Chapter 266: New Business
Xiang Yu's water clone had just finished delivering a lecture and was preparing to move on to another when three familiar figures approached him. "It's you guys," Xiang Yu recognized them immediately. These were the same three disciples who had asked him to sign their books before. He wondered what they were up to now.
"Grand Elder..." The three brothers proceeded to explain what they had just done before presenting him with the one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones.
As Xiang Yu accepted the spirit stones, he wondered whether to laugh or cry. These three brothers had actually managed to swindle Liu Feng! Had they completely ignored all the teachings from his book?
Still, this was a good thing. From the looks of it, Liu Feng didn't seem think that he'd been scammed, so perhaps everything had worked out for the best.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect either. With the invasion starting, normal business operations would likely slow down or even stop completely. People wouldn't be traveling as freely, which meant his usual flow of spirit stones might slow to a trickle.
This was especially concerning since he was planning to upgrade the sect-wide formation and establish multiple new ones. He hadn't even figured out how he would power all these formations long-term, but with this, they should be able to operate for quite some time. At least until his next business venture got off the ground.
"What are your names?" Xiang Yu asked, studying the three brothers more carefully.
"Chen Bo," the eldest replied with a slight bow.
"Chen Zhong," the middle brother followed suit.
"Chen Ji," the youngest completed their introduction.
Xiang Yu nodded thoughtfully to himself. Chen wasn't a bad surname at all. His gaze lingered on the first brother, who seemed quite intelligent and sharp. He sighed internally - if only the character was 'Mo' instead of 'Bo', it would have been perfect.
"Good," Xiang Yu spoke with approval. "You have some sales talent. From now on, you are the general manager of Azure Express Delivery Network. These two will serve as your assistants." He placed his hand on Chen Bo's shoulder as he spoke.
When the three brothers heard this announcement, their eyes lit up with excitement. They didn't fully understand what all those titles meant, but anything given by the Grand Elder had to be incredibly valuable. Only the eldest brother, Chen Bo, somewhat grasped the significance. He realized this business seemed to be in its startup phase, and being appointed to such a high-level position meant his future benefits would be substantial. He would also gain closer access to the Grand Elder, which could lead to even more opportunities. He smiled to himself, pleased that his calculations had been spot-on as usual. As long as he continued making smart moves like this, he felt certain he would achieve immortality in no time.
Xiang Yu smiled to himself as well. He had just conceived this brilliant new business idea - the Azure Express Delivery Network. During times like these, most people would remain locked behind their protective barriers and formations. Cut off from normal supply chains, they wouldn't be able to obtain necessary resources. As their stockpiles dwindled, they might not be able to maintain their defenses anymore. That's exactly where his new service would come in.
He planned to manufacture various goods and ship them directly to customers' doorsteps in exchange for high-level materials and rare resources. The beauty of the plan was that people trapped in their strongholds would be desperate enough to pay premium prices for essential supplies.
The only real challenge was figuring out how to make deliveries without his courier teams getting corrupted by demonic energy or falling victim to the various dangers that would be lurking outside during the invasion.
Light elemental clone (researcher): I've figured it out.
…
The light clone of Xiang Yu sat motionless in deep meditation, his mind focused on the complex puzzle before him. For this business idea to work properly, he would need to create some divine or semi-divine flying treasures capable of withstanding the harsh conditions of the invasion period. As he visualized these delivery vehicles, he considered infusing them with pure light energy to make them more resistant to the dark energy that would be spreading across the continent.
After creating the basic flying treasures, he would then encase each one within a third-grade defensive formation that could be continuously upgraded over time as his formation mastery improved. The formations themselves would be enhanced with special light-related runes for additional security against corruption and demonic interference. But this was still just theoretical - he didn't know if the concept would actually work in practice.
The metal clone would need to create a working prototype once it finished its more pressing tasks, and then they could properly test the design and conduct further research to refine the delivery system.
Xiang Yu slowly opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by towering stacks of books that had accumulated during his research sessions. The books were piled so high around his meditation spot that he was almost completely buried beneath thousands of texts and scrolls.
As he gazed at the fortress he had constructed around himself, Xiang Yu reflected on all the fascinating discoveries he had made during his research. While exploring various cultivation theories and techniques, he had come across numerous interesting concepts that he believed would benefit the entire sect. Rather than keeping this knowledge to himself, he had carefully documented everything into comprehensive books that could serve as educational resources.
Beyond just theoretical texts, he had also created practical cultivation manuals covering a wide range of topics. There were elemental technique guides for every element except dark, qi manipulation scriptures, weapon techniques, and body refining methods. They all ranged from basic-grade all the way up to sacred-grade, ensuring there would be suitable resources for disciples of every skill/talent level.
He believed these resources would prove invaluable for the sect's overall development and growth. Since the Azure Cloud Sect lacked any inheritance, acquiring this kind of comprehensive cultivation library was essential if they wanted to expand their capabilities. As the Grand Elder, he felt it was his responsibility to provide this foundation for future generations of disciples.
"Time to get back to work."
He closed his eyes once again and returned his focus to the elusive time domain research. Despite all his efforts, he still hadn't achieved any truly meaningful results in understanding time manipulation. The complexity of the domain continued to elude his grasp, no matter how many different approaches he tried.
He wondered if perhaps his enlightenment level was simply too low to comprehend such advanced concepts. But no, that wasn't the real issue - he knew his enlightenment was already at an impressive level. The fundamental problem was that he simply lacked sufficient time to properly decode all the intricate mechanisms involved.
With enough time dedicated to research, he was confident he could eventually figure out the mysteries of the domain. Even cultivators with lower enlightenment than his had eventually mastered domain techniques, though it typically took them many years of dedicated study.
But Xiang Yu didn't want to wait years for results. What was the point of being able to understand it in a decade or two when he needed to use it now? He sighed, feeling frustrated by his limitations. In the end, he concluded that his natural talent was simply too low for his ambition. In the end, it all came back to this.
Perhaps he would need heavenly-level or even immortal-level enlightenment to grasp it quickly enough to be useful.
Well, there was no point dwelling on these concerns right now. He pushed aside his doubts and redirected his mental energy back toward his research, determined to make whatever progress he could with his current abilities.
…
Author's Corner
The brother's names are literally (eldest brother, second brother, youngest brother)
Xiang Yu is quite "superstitious" and believes in cultivation world cliches, that's why he was disappointed that the first brother's name was bo instead of mo. if it was mo, it would be chen mo which is a "main character" name.