wang's Clan's significant stake in the development corporation was due to their impressive growth, far surpassing other countries.

Moreover, the Wang's Clan was the core of the entire development plan.

Without the Wang's Clan's high-quality spiritual grain seeds, the yield of spiritual farmland in various countries would be halved, and the quality wouldn't be as good. Making money through trade with the Holy Domain would be a pipe dream.

However, the Wang's Clan's interests extended beyond the Holy Domain Development Corporation. The entire grain production plan used Wang's seeds, fertilizers, and production techniques. Supplying these seeds alone brought enormous profits to the Wang's Clan and the Great Qian.

Additionally, the Holy Domain Development Corporation had stockpiled a large amount of grain in advance.

Taking White Jade Spiritual Rice No. 79 as an example, they stockpiled 200,000 ships, with a purchase standard of 60,000 Immortal Crystals per ship, costing a total of 12 billion Immortal Crystals, equivalent to 120 Immortal Spirit Stones.

Along with other grades of spiritual rice and preparations for the Holy Domain plan, the total amount involved was several hundred Immortal Spirit Stones.

How could the Shenwu World possibly come up with so many Immortal Spirit Stones? This involved an economic leverage principle, using a large issuance of [Immortal Crystal Notes] for acquisition and stockpiling.

However, with so many Immortal Crystal Notes accumulated, but not enough goods supplied, inflation was likely.

Fortunately, the Wang's Clan mitigated some inflation pressure by selling a large number of trial equipment, seeds, luxury goods, and elixirs, and actively developing the entertainment industry to stimulate consumption, encouraging families to expand spiritual farmland and increase wages for the lower class.

Moreover, the Wang's Clan subtly suggested that people shouldn't waste their Immortal Crystal Notes, as they would become more valuable, barely suppressing the consumption desires of the "wealthy."

Fortunately, most families had a habit of "hoarding money for emergencies," so there hadn't been any significant inflation yet.

But this wasn't a long-term solution. If the stockpiled goods couldn't be traded, bringing back more materials to absorb the "accumulated wealth," continuous inflation pressure over the years could eventually lead to economic collapse.

Wang Shouzhe carefully reviewed the contracts and nodded slightly: "Overall, it's fine. After completing the first step of business, we need to accelerate the sale of White Jade Spiritual Rice. Our various spiritual rice stockpiles are under too much pressure now."

Moreover, the stockpile wasn't without consumption. Building warehouses and using formations for isolation could indeed preserve spiritual rice long-term without quality degradation, but the longer the time, the greater the formation's consumption, costing a lot, and inventory management would also incur losses.

"Yes, Young Master." Ji Yue'er nodded, then raised another issue, "But the key problem now is our lack of large transport tools for void transportation. Also, we need to build an airport in the Domain of Destruction for stockpiling."

"For large transport tools, the best option is the [Yunhai Whale Boat]." Wang Shouzhe had clearly considered this issue, "I heard from Sima Wuyou that the [Yunhai Whale Boat] is specifically for transporting large quantities of goods, capable of traversing the void for long-distance transport. A giant Yunhai Whale Boat can transport a thousand 'ships' of goods at once."

When Wang Shouzhe first heard about such a giant transport tool, he was quite shocked.

What does a thousand ships mean? It means transporting millions of tons of goods at once!

However, such giant transport tools were extremely difficult and expensive to produce, not something ordinary people could acquire.

"I mentioned this to Crown Prince Yuan Zheng, and the New Luo Immortal Dynasty only has a few small Yunhai Whale Boats, each capable of transporting a hundred ships of goods at once," Ji Yue'er said, "To avoid exposure, we need our own Yunhai Whale Boats, and even the crew must be ours."

"Then let Tiange use the [Divine Treasure Hall VIP Token] to find Pavilion Master Yumei to secure the purchase channel," Wang Shouzhe instructed, "I'm sure Tiange can handle it better than I can."

"Understood, Young Master." Yun Tiange nodded, "I'll take care of it later."

This was the Young Master's style.

For any noble family, the young master naturally had a large group of people at his command. If the noble young master had to handle everything personally, it would only lower his mystique and status. Instead, having a group of subordinates handle matters would indirectly elevate Shouzhe's status, making it less likely for others to suspect.

"Yuling, take Cai Youdao to the Domain of Destruction and clear the route," Wang Shouzhe instructed again, "Also, test and observe his character and background to see if he's trustworthy and worth employing."

"Alright." Jiang Yuling agreed, "I'll take care of it."

The group then discussed other arrangements, and after more than two hours, everything was settled.

Next came the implementation.

Jiang Yuling and Ji Yue'er were promptly kicked out of the portable cave mansion by Yun Tiange.

……

At the same time.

In the outer void.

Hyperspace Corridor ruins.

Unbeknownst to anyone, new visitors had arrived in this once desolate star region.

This time, the visitors were a demon army.

This demon army had been here for some time. During this period, they had been clearing void creatures and cleaning up ruins, seemingly searching for something.

Clearly, this demon army was sent by the Nine Prison Demon God to find and repair the hyperspace corridor signal tower.

The leader of this demon army was the Mo Yu Demon God.

On this day.

The Mo Yu Demon God had just led a demon army to clear a void dark crow's nest.

Suddenly.

A demon king rushed over excitedly, "My lord, we've found it!"

The Mo Yu Demon God's eyes lit up, "The signal tower has been found?!"

"Yes, Demon God," the demon king said excitedly, eager to claim credit, "It's in the void insect nest ahead, wrapped in insect wax secreted by the void insects, with only a small part exposed. We only discovered it after clearing the void insects..."

The Mo Yu Demon God wasn't interested in hearing more and interrupted, "Lead the way."

"Yes, my lord."

The demon king quickly led the way.

Soon, the Mo Yu Demon God was brought to a massive insect nest.

The nest looked like a giant cylindrical structure, covered in yellow-brown translucent waxy material, full of holes, with only a small broken black tower tip exposed at the top.

The Mo Yu Demon God flew up, examining it carefully, and after scrutinizing the damaged demonic patterns on the tower tip, confirmed that it was indeed the signal tower.

Void insects were a general term for insect-like fierce beasts active in the void, with numerous species and complex lineages. Even those deeply studying them might not recognize all void insects. But regardless of the variety, they shared some common traits.

One type of void insect liked to build nests.

They often used drifting architectural debris in the void as a base, constructing massive nests with their secreted insect wax, storing food and nurturing offspring within.

Clearly, the signal tower had been used as a nest. Due to the insect wax, the signal tower's appearance was unrecognizable, and coupled with incomplete information, it had taken so long to find.

"Great. Now that we've found the signal tower, the rest is easy." The Mo Yu Demon God was delighted and immediately ordered, "Send troops to guard this place and remove the insect wax from the signal tower as quickly as possible to assess its damage."

"Yes, Demon God."

The order was given, and soon many demon soldiers were dispatched to the signal tower, starting to remove the insect wax and clearing nearby remaining void insects.

The demon soldiers were efficient, and in half a day, the insect wax was mostly cleared, revealing the signal tower's true form.

It was a black tower-like structure, with a slender, towering tip. On closer inspection, one could see the tower's surface marked with energy and physical impact scars, and though damaged, the intricate demonic patterns remained.

Over the long years, these patterns had lost almost all luster, clearly damaged and in need of repair to function again.

"Reporting to the Demon God, the main material of the signal tower is extremely sturdy, and only needs minor repairs to be usable. But the repair of the demonic patterns..." The demonic pattern master in charge of inspection looked troubled.

The Mo Yu Demon God's face darkened, "Speak honestly."

"After the Great Destruction, many of our demon race's inheritances were lost. Though we have some demonic pattern records, they are too complex, and with missing knowledge, our current demonic pattern skills are far inferior to the past. With my skills, I can attempt repairs, but it may require multiple attempts, and the material consumption and repair time are uncertain..."

The Mo Yu Demon God waved a hand, calmly saying, "Give me an estimated time and the materials needed."

"Time could be as short as ten years or as long as a hundred," the demonic pattern master said, wiping cold sweat, "Materials needed include thirteenth-level demon dragon blood, thirteenth-level demon dragon core powder, thirteenth-level demon plant sap, black gold divine iron..."

The demonic pattern master listed a series of materials.

The Mo Yu Demon God's face grew darker with each item.

These materials were all incredibly precious, and gathering them would require a significant investment.

No wonder the Nine Hells Lord hadn't prioritized this task before, likely anticipating this situation. Unfortunately, with the chaotic situation in the demon domain, changes could occur at any time, so the signal tower had to be repaired as a precaution.

"Alright, I understand." The Mo Yu Demon God waved a hand, "List the materials for me, and I'll find a way. You focus on researching the repair plan. If you need manpower, just ask. I want the signal tower repaired as soon as possible. Understood?"

"Yes, yes. I understand. I'll do my best." The demonic pattern master wiped his forehead and quickly retreated.

Watching the demonic pattern master leave, the Mo Yu Demon God's scarlet eyes gazed into the distant starry sky.

The signal tower was even harder to repair than expected. Who knew how long it would take to complete this task.

……

Meanwhile.

On the other side.

Kicked out of the portable cave mansion, Jiang Yuling dusted off her slightly disheveled clothes, grumbling indignantly, "What's with the attitude? Just because she's in the True Immortal Realm, who won't be in the True Immortal Realm in the future... Kicking us out like we're trying to seduce Shouzhe and covet treasures, isn't she just after Shouzhe's Chaos Spirit Stone?"

Mentioning the Chaos Spirit Stone made her swallow involuntarily.

That was a Chaos Spirit Stone~ If she could use it to aid her cultivation, her progress would be rapid.

Being young, she had plenty of lifespan to spare, so she wasn't as concerned about Chaos Origin.

"True Lord Yuling." Ji Yue'er laughed alluringly, covering her mouth, "Do you think she'll succeed?"

"She's just acting like a big shot because Sister Ruolan isn't around." Jiang Yuling pouted, "Shouzhe can resist even someone as young and beautiful as me, so he'll definitely hold firm. Let's go eat, on the company tab."

"..." Ji Yue'er was taken aback, "Didn't we just eat before the meeting?"

"I'm stress-eating..." Jiang Yuling grabbed Ji Yue'er, "Let's go, eat up to have energy for work."

"Count me in." Cai Youdao, who had been kicked out to guard the door, eagerly followed.

With a company-funded meal, how could Cai Youdao miss out?

In no time, the three were gathered around a table in the dining room, enjoying hot pot, the enticing aroma filling the room.

They had barely started eating when Yun Tiange came over, muttering, and asked for a set of utensils before sitting down to devour the hot pot without a word.

Jiang Yuling and the others exchanged glances.

It seemed she had failed too, wanting both the Young Master's body and his Chaos Spirit Stone. There was no such easy thing in the world.

"By the way, Cai Youdao." Yun Tiange, after devouring dozens of plates of meat, finally in a better mood, asked, "You're always going on about finding a disciple, but when you met someone like Yuling, a True Immortal reincarnation, why didn't you verify it? You two have similar personalities, what if she's your disciple?"

"No way!"

Hearing this, Cai Youdao jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on, shouting excitedly, "I, Cai Youdao, could never have such a shameless, unreserved disciple!"

Hearing this, Jiang Yuling also jumped up as if her tail had been stepped on, slamming her chopsticks on the table, retorting angrily, "How could such a sleazy, ugly old man be my master?!"

"Though I don't have many awakened memories of my master, just his silhouette, even from a silhouette, I can tell he's a dignified, immortal-like, mature and steady elder, unflustered by anything. More importantly, he has a spirit of sacrifice and dedication, once single-handedly holding off the Lord of Calamity and its army, buying time for allies to retreat and giving them a chance at survival!"

"What?"

Hearing this, Cai Youdao's eyes widened, staring incredulously at Jiang Yuling.

"You, you..."

Jiang Yuling felt uneasy under his gaze, a sense of foreboding rising.

Unconsciously, her previously aggressive demeanor weakened, feeling inexplicably guilty: "Old man... why are you looking at me like that?"

……