Chapter 2447: Profit Without Sacrifice

On this day, the wireless jincans that belonged to the Perennial World’s cultivators went still. No matter how people toyed and prodded their jincans, it was impossible to use them to send or receive messages from another person.

The discovery sent shockwaves through the Perennial World. Over the last three years, the Perennial World had come to heavily rely on the use of wireless jincans. If the jincans failed, then not only would the resources that they had spent to acquire them go to waste, but even providing an explanation to the people who had bought them would become a challenge. This was because the sale of wireless jincans had been facilitated directly by the four ruling powers.

Three years ago, Lu Yin and Wang Wen had devised a plan to split the Fifth Mainland’s trade efforts with the Perennial World between the Liu family, the Nong family, and the four ruling powers. However, with Liu Yue's demise, the matter had been left without a conclusion. At that time, Qiong Xi'er had proposed the idea of entrusting the Fifth Mainland’s entire trade to the four ruling powers alone.

Thus, many people from the Perennial World had acquired their wireless jincans directly from the four ruling powers and not the Fifth Mainland. For this reason, when the jincans stopped working, people automatically approached the four ruling powers for answers. Even if people wanted to confront the Fifth Mainland, the New Corridor had been sealed off, and more importantly, the problem with the Fifth Mainland’s stellular energy was terrifying. Who in their right mind would venture to such a place?

"What did you just say? There's a problem? What kind of problem?" A middle-aged man sent orders through the wireless jincan in front of him. He was the same plump individual who had accompanied Bai Qi during their trade negotiations with the Fifth Mainland. After engaging in a long verbal clash with Qiong Xi'er, the man had been given the responsibility of overseeing the trade between the Perennial World and the Fifth Mainland. Unlike most people, this man’s wireless jincan was still functioning as normal.

From the connected wireless jincan, Qiong Xi'er replied, "At the moment, I’m unsure of the problem’s nature, but I am conducting an investigation into it."

"Then why is mine unaffected?" the man asked while gritting his teeth.

Sighing, Qiong Xi'er sent back, "That is precisely why I started an investigation. Are you hoping for yours to encounter problems as well?"

"How long will it take to resolve this?"

Qiong Xi'er replied, "I cannot give you a definite answer, but please be patient."

With that, the call ended.

The middle-aged man's eyes darted about as beads of sweat covered both his palms and his forehead.

A short while later, Bai Qi arrived, looking rather distressed. "What’s going on?"

The middle-aged man respectfully delivered a report, "Qiong Xi'er has informed me that there is an issue with the wireless jincans. She is currently investigating the matter."

Bai Qi furrowed her brow. "How long will the investigation take?"

The middle-aged man clearly wanted to say something, but he was reluctant to do so.

Bai Qi ordered, "Speak!"

The middle-aged man fell to his knees beneath the pressure of a Semi-Progenitor. Panting, he answered, "Something is not right."

"What isn’t right?" Bai Qi was puzzled.

The middle-aged man took a deep breath and then explained, "My wireless jincan is still working normally, despite the issues that the others are facing. This is not some mere malfunction. The Fifth Mainland has deliberately sabotaged the wireless jincans that they sold us. This is an attack."

"What did you say? They're attacking us? But why?" Bai Qi simply could not understand the situation.

The middle-aged man was equally clueless. "This small one doesn't know why, as this trade agreement is crucial for both the Perennial World and the Forsaken Land. This has become more than just trade, as it is actually an exchange of resources. I never expected them to use this move against us. I can only hope that it is truly just a mere malfunction and that my fears are unfounded. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" Steel entered Bai Qi's voice.

Swallowing nervously, the middle-aged man forced himself to continue speaking. "If I'm not mistaken, then they’ve struck at this exact moment because they're confident that we don’t have any option but to rely on their wireless jincans. They intend to restrain the Perennial World by targeting the wireless jincans."

Bai Qi smirked, "What a joke. Even without the wireless jincans, we can still use communication crystals…"

As she stared at the trembling middle-aged man, Bai Qi’s smile faded. "Check on that right now! Our communication crystals cannot be compromised."

One day later, their investigations revealed that extensive areas of the Perennial World's communication crystal mines were no longer under the four ruling powers’ control. Unprocessed communication crystals, which were known as cloudstones, could not facilitate dialogue or display messages in their raw form. Cloudstones had to be processed before they became functional communication crystals. However, the parties in control of the cloudstone mines refused to carry out the necessary processing, which rendered the crystals useless to anyone who obtained them.

The middle-aged man exhaled. "So it really is an attack. They started by first replacing our communication crystals with wireless jincans. As these jincans rapidly became popular, it drove down the prices of communication crystals and cloudstones. They then covertly seized the opportunity to buy up all the cloudstone mines. Everything that they did has led to this exact moment."

As he spoke, he grew even more confused. "Cloudstone mines should be strictly regulated, so how did they purchase any?"

Even an idiot would understand that anything regarded as a strategic military resource would be tightly regulated. The four ruling powers were guaranteed to own a considerable number of cloudstone mines, given that they were involved in the refining process. Communication crystals were unquestionably one of the foundational pillars of profit for the four ruling powers, so how had the Fifth Mainland managed to buy any of the mines?

Bai Qi's expression soured. "Some people from our sect saw that wireless jincans were replacing communication crystals, so they promptly sold off the cloudstone mines to gain personal profits, believing it to be a smart move. To make matters worse, Bai Teng even rewarded them for it."

"They sold the mines to the Fifth Mainland?" The middle-aged man could not believe his ears.

Bai Qi clarified, "Of course not! They would rather destroy those mines than sell them to the Fifth Mainland. The mines were sold to a family from the Virtue District."

The middle-aged man understood. "So, the Fifth Mainland exploited the Perennial World's residents to gain control over numerous cloudstone mines. But how did they manage to acquire so much influence? Not to mention, how did they even locate the cloudstone mines?"

Bai Qi stopped answering the man. While he possessed extraordinary business acumen and had been capable of deciphering Qiong Xi'er's intentions almost instantly, his thinking was still confined to the realm of business. He was unable to perceive matters from a higher level.

Given the means at Lu Yin's disposal, as well as his pervasive influence throughout the Perennial World, learning the locations of the mines and assuming control of them was certainly not beyond him.

If Lu Yin controlled the cloudstone mines, then it meant that the four ruling powers could no longer produce communication crystals. That meant that they were being forced to rely on wireless jincans for all long distance communications, but unfortunately, the wireless jincans were under their enemy’s control. If the jincans malfunctioned, then it was possible to demand compensation, but the culprits were currently giving a simple excuse in order to delay—they were investigating the matter. Even if compensation was warranted, it would have to wait until the investigation was completed, and no one could say how long that would take.

"Madam," the middle-aged man spoke up.

Bai Qi looked back at the man.

"The Fifth Mainland has gained a significant amount of star essence from our Perennial World by selling us things like wireless jincans and Void Wanderers. They then used that star essence to purchase cloudstone mines. Throughout the entire process, they haven't actually sacrificed anything. Even after buying all the cloudstone mines, they should have still made enough star essence to cover all of their initial costs," the middle-aged man explained.

"Now that the wireless jincans are malfunctioning, they stand to reap even greater profits by selling the cloudstone mines back to us at a high price. Not only do they stand to make a considerable profit, but they can also leverage this situation for further negotiations. I don't think that Qiong Xi'er is the person we should actually be speaking to. Instead, we should speak directly to the person in charge of the Fifth Mainland. Without approval, Qiong Xi'er would have never dared to initiate such a daring scheme," the middle-aged man suggested.

Bai Qi's expression froze. This much was obvious. How could a mere Qiong Xi'er have the audacity to plot against the entire Perennial World? She would be crushed to death with a single slap.

This was also why the middle-aged man had been caught so off guard. His perspective was confined to business transactions, and he focused solely on turning a profit. How could he have possibly anticipated that his opponent would target the entire Perennial World? This was not something that the man could be held responsible for.

Bai Qi also did not blame the man. How could he have anticipated Lu Yin's attack?

At this point, Bai Qi no longer considered her previous questions, and instead, she thought about Lu Yin’s intentions. Why would he suddenly take action? Was he prepared to directly go up against the four ruling powers?

Three years ago, when the four ruling powers had killed Liu Yue, they had been prepared to cut down all who opposed them. At that time, Lu Yin had intervened. This time, he had proactively taken action.

Bai Qi quickly contacted Bai Wangyuan. This was a matter beyond what she could handle alone.

Upon learning of the situation, Bai Wangyuan was filled with anger.

The four ruling powers were undoubtedly headed for an eventual fight with Lu Yin, but they had never expected the first confrontation after three years of peace to be this kind of issue.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The Progenitor immediately tried to contact Lu Yin.

At this exact moment, Lu Yin was suffering from a headache. He was in front of Big Face Tree, who was joyfully recounting one battle after another while not leaving out even a single detail. Lu Yin did not dare to interrupt, for if he did, the tree would start over from the very beginning.

Lu Yin needed to endure the entire recounting of the war before he could make his escape. There was no other option but to sit through the entire lecture. Otherwise, he would have to listen to the tale again when he returned.

Little by little, the story passed as he listened. Eventually, he would learn about what he wanted to know.

His wireless jincan vibrated without stop as Bai Wangyuan repeatedly tried to contact Lu Yin. Finally, he answered. "What's wrong?"

"What's going on with the wireless jincans?" Bai Wangyuan demanded.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered as he massaged his forehead. "What wireless jincans?"

"Lu Xiaoxuan, stop the act! You and I both know the truth. I want to know what your intentions are," Bai Wangyuan stated.

Bai Xue handed Lu Yin a cup of water, and he slowly took a sip. "I was the first to head into the New World. I also destroyed Aeternus's cosmic door. If not for me, you would have never had the courage to set foot in the New World. But in the end, I was only given ten cities."

This was not the topic that Bai Wangyuan had been expecting. The Progenitor had thought that something else was at the heart of this attack, but after considering the matter, things linked up quite nicely. This was an attack that involved no violence or death; it was pure business. And in business, the goal was naturally profit. "How much do you want?"

"It's not about just the ten cities anymore. Those ten cities combined also only have 6 billion star essences in them. Bai Wangyuan, is this some kind of joke?" Lu Yin retorted.

Bai Wangyuan’s eyes grew cold. "You were allotted those ten cities long ago. You failed to send people there to collect your star essence. It's none of our concern if it was stolen by others. Don't try to place the blame on us. I don't have the time to argue with you about this."

"Give 2 two trillion. Do that, and I'll pretend that this whole thing never happened," Lu Yin replied.

Bai Wangyuan's eyes grew large. "2 trillion? Now you're joking with me."

While a Progenitor like Bai Wangyuan would not attach much importance to material items such as star essence, 2 trillion was still a somewhat exaggerated number.

Lu Yin said, "Each of your four ruling powers just has to come up with 500 billion. That’s not too much."

"If those ten cities’ resources aren't enough, then I can give you a few more. That’s just a small matter, but don't try to push all of the blame onto the four ruling powers!" Bai Wangyuan sternly replied.

Lu Yin sent back, "Fine. Since you're not willing, then just forget it."

The call ended abruptly.

With the cloudstone mines in Lu Yin's control, the only way the four ruling powers could get them back was to buy them. Trying to seize them through force would be no different from outright robbery, and they could not afford to humiliate themselves in such a manner. Destroying a sect or family to acquire their resources was different from outright robbery. Debasing themselves in such a manner was not worth it for such a trivial sum of money.

It was just human nature. Regardless of how deranged a person might be, they would always hold true to what they consider their own values and bottom line, let alone Progenitors like Bai Wangyuan.

The concept or robbery could never be associated with the four ruling powers. Such a reputation would permanently mar them, and they would never be able to wash themselves of it.