Eight Great Mine Merchants

"You want to come with me?" Xun Hu saw Yang Ning at the door early in the morning.

He thought Yang Ning had woken up early, unaware that Yang Ning hadn't slept at all and had come over after absorbing the purple energy.

There are only 24 hours in a day, and spending 8 hours sleeping is such a waste.

The Black Tortoise Breath Concealment Technique could be run continuously for 24 hours. Yang Ning used the extra time to read, research, and study.

He hadn't forgotten that he had a Supreme Dao Art that needed to be translated.

"Yes, the plan has changed!" Yang Ning said, "I need to go to the market to see what the materials look like."

"Coincidentally, I don't recognize those materials either. Having you here can prevent me from getting ripped off!" Xun Hu nodded, "Let's go have breakfast first, and then I'll see if I can get leave!"

As expected, Xun Hu received elite education and still needed to ask for leave!

The Ascension Academy didn't care about attendants like him; they didn't restrict going out, doing business, or taking on missions, nor did they care if students attended class obediently.

It was possible the Ascension Academy didn't even care if attendants lived or died.

Xun Hu's classroom looked no different from Yang Ning's classroom from the outside, but this was the Cultivation World, where spatial formations could be set up.

You couldn't see what kind of world lay on the other side after opening the door from the entrance.

"I'm sorry!" Xun Hu came out of the classroom shortly after, with a look of dejection on his face. "The teacher won't let me take leave. How about this, I'll transfer 400,000 taels to you. You can just buy whatever you need!"

"Huh?" Yang Ning was stunned. "That's 400,000 taels, are you sure you want to give it to me?"

"What's the big deal!" Xun Hu said heartily, patting Yang Ning on the shoulder. "My father was willing to give you tens of millions, so I trust you!"

Yang Ning was instantly moved and nodded seriously, "I will use this money wisely!"

"Okay, it's transferred to you. I'll head back to class now!"

"Alright!"

Watching Xun Hu's retreating back as he entered the classroom door, Yang Ning thought to himself, They also teach the art of managing subordinates. However, Xun Hu's acting skills aren't great; it's all based on genuine emotion!

He felt calm. Apart from some curiosity about Xun Hu's classes, he had no other thoughts.

After all, he had already seen through the essence of Tai Heng. There was no need to haggle over these minor details anymore.

He glanced at his jade token. His assets, which were originally 50,000, instantly surged to 450,000.

He wondered how much purchasing power these silver taels had in Seacloud City.

As soon as Yang Ning left the school, he saw a commercial street right at the entrance. The street was filled with stalls with small carts, and beside each stall stood a large sign listing the goods they were selling.

Seafish were the most common, as Seacloud City was by the sea.

There were also Sea Monster, Fierce Beast, and Demon Beast meat, Pills for body refining, and herbs.

There were also some mechanisms, Magic Artifacts, toys, clothes, books, and antiques that looked like relics.

Yang Ning's footsteps stopped in front of a stall. On the stall's cart was a huge cage, containing over a dozen children who looked about seven or eight years old. They had sallow skin, were skin and bones, were filthy, and had vacant eyes!

"Yo, young master!" The boss saw Yang Ning stop and his eyes lit up. He quickly beckoned, "Looking to buy some servants? These are top-quality slaves, with soul contracts included, 500 taels each!"

"Are these Jiang Yun people?" Yang Ning asked.

"You have sharp eyes, young master!" The boss gave him a thumbs-up. "That's right, they are Jiang Yun people. As everyone knows, Jiang Yun people are dexterous, loyal, and reliable, making them the best choice for slaves. I worked hard to get these dozen or so."

Yang Ning frowned, as if deep in thought.

"How about this," the boss said quickly, seeing Yang Ning seemed tempted. "If you buy ten children, I'll give you a girl for free? If you don't like these, I have more over there. I'll take you to see them!"

Jiang Yun was once a great nation in the southwest of Tai Heng Sect's territory, with a population of tens of billions and considerable national strength.

However, Jiang Yun attempted to rule the sects with the nation and demanded that the sects hand over their inherited cultivation techniques. The sects within Jiang Yun were powerless to resist, but Jiang Yun forgot about the many great Immortal Sects and countless other sects outside!

Thus, with the support of unknown parties, the vast Jiang Yun was overthrown overnight and plunged into endless war.

To this day, the Jiang Yun Nation has formed a situation where the two great sects, Myriad Gods in the north and Great Luo in the south, are in confrontation. The two sects attack each other, and they sell the captured population to the whole world.

The slave trade in the Tai Heng Realm had never stopped, but other places were not as chaotic as Jiang Yun, making Jiang Yun people the most mainstream commodity in the slave market due to the sheer volume of slaves.

"Are these people reliable? Do they still remember their homeland?" Yang Ning asked. "I don't want to buy them only for them to betray me later!"

"At their age, what can they remember?" the boss chuckled. "If you're worried, we also offer brainwashing services. It's only five taels of silver per month, for a year. We guarantee to train them into top-tier slaves who are devoted solely to their master!"

Yang Ning shook his head. "Forget it. I'm fine on my own. I won't buy."

"Ah, ah, don't go, young master, brother, big brother?" The slave merchant tried his best to persuade him, but Yang Ning resolutely moved his feet.

He just wanted to understand this world better; he never really intended to buy a slave.

He couldn't control such things. All he could do was do his part and refuse to buy.

No buying, no harm.

Yang Ning stopped at a stall selling materials. Dozens of types of ores were displayed on the stall, with labels in front of them indicating the name of the ore.

"Young master, looking for ore? These are all top-quality ores, and the prices are the cheapest in all of Seacloud!" The boss was a middle-aged man with a warm smile. He pointed to a logo on a sign next to him, "This is a property of the Nangong Family. Guaranteed reputation, honest and trustworthy!"

"Nangong Family?" Yang Ning blinked. "What is the Nangong Family?"

"The Nangong Family is the head of the Eight Great Mine Merchant families in Seacloud City!" the middle-aged man said proudly. "Judging by your age, you should have just started school. Let me tell you, have you ever heard of the poem Leaving Seacloud?"

Yang Ning shook his head, having never heard of it.

"Nangong Luo Heng Ye, Huangfu Shan Chang Ming, the late autumn moon is cold, and the lonely parasol tree casts a shadow.

Returning geese fly south, a lone lamp illuminates the journey, longing cannot be spoken, tears wet the feelings of the old home."

The middle-aged man recited the poem with a rather sentimental tone, then said, "The author of this poem, Nangong Yue, is the young master of our Nangong Family. The first ten characters of the poem are a combination of the surnames of the Eight Great Mine Merchants!"

"We, the Eight Great Mine Merchants, have been operating the mines in Seacloud City for hundreds of years. No matter what kind of ore you want, we can find it for you!"

Yang Ning knew of a promotional tactic: piggybacking on fame. For example, if you're a new brand with no recognition, you'd advertise alongside industry giants and subtly include your own brand.

This would make customers believe you're on the same level as those big names.

Yang Ning wondered if these Eight Great Mine Merchants were genuinely powerful or if one of them was just riding on someone else's coattails.

But it didn't matter; as long as they had the ore, that's all that counted.

"This is iron ore, this is black iron, one tael of silver per dan," the boss said, pointing to the ore in front of him. "Pyrite, one tael of silver per three shi. White iron ore, one tael of silver per two shi. And this, cherry red iron, ten taels of silver per shi!"

"How much is one shi?" Yang Ning asked.

"This much!" The boss pointed to a scale next to them, with a large sack on one side.

Yang Ning stepped on it to feel the weight, estimating it to be about fifty jin!

"One tael is 500 grams. Converted to RMB, that's about 2733 yuan. Iron ore imported from Australia is generally 700 yuan per ton. One tael of silver here should buy 4 tons, but it only buys 50 jin?"

And it's not even kilograms!

"This is a bit expensive!" Yang Ning said, comparing it with the iron ore data. He confirmed that black iron was magnetite, with 70% iron content. Pyrite should be opal iron, with 25% iron. White iron ore should be siderite, with 30-40% iron.

If you only looked at the proportions and not the price, the pricing was quite reasonable.

However, cherry red iron should be hematite, with 40-60% iron content. Why was it so expensive?

"Alas, how is this expensive? You must understand that ores are not easy to find. Digging them up is also very difficult, and transporting them here is another hassle. We really aren't making much profit!" the boss said patiently.

Yang Ning chuckled, "I don't believe you for a second."

"I'm not useless. During my years as Minister of Works, I learned about the cost of mining in the Yue Kingdom."

"Because it requires manual labor, the cost of ore appears higher than on Earth. But Earthlings need to be paid salaries, machines need fuel, and equipment needs electricity. This is a feudal dynasty, and there are even slaves. They might not even be guaranteed three meals a day, so what kind of salary are they getting? Therefore, labor costs are almost zero. As for transportation costs, there's no need to even mention it. If you use a storage bag, you can carry thousands of tons at once. Riding a flying bird or beast, a round trip takes three to five days, which is faster than trains and ships on Earth. The consumption per thousand kilometers is five jin of feed. How can the cost be high?"

Yang Ning didn't want to argue with him. He pointed to the cherry red iron again and asked, "Why is this iron so expensive? It's ten times the price of black iron?"

"Oh, this iron can be refined into Crimson Flame Steel!" the boss said.

"Crimson Flame Steel?" Yang Ning asked, "Is this steel very powerful?"

"It's not particularly powerful!" the boss said casually. "The main thing is that this stuff doesn't come from us, the Eight Great Families. It's produced by a small family with the surname Bei. That family treasures this Crimson Flame Steel and even attempts to control us, the Eight Great Families, with it. So, we gave them some benefits to show them who the boss in this industry is!"

"Oh, I see!" Yang Ning nodded and asked, "But if I want to buy it, will it always be this expensive?"

"You can use something else for now. Come back in two months, and the price of cherry red iron will drop!" the boss said.

"Why?" Yang Ning asked. "What big event will happen in these two months?"

"It's not really a big event!" the boss said with considerable pride. "It's just teaching that small family a lesson. We placed a large order for Crimson Flame Steel from them, with delivery due in two months. However, when the order was placed, cherry red iron hadn't increased in price yet. Now, the price of cherry red iron ore is higher than Crimson Flame Steel. If they fulfill the order, they'll lose money. If they don't, they'll have to pay a penalty. They're bound to not survive. After two months, this family will be gone, and not only will the price of cherry red iron drop, but we'll also have Crimson Flame Steel to sell here!"

"Hiss! Impressive!" Yang Ning gave him a thumbs-up. He could tell that the boss wasn't lacking in discretion; he was deliberately showing off to highlight the strength of the Eight Great Families. As for that small family with the surname Bei, they were merely insignificant pawns manipulated by the Eight Great Families.

But the boss didn't know that after hearing this, Yang Ning wouldn't admire them. Instead, he would empathize with that small family. Because he had also considered selling materials to make money. But now, the Bei family had already given him a vivid lesson: without strength, even if you possess the formula for metal materials, you'll be crushed into dust by these big capitalists!

"That's the Bei family's stall over there!" the boss pointed to a not-so-small cart in the corner. "You can also buy from them. To raise money for mining, they're selling their other ores at a discount. You can take advantage of it."

"What kind of business drives customers away?" Yang Ning asked.

"It's very simple. If you buy my black iron, it's one tael per shi. But if you buy it from him, and then he spends the money here, it's equivalent to ten taels per shi!"