Chapter 149: Emerging with a Gray Robe

The next day, Xu Qing went to the location linked to the authentication device. He found an average-sized trading vessel packed with ordinary cargo. It wasn’t anything unusually valuable. What was noteworthy was that the cargo contained a lot of medicinal ingredients. The disciples in charge of the area cautiously explained that no one had come to claim the ship for two months.

Xu Qing collected the medicinal ingredients, then called his informant over to deal with the trading vessel. While she was there, he asked her about the matter of developing a new harbor.

Lowering her voice, she said, “Milord, I learned everything there is to know about developing new harbors. I can explain everything, sir. You can either open a sect harbor or a public harbor. Both have different advantages. Sect harbors aren’t very profitable. But they’re helpful in establishing information and power networks with Offpeak disciples. Public harbors can be very profitable. However, they require the presence of a lot of sect departments to operate. For example, Pilot Assistance, Dispatch, Transportation, and so-on. But even the simplest of harbors will bring in a lot of trading vessels, and thus, astounding profit. Businesses will also want spots on the docks, and you get a share of their profits as well.”

His informant had held nothing back in her efforts to learn about this subject over the past two months. She had even spent a significant amount of spirit coins to get good information.

“However,” she continued, “the construction costs are high. Even the most barebones harbor will require an investment of 3,000,000 spirit stones for all the initial construction. And if you want buildings for businesses to rent, that investment cost will rise to at least 10,000,000. Of course, the cost can go even higher depending on your requirements.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing’s facial expression didn’t change, but inside, he felt deeply shocked. He had considered himself somewhat wealthy, especially considering that the seazombie bag of holding he’d looted had contained several hundred thousand spirit stones worth of loot. But his informant’s explanation left him a bit speechless.

“That said, the profits you’ll earn are astounding. There’s limited space in the Seven Blood Eyes port, and after spending some time observing the water traffic, I can tell you that every day about thirty percent of the vessels are forced to wait outside.

“If you open a public harbor, there won’t be any lack of trading vessels who want to use it. Milord, after studying some of the other harbors, and also doing some calculations, I think that if we invest 3,000,000 to start, we can easily use subsequent profits to expand the initial construction. If things go smoothly, it will only take about two years to reach an equilibrium point. Then, it will take an additional three years to earn back your investment. After that, you should be able to make an annual profit of 3,000,000 spirit stones.

“Furthermore, I asked around about other Senior Foundation Establishment cultivators who have opened harbors. Most of them don’t make an investment solely with their own funds. Usually, they pool funds with others. Milord, if you have any friends you trust, it might be worth trying that. The only prerequisite is that they would also need to be Foundation Establishment cultivators. Also, I heard that there are private investment firms that will lend money for harbor development, although there are a lot of restrictions in place by the sect, so it’s not very common.”

Xu Qing mulled the matter over. He had previously felt that he didn’t want to waste the opportunity to open a harbor. After all, once he did, he would be able to rake in a significant annual profit without doing anything. That was why he’d asked his informant to gather all of this information.

But now, though he still thought it would be an amazing opportunity, he also knew it was simply too expensive. And there was also a lot of complicated work involved. Furthermore, investing so many spirit stones in that manner would tie him deeply to the sect. All of these aspects made him hesitate. Now it made sense why so few Foundation Establishment cultivators chose to open harbors.

After more thought, he decided to abandon the idea. Dismissing his informant, he changed into a gray daoist robe, then got ready to go shopping.

There were a lot of things he needed to buy, including medicinal plants and talisman treasures. And he also wanted to check what magical devices were available. Magical devices were extremely expensive, so in the past, he hadn’t even considered buying any. But he had some money to work with now, so he figured he’d at least look around. He was also very interested in the soul pills Wu Jianwu had used, and wanted to see if he could find a place that sold them. After all, they weren’t that amazing, but did make it easy to absorb souls. And then there was the Spirit Breath Lamp.

As he walked along in his gray robe, he kept his cultivation base hidden, and thus looked like an ordinary disciple. However, he would occasionally sense people looking at him from within the crowd.

Now, he realized that they were other Foundation Establishment cultivators who, like him, were disguised in gray robes. When he spotted them in the crowd, they would lock gazes briefly, then part ways without causing any trouble for each other.

Xu Qing went to his usual spot for breakfast and sat down. The vendor called out a friendly greeting and brought some food. This time, Xu Qing ate four eggs. Upon reaching Foundation Establishment, it wasn’t necessary for a cultivator to eat food. They could survive on dharma force alone. But Xu Qing enjoyed his usual routine, and enjoyed the sensation of eating.

As he ate, he took out his identity medallion and sent a voice message to Huang Yan asking about whether he still wanted to buy the Spirit Breath Lamp.

Huang Yan didn’t reply immediately. It was only after Xu Qing was finished eating and getting ready to leave that the reply came in.

“I’m in, Xu Qing! Are you back? Where are you? I’ll come find you.”

Hearing the reply, Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. He was really looking forward to having an additional 500,000 spirit stones. After telling Huang Yan where he was, he only had to wait a short time before the pudgy cultivator was rushing toward him.

As it turned out, Huang Yan looked even pudgier than before, and his robe hardly seemed able to contain his girth. Upon catching sight of Xu Qing, he laughed heartily and pulled out a thick stack of spirit notes.

“These are 1,000-spirit-stone notes directly from the Sixth Peak. Two hundred of them. I didn’t have enough time to gather more than this. Can I make up the difference with a magical device?”

With that, Huang Yan produced a black hauberk that he offered to Xu Qing.

“Magical device?” Xu Qing said, taking it. Sending some dharma force into the armor, he saw countless magical symbols arranged in a special design. At first glance, he estimated that there must be a hundred thousand of them. Obviously, this was a very extraordinary hauberk.

“It’s a Myriad Talismans Hauberk,” Huang Yan explained. “I’d planned to give it to my Elder Sister, but I think she’d like the Spirit Breath Lamp more. If you sell it, you can easily get 300,000 spirit stones. It’s a lesser-tier magical device, but it has good defensive qualities. With that on, you could hold your own for several rounds of combat against a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the profound radiance state, as long as they don’t have two life flames.”

Huang Yan seemed to know a lot about Foundation Establishment. Obviously, his Elder Sister had helped him a lot in that regard. In fact, it seemed he was just on the verge of a breakthrough.

Xu Qing nodded and accepted the Myriad Talismans Hauberk, then handed the Spirit Breath Lamp over.

“Do you need me to escort you back to the Seventh Peak?” Xu Qing asked quietly.

“Nah,” Huang Yan replied, patting his belly. “Who would dare to steal a gift intended for my Elder Sister?”

Putting the Spirit Breath Lamp away, he took out his identity medallion to send a voice message to his Elder Sister. However, that was when he seemed to suddenly remember something, and looked back at Xu Qing. “Hey, Xu Qing. Remember I told you about the possibility of war? Well, it’s definitely going to happen. You should think about whether or not you want to participate.”

With that, he waved goodbye and rushed off toward the Seventh Peak.

Watching him go, Xu Qing sighed. Huang Yan really did have a lot of money. He just handed over hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, plus a magical device, all without hardly thinking about it. Up to this point, Xu Qing had not looked into Huang Yan’s background. There were some things that were taboo in Seven Blood Eyes, and he had no intention of violating those taboos.

After Huang Yan was gone, Xu Qing thought about his parting words.

“War....” he murmured. That was enough to make him completely forget about his idea of opening a harbor. Instead, he would invest in a street in the city. Although the profits wouldn’t be as amazing, it would be better than nothing. Having made his decision, he went to find a shop that sold jade talismans.

Most of the shops that catered to Foundation Establishment cultivators were run by Sixth Peak disciples in the Rocbright District as opposed to the Port District. Because prices were so high in such shops, they usually weren’t very busy. Most of them had private viewing rooms and disciples trained in sales.

After arriving in the Rocbright District, Xu Qing looked around and settled on a shop called the Brightness Pavilion. It was one of the largest shops there, being fully five stories tall, with each story covering about 600 meters. It was extravagantly decorated inside, and the clerks, whether they were male or female, were all extremely good-looking. And there seemed to be more clerks than customers. Upon entering, Xu Qing attracted a bit of attention. Though he only wore a gray robe, he was extremely good-looking, and thus, quite a few female clerks eyed him. He seemed to bring a bit of brightness to the shop. What was more, it was obvious that anyone who dared to enter a shop like this had to be extraordinary in some way. At the very least, he was a conclave disciple. Furthermore, since these clerks had dealt with lots of Foundation Establishment cultivators, they knew it was common for such people to wear gray robes.

Several of the clerks made to walk over to Xu Qing. However, the fastest of them was a pretty young woman with pigtails. Flushing a bit, she softly said, “Hello, Elder Brother. You can call me Little Hui. I’m happy to help you with whatever you need. I’m completely at your service. Here at the Brightness Pavilion, we specialize in tools, weapons, items, and the like. The first floor is devoted to magical treasures, the second floor to jade talismans, and the third floor to magical devices. Whatever you’re looking for, Elder Brother, I can help you find it.”

Xu Qing looked around and noticed that he was the only customer on the first floor. Furthermore, the walls were covered with all sorts of talisman treasures. Though they were all sealed, they still released extraordinary fluctuations. There were also a few crystal pillars upon which rested brightly glittered talisman treasures.

The fact that they were being displayed as individual items indicated that they were very high quality.

“I want to see your magical devices,” Xu Qing said, looking back at the clerk.

When the blushing girl heard that, her eyes glittered.