Translator: Silavin & Danny
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Li Jing Yuan was stunned when he heard the words, [I thought we were already quite fast, how did others get ahead of us?]
He took a closer look at the areas that were highlighted in green and quickly understood that they were the most central and prosperous areas in the Star City.
He suddenly realized that these were the shops reserved by Void Land for itself!
The Star City belonged to Void Land, so it was inevitable for them to keep the best locations for themselves. This was something that would happen in every Star City. Secretly thinking to himself that it was a pity, Li Jing Yuan pointed to where the next best shops were located, “Here, here and here…”
He pointed at more than ten locations in one go, all of which were where the streets met.
Although Li Jing Yuan was a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he was a businessman after all and had very sharp eyes. Naturally, he could foresee that these more than ten places would be the second most popular places in the Star City in the days to come. Once the stores were in his hands, Gathering Yuan Trade Firm would be able to win the top spot in Void Land, and they would make a steady profit regardless of what kind of businesses they operated in the future.
“I’m sorry, Fellow Brother.” The Manager suddenly interrupted him, “The Governor has decreed that no one can own more than three shops in Void Star City. You have picked too many.”
Li Jing Yuan was taken aback for a moment, “There is such a rule?”
He had been to a lot of Star Cities, but this was the first time he had encountered such a rule. How confident was Void Land to be making such a decision? Were they so sure that the Star City would be so popular in the future that they were already limiting the number of stores one force could occupy in advance?
But after thinking about what he had seen and heard for the past three days, he felt relieved. As long as there were no accidents, Void Star City would indeed become extremely popular.
He pondered for a while, then with a smile on his face, he reached into his sleeve inconspicuously and pulled out a Space Ring. Placing it in front of the Manager quietly, he started, “Sir, we, Gathering Yuan Trade Firm run many types of businesses, so three shops are really not enough. Couldn’t you accommodate another one or two?”
The Manager glanced at the Space Ring on the table, then shook his head slowly, “Forgive me, the Governor has passed down clear orders, I am simply following them.”
“Is there really no other way?” Li Jing Yuan was a little reluctant.
The Manager shook his head without another word.
An idea suddenly struck Li Jing Yuan then and he quickly smiled, “Three shops then.”
He picked out the best three shops from his previous selection then asked eagerly, “How much does it cost to buy these three stores in total?”
The Manager answered, “The shops in the Star City are only for rent, not for sale!”
Li Jing Yuan frowned, “This is the case for all shops?”
“There are no exceptions!”
Li Jing Yuan’s tongue clicked. It was common for the major Star Cities to reserve their good locations, but there would always be some that could be bought and sold. He never thought that none of the shops in Void Star City were for sale at all.
Not wanting to discuss further on this matter, Li Jing Yuan replied shortly, “Then I will rent these three shops.”
The Manager replied, “There are options of ten-year leases and hundred-year leases, the prices differ too. Which one do you want?”
The corners of Li Jing Yuan’s brow twitched.
…..
After a long time, Li Jing Yuan walked out of the Governor’s Mansion feeling a little tired. He had been to many Star Cities and dealt with the people who managed properties numerous times, but he had never encountered a Star City that had policies like Void Star City did.
[They are already positioning themselves in such a manner before the population of Void Star City even gathers. How irritating.]
Moreover, the rental of the shops here was really not cheap, almost 20% more expensive than his original estimates. If it was an ordinary Star City, he would not be willing to splurge, but he was so optimistic about the future potential of Void Star City that he agreed to the conditions and signed the agreement with the Manager.
He originally planned to rent more shops through the hands of his subordinates, but at the moment he gave up on this idea. The rental price of Void Star City’s shops were quite expensive. Although he was optimistic about the development prospects here, he decided to act a bit more cautiously. It would not be a great loss to use three shops to test the waters first.
At least, that was his initial plan…
However, just after two days, he regretted his caution greatly.
That was because, after just a few days, the number of cultivators who had poured into Void Star City was nothing short of a torrent. From a distance, he could see several long lines of flight type artifacts queuing up at the Void Dock, just waiting to enter the Star City.
The street in front of the Governor’s Mansion was brimming with visitors, and he even saw several familiar faces there, all of whom were Managers of other Trade Companies.
Needless to say, they were there to lease shops.
Li Jing Yuan made up his mind to lease more shops through his subordinates, and entered the Governor’s Mansion. Unfortunately, he found that all the shops with good locations that he had his eyes on before had already been rented out.
The Star City was beginning to get lively.
Since the arrival of Gathering Yuan Trade Firm, thousands of cultivators had been flowing in from all directions, and as time went by, the numbers continued to increase rapidly.
After just a few days, the number of people who were passing through the Void Dock daily exceeded 3,000, and the numbers were climbing rapidly! The dock was so jam-packed that Jin Yuan Lang was beginning to get overwhelmed. He had no choice but to requisition more support!
Yue He reported to Yang Kai immediately after receiving the news, and he naturally did not refuse, sending her to personally bring more disciples to the dock to maintain order.
With the arrival of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a large number of Void Land disciples, the situation at the dock improved slightly.
A few days later, while reporting the situation in the Star City to Yang Kai, Bian Yu Qing became very excited when it came to the matter of the number of cultivators in the Star City, “Sect Master, the number of cultivators who have passed through the dock today alone has exceeded 5,300.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly while he took a sip from his tea cup.
Although this situation was expected, he felt relieved by the news of the current progression.
The Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill that was auctioned before was not wasted. With the emergence of this Spirit Pill, and the last sentence Lu Xue said at the end of the auction, there was no need for Void Land to deliberately promote the Star City, for others would naturally spread the news for them.
Once the news spread out, countless people would be attracted.
“What about the Star City? How many people are there now?” Yang Kai asked again.
“Approximately 80,000. Our Star City can accommodate up to 1 million people. At this rate, I’m afraid it will be overcrowded within a few months.”
Yang Kai instructed, “Mo Mei will need to increase the number of patrols and the number of law enforcers in the Star City to prevent troubles that could ruin our reputation. Make sure she understands that those who dare to cause problems in the Star City will not be tolerated.”
Bian Yu Qing smiled, “Protector Mo has already arrested a number of people in the past few days, all of whom have been sent to the dungeon.”
Yang Kai looked up in the direction of the Star City, pondering for a moment, “The auction should have begun by this time, right?”
Bian Yu Qing nodded, “Yes, the auction started about an hour ago, and should be finishing up soon.”
“Who is hosting this time?”
“Manager Yun himself!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly. The last time, he had no choice but to let Lu Xue take up the task. Still, now that the auction house was under Yun Xing Hua’s management, and with him being a far more sociable individual, Yun Xing Hua was a much more suitable candidate to host the auction.
As they were talking, Bian Yu Qing suddenly changed her expression, took out a communication bead, and poured her Divine Sense into it. After a while, she happily reported, “Sect Master, there’s good news.”
Yang Kai almost spat out his tea as his eyes widened, “Tell me!”
Bian Yu Qing giggled, “The auction has ended successfully. The finale item, the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, was sold for 3.5 million Open Heaven Pills, and the total revenue with the rest of the auctioned items came to nearly 8 million Open Heaven Pills!”
Yang Kai almost choked. 3.5 million Open Heaven Pills was far from the true value of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. Even 10 million was not sufficient for its worth. The reason for the price this time was probably because the cultivators here were still not fully prepared. The price of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill would surely soar again in the next auction, and by that time, the situation in the Star City would begin to stabilize.
As long as Void Land managed the Star City well, there was no need to worry about cultivation resources for its disciples in the future.
After solving the issue with resources for Void Land, the next issue was Yang Kai’s own resource needs.
A Seventh-Order Yin Element treasure… He did not even know where to start looking for one, giving Yang Kai a slight headache.
…..
Shopkeeper Jin and Shopkeeper Tong walked out of Void Auction House absentmindedly. They had participated in this auction mainly for research purposes and witnessed the popularity of the last Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill.
Compared to the first auction three months ago, the auction this time could only be described as brutal. When the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill appeared on the stage, voices screaming bids constantly overlapped each other, and the price climbed so fast that left them both feeling utterly shocked.
“Brother Jin, we truly picked up an enormous bargain.” Shopkeeper Tong spoke solemnly.
If it were not for a coincidental opportunity, how could the two of them obtain a Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill for a mere 140,000 Open Heaven Pills? The same Spirit Pill was sold today for 3.5 million Open Heaven Pills, which was dozens of times the price they had paid.
At this point, they no longer doubted the authenticity of the Spirit Pill. Even though they could not recognize it, would all these others not be able to? Besides that, Void Land would never do anything to sabotage their reputation at this critical moment.
“What we need to do now is to find someone to sell the Spirit Pill to as soon as possible. Void Star City is becoming more and more popular, and our shops need funds to operate.”
Shopkeeper Jin replied, “Brother Tong, to tell you the truth, someone contacted me privately yesterday, offering 1 million Open Heaven Pills to buy our Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill!”
“1 million?” Shopkeeper Tong’s eyes widened as he snapped, “He might as well just rob us!”
If he had not participated in today’s auction, 1 million would be enough to impress him, but after witnessing the great struggle for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, 1 million was clearly not enough to excite him anymore.
Shopkeeper Jin chuckled, “I naturally refused, though I think that more people will be contacting us in the next few days. We should not stray far from each other, so we can talk if we encounter a good opportunity.”
