X-Dragon Era

Thinking of this, Zixia took a deep breath and continued, "Alright, leave the intelligence division to me. I'll definitely do my best to accomplish the tasks. However, before that, I want to know about the budget. How much funding do we have? Besides funding, is there a venue provided? Are there any other particular matters that need to be addressed?"

"This..." Upon hearing Zixia's request, Xin Yun couldn't help but frown deeply. After a while... Xin Yun decidedly said, "Money is absolutely no issue. You will have as much as you need."

With that said, Xin Yun turned to look at Chu Rui and seriously commanded, "Remember to take care of it. Whatever the intelligence division applies for funding, give them as much as they need. There should be no delay for any reason, nor any skimping!"

"Ah!" Hearing Xin Yun's words, Chu Rui jumped up in shock, flustered, she said, "But I don't have the money! Although you've handed over thirty-six major cities to me to manage, I... haven't seen the money yet!"

"Hehe..." Smiling and shaking his head, Xin Yun continued, "How could there be no money? The thirty-six big cities generate about four hundred million taels of silver in tax income annually. That's forty million taels of silver each month. Up to this point, I haven't been collecting this money, so there should be about seven months of taxes by now, close to three hundred million taels of silver—how could there be no money?"

"Ah! I... this..." Hearing Xin Yun's words, Chu Rui and Zixia were completely stunned. Only at that moment did they realize what having thirty-six super-large cities actually meant. Just the monthly tax revenue was already a staggering amount.

Swallowing hard, Chu Rui asked cautiously, "Do you mean to say that from now on... this money will be under my management, for me to allocate and use?"

In response to Chu Rui's question, Xin Yun looked at her with some annoyance and said, "You are the Chief Financial Officer, naturally you'll handle financial matters. Otherwise, if I need to be consulted for every single expenditure, what's the use of having you?"

"But... but with so much money, I... this!" Standing there in turmoil, Chu Rui finally lost her composure. Although she came from a family that controlled three large cities, her family had many members, and she was not a direct descendant, so the amount she received each year was really not much.

Chu Rui was undoubtedly stunned, but Zixia was even more taken aback. In her mind, a few million taels would have been enough to stop worrying about money. But as Xin Yun said, you'll have as much as you need, afraid you won't be able to spend it all!

Seeing the astonished looks on the two girls, Xin Yun went on, "As for the other matters, that's a bit more complicated. The personnel of the intelligence division are mixed, and it is not possible for all of them to enter our main base. Only formal members are eligible to enter. Therefore... there's no issue with the senior members of the intelligence division, but to conduct intelligence work, we need to establish a large network of informants. If we pull all of them into the Sky-opening Sect, it would be too cumbersome. So..."

Hearing this, Zixia hurriedly shook her head and said, "No, no, no... that's not necessary. In fact, the sources of intelligence are fixed; we don't need to lay out special networks. We just need some capable people to gather this intelligence through various channels. Quality over quantity, about a hundred slots should be sufficient."

At this point, Zixia paused for a moment, then continued, "These hundred people, it would be best if they could all become formal members of the Sky-opening Sect. Only with the temptation of immortality might the true talents be moved. As for money, it is surely indispensable, but what can be bought with money is definitely not real talent."

"Hmm..." Agreeing with Zixia's statement, Xin Yun pondered for a moment before decisively saying, "Alright, then just as you said, I'll give you a hundred formal member slots, and you can tell them that as long as they perform well and achieve results, I can grant their wives, husbands, or even parents and siblings the source of immortality. However... the premise must be made clear, they must make outstanding contributions to qualify!"

"Ah!" Hearing Xin Yun's words, Chu Rui jumped up and said repeatedly, "No, no, since you gave sister Zixia a hundred slots, you must also give me a hundred slots. Without helpers, I simply can't manage on my own."

After a moment of thought, Xin Yun nodded agreeably and said, "Alright, I can give you the slots. The treatment will be exactly the same as Zixia's side. As long as a huge contribution is made, there will be rewards. However..."

With that, Xin Yun became serious and said with utmost sincerity, "You can make any conditions you like, but you must strive to achieve them. I don't expect you to earn a specific amount of money. Your only task is to do your best to exchange silver for gold!"

"Ah!" Startled, Chu Rui looked at Xin Yun, puzzled, she said, "Isn't that easy? Gold and silver are both money. Just exchange them directly. Why bother assigning someone to do this task?"

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Xin Yun said bitterly, "The problem now is, do you know how much silver I have?"

"How much?" Not just Chu Rui, even Zixia became curious upon hearing Xin Yun's question. They both wanted to know just how much silver Xin Yun had that he needed to specifically assign someone to convert it to gold.

Confronted by the girls' probing, Xin Yun simply extended three fingers, yet said nothing. Seeing this, Zixia cautiously ventured, "How much is that? Three hundred million taels?"