Chapter 503

Chapter 503: Starting Small (Part 2)

"Continue."

Ye Xu straightened up.

Lu Chengfeng said, "Several days ago, Master entrusted me with spreading the news of the Dao Lord ranking. I wonder, how does the Master plan to profit from creating it?"

"Release the Dao Lord ranking," Ye Xu said, "set a price range. Anyone willing and able to pay can view it." This was his tried-and-true method. "The ranking itself is just a list. Anyone wanting more detailed information must come to Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. All intel is held securely in my grasp."

Lu Chengfeng was inwardly shocked.

"Master’s ability for divination is far too unbelievable."

This bordered on omniscience!

"Would it truly not incur divine retribution?" Lu Chengfeng muttered under his breath.

"…"

A dark line practically materialized on Ye Xu’s forehead.

"Master, in my humble opinion," Lu Chengfeng pressed on, "true wealth requires competition. The Dao Lord ranking lacks inherent competitive value. Its money-making potential is inherently limited."

Yi Tianxing humbly sought counsel. "Young Master Lu, if it were you, how would you proceed?"

"Daoist brother," Lu Chengfeng asked in return, "do you know the most profitable sector of the Canglan Merchant Alliance’s business?"

Yi Tianxing shook his head.

He possessed no talent for commerce and took no interest in it.

"The Auction House!"

Lu Chengfeng declared. "Each auction earns the Auction House profits of at least five to ten times their investment!"

"Twelve years ago, I personally presided over one."

"That single event yielded twenty-six times the profit!"

Ye Xu’s eyes shone like the sun.

Twenty-six times profit—that was sheer, unadulterated fortune!

"Elaborate," Ye Xu urged, his impatience mounting to hear Lu Chengfeng’s concrete plan.

Lu Chengfeng paused, gathering his thoughts.

"Heaven’s Secret Pavilion and the Canglan Merchant Alliance each possess distinct strengths and weaknesses."

"Our strength lies in the Master’s invincible cultivation. No one dares cause trouble here. Within Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s auction, personal safety is absolutely guaranteed."

It was vital to remember that auctions attracted treasure. Yet, the strength behind the Auction House conducting them varied greatly.

Throughout history, countless auction halls acquired precious items, only to be annihilated by powerful forces in the aftermath.

This was a risk Ye Xu need never fear.

"Having strengths implies weaknesses," Ye Xu prompted with a smile. "What are ours?"

"The weakness," Lu Chengfeng began, listing examples, "is that Heaven’s Secret Pavilion seems to lack… a diverse collection of magical artifacts, immortal herbs, divine pills…" He named a long string of items. "Its product offering is relatively singular."

Ye Xu wanted to refute, but after careful thought, Lu Chengfeng was right.

Although the system store was dazzlingly beautiful, he had to spend a massive amount of Hongmeng points to obtain what he wanted.

"But actually, this was also an advantage," Lu Chengfeng said with a laugh. "We could specialize in a single product—just auctioning intelligence about opportunities. That would help shoot the auction’s reputation up to the peak in the shortest time possible."

"As soon as people think of opportunities, it makes them associate with Heaven’s Secret Pavilion."

"In the dictionary of cultivators, the word ‘opportunity’ is never bypassed!"

"Wonderful!" Yi Tianxing cheered, clapping his hands.

Ye Xu also showed an appreciative look.

Recalling the past, when he established Heaven’s Machine Auction House in the Pangu universe, he just auctioned ordinary goods and never thought of auctioning intelligence on opportunities.

Lu Chengfeng’s business mind truly surpassed his own by a long way.

"Setting up the Auction House is easy," Ye Xu said. "For manpower, I’ll get Yi Tianxing, Su Mu, Formless Demon Lord, Yue Lingxi, and others to fully help you. Command them freely."

"That won’t be hard," Lu Chengfeng said. "What is hard is the auction items for the first auction."

"No need to hesitate—speak directly," Ye Xu said.

Do not distrust those you choose; if you choose someone, do not distrust them.

Since Ye Xu could recruit Lu Chengfeng, he could fully trust him.

Besides, on his own turf, how could anything go wrong?

"Master," Lu Chengfeng said, "based on what I know, in the four immortal domains of Canglan, Jiuyang, Penglai, and Ziyang, countless rumors swirl about Secret Realms. The most widespread and mysterious ones total about ten."

"If you can deduce intelligence on these ten Secret Realms and use it at the auction, I believe it would cause a huge stir among the many Dao Sovereigns and Dao Lords in the four immortal domains."

Ye Xu muttered to himself in thought.

Figuring out all ten Secret Realms at once probably wouldn’t come cheap.

He still had nearly fifty million Hongmeng points in his account.

He didn’t know if it would be enough.

"So, what exactly are these ten Secret Realms?" Yi Tianxing asked curiously.

Lu Chengfeng waved his brush to write swiftly, using the void as paper, and inscribed the ten names:

① Taixu Domain.

② Luo Heavenly Treasure.

③ Life Dao Realm.

④ Great Xia Ancient Capital.

⑤ All Laws Sect Ruins.

"The Taixu Domain is merely a trap; don’t concern yourselves with it," Ye Xu said lightly. After the Taixu Domain was exposed, all the Dao Sovereigns had learned the truth inside, eliminating any profit potential.

Of course, Ye Xu remained unaware of the Star Master’s true condition.

If he knew, he wouldn’t hesitate to attract a group of Dao Sovereigns to the Star Master.

"System," Ye Xu thought, "how many Hongmeng points are required to deduce the complete information for the Luo Heaven Dao Treasury, the All Laws Sect Ruins, the Great Xia Ancient Capital, and the Life Dao Realm?"

An auction demanded the complete version.

Otherwise, entering would be akin to suicide!

[…]

The system returned an ellipsis.

"???" Question marks flooded Ye Xu’s mind. "Too expensive?"

He frowned and asked, "Then how many Hongmeng points for just the All Laws Sect Ruins?"

[One billion Hongmeng points.]

"Damn it!" Ye Xu was dumbfounded. Exactly what level were the Top Ten Secret Realms Lu Chengfeng spoke of?

A single Secret Realm was this astronomically costly?

"Even if it isn’t at the Heavenly Venerable level, it must certainly involve Dao Sovereigns at the Four Tribulations realm, perhaps even Five Tribulations!" Ye Xu frowned deeply. Brazenly, he asked, "System, is installment payment possible?"

[Affirmative.]

The system replied:

[Pay ten million upfront, incurring five hundred thousand Hongmeng points in daily interest.

Pay fifty million upfront, incurring two hundred thousand Hongmeng points in daily interest.]

"…"

Ye Xu clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth furiously.

[The final repayment deadline is six months.]

"And… what if I can’t repay?" Ye Xu asked, his heart filled with trepidation.

[All cultivation base will be erased. Your soul will be cast into the eighteen layers of reincarnation hell to endure the torment of karmic cycles.]

A chill shot through Ye Xu’s body.

He occasionally subjected others to the agonies of hellish karmic cycles.

He had no desire to experience it himself.

"Should I risk it?"

The weight pressed heavily upon Ye Xu as well.

One billion Hongmeng points was no jesting matter; the system showed no mercy.

"I’ll risk it!"

Ye Xu solemnly stated, "System, immediately pay ten million Hongmeng points to obtain the complete information of the All Laws Sect Ruins."

Ding!

[Congratulations, Host. The installment payment contract has been successfully signed. Resources are being issued immediately…]

A contract appeared before Ye Xu’s eyes.

On the contract, there were only constraints imposed on Ye Xu.

It was purely a predatory contract!

The next moment, an endless stream of information poured into Ye Xu’s mind – every detail of the All Laws Sect Ruins, complete and utterly without concealment.

This sect was the pinnacle of the Penglai Immortal Domain twelve Yuanhui ago. It advocated teaching without distinction of race, accepting humans, monsters, gods, demons, and ghosts alike under its roof.

Hence, it was named the All Laws Sect.

At its peak, the All Laws Sect boasted three Grand Dao Sovereigns and twelve Four Tribulations Dao Sovereigns. Its sphere of influence covered twenty-six immortal domains, an unimaginably vast and powerful empire.

However, human greed is insatiable.

The three Grand Dao Sovereigns and over a hundred Dao Sovereigns of the All Laws Sect banded together. They sought to detect the Book of Time by using an ancient character etched with the Origin Dao of time, hoping to locate the scripture’s traces and thereby glimpse the path to the Celestial Lord realm.

They succeeded.

The All Laws Sect successfully perceived the Book of Time and even managed to glimpse a sliver of its profound mysteries.

Yet, afterward, the power of the Heavenly Book surged back along the time-space passage they had created. In an instant, it lashed back upon the sect. The three Grand Dao Sovereigns and countless Dao Sovereigns were almost instantly annihilated.

After that day, the All Laws Sect vanished without a trace, never appearing in the world again.

Rumors spread that the sect had met with divine retribution.

Some claimed it had offended a Great Celestial Lord and was erased from existence by the Celestial Lord.

"The power of the Heavenly Book… is that terrifying?" Ye Xu felt a tremor in his heart. The annihilation of the All Laws Sect was linked to the Book of Time. Was this the inherent power of the Book itself, or was someone manipulating it? "No wonder it was so expensive."

Ye Xu sighed. Anything concerning the Book of Time, coupled with a sect wielding three Grand Dao Sovereigns and over a hundred Dao Sovereigns – one billion Hongmeng points was actually quite reasonable.

After all,

The All Laws Sect was now mere ruins. The Great Dao Worlds woven by the three Grand Dao Sovereigns were shattered and worthless, holding little in the way of high-value fortunes.

The sole remaining point of value was the sect’s connection to the Book of Time.

"When the time comes, we’ll use the Book of Time itself as the hook," Ye Xu murmured, "to draw Dao Sovereigns and Dao Lords from across the land."

Wuu!

Ye Xu channeled his magic power. He conjured a golden book and jade slip and sealed the secrets of the All Laws Sect within it. Then, he employed a divine art to place a final restriction upon it.

"Chengfeng," he addressed Lu Chengfeng, "contained within this jade slip is the secret of the All Laws Sect Ruins – secrets concerning the Book of Time, one of the Nine Great Heavenly Books. You understand exactly how to promote this."

"The Book of Time?" Lu Chengfeng and Yi Tianxing both shuddered visibly.

"As for these nine jade slips," Ye Xu continued, waving his hand to produce nine more slips, "they bear information on ordinary Secret Realms. They are not part of the top ten you provided."

"Master, are you suggesting…" Lu Chengfeng grasped his meaning instantly, his eyes widening slightly, "…releasing only one shocking piece of information at a time?"

Lu Chengfeng suddenly realized, "My view was narrow-minded indeed."

"Releasing everything at once would be depleting the resources."

Ye Xu slumped into the grand armchair.

He certainly wished to.

But at that moment, Ye Xu had not a single Hongmeng point left to his name; instead, he owed nearly a billion Hongmeng points in debt—truly a "negative man" in every sense.

"Wait a moment."

Ye Xu’s gaze sharpened as he said, "Though quite a few know about the Taixu Domain, it hasn’t yet become common knowledge across the land."

"Let’s first use the Star Master as a hook."

Ye Xu planned to expose the truth that the Taixu Domain was the Star Master’s physical body. This would draw the attention of cultivators worldwide to Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, facilitating the opening of the auction.

"Yi Tianxing."

"Your servant is here."

Yi Tianxing stepped forward.

"You handle this task," Ye Xu instructed, fixing his gaze on Yi Tianxing. "Do not leave Canglan City."

After all,

exposing the Star Master’s greatest secret would surely drive him to madness. A single finger from him could crush Yi Tianxing.

Yi Tianxing’s heart raced wildly.

The Taixu Domain… was actually a hoax?

"Your servant obeys the command."

He left Heaven’s Secret Pavilion with fear and trepidation.

"Chengfeng, this first business venture since opening must make a resounding impact," Ye Xu said quietly. Half a year’s worth of his happiness rested on Lu Chengfeng’s shoulders.

"Master, rest assured. I will spare no effort and will not disappoint your trust."

Ye Xu gave a slight nod.

With a mere thought, Su Mu, Yue Lingxi, the Formless Demon Lord, and Ye Xian’er appeared before them.

"You four, listen well. From now on, you will follow Lu Chengfeng’s commands. His orders are as my own—do not disobey!" Ye Xu commanded.

"Yes!"

The Formless Demon Lord and Su Mu exchanged surprised glances, looking at Lu Chengfeng.

"How did this kid suddenly become my superior?" The Formless Demon Lord felt a distinct discomfort in his heart.

"Dear friends, we all serve the Master; there is no distinction of rank here."

Lu Chengfeng cupped his hands with an easy smile. "I hope we can work together with all our strength to create the greatest profits for the Master!"