Testing the Chaos Golden Core

"Has the Golden Core changed at all?" Azure Cloud Master asked curiously.

After devouring a bit of his Power of the Great Dao, it should have shown some reaction, shouldn't it?

"No!" Zhang Yang shook his head.

"Continue?" Azure Cloud Master asked again.

He wanted to use some Power of the Great Dao to test the Chaos Golden Core. As long as he could uncover the truth behind it, losing a little Power of the Great Dao was acceptable.

Zhang Yang also thought it was worth trying. If Azure Cloud Master's Power of the Great Dao could allow his "Blank Golden Core" to develop a Proto-Dao Form, cultivation would become much easier from then on.

Though this concerned the Golden Core, the most important thing to an immortal cultivator, the two of them actually began experimenting with it.

This time, Azure Cloud Master was far more generous.

Since a little Power of the Great Dao had produced no reaction, what about a little more? And then a little more?

Meanwhile, Zhang Yang focused all his attention inward on his Golden Core.

When he fully observed his Golden Core internally, he finally sensed Azure Cloud Master's Power of the Great Dao entering it.

Gradually, he discovered that the shell of his Golden Core had actually thickened again, with an effect even better than absorbing several hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

He was thrilled. This improvement was far too fast.

Suddenly, why did it feel like the Power of the Great Dao Azure Cloud Master was sending him had stopped?

"Master, keep going!" Zhang Yang opened his eyes and looked at Azure Cloud Master.

"Fuck!"

Azure Cloud Master could not help swearing before vanishing outright.

He had just lost at least as much Power of the Great Dao as a Nascent Soul Peak cultivator possessed. It still was not enough, and Zhang Yang wanted more?

Did he think the Power of the Great Dao he had painstakingly cultivated grew on trees?

Zhang Yang stood there in a daze for a long while. He had truly never seen Azure Cloud Master lose his composure so badly.

Only after quite some time did he come back to himself. "Compared with Spirit Stones and Pills, 'eating people' really is the fastest way to cultivate."

He had already proven that his "Blank Golden Core" could devour the Power of the Great Dao.

Sure enough, there were no useless Golden Cores, only useless people.

Once my cultivation succeeds, I'll go down the mountain to subdue monsters and demons and absorb their Power of the Great Dao. Then I won't have to cultivate so painstakingly.

Of course, he did not dare go down the mountain to subdue monsters and demons yet.

He felt that he was only in the Golden Core Realm, and his strength was too weak. If he went down the mountain now, he would probably just be delivering himself as a benefit package to monsters and demons.

Besides, he was the one leading the Azure Cloud Sect's reforms. He had brought eighty-seven talented disciples, including spies, up the mountain, and all these matters were waiting for him to handle. Before resolving them, it was not suitable for him to leave the mountain.

He stopped cultivating and began handling Azure Cloud Sect affairs.

Meditating and refining qi had little effect on him. Securing some resources was what truly mattered.

He began inspecting the Azure Cloud Sect.

After the repairs by the three-thousand-person construction team, the Azure Cloud Sect had completely changed. Courtyards now covered the sect from top to bottom, scattered among the seven peaks.

The number of these courtyards vastly exceeded the total number of people in the Azure Cloud Sect.

Zhang Yang had planned all this in advance. The Azure Cloud Sect would certainly have a great many disciples in the future, and these courtyards would be needed.

As for arranging those disciples, since his martial uncles currently had no intention of accepting true disciples, they might as well be trained through large lecture halls.

Especially since the eighty-seven geniuses had not yet fully corrected their way of thinking, they were even less suited to becoming the true disciples of his martial uncles.

While inspecting the Azure Cloud Sect, Zhang Yang also paid attention to the expressions of the many disciples.

After the Flying Dragon Army's attack on the mountain, everyone's demeanor had broadly split into two categories.

One group cultivated with fanatical fervor. Even while doing sect chores, they were full of drive. Wang Baole represented this group.

The other group hung their heads, listless and dispirited. They had no energy for anything and were extremely lazy even in cultivation. Cao Ying represented this group.

Zhang Yang knew very well why this change had occurred.

He did not urge those lazy disciples, because before their psychological issues were resolved, they would certainly be unable to focus on cultivation.

Zhang Yang went to check on his martial uncles as well. Finding them all in seclusion, he did not disturb them and instead headed for Qingyun Market.

He had not gone far when Situ Mingyue caught up with him.

"Eldest Senior Brother, this is a preliminary plan I came up with for the Azure Moon Merchant Association. Take a look."

Zhang Yang looked at Situ Mingyue's proud expression. She was clearly very pleased with her own plan.

He accepted the few pages and gave them a rough read. They were fairly detailed. They involved a tiered system, such as dividing the merchant association into several floors and treating people who could enter each floor differently. There was also lavish decoration to display the merchant association's strength, grandeur, and so on.

Zhang Yang handed the pages back to Situ Mingyue and asked with a smile, "This should be the Cloud Soaring Merchant Association's trick, right? Or rather, the trump card of nearly every merchant association?"

When he had gone to Grand Celebration Tower last time, had they not used the same tactic?

"What's wrong with that?" Situ Mingyue raised her chin. "Everyone does it, so naturally we need to do it better than them."

Zhang Yang smiled. "Precisely because everyone does it, we should not. If we compete with them in this rat race, how many resources would we need to spend in the beginning, and how long would it take to earn them back?"

"Doing business requires investment. If you don't want to invest, why open a merchant association at all?" Situ Mingyue said disdainfully. "Don't worry. I know you have no money. I'll lend you some when the time comes."

Zhang Yang shook his head. "It's not an issue of investment, but of cost."

"Then tell me, how should we do it?" Situ Mingyue retorted unwillingly, looking at Zhang Yang provocatively.

Zhang Yang stopped walking and looked at Situ Mingyue seriously. "A merchant association does business with people. Since that is the case, we must consider the people themselves. Let me ask you: are there more minor cultivators or major cultivators buying things from merchant associations? There must be more minor cultivators, right?

Then let me ask you this: suppose you were a minor cultivator. You entered a merchant association, only to be told that the items upstairs were expensive, that you could not go up without money, and that you could not even take a look. How would you feel?

Tiering is correct, and differentiated treatment is also correct, but do not make the divisions so obvious. Give those minor cultivators a chance to broaden their horizons.

Today's minor cultivators may become major cultivators in the future. Once they have seen valuable goods in advance, when they have money later, will they not come here first to buy them?

There is another point: give people the impression that they can buy cheap goods at the merchant association. Therefore, the Azure Moon Merchant Association must regularly sell some items at cost price, or even below cost. Only then can we attract people here.

I have already taught you two methods. Now I'll teach you another one, called a membership system.

Tell customers that they can pay a certain amount of Spirit Stones at our merchant association to become members. Members get priority when purchasing goods from our merchant association. At the same time, we will hold member days during certain periods, and all goods will be discounted during member days."

Zhang Yang casually picked out several business measures that had long become commonplace in the past and taught them to Situ Mingyue.

Seeing Situ Mingyue stare at him open-mouthed, he was very satisfied.

Because Situ Mingyue came from a business family, she quickly understood the power behind Zhang Yang's measures.

She was certain that the Azure Moon Merchant Association would have no choice but to become popular.

Her eyes widened, filled with admiration. "Eldest Senior Brother, what else?"

Zhang Yang waved his hand. "These three are enough for now. But I can guarantee that the other merchant associations will soon copy them. When that happens, I'll teach you new ones. By the way, who are you planning to have manage the Azure Moon Merchant Association?"

Situ Mingyue was deeply troubled. "That's exactly what has been giving me a headache."

There was no one usable in the Azure Cloud Sect, and she also needed to cultivate. It was difficult!

Zhang Yang smiled faintly. "What about Senior Qin?"

If he had not valued Qin Yushu's strength, why would he have sought cooperation with Situ Mingyue?

Was this not free labor falling into his lap?

"Right, Uncle Qin can do it... but wouldn't it be inappropriate to trouble him?" Situ Mingyue came around.

A Nascent Soul Realm expert protected her out of gratitude. Asking him to open a merchant association seemed a bit excessive.

Zhang Yang smiled faintly. "That brings us to the issue of professional managers. We can hire Senior Qin as the Azure Moon Merchant Association's... chief steward, and give him a certain share of its profits. I think he should agree."

"I think he'll agree too, but we should ask him first." Situ Mingyue nodded. Suddenly, she tilted her head and looked at Zhang Yang strangely. "Eldest Senior Brother, you're using my money and my people to make money for yourself. Aren't you too cunning?"

Why did she feel as though she had been sold and was still helping count the money?

Zhang Yang looked at Situ Mingyue with a sincere expression. "Among the Azure Cloud Sect's second-generation disciples, we are currently the ones capable of shouldering responsibility. As the... Eldest Senior Sister among the Azure Cloud Sect's second-generation disciples, shouldn't you contribute your strength so we can build Azure Cloud together? When the Azure Cloud Sect prospers, you will have a share of the credit. Your name will also be recorded in history for future generations to admire."

Situ Mingyue nodded repeatedly, a surge of heroic spirit rising in her heart.

Still, she felt that something was off, yet she could not figure out what the problem was.