Ian Song accepted five guards from the Duke of Qi Residence’s C-Squad, all of them late Out-of-Body stage. He also took five from the B-Squad—four were late Out-of-Body, and the captain, Conrad Wolf, was early Nascent Divinity.
If those nine late Out-of-Body guards all break through to early Nascent Divinity, and the ten of them train a formation together, they should be able to rival late Nascent Divinity experts.
"This one, this one, and this one... I want all these dozens of kinds of Spirit Medicines. Name your price!" Ian Song pointed at the catalogue, speaking to Victor Zhong.
Only about a dozen of these herbs were needed to refine the Godbreaking Pill. To avoid suspicion, he bought thirty-plus varieties all at once.
"Do you need anything else, Young Master Ian?" Victor Zhong asked.
Ian Song waved his hand dismissively.
"Alright then, let me quote you some prices, Young Master Ian. Heavenly Snow Fruit, sixteen top-grade spirit crystals each; Earth Sun Fruit, seventeen per; Nineworm Grass, twenty-five per; Yin Lotus Seed, twenty-one per..." Victor Zhong rattled off prices for over thirty kinds of Spirit Medicines.
Victor Zhong finished listing prices for all thirty-plus Spirit Medicines, then looked at Ian Song and asked, "How many do you want, Young Master Ian?"
Ian Song didn’t answer right away. He glanced over at Old Man Tanner.
Old Man Tanner nodded, then sneered, "Alliance Lord Victor, you’re being a bit shady, aren’t you? The prices you quoted are at least five times higher than market value. Do you think my young master is some kind of sucker?"
Hearing Old Man Tanner call Ian Song ‘young master,’ Victor Zhong was a bit surprised. "Old Man Tanner, what’s this about?"
"I’m my young master’s guard now," Old Man Tanner replied.
Victor Zhong’s face darkened slightly at this. He’d planned to fleece this wealthy outsider, but now that Old Man Tanner was overseeing the deal, his plan was doomed.
Unwilling to give up, Victor said, "Old Man Tanner’s right, these Spirit Medicines are indeed pricey, but Young Master Ian’s picks are all extremely rare—whenever they hit the market, they get snatched up instantly. Only Heaven’s Dao Alliance has such a big stock, so it’s natural for the price to be high!"
"Alliance Lord Seven makes some sense, but the prices are still way too outrageous!" Old Man Tanner shook his head.
"How about this—I’ll pay double the market price. However many of these thirty-plus Spirit Medicines you have, I’ll take them all!" Ian Song suddenly spoke up.
"What?!"
Victor Zhong was overjoyed at Ian Song’s words. Heaven’s Dao Alliance controlled thirty-six market districts in the Outer City and bought these Spirit Medicines at around half price. Even selling at market value was a big profit.
But now, with Ian Song offering double, their profits would triple.
Thinking of this, Victor Zhong’s eyes lit up as he stared at Ian Song. "Young Master Ian, are you serious? There’s quite a lot of these thirty-plus Spirit Medicines!"
"How many do you actually have?" Ian Song asked.
"Just over fifty thousand," Victor Zhong replied.
Ian Song laughed, "I thought you’d have millions, but it’s only fifty thousand? Hurry up and bring the Spirit Medicines over—we’ll make the deal right now."
"Alright, Young Master Ian. I’ll go back and discuss it with my brothers right away!"
After Victor Zhong left, Old Man Tanner couldn’t help but say, "Young master, isn’t this a bit too generous? You know they bought those Spirit Medicines for at most half price."
"Doesn’t matter. I’ve got money to burn!" Ian Song replied.
Old Man Tanner: "..."
Bei Qiongxi: "..."
Shishi: "..."
Old Zhou and Qin Xiaoyu: "..."
The total price for fifty thousand Spirit Medicines was just a few hundred thousand top-grade spirit crystals. Converted to supreme-grade spirit crystals, that was only a few thousand—not a huge sum at all.
Victor Zhong rushed back to Heaven’s Dao Alliance as fast as he could.
The other six alliance lords were all waiting for his news.
"Seventh brother, how did it go?"
Gavin Guan couldn’t wait to ask.
"Yeah, did that kid take a liking to our goods?" Zack Zhang chimed in.
Victor Zhong grinned, "Brothers, Young Master Ian wants to buy a batch of Spirit Medicines from us."
"How many?"
"What about the price?" someone else asked.
Two others chimed in.
Victor Zhong didn’t keep them in suspense. He told them exactly what Ian Song wanted, then added, "He’s buying all thirty-plus types of Spirit Medicines at double the market price. However many we have, he’ll take them all!"
"Double the price?"
Everyone present looked thrilled. They’d been hoarding these high-grade Spirit Medicines hoping for a good price, but even their best hope was a twenty percent markup. Now, with the price doubled and all their stock moving, how could they not be happy?
Suddenly, the black-robed elder who hadn’t spoken yet said, "Gavin, Zack, spread the word immediately—buy those thirty-plus Spirit Medicines in bulk at market price!"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood the leader’s intent and praised his wisdom.
These Spirit Medicines were high-grade and expensive, so most shops rarely sold even one in ten days. If they bought them at market price, they could easily add tens of thousands to their stock—and with a quick resell, they’d make double the profit. Only a fool would pass up a deal like that.
Five hours passed in a flash.
The seven alliance lords of Heaven’s Dao Alliance gathered again.
The black-robed leader looked at Gavin and Zack, "How many Spirit Medicines did we get?"
Gavin couldn’t wait: "Big brother, we bought over eighty thousand of those thirty-plus Spirit Medicines!"
"That many?" The leader, Lewis Liu, was genuinely surprised—he’d expected two or three thousand at best.
"Heh, here’s what happened," Zack Zhang added. "At first, some folks didn’t want to sell, but when we bumped the price up by ten percent, everyone started scrambling to unload their Spirit Medicines!"
"Good job, both of you!" Lewis Liu praised. Even though they lost ten percent profit, they nearly doubled the quantity, so they still made a killing.
"Now, Gavin, Zack, and Victor, bring the Spirit Medicines and let’s go meet Young Master Ian!"
"Yes, sir!"
The three responded happily.
Soon, the four of them arrived outside the formation.
Victor Zhong called out, "Young Master Ian, I’ve returned!"
"Come in."
The formation rippled and split open, forming a passage.
Once inside, after a bit of small talk, they got straight to business.
"Bring out all the Spirit Medicines," Lewis Liu instructed.
Seeing the mountain of Spirit Medicines, Ian Song was very satisfied. The total was over 133,600 plants, with a combined value of 1,094,200 top-grade spirit crystals.
Ian Song waved generously, "Let’s make it 1,100,000. Any objections, Alliance Lords?"
Lewis Liu burst out laughing, "Young Master Ian is truly generous! How could we object?"
With a casual wave, Ian Song stored away all the Spirit Medicines, then tossed a Storage Ring to Lewis Liu. "Check it, Alliance Lord—it’s 11,000 supreme-grade spirit crystals!"
Even with late Nascent Divinity cultivation, Lewis Liu was visibly excited seeing the 11,000 supreme-grade spirit crystals lying quietly in the ring. He quickly cupped his fists to Ian Song, "If you ever need anything, just ask Heaven’s Dao Alliance—we’ll never let you down!"
"Definitely!"
After a few more words, Ian Song sent off the four alliance lords, gave instructions to Old Man Tanner and the others, then disappeared into the formation—actually entering the Divine Temple.