Chapter 572: Start playing chess

Mo Xiao was a moderately famous merchant in the Lingchou Realm, with a bit of floating wealth.

However, this money wasn't earned by him, but was all the savings accumulated by his father through business; he merely inherited his father's business and maintained it without decline.

But even so, his wealth surpassed ninety-five percent of the people in the Lingchou Realm; he was a successful merchant, even owning his own world-class giant ship.

His industries included hundreds of worlds and a Spiritual Artifact assembly line more valuable than all those worlds combined.

His worlds cultivated massive amounts of raw materials, continuously extracting world resources, then taking them all and pouring them into his Spiritual Artifact assembly line to produce enchanted robes with his brand, which were then sold far overseas.

Of course, besides these assembly lines, he also employed a group of weavers; these were for high-end goods.

The weavers received high remuneration, weaving exquisite custom-made enchanted robes, which were then sold at dozens or even hundreds of times the price.

Although these exquisite custom-made items were only about forty percent stronger in performance than those from the assembly line, their price increased by a hundredfold.

However, this was the meaning of high-end existence; a forty percent performance difference could present an overwhelming advantage when two people fought to the death.

Generally speaking, the money was worth it, as the difference in output was certainly more than a hundredfold.

His business was flourishing like this, although he himself had already detached from actual production, and his Dao path had also been cut off.

This was a typical characteristic of merchants in the Lingchou Realm.

Most of these merchants did not engage in production themselves; they were only responsible for operating their business associations and accumulating more wealth, although they didn't know what to do with this wealth.

After all, these merchants had a lot of money, and many of them tried every possible way to pile up resources, forcibly pouring massive resources into themselves to reach Seventh Rank and gain longevity.

This kind of longevity could be said to be very superficial, without Dao Heart support, almost no combat capability, and couldn't even be considered true longevity, because without Dao Heart maintenance, their cultivation was gradually dissipating.

If their Dao Heart was truly inferior, and their mind aged with time, then their life would probably end after only about ten thousand years, and they might even be unable to defeat an Eighth Rank Cultivator.

Of course, most of them probably wouldn't live for ten thousand years; ten thousand years is a very long number, and many people would lose the desire to live after a few thousand years.

Without a strong heart, without the patience to resist time, longevity would become a torture.

Mo Xiao was a typical example, but he was different from those people because he had a successful son.

His son truly achieved the real Seventh Rank by his own strength.

Most of the money Mo Xiao earned was invested in his son, allowing him to continue climbing upwards, unlike his peers who earned a lot of money but didn't know how to spend it, only to die clutching their money and pass it on to their descendants, who also didn't know what they wanted to do.

However, Mo Xiao also had his own troubles recently.

Some of the worlds under his command were… depleted.

Generally speaking, the resources within a world would cycle, and the world barrier would prevent dispersion; no matter how they were used internally, the essence of resources was always cycling, much like Reincarnation.

But adding other worlds as variables, that's different.

Mo Xiao's worlds produced a continuous stream of raw materials, but these materials did not enter the cycle, nor did they rot in the ground; instead, they were transported to other worlds, processed into Spiritual Artifacts, and then transported with a rumble to other worlds.

This kind of outflow without inflow would definitely lead to depletion.

Under normal circumstances, the world needed to be given a break; after all, the world itself actually possessed the ability to create something from nothing, and after a period of recovery, it could regain its Origin Qi.

However, if he took a break, he would lose market share to others.

Everyone produced on assembly lines; to be honest, it was difficult to differentiate, at most there could be some unique aspects in design, but not by much.

If production was reduced or even stopped now, it would be equivalent to actively handing over the market to others.

What should be done?

If they continued, and the world depleted or even degraded, it would be over.

Li Qi had witnessed such things firsthand.

Initially, in the Earth Oil Realm, that resource world of the Great Deer Kingdom, that world was a resource world that was continuously mined, and it was almost depleted; the entire world's oceans had dried up, devoid of life.

But if they didn't continue, things would also be difficult; what use would it be when the world recovered later? Things couldn't be sold, and he still needed to support his son's cultivation, preferably to reach Sixth Rank!

Mo Xiao worried about such things day after day, and even after the arrival of that important figure, the Shaman Dao Dao envoy, who caused a national sensation six months ago, things didn't improve.

In fact, after that incident, business became much harder, because there were many, many more inspections; every business association needed to be inspected, which was truly troublesome.

Alas, but… no matter what, things always had to be done, life always had to be lived, no matter how difficult, they had to keep going.

Thinking about these things, Mo Xiao put on his hat and a very beautiful and dazzling enchanted robe; there seemed to be a blue light circling around him, faintly shimmering with rainbow colors, and intricate patterns within.

He himself was also quite handsome, with green eyes, a slender figure, and the appearance of a middle-aged man, very similar to the people of the world, but the difference lay in the subtle variations in pupil color and face shape, and his Inner World was also somewhat different.

Today, he was going to meet a new business partner who had just passed the review; the other party had ample funds, and… brought new technology that was said to be able to solve his predicament.

The predicament Mo Xiao faced was not his alone, but was widespread among merchants; these business associations and wealthy individuals generally encountered such difficulties, but no one dared to easily let go and stop production.

After all, if someone let go, others would devour them until there was nothing left; everyone could only be swept along together, rushing into destruction.

But this partner, from afar, said to be from Dousu, claimed to be able to solve this predicament.

Mo Xiao took this very seriously, after all, for those medium-sized business associations of his same scale, their money was useless except for investment and expanding production, but his money genuinely needed to be converted into resources for his son's use.

Riding a unique beast of the Lingchou Realm, a beast that could fly in the air, said to be the manifestation of the Lingchou Realm's monsoon Dao, and a common mode of transportation.

Under the servants' attendance, Mo Xiao quickly arrived at the agreed meeting place.

The other party arrived even earlier than he expected; although they had just passed the review, they had already arrived.

Mo Xiao walked over and spotted the other party at a glance.

"Hello, Mr. Mo Xiao, right?" A woman from the world had been waiting for a long time.

If it were Li Shiwei, she would definitely recognize the other party at a glance.

Zhang You.

At this time, Zhang You had changed considerably from before; she had grown up a bit, becoming more composed, losing that timid feeling, making her seem very reliable and trustworthy, and her consistently gentle gaze also made people feel comfortable interacting with her.

After all, almost another decade had passed, and she too would grow.

She was still only Eighth Rank; Seventh Rank was not that easy to reach, but her position had also risen quite a bit because she was diligent, honest, and had gained a great deal of trust from the upper echelons.

Now, she was responsible for promoting new technologies within the business association.

In fact, every civilized society that could establish itself outside the domain, and even various business associations, more or less had their own unique skills.

Li Qi's Shamanic Silkworm Artifact indeed contained some innovation, but this innovation was not epoch-making; ultimately, it could only serve as a Dao foundation for a Seventh Rank Cultivator.

Among the heavens, technical exchanges and technological explosions were happening constantly; every minute and second, countless thoughts collided, sparking new ideas, which then led to brand new spells and even Dao Orthodoxy.

If all technologies and Dao Orthodoxy formed a circle, then how many points were on this circle?

The answer is countless.

Countless Dao Orthodoxy and countless new technologies, even if there were overlaps in various characteristics, there was always something new.

Therefore, technical exchange has always been an important trading link between civilized worlds outside the domain, with a vast market and a massive record of completed transactions outside the domain.

In other words, it means that… technical exchange and equipment sales are very normal, so normal that the Spiritual Artifact assembly line of the Human Dao can be sold in the Lingchou Realm; although they don't have manufacturing capabilities, there's no doubt that this thing must be produced by the Human Dao, and only the Human Dao and the Dao of Reason have this technology.

It was precisely because of this that Zhang You was able to enter this world, naturally and reasonably, to sell technology, and her banner was very loud, directly claiming to solve the merchants' world depletion predicament.

However, since the business association was operating under the banner of the Young Master of Shaman God Mountain, for reasons unknown to Zhang You, she was required to establish a branch of the business association.

This branch then collaborated with another Seventh Rank world, authorized a third-party Seventh Rank world, and then, through normal channels, distributed this technology to 120 completely unfamiliar Seventh Rank worlds.

In these 120 Seventh Rank worlds, the business association branch dispatched 120 ‘technical expatriate experts’ through outsourced labor to be responsible for dissemination.

Finally, after about six months of dissemination, passing through more than six hundred worlds, it slowly spread from the Holy Flame World to the Celestial Dwelling (Xinxiu)'s Lingchou Realm.

Then, the technical expatriate experts had to expand, so Zhang You naturally reached an agreement with a Seventh Rank world.

This Seventh Rank world was preparing to sell the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact technology to the Lingchou Realm, and Zhang You, as a consulting expert, joined this negotiation.

There were hundreds of layers in between, and Zhang You herself didn't know what she was there for; she was just chosen because she was reliable in her work.

However, everything, absolutely everything, was manipulated by Li Qi's golden body from billions of light-years away.

This was something Li Qi learned during Li Shiwei's adventure.

To imitate ‘Heaven's Will’.

This was not so simple among Sixth Rank Cultivators; even for Fifth Rank Cultivators, such a thing was very difficult.

Fortunately, Li Qi was a Genius; in the twenty-odd years Li Shiwei was out, he successfully learned this subtle adjustment.

He was still very far from true Heaven's Will, but he could already, through subtle manipulation of the connections between Karma, allow people to naturally develop to the results he desired.

Complex and vast, tightly linked arrangements, in a sense, were ‘Heaven's Will’.

However, Li Qi always felt that he was too far from the true ‘Heaven's Will’, and it was an essential difference, not that his computing power was insufficient, but a fundamental difference in algorithms.

He used a clumsy method, although it was a very clever clumsy method, it was still clumsy in the end.

Unfortunately, his vision was not enough, his knowledge was not enough, his intelligence was not enough, and his cultivation was probably even less, so he could not perceive where this difference lay, and naturally could not make improvements.

But it didn't matter, it was enough for now.

At least, Zhang You had unknowingly arrived at the Lingchou Realm, and the Lingchou Realm Lord herself hadn't even noticed.

Clearly, the other party would not train herself to become ‘Heaven's Will’ at Sixth Rank, so Li Qi was temporarily successful.

Zhang You stepped forward, facing Mo Xiao.

"Hello, Your Excellency, you are the technical dispatcher this time, right? To have reached Eighth Rank at such a young age and also mastered such technology, you are truly a young Genius." Mo Xiao stepped forward, greeting her with a smile.

"Mr. Mo Xiao is already Seventh Rank, so please don't mock me." Zhang You replied.

"Ah, I just piled it up with money, how can I compare to someone who truly cultivates?" Mo Xiao waved his hand.

"Isn't making money also a skill? How many people can only meticulously buy Longevity Pills from the Hell Dao? Earning enough resources to pile up cultivation to Seventh Rank is no simpler than cultivating to Seventh Rank." Zhang You flattered.

These words indeed pleased Mo Xiao; he laughed heartily, but didn't forget the main business, clearing his throat and saying: "Ahem, then please, Your Excellency, let's move to the production site and see the current technology. Why do you say this Gu can solve our predicament?"

Zhang You nodded slightly and began to analyze: "The current predicament is nothing more than a conflict between output and world lifespan.

As long as a certain amount of output, sufficient to maintain the market, can be guaranteed, while simultaneously reducing the consumption of world resources, the difficulty will naturally be resolved."

"Easier said than done, so how do we do it?" Mo Xiao nodded.

Zhang You then said: "Reducing the consumption of world resources can be approached from two aspects.

First, it is a true reduction in consumption, such as lowering a portion of the output and eliminating excess capacity."

"Second, it is to improve the utilization rate of existing resources, using the same resources to create more valuable goods, thereby indirectly reducing consumption."

"However, the current predicament is that if output is reduced, it's very easy for your existing market to be snatched away, after all, your competitors are not just from the Lingchou Realm, but also from other worlds."

"Therefore, what our product can offer is the opportunity to reduce output while still not losing market share."