Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 197
Qiu Guanyu had stationed heavy troops on both paths. He had made sure that the Mountain Sea Sect couldn't find a single qualified crystal camera supplier, or a single magical equipment store that was willing to sell the Demon Beast Detector.
However, it didn't occur to him that the Mountain Sea Sect just bypassed his impregnable lines of defense.
Naturally, Qiu Guanyu felt uneasy, as if he had stepped off a step onto nothing.
The uneasiness soon turned into reality.
"The Mountain Sea Sect has found Jade Tripod Tower, Frostbite Valley, and Phoenix Union to provide the crystal cameras?
"What the hell?!"
Reading the latest investigation report in his crystal processor, Qiu Guanyu was stupefied.
The three suppliers that the Mountain Sea Sect found were all insignificant sects that never appeared on the list of the top 500 sects of the federation. They were not even professional refining sects.
The crystal cameras they refined were of low resolution and lousy quality, which had nothing special at all.
If the Demon Beast Detector utilized the inferior crystal cameras as its core component, its precision would be greatly diminished. Which Cultivator would buy that?
Is the Mountain Sea Sect committing suicide?
Qiu Guanyu was puzzled.
But the remaining part of the report dazzled him even more.
"What?
"The Mountain Sea Sect is releasing a cheap version of Demon Beast Detector targeting ordinary people?"
There seemed to be a lightning flashing in his head.
All the time, he had been trapped in the mindset that the war between the Mountain Sea Sect and the Zephyr Guild would burst out in the premium market for the Cultivators.
It never occurred to him that the Mountain Sea Sect would retreat and turn to the lower end of the market aiming at the ordinary people!
Countless ordinary people lived on the Grand Desolate Plateau.
Some of them were miners working for the major mining groups, some were the residents of the cities and towns, and some were the military soldiers and their families.
The number of ordinary people was hundreds of times larger than that of the Cultivators.
At a time when demon beasts went rampant, they needed to identify demon beasts, too.
A cheap version of Demon Beast Detector with a low-resolution crystal camera might not be able to meet the needs of the Cultivators. But for ordinary people, it was good enough to help them identify the type of the demon beasts, the toxicity of the demon beasts, the ways the demon beasts attack, or simply distinguish the demon beasts from regular beasts.
The Demon Beast Detector's price had not been high in the first place. The price of the cheap version was even lower. After all, the most valuable component of a Demon Beast Detector was its crystal camera. A loss of resolution by half could result to a reduction of price by three quarters.
Qiu Guanyu finally understood why the Mountain Sea Sect was spending so much money on advertising.
It was trying to impress the ordinary people with the extraordinary functions of the Demon Beast Detector.
Cold sweat was appearing on Qiu Guanyu's nose. He took a deep breath and asked his subordinate as calmly as he could, "What's the share price of the Mountain Sea Sect right now?"
"The Mountain Sea Sect has been suspended on the stock market. It is holding a press conference. A new shareholder is joining the Mountain Sea Sect," his personal assistant answered nervously.
"Excellent. We'll know who's backing the Mountain Sea Sect now."
Qiu Guanyu gnashed his teeth. The news was within his expectations.
Without strong reinforcement, the capital chain of the Mountain Sea Sect would've broken down long time ago, and the advertising war wouldn't have happened in the first place.
The press conference that was being streamed on the Nexus soon began.
"'Twin Dragons Union', a new sect led by Fiend Blade Peng Hai who is the youngest expert to arrive at the peak of the Building Foundation Stage in the federation, has agreed to buy shares of the Mountain Sea Sect, to the extent that the Twin Dragons Union will be the third largest shareholder of the Mountain Sea Sect!
"Fiend Blade Peng Hai also gladly accepted the invitation from Shangguan Jia, leader of the Mountain Sea Sect, to be the honorary chairman of board!
"Li Yao, inventor of the Demon Beast Detector which is the star product of the Mountain Sea Sect at present, is Fiend Blade Peng Hai's junior brother and a shareholder of the Twin Dragons Union.
"After the admission, the collaboration between the two parties will be closer. It is also a sign that they are both confident about the future of the Demon Beast Detector project!"
With a darkened face, Qiu Guanyu watched as Shangguan Jia, Jiang Wenbo, Guan Xiong, Fiend Blade Peng Hai, and the rest merrily entered the conference hall surrounded by countless journalists.
Fiend Blade Peng Hai picked the crystal microphone and said with a smile, "Friends of the news industry and financial industry, the press conference today has three purposes.
"Firstly, we would like to disclose the partnership between the Mountain Sea Sect and myself.
"Secondly, we'd like to take this opportunity to introduce to you the 'Young Pioneer Version of the Demon Beast Detector', the latest magical equipment refined by the Mountain Sea Sect.
"It is designed to be a piece of affordable magical equipment for the people who live and work on the Grand Desolate Plateau. While most of the functions of the original Demon Beast Detector are maintained, our new product's price has been set to a much lower price. The speed and manner of information presentation has been specially optimized for ordinary people.
"I believe most of you have watched an advertisement called 'Ten Days Among Demons'. In real life, the narrow escape of Li Yao, my junior brother, was based on the magical equipment of the same type.
"But before I dive into the details, allow me to introduce another distinguished guest to you. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you—"
"Shua!"
The curtain behind Fiend Blade Peng Hai was opened, revealing a banner that read: 'New Product Launch Conference. Co-hosted by the Mountain Sea Sect and the Moon Splitting Sword Guild.'
Fiend Blade Peng Hai intentionally uttered very slowly, "Bu Changfeng, deputy leader of the Moon Splitting Sword Guild!"
As a short, stout man with a glowing face walked to the front, whispers of attendees grew louder and louder.
Everybody had heard a thing or two about Fiend Blade Peng Hai buying shares of the Mountain Sea Sect. But how was the Mountain Sea Sect related to the Moon Splitting Sword Guild?
Besides, wasn't the Demon Beast Detector solely refined by the Mountain Sea Sect? Why was the Moon Splitting Sword Guild co-hosting the conference?
"What?!"
Qiu Guanyu's face changed. He stood up uncontrollably.
The Moon Splitting Sword Guild was among the top 500 sects of the federations, which boasted a lot of potential.
However, for a long time, the Moon Splitting Sword Guild had been a pure sword-training sect which was adept at the refinement and utilization of flying swords. It had nothing to do whatsoever with either the Zephyr Guild or the Mountain Sea Sect.
Never had he heard that the Moon Splitting Sword Guild intended to march into the business of precise magical equipment refining.
The shadow of uneasiness inside Qiu Guanyu's mind quickly expanded.
"Flying sword and Demon Beast Detector are two kinds magical equipment that can't be more distant. What's the deputy leader of the Moon Splitting Sword Guild doing here?"
Chapter 287: Unstoppable |
Many journalists shared the same question with Qiu Guanyu.
Bu Changfeng, deputy leader of the Moon Splitting Sword Guild, took over the crystal microphone.
"Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!"
Almost twenty 3D light beams appeared behind him and started playing video clips of flying swords moving in the sky.
With a closer look, one would notice that the flying swords were pure white and looked like a long tube with green fluorescence. Four crystal cameras were evenly distributed on the body of each sword. There were no blade or tip. They were more like mini, self-driving shuttles than flying swords.
Right then, the flying swords were rushing in the sky of the Grand Desolate Plateau and approaching towns, mines, military bases, and fieldwork spots.
Bu Changfeng smiled brightly and said, "Friends of the news industry and the financial industry, you might be surprised to see me here. But today, the Demon Beast Detector is the star of the show.
"The Demon Beast Detector is a piece of magical equipment of astounding innovation, which naturally requires a correspondingly groundbreaking sales pattern.
"With the close collaboration of the Mountain Sea Sect and the Moon Splitting Sword Guild, the Demon Beast Detector will be sold on the Nexus and shipped by the flying sword.
"Behold, everyone—"
The picture on the light beam changed. A plain-looking customer was visiting the Demon Beast Detector's website.
"I believe most of you have watched 'Ten Days Among Demons' and logged in the website of the Demon Beast Detector before.
"At noon today, the online shopping module will be officially added to the website. By then, you will be able to place an order with your telepathic thought when you're at the website."
The light beam continued playing. The customer was muttering to himself, "Demon Beast Detector? Sounds interesting. It is not expensive anyway and could possibly save my life in an emergency. I might as well buy one.
"However, I work in a remote mine. There's no towns or stores nearby. The delivery of the online shopping sites is slow, and the cost is astonishingly high.
"Huh. I can buy a Demon Beast Detector from the website directly without any shipping fee? Guaranteed to arrive within one day? Is that even possible?"
The customer typed fast on the virtual keyboard and placed an order on the website of the Demon Beast Detector.
Then the picture switched to a large logistics center.
Many workers in the uniform of the Moon Splitting Sword Guild were busy at work.
Some of them were processing the orders on crystal processors. Some of them were opening the trunk of the flying swords and putting the Demon Beast Detectors inside gently.
In light of the limited space of the flying swords, the outer packaging of the Young Pioneer Version of the Demon Beast Detector was restructured into the shape of a cylinder with a minimalistic design, which was also very environment-friendly.
One flying sword could carry ten Demon Beast Detectors.
In another room, hundreds of light beams were floating in the air. Almost a hundred sword Cultivators of the Moon Splitting Sword Guild were focusing their rapt attention on the flying swords.
"Shua!"
"Shua!"
"Shua!"
Controlled by them, hundreds of flying swords took off and staggered to the distance with mystic colors behind, soon disappearing into the clouds.
The picture switched to a mine that was in the middle of nowhere.
It was too far away from any towns. Demon beasts appeared every now and then. Ordinary couriers hardly ever came to this place. Often, they would only deliver goods when there were a lot of orders and under the protection of Cultivators whom they paid a high reward to.
So, the goods might be delayed for a long time. Besides, the bewildering salary of the Cultivators resulted to the soaring shipping fees. For certain regular goods, their shipping fee was sometimes even higher than their actual value.
The four crystal cameras on a flying sword scanned the environment and went to the neighborhood beside the mine.
The customer who bought the Demon Beast Detector on the Nexus had received a notification and walked out of the door.
The flying sword stopped before him quietly. The trunk opened, revealing the Demon Beast Detector contained inside.
The customer was overwhelmed with joy. He hurriedly unpacked the Demon Beast Detector and put it on his nose with a smile of satisfaction.
The journalists, although aware that it was only a commercial, were still thrilled and started talking about it with each other.
Shopping online was not something new in the Star Glory Federation.
However, the Star Glory Federation had a vast and complex territory. The traffic of many cities was very complicated, too. Not only were there skyscrapers on the ground, there were also underground ghost cities that could be dozens of levels deep and sophisticated like a honeycomb.
All these factors added to the headache of the logistics industry. Home delivery service was too costly.
Therefore, most of the time, the couriers would simply transport the goods to designated pickup spots from which the customers needed to collect their goods themselves.
The situation was even worse in the Grand Desolate Plateau.
The Grand Desolate Plateau was a scarcely populated area under the scourge of demon beasts. Not many shuttles and airships dared to cruise in the sky of the Grand Desolate Plateau. To make things worse, the crystal trains only had a limited cargo capacity.
It was not unusual for the customers in the far-off mines, military camps, or newly developed towns to wait for half a month after they ordered some items on the Nexus before the items were finally delivered to their hands even though they had paid a shipping fee that was even higher than the cost of the goods.
If the shipping could be done by remote-controlled flying swords, there would be no concern of courier casualties. The shipping cost would be greatly diminished, whereas the flexibility and punctuality could be better guaranteed. The actual performance of the new shipping system might still be a question in the inland of the federation, but it was certainly going to nail the Grand Desolate Plateau!
The quick-minded journalists had already realized the business potential of the new shipping system.
Bu Changfeng was relieved to see others so interested in the new product.
Among all the sword-training sects of the Star Glory Federation, the Moon Splitting Sword Guild was not famous for the swiftness of their flying swords, or the powerfulness, or the skillfulness.
The only shining point of its flying swords was the technological advantage in remote-control and self-navigation because of their amazing crystal cameras.
Recent years, as the arms race of the sword-training sects took place, more advanced power rune arrays and attack rune arrays had been developed thanks to the large investment, which increased the speed and damage of the flying swords significantly.
As a result, not only had the sects that mainly focused on defense magical equipment such as the Gold Armor Sect been seriously undermined, the Moon Splitting Sword Guild, which only had a limited arsenal of technologies, was caught in a dilemma, too.
If it were to join the arms race, the preliminary cost would be huge with no guarantee of any yield.
If it were to stay the same, its technology would fall behind its peers. No one would buy its flying swords in the future, not even the guards of the mines.
To deal with the dilemma, the Moon Splitting Sword Guild had been undergoing a transformation. It had tried to march into the logistics industry by building a flying sword shipping network based on its advantage in the field of remote-controlled and self-navigating flying swords.
After a few years of secret preparations, the flying sword shipping network began to take shape. However, a lot of endogenous defects were disclosed, too.
Firstly, the cargo capability of the flying sword was inadequate. It could not carry goods beyond one ton however it was modified, which meant that it could only transport light and small goods.
Secondly, the robustness of remote-controlled flying swords and self-navigating flying swords was unsatisfactory. A sword trainer had to manipulate a flying sword over the Spiritual Nexus when it was several kilometers away, which would result to lagging.
This also meant that the flying sword was not suitable to carry goods that were too valuable.
Suppose a flying sword was to be used to carry Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures worthy of several billion, what if the flying sword lost control halfway and damaged the goods inside? Who would be to blame?
Thirdly, there were already a lot of sects that were good at swiftness and wind-reining skills with a lot of affiliates in the federation.
Wind Runners Clan, Wind Riders Clan, Wind Roarers Clan, and Unified Net Sect, known as 'Three Winds and One Net", had a market share of more than 90% of the logistics market.
If the Moon Splitting Sword Guild were to compete with them, there would a bloody battle with too many costs and probably little return.
Therefore, although the flying sword shipping network was ready to use, it had been bothering the Moon Splitting Sword Guilt from managers to workers as to what goods it should carry in the beginning phase so that it could be known by the world.
It was possible to deliver daily necessities such as sugar and salt with the flying sword shipping network. However, the brand image of the sect would suffer a disastrous decline, not to mention that the actual profit would probably be small. There would be no way for the Moon Splitting Sword Guild to turn to the premium market in the future.
The goods that the Moon Splitting Sword Guild desired should not be too valuable, not too large, and full of innovation, with technological advantage and certain publicity.
Only such goods could maximize the advantage of the flying sword shipping network.
However, it was not easy to find a suitable candidate.
When the Moon Splitting Sword Guild met the Demon Beast Detector, it was like a fatigued man who met a pillow. They were perfect for each other.
Not only did the magical equipment refined by Li Yao meet the Moon Splitting Sword Guild's every need, what made the Moon Splitting Sword Guild more exciting was that the target customers of them were almost the same.
The Young Pioneer Version of the Demon Beast Detector was aimed at the ordinary people living on the Grand Desolate Plateau, who were also the potential clients of the flying sword shipping network.
