Volume 1, Chapter 47: Penglai Cloud Sea is the Only Conscientious Foundation!

Penglai Chamber of Commerce.

Tang Qian leaned back in his chair with a leisurely expression, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the tabletop.

The disaster relief and rescue operations in the Xingluo Archipelago had been going on for several days.

Over these days, massive amounts of spiritual stones poured into their accounts daily, filling their pockets to the brim.

He had to admit that although he had always considered Wang Mu to be nothing more than a spoiled aristocrat who relied entirely on his family, Wang Mu actually possessed some brains after all.

This foundation strategy was truly ingenious—what a brilliant business model!

Making money from cultivators in the disaster zones who had one foot in the grave was fast, ruthless, and precise indeed!

Basically, whatever price they named, no one dared to bargain.

Unless those people had no regard for their lives at all.

"Such a brilliant move, capitalizing on someone else's misfortune!" Tang Qian murmured with a chuckle, the corners of his mouth curving upward. "It is a pity, however, that your opponent is me! How could I possibly let you swallow such a massive piece of fat all by yourself?"

Of course, more importantly, this incident had opened up a completely new line of thinking for him.

Since selling high-priced life-saving medicines in the disaster zones worked so well...

Would the same method not be equally effective for injured cultivators or patients who urgently needed special medicinal herbs for their recovery?

Even if they could not squeeze them completely dry all at once.

They could still harvest them gradually, like drawing water from a long stream.

Or perhaps, for injuries that could easily be cured, they could deliberately withhold a full recovery—healing only seventy or eighty percent each time—so that the illness would flare up again after a period, forcing the patients to come crawling back to them obediently?

Although they ran a chamber of commerce rather than a medical clinic.

With their financial resources, establishing a few renowned medical clinics in the Northern Territory exclusively for cultivators would be an absolute breeze!

They could even draw inspiration from this current experience.

In the initial stage, treat patients for free to build up a reputation, and once those cultivators became entirely dependent on them, they could devour them in one go.

Emmm...

If that was the case, it would be even better to develop some addictive pills or spiritual medicines that people could not live without!

...

The more he thought about it, the wider the smile grew on Tang Qian's face.

It was as if he could already see endless wealth rushing toward him like a roaring river.

I truly am a genius!

It is the absolute greatest fortune for the Penglai Chamber of Commerce to recruit a son-in-law like me!

Just at that moment, however.

A hurried streak of spiritual light pierced through the air, darting around in front of him like a headless fly.

Tang Qian frowned slightly, reached out, and caught it—it was a communication jade talisman.

His divine sense probed inward.

A string of panicked voices echoed in his ears.

"This is bad, a catastrophe has struck, Young Master! We've been beaten!"

Tang Qian: "???"

What on earth?

Didn't you go to the Xingluo Archipelago disaster zones for rescue work? How could you possibly get beaten up?

Could it be that the prices they quoted were simply too exorbitant?

That shouldn't be the case either!

If they had strictly followed his instructions and targeted those dying cultivators, even if those people cursed them under their breath, they would still have to thank them politely on the surface.

After all, they had just saved their lives!

In the world of immortality, what kind of grace is saving a life? What did spending a little more money matter?

For a moment, Tang Qian's mind buzzed. He slowly sat upright and continued listening to the message in the jade talisman.

"Those people from the Langya Foundation have completely lost their humanity! They are giving away items like the Yuxu Pill for free, and they hand over several pills at a time..."

"Now, whenever those cultivators hear the name of our Penglai Yunhai Foundation, they try to beat us up! They refuse to let us save them and are even demanding refunds!"

"When we refused, they beat us up!"

"Agh! Help us, Young Master, come and save us, we're going to be beaten to death... Oh, gentle!"

Tang Qian: "..."

*Swish!*

Tang Qian sprang directly to his feet, his face turning livid, his fists clenched tightly!

Several sounds of breaking air echoed from the courtyard.

Two figures with grim expressions hurried inside and looked at Tang Qian: "Young Master Tang, a major disaster has occurred!"

Tang Qian's mouth twitched slightly: "Your men were beaten up too?"

Gou Anshi nodded heavily, gritting his teeth: "Who could have imagined that those people from Langya had gone completely mad? It was one thing when they provided completely free rescues on Changlan Island, but this time... they are still doing everything for free?!"

The female director of the Yungong Chamber of Commerce also wore a heavy expression: "On one side, everything is free, and the quality and potency of the medicine are of the absolute highest grade! On the other side, prices are jacked up. Anyone with a brain knows how to choose... Langya's move is simply too vicious!"

They had originally thought that even if the Young Master of Langya wanted to spend money to buy a good reputation, there had to be a limit.

Surely he couldn't afford to take too heavy a loss, could he?

Otherwise, would the members of his chamber of commerce agree?

At the very least, they had to break even.

Little did they expect that fellow to be genuinely insane—he was literally burning money!

Did he have a personal grudge against money?

"What do we do now?"

"What else can we do? Order them to fall back first, and we'll figure something out." Tang Qian spat out, his gaze dark and gloomy.

Having profited for only a few days, only to be forced to halt midway—the urge to kill someone was rising within him.

...

Xingluo Archipelago, Yuheng Island.

Several youths and maidens dressed in lavish garments walked down the street.

Looking at the scarred and devastated scenes all around, several of them could not help frowning.

"I have been to Yuheng Island before; what a prosperous place it used to be! Who would have thought a demonic disaster would reduce it to this state?" someone sighed.

"Why on earth did we come here?" A young maiden wearing a yellow dress, with a tall, graceful figure and an elegant, delicate face, slightly wrinkled her dainty nose and asked in confusion.

As soon as she spoke, the gazes of the others naturally converged upon her.

Especially the two youths walking in the front, both of whom held a trace of infatuation and burning passion in their eyes.

The youth holding a folding fan spoke with a hint of pride: "Lady Meng may not know this, but unworthy as I am, I once persuaded my family to contribute one million spiritual stones to the Penglai Yunhai Foundation!

I am even ranked at the very top of the Boundless Merit Roll of the Penglai Yunhai Foundation on Feixian Island!

Now that the Xingluo Archipelago has suffered this disaster, their foundation is conducting rescue operations here. I was worried, so I decided to come and take a look!"

As these words fell.

Meng Qiuyue's originally cold and detached expression instantly froze in surprise, a spark of brilliance lighting up her eyes: "I never expected Young Master Shi to possess such a compassionate heart! Qiuyue is deeply impressed!"

Hearing the maiden's soft voice, their eyes met. Looking at her enchanting gaze and flawless beauty,

Shi Yiming, the young master of the Shi family, felt his heart race and his throat go dry.

He straightened his back even further, feeling as though his feet were floating, the corners of his mouth curling up uncontrollably as he repeatedly waved his hand and said, "Ah, relieving distress and rescuing the endangered is the inherent duty of us righteous cultivators; it is nothing worth mentioning!"

Nearby, another youth who had witnessed this scene flashed a hint of jealousy in his eyes. He let out a disdainful scoff and said, "What's so impressive about a million lower-grade spiritual stones? The spiritual stones I've consumed for this charitable cause amount to at least two or three million!"

Hearing this, Meng Qiuyue blinked rapidly and looked at him: "Are Young Master Liu's words true?"

Liu Ruo'an said with absolute certainty: "Of course!"

Shi Yiming smiled noncommittally twice: "Brother Liu is mistaken. Although you spent so many spiritual stones, ninety-nine percent of them were spent on yourself! The remaining mere twenty or thirty thousand spiritual stones were actually used for charity—how can that possibly be mentioned in the same breath as my contribution?"