"What brings you here?"
Seeing Queenie Green, Piper Willow, and Adrian Moon, Ian Song's face showed a hint of surprise. "Come in and have a seat!"
After both sides sat down, Ian had someone bring over tea.
He picked up his tea and took a sip, glancing at the three and noticing that each of them was quite badly injured.
"What happened to you all? How did you get so hurt?"
"Sigh."
Adrian Moon let out a soft sigh. "Earth-Prime Hall is gone!"
"What?"
Hearing this, Ian Song's eyes flashed with surprise. "Didn't Earth-Prime Hall have a Profound Immortal guardian? How could it just be gone like that?"
Queenie Green's eyes were filled with deep pain. "We fell into the Ling Family's trap—they discovered our base. In the end, Ghost Elder sacrificed himself to save us, and Earth-Prime Hall was destroyed!"
"So how did you find me?" Ian Song asked again.
Adrian Moon replied, "After our hall was destroyed, we headed north, planning to join Earth-Fiend Hall. In Giantborn City, we heard that someone in Greenvine City was selling and exchanging top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills at low prices, so we came here—and it turned out to be you!"
Ian Song nodded. "What do you plan to do next?"
"We don't really know. For now, we'll seek refuge with Earth-Fiend Hall and figure things out once we've settled down."
Adrian Moon spoke with a sigh.
All three of them were clearly downcast—the destruction of Earth-Prime Hall by the Ling Family had hit them hard.
"Haven't you ever thought about rebuilding Earth-Prime Hall?" Ian Song asked again.
Adrian Moon looked at Ian Song in surprise, pondering for a moment. "We've thought about it, but the Ling Family surely has people watching that area, so it's impossible to rebuild Earth-Prime Hall there. Anywhere else, we have no foundation, and we're short on immortal stones and pills—so even if we want to, we just don't have the means!"
"That, I can actually help you with!" Ian Song said.
Hearing this, Queenie Green blurted out, "Are you really that kind-hearted?"
"Heh."
Ian Song just smiled, not bothering to respond. This girl was a bit clueless, but as soon as she spoke, Queenie Green regretted it—after all, Ian had helped them before, selling them plenty of pills at low prices.
Adrian Moon's eyes lit up. "If Lord Song can help us, that would be wonderful. I just wonder what conditions you have?"
"If she becomes my maid, I'll help you!"
Ian Song pointed at Queenie Green as he spoke.
Originally, Ian thought Queenie Green would be furious, but to his surprise, after a brief hesitation she said, "If you help us rebuild Earth-Prime Hall, what's wrong with being your maid!"
For a moment, Ian Song was left speechless and could only laugh awkwardly. "Just kidding, don't take it seriously! Honestly, I'm helping you simply because we're all ascended immortals—there's no other reason. By the way, how many immortal stones and pills do you need to rebuild Earth-Prime Hall?"
Adrian Moon did some quick mental math. "At least ten million immortal stones, and tens of thousands of various pills!"
Ian Song asked again, "After you rebuild Earth-Prime Hall, what do you plan to do next?"
"Isn't it obvious? We'll recruit more ascended immortals to join us!" Queenie Green said, pursing her lips.
"Have you thought about how to earn immortal stones?"
Ian Song asked again.
"Well..."
For a moment, Adrian Moon, Queenie Green, and Piper Willow all looked lost.
"How did you keep Earth-Prime Hall running before?"
Ian Song pressed further.
"Every ascended immortal who joined us had to hand over a batch of immortal stones each year!" Adrian Moon replied.
"Is that how every hall operates?" Ian Song looked at them in surprise.
"More or less," Adrian Moon said.
"No wonder!" Ian Song rubbed his forehead. "No wonder you've gotten weaker and weaker over the years!"
"What do you mean by that?" Queenie Green was indignant at Ian Song's criticism of the Sacred Alliance. "Our Sacred Alliance has been suppressed so harshly by the native immortal clans—it's impressive we've managed to survive at all!"
Ian Song curled his lip. "As the saying goes, everyone in the world is here for profit. Not only do people get no benefit from joining your Sacred Alliance, they actually have to hand over the immortal stones they've earned. Do you really think rules like that will make people risk their lives for you?"
"But our goal is to overthrow the native immortal clans and restore the glory of ascended immortals!" Queenie Green protested.
Ian Song sneered. "Not everyone can see that far ahead. You talk about restoring the glory of ascended immortals, but after all these years, your Sacred Alliance has only gotten more miserable. If this keeps up, you'll be wiped out before you ever restore that glory!"
"What do you suggest, Lord Song?" Hearing Ian Song's words, Adrian Moon seemed to have an epiphany.
Ian Song thought for a moment. "First, you need to make sure people know that joining your Sacred Alliance means good food, good drink, and plenty of immortal stones to earn. Second, let them see that following you has a future, and that they'll make even more immortal stones down the road. Only then do you tell them your ultimate goal—restoring the glory of ascended immortals and becoming the rulers of the Langya Immortal Realm!"
"But we don't have any source of income!" Queenie Green protested.
"If you don't have income, go find some!" Ian Song said impatiently.
"Please advise us, Lord Song!" Adrian Moon stood up and bowed to Ian Song.
"Fine, since I've helped this far, I might as well see it through. I do have a way for you to earn a lot of immortal stones!" Ian Song said.
At this, the three immediately perked up their ears.
Ian Song said, "I can wholesale top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills to you at ninety immortal stones each. Then you send people out to sell them! How much you sell them for is up to you."
"Ninety immortal stones each!"
Hearing that price, the three were instantly moved—even if they only sold them for a hundred and fifty immortal stones each, they'd make sixty per pill.
Ian Song continued to persuade them, "And I can teach you a trick—when you reach a city, don't sell the pills yourselves. Go directly to the city's pill merchants.
Then sell your pills to them. Top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills are in high demand, and there are countless cities in the Immortal Realm. If you can become the supplier for a hundred, or even two hundred cities, just think how many immortal stones you'd earn!"
Hearing this, the three's eyes sparkled—they could almost see mountains of immortal stones beckoning to them.
Such a tempting offer—they couldn't possibly refuse.
They agreed on the spot. Ian Song wasn't stingy, either—he immediately gave each of them a million top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills. Once they'd sold them, they could pay him with immortal stones or equivalent pills.
With the pills in hand, the three wanted to set out immediately. Ian Song advised them to recover from their injuries first, but they were too eager to listen.
After sending the three off, Ian Song couldn't help but smile playfully.
"Those three fools—don't even know they've been conned!"
He did mean to help them, but mostly acted out of self-interest. Expanding the market for top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills himself was slow and exhausting.
So he could just let these three handle market expansion. Once they rebuilt Earth-Prime Hall, even more people would be running the market for him.
He was wholesaling pills to them at ninety immortal stones each, but when the market grew and he was shipping out tens of millions of pills a day, he'd only profit more.