Chapter 222: Gray Robe Enters the Society
The next day, Xu Qing went to the location of the token. There was a small merchant ship there. The items inside were not bad. Although they weren’t very valuable, they still had some value. Most importantly, Xu Qing saw a pile of medicinal herbs inside.
According to the careful answer of the disciple in charge of this place, Xu Qing knew that no one had come to collect this ship for two months.
Xu Qing kept the medicinal herbs and called his informant over to deal with the merchant ship. After that, he asked about the opening of the port.
“Master, I’ve understood everything about the opening of the port and was about to report it to you.”
“The newly opened port is divided into internal and external businesses. Each has its pros and cons. There aren’t many benefits for internal businesses but it’s convenient for Master to build connections with the piedmont disciples.”
“As for setting the port for external businesses, the benefits are extremely great. However, this requires many department branches to settle down. For example, Pilotage, Dispatch, Transportation, and so on. However, once it’s built, even if it’s just a simple port, the benefits will be astonishing as merchant ships come and go. In addition, it will also attract shops to settle down. This is another benefit.”
The informant spoke in a low voice. She didn’t dare to slack off at all when it came to the mission Xu Qing had given her. In the past two months, she had been constantly investigating and researching. She had even spent some spirit coins to buy a lot of information.
Hence, after Xu Qing asked, she didn’t think about it for too long and told him everything about opening a new port.
“However, the project is huge. Even though it’s only the simplest port, the initial infrastructure still requires at least three million spirit stones. If it’s completed together with the shops and other facilities, the total investment will be above ten million. Moreover, there’s no cap on it according to the requirements.”
When Xu Qing heard this, his expression showed no change but his mind shook. He originally thought that he could be considered rich now. After all, the storage bag of the Sea Corpse Race contained hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.
However, when he heard the informant’s words, Xu Qing could only remain silent.
“However, the final benefits are terrifying. There is a limit to how many boats our Seven Blood Eyes’ harbor can handle. During this period of time, I’ve been observing the boats coming and going. 30% of the boats that come to the Seven Blood Eyes have to queue outside to enter every day.”
“Therefore, once our new port is established, there will be no lack of merchant ships coming and going. After comparing the other ports, I calculated that the initial investment will be about three million spirit stones. You can use the profits to slowly build more facilities in the future.”
“If everything goes smoothly, you’ll be able to break even in about two years at most. After that, you’ll be able to earn back your capital in the third year. In the future, your annual income should be around three million spirit stones.”
“I also heard that among the other Foundation Building seniors who opened ports, very few of them will fully invest by themselves. They do it with others. So, if Master has someone willing, you can invest together. However, it seems that they must also be Foundation Building seniors.”
“In addition, many of the sect’s money shops1 are also passionate about this. However, I heard that the sect has many restrictions on this, so not many ports are willing to get involved with them.”
Xu Qing fell silent.
Originally, he felt that the opportunity to open a port couldn’t be wasted. Moreover, once it was built, he wouldn’t have to do anything and would be able to gain such a large sum of profit every year. Hence, he asked his informant to inquire.
However, now that he heard of all the details, although Xu Qing was tempted, it was too expensive. Moreover, it was obvious that there were many troublesome things involved.
In addition, if he invested so many spirit stones, he would tie himself too deeply to the Seven Blood Eyes. Xu Qing was a little hesitant about this. He suddenly understood why many Foundation Building cultivators didn’t choose to open a port.
On one hand, they would be creating a shackle for themselves. On the other hand, the expenditure was huge.
With these spirit stones, Xu Qing felt that he could issue missions and get others to capture sea beasts for him.
Xu Qing already had the thought of giving up.
He let the informant leave. He then changed into a gray Daoist robe and prepared to trade the materials.
On this return, he wanted to buy a lot of things, be it medicinal herbs or talismans. In addition, he planned to take a look at the magic artifacts sold in the sect.
Magic artifacts were very expensive and Xu Qing couldn’t bear to spend his spirit stones on them previously. Now that he had a lot of money, he planned to choose one.
He was also very interested in the soul slips that First Peak’s Wu Jianwu had thrown out. He would see if they were sold. Although the efficiency of this item was average, it was very convenient to absorb the souls.
“There’s also the Spirit Breath Lantern…” Xu Qing pondered as he walked on the streets. Under the cover of his gray Daoist robe and the concealment of his cultivation, he looked like an ordinary disciple. Only occasionally would one or two gazes sweep over him from the crowd.
The people who swept over were all Foundation Building cultivators who wore gray Daoist robes like Xu Qing. When they sensed each other’s auras, they would often look away immediately and not disturb each other.
Just like that, Xu Qing arrived at the breakfast stall he used to go to every day. He sat down and ate a beautiful meal under the enthusiastic greeting of the stall owner.
This time, he ate four eggs.
Although he could skip meals for several days after he stepped into Foundation Building and nourish himself with magic power, Xu Qing still liked to eat like before. This gave him a sense of satisfaction.
As he ate, he took out his identity token and transmitted his voice to Huang Yan, asking him about the follow-up to the matter of him wanting to buy the Spirit Breath Lantern.
Huang Yan didn’t reply immediately. It was only when Xu Qing was about to leave after eating that he received a message from Huang Yan.
“I’m buying it. Xu Qing, you’re back? Where are you? I’ll look for you.”
Looking at Huang Yan’s reply, Xu Qing’s eyes revealed anticipation. He was in a very good mood when he thought about how he was going to earn 500,000 spirit stones. After telling the other party the location, Xu Qing soon saw Huang Yan running over in a hurry.
He seemed to have gained even more weight. The circles of flesh on his body had increased by several layers.
Upon seeing Xu Qing, Huang Yan laughed and directly threw out a thick bundle of spirit tickets.
“All of them have face value of 1,000 spirit stones and are the exclusive spirit tickets of the Sixth Peak. There are a total of 200 tickets.”
“There was not much time, so I was only able to get these spirit stones here. How about I use a magic artifact to offset the rest?” As Huang Yan spoke, he took out a black inner armor and handed it to Xu Qing.
“Magic artifact?” Xu Qing took the inner armor. After magic power gushed in, he immediately sensed that the inner armor was filled with countless runes, arranged according to a certain pattern. At a rough glance, there were probably no less than 100,000 of them. With just a slight sense, Xu Qing could sense that this inner armor was extraordinary.
“This is a Myriad Rune Armor. I originally planned to give it to Senior Sister, but I think she prefers the Spirit Breath Lantern. I’ll exchange this armor with you. You can sell it for about 300,000 spirit stones.”
“Although this thing is only a low-ranked magic artifact, its defense is not bad. If you wear it and encounter a Foundation Building cultivator in Mystic Brilliance Form, as long as the other party hasn’t formed a second ball of fire, the armor will be able to block their attacks several times.”
Huang Yan seemed to know a lot about Foundation Building. Clearly, his senior sister had taught him many things and his cultivation level had also reached the point where he was about to break through.
Xu Qing nodded. After he kept the Myriad Rune Armor, he took out the Spirit Breath Lantern and passed it to Huang Yan.
“Do you need me to send you to the Seventh Peak?” Xu Qing looked at Huang Yan, who was playing with the Spirit Breath Lantern, and asked softly.
“There’s no need. Who dares to snatch what I want to give Senior Sister?” Huang Yan patted his stomach and happily kept the Spirit Breath Lantern. Just as he was about to take out a jade slip and transmit his voice to Senior Sister, he suddenly thought of something and turned his head to glance at Xu Qing.
“Xu Qing, the matter of the war that I told you about last time has basically been confirmed. You can consider whether you want to participate or not.” With that, he waved at Xu Qing and quickly ran toward the Seventh Peak.
Looking at Huang Yan’s departing figure, Xu Qing sighed inwardly at how rich Huang Yan was. He could take out hundreds of thousands of spirit stones and magic artifacts just like that. However, Xu Qing didn’t investigate Huang Yan’s background.
This was a taboo in the Seven Blood Eyes and Xu Qing wasn’t willing to do it.
He thought of what Huang Yan had said earlier.
“War…”
The last remaining thought of opening a port was also erased at this moment. He was prepared to use the right to obtain an ownership of a street.
Although the benefits weren’t much, it was still better than nothing.
With this thought in mind, Xu Qing walked toward the shops that sold jade talismans.
Most of the shops that sold items for Foundation Building cultivators in the main city were in the Sixth Peak’s Pengming District. There weren’t many shops in the port area and because the prices were extremely high, there were very few customers in such shops.
Most of them had separate compartments to entertain the guests.
After arriving at the Pengming District, Xu Qing searched for a while. In the end, he chose a shop called Bright Artifact Pavilion and walked in.
This shop could be considered one of the largest shops in the entire Sixth Peak’s Pengming District. It had a total of five floors and the area of each floor was about 2,000 feet.
The interior was even more luxurious. It seemed like they usually received a lot of customers, so there were many handsome and beautiful staff members.
As soon as Xu Qing stepped in, he immediately attracted the attention of many of the shop assistants. Although Xu Qing was wearing a gray Daoist robe, his appearance was extremely outstanding. In fact, in the eyes of the young female shop assistants, Xu Qing’s arrival seemed to cause the shop to light up for a moment.
Not to mention that the people who dared to step into their shop were no ordinary people. At the very least, they were all core disciples. Moreover, they had entertained many Foundation Building cultivators, so they knew very well that most Foundation Building cultivators in the sect liked to move in gray robes.
Many of the staff quickly walked over to receive him. However, one of them, a beautiful young girl with a double ponytail, was the first to arrive in front of Xu Qing before everyone else.
“Senior Brother, you can call me Xiaohui. I’ll do my best to serve you.” The young girl looked at Xu Qing’s face and blushed slightly as she spoke.
“Our Bright Artifact Pavilion mainly sells tools. The first floor sells talismans, the second floor is jade talismans, and the third floor is magic artifacts. Senior Brother, what do you want to check? I’ll guide you.”
Xu Qing swept his gaze across the surroundings and noticed that there were no other customers on the first floor of the shop other than him. He also saw that the walls here were filled with all kinds of talismans.
Although they were all sealed, there were still powerful fluctuations spreading out.
And the energy fluctuations from the talismans in the dozens of crystal pillars in the hall were even more obvious.
Based on the fact that they were stored separately, their quality should be much better.
“I want to check magic artifacts.” Xu Qing retracted his gaze and looked at the young girl whose face was becoming increasingly rosy.
When the pigtailed girl heard this, her eyes lit up even more.