Scheming

"Not two pieces—do you mean... twenty?" The clerk hesitated.

Level-eighteen ore was not a top-tier treasure, but it was certainly valuable.

Jiang Ran looked no older than his teens. Young people like him usually stole treasures from home to exchange for spending money, and the quantity was generally not large.

"Not twenty." Jiang Ran shook his head.

"Two hundred pieces. Can you take them?"

He did not beat around the bush and directly named the quantity.

This time, he had spent half a month mining at the Hundred Yue Sect's mine, digging up nearly three hundred pieces of ore.

"Two hundred?!" The clerk stared wide-eyed, clearly startled.

Lin's Iron Language was a major nationwide chain. Every day, it handled countless large ore transactions. Not to mention two hundred pieces of ore—even several thousand or tens of thousands were nothing unusual.

But the issue was that this Immortal Industry Department Store branch was Pingjiang's flagship store, and its business focus was mainly displaying and selling all kinds of high-grade ores.

Young people like Jiang Ran, who suddenly brought out so much ore to sell, were indeed rare.

"What, you can't take them?" Jiang Ran frowned.

"We can, of course we can!" The clerk came back to his senses.

"Please sit here for a moment. I'll call the manager over."

Recycling ore involved several important steps, including Spiritual Source testing, ore grading, and quality assessment.

With more than two hundred pieces of ore, one clerk certainly could not handle it alone.

Jiang Ran paced around the store, casually inspecting the displays.

[Level-twenty-nine Golden Core spirit ore—Jade Rabbit Eye Sandstone—Price: 12,800,000 Tianlu Coins]

[Level-twenty-nine Golden Core spirit ore—Blue Sea Earth Pearl—Price: 15,800,000 Tianlu Coins]

[Level-twenty-nine Golden Core spirit ore—Nine-Fire Ring Jade—Price: 16,800,000 Tianlu Coins]

As expected of Lin's Ore Language—countless top-grade ores were displayed throughout the store.

Foundation Establishment ores below level twenty could only be placed on counters. Only Golden Core spirit ores above level twenty were qualified to enter the display windows.

There were dozens of Golden Core spirit ores alone. The cheapest cost over a million, while the top-tier ones started at ten million.

And displayed beneath the glass cover in the very center of the shop was Lin's Ore Language's treasure of the store.

[Level-thirty-nine Nascent Soul spirit ore—Purple Jade Dragon Crystal—Price: 1,800,000,000 Tianlu Coins]

A thumb-sized purple crystal sphere slowly drifted within the glass cover, occasionally giving off enchanting purple Dao ripples.

"Hundred thousand, million, ten million... one billion eight hundred million?" Jiang Ran could not help clicking his tongue.

Today, he had come here carrying more than two thousand jin of ore, and he had been feeling rather buoyant.

But after seeing the countless zeros in the display case, he could no longer smile.

Five million? Too little... He could not even buy a decent level-twenty spirit ore.

"Hello, the manager is here. You can take out the ore..." The clerk came running over.

He had just been about to ask the customer to take out the ore for testing.

Yet when he looked up, he discovered that a pile of ore had already been stacked in the middle of the store.

Two hundred pieces of Vermilion Dense Iron ore, varying in size, had been neatly arranged.

Jiang Ran had taken out all the smaller pieces of ore. The several dozen pieces he kept were comparatively large, since he still needed to hand in missions at the Hundred Yue Sect and had a decent chance of climbing the rankings. He had to keep something in reserve.

Even so, these two hundred pieces of ore still weighed over a thousand jin.

The clerk froze slightly, then reacted quickly. He hurried forward and began moving the ore behind the counter.

That was right. It was perfectly reasonable for a "rich second-generation heir" capable of stealing so much spirit ore from home to possess a storage artifact.

The manager invited Jiang Ran to rest in an elegant seating area to the side.

Lin's Ore Language's resident ore-refining master came out carrying instruments and tested the ores one by one.

Everything proceeded normally, and very quickly.

Though over a thousand jin of ore was a lot, to a major company like Lin's Ore Language, it could only be considered a "small order."

Jiang Ran had recognized this point before daring to bring all the ore here to sell.

Level-eighteen ore was neither too valuable nor too cheap. It would not draw much attention, much less make a major company like the Lin family covet it.

Soon, the results came out.

"There are a total of one thousand five hundred and twenty-five jin of ore, all level-eighteen fire-attributed Spiritual Source, with a purity of approximately thirty-two percent."

"At the price we discussed earlier—three thousand six hundred yuan per kilogram of raw ore—the total comes to two million seven hundred and forty-five thousand Tianlu Coins."

"I'll round it up for you. Let's call it two million seven hundred and fifty thousand. What do you think, sir?"

The manager was a middle-aged man. His aura was restrained to the extreme, and he looked very amiable.

"That works." Jiang Ran nodded slightly, neither humble nor overbearing.

After all, he had owned quite a few businesses in his previous life and could be considered wealthy. He could handle such a minor occasion with ease.

"Give me five hundred thousand in cash, and put the rest on a Bearer Pass."

"Alright!" The manager agreed readily.

After some operations behind the counter, the payment was transferred within minutes and converted into a Heavenroad Coin Bearer Pass worth two million two hundred and fifty thousand.

The five hundred thousand in cash was also quickly placed before Jiang Ran.

For a Lin's Ore Language flagship store located in the Immortal Industry Department Store, a transaction of two or three million was simply too small. There was no need to report it to headquarters for settlement.

Jiang Ran knew that large stores like this would not offer particularly high recycling prices. They might even pay far less than smaller shops.

But his only requirement was safety. It did not matter if he earned a little less.

"Mr. Jiang, you have accomplished much at such a young age. If the opportunity arises in the future, you can cooperate more with our Lin family."

"If you ever need to purchase high-grade spirit ore, you can also come to us..."

With the transaction complete, the manager seemed to be in a very good mood and took the initiative to chat with Jiang Ran.

"Oh, right, Mr. Jiang..."

The manager paused, then solemnly took out a cyan card and handed it to Jiang Ran.

"This is our store's VIP card. With this card, you can receive discounts on all spirit ores purchased from our company..."

The card was not even half a palm in size. It was entirely jade-green and seemed to be made from some kind of metal, exquisitely crafted.

"A VIP card?" Jiang Ran frowned.

Did a company as large as the Lin family also use a membership card system?

Without giving it much thought, he raised his hand and refused. "No need. If I need anything, I'll come again."

It was not that he did not want the discounts and preferential treatment. The main issue was that membership cards required registering all kinds of information. Not only was that troublesome, it would also expose his personal details.

Jiang Ran did not want to put his identity as a high school student out in the open.

"Mr. Jiang..." The manager cupped his hands apologetically, clearly seeing Jiang Ran's concern.

"Mr. Jiang, this card does not require registration. We only need your name."

Jiang Ran did not refuse again.

Carrying five hundred thousand in cash, a two-million Bearer Pass, and a cyan card, he left the Immortal Industry Building.

This time, the harvest was enormous.

A fortune of one million was still far from making someone "rich" in the world of cultivation.

But without a doubt, he had now completely shed his status as a "poverty-stricken household."

Although Jiang Ran knew very well that two million would not be enough to attract anyone to follow and rob him, he still did not linger in the Immortal Industry Building.

He took several public flying swords and spent two or three hours making detours before returning home.

"Constantly selling ore isn't a good solution." After returning home, Jiang Ran could not help falling into deep thought.

Selling ore once and earning two or three million would not cause any problems.

But he would definitely need to sell more ore, and in the future, he would bring back even more precious treasures from the Great Ruins.

How to explain the source of those treasures was a major problem.