Chapter 264

Chapter 264: A Business Prodigy

"Many thanks, Ancestral Master."

The Dao King accepted the Taiyi Creation Pill and spoke respectfully.

"Dare I ask, Ancestral Master, which Master will descend?" The Dao King hesitated before speaking.

"Li Ruoshui."

Three words came from the other side of the vortex.

The Dao King’s brow twitched slightly. His gaze involuntarily flickered toward the ninth painting from the end. Depicted was a woman with eyebrows dark as ink, hair cascading like a waterfall, radiating the dignified grace of a classical beauty. Even as a mere painting, it showed she was a peerless beauty.

"She’s cultivated to the Immortal King realm, her Great Dao remains unbroken. Crossing the scars of the heavens poses no difficulty," the ancestral master of the Taihao Heavenly Sect spoke lightly. "With her aiding you, I hope you can accelerate the gathering of fortune."

"This disciple swears not to disgrace our sect," the Dao King declared, his expression grave.

From start to finish, his actions—seizing the Empress Nuwa Palace, attacking the Mysterious Realm, extensively refining fortune—were all carried out on behalf of the ancestral master of the Taihao Heavenly Sect. Had it not been so, he could never have overthrown the Withered Wood Daoist back then.

Everything was part of a plan orchestrated from above.

He was merely a pawn.

The Dao King bowed his head, his face respectful without a trace of a strange light. He knew he was a pawn in the hands of those above, yet he harbored no dissatisfaction.

At present, he lacked the strength to become a player of the game.

"The Order of the Heavenly Dao is now disordered, chaos reigns frequent. The Immortal Realm is nearing its end; that time will mark the true upheaval for all realms," the Taihao Heavenly Sect’s ancestral master solemnly announced.

"In the Primordial Era, the Heavenly Emperor, bearing the fortune of the ancestral home, swept across the six directions and eight wastelands. He established the supreme Heavenly Court and refined supreme merit, becoming the pinnacle existence of that age."

"To this day, none have surpassed his achievement."

"If our Taihao Heavenly Sect can usurp vast fortune, we will surely secure a foothold in the universe of the future."

"The chaos is destined to birth a new era."

Thirty breaths passed. The vortex slowly vanished, and the ancestral tomb fell silent once more.

The Dao King lifted his head, a glint of ambition visible in his eyes.

He channeled his power and flew out of the ancestral tomb, summoning the various elders for a council meeting.

"Sect Master, the ancient Ji clan presses ever closer. Please issue your directive," the second elder addressed the core issue immediately.

"Merely some ancient divine clans, a group long obsolete. What is there to fear?" the Dao King stated impassively. "Order the disciples in the Mysterious Realm to hold every inch of ground. Retreat is forbidden."

"Second Elder, you take some men and go ahead first. This sect master will meet you there in two days."

"As you command."

The second elder and the other elders bowed and withdrew.

The Dao King lowered his eyelids. With a wave of his hand, divine patterns surged upwards, forming three layers of barrier. He took out the Taiyi Creation Pill, swallowed it whole, and began harnessing the pill’s power to refine the Great Dao imprint of Ye Xu.

…

Yuan Realm.

For several days now, one piece of news has circulated throughout the Yuan Realm: The Heaven’s Secret Pavilion will soon establish a business venture and begin issuing a currency called Star Yuan.

This was a significant business event.

As soon as the news spread, it instantly became widely known, and no one was unaware.

Everyone knew that for millions of years, the Yuan Realm had been at its lowest point. With the emergence of the ancient divine clans, there was great chaos throughout the world. There was no unified authority at all, and currency was diverse and varied, each different.

Heaven’s Secret Pavilion spread the word on its own initiative, planning to issue currency. The meaning behind this was deeply thought-provoking.

Of course, Ye Xu didn’t think too much about it himself.

He only wanted to earn money.

"Daoist brother, I have spread the message, and these days I am preparing to create the currency," Su Mu arrived at Heaven’s Secret Pavilion and reported on the progress to Ye Xu.

He spread open his palm, and a white silver coin rose.

On the front was a "1" with a vast and ethereal nebula filled with mystery; on the back were the words "Heaven’s Secret Pavilion" imprinted with the issue date of the Star Yuan.

"This object was refined from Starstone and Silver Moon Treasure Iron. The production cost was about half of the Star Yuan’s own value, and it could buy most items circulating in the market that belonged to the Divine Spring Realm," Su Mu explained.

Ye Xu’s expression stirred, "Such high purchasing power?"

Su Mu nodded.

"In that case, if we want to target ordinary cultivators, we should open lower denominations, like Fen or Li?" Ye Xu pondered, "One Yuan equals ten Fen, and one Fen equals ten Li."

"By doing this, we can ensure that the bottom-level populace can also use Star Yuan currency normally," Ye Xu added.

"I was thinking the same," Su Mu smiled and said.

Issuing currency should target the entire group, without discrimination, to ensure society operated normally. That way, currency circulation could be guaranteed, and Ye Xu could profit from it.

"Daoist brother, can we also set ten Yuan, hundred Yuan, thousand Yuan Star Yuan currencies?" Su Mu inquired.

"We can set ten Yuan and hundred Yuan denominations. For the production cost, refer to the one Yuan currency; save wherever possible," Ye Xu smiled and said.

"As for higher-level currencies, we don’t need them for now."

Currency with large denominations was too difficult to manage; once any mistake occurred, it could cause inflation. Ye Xu didn’t know if such a problem existed in this fantasy world, but since it was the beginning of the plan, it was definitely better to be cautious.

Su Mu frowned, "But one hundred Star Yuan can at most only buy items of the Divine God realm. For items involving the emperor realm, or even the immortal realm, it would probably take a vast amount."

Su Mu’s concern was not unreasonable: who would carry so much Star Yuan currency on them?

Once they encountered a battle, all the Star Yuan would evaporate instantly, leading to helpless frustration.

"I have a solution," Ye Xu said.

With a thought, three cards suddenly appeared in mid-air.

They were distinctly bronze, silver, and gold in color.

"These cards: the lowest-grade Bronze Card itself is worth ten thousand Star Yuan."

"The Silver Card is worth a hundred thousand."

"The Gold Card is worth a million."

"Not only do they have their own value, but they can also be used to store Star Yuan currency. As long as a cardholder goes to a money house under Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s jurisdiction, with this card, they can exchange or store Star Yuan."

"Of course, an upper limit must be set for each card."

"For example, the Bronze Card has a storage limit of ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine Star Yuan."

"Wonderful!"

Su Mu’s eyes were sparkling. The storage had an upper limit. To store more Star Yuan, he had to purchase the Silver Card or even the Gold Card.

He had to admit, Ye Xu was a business prodigy.

Thinking of this, Su Mu found himself both amused and exasperated.

An otherworldly expert, yet completely obsessed with the path to riches, was truly unfathomable.

"Daoist friend, these three cards are just the foundation. If even higher limits are needed, I could further develop the Black Gold Card, the Supreme Lord Card."

"Moreover, the Supreme Lord Card could be considered for linkage with the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, developing a membership system…"

Ye Xu spoke eloquently and continuously, while Su Mu was completely at sea.

"These are matters for later." Ye Xu felt a tinge of awkwardness. These things he was talking about, Su Mu had never encountered them before, so of course he wouldn’t understand the implications.

"When should the money house be established?" Su Mu asked.

Ye Xu laughed, "The day after tomorrow."

"Today you can start releasing the news, widely distributing Invitations. Those ancient divine clans, top-tier powers, can all be invited. I think no one would refuse."

"That is indeed so."

Su Mu harbored not a shred of doubt.

Given the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s current prestige and influence, even without having unified the Yuan Realm, they could issue currency. Because everyone knew the Pavilion’s integrity and was acutely aware of its might.

Those ancient divine clans—just five had been annihilated—were now trembling with fear. They were probably only too eager to curry favor with the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

"I shall attend to it immediately then."

Before leaving, Su Mu opened his mouth as if to say something.

"Don’t worry."

Ye Xu reassured him, "Shen Yueyi is cultivating right now. What I promised you, I will never go back on."

"Daoist brother misunderstands."

Su Mu looked embarrassed.

"Do your task well." Ye Xu’s voice turned serious.

After leaving the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, a Buddhist figure and a Daoist figure emerged from Su Mu’s body. He had clearly used the divine ability Dividing the qi into three purity, sending the duplicates in different directions.

To show sincerity, Su Mu naturally had to attend to it personally.

These Invitations had to be delivered by his own hand.

"Never imagined that one day, I too would become an errand runner." Su Mu shook his head and sighed, wearing a helpless expression.

This present day and situation, he had never foreseen.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The three figures transformed into three streams of light and vanished into the horizon.