Journey of the Immortal Grandmaster - Chapter 23: Business

Han Lingyun’s idea was very simple. He would take many missions with high rewards and no risks that Chang Xin would have selected for him. Then he would post the same missions but with only half the rewards.

With his initial investment of 1000 Ps for this little project, in theory he could post 17 missions rewarding 50 Ps each.

He had to take into consideration the 5% fee to the sect for posting a mission and the 50+2*17 payment to Chang Xin, and the rewards for the missions for a total of 17*50+43+84=977 Ps.

If a disciple didn’t complete the mission for some reason, Han Lingyun would gain back his 50Ps and in turn pay the penalty he will receive for not completing a mission using the disciple’s small fee.

Let’s forget about this special case as a first approximation.

If the initial missions rewarded 100 Ps each, he would be rewarded 1700 Ps for completing these missions. Which would net him 723 Ps without doing much. A 72% gain!

Han Lingyun then planned on reinvesting his earnings the next week and so on, and wouldn’t be adding more cash into this business. If this continued, his initial 1000Ps would be turning into 8800Ps after one month!

Of course, the number of high rewarding low risks missions were limited. Han Lingyun had 2 possibilities to compensate. Lower his margin by adding more slightly less-rewarding missions, or make the same deal with a disciple working on another day.

Han Lingyun estimated that at its best, he wouldn’t use more than 10 000 Ps for missions every week and he would pocket 6000 to 7000 Ps per week. That plateau would be effective in one month’s time. He would first let the Ps grow for 4 weeks straight.

Did Han Lingyun need all those Ps? Not in the near future, but these Ps would definitely find their use someday! Did he feel morally conflicted by taking some Ps from his fellow disciples? Not at all. At the end of the day, everybody would still be satisfied. Han Lingyun’s greed as a part time trader in his past life just didn’t allow him to miss out on free cash!

Chang Xin was rubbing his hands as well. In his mind, not only he would be able to essentially double his salary, he also made a solid connection with a talented disciple favored by an elder! He would definitely make sure to make this partnership work.

There was another disciple working at a post on the other side of the room. At some point during the 1st years class hours, while the hall was empty, Chang Xin approached and greeted him. “How was your day brother Chao?”

“Still as boring as always.” His fellow worker responded flatly.

“Haha, don’t talk about it. By the way brother Chao, I had an idea and was wondering what was your opinion about it. You see I noticed that a lot of 1st years camp in front of the display and wait for the best missions to appear for hours, losing some precious cultivation time.

My idea is to select a few non urgent missions during the morning and display them all at the same time at 12:45, when the disciples have finished eating. We could advertise it to the 1st years into a mini event. That way I’m sure a lot less 1st years would lose their precious time. What do you think?”

Disciple Chao looked at him, surprised he had such brilliant thoughts. “Hey that’s a great idea brother Xin, I’ll talk to it to Elder Xu at the missions’ regulations. I’m sure he would approve if we are careful to select missions that don’t need to be fulfilled immediately! We might even be rewarded for this idea. I must say, I admire you brother Xin, for taking the 1st years so much into consideration! You really are a compassionate guy.”

Chang Xin smiled. This way all his tracks were covered. If, despite his precautions, an elder still complained about his mission not being taken until 12, nothing fishy would be found. He continued with a straight face. “It is only our role. I try to fulfill it to the best of my abilities.”

In the meantime, as Han Lingyun was walking in direction of the training grounds, he was suddenly notified through his badge that his mission to fly him to market road had been taken and that the disciple would come pick him up in 5 minutes at the 1st year’s plaza.

‘That fast? I might have offered a bit too much Ps for the mission it seems. Well, it won’t matter much after the Ps start rolling hehe.’

Han Lingyun wanted to head to the Thousand Treasure Pavilion to secure the thin thread treasure he had spotted last time with Lan Ruoxi. It could also be the occasion to buy other useful stuff that fancied him. Even after deducing his 1000 Ps investment, the 100 Ps for the mission and the 600 Ps for the thread weapon, he still had 800 Ps left to spare.

And it seemed that Elder Wen would continue to bring him the daily 100Ps for the foreseeable future. Speaking of which, he should probably pay him a visit too, at least to test the waters. Han Lingyun wouldn’t want to sour his relationship with elder Wen after his little scam.

As Han Lingyun was going other what he should do at market road, he had arrived at the 1st year’s plaza without realizing it.

A tall young man with broad shoulders and thick arm muscles was already waiting for him. At the stage of qi cultivation, one doesn’t need overly large muscles to pack some strength. Only two types of cultivators present a similar profile: those that enjoy the aesthetics of a sculptured body, and those that specialize in brute strength: the direct application of qi attacks.

The majority of which would probably fall in the first category. To be perfectly accurate, there are also those with some special physique but such cases remain extraordinary.

Lei Weimin was part of those that enjoyed to destroy things with his fists and pure raw power. At the same time, he also loved his current appearance. In the sect, Lei Weimin was a popular guy, probably due to his great confidence, good nature and the fact that he was a fun guy to be around.

“Hey, little one! Are you disciple Lingyun?” the young man loudly questioned.

Han Lingyun looked up, finally out of his usual reverie. “Yes. Is senior the one that picked my mission?”

Lei Weimin gave him a giant pat in the back that nearly made Han Lingyun unable to breathe. “HAHAHA look at you! Only here for one month and already throwing around 100 Ps for missions. I really wanted to see what type of 1st year would do such a thing. Are you the sect leader’s secret offspring or something? Has the economy of Ps started to collapse that 1st years can afford 100 Ps for a ride?”

Han Lingyun didn’t quite know what to say. “I-I should be the exception here senior. I have won some Ps due to a bet with an elder.”

Lei Weimin was visibly impressed. “A bet with an Elder! HAHAHA kid I like your guts! A bet with an Elder? Shit that’s the funniest thing I have heard all week. And these old fogies too afraid about their reputation to renege on a bet! BAHAHA that’s hilarious.” As he kept on laughing Lei Weimin still managed to take out his flying treasure, that looked like a giant flying leaf.

“Come on hop on, you’ll have to tell me more about this! And you better stop calling me senior, it’s big brother Weimin from now on or I’ll throw you down my treasure!”

Han Lingyun didn’t feel reassured anymore. He still remembered his first experience with Lan Ruoxi approximative flying abilities too. But this disciple still inspired him more confidence.

“All right B-big brother.”

They took off with another boisterous laugh from Lei Weimin. “HAHAHA! That’s what I like to hear!”

Luckily for Han Lingyun, Lei Weimin was far more proficient that his own major in flying. Indeed, he has been in the qi condensation realm for nearly a year now and had a lot more time to learn how to properly manipulate qi and imbue it into magic treasures.

His journey this time was very smooth and he had the occasion to admire the scenery at they flew past the many peaks, water falls, caves, lush vegetation, hidden valley and fields of spiritual herbs protected by arrays.

Han Lingyun was watching everything pass by with wide eyes.

Lei Weimin noticed and chuckled. “It’s pretty wonderful, isn’t it?”

Han Lingyun nodded. “I don’t think I have ever laid my eyes on anything like this before. Everything here seems both wild, powerful, and tranquil or calm at the same time. It’s truly an eye opener.”

“Well little brother, engrave this in your mind. What you see here is only possible due to the strength of the sect’s elders and leaders. If one day, they would suddenly disappear for some reason, this little paradise would be gone in a week’s time. The sect you see today is also the result of 500 years of accumulation since its foundation. At the time it had been built on a pile of bones, and probably even more died since.”

Han Lingyun was first taken aback by Lei Weimin’s sudden reminder. Then he realized again that he was still in a precarious situation. All of his new riches with the sect points amounted to nothing if the sect suddenly collapsed. He was in an apparent safe haven for now thanks to the blood of others.

Han Lingyun firmed his heart for cultivation again and reminded him to not waste too much time on his little money businesses. Cultivation should remain his priority at all times.

He wouldn’t start spitting on free money though as better resources become more and more important for cultivation. He decided that he would be making money for cultivation only and not be cultivating to make money.

This may seem like a normal resolution to take but it was in fact quite a step away from his previous life, where money was what made the entire society work. Money went from a tool to facilitate life to a goal in itself.

During his brief reflection, Han Lingyun had gained a better understanding of his own views and how this world functioned. Here its actually dangerous for you if someone stronger owes you money. That’s because in this world, cultivators are not equal.

Han Lingyun looked back at Lei Weimin who originated his change of heart. “Thank you, big brother Weimin, for the reminder! I think my dao heart has just improved a little.” This was truly a heartfelt gratitude from Han Lingyun.

Lei Weimin smiled and flexed his muscles. “You can always count on your big brother.”

Han Lingyun giggled and turned to the beautiful peaks and valleys they were passing by. They were still as beautiful as ever. But as he observed them, Han Lingyun felt something different from before. This didn’t feel the air of paradise anymore.