CHAPTER 373: CHAPTER 33 COOPERATION

Green Bamboo Realm

"Fierce Tiger Roar!"

An invisible sound wave scattered, and a human-height green stone turned to dust, blown away by the wind.

Bai Ya beckoned, and the miniature White Tiger obediently jumped onto her shoulder, rubbing affectionately against her.

Qian Baolin said incredulously, "Judging by the bloodline, it actually is a true succession! Divine Son, are you sure this figurine is just made up of these parts?"

Looking at the jade fragments exuding spirituality in his hands, Qian Baolin still found it hard to believe. After all his years traveling far and wide, despite being a Golden Immortal, he had never seen anything so extraordinary!

"You can try and assemble it in any shape you like. As long as it pleases you, it’s fine, but don’t damage the components," Chen Jiuge said with a slight smile.

Qian Baolin was very interested and, upon hearing Chen Jiuge’s invitation, began to get to work.

Bai Ya saw this and muttered, "But he hasn’t paid yet."

Even though her voice was low, Qian Baolin was, after all, a Golden Immortal; how could such a remark escape his ears?

A sly look on his face, he said seriously, "Indeed, I haven’t paid. How many Spirit Stones for these figurine parts?"

Chen Jiuge waved his hand. "There’s no need for that."

Qian Baolin interrupted, "Business is business. Every item must have a clearly marked price, even a common stone. Young lady, name your price."

"The Number Zero Mecha Figurine can be freely assembled. It uses the finest Spirit Jade just below Immortal Rank and even possesses spirituality, with limitless possibilities in the future. So, it’s one hundred thousand Top Grade Spiritual Stones each," Bai Ya said seriously.

Chen Jiuge, listening nearby, was speechless. Weren’t you selling them for one thousand Top Grade Spiritual Stones each? When did the price increase a hundredfold?

"That’s actually not expensive. Here," Qian Baolin said, thinking the price quite reasonable.

Bai Ya joyfully retreated to the side to count the Spirit Stones, her respect for Mo Yu’s decision immense as she had actually managed to make the sale.

The jade block, brimming with a faint spirituality, quickly morphed in Qian Baolin’s hands. Soon, a rat-person wielding a Guan Sword appeared and was carefully placed on the ground.

Under Qian Baolin’s expectant gaze, the rat-person took a few tentative steps, then struck the ground with its Guan Sword, leaving a shallow cut. It then turned to Qian Baolin and saluted, "Master, please give your orders."

Hearing the rat-person’s words, a sudden sense of satisfaction surged in Qian Baolin’s heart—a truly marvelous feeling.

"Divine Son, you mentioned before that using one’s own essence blood to nurture it can enhance its spirituality, leading to the birth of true Spiritual Wisdom. Is that true?" Qian Baolin suddenly looked up and asked.

"That’s correct."

DRIP. DRIP.

Watching the ruby-like essence blood continuously emerge from Qian Baolin’s fingertips, Chen Jiuge hesitated and said, "You know, you can take your time with this."

Looking a little pale, Qian Baolin said, "I’m testing the product’s capabilities and potential, and I quite like this little thing."

"Alright then." Chen Jiuge couldn’t help but admire him. Qian Baolin’s name might sound like that of a profiteer, but his dedication to business was certainly reliable.

As his essence blood continued to flow, Qian Baolin’s aura rapidly weakened. The Money Commerce protector guarding the entrance to the Green Bamboo Realm suddenly appeared beside Qian Baolin, his gaze wary. "What’s going on? Why has your aura weakened so much?"

Qian Baolin took a bottle of high-quality Water of Life from his Storage Ring, downed it, and said feebly, "Don’t worry, I’m just testing the product."

A quarter of an hour later, Qian Baolin stopped releasing his blood, much to Chen Jiuge’s relief. If he had continued, Qian Baolin might have actually perished on the spot.

The rat-person, enveloped in essence blood, began to transform. A trace of astonishment appeared on the usually cold face of Qian Rixing, the protector who had arrived. He turned to Qian Baolin and asked, "What is this thing, and why does its aura resemble yours so closely?"

Qian Baolin, his eyes fixed on the transforming rat-person, excitedly explained the principles of the figurine.

Moments later, an armored rat-person wielding a Fangtian Halberd appeared. Qian Rixing, his face expressionless, began releasing his own essence blood. Facing the odd looks from the others, he said, "I think it would be quite interesting to nurture one myself."

Qian Baolin grimaced. "Elder Xing, you’re still needed to protect the Flying Boat. Releasing too much essence blood isn’t good."

"It’s fine. There are others; it won’t matter if I’m not there. Baolin, don’t be so nervous. If worst comes to worst, just drink more Water of Life to recover," Qian Rixing said earnestly.

"But Water of Life isn’t free of Spirit Stones!" Qian Baolin said, somewhat distressed.

"I’ll just buy it with Flower Spirit Stones; it’s not like I can’t afford them," Qian Rixing declared, exuding an air of wealth.

CLICK.

The transformed Guan Sword rat-person slid to its knees before Qian Baolin and said affectionately, "Father."

Bai Ya, who was counting Spirit Stones, was startled by this scene and blurted out, "Naturally adept at flattery?"

Chen Jiuge covered Bai Ya’s mouth. "Don’t mind it."

Qian Baolin cradled the Guan Sword rat-person, closed his eyes to sense it, and marveled, "It truly has my bloodline and aura. If I didn’t already have children, it would be genuinely hard to tell the difference."

"No, wait! This figurine... it could serve as a substitute to block curses!"

"Divine Son, you’re going to be rich!"

Watching Qian Baolin’s eyes gleam with a monetary light, Chen Jiuge also felt extremely excited. Yes, wouldn’t a figurine nurtured with my own essence blood be the perfect substitute? How could I not have thought of this?

「In the small courtyard.」

Qian Baolin drained his cup of Spiritual Tea and said, "One hundred thousand Top Grade Spiritual Stones apiece! Divine Son, I’ll take as many as you have."

Chen Jiuge shook his head. "It can’t be calculated like that. The one hundred thousand Top Grade Spiritual Stones is just a friendship price. The residents of Shadow Corner City are my subordinates, so naturally, I offer them a lower price. Selling to outsiders can’t possibly be for such a small amount."

Qian Baolin frowned, stood up, and paced, mulling over the pros and cons of the figurines. Finally, he shook his head. "If the purchase price is too high, I can’t afford it either."

Chen Jiuge voiced the plan he had long prepared: "Chairman Qian, let’s cooperate. I’ll give you a few samples, and you help me promote them. For every person who comes to buy a figurine with an invitation from you, Chairman Qian, I’ll give you a commission. How about that?"

After careful consideration, Qian Baolin found this cooperation method quite appealing. "This method could work," he responded. "But what’s the commission rate? And what if someone I referred comes but doesn’t present my invitation?"

"Simple. I’ve set two price tiers for the figurines. Cultivators residing in Shadow Corner City only need to pay one hundred thousand Top Grade Spiritual Stones for one. Those presenting an invitation will be charged two hundred thousand. If they have neither, it will be five hundred thousand."

Qian Baolin glanced at him. "Divine Son, you’re quite the calculator. This is a plan to use my Money Commerce to develop your city, isn’t it? If these figurines take off, your Shadow Corner City might just become a major city."

"Furthermore, Money Commerce can purchase one thousand figurines from Shadow Corner City annually at the price of one hundred thousand Top Grade Spiritual Stones each. This quota can be accumulated for up to ten years."

"Deal."

For the Qian Clan, Money Commerce was everything. The figurines could significantly boost Money Commerce’s reputation; other details were trivial by comparison.

Seemingly to demonstrate his commitment, Qian Baolin left his nephew, Qian Guang, in Shadow Corner City to open a Money Pavilion branch. It would mainly sell rare Spiritual Objects and also facilitate the purchase of the annual figurine quota.

After finalizing their cooperation, Chen Jiuge invited Qian Baolin and his contingent to enjoy Shadow Corner City for a few days.

「Seven days later.」

In the small coliseum Chen Jiuge had specially set up for the figurines, a rat-person clad in golden armor and wielding a Fangtian Halberd sent its Titan Giant Beast opponent flying. It achieved ten consecutive victories, earning a reward of ten thousand Top Grade Spiritual Stones.

Qian Rixing said proudly to the Elephant Dragon cultivator before him, "How about that? Convinced yet?"

The Elephant Dragon cultivator begrudgingly retrieved his Titan Giant Beast. "Next time, I’ll definitely defeat yours!"

"Anyone else?"

The coliseum was divided into sections by cultivation level. In this Mahayana section, Qian Rixing’s rat-person was indeed the strongest. The reason his rat-person was only at the Mahayana cultivation level was his fear of pain. He had stopped after releasing only half the required essence blood because he couldn’t bear it any longer, resulting in his rat-person only reaching Mahayana cultivation.

"An Immortal, even a pseudo-Immortal, shouldn’t be bullying juniors in the Mahayana section," Ming Yijie commented disdainfully.

Although the Qian Clan was not as prominent as the Netherworld King Clan, the difference wasn’t vast. Qian Rixing naturally wouldn’t back down. He shrugged and suggested, "How about we have a match then?"

Ming Yijie glanced at the triumphant rat-person and said dismissively, "My figurine isn’t that weak."

"If it’s a real person, I might be interested."

Ming Huayu, approaching slowly with an Angel perched gracefully on her shoulder, interjected, "Silence! Protector of the Qian Clan, Ming Yijie has been in a rather foul mood lately. No need to take him too seriously."

Qian Rixing didn’t take it to heart. As a merchant by origin, Fighting Technique was indeed not his forte.

After Qian Rixing left, Ming Huayu frowned at Ming Yijie. "What’s gotten into you lately? Just because your figurine couldn’t beat the figurines of those two old Asura coots, is it necessary to pick a fight with the Qian Clan?"

Ming Yijie then realized his gaffe. The Qian Clan members present weren’t limited to the pseudo-Immortal Qian Rixing. The formidable auras emanating from that massive Flying Boat were numerous, and several were no weaker than his own.

These Qian Clan Great Powers had all been summoned by Qian Rixing. After all, such affordable, fun, and useful figurines were certainly worth notifying old friends about.

"I know," Ming Yijie said sullenly.

Turning to look at the Angel sitting obediently on her shoulder, a faint smile touched Ming Huayu’s lips. Her own figurine really is the cutest.

「Green Bamboo Realm.」

Chen Jiuge watched the departing Qian Baolin with some disappointment and said, "Can’t you stay a bit longer?"

These Qian Clan members were simply too wealthy! Their spending in a mere seven days rivaled the total income of Shadow Corner City since its founding—it was utterly outrageous. Now that they were leaving, Chen Jiuge was genuinely reluctant to see them go.

"Heh, Divine Son, you’re reluctant to part with our Spirit Stones, aren’t you?" Qian Baolin chuckled. "Although Shadow Corner City is quite entertaining, it still pales in comparison to the truly major cities."

"Besides, we’ve already been delayed for seven days. Any further delay might prevent us from reaching our next trading point on time. Punctuality is a fundamental principle for a merchant. So, Divine Son, until we meet again."

After downing the strong liquor on the table, Qian Baolin departed with a flourish.

Aboard the Flying Boat, watching Shadow Corner City shrink to a black speck before disappearing completely, Qian Rixing said with a hint of regret, "I didn’t even get to complete my hundred-victory streak."

"Elder Xing, if you like Shadow Corner City that much, you can request a transfer to the Money Pavilion there when it’s time for a rotation of elders," Qian Baolin said evenly.

"Ah, let’s forget that. I prefer women over figurines," Qian Rixing said with a chuckle.