Chapter 256
The Imperial Court: I freaking thank you! You only remembered me now!
Chapter 256 The Imperial Court: I freaking thank you! You only remembered me now!
Lu Chen took the ledger and asked as he flipped through it, "Tell me the general situation first."
"Yes!" Zeng Rou replied, "The business of ghost money has now stabilized, after the previous inventory of one billion was sold out."
Because the cult leader was absent for the first two months, the supply chain was disrupted for a time. Fortunately, with the cult leader's secret blessing, the supply to various regions has gradually resumed in the last two days.
To date, the total revenue from ghost money has exceeded one billion yuan, and the growth rate remains rapid. However, due to its short time on the market, its current reach is mainly concentrated in Jiangxi Province.
Lu Chen nodded slightly: "No rush. Once the impact is deep enough, it will naturally spread to other provinces."
He paused, then changed the subject, "What about the Plague Pill?"
Zeng Rou replied, "The sales of the plague pills have increased significantly this month, but Jishetang adopts a direct-sales model, and the expansion speed is limited by manpower and layout. However, I plan to open fifty branches in various places by the end of the year and strive to exceed 200 million in sales."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chen exclaimed, "To be honest, it's all thanks to my sworn brother, the God of Wealth, that we've had such good fortune. Otherwise, how could the Plague Pill business have grown so quickly? I'm quite satisfied with this progress."
Zeng Rou nodded: "Indeed. The difference between having good fortune and not having it is huge. Everything is going smoothly now."
The frontline sales staff, in particular, are extremely motivated. They've discovered that not only are sales easier, but the more they sell, the faster their divine favor increases when offering sacrifices to the [Plague Department] deity.
Currently, some sales representatives have already surpassed 20% in their divine service level and obtained a plague-related magical ability from Li Qi, the Southern Plague Envoy, which is said to be quite powerful.
The other salespeople are incredibly envious; they're all working up a high.
Lu Chen laughed loudly, "This is like a different kind of worship and cultivation. And you, Elder Zeng, how far have you progressed in serving the gods?"
Zeng Rou tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled, "To be honest, Master, my service level to the Plague God has reached 30%, and my service level to the Yama God is 27%."
Lu Chen gasped: "Worshiping two gods simultaneously?"
Zeng Rou bowed and said, "It is all thanks to the great fortune of the leader that I have achieved what I have today."
Lu Chen waved his hand: "Don't say that, it's all thanks to your own hard work. Anyway, keep up the good work! Sooner or later I'll help you get a divine position in the Plague Department. Then I'll let that guy from your Rakshasa Cult, what was his name again..."
"Ancestor Xuan Gu".
“Yes, Ancestor Xuan Gu, let Him be your guardian deity.”
Zeng Rou was taken aback at first, then couldn't contain her excitement: "Master, what you said is really domineering! But compared to me, Elder Wang's Divine Servant level has improved much faster."
He worshipped Zhu Tianlin, the Plague Envoy of the West, and his divine service level reached 33%. He not only gained supernatural powers but was also bestowed with a magical treasure, which is said to be of great help in refining plague pills.
Elder Wang is now engrossed in studying the Plague Elixir with great enthusiasm, and I suspect his previous reluctance to reveal the formula was largely due to this.
Lu Chen's smile deepened: "This is a good thing! It's truly good when everyone is doing well."
He prefers hearing this kind of news to sales figures.
Zeng Rou then asked, "By the way, Master, are there any rare and precious materials in your secret realm? There are a few types of plague pills that are still missing a few rare ingredients. I wonder if they can be found in the secret realm?"
Lu Chen then realized that he hadn't entered the secret realm even once since he returned.
"Come on, let's go inside and take a look!"
"Okay!"
The boundary pivot appeared above Lu Chen's head. With a slight thought, a beam of light enveloped the two of them.
Inside the secret realm.
The chaotic scene before them made the two of them tense up.
On that day, the Heavenly King Li Jing forcibly entered the secret realm. The divine power of the Star Lord almost caused the secret realm to collapse, with rocks rolling down and destroying vast amounts of natural treasures.
Fortunately, Lu Chen had already taken away the high-grade spiritual materials; otherwise, the losses would have been unimaginable.
Even so, the value of the remaining secret realms has been greatly reduced.
"How did it get so ruined?" Zeng Rou covered her mouth, both shocked and heartbroken.
So many top-quality natural treasures have just been lost.
"The landslide was triggered during the transfer of the secret realm." Lu Chen sighed softly, pointing to the mess on the ground and asking, "Can these destroyed spiritual materials still be used?"
Zeng Rou bent down to examine it, her brows furrowing slightly: "Most of the medicinal effects have been lost. It can only be used to refine basic plague pills, not high-grade ones."
"Then let's make the most of it. Whether it's for refining basic pills or not, it's still genuine material." Lu Chen instructed, "Arrange for someone to come in and collect it later."
"Yes, Sect Master!"
The two continued deeper into the secret realm. The outer area was almost completely wiped out, and the scenery gradually improved as they went deeper.
The ground was shimmering with various colors of precious light.
Zeng Rou casually picked a plant, but the smile on her lips froze on her face when she saw the spiritual herb covered in pale blue fuzz. "Ah!"
She screamed and quickly threw the spiritual material away.
"What's wrong?" Lu Chen rushed over upon hearing the noise.
"Master, how could there be [Foul Qi Poria] here?"
"Poria cocos with foul odor?" Lu Chen asked in confusion, about to reach out and touch it.
"Master, don't touch it!" Zeng Rou hurriedly grabbed him: "This thing is poisonous; touching it will bring bad luck!"
Upon hearing the word "bad luck," Lu Chen's pupils constricted as if by reflex.
He quickly released his divine sense to investigate carefully, and the more he looked, the heavier his heart became.
These spiritual materials did not seem to be the same types he had seen when he first entered the secret realm; rather, they seemed to have undergone some kind of mutation.
"Could it be..."
A thought suddenly popped into my head: "This bad luck has not only affected the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, but has it also affected the rare and precious materials within the secret realm?"
Believe it or not, the possibility is extremely high!
He looked up and saw that the once bright red Crimson Flame Fruit Forest was now completely bluish-black, with a faint aura of gloom swirling around its surface, which clearly indicated something was wrong.
"Oh my god, we're doomed! We've lost so much! These precious natural treasures have all turned into poison?!"
Lu Chen was surprised and quickly ordered, "Quickly, split up and check all the spiritual materials to see what's missing?"
"Yes!"
The two split up to investigate and quickly compiled their findings.
—The Flower of Misfortune.
—Pomegranate, a talisman.
—The Vermilion Fruit Amidst the Ashes of Calamity.
—The dew condenses on the dark moon.
—Rotten Heart Jade Essence…
All the spiritual materials left in the secret realm were corrupted by bad luck, turning into poisonous substances that people avoided at all costs and were terrified of.
"Master, how could this secret realm be like this? To be honest, it's not easy to gather all these things."
Zeng Rou was both amused and exasperated. She had thought it was a treasure trove of rare and precious materials, but it turned out to be a repository of poisons.
"Fortunately, there are indeed some medicinal herbs needed to refine the Plague Pill inside. Elder Wang had asked me to inquire around beforehand, but I didn't expect to find them here. It's a stroke of good luck amidst misfortune."
"It would be good if there was something suitable." Lu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"However, most of the other spiritual materials are of little use to us, and difficult to sell," Zeng Rou said, shaking her head.
"There are very few buyers who like these kinds of rare and precious materials. They are mostly unorthodox and heretical cultivators, and even fewer can afford to buy such a large batch."
What should we do, cult leader?
Or... how about switching to the black market?
Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Lu Chen's eyes, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up: "It's alright, I have sales channels!"
"Who?"
“Yu Feng approached me before, wanting me to give up the secret realm and cooperate with the imperial court to develop it, but I didn’t agree at the time.”
Zeng Rou looked puzzled: "It's a good thing that the imperial court is willing to take over, so why did the sect leader refuse?"
Lu Chen didn't offer much explanation, only smiling and saying, "Times have changed. Cooperating with the imperial court now is actually just right."
The amount of spiritual materials in this secret realm is enormous, enough for them to develop for a period of time.
"Then, you can take the few suitable medicinal herbs and hand over the rest to the state!"
"Yes, I understand."
Lu Chen clicked his tongue: "This way, I can also get 20,000 military merits for free..."
Zeng Rou asked in surprise: "Does the leader mean that if the imperial court develops this area, it will grant an additional 20,000 military merits?"
“Yes!” Lu Chen nodded emphatically.
(End of this chapter)