Chapter 675: Just Joking

Zhou Wan'an scowled and asked, "Hall Master, what does this mean?"

"Hahaha!"

Yan Buji laughed heartily and said, "Everyone, don't worry; I'm just joking with you."

The crowd was stunned for a moment, then realized Yan Buji was deliberately teasing them.

Zhou Wan'an broke out in a cold sweat; he truly feared that if Yan Buji accepted a benefit and then turned his back, it would be a serious problem, but luckily Yan Buji was only joking.

"Hall Master, please joke less in the future; we can't take it," Zhou Wan'an said with a laugh.

"But…" Yan Buji changed his tone, looking at the crowd: "Although it's a joke, I can see many still don't believe me; even a joke can be taken seriously."

Some Elder Hall Masters hurriedly lowered their heads, indicating they didn't think that way.

Zhou Wan'an quickly said, "Hall Master, don't say that; everyone who knows Hall Master sees him as a rather solemn and upright person, never expecting you to joke, so the slip was only due to that."

"Hmm, then that counts as my fault."

"It's not that bad…"

"However…" Yan Buji's expression changed again as he looked at the crowd: "Regarding the conditions I promised you earlier, based on the past few days' assessment, I will give you the orders; if you fail to complete them, don't blame me for not seeking you next time."

"Yes, yes, yes… how many in total?"

"Thirty million Spiritual Stones worth of resources—can you handle that?" Yan Buji said lightly.

"Thirty million?!"

The crowd widened their eyes and began to exchange cautious words.

Yan Buji knew that most of these people had connections and influence behind them; not everyone was a lone disciple joining a sect. For example, Zhou Wan'an comes from a cultivation family; although in Zhong Tian Zhi Yu they're not a powerful force, they still have their own estates and resources.

Perhaps thirty million resources are nothing to their families and backers, but the valuable point is that this is a long‑term deal!

As long as it's done well, everyone will have a stable source of income thereafter, and as middle‑man traders, they can earn a considerable profit!

Even if it's only one percent, they don't have to spend their own money nor worry about lacking buyers, naturally a profit‑without‑cost business.

Of course, the shrewd will certainly think of using the money to find people and obtain a larger kickback; or even turn themselves into a merchant subordinate to the Youming Jie trade route, earning even more!

However, considering the risks, these people each have their own plans; Yan Buji doesn't want to pry too deep, but he still has to say this:

"Everyone knows that this time we're trading with Youming Jie; we've selected a stable supplier. But if the quality doesn't meet standards, there won't be a next deal. The danger of the Dry Marsh and Fish incident is known to all; I hope no one does a hammer‑like transaction."

"That's natural!"

When Yan Buji spoke, naturally someone responded.

Although none of them are fools, faced with such huge profit, some will surely pass off inferior goods as good. Yan Buji can understand such behavior, but once seated in this position, he has far more to consider.

Doing this oneself is fine; others can't.

Moreover, he isn't familiar with the people on the Youming Jie side, making it hard to double‑dip.

"Since we're at this point, I might as well tell everyone: while you're preparing the goods, help me gather a batch of beauties from various races."

"Beauties?" the crowd looked at Yan Buji in puzzlement.

Yan Buji waved his hand: "It's not that I want them; it's the Youming Jie clients who want them."

"Oh."

The crowd still thought Yan Buji was getting stronger with age, his mind still youthful.

"If that's the request, there's no problem."

"Indeed."

"But it would be best to have both the Demon Race and the Otherworldly Race."

"Not difficult."

The crowd thought it over; although it's not easy to capture people directly, slave trade is not uncommon in the cultivation world.

Of course, ordinary slaves are only fit to work in mines until they die.

Some well‑connected forces adopt homeless orphans for training lasting over a decade, even teaching them cultivation to give them basic magical power.

Furthermore, developing their various talents and skills usually isn't cheap.

Capturing people, however, is more brutal, but Yan Buji doesn't mind.

After assigning tasks and sending those people away, Yan Buji sat in the empty Lian Dan Tang and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Everything is on track; as long as we smoothly complete the first transaction, we'll have stable income thereafter."

After finishing this matter, Yan Buji can cultivate properly for a while, using the free time to catch up on his lagging cultivation progress.

Elsewhere.

Huang Ji led his group to Long Qi Cheng and entered a shop.

"Where is the owner?"

"Yo, what would the customers like to order?" the owner said with a grin, stepping out; sensing Huang Ji's considerable strength, he immediately greeted him with a smiling face.

Huang Ji chuckled, "I'm not buying anything today; I just want you to test your eyes, okay?"

"Sure, what fine items do you have, sir?"

Huang Ji smiled, took out a pill bottle, and said, "I spent a lot of effort obtaining this from a top Alchemist; you must examine it carefully."

"Sir, rest assured, I have been in Long Qi Cheng for centuries; I've seen every fine item, I won't miss a thing."

The owner lifted the bottle, opened it, and sniffed, immediately exclaiming, "That fragrance… Fourfold Transformation spirit pill?"

"What's wrong? Any problem?"

"Not that there's a problem… you're already at the Nascent Soul stage, right? This kind of pill should be useless to you."

Huang Ji glared at him, "Useless to me, useless to my descendants as well?!"

The shopkeeper realized, quickly pleaded, "Yes, yes, yes, I didn't think of that. This pill is indeed powerful, must have used some Youming Jie Spiritual Material in its forging, and the processing method is unique, making its effect more than twice that of ordinary healing pills!"

Huang Ji was secretly surprised; he didn't expect the Hall Master to produce such a fine pill in such a short time.

"What do you think the price of this pill is?"

In that case, doubling the price compared to market pills should be fine.

I see.

Huang Ji reclaimed the pills, bought some more pills from him, and then left.

On the road, the person beside him asked, "Senior Brother Huang, do we have to make this round at every household?"

"No need to go to every household; just let those shop owners know there's a newly released Fourfold Transformation Healing Pill," Huang Ji said, "During this period, we need to expand the reputation of this pill so that they all know there's a better Fourfold Transformation Healing Pill they can replace!"

Is that so?

Huang Ji nodded.

In this way, more people will know of this pill's existence, and naturally will trust the formula.

Once the formula exists, surely some will find ways to refine it; then they can start selling Spiritual Material from Youming Jie!

Hall Master is really good at scheming!