Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The end of the third year and eighth month of Shenyuan were the dog days of summer, but Vigilante A’s farm villa was cool and pleasant, as if a central air conditioner was installed there.
This was naturally because formations were set up around it. It was strange, as the vitality concentration of the outside world was clearly decreasing rapidly, However, this concealing formation arranged with the help of the Truth Department could still operate as usual.
However, the employees working here were still not relaxed because of the comfortable work environment. Instead, many of them were listless, especially the young.
“Sigh, what bad luck. How can I practice daily if the vitality concentration outside drops? What vitality nodes? As people who work every day, how would we even have the time to practice at those places?” Wang Wenqing complained to a workmate beside him as he looked after the flowers and plants.
“That’s true, but what’s the use of complaining? An arm can never wrestle down a leg, if God wants it to be this way, then what can we do about it?” The workmate shook his head and sighed.
“God? Hmph, perhaps someone deliberately pushed the blame to God himself?” Wang Wenqing was a young man with a lot of thoughts and did not believe the explanation.
Years of internet experience made him form a deep-rooted habit. As long as everything was understood in opposition to what was said, there would be no mistakes.
“Hm, what do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean? Well, when a vitality node comes out, who do you think benefits the most?” Wang Wenqing asked.
“Uh…” The young workmate frowned for a moment and said tentatively, “The rich and idle, as well as those professional cultivators.”
There were many people who did not have the ability to think for themselves, but these two are different. They both had independent thinking capabilities…
“Yep, they’re all part of the elite class!” Wang Wenqing said indignantly, “Another upward passage that is hard to appear had been blocked from us again. They say that it’s a plan to manage vitality, but clearly they just don’t want losers like us to obtain power.”
“Keep your voice down, you might get re-educated if you say stuff like this.” The workmate kindly reminded.
“Hmph, this is where the Dragon God resides, and this land stretches for five hundred thousand square meters. I’m only speaking up for justice, who would dare to come and catch me?” Wang Wenqing said disdainfully.
“However, it’s also a bit strange. The Internet stated that the vitality concentration has dropped everywhere, but why aren’t I feeling anything? Doesn’t it seem as if it’s increasing in this place instead? What if this place is actually a vitality node?” The young workmate was afraid that this person might cause trouble and quickly changed the subject.
“Oh, you have a point, it seems that I might be worrying too much.” Wang Wenqing suddenly turned happy, “By relying on this huge tree from the Dragon God, no matter how much they plan, they won’t be able to touch us. Even if it is not a node, they would still need to make one.
The workmate shook his head as he saw this. What this person said about “speaking up for justice” was nothing more than worrying that his own interests would be implicated. If his interests were safe, he might even be happy that others could not cultivate, which would make it easier for him to stand out.
However, this was also human nature. After all, there were only a few who could cherish the world just like the Dragon God Hero.
At this moment, Vigilante A was returning from the outside, and naturally heard the complaints of his workers.
“Hey, Mr. Multi-Millionaire, what they’re complaining about is reasonable. How could ordinary people have the skill to cultivate at vitality nodes?” Sir System asked with sympathy.
“Don’t worry, of course the Truth Department has already thought of this. Vitality tanks, vitality bottles… Because you’re worth it.” Fang Ning answered casually as he played his game.
“Oh, you’re pretty imaginative. Did Zheng Dao tell you about it?” Sir System was surprised.
“What are you talking about? Anyone who plays games could think of that. As for whether we would charge fees for it, I would say that we should.” Fang Ning shook his head.
“Well, they used to be able to obtain vitality whenever they want. If you were to charge them now, would they agree?” Sir System was doubtful.
“They already stated clearly themselves, an arm can never wrestle down a leg. What can they do if they disagree? Charges can also be in different forms. We could say that we only collect filling fees, material fees, and transport fees… the vitality itself would still be provided for free,” Fang Ning spoke righteously
“Yep, Mr. Rich Host is indeed brilliant. You really are full of tricks. An honest and pure System like me could never keep up with your thoughts.” Sir System sincerely admired him.
“However, as they said, social class solidification would be inevitable… Clans, powerful families, and factions will reappear in the world.” Fang Ning shook his head.
“I won’t care about that too much as long as there are monsters for me to farm. If you want to handle it then go for it, since you’re just like an ordinary person now. You even have both Monuments protecting you, so as long as you don’t leave Earth, you can do whatever you want,” Sir System said plausibly.
“Eh, I want to, but I’m very busy and don’t have time,” Fang Ning replied boldly.
“Yes, you’ve always been busy. Busy watching novels, playing games, sleeping in…” Sir System said angrily.
“…” Fang Ning was too lazy to care about it and continued playing his game.
Just as what Sir System had said, even though Fang Ning felt that it was inappropriate, expecting him to handle the issue was as impossible as making the sun rise from the West.
…
Three days later, a company named “Vitality Filling Ltd.” was first established in New Netherlands of the USA. At the opening ceremony on the same day, countless celebrities who were experts in the cultivation world showed up.
Then all kinds of advertisements began to spread.
“In order to solve the problem of vitality shrinking into nodes, our company has rented three vitality nodes at a high price to ensure that we can provide the purest vitality. Compared to the natural absorption of vitality, we have adopted a special process to carry out filtration and purification, going through 21 steps successively, ensuring that every trace of vitality absorbed by you is pure and doesn’t contain any harmful components. Each vitality tank containing 100 liters costs only 5 USD.”
This company’s grasp of business opportunities can be said to be extremely accurate, but it has attracted the greatest public resentment.
Numerous satirical jokes have been circulated on the Internet.
“21 steps, pure vitality, because you’re worth it.”
“Five dollars for one tank of vitality, it’s a sale on fire.”
“Pure PK natural, elephant versus donkey, which one do you support?”
Satire came after satire, but their internal stock price rose steadily. It was regarded by the investment community as another unicorn 1 .
Vitality nodes were limited, and this was the monopoly of resources. If one thought about how high the monopoly profits of the former oil enterprise were and how many wars broke out for the sake of oil, one would understand the background and prospects of this enterprise.
…
Truth Department Headquarters in China.
A meeting was being held.
“Just as I expected, if this turns into a commercial operation, it’ll break the hearts and minds of the people.” Ren Ruofeng looked at a report and shook his head.
“However, isn’t the best way to allocate resources through the market?” One of the officers asked.
“That’s for common resources, whereas vitality is directly related to the cultivation of strength. Of course, it needs to be managed, but it cannot be allocated entirely by the market. We need to use two models.” Ren Ruofeng replied seriously.
“A dual-track system? That’s just trying to turn the clock back.” Principal Xu chuckled.
At his age, he naturally experienced the economic reforms in those years. Fraudulent buying and selling were the results of dual-track systems. On one hand was market allocation, whereas the other hand was planned management. The former had expensive goods, while the latter had cheap goods.
“What I meant was, through the selection of Special Affairs Departments around the world, for those who stand firm and have outstanding qualifications will be distributed vitality to them for cultivation purposes for free, but it can’t be used for trading. The other part, through market allocation, will ensure the most efficient use.” Ren Ruofeng understood his meaning and explained in detail.
“However, how do we guarantee that the selection is fair? This is the place where problems are most likely to occur.” Elder Hai shook his head, not optimistic with this model.
“Now is not like the past. It’s simple. Xie Dong is able to differentiate between truth and lies, so we can let him judge whether the selected people really meet the conditions.” Ren Ruofeng casually answered.
“That’s impossible. How would he be able to handle it alone?” Hong Yunjiao felt some sympathy.
“Then we can only undergo the selection process by monitoring Nets Above Snares Below, and let Xie Dong evaluate the selectors of the highest layer, to ensure that they don’t practice favoritism,” Ren Ruofeng proposed a new plan.
“We’ll do that first for the time being. I hope that this storm will soon subside. Why do you think the people of the Upper Realm are forcibly interfering with us so much?” Principal Xu sighed.
A new problem rose before the old one was solved. It really made them be up to their ears in work. Their hearts had been stretched taut constantly. Who knew when it would snap.
“Hmph, they’re only doing this for themselves. Countless clans, holy immortals and Buddhas from the upper realm are waiting to descend, how could they hope for the loss of vitality? They’re only using this devious method due to the lack of their numbers and strength. If their powers far exceed ours, I’m afraid that they wouldn’t just resort to such a trick. When the time comes, don’t even mention vitality nodes, even leftovers would not be given to us,” Ren Ruofeng said coldly.
Everyone suddenly felt a shiver. The public received limited information, and still complained about it, but they had yet to know that the future situation would be a hundred times more terrible than it was now.
