Chapter 199: The Business Dao Tycoon’s Secret History
Chapter 199: Chapter 199: The Business Dao Tycoon’s Secret History
The last time they met, he had been forced to retreat by the three of them working together and had almost been severely injured.
Now, seeing them again, their auras were even more stable than before. They had clearly made more progress in the intervening time.
The other five people were a mix of men and women, old and young, but every one of them possessed an unfathomably deep aura.
All of them were in the Third Realm!
And judging by their attire, they must have come from the north as well.
Some sat on rocks, eyes closed in meditation. Others stood beneath trees, gazing upward, or leaned against trunks, flipping through scrolls.
They kept a subtle distance from one another—not too close, yet not too far—like a pack of predators waiting for their prey.
’Geniuses from the Sheji Chart, all of them...’ Zhu Ge narrowed his eyes.
Below, someone noticed him.
Yan Liyuan looked up, his gaze like a lightning bolt, locking onto Zhu Ge in the sky.
After a moment, his brow furrowed slightly as if recalling something, and he spoke a few words to the person beside him.
Su Feibai also looked up. Seeing Zhu Ge, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk.
Guan Julan shot to his feet, planted his hands on his hips, and yelled upward, "Hey! You dumbass up there! Planning to hide in the shadows and snatch the prize again?"
Zhu Ge didn’t get angry, nor did he descend.
He had the great owl hover in midair, and from his high vantage point, he surveyed the large, silver-white tree and the eight people below it.
"What kind of tree is this?" he asked.
No one answered.
Everyone could tell that Zhu Ge was not one of the geniuses from the Sheji Chart.
After a moment, Yan Liyuan finally spoke in a gentle voice. "An Elemental Level Star Anise Tree. It takes a hundred years to flower, a hundred years for the fruit to grow, and a hundred years for it to ripen. Its fruit can be given to a Kitchen to prepare a Spirit Meal that enhances Literary Energy and nourishes one’s Divine Sense."
His voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried clearly to Zhu Ge’s ears.
"It only ripens once every three hundred years?" Zhu Ge asked, somewhat surprised.
"That’s right." Yan Liyuan nodded. "The fruit will be ripe in another hour. If I hadn’t discovered this place, the tree would have likely been defiled by that beast."
Yan Liyuan glanced at the lizard’s corpse not far away.
"Ripening only once every three hundred years is quite rare," Zhu Ge noted with a nod, his tone impassive.
It was as if he were facing eight ordinary passersby, not eight geniuses from the Sheji Chart.
After saying this, as if it wasn’t enough, Zhu Ge added, "But I do have one question—eight of you, four fruits. How do you plan to split them?"
His words were like a dagger, twisting precisely into everyone’s most sensitive insecurity.
The atmosphere instantly turned frigid.
The eight geniuses exchanged glances, their eyes now filled with wariness and suspicion.
The delicate balance was shattered, and the air grew thick with tension.
A scholar-like man closed the scroll in his hand and said coolly, "To each according to their ability."
"To each according to their ability," Zhu Ge repeated, then smiled. "So, it’s finders keepers, then?"
"Naturally," the scholar affirmed with a nod.
"Then count me in," Zhu Ge said, patting the great owl beneath him. "But I’d better get down first. This bird is too conspicuous."
He vaulted off the great owl’s back. The creature let out a low cry, then turned and flew back the way they had come.
Zhu Ge landed steadily on his feet. He dusted off his robes and walked toward the silver-white Star Anise Tree.
His aura was faint and indistinct, as if hidden behind a thin veil, making it impossible to gauge.
If they hadn’t seen him approach with their own eyes, several of the geniuses would not have even sensed his presence.
This was [Secret].
He had activated the [Secret] trait before arriving, precisely so they wouldn’t discover he was only in the Second Realm.
It wasn’t strange for a Second Realm cultivator to defeat someone in the Third Realm.
But for a Second Realm cultivator to defeat a Third Realm *genius*... a talent that powerful was bound to attract envy.
"Hm?" A graceful figure shrouded in black gauze looked up. From beneath a wide-brimmed hat, her eyes fixed on Zhu Ge, a flicker of surprise in their depths.
Clearly, Zhu Ge’s technique for concealing his aura had surprised her.
"Interesting," she murmured.
The others reacted in their own ways.
Yan Liyuan and his two companions were unfazed, but the others were filled with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
Zhu Ge paid their reactions no mind and walked straight toward the corpse of the Three Realms Tree Lizard.
The Tree Lizard was enormous, measuring over twenty feet from head to tail. Its entire body was a dark, inky green, its scales matted with blood.
Its skull had been crushed by a palm strike, brains splattered everywhere. It was as dead as dead could be. The rest of its body, however, was largely intact, and its scales, bones, and flesh were all quite valuable.
Yet, not one of the eight geniuses present gave it a second glance.
To them, the corpse of a Third Realm Demon Beast might sell for a bit of money, but it took up far too much storage space.
Their storage-type Spiritual Artifacts were already filled with pills, other Spiritual Artifacts, and cultivation technique manuals. Who had room to cram a stinking, stiff lizard corpse in there?
Zhu Ge crouched down and began to inspect the Tree Lizard’s corpse.
"What are you doing?" Guan Julan demanded with a frown. "You dumbass, throwing that thing in a storage Spiritual Artifact is a waste of space!"
"My storage Spiritual Artifact has plenty of space," Zhu Ge replied without looking up.
’They’re so out of touch. They have no idea what things are actually worth.’
"It’s just the corpse of a Third Realm Demon Beast, and you actually want it?" Su Feibai scoffed. "Hey kid, are you a scrap collector?"
"You think this is junk?" Zhu Ge put away the Tree Lizard’s corpse, stood up, dusted off his hands, and looked at Su Feibai. "In that case, Brother Su, why don’t you gift me the corpse of a Third Realm Demon Beast? I’ll take as many as you can give me. I’ll even pay you in gold."
"Gold?" Su Feibai’s face flushed. "Are you trying to insult me? That stuff is even more useless!"
’Great.’
’He’s actually getting tilted?’
Zhu Ge found this odd. "But I heard a True Monarch say that gold, silver, and copper coins are all very useful."
The moment he said this, before Su Feibai could even respond, the expressions of the other geniuses turned sharp.
A True Monarch!
The people here all had powerful factions backing them, so they naturally understood the weight carried by the words "True Monarch."
If nothing else...
Even a typical Third Realm cultivator—or even more powerful beings—might not necessarily be aware of the title "True Monarch."
That title alone was enough for everyone present to deduce that Zhu Ge was likely the disciple of some major power.
"I’ve heard of this as well."
Just then, Yan Liyuan spoke up with a smile:
"A friend of mine’s father is a great merchant of the Business Dao who loves money more than life itself. I’ve heard that this great merchant can extract a ’Worldly Qi’ from gold, silver, and copper coins for his own use. The more money he has, the stronger his Worldly Qi becomes, growing as boundless and powerful as Literary Energy or Blood Qi."
"Some great merchants even use this Worldly Qi to refine Spiritual Artifacts, and they’re said to be exceptionally effective. It’s a shame I don’t possess such an artifact, or I would be happy to let you all have a look."
As Yan Liyuan began his explanation, the tense atmosphere immediately eased.
It was as if this weren’t a fierce competition for treasure, but a leisurely gathering to discuss the Dao over wine.
Upon hearing Yan Liyuan’s words, it wasn’t just Zhu Ge; even the other geniuses nodded in thoughtful contemplation.
The Business Dao!
Worldly Qi!
Yan Liyuan was clearly very knowledgeable, and not everyone present was privy to such information.
’Well, you learn something new every day,’ Zhu Ge thought.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a little envious of Yan Liyuan.
’It must be nice to have a powerful faction at your back.’
’This kind of knowledge can’t be found in any book. You probably only pick it up from listening to your elders talk.’
That was undoubtedly the source of Yan Liyuan’s extensive knowledge.
Just then, Yan Liyuan continued speaking:
"Speaking of which, that great merchant was also fond of a saying that I find quite reasonable: ’Harmony brings wealth.’ What do you all think?"