Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World

Chapter 602: Chapter 312: The Choice (Part 2)

He knew full well that his Baili Family did not possess such immense wealth. Even among the Cultivation Immortality Families of the East District, not a single one could produce so many Spirit Stones.

In all of Zi’an County, only two entities could come up with such a massive sum: the Carefree Immortal Sect and the Cyan Dragon Commerce Association.

The Cyan Dragon Commerce Association was headquartered in Li City; the Zi’an County office was merely a branch. Although the Commerce Association had ample Spirit Stones and Spirit Crystals in reserve, they couldn’t just be dispensed at will. If the Commerce Association’s books showed a shortage of currency for transactions, it would cause a cascade of problems.

This plunged Baili Xi into deep thought. ’How can I maneuver this to claim those twenty-seven Foundation Establishment Pills for myself?’

Baili Xi paced back and forth in the room, running through various scenarios in his head.

But in the end, he couldn’t get around the problem of covering the shortfall in the accounts with Spirit Stones.

Setting the problem aside for the moment, Baili Xi immediately began preparing the goods required for the transaction.

He first dispatched men to gather the Spirit Rice, Ice and Fire Spirits Materials, and supplies for Talisman Making and Alchemy. These items were relatively easy to collect; with a bit of time and effort, they could definitely be ready within fifteen days.

He was only making a profit of 3 Spirit Crystals per pound on the Spirit Rice he sold to Cheng Zongyang, which was an extremely low price.

At five hundred thousand pounds, that amounted to a profit of only fifteen thousand Spirit Stones.

He had lowered the price of the Ice and Fire Spirits by another three Spirit Crystals, selling them for just 2.5 Spirit Stones apiece. This was his absolute lowest price. He could make up for the low margin on Spirit Rice with sheer volume, but earning a mere 50 Spirit Crystals per unit of the Ice and Fire Spirits Materials was already rock-bottom.

However, the custom order for the large-scale Gathering Spirit Array Plate was a source of frustration. The one Cheng Zongyang wanted was a Tier Three Spirit Gathering Array, which required a professional Array Master to build from scratch, a process that would take considerable time. This was the very reason he had quoted a fifteen-day turnaround.

Baili Xi could only make a note of the materials and goods that needed to be requisitioned from headquarters, planning to handle it all at once later.

Baili Xi once again grew worried about the Spirit Stones and Spirit Crystals. Three hundred thousand Spirit Stones and five million Spirit Crystals were no small sum, and he needed to figure out how to raise such a fortune. He considered going to the Sect’s Money Shop to make the exchange, but he knew that doing so might stir up unnecessary trouble.

After all, exchanging such a large amount of Spirit Stones and Spirit Crystals at once would undoubtedly attract the attention of personnel within the Sect. Foundation Establishment Pills were essentially a monopoly controlled by the Sect. If an outsider suddenly appeared to trade seven Foundation Establishment Pills for that much currency, they would have no choice but to pay attention and investigate.

In the end, he couldn’t figure out a way to pocket all twenty-seven Foundation Establishment Pills without partnering with other families, being discovered by the Commerce Association, or being investigated by the Sect.

The only way was to personally come up with the one million three hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones needed to balance all the books! ’That way, aside from Cheng Zongyang, who wouldn’t talk, no one would ever know I possess twenty-seven Foundation Establishment Pills!’

He considered seeking a loan from the Sect’s Money Shop, but without a significant Treasure to offer as collateral, the Sect would never lend him so many Spirit Stones based solely on his title as a Commerce Association Director.

Besides, if he didn’t sell the pills later, he’d have no Spirit Stones to repay the loan. After all, these were for his personal use, not to be flipped for a few thousand Spirit Stones in profit.

It was just like last time, when he had exhausted his savings of many years to cover the accounts for those few Foundation Establishment Pills he’d pocketed, and no one had been the wiser.

"Sigh." Baili Xi sighed to himself. ’All that excitement for nothing.’

Even if he resorted to robbery, he couldn’t possibly get his hands on over a million Spirit Stones in half a month. As for an internal loan from the Commerce Association, tens of thousands of Spirit Stones might be possible, but millions? That was unthinkable.

Therefore, he was left with two choices. The first was to write up a full report on the incident, detailing how a mysterious Golden Core Level Cultivator was selling twenty-seven Foundation Establishment Pills. He would add his own speculation—that this Golden Core Cultivator must be purchasing so many resources in order to establish his own family power base.

Then, he would requisition the resources, Spirit Stones, and Spirit Crystals from headquarters. He, in turn, would receive a sizable commission from the transaction, as well as Contribution Points.

The second option was to take the twenty-seven Foundation Establishment Pills to the Sect’s Money Shop and trade them all to the Sect for Spirit Stones and Spirit Crystals, at a price of fifty-five thousand Spirit Stones per pill.

Doing so would net him a profit of over one hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones, equivalent to the income from two Foundation Establishment Pills! But the downside to this choice was that if the Commerce Association ever found out, his good days would be over.

In the end, after weighing all factors, and lacking the personal Spirit Stones to cover the accounts, he chose the first option. He decided to report the price at fifty-three thousand Spirit Stones per pill—slightly above the normal rate. He just needed to get Cheng Zongyang to agree to it.

If the Commerce Association were to possess these twenty-seven Foundation Establishment Pills, the benefits would go far beyond just Spirit Stones.

This way, he could earn around eighty thousand Spirit Stones, plus an extra commission. His total earnings in Spirit Stones should break one hundred thousand, on top of gaining Commerce Association Contribution Points and a possible promotion.

Killing three birds with one stone.

All he had to do was plead complete ignorance regarding Cheng Zongyang’s identity.

He believed that as long as he maintained a good relationship, he might be able to buy more Foundation Establishment Pills in the future.

Having made his decision, Baili Xi began to flesh out the plan to prevent any slip-ups.

Cheng Zongyang had no idea that in the little more than an hour since his departure, Baili Xi had already made so many arrangements.

Meanwhile, after leaving the Commerce Association, he and Li Yihuo had boarded their carriage. Li Cungang was at the reins.

"Boss, with a quantity this large, aren’t you worried something might go wrong?" Li Yihuo asked in a low voice as soon as the carriage began to move.

Cheng Zongyang shook his head slightly. "I’m not worried. The contract is the greatest guarantee of secrecy. What I’m curious about now is how this Baili Xi plans to pocket these twenty-seven Elixirs. Does he have that many Spirit Stones to cover the accounts?"