Chapter 538

Yan Buji, through a series of investigations, inquiring about the opening times and profit periods of You Tianmen's various enterprises, calculated that the total assets of You Tianmen should be around thirty million lower‑grade Spiritual Stones.

Don't be fooled by the sheer number of Spiritual Stones; in fact, there really are that many!

It should be noted that Yan Buji's calculation of You Tianmen's monthly expenditures includes the Nascent Soul Cultivators of You Tianmen!

Previously, to learn about the disciples' expenses, he even worked as a waiter in a restaurant, with a green‑faced grudge still in hand, so no one would notice his oddity.

Moreover, probing a sect's welfare is not abnormal; which sect's disciples don't secretly compare their own sect's strengths? They naturally speak clearly, especially when dealing with those of lower status and power.

Thus Yan Buji chose to become a waiter to gather this information from You Tianmen's disciples, and easily obtained the true situation.

But for a cultivation force exceeding a thousand people, it cannot guarantee that its sect's assets will keep expanding; a sect like You Tianmen, which profits from export goods and lacks large Spiritual Stone mines, will be affected by any market shift.

Therefore, from the start of You Tianmen's profitability until now, before the two great forces of the Boundless Sea went to war, their assets indeed grew gradually. Yet because of the war, You Tianmen's enterprises could not stay stable and were hit, resulting in a shrinkage.

"Then they must be procuring spiritual cannons for Zhen Huang Island to relieve this pressure. As for previously loading the spiritual cannons directly onto ships…"

Yan Buji gave a light laugh, thinking that any major sect must have some rot.

Those rot aren't my fault!

Otherwise I would never use such obvious means to take kickbacks.

After Yan Buji returned to the Boundless Sea, he heard You Tianmen disciples saying their merchant ship transporting spiritual cannons had been ambushed; although You Tianmen's people also set a trap and wiped out the ambushing squad, all the spiritual cannons were destroyed.

"I told you, the You Tianmen people deliberately loaded the spiritual cannons onto the ship, then lured the Chen Long Society into ambushing them!"

"But You Tianmen suffered heavily; I heard the spiritual cannons ordered from the Heavenly Spirit Realm these past months were all destroyed—how many Spiritual Stones would that be?"

"Yet they also annihilated a fleet of the Chen Long Society, so it's not a loss, right?"

"Who knows, will Zhen Huang Island even compensate?"

Compensation?

Yan Buji walked along the road, listening to the roadside chatter, and smiled.

"I guessed it—You Tianmen people deliberately used this method to take kickbacks! As long as the spiritual cannons are destroyed, Zhen Huang Island may symbolically compensate a bit, but certainly not fully. When the war tightens, they'll still have You Tianmen procure spiritual cannons, and the one in charge of that business, having staged a counter‑ambush that wiped out a Chen Long Society fleet, ends up with merit! Even if You Tianmen and Zhen Huang Island know this is the business manager's plan, Zhen Huang Island won't punish You Tianmen on the larger picture."

In fact it's simple: the person handling the spiritual cannon procurement just used a "lure the snake out of its hole" tactic, accurately predicting the Chen Long Society's attack, likely colluding with many inside You Tianmen to split the profit.

But that's irrelevant to Yan Buji.

If he were to do it, inside You Tianmen he would first secretly leak the transport route to the Chen Long Society, so that once they set an ambush outside, he wouldn't need to act, and the spiritual cannons would naturally fall into their hands.

Thus Zhen Huang Island would inevitably keep You Tianmen procuring, and under such circumstances they could demand kickbacks from the Heavenly Spirit Realm merchants.

Then repeat the above steps, achieving a long‑term kickback scheme.

Of course, any scheme that uses power for personal gain carries risk; Yan Buji's method is bold, and if discovered he would surely die. One can only say that the person chose a safe "one‑hit" trade, and after finishing the next order, You Tianmen would likely give him mixed praise and criticism, transferring him elsewhere.

Thinking of this, Yan Buji began investigating where You Tianmen's assets had actually been moved to.

"A sum that large cannot rest on a single individual; even if the assets were transferred, it must be senior members of You Tianmen carrying them. Yet the sect head is a Nascent Soul Cultivator; since he is still within You Tianmen, it indicates the assets are merely being liquidated, perhaps not fully transferred yet."

From the fact that in recent months You Tianmen's large‑scale transaction volume has increased severalfold compared to before, it shows You Tianmen is quickly liquidating resources, fearing that their holdings will be affected by upcoming risks.

These risks stem from war and commerce; many circumstances push You Tianmen to act this way.

Thus, although You Tianmen's assets are abundant, they cannot be liquidated all at once, so it must be a long‑term activity.

As long as it continues, there will always be traces.

Yan Buji's goal is Spiritual Stones, not those resources that need to be shuffled; so he only needs to watch when You Tianmen people trade and where the Spiritual Stones go.

"The trouble is the Storage Accumulation Device; without knowing how much they can trade at once, it's hard to judge their Spiritual Stone income."

And since it's a large‑scale transaction, it should occur within You Tianmen; if he wants to infiltrate, he must continuously employ the "leaving‑demon‑turn‑rest" method.

Thinking of this, Yan Buji's eyes flickered, and he silently killed a You Tianmen servant hidden in the shadows, entering You Tianmen.

A few days later, after mastering the servant's role through observation, Yan Buji investigated the large‑scale transactions inside You Tianmen.

The target was obvious: the Treasure Vault.

Yan Buji saw from afar several You Tianmen Elders who frequently entered the Treasure Vault, confirmed their identities, and proceeded with the next investigation.

"What? On what grounds do you remove me!"

"Elder Zhao, this is a decision of the sect; if the elder has any issues, perhaps go directly to the sect head for inquiry?"

"You! Impudent one, I have bled, sweated, and shed tears for You Tianmen, and this is the result? I designed the annihilation of a Chen Long Society fleet! Even if not merit, it's at least hard work!"

A white‑haired elder stood before the Treasure Vault, face flushed and neck thick, shouting, drawing the attention of nearby You Tianmen disciples.

"Isn't that Elder Zhao Xun? What's happening?"

"I heard the sect thought his labor was great and sent him to the Lian Dan Tang."

"Huh? That's not a good thing?"

"Good thing? Do you think procuring spiritual cannons is better or sitting in the Lian Dan Tang?"

"This…."

Yan Buji squinted, looking at that Zhao Xun.

It was this old fellow who did it.

Seeing Zhao Xun being rebuked by the disciple guarding the Treasure Vault's gate, unable to approach the sect head, and finally leaving in angry resentment, Yan Buji laughed.