World’s End: My Keyword is One More Than Others

Chapter 202: Blatant scheme

Over the next few days,

Du Ge, with the members of the Seven Stars Sect, went around making grand promises to attract investments.

In the world of immortals and martial artists, no sect had ever stooped to such a level, not even the Sect Leader of Tianlan Valley, who came from a merchant background and was striving to shed his commercial identity for a more esteemed status as a true immortal.

For cultivators, the secular world's affairs were not of much importance.

The cultivation world and the secular world were essentially two different realms. If they wished, by simply tossing out a pill or two, they could easily have wealthy tycoons offering them silver and gold in abundance;

Those with native family backgrounds would just need to reveal their identities and take a flight around the city on their swords, and even the most destitute families would rise to wealth;

The more ruthless ones would resort to stealing or robbing, which was quicker than Du Ge's approach...

Most of the time, cultivators wouldn't do such things as they sought a clear conscience and an opportunity to become immortals.

Instead of robbing, they would rather catch a demon beast or two, or sit down and meditate for a month or two!

When the Seven Stars Sect actively lowered its status to seek investments from ordinary people and wealthy civilians, it quickly received an enthusiastic response.

Most people with surplus wealth didn't mind investing a portion of their money into a cultivation sect.

After all,

The Seven Stars Sect was a legitimate sect registered with the supervisory institution.

If the Seven Stars Sect really prospered, they would be affiliated with an immortal sect...

Most crucially, there was no internet in the world of immortals and martial artists, nor a securities regulatory commission to investigate public companies.

Most people were unaware of the grudge between the Seven Stars Sect and Tianlan Valley.

All they knew was that a cultivation sect called the Seven Stars Sect had an immortal ancestor who suddenly returned from his travels, and the naive new Sect Leader was expanding the sect. Many had already invested, and those who didn't act fast would miss out...

In short, everyone felt they had gotten a bargain, and silver flowed into Du Ge's pockets like water.

So much so that when the news spread, wherever Du Ge went, he didn't even need to advertise; a crowd would eagerly wave their banknotes, rushing to sign agreements with him.

While expanding operations,

Du Ge wasn't idle; on his financing journey, he led his junior brothers and sisters to eliminate several bandit gangs in the nearby mountains, bringing their loot back to the Seven Stars Sect.

What couldn't be taken back was distributed to the nearby villagers to boost his noble image.

For the wealth brought back to the Seven Stars Sect, Du Ge even set up a notice board, disclosing the amount of each income.

At the same time, with plenty of idle money, Du Ge began to recruit craftsmen from nearby villages to lay steps and build palaces for the Seven Stars Sect, embarking on major construction projects.

Of course, shareholders were given priority when selecting workers.

Thus, the villagers who had invested real silver were even happier, seeing wages before dividends.

Moreover, the wages from the Seven Stars Sect far exceeded their initial investments.

The reason they received wages far beyond their investments was simply because they were shareholders of the Seven Stars Sect.

This only strengthened their confidence in the future of the Seven Stars Sect.

No one cared about Tianlan Valley anymore; the villagers eagerly used the wages they had just received, which hadn't even warmed in their hands, to buy more of the now-appreciated contracts from the Seven Stars Sect.

That's right.

As the Seven Stars Sect undertook major construction and as major shareholders poured in, the value of the Seven Stars Sect's contracts appreciated.

This had nothing to do with Du Ge; it was entirely the spontaneous action of the shareholders.

The wealthy, with their far-sighted vision, learned that contracts could be bought and sold, and they decisively made their move on the small-time shareholders at the foot of the Seven Stars Sect.

A large number of wealthy families flooded into villages like Shuishang Village and Dongshi Village at the foot of the Seven Stars Sect, buying contracts from the villagers' hands with real gold and silver at prices far above the market rate, and for convenience, they called these contracts "stocks."

Some short-sighted villagers, seeing the immediate profit, sold their stocks on the spot for more silver...

Then,

The next day, when they found themselves without work and their neighbors selling their stocks at even higher prices, they regretted it deeply and tried every means to buy stocks from others;

Thus,

The busiest place in the Seven Stars Sect was not the construction site, but the Contract Trading Hall, bustling with people coming and going. To handle these transactions, Du Ge hired a dozen accountants, and the commission from the trades made their hands sore...

***

Du Ge's attributes soared, reaching the level he had at the end of the first Simulation Field in just a few days.

And,

As more money poured into the Seven Stars Sect, his attributes climbed continuously.

The Alien Star Battlefield had already jumped to the first rank two days earlier, and the backend even rewarded him with 1000 mental power.

It must be said that after entering the Alien Star Battlefield, the rewards for mental power became much more generous, far surpassing the Simulation Field.

Seven or eight days passed quickly.

Apart from the soldiers who failed their initial Body Possession, there were still 1,300 left on the Alien Star Battlefield, only five fewer than when Du Ge first entered.

In the Simulation Field, such a thing would be impossible; the elites were indeed elites, with MAX survival skills.

However,despite all the commotion Du Ge caused, he still hadn't developed a second advanced skill, and the Keyword "noble" showed no signs of activity...

Looking at the lonely advanced skill in the list, Du Ge sighed silently. It seemed the Simulation Field indeed simplified everything and accelerated the process, making the awakening of advanced skills truly challenging.

However, the improvement in attributes optimized Du Ge's talent.

During the day, he worked on promotions and projects, and by only cultivating at night, he managed to raise his cultivation level to the peak of the Qi Refining Stage.

Then,no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make further progress.

Lacking a comprehensive cultivation technique was indeed problematic. To break through, he needed to switch techniques or find a comprehensive one.

As for the corresponding Body Refinement techniques, Du Ge felt it was unnecessary to practice them; even the most powerful Body Refinement techniques couldn't surpass the enhancement brought by the Keyword attributes.

Fortunately, the increase in attributes, coupled with the improvement in cultivation level, caused Du Ge's personal combat strength to skyrocket, far surpassing an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator. The captives from Tianlan Valley couldn't last three minutes in his hands, as he stripped them from head to toe.

The captives, witnessing Du Ge's rapid growth, suddenly lost confidence in Tianlan Valley. Regardless of whether the true ancestor of the Seven Stars Sect returned, Du Ge's growth rate alone was astonishing.

What exceptional talent he possessed!

As long as the people of Tianlan Valley didn't kill him and he managed to escape, he could easily become an Inner Disciple in any cultivation sect, and then, once his cultivation bore fruit, he might be able to level Tianlan Valley.

Tianlan Valley was too busy with its affairs to focus all its efforts on a small sect like the Seven Stars Sect.

Sending small teams like theirs would only be delivering food to Du Ge.

Perhaps even adding one or two Foundation Establishment experts wouldn't be enough to defeat the current Du Ge.

The captives were anxious, but their movements were restricted, and it was nearly impossible to send out a message. The Seven Stars Sect was now teeming with people.

But these people were all tied to the interests of the Seven Stars Sect, and it was completely impossible for them to pass messages or help outsiders destroy the Seven Stars Sect.

Before,the captives couldn't understand what Du Ge was doing, but now, watching the bustling Seven Stars Sect, they seemed to grasp Du Ge's intentions.

Mortals.

With a large number of mortals residing in the Seven Stars Sect, Tianlan Valley would have to be cautious about taking action against them.

Even if cultivators were high above, they couldn't possibly massacre all the civilians within tens of miles just to seize a sect.

If they did, Tianlan Valley would undoubtedly be branded as a demonic sect, and then the righteous path would rise to attack them.

Didn't they target the Seven Stars Sect initially because it was just a small and insignificant place?

This was a blatant scheme.

What a ruthless heart Wang Chong had, to protect the Seven Stars Sect, he boldly used tens of thousands of civilians as a shield...