A Booming Market

In the Audio-Visual Room, over a dozen figures connected one by one on the massive screen.

"General Manager Chu!"

"General Manager Chu!"

The general managers of the Six Great Base Cities, along with the branch managers in charge of various departments within those cities, were all online.

"Let's start with your respective development reports," Chu He said, his gaze sweeping across the video feeds one by one. "Northeast Base City, Manager Bai, you go first."

"Yes, General Manager Chu!"

In the video, Bai Zebin stood up, holding a document, and began a detailed presentation.

Chu He appeared to be listening quietly, but his mind was not on this at all.

With Passion Fruit Dew and Ginseng Essence Wine as their flagship products, and with Chu He and Chu Tianxiong serving as the two public-facing War Gods of the Jiuzhou Group, the group's development was like Qin Shi Huang riding a rocket—winning all the way to the heavens!

Passion Fruit Dew went without saying; sweet and sour with ever-changing flavors, the entire series of over a dozen fruit wines had practically swept up every child, woman, and elderly person in the market.

Ginseng Essence Wine was a new series that Chu He had only launched after breaking through to the Planetary Level to fill a gap in the market.

It was brewed using ginseng, a specialty of the Northeast, as the main ingredient, supplemented by over a dozen auxiliary materials and dozens of additives.

The taste was similar to sauce-aroma liquor, but it was richer and more mellow than ordinary sauce-aroma liquor, with a long-lasting aftertaste.

Beyond the essential qi-replenishing and vitality-nourishing effects of ginseng, it also offered the benefits men loved most: boosting essence, nourishing the kidneys, and strengthening the body.

As a result, Chu He Winery was on the verge of unifying the entire market, leaving almost no room for other wineries.

Many martial artists would even specifically bring a few bottles with them before heading into the wilderness. They did so purely for the qi-replenishing and vitality-nourishing effects of the Ginseng Essence Wine, which allowed them to recover quickly from injuries and restore their energy while in the wild.

If Chu He hadn't proactively raised the selling prices of these two series of fine wines, a large number of wineries worldwide would likely have gone bankrupt by now.

Under these circumstances, there was no way the Jiuzhou Group couldn't succeed; the only difference was the scale of the profits.

One general manager after another gave their reports while simultaneously observing Chu He's expression.

However, no matter how impressive the financial reports were, Chu He always maintained a cold, expressionless face, as if he didn't care about these things at all.

Several general managers were becoming frustrated. Exchanging glances, they tacitly grumbled to one another: Our young General Manager Chu is truly deep and calculating!

It wasn't that Chu He was particularly deep or calculating; he simply didn't care.

Regarding the Jiuzhou Group, there were only three things Chu He actually cared about.

The first, naturally, was the Jiuzhou Group's mastery of new technologies for brewing Spirit Wine.

The Medicinal Herb Cultivation Base and the Fruit Orchard for the cultivation and production of raw materials, as well as the winery's process for brewing Spirit Wine, all fall under this category.

This matter concerns Chu He's subsequent plan to promote Jade Dew Wine and elevate the bloodlines of humanity globally; it is the task that requires the most attention.

The second matter concerns the newly established Toy Factory in Jiangnan Base City. The Spirit-Pointing Needle is related to Chu He's global acquisition of materials and the growth of the White Jade Wine Pot, so it is also considered an important matter.

The third matter is to leverage the Jiuzhou Group's presence in Jiangnan Base City to choose the right moment to kill Li Yao, thereby doing a favor for Luo Feng.

Of these three matters, two are related to Jiangnan Base City, so Chu He simply left Jiangnan Base City for last in the presentations.

Soon, it was time for Ye Likang, the General Manager of the Jiuzhou Group's Jiangnan Base City branch, to speak. Chu He remained calm on the surface, but inwardly, he focused his attention.

"General Manager Chu, the specific development situation in our Jiangnan Base City is similar to everyone else's. I will compile the detailed financial report into a spreadsheet and upload it to you later, so I won't waste everyone's time here."

As soon as these words were spoken, the previous five general managers nearly gnashed their teeth in frustration.

What a sly kid!

We're all brothers standing together, and you're playing mind games with us, aren't you?

"Won't waste everyone's time," indeed?

It's purely because you know General Manager Chu's style of doing things and didn't tell the rest of us, right?

However, regardless of what those five general managers were thinking, Ye Likang's presentation continued, and they didn't dare to stand up and interrupt him.

"General Manager Chu, besides the financial report, regarding that newly opened Toy Factory... do you have any specific plans for it?"

"That Spirit-Pointing Needle is almost completely unsold. Should we take on some contract manufacturing for other toys?"

"No one is buying it?" Chu He immediately sat up straight and asked, "How could no one be buying it?"

"That set of the Classic of Mountains and Seas Atlas that I told you to distribute—have you distributed it?"

The Classic of Mountains and Seas Atlas was the final name Chu He decided upon for the book recording all the materials he knew of.

It is divided into four chapters: the Monster Chapter, the Herb Chapter, the Mineral Chapter, and the Special Chapter.

Of course, this is currently only the first edition. If he acquires unfamiliar Spirit Materials in the future, Chu He will continue to update it.

To distribute this set of books, he not only uploaded the electronic version to the Martial Artist Forum for free but also required Ye Likang to give away a set for free whenever a Spirit-Pointing Needle was sold.

"This... General Manager Chu, the Spirit-Pointing Needle is basically only useful in the wilderness. If those martial artists don't buy it, how would ordinary people buy such a thing?" Ye Likang was also a bit confused, so he had to voice all his questions.

"Also, even if a few martial artists occasionally buy a Spirit-Pointing Needle, when they bring back the materials mentioned in your book, the Spirit-Pointing Needle, for some reason, acts as if it has suddenly become useless—it just won't spin."

"Not only does it make those martial artists curse and swear, but we are also forced to buy those materials at the original price."

"General Manager Chu, do you think we should stop the acquisition for now?"

Chu He had not yet expanded the acquisition process to all six Base Cities. His primary concern at the time was that the production volume of the Spirit-Pointing Needles was too low, and he feared it wouldn't be enough to support a rollout across all six.

Therefore, he had initially only opened the acquisition channel at the Medicinal Herb Cultivation Base in Jiangnan Base City.

At this moment, hearing what Ye Likang had to say, Chu He pondered for a brief moment and realized that he had been taking things for granted.

For those martial artists, picking herbs was something they did in passing while out hunting Monsters; naturally, they would only sell them whenever they happened to return to the Base City.

Unless the acquisition price for spirit-infused materials was increased, no martial artist would ever do this as a dedicated job.

Furthermore, martial artists were often out in the wild for long periods. Once herbs containing spirit energy were picked, that energy would slowly dissipate.

After a long time, how could any spirit energy possibly remain?

If this issue wasn't resolved, even increasing the acquisition price would likely be of little use.

It might even end up hindering the collection of spirit-infused materials.

"Hmm, I understand," Chu He nodded. "Continue the production of the Spirit-Pointing Needles. Do not sell them externally for now; just stockpile them."

"As for the acquisition of Spirit Materials, stop it immediately. Wait for me to conduct further research, and we will discuss it again in the future."

Regarding this matter, a rough idea had already formed in Chu He's mind.

Since he could develop the Spirit-Pointing Needle from the Seed of Divine Ability of the Spirit Guiding Technique...

He could certainly develop a Spirit Preserving Bottle from the Spirit Nourishing Technique...

Or perhaps something like a Spirit Insulating Bag from the Spirit Sealing Technique.

In short, the acquisitions could be put on hold, but the production of the Spirit-Pointing Needles could not be delayed.

With the booming market for Passion Fruit Dew and Ginseng Essence Wine, the Jiuzhou Group could easily sustain itself.

"General Manager Ye, I will be heading to Jiangnan Base City for a few days to resolve this matter once and for all."

Although Chu He said this aloud, he was thinking to himself: I wonder if Li Yao has arrived in Jiangnan Base City yet? Once I resolve this, can I take the opportunity to invite Xu Xin over to serve as the general manager of the toy factory?