Everyone's Spending, This Young Master Will Foot the Bill!

A pair of Dao Companions walked between the two shops.

"So many people? How long will we have to wait? Let's buy from this side!"

The Male cultivator looked at the Langya Merchant Association on the left, which was packed to the brim and required queuing to buy anything, then at the Penglai Merchant Association on the right, which stood empty and deserted. He lifted his foot and headed straight for the Penglai Merchant Association.

Seeing this, the Shopkeeper of the Penglai Branch rejoiced.

Today's first sale was about to walk in.

He piled on a smile, but before he could finish his greeting, he saw the Male cultivator get yanked straight back out.

"What are you going over there for? Buy from the Langya Merchant Association! Same prices, and you can donate a little, do some charity, and accumulate some merit... Wouldn't buying over there be for nothing?"

The Female Cultivator said this with a perfectly serious expression.

The Male cultivator scratched the back of his head. That did seem reasonable, so he obediently ran over to join the queue.

Meanwhile, the Shopkeeper of the Penglai Branch watched the customer who had practically reached his mouth fly off to the Langya Merchant Association, and his face twisted with rage.

How could that be called buying for nothing?

You paid, and I gave you goods.

How was that buying for nothing?

Wasn't it just a tiny bit less merit?

You only donated one Spirit Stone for every hundred Spirit Stones spent. Why were you making such a fuss over it?

Even buying for half a month might not earn enough for a bottle of pills!

But how could he have known?

From the customers' perspective,

although buying a hundred Spirit Stones' worth of goods only donated one Spirit Stone to the foundation,

that one Spirit Stone was donated by the merchant association in the customer's name. It was practically given away for free!

Anything given for free naturally smelled sweet.

Not to mention that this was a case of being generous with someone else's money.

They could spend other people's money doing good deeds and still enjoy the pleasure of helping others.

That feeling...

Once they had experienced it once, they could never quit it again!

"This can't go on. This business can't go on!"

The Penglai Merchant Association was not the only one suffering.

The Si Hai Merchant Association and Cloud Palace Merchant Association, likewise among the Four Great Merchant Associations of the Northern Region, found their branches on this island in exactly the same situation.

They could go half a day without seeing a single customer.

Anyone on the island who needed to buy something, without exception, rushed straight to the Langya Merchant Association.

Why?

Because buying things at the Langya Merchant Association earned merit!

At other merchant associations, they simply spent money.

What a loss!

Every hundred Spirit Stones spent meant wasting one Spirit Stone~

Based on average monthly spending of five hundred Spirit Stones, that was a loss of five Spirit Stones! Ten months meant fifty! A year meant five hundred! Ten years meant five hundred thousand! A hundred years meant five hundred million!

What decent cultivator could afford to squander money like that?

Not buying!

They absolutely would not spend a single Spirit Stone at other merchant associations!

Before long,

a jade plaque was hung outside the Langya Branch.

As the Shopkeeper poured his magic power into it, the words upon it continuously changed!

[August 21st, Merit List—First Place, Zhang Yunye, three Spirit Stones!]

But very quickly, that name was pushed down.

It was replaced by the name of a Female Cultivator who had donated five Spirit Stones.

However, she did not stay there for long before someone else knocked her down.

Before long,

the jade plaque was filled with over a hundred densely packed names.

"This won't do. By the time it's this Young Master's turn, the goods inside will have been swept clean. What the hell will I buy then?" A richly dressed young master waved his Folding Fan, his brows tightly furrowed. "No, I'm cutting in line!"

The moment he spoke, the servant beside him grabbed him. "No, Young Master! This is the Langya Merchant Association, not some small merchant association. You can't cut in! If you break the Rules, they might not even let you through the door!"

Young Master Yan's brows furrowed even tighter. "Then what do we do?"

The servant's eyes rolled, and he leaned close to whisper something.

Young Master Yan's eyes immediately lit up. "You brat, you really are a Te Miao talent. Go, go!"

The servant hurried away.

Before long, he returned carrying several enormous chests filled with gleaming Spirit Stones, dazzling enough to catch every eye.

"Cough cough cough..." Young Master Yan snapped his Folding Fan shut and announced loudly, "All Daoist Friends and fellow cultivators present, listen well! All your spending at the Langya Merchant Association today will be paid for by this Young Master! Whatever you want to buy, come take the money!"

Young Master Yan's request was simple. If they used his money, then the merit donated should be counted under his name.

The crowd hesitated briefly before agreeing.

After all, while gaining free merit without spending their own money was wonderfully tempting,

how could it compare to spending someone else's money to buy their own things?

Besides, the money they saved could still be exchanged for merit later!

For a time,

although Young Master Yan had yet to make it into the queue, his name had already risen to the top of the Merit List.

The sight made him beam from ear to ear.

If he claimed first place on today's Merit List, the old man at home would surely be overjoyed and reward him handsomely.

"Holy shit, that shameless?"

Beside him, the Liu Family's young master, who was also waiting in line, immediately refused to accept this.

You Yan Family had money?

Who didn't?

Before long,

a nearly identical chest appeared before the Liu Family's young master.

He planted one foot on a stool and shouted boldly, "Everyone, we're all brothers. Spend this money however you like!"

"Woooah—" Another wave of cheers erupted.

Not long after,

Young Master Liu's ranking caught up, showing every sign of overtaking Young Master Yan.

"Holy shit! Liu, you're always at odds with this Young Master, and today you're even competing with me over doing good deeds?"

"Heh, how is this competition? It's merely that my Liu Family's benevolent heart is a little greater than your Yan Family's!"

"Pui!"

Young Master Yan spat in the other man's face, then waved his hand grandly and had his subordinates carry over another two chests of Low-Grade Spirit Stones, several thousand in all!

Keep going!

Heavenly Severing Island.

"Young Master, the revenue from the branches in the Qingyun Archipelago and surrounding islands over the past two days has been calculated. Would you like to take a look?" Nie Tingting strode quickly toward Wang Mu on her long legs.

Her Cheeks were flushed red, her ample chest rose and fell violently, and the excitement in her Eyes was practically overflowing.

Wang Mu smiled. "No need. Send it to Langya Headquarters!"

Nie Tingting asked in surprise, "You won't look at it?"

Wang Mu said, "I was already confident. Now that I've seen your expression, I already know the outcome. As for the precise amount, there's no need to know!"

Nie Tingting said in shock, "You predicted long ago that those people would go mad buying things from our merchant association just to donate? I always thought cultivators were rather cold-hearted, and that very few people would be interested in something like charity. I didn't expect I was wrong!"

Wang Mu smiled faintly. "Cultivators are indeed rather cold-hearted! But no matter how cold-hearted a cultivator is, they are still human, not true immortals! And as humans, they cannot escape the bounds of human nature...

They love comparison and enjoy taking advantage... Even Experts at the Earth Immortal level are no exception!

If you think a person desires nothing, then it must be because nothing capable of moving them has Appeared!"

Nie Tingting's eyes sparkled. As she listened, she took out a little notebook and began making notes.

"That makes sense. Young Master is absolutely right, write that down..."

Wang Mu: "..."

Langya Headquarters.

Ren Pingsheng was looking through the account books.

Suddenly, he pulled out one sheet.

A satisfied expression appeared on his face. "This month's profits from the Qingyun Archipelago are quite good! They've doubled compared to before!"

A deacon beside him wore a strange expression. "Chief Ren, this... isn't for one month! It's for three days!"

"Oh, three days..."

Ren Pingsheng nodded, then suddenly remembered something. His face filled with horror as he picked up the account sheet again. "Three days?"

His voice instantly rose several decibels.

It startled everyone else in the room.

They all gathered around.

"What three days?"

"What happened to the Qingyun Archipelago over these three days?"

"Three days' profit matches the previous two months!"

"What did I think it was? Isn't it just two months... Two months???"

"Holy shit! Two months?"

"Holy shit!"

"..."

Cries of "holy shit" rang throughout the room.

"No, I have to take this over and let the Guild Master have a good look too!" Ren Pingsheng's face flushed bright red. He grabbed the account sheet and dashed out like a wisp of smoke.

Everyone: "..."

At the same time.

Penglai Merchant Association Headquarters.

Tang Qian and the people in charge of the Si Hai Merchant Association and Cloud Palace Merchant Association looked at the freshly delivered intelligence in their hands, their faces darker than ink-black seawater!