Chapter 50

Zu Qing Tan was stunned, his face turning green and then purple, so angry that smoke was coming out of his seven orifices. However, Lu Fan was right in front of him, so he couldn't care about anything else. He threw away his old face, grabbed the two of them, pulled Qi and Yang away, and said urgently to Lu Fan:

"Young Master Lu, that matter is no problem. I just wanted you to wait two more days to gather the personnel from all the major Rune Master Guilds in our Mingyue Empire, so that your Art Dao wisdom can spread throughout the world!"

Lu Fan was not really going to turn against him. Seeing his sincere words and how difficult it was for someone of his age to be like this, he didn't make things difficult for him and said indifferently: "President Zu, don't lie to me. When the time comes, it's hard to say about other guilds, but I'm afraid your old bones might not be able to withstand the wrath of your own guild!"

Upon hearing this, Zu Qing Tan looked angry and stared fiercely at Qi Yue. The meaning in that look was extremely clear; the other party's words just now gave him too little face, and he would definitely find an opportunity to deal with him properly in the future.

Qi Yue was silent as a cicada, regretting it endlessly at this moment. He had been too impulsive just now, and now he had offended Zu Qing Tan, so he would probably have a hard time. However, thinking of Lu Fan wanting to exchange Art Refining insights, his heart was burning, and he didn't take Zu Qing Tan's threat to heart anymore.

"Young Master Lu, don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter properly!" Zu Qing Tan couldn't care about Qi Yue at this moment and said to Lu Fan with a chuckle: "I suppose Young Master Fei has other things to do here!" Before his voice had even fallen, his gaze couldn't help but aim toward Han Zhen.

Lu Fan smiled slightly. This Zu Qing Tan was indeed sharp-eyed; he was truly an old fox. He didn't act coy and said directly: "Han Zhen and I intend to reorganize Shanjin Town and would like to ask President Zu for help!"

As soon as his words fell, the people of the Rune Master Guild all changed their expressions, looking at Lu Fan in shock, seemingly very surprised by his words.

Zu Qing Tan looked deeply at Lu Fan and said in a deep voice: "Young Master Lu, Shanjin Town is not as simple as you think. The local mining giants are all connected to several powerful families in the entire Mingyue Empire, and I'm afraid our guild cannot provide much help!"

Han Zhen was slightly stunned, his expression one of disbelief, and he said: "Listening to President Zu's words, the water in Shanjin Town is not shallow!"

Zu Qing Tan sighed and said: "Our Mingyue Empire Rune Master Guild once wanted to take down Shanjin Town, but in the end, it was left unsettled, and only this branch was left here!"

These words were already very clear; Shanjin Town had other forces behind it, and it was deeply rooted. Even with the capabilities of the Rune Master Guild, they couldn't take it down at all. It seemed that wanting Zu Qing Tan to provide help was likely impossible!

Han Zhen listened to this and was lost in thought, appearing slightly disappointed.

"Oh! Then I'm even more interested!" Lu Fan smiled faintly, patted Han Zhen on the shoulder to show comfort, and said to Zu Qing Tan: "I just want to refine some rune tools; President Zu won't refuse this little favor, will you?"

Upon hearing this, Zu Qing Tan breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest, and guaranteed: "That's no problem, mere rune tools are nothing!"

Qi Yue, who was to the side, seemed to notice something and quietly pulled Zu Qing Tan's sleeve, but it was already too late.

"Alright! For the few rune tools just refined, give me fifty of each!"

As soon as Lu Fan's voice fell, Zu Qing Tan's eyelids twitched. He looked toward the several light screens, and his expression changed drastically. These rune tools looked ordinary, but the materials were not simple.

Fifty of each—I'm afraid that even if they emptied their guild's inventory, they might not be able to gather the materials.

"Young Master Lu, this..." His old face flushed red. He had just given his guarantee, and now he was truly embarrassed to refuse.

Lu Fan saw what the other party was thinking at a glance and said nonchalantly: "Don't worry, I won't let you work for nothing. This arcane sand table counts as part of the remuneration, plus this secret silver; what do you think?"

As soon as his voice fell, he waved his hand, and a dozen or so pieces of secret silver emerged, neatly stacked in front of Zu Qing Tan.

Zu Qing Tan opened his mouth wide, his expression one of disbelief. Secret silver was a precious spirit mine, which was a great help for the outlining and drawing of rune arrays. Each piece before him was worth at least tens of thousands of gold coins.

If these things got into the hands of their sorcerers, it would be even more incredible, turning decay into magic, and an increase in value of ten or a hundred times was not a problem.

The rest of the people in the Rune Master Guild were also stunned. Although Shanjin Town was famous for spirit mines, they were all ordinary spirit mines, and there were no precious mineral deposits like secret silver. If their guild wanted such things, they would have to buy them at a high price, and there was no market for them.

"President Zu, are there any other problems?" Lu Fan spoke nonchalantly, his gaze inquiring.

Zu Qing Tan then came to his senses, his face full of excitement, and he hurriedly said: "No problem, this secret silver is of great value and is enough to cover the material consumption of those rune tools!"

Subsequently, Zu Qing Tan immediately organized manpower with great enthusiasm and began to refine excitedly. Originally, everyone was extremely exhausted, but under Zu Qing Tan's pressure, they had to force themselves to be energetic and implement a three-shift strategy.

Three days later, the several major mining giants of Shanjin Town gathered at Han Zhen's mine, and in the hall of a small building, the host and guests were seated.

"Han Zhen, you summoned us here this time; I don't know what the matter is?" Fu Long spoke first, his expression smiling, appearing very relaxed.

Fang Hong and the others frowned, heavy-hearted, looking from time to time at Lu Fan in the center of the hall, their faces full of tension and wariness.

"Uncle Fu, aren't you asking what you already know? These past two days, the adults from the Rune Master Guild have been visiting your mines most frequently; I suppose you know the power of those mining rune tools best, Uncle Fu!"

Han Zhen smiled lightly, his small eyes showing a hint of cunning.

Fu Long's expression stiffened and immediately turned cold. These past two days, those guys from the Rune Master Guild had been holding strange-looking rune tools and messing around in his mines, which was a nuisance at first. Later, after the debugging was completed, those rune tools displayed astonishing power.

Prospecting, collecting, smelting... the originally extremely cumbersome mining process was extremely simple under the power of those rune tools. The speed was also incredibly fast; a mine with over a hundred people could actually be handled by just two or three rune apprentices, which was truly inconceivable.

He was naturally very eager for these rune tools and wanted to order them at a high price, but the other party was not willing at all. Finally, after exhausting all his efforts, he found out that the owner of these rune tools was Han Zhen, and as for the person behind the scenes, it was naturally Lu Fan beside him.

Fu Long pondered without speaking. However, Fang Hong, who was beside him, did not have such patience and said directly to Han Zhen: "Nephew Han, you don't have many mines under your command. So many mining rune tools are truly a bit of a waste; why not sell some to us uncles!"

"Hehe! The mining rune tools were refined by the Rune Master Guild at a great cost to me. Those people are better at doing business than us miners; I suppose you uncles know this very well, so I shouldn't need to say more!"

Han Zhen chuckled, looked at Lu Fan beside him, and said so.

Fang Hong and the others were slightly stunned, but Fu Long's eyes lit up, clearly understanding what Han Zhen meant, and he said urgently: "No matter how much cost Nephew Han spent, we are willing to buy them at double the price!"

Han Zhen was slightly stunned, seemingly not expecting the other party to say this. The commercial atmosphere in Shanjin Town was strong, and even a three-year-old child buying a candied hawthorn would bargain with people. These people before him were all real profiteers, and their appearance was truly unexpected.

"Haha!" Lu Fan laughed, stood up slowly, and said to Han Zhen: "I said so! The mining tycoons of our Shanjin Town are all honest people and will never let you suffer a loss in such matters!"

Han Zhen's small eyes narrowed slightly, and he shook his head, saying: "Young Master Lu, you see things clearly. I, Han Zhen, really used the heart of a villain to measure the belly of a gentleman before!" He had a shy look, and then looked at Fu Long and the others:

"How about this! There are four types of mining rune tools: prospecting, mining, smelting, and transportation. Each set costs thirty thousand gold coins. You uncles are all honest people, so let's make it sixty thousand a set!"

Fu Long and the others were all stunned upon hearing this. They only felt that there was something tricky; Han Zhen was not old, but his mind was not small. And Lu Fan beside Han Zhen was even more unfathomable. The appearance of the two of them this time was like inexperienced youths, which was very strange!

But thinking of the value of those mining rune tools, saving over a hundred laborers, and the speed being incredibly fast—a mere sixty thousand gold coins, or even a medium-sized mine, would be made up in a month's income, which was nothing at all.

Fang Hong was the first to be unable to hold back, not caring about the attitudes of others, and walked directly to Lu Fan and the other, taking out a gold note and handing it over.

"This is a large-denomination gold note from the Huitong Bank; give me five sets of mining rune tools!"

Han Zhen happily took the gold note, checked it carefully, and then took out a Universe Bag and threw it over.

"Haha, with these mining rune tools, the output of my mines will be enough to double!"

Fang Hong was overjoyed, clutching the Universe Bag tightly, and without caring about anything else, he left excitedly.

Now Fu Long and the others couldn't sit still, and one by one they hurriedly stood up, fearing to fall behind others and miss out on a big deal.

In the end, a total of thirty sets were sold, and a full 1.8 million gold coins were obtained.

Fu Long and the others left, and Han Zhen held a large stack of gold notes with an expression of disbelief, as if he were dreaming.

"Young Master Lu, is this real? 1.8 million gold notes, and it was actually obtained so easily?"

Lu Fan shook his head and laughed, scolding: "With just this little bit of ambition, you're making me a bit disappointed! This is just the beginning; in the future, this Shanjin Town will be your ATM, and Fu Long and the others will send gold coins continuously."

"Young Master Lu, you did something to those rune tools; they won't be cracked by others, will they?" Han Zhu asked with some worry.

"Don't worry! These rune tools have my unique incantations. After using them for a period of time, the key rune arrays will be scrapped, and they will have to be replaced with a new set. You just wait to count the money!" Lu Fan said nonchalantly. He didn't take a mere Shanjin Town to heart at all.

Hearing this, Han Zhen calmed down and asked Lu Fan again: "With these rune tools, many miners in Shanjin Town will definitely lose their jobs. Should I take the next step early and pull the firewood from under the cauldron?"

Lu Fan nodded slightly and said: "Hmm! Follow the previous plan. Fu Long and those people probably have big forces behind them, so boiling a frog in warm water is the most appropriate. Mr. Zhu Ge is with you; if you have any problems in the future, just ask him for advice!"

Han Zhen nodded and said: "Young Master Lu, I understand! You take this one million gold notes; your future cultivation will probably cost a huge amount. The year-end competition is also about time; I think you will definitely amaze everyone this time!"

Lu Fan did not act modestly and took the gold notes directly. Afterward, he gave Han Zhen some instructions and left quietly by himself.