Chapter 203 - - 202 Yangmou_1

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In the following days,

Duge, with the people from Seven Star Gate, went around painting grand visions, pulling in investments.

In the Immortal Martial World, there had never been a sect that lowered its status to such an extent, even the Valley Master of Sky Mist Valley, with his background in commerce, was striving to shake off his businessman identity to lean closer to the more esteemed real immortals.

For cultivators, the secular world wasn’t that important.

Generally speaking, the Cultivation World and the secular world are entirely different realms. If they wished, by tossing out a pill or two, they would naturally attract hordes of wealthy folks to offer them silver coins;

Those with their own native families just need to reveal their identities, fly a sword around the city for a round, and even the most destitute family would soar to great heights;

And those who are more ruthless simply resort to stealing or robbing, which are quicker methods than Duge’s approach…

Most of the time, cultivators do not resort to such measures, as what they pursue is a clear and steadfast dao heart, a chance for ascension and immortality.

Instead of snatching money, it’s better to catch a couple of demonic beasts, or sit down and wholeheartedly cultivate for a month or two!

…

Therefore,

when Seven Star Gate actively lowered its pride to seek investments from ordinary citizens and private tycoons, they quickly received an enthusiastic response.

Most people with surplus wealth didn’t mind allocating a portion of their money to invest in a cultivation sect.

After all,

Seven Star Gate was a legitimate sect registered with the Supervisory Academy.

If Seven Star Gate really prospered, they would also have an Immortal Sect as their patron…

What’s most critical is that in the Immortal Martial World, there is no internet, nor a regulatory commission to investigate listed companies.

The enmity between Seven Star Mountain and Sky Mist Valley was unknown to most.

All they knew was that a cultivation sect called Seven Star Gate had an ancient ancestor immortal who suddenly returned from his travels, and the naive new Sect Leader wanted to expand their sect. Moreover, many people had already invested, and if they didn’t invest, they wouldn’t even get a sip of the broth…

In short, everyone felt they had gotten a good deal, and the silver flowed into Duge’s pockets like water.

So much so that, later on, as the news spread, Duge didn’t even need to promote himself; throngs of people would wave their silver notes, rushing to sign agreements with him.

While expanding operations,

Duge wasn’t idle; on his financing journey, he led his junior brothers and sisters to eliminate several bandits from the nearby hills, bringing back their loot to Seven Star Mountain.

What couldn’t be taken back was directly distributed to the nearby villagers to enhance his noble reputation.

And the wealth that was brought back to Seven Star Mountain, Duge even set up a notice to declare the amount of every single earning.

Meanwhile, with a lot of idle cash, Duge began to recruit craftsmen from nearby villages to lay steps for Seven Star Mountain and to construct palaces, embarking on substantial construction work.

Choosing workers, of course, gave priority to shareholders.

As a result, the villagers who had invested their hard-earned silver were even happier; dividends weren’t yet distributed, but they first saw their wages.

Moreover, the wages from Seven Star Mountain far exceeded their initial investment.

The reason they received such high wages was simply because they were shareholders of Seven Star Mountain.

This only further bolstered their confidence in the future of Seven Star Mountain.

No one paid attention to whether or not there was a Sky Mist Valley; villagers competed to purchase Seven Star Mountain’s newly appreciated agreements with the recently earned, yet-to-be-warmed wages in their hands.

That’s right.

As Seven Star Mountain engaged in large-scale construction, and with a flow of major shareholders, the value of Seven Star Mountain’s agreements rose.

This had nothing to do with Duge; it was entirely the spontaneous action of the shareholders.

Rich folks, with their far-sighted vision, upon learning that agreements could be bought and sold, decisively took action on the small shareholders at the foot of Seven Star Mountain.

Hordes of wealthy families swarmed into villages like Shangshui Village and East Stone Village near the foot of Seven Star Mountain, buying up agreements from their hands at prices far above the market rate in solid silver. For convenience, they began referring to the agreements as “stocks.”

Short-sighted villagers, seeing immediate profits, instantly sold their “stocks,” converting them into more silver coins…

And then,

the next day, when they realized they had lost the opportunity to work and saw their neighbors selling their stocks at even higher prices, they regretted their haste and began desperately trying to buy stocks from someone else;

Therefore,

The busiest place in Seven Star Mountain was not the construction site, but the contract transaction hall, where crowds bustled and people came and went non-stop. To handle these transactions, Duge hired more than a dozen accountants, collecting transaction commissions until his hands were sore…

…

Duge’s attributes skyrocketed in just a few short days, reaching the level he had at the end of the first simulated battlefield.

Moreover,

As more money poured into Seven Star Mountain, his attributes kept climbing constantly.

The Alien Battlefield had already jumped to the number one ranking two days ago, and the support behind him even rewarded him with 1000 spiritual power.

It must be said that the rewards for spiritual power became much more generous after entering the Alien Battlefield, far surpassing those of the simulated battlefield.

…

Seven or eight days passed quickly.

Apart from the initial failure of body snatching, there were still 1300 warriors left on the Alien Battlefield, only five fewer than when Duge had first entered the scene. That was something impossible in the simulated battlefield; elites indeed had elite survival skills to the max.

However,

Despite all the commotion Duge caused, a second advancement skill had never manifested, and that key phrase “noble” had not shown the slightest hint of activity…

Looking at the list with a solitary advanced skill, Duge sighed silently to himself. It seemed the simulated battlefield indeed simplified everything and accelerated the process, making the awakening of advanced skills arguably very difficult.

Nonetheless, the improvement of his attributes had optimized Duge’s talent.

He did promotions during the day and worked on projects, using only the evenings to cultivate, and yet he managed to push his cultivation level to the peak of the Qi Refinement Stage.

Then,

No matter how hard he worked, he couldn’t make further progress.

Lacking a comprehensive cultivation technique indeed had its drawbacks; to break through and advance, one had to switch techniques or find the comprehensive guides.

As for the corresponding Body Training Method, Duge felt there was no need to practice it anymore; no matter how powerful a Body Training Method could be, it could not be stronger than the enhancement brought about by the key attribute.

Fortunately, with the attribute increase and the improvement in cultivation level, Duge’s personal combat strength had soared dramatically, far surpassing an ordinary Qi Refinement warrior. The few captives from Sky Mist Valley now couldn’t last three minutes in his hands; they would be stripped from head to toe.

The captives, witnessing Duge’s rapid growth, suddenly became less confident in Sky Mist Valley. Regardless of whether a true Seven Star Valley predecessor returned, just Duge’s growth rate alone was somewhat too defying.

What an exceptional talent he possessed!

As long as the people of Sky Mist Valley did not kill him and he managed to escape, by simply joining any Cultivation Sect, he probably would become an Inner Sect Disciple. Then, once his cultivation bore fruit, he might be capable of wiping out Sky Mist Valley on his return.

Sky Mist Valley, with its multitude of affairs, couldn’t possibly commit the power of an entire sect to deal with a small one like Seven Star Gate.

Given Wang Chong’s cultivation speed, sending more squads like theirs would only be serving themselves up on a platter.

It was possible that Duge, even when faced with one or two Foundation Establishment experts, couldn’t be defeated now.

The captives worried dearly, but their movements were restricted, making it nearly impossible to send messages. Seven Star Gate was now filled with people everywhere.

But all these people were entangled with the interests of Seven Star Gate, completely unlikely to pass messages for them or help outsiders eliminate Seven Star Gate.

Previously,

The captives couldn’t understand what Duge was doing, but now, seeing the bustling Seven Star Gate, they seemed to grasp Duge’s intentions.

Mortals.

With a massive influx of mortals settling in Seven Star Gate, Sky Mist Valley would have to exercise restraint if they wanted to act against them.

Even as cultivators were high above, they couldn’t possibly slaughter all the commoners within miles for the sake of seizing a sect.

If that happened, Sky Mist Valley would undoubtedly be labeled as a Demon Sect, and then, they would be attacked by the Righteous Sects.

Didn’t they initially target Seven Star Mountain because it had hardly anything to begin with?

An overt plot!

It was a blatant overt plot.

Wang Chong’s heart was so ruthless, using tens of thousands of civilians as amulets to protect Seven Star Gate…

…

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