Chapter 427: Trillion‑Scale Golden Platform

On the other side, the Xu Tian World.

First Heaven, Qingfeng City.

It has been a little over a month since the Gu Clan Business Association was founded.

Now, Qingfeng City has already become a different world.

The once lofty Spirit Qi Bank and the major Spirit Root leasing agencies that monopolized the lifeblood of all cultivators in the city have become deserted, with doors empty and spider webs everywhere.

The manager of its headquarters, Qian Youde, is said to have fled overnight with the funds due to insolvency, but before leaving the city he was blocked by angry depositors at the city gate, had three of his legs broken, and was hung on the city wall as a warning.

In its place stands a three‑story building called the "Gu Clan All‑Heavens Ten‑Thousand‑Worlds Peace Development Investment Association."

Oh, no, it is no longer just a small building now.

The Gu Clan Business Association, in an almost tyrannical manner, bought the entire bustling commercial street on the east side of the city, leveled it, and then, at a speed beyond any cultivator's imagination, erected a glassy treasure pagoda spanning several miles and rising ninety‑nine stories.

The pagoda is forged entirely from an unknown celestial material, shimmering with radiant light and exuding ethereal aura; inscribed upon it is a profound Spirit‑Gathering formation that continuously draws Qi from a radius of thousands of li, making the site effectively the sole cultivation sanctuary for the entire Qingfeng City and the dozens of surrounding cities.

At the tower's summit, a plaque carved from a single piece of violet‑golden celestial crystal bears, in soaring dragon‑and‑phoenix script, the four characters "Gu Clan Bank."

On the bank's top floor, within the most luxurious president's office.

Lin Feng wears a tailor‑made black brocade robe, its hem embroidered with the Gu Clan Business Association's emblem in gold thread.

He stands by the window, looking down at the tide of cultivators pouring into the bank, their faces full of zeal and reverence; his expression is calm, yet the eyes that were once numb have long since become something else.

In just a month, his cultivation, piled upon massive resources, has rocketed from a ruined soul stripped of his Spirit Root to the late stage of the Golden Core.

Such a speed of cultivation, in the past, was something he would never have dared to imagine.

And his status has undergone an earth‑shattering transformation.

He is no longer the orphan Lin Feng who was bullied by everyone; he is now the "President Lin" known and recognized throughout Qingfeng City and the dozens of neighboring towns.

Countless clan heads and sect masters he once could only look up to now line up for three days and three nights at the bank's entrance, just to obtain from him a priority purchase right for a "Gu Clan Cultivation Financial Product."

"President."

A voluptuous female secretary, whose cultivation has reached the early Nascent Soul stage, bows and hands over a jade tablet,

"Here is this month's latest financial report, as well as… the pleas for mercy jointly sent by the financial houses of the thirty‑seven surrounding cities."

Lin Feng takes the jade tablet, his spiritual sense scanning it.

He is accustomed to grand spectacles, but when he sees the suffocatingly long string of numbers in the tablet, his heartbeat still skips a beat.

Hundreds of billions of cash flow—this is only the beginning.

The Gu Clan Business Association's reach has already spread from Qingfeng City to the entire eastern region of First Heaven.

Countless low‑level cultivators, squeezed for years by the Celestial Dynasty's financial system, treat it as if they have found a savior, willing to pour their life savings—and even incur new debts—into the massive furnace that is the Gu Clan Bank.

Those once haughty local financial houses, before this dimensional‑reduction‑style financial storm, are as fragile as paper and crumble easily.

Bankruptcy, closure, acquisition…

Almost every day, several financial houses are erased from the map of the Xu Tian World.

Lin Feng puts down the jade tablet and rubs his brow.

He knows that all this brilliance originates from the elegant chamber on the third floor, where the ever‑calm Grand Elder resides.

He suppresses the turmoil in his heart, turns, and respectfully steps onto the teleportation array leading to the top floor.

The bank's ninety‑nine‑th floor is not an office but an isolated independent space cut off from the outside world.

Here birds chirp, flowers scent the air, celestial cranes soar together—a true utopia.

Within the elegant chamber, tea fragrance wafts gently.

Gu Linjiang still sips tea at a leisurely pace, Qingluan stands beside him, Gu Zhan slumbers heavily while shouldering a massive axe, and Gu Xue Dao sits in the corner with eyes closed, cultivating.

"Grand Elder."

Lin Feng bows respectfully and presents the jade tablet,

"The first step is already complete. Over ninety percent of the financial houses in the eastern region are now under our control."

Gu Linjiang doesn't even look at the tablet; he simply asks lightly, "How much have we spent?"

"Grand Elder, excluding acquisition and infrastructure costs, the total interest we actually paid is about… three hundred billion lower‑grade celestial crystals," Lin Feng's voice wavers slightly.

Yet Gu Linjiang furrows his brows after hearing it, seeming dissatisfied: "Only three hundred billion?"

He looks at Lin Feng, his gaze carrying a hint of scrutiny: "It seems your audacity is still a bit small."

Lin Feng feels a chill, quickly bows: "I am ignorant, Grand Elder, please instruct me."

"What is our goal?" Gu Linjiang does not answer directly, but asks in return.

"It is… to overthrow the Celestial Dynasty's financial rule," Lin Feng replies hesitantly.

"Wrong."

Gu Linjiang shakes his head, "Overthrowing is too slow. Our goal is to replace them, to gather all the capital of the entire Xu Tian World into our hands in the shortest time possible."

He stands, walks to the window, and looks down at the nascent financial empire below.

"The free Qi, ground‑step techniques, and artificial Spirit Roots before were merely appetizers, meant to knock open this world's door and earn us initial credibility,"

"And now, the real feast has only just begun."

He turns, looks at Lin Feng, and a subtly meaningful smile curls at his mouth.

"Relay my command: from today, launch the 'Gu Clan Cultivation Financial Product' Supreme Edition."

"Anyone who deposits ten million lower‑grade celestial crystals with our bank may sign a divine‑soul contract with a monthly interest of… ten percent."

"Principal and interest are guaranteed, and withdrawals are allowed at any time."