Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 195
The news slapped Shangguan Jia into pure dumbness.
The Mountain Sea Sect was a half-combat sect with two lines of business. The more important one was to undertake quasi-military missions from the federal government, or to hunt down demon beasts and probe for mother lodes in the depths of the Grand Desolate Plateau, which had been usually led by Guan Xiong and the combat-type Cultivators in the sect.
Guan Xiong being heavily wounded was equivalent to one of the Mountain Sea Sect's legs being crippled, the thicker one.
The silver lining was that the Mountain Sea Sect received a few fat orders and a large sum of cheap loans from the federal government for Guan Xiong's gallantry.
Shangguan Jia made up his mind and introduced a precise magical equipment assembly line with the loans, planning to transform the Mountain Sea Sect.
However, transformation was not as easy as he had imagined. Precise magical equipment refined by the Mountain Sea Sect was silly and dumb. It met tremendous failure in the market.
Right when he did not know what to do, he met the Demon Beast Detector project which was full of potentials.
This time, the Mountain Sea Sect really put all of the eggs it had left into the basket of the Demon Beast Detector project.
The market research was quite satisfactory. After the upgrade of the assembly line under Li Yao's supervision, the product quality had significantly improved too.
When Shangguan Jia thought the Mountain Sea Sect was finally going to have its day, a huge monster named the Zephyr Guild came from nowhere, which not only wanted to beat the Mountain Sea Sect in the market, but also intended to swallow the Mountain Sea Sect as a whole.
The paper in Shangguan Jia's hands felt like a fire that was burning through his palm into his heart.
Shangguan Jia almost lost control and teared the paper into pieces. Calming himself down for half a minute, he tried to hold back his anger and read on,
"Another twelve dealers of three cities have terminated cooperation with us?
"No substitute crystal camera supplier has been found yet? The Falling Stars Mansion is willing to cooperate with us, on the condition of a 30% increase of price?
"They're only trying to take advantage of our trouble!
"The Zephyr Guild has proposed an acquisition plan again, with harsher requirements?"
Shangguan Jia closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt that he had smelled the scent of sulfur. The fire in his chest was burning more and more fiercely.
As an admin-type Cultivator, he understood the principle of business too well. Anything could be traded at a suitable price.
However, deep in his bones, Shangguan Jia was a man born and raised on the Grand Desolate Plateau. He was as stubborn as the poplar in the desert.
Apart from the fact that the Mountain Sea Sect was an ancient sect that had lasted for hundreds of years and had its own history and pride, apart from the sordid tricks that the Zephyr Guild employed in competition including infiltrating the Mountain Sea Sect by espionage, the acquisition plan that the Zephyr Guild proposed alone was enough to let Shangguan Jia say no.
According to the acquisition plan, the Zephyr Guild was only going to buy out the assets of the Mountain Sea Sect. As for the members of the Mountain Sea Sect, they would have to be tested by the Zephyr Guild to determine whether or not they were eligible to stay in the 'Mountain Sea Branch of the Zephyr Guild'.
It was not difficult to guess that the disabled and the retired members who had made huge contributions to the Mountain Sea Sect wouldn't be eligible. They would probably be swept out like rubbish with a severance package.
Although Shangguan Jia had been complaining about the disabled and the retired Cultivators and thought they put a huge burden on him as the new leader of the sect, he couldn't bear to just drive them away.
Other than everything else, he would fight against the 'shark' Qiu Guanyu until the end just for the disabled and the retired members of his sect.
Shangguan Jia bit his lip and read on,
"Three allies who have been cooperating with us for decades all rejected our request of more loans? It's understandable. With everything escalating to this point, nobody is confident enough to lend their money to us.
"What?
"Another three shareholders have expressed their intention to transfer their shares to the Zephyr Guild? What—"
Like a fish struggling in a basket, Shangguan Jia's chest puffed out, and then collapsed in helplessness. He fell to his chair, unable to move anymore.
Right then, somebody knocked at his door. It was his secretary's voice,
"Elder Guan and Elder Jiang are here."
The Mountain Sea Sect had been uneasy recently. Many shareholders agreed to be acquired by the Zephyr Guild. After all, the Mountain Sea Sect was on its way to bankruptcy if things remained unchanged.
But Guan Xiong and Jiang Wenbo were the two toughest anti-acquisition advocates. They were also Shangguan Jia's most trusted seniors.
"Please, let them in."
Shangguan Jia cleared up his clothes and emotions and greeted the two elders. He was surprised at the delight on their faces.
"Pa!"
Guan Xiong launched a Sound Killer, which was a barrier that could prevent anyone outside of the barrier from hearing what was being said inside.
"Pa!"
Jiang Wenbo launched a rune, too. A yellow light scanned through everything inside the barrier, making sure that there was not eavesdropper magical equipment inside the room.
Seeing their seriousness, Shangguan Jia was even more surprised. He asked, "My elders, is there anything wrong?"
Jiang Wenbo looked at Guan Xiong and said in a smile, "Leader, have you ever heard of Fiend Blade Peng Hai?"
Shangguan Jia nodded.
"Of course I have. He is the youngest expert to arrive at the peak of the Building Foundation Stage. He hunted down two strong demon beasts consecutively last year, which was big news back then. It is said that he is going to be the youngest Core Formation Cultivator of the federation.
"He used to be a marketing manager of the Crimson Nimbus Guild. With his work, the Crimson Nimbus Guild has been growing rapidly in recent years. The rank of its comprehensive capability improved by more than seventy in the list of the top 500 sects of the federation in just two years.
"But I heard that he has withdrawn from the Crimson Nimbus Guild in order to break into the Core Formation Stage. He is now an unaffiliated Cultivator.
"Why do you mention Fiend Blade Peng Hai out of nowhere?"
Guan Xiong grinned.
"Leader, you're correct. But Fiend Blade Peng Hai has another identity. He is Li Yao's senior brother."
Shangguan Jia's eyes shined, then they were gloomy again. He said, "I remember now. Peng Hai and Li Yao both come from the Grand Desolate War Institution. Of course he is Li Yao's senior brother. However, thousands of students graduate from the Grand Desolate War Institution every year. He might not know Li Yao at all, since he is much older than Li Yao. I doubt we can pull that string."
Jiang Wenbo shook his head.
"Leader, you're wrong. Li Yao and Peng Hai are not just both students of the Grand Desolate War Institution. They're both from Floating Spear City and they have the same Enlightenment Master. Theirs is the closest junior-senior brother relationship.
"What?!"
Shangguan Jia stood up unconsciously. His heart was beating fast.
All Cultivators respected their Enlightenment Master very much. They might have many teachers in their life, but there would only be one Enlightenment Master.
Such a junior-senior brother relationship was indeed extraordinary.
Jiang Wenbo continued, "Li Yao has reached out to Fiend Blade Peng Hai and talked him into buying shares and investing the Demon Beast Detector project. Besides money, Peng Hai has influential connections and a marketing network in the south of the federation. What do you think, leader?"
Shangguan Jia rubbed his face hard, trying to calm himself down,
"Did Fiend Blade Peng Hai say that he wanted to take over the Mountain Sea Sect?"
Jiang Wenbo shook his head and said, "No. Fiend Blade Peng Hai is not interested in controlling the Mountain Sea Sect, nor will he interfere with the daily operations. He has put it very straightforwardly. Firstly, at his Junior Brother Li Yao's request, he decided to give the Mountain Sea Sect a hand; secondly, he was very interested in the Demon Beast Detector project itself and hoped to make the pie bigger with our joint cooperation."
Shangguan Jia smiled bitterly. He knew he had thought too much.
The Mountain Sea Sect had been a second-rate sect since the beginning. Now that it was mired in trouble, Fiend Blade Peng Hai definitely wouldn't want to take it over even if he wanted to control a sect.
"Good!"
Shangguan Jia slapped his table, "We're open to any negotiations as long as we can still fight the Zephyr Guild!"
Chapter 284: On Fire! |
Li Yao finally agreed to Fiend Blade Peng Hai's plan. They co-created a new sect with each of them providing part of the capital.
This way, Li Yao and Peng Hai would be tied to the same boat.
With mutual interests, their relationship would be closer, which was good for both of them.
Fiend Blade Peng Hai was the leader of the new sect in name. The actual daily operations were run by Shang Tianling.
In fact, there weren't too many affairs that needed to be handled, since it was an investment sect without many members. The bulk of its revenue was generated by investing other sects.
The main target of the investments at present was, naturally, the Mountain Sea Sect.
Li Yao devoted most of the money he earned in Serpent City to the new sect, which made him the second largest shareholder.
Other than that, he left two sums of money to Grandpa Wang and his Enlightenment Master, Sun Biao.
He also asked Shang Tianling to set up a trust fund with part of his money to help improve the teaching quality of Floating Spear City's Mining Clan High School, as well as the students who were gifted and in need.
It took Li Yao an entire day to settle everything before he returned to the Grand Desolate War Institution as fast as he could.
Li Yao was quite occupied for the next couple of days.
On one hand, he needed to familiarize himself with the experts and researchers that just came to the Refining Department, each of whom had a unique personality and refining style.
While Li Yao was getting to know them, he also learnt a lot from them and found it very helpful.
His lightning-like hand movement, natural instincts about magical equipment, and fantastic ideas about modification were praised by the experts.
On the other hand, Li Yao proposed a series of plans to promote the Demon Beast Detector to the leaders of the school through Yuan Manqiu.
Since the Grand Desolate War Institution had invested huge amount of money into the Refining Department, naturally, it wanted the Refining Department to make a difference.
As the first commercially valuable magical equipment crafted by a student of the Refining Department, the Demon Beast Detector didn't find much trouble getting support from the school.
Just like that. When the Zephyr Guild was tightening the noose around the Mountain Sea Sect's neck with the capital chain and the dealers, a bigger storm was brewing in the seemingly quietness.
Three days later, the first lightning of the storm flashed.
"Li Yao, nice to meet you. I am Gao Xueman, a journalist of 'Predator' hosted by the Demon Hunters' Association. Thank you for your time to take this interview."
Seeing the short-haired girl in neat hunting clothes standing in front of him, Li Yao felt somewhat shocked.
He knew that Fiend Blade Peng Hai and Shang Tianling were going to do something, but he didn't expect them to be so powerful.
Demon Hunter was a very special career in the Cultivation world. They were professional demon beast hunters.
They might not be the strongest, but they boasted the most experience in hunting and wilderness survival. They could hunt down demon beasts in a much more efficient way than ordinary Cultivators.
For Cultivators such as Li Yao, Ding Lingdang, or Guan Xiong, hunting down demon beasts was a way of training and accumulating wealth.
But for a professional Demon Hunter, the hunting was a fulfilling process and ultimate gratification in itself.
The Demon Hunters' Association, as its name suggested, was a partnership of the fierce Demon Hunters.
'Predator', hosted by the Demon Hunters' Association, was a very professional and influential magazine in the Cultivation world. It posted the updates of the Grand Desolate Plateau and tips against demon beasts, as well as magical equipment introductions every day.
Many Cultivators read 'Predator' to learn how to fight demon beasts and how to save their lives in the wilderness.
Sales of 'Predator' were not as high as the three magical equipment magazines. But it was more authoritative than them in regards of wilderness combat and survival.
Critics of the three magical equipment magazines were all experts. But they might not be very familiar with the wilderness, which sometimes made their reviews impractical.
However, the journalists and critics of 'Predator' were renowned professional Demon Hunters who wrote their reviews based on the bloody lessons they learnt in real battles.
If the Demon Beast Detector were to be endorsed by 'Predator', the negative influences caused by the three magical equipment magazines would be greatly assuaged.
"Li Yao, I'm told that you survived ten days and ten nights deep inside the Thunderous Sound Mountain in the Dark Desolate Domain and returned home safely, which has been confirmed by the Thunder Training Camp. Also, from what I know, your crystal suit had been seriously damaged before it started, and you passed the ten days with nothing but your saber."
Gao Xueman had done her homework before the interview. She smiled and said, "Your remarkable achievement has become well-known now. Many of the readers of 'Predator' are curious about one question. How did you persist until the end without your crystal suit when you are just a Refinement Stage Cultivator?"
Li Yao cleared his throat. He took out a well-worn Demon Beast Detector from his pocket and said, "When I lost my way in the depths of the Thunderous Sound Mountain, I nearly gave up all my hope. Thankfully, I had brought a piece of magical equipment refined by myself, which was the biggest reason why I could run away from the Dark Desolate Domain that was full of perils although I was only a Refinement Stage Cultivator!"
Li Yao only partly meant what he said.
He had swallowed ten drops of lion dragon heart blood in the Thunderous Sound Mountain, and undergone a super pressure caused by the demon core explosion that was similar to the environment when the Thousand Tempering Hundred Refining technique was created, which led to a major breakthrough of his body.
Not only did he advance to the 11th level of the Refinement Stage, his body was even sturdier than any other body practitioner of the same level. Together with the daunting scent of the mutant lion dragon and the help of the Cosmos Ring, he eventually managed to get out of the Thunderous Sound Mountain alive.
However, he was not telling a lie when he said that the Demon Beast Detector played its part too.
Li Yao had long been informed that he was going to be interviewed. He had written a lot of scripts with interesting excerpts from his adventure and memorized them. Now that he started talking, his eloquence made Gao Xueman nod her head frequently.
As a journalist of the 'Predator', Gao Xueman was an expert in wilderness combat and survival too. She raised questions now and then.
Li Yao was telling the truth, although only partly, so he was not scared by her questions. He simply described him to be a reasonably good Cultivator at the 7th level of the Refinement Stage and highlighted the importance of the Demon Beast Detector.
"So, you're saying that the Demon Beast Detector is really a marvelous tool in wilderness survival?"
Gao Xueman was hooked, too. Based on her abundant battle experience, she sensed the value of the Demon Beast Detector immediately.
"You can have a try yourself, Ms. Gao, if you want."
Li Yao had been prepared for this. He led Gao Xueman to the field teaching zone of the Combat Department, which was a simulation of the wild environment where hundreds of different kinds of demon beasts were farmed.
Gao Xueman put on a Demon Beast Detector and ran tests for an hour excitedly. The efficiency of the magical equipment was far better than she had expected. She felt that she hadn't enjoyed it enough yet when the tests were over.
Seeing this, Li Yao brought out five Demon Beast Detectors and intend to give them as gifts to the staff of the 'Predator'.
But Gao Xueman rejected his offer and paid for them.
Letting them keep several Demon Beast Detectors was exactly what Li Yao had been hoping for.
Gao Xueman was quite efficient. The very next day, 'Predator' posted an article titled with 'Ten Days in the Demon Mountain', which emphasized the fact that Li Yao was only at the 7th level of the Refinement Stage and the great usages of the Demon Beast Detector.
In the end of the article were some reviews written by Gao Xueman and some other critics of the 'Predator'.
Their conclusion was far different from those of the three magical equipment magazines.
"As the very first commercialized magical equipment of a new refiner, the Demon Beast Detector has a lot of shortcomings that could be improved. However, the ingenious idea to refine it into a monocle is a major breakthrough of probe magical equipment, whose significance has not been fully recognized by the Cultivation world yet.
"For a high-level Cultivator with amazing computational ability, the Demon Beast Detector matters little.
"For low-level Cultivators who mostly go on missions in teams, it seems redundant for each team member to wear a Demon Beast Detector.
