readytorunbook Chapter 984 - 77: The Manor Strikes It Rich, Earning Astronomical Sums
Chapter 984 - 77: The Manor Strikes It Rich, Earning Astronomical Sums
"This trip today was to confirm the feasibility of this free logistics training base, so we can let go and speed up mass production of Dharma Aspects."Ning Zheng was a decisive person who moved fast; he immediately prepared to start the official assembly line.
Speed up production of a bunch of clones, send them to "electronic factories" to work, fleece the bosses until they cry, and make it so the big shots of the Immortal Realm can't afford to ride luxury spirit cars when they go out.
But producing a Dharma Aspect Army...
takes money, a lot of money!
After all, energy doesn't appear out of thin air.
Each Dharma Aspect also costs as much as a Human Immortal, that's an astronomical figure.
Swish, swish.
Ning Zheng returned to the manor, went to the steward's office and sat down, and used the internal messaging function of the Eye of Identification to summon Jiucai Rong, who was currently overseeing factory construction.
"He's really busy, but I'm busy as the planner too, not slacking off."
In the steward's office, Ning Zheng picked up a cup of tea and took a light sip.
He glanced at the stack of golden, very appealing pastries on the table—the Golden Core Lion's Head—and felt that these pastries were extremely shelf-stable, wouldn't go bad, and could be used to entertain guests all the time.
He thought for a moment, still didn't eat a Lion's Head, just quietly drank his tea.
Before long, Jiucai Rong hurried back to the steward's office; after all, the manor was much larger now, and getting around took a few minutes.
"My lord, the manor has expanded a hundredfold, I've been busy with construction, so I've come late," Jiucai Rong said, cupping his fists.
"It's fine." Ning Zheng smiled. "You're helping share the manor's burdens. How much capital do we have in the manor now?"
Jiucai Rong took out a ledger:
"From the first batch of Golden Core franchise fees, after splitting the money fifty-fifty with the painter, we have about thirty million Upper Grade Immortal Stones left in hand."
That much?
A trace of shock rose in Ning Zheng's heart.
Since when did money in the Immortal Realm become this easy to earn.
What happened to that ultra-involution Immortal Realm business sector from before?
Some people might not know what thirty million Upper Grade Immortal Stones means.
One hundred Lower Grade Immortal Stones equals one Middle Grade Immortal Stone.
One hundred Middle Grade Immortal Stones equals one Upper Grade Immortal Stone.
Even those few Human Immortal Tribulation Cultivators with very deep pockets that Ning Zheng had met before, the combined wealth in each of their Storage Bags only amounted to two or three Upper Grade Immortal Stones!
Even Celestial Immortals have extremely high personal cultivation expenses; under normal circumstances, the savings in their pockets as working capital are probably only a few hundred Upper Grade Immortal Stones, and their total assets maybe just a few tens of thousands of Upper Grade Immortal Stones.
This purchasing power is very high!
Celestial Immortals only have tens of thousands of Upper Grade Immortal Stones, and yet in my Sword Casting Manor's pocket right now, over thirty million??
How many Celestial Immortals' worth of assets is that equivalent to?
According to statistics compiled by busybodies in the Immortal Realm, a normal True Immortal-level force has a family fortune of around one billion Immortal Stones.
Don't think that's a lot; they're the center of the world—forces in places like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou being abnormally rich is normal, isn't it?
They use Immortal Stones to harvest the economies of the All Heavens World.
A True Immortal force is a giant financial group, just like those big companies on Earth that look like they have a market cap in the trillions, but once divided among each Elder and disciple, it's not that much.
So what does thirty million mean?
In a True Immortal-level Sect's warehouse, that's probably about how much working capital they hold; the rest is mostly fixed assets—shops, mines, taverns...
"It's only been a few days and we've made that much?"
Ning Zheng felt somewhat stunned and said, "This franchise fee is looking a bit like usury."
"Franchising is the most profitable, practically a no-cost business."
"And we could expand because heaven, earth, and people all aligned. First, our Golden Cores really make money; second, we've got a protective umbrella, a solid background, and a big shot providing a reputation guarantee."
Jiucai Rong said proudly:
"They're all smart people; they all know this business can't lose. So in just these two days, several hundred franchisees have come."
"The franchise fee is tens of thousands of Upper Grade Immortal Stones; an ordinary individual Celestial Immortal only has a total of tens of thousands of Upper Grade Immortal Stones, so an average Celestial Immortal isn't even qualified to enter the game. Only Celestial Immortals who form alliances are qualified to join."
"Most of the franchisees are forces at or above the Celestial Immortal level."
"Under the guarantee of a force at Immortal Venerate level, by the current True Immortal Sect Leader's grandson, basically about half the forces in the Zhongluan Domain have tested the waters."
"So this lump sum of money actually isn't that huge added up."
"And going forward there won't be franchise fees, because the franchise fee is for selling the Golden Core sales monopoly over a large region—only you can sell there."
"Next, we'll be selling Golden Cores to each franchise store; that'll be a long, steady flow as we start to slowly turn a profit."
Ning Zheng immediately understood.
The franchise fee is a one-off, for buying regional monopoly rights; they're essentially the regional general distributors.
It's a pity that his franchise fee income has to be split half with the painter; otherwise it would have been sixty million straight into his own hands.
Still.
Ning Zheng was very rational; he knew this was what the painter deserved.
Without his providing such a prestigious protective umbrella and his strong influence in Zhongluan Domain, getting this franchise system started would have been incredibly troublesome and would never have had such a shocking impact.
And.
For everything that comes afterward, the Painter handles security and protection, plus the networking and social shielding…
I only need to be in charge of opening production lines and running the actual manufacturing.
"My Lord, the franchise fee is a one-time windfall, sure—but once the franchise stores are open, the later Golden Cores are where the real daily gold rush begins!"
Talking about his own specialty, Jiucai Rong was brimming with confidence, his eyes shining with sharp light,
"Once we get the assembly line built, the production cost of each Golden Core will be only 5%, and the profit can hit a ridiculous 95% margin!"
"Compared to normal Pill Medicine, the profit is exaggerated by more than tenfold."
"After all, other people's medicinal ingredients are all Heavenly and Earthly Treasures—hundreds of years old at the very least, often thousands or tens of thousands of years."
Jiucai Rong laid out a very outrageous piece of information.
The raw materials for Golden Cores are only at the One Heart Realm and Self-Transformation Realm level, nowhere near Immortal-level quality.
They can be sourced over in the Immortal Realm.
The Painter's side can provide a safe procurement channel and help with transportation.
These raw materials are basically worthless; it's only our Stone-to-Gold work… that truly gives these Golden Core ingredients a soul.
And another core element is injecting Qi Fortune Value.
That part isn't hard either. In the Celestial Destiny World, Taoist Temples are everywhere; they harvest incense on a regular basis—that's pure profit with no principal cost…
Jiucai Rong said proudly, "Our profit margins are insane to the extreme. On the surface the side effects look serious—gut-wrenching stomach pain—but the costs are low. Once the profits are exposed, even Immortal Venerates will be greedy."
Ning Zheng nodded. "Transfer ten million Upper Grade Immortal Stones to me first."
"Alright." Jiucai Rong nodded, didn't ask anything else; it was that simple and straightforward.
"Only the blacksmiths are like this—never asking what I'm using the money for… If it were a normal major power, a whole bunch of high-level decision-makers would immediately interrogate me about where this huge sum is going."
Taking the money, Ning Zheng felt a wave of emotion in his heart.
"My blacksmiths really are the best—never a shred of selfishness. They'll jump into the Forging Furnace, are willing to eat dirt, just to save money for me to spend."
"How could the Painter not love them?"
This money…
Has it really turned into just a string of numbers?
He left the Manor, his figure flickering.
Whoosh, whoosh!
He swapped locations directly, made a trip to a time-accelerated cultivation zone in the Immortal Realm, and opened another room.
"One Lower Grade cultivation Cave Mansion."
"Understood."
The beauty at the front desk showed a puzzled look: why is this guy here again, is he going to go into seclusion for just a few sticks of incense and then come out? How can cultivation be treated like child's play—what Immortal ever goes into seclusion for less than hundreds of years?
Ning Zheng entered the room and began absorbing Immortal Stones to nurture his Dharma Aspect Army.
In seclusion, there is no sense of time.
One, two, three…
Dharma Aspects kept appearing one after another, piling up densely around him, then gradually melting into his shadow.
His shadow became an extreme, thick darkness, giving off a deep, black-hole-like feeling, as if another quiet world was contained within.
Ning Zheng's Cultivator foundation was relatively high.
Each Dharma Aspect of his needed even more energy than that required by the vast majority of ordinary Immortals.
On average, one hundred thousand Upper Grade Immortal Stones to produce a single one.
That was an extremely exaggerated number.
Way too damn expensive—and that's with him only supplying energy up to the Early Period Human Immortal level; he wouldn't dare fill them up all the way to the Tenth Layer of Human Immortal.
These Dharma Aspects, with empty Mana inside, would be tossed into mining zones to dig ore and fatten themselves up.
Very soon, Ning Zheng had raised another hundred kidney-deficient Dharma Aspects.
"I burn through money way too fast."
He showed a trace of helplessness, then shifted to a thoughtful expression,
"Sure enough, everything in this world follows a kind of energy conservation."
"If someone can steamroll hundreds of Same Tier prodigies, the resources he needs are also hundreds of times those of the Same Tier. A figure like that is guaranteed to suck an entire Sect's foundation dry behind him."
"Even most True Immortal forces can't afford to raise this kind of peerless, Same Tier–invincible monster." Ning Zheng couldn't help but sigh.
"Even if I were the Saint Child of a True Immortal-level force, the big shots in the Sect absolutely wouldn't let me spend money like this. It's not a one-man Sect—everyone has their own selfish concerns."
"But if such a Monster is successfully nurtured, a single True Immortal could steamroll hundreds of Same Tier True Immortals."
"This is exactly why ordinary True Immortal Sect Leaders like True Immortal Momei are afraid of the current True Immortal Sect Leaders backed by Immortal Venerate forces."
"On the surface, everyone's a True Immortal, but the current Sect Leaders produced by Immortal Venerates are basically the strongest monsters of their generation, beating the crap out of these background-less True Immortals until they howl."
Ning Zheng shook out his body and stood up,
"Raise cannon-fodder Celestial Soldiers in poverty at Same Tier, and raise Immortal Venerate seedlings in luxury at Same Tier—on paper the Realm is the same, but they're not even the same species."
As his Realm grew higher and higher, he felt more and more the importance of Sword Casting Manor—he burned through money far too fast. Without this group of blacksmiths plotting and financing for him, he really had no idea what he'd do.