Chapter 1176: Happy Things

Author: Three Hundred Jin's SmileLast Updated: 2020/07/26Chapter Word Count: 4364 characters

"Yes, we can't sell our clay sculptures directly."

One player said confidently, "It needs to have atmosphere. We need to put the clay sculptures into a chaotic sea and let them fish them out."

"Isn't that redundant? It's too much hassle."

"It has to be that complicated," the player replied. "And we'll only charge an entrance fee for the Golden Fishing Ground, a price even the poorest can afford if they grit their teeth, just to cast a line."

The old man panicked, "This won't do! These fakes are priceless! What I have here are mere fragments, devoid of Dao charm, eroded by time, and thus worthless. But those that were preserved intact by chance in sub-spaces, steeped and sealed in certain materials—those are astronomically valuable! The auction house previously sold one for an astonishing price. We'd suffer immense losses! Besides, weren't we told they couldn't be widely circulated?"

"No, that's exactly what we have to do. Clearly priced fake clay sculptures won't earn us serious money. We need to find a way to raise their value. However, we're too weak to single-handedly inflate the market price. If we want their value to soar and encourage others to help us drive up prices, we must offer them incentives."

The old man was completely confused.

The player chuckled, "It's like this: we establish the Golden Fishing Ground and make it a lottery, like card draws. People will fish there with a very low chance of catching a top-tier sculpture and becoming instantly rich. This will make the fishing ground incredibly popular. And the more people fishing, the more items will be caught, and astute merchants will wait outside to buy them. They'll form their own transactions, purchases, creating a secondary market. They will use their own power to inflate the prices."

The business theory behind this is quite complex.

This is a financial bubble, much like speculating on shoes or stocks. There's a secondary market, people willing to buy at inflated prices, and everyone works together to drive up the cost, passing it from one level to the next.

The earliest example was the Dutch Tulip Mania centuries ago. Ornamental flowers with no intrinsic value, tulips, were pushed to astonishing levels by countless enthusiasts dreaming of quick riches. At their peak, a single tulip bulb could buy a mansion.

Imagine the insane degree of speculation when a single flower could purchase a mansion.

"Isn't this treating people as fools, a scam to deceive others?" the old man asked.

"Those who treat others as fools are the real fools."

The player shook their head and said, "It's precisely because we know they are incredibly smart that we know this plan will succeed. Other hidden giants will see through everything at a glance and immediately choose to become the biggest players, even secretly helping to push everything and inflate prices."

"Once we take the lead, hungry wolves will quickly smell the meat and silently join in, happily cutting the leeks with us."

The players smirked, "You see, while sunflower oil yield is around X, peanut oil yield around Y, and rapeseed oil yield around Z, the 'yield' from chives—meaning how much they can be exploited—is exceptionally high, and they can be repeatedly 'squeezed.'"

It was clear that the old Daoist Master Su Xuan wasn't skilled in this area, and explaining it further to him was pointless. Knowing the general situation was enough.

As for guilt?

The universe is a dark forest.

Is this not another form of civilizational invasion, a war? At its core, it's also about resource plundering, just without bloodshed.

For the Seven Realms to establish a foothold here, to develop, and to rise as a Dao field, they must surely find a way to accumulate initial capital.

This is the base for the Huaxia Buddhist-Daoist system, so it naturally needs to be treated seriously.

"Our Dao field's development must surpass that of the Rennimansga Cosmic Garden lineage!"

They felt competitive, as they had entered at the same time.

"That's enough about establishing the fishing ground for now. You provide some antiques and design some schemes. Afterwards, we'll ask Emperor Qi to try and help make some," a player said.

"We can even create different sculpture shapes. Yes, let's make figures of ancient Huaxia civilization like Li Bai or Laozi, to let them know that billions of years ago, when the universe was still in its primordial chaos, Buddhist and Daoist civilization systems already existed!"

"As if Li Bai could simply unfurl his sleeve and manifest half of the prosperous Tang Dynasty."

"Right, our history is incredibly long. After all, we're the cosmic-center civilization that observed the Creator God, ancient beyond imagination."

"Let's put some Buddhist and Daoist figures in there, so they'll grasp the essence of 'Physical Buddhism' and 'Chemical Daoism,' and understand that the entire universe speaks Huaxia, and everyone writes Chinese characters!"

The more they talked, the more excited they became.

Selling antiques was profitable, but the images on these antique sculptures could also be used to their advantage. After all, no one could distinguish between genuine and fake. If it was presented as a real ancient artifact, it would indirectly corroborate a lost primary historical text from ancient times.

"It seems we are here to fill the blanks in ancient history," they declared solemnly.

Xu Zhi and his companions crossed the city and arrived on the other side.

By then, they had inquired about the distribution of local forces and naturally located the Nine-Headed Ancient Mother.

Finding her immediately first would have been unrealistic; it was better to first gather information about her location before paying a visit.

However, it seemed the Nine-Headed Ancient Mother hadn't appeared for some time, and her Dao field was sealed. Rumor had it that some accident had occurred, and several powerful beings were rushing there.

Medusa shook her head, "This isn't something the lower ranks can uncover. Such secrets are only known by higher-level beings. But there are rumors that the Wind-Sculpting Dao Field has undergone some anomaly, and perhaps the Saint who governs this land has already left, perhaps to seek out the Nine-Headed Ancient Mother."

Xu Zhi wasn't surprised. "Then we should also make our way there," he said.

The moment he finished speaking, his expression suddenly stiffened slightly.

He clearly sensed that the players Emperor Qi had dropped off were up to something.

"These people, right off the bat, are planning something big? Using Emperor Qi's unique sculpting art to create a 'Golden Fishing Ground'? Preparing to accumulate wealth?" Xu Zhi's face stiffened, and he felt utterly displeased.

Xu Zhi pondered for a moment, then a faint smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth. He thought to himself, 'It seems their careful planning might actually be a good strategy. It could indeed help us through the initial accumulation of resources needed after just arriving here. Since that's the case, we'll simply copy it. If they're setting up a Golden Fishing Ground over there, we'll set up a Platinum Fishing Ground here...'

Xu Zhi looked at Emperor Qi beside him.

"Father, what are you smiling about?" Shi Ji suddenly asked.

"Just remembering some pleasant things," Xu Zhi replied. He turned to the Four Grandmasters and said, "Let's go. We'll head towards the Nine-Headed Ancient Mother and see what's happening."

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