Chapter 429

"Oh?" the Celestial Dynasty Emperor raised an eyebrow, "Prime Minister, why do you say that?"

Li Si stroked his long beard and spoke calmly:

"Your Majesty, fellow officials, have you ever heard of the pig‑raising theory?"

He looked around, saw everyone wearing puzzled expressions, and then began to explain at a leisurely pace:

"The Gu Business Guild's origins are unknown, its methods are devious, and its purpose is nothing but profit. Since they have the ability to gather the wealth of the first layer of heaven, even the entire thirty‑three layers of heaven, into one place, why should we rush to burst that bubble?"

His voice lowered a few notches, carrying a chilling coldness.

"How about we let them absorb and accumulate; we will not only refrain from stopping them, but also covertly stir the waters, helping them fatten that pig even more."

"When their capital pool reaches a pinnacle that even makes us look askance…"

He paused, a cold, faint smile appearing on his face.

"We will then, under the charge of illegal fundraising and disrupting the Celestial Dynasty's financial order, strike down a thunderous blow, uprooting them completely, wiping them out in one net!"

"At that time, that capital pool that has gathered the world's wealth will naturally become the Celestial Dynasty's property, not only relieving the treasury's urgent shortage but also causing the dynasty's finances to surge tenfold out of thin air!"

"As for those low‑level fools who have been 'cut like chives', without celestial crystals they will naturally lose their delusion of a quick ascent, and can honestly return to the mines, back to the spirit fields, continuing to shine for the Celestial Dynasty's millennial foundation."

"This is a one‑stone‑two‑birds, no, a one‑stone‑three‑birds scheme!"

In the imperial study, the sound of a needle dropping could be heard.

Everyone was stunned, their mouths agape, by the Prime Minister's pig‑raising theory.

A long while.

"Excellent! What a pig‑raising theory!"

The Celestial Dynasty Emperor slapped the dragon throne, clapped his hands and laughed heartily,

"We shall follow the Prime Minister's words! Issue my decree: this matter is to be set aside for now, observed quietly!"

A decree capable of deciding the fate of tens of millions of cultivators was brushed aside, lightly intercepted by an even greedier plot.

…

At that moment, Lin Feng, watching the bank's back‑office where the total amount of celestial crystals was wildly fluctuating by tens of billions every second, felt dizzy, his legs went weak, and he could barely keep his balance.

He felt as if he were not sitting on a pile of money but perched atop a volcano that could erupt at any moment.

"Great Elder… we… are we really not going to die?"

He asked in a trembling voice, his face already devoid of any color.

Gu Linjiang set down his teacup, looked at his condition, and finally smiled.

"Afraid?"

Lin Feng nodded laboriously.

"Sit down." Gu Linjiang pointed to the cushion opposite, "Today, I'll give you a lesson, explaining what is called… empty‑handed white wolf."

"Do you know what what we're doing now is called in some ancient civilizations?"

Gu Linjiang, watching Lin Feng sitting upright, his expression tense like a scholar about to sit an exam, asked slowly.

Lin Feng shook his head in bewilderment.

"A Ponzi scheme."

"Pon… Ponzi?"

Lin Feng chewed on the unfamiliar term, feeling each character exuded an unfathomable profundity.

Gu Linjiang did not explain directly, but changed his line of questioning:

"What do you think, how long can our 0.1% monthly interest scam… ahem, investment scheme last?"

"At most three months!"

Lin Feng blurted out almost immediately,

"Once no new depositors arrive, we'll have to start using principal to pay interest, then it becomes a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul; the capital chain can't hold beyond three months and will collapse completely!"

"Half right."

Gu Linjiang nodded approvingly, "The core logic is correct, but you've overlooked the most crucial point."

"What is it?"

"It is human nature."

Gu Linjiang's gaze deepened,

"As long as the myth we create remains, and the 0.1% monthly lure persists, do you think those depositors who have tasted the sweet will withdraw their celestial crystals?"

Lin Feng was startled.

"No, they won't."

Gu Linjiang answered for him,

"They not only won't withdraw, but will try every possible way to invest more principal, even act like lunatics, rallying friends and relatives to join this revelry. Because in their view, missing this opportunity is equivalent to missing an era."

"New depositors' money will surge like tides, filling the interest of old depositors, while the old depositors' principal and interest will turn into new principal, staying in this pot and growing larger."

"As long as this cycle isn't broken, and as long as we run faster than greed, this myth will never be destroyed."

Gu Linjiang's voice was very calm.

He seemed to see an invisible great net, centered on Qingfeng City, rapidly spreading across the entire Xutian world.

And every person in the net is a prey who willingly jumps in.

And there was a sentence he didn't say.

With the Gu Family's current wealth, even paying the world's interest would not cause trouble in the short term.

But it's unnecessary.

"But… the Celestial Dynasty won't just stand by."

Lin Feng voiced his final concern.

"They will." Gu Linjiang smiled, his smile deep with meaning,

"Because they are greedier than those lowly cultivators."

As his words fell, a slight spatial fluctuation came from outside the private room.

Qinglian's cold voice rang out:

"Grand Elder, the Immortal Court's people have arrived."

……

The one who arrived was a middle-aged eunuch wearing a three-clawed golden dragon robe, pale-faced and beardless.

He held a bright yellow imperial edict, followed by eight golden-armored guards whose aura was deep as the sea; upon entering the bank hall, he released the pressure of an Immortal Court envoy, causing countless cultivators to glance sideways.

However, the scene he had imagined—of thousands kneeling in fear and trepidation—did not appear.

The cultivators in the hall merely glanced at them curiously, then turned their fervent gazes back to the service counters.

"You're joking—kneeling for a moment, can that give a million immortal crystals in interest?"

The middle-aged eunuch's face instantly darkened.

"Where is the person in charge of Gu Clan Bank? We, Manager Li, serving under the current prime minister, have come… for an inspection!"

He deliberately emphasized the word "inspection," his tone full of condescending scrutiny.

Lin Feng, at Gu Linjiang's indication, came down from the top floor.

He adopted a respectful expression tinged with a little fear, and bowed deeply to Manager Li:

"I, Lin Feng, pay my respects, Manager Sir."

"Hmph, you're the person in charge here?"

Manager Li gave him a sideways glance, letting out a disdainful snort from his nostrils,

"You've got guts, daring to meddle with the foundations of the Immortal Court—we'll see just how many heads your little merchant guild has to lose."

He was about to unfold the imperial edict to read the already drafted stern reprimand document.

But a hand reached out from the side and lightly pressed down on his wrist.

It was Gu Linjiang.

He had appeared silently beside Lin Feng at some point.

"Manager Li, you've come far—thank you for your hard work."

Gu Linjiang wore a warm smile, as if he were truly a hospitable host,

"A modest gift, not much of a token—please accept it, Manager Sir."

A card made entirely of unknown black metal, engraved with an ancient simple "Gu" character, was slipped into Manager Li's hand.

Manager Li frowned, about to erupt, but his divine sense instinctively probed into the card.

Boom!

His mind buzzed, going blank.

Inside that seemingly ordinary card lay a vast storage space.

Within it, immortal crystals piled up like mountains!

The immortal essence, so dense it had become substantive, nearly burst the space's barriers and spilled out.

He roughly scanned it—the quantity…

One hundred billion!

A full one hundred billion low-grade immortal crystals!