Just as Mu En and the others quietly retreated to a corner of the corridor for a miniature meeting.
Su Xian, seated in his battered bamboo chair, was still leisurely sipping Goji Berry Tea.
The plan he had just tossed out had indeed broken the financial deadlock that had left Shrek with no money to spend.
But as a modern university student, Su Xian knew very well that financial methods were only tools. If they could not deal with those trade associations, the hidden danger would remain.
When Mu En and the others finished their discussion and came over again under their assumed identities of "Uncle Mu En" and "Uncle Mo Niu," Su Xian took the initiative to offer the final piece of the puzzle.
"Uncle Mu En, where did you go just now?" Su Xian asked casually.
"Oh, nowhere much. A few of us village officials just went off to the side to talk over that Sea God Pavilion Bank script you mentioned."
Mu En asked humbly, "Teacher Su, we think your method of catching a white wolf with bare hands is great! But those big traditional trade associations that used to monopolize rare metals have deeply tangled roots too! If Shrek takes their money, bypasses them to buy mines, and cuts off their income, what if they leap over the wall like cornered dogs and band together to cause trouble?"
Hearing this question laden with economic concerns, Su Xian could not help chuckling.
"Uncle Mu En, this is where you're politically immature."
Su Xian leaned back in his bamboo chair. "Shrek Academy holds the greatest power to allocate resources on the entire continent, along with absolute military deterrence! Why are you afraid of a bunch of middlemen?"
"What's a merchant's weak spot? Money! Profit! The desire for official backing!"
Su Xian extended his left hand, miming a grip on a knife. "For those big trade associations leading the chokehold and fighting you to the bitter end, audit their books directly! They dealt with Shrek's procurement managers before, so their hands definitely aren't clean. You'll find evidence of bribery by the handful!"
"Once you find problems, confiscate their property and wipe out their clans on charges of 'endangering the academy's economic security'! Swallow up all their public storefronts and hidden mineral veins! What's that called? Killing the chicken to warn the monkeys!"
Mu En's and Qian Duoduo's hearts trembled as they listened. This blind man really was ruthless!
"But that's not enough!" Su Xian extended his right hand as well. "Once you've killed off the ringleaders, the remaining small and medium-sized trade associations will definitely panic. That's when you need a knife in one hand and sweet dates in the other!"
"How do we offer the dates?" Qian Duoduo hurriedly asked.
"Forcibly merge the remaining small and medium-sized trade associations into a Shrek-led Sea God Pavilion Commercial Alliance!"
"Shrek contributes capital and technology in exchange for the overwhelming majority of the shares!"
"Then pick a few of the cleverest, most obedient merchants and prop them up as the alliance's agents! Use them to manage the metal purchasing network across the entire continent! All you have to do is keep a firm grip on the alliance's controlling stake, and you'll have the lifeblood of the entire continent's business world tied to Shrek's belt!"
Su Xian grew increasingly excited as he spoke. "That's called suppressing some, killing some, and winning some over! Divide and rule! As long as you keep the obedient dogs well fed, they'll naturally help you bite the disobedient ones to death!"
His words were like clarified butter poured over their heads, bringing sudden enlightenment.
"So, you see, Shrek's higher-ups in that novel are all brawn and no brains!"
Su Xian smacked his lips, habitually beginning his daily mandatory session of indiscriminate bombardment:
"Yan Shaozhe, Qian Duoduo, and that Xuan Zi who only knows how to gnaw on chicken legs! All those people ever do is sit in the Sea God Pavilion showing off and fighting. Who the fuck knows what goes on in their heads!"
"They don't understand political maneuvering or how to guide a market in a healthy direction! Sitting on a golden signboard as big as Shrek's, yet still letting a few metal-peddling trade associations grab them by the throat-that really is stupidity taken to the limit!"
"As long as you step in personally and apply macroeconomic controls like I said, any blockade by those traditional trade associations will be beneath notice. You can turn every last one of them into beasts of burden working for Shrek in minutes!"
"..."
Standing behind Su Xian, Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo felt the corners of their mouths twitch wildly.
Insults again!
Fucking insults again!
Had he gotten addicted to insulting them?!
Yan Shaozhe shot Qian Duoduo a resentful look, thinking, This is all your fault, baldy, insisting on asking about the trade associations fighting back. Happy now?
I've been dragged out to have my corpse whipped again!
Still, insults aside, both men were deeply astonished.
Su Xian's methods were simply brilliant!
In the past, Shrek had remained lofty and aloof, disdaining to enter business itself.
Now that they had been pushed into a corner, if they truly adopted these methods, Shrek would not only resolve its crisis; its future wealth would surge exponentially!
"Of course."
Su Xian finished his last sip of Goji Berry Tea and casually waved a hand. "Anyway, we're in Niulai Village deep in Daliang Mountain right now, not that backward, rotten Douluo Continent. Those Shrek dickheads in the novel can't hear what I'm saying."
"No matter how much I say here, it's actually fucking useless! Uncle Mu En, just take it as entertainment. I'm only chatting with you because I'm feeling cooped up."
Su Xian yawned. "All right, I've had enough sun. I'm a little sleepy, so I'll go back for a nap."
"Ah, yes, yes, of course. Take it slowly, Teacher Su."
Mu En hurried forward and, together with Zhang Lexuan, carefully helped Su Xian back into the wooden cabin.
Once they had settled this "immortal" comfortably, every trace of ingratiation and simple honesty vanished from Mu En's face.
Leaning on his cane, he swayed slightly and disappeared from the spot.
The next second, inside the secret chamber on the Sea God Pavilion's top floor.
Mu En, Yan Shaozhe, Qian Duoduo, and Zhang Lexuan.
All four were already seated upright at the long table.
"Everyone, you heard Teacher Su's methods clearly just now, didn't you?"
"Loud and clear! It's the clan-ending scheme to end all clan-ending schemes!"
Qian Duoduo's face flushed with excitement. "Pavilion Master! If we really follow his 'Sea God Pavilion Bank plus a controlling-stake trade alliance' approach, within ten years... no! Within five years! Shrek Academy's economic position across the continent will be a hundred times more secure than that of the Three Great Empires combined!"
"When that happens, we'll hold the entire continent's financial lifeblood in our hands. Even if the Sun Moon Empire really tries to invade, we can pelt their soul tool army with Gold Soul Coins until we crush them to death right at the border!"
Yan Shaozhe also drew a deep breath. Though he had just been insulted, faced with a strategy capable of reshaping Shrek's ten-thousand-year foundation, he had no choice but to concede wholeheartedly.
"Pavilion Master, this plan is flawless. We can begin preparations in secret immediately."
"But, Pavilion Master."
Zhang Lexuan calmly raised a practical problem. "Teacher Su's strategies are indeed strokes of genius! But... he has no legal identity right now. He isn't even a Soul Master, and his martial soul hasn't even awakened."
"In a few months, when Elder Zhuang says the clotted blood in his brain has dispersed and his eyesight has fully recovered, when he discovers he really has transmigrated to the Douluo Continent and finds us 'idiots,' as he calls us, standing before him, what arrangements should we make for him? How can we give him a place in Shrek?"
A trace of worry crossed Zhang Lexuan's face. "Without a proper title or legitimate standing, the elders who haven't been involved in this matter will never allow an outsider to interfere with Shrek's highest secrets."
At these words, the atmosphere in the secret chamber briefly stalled.
This was indeed a major problem.
Su Xian's current identity was merely an ordinary person who had wandered into Sea God Lake by mistake.
"That's easy!"
A shrewd gleam flashed through Yan Shaozhe's eyes, and he immediately interjected, "Our Martial Soul Department and the academic affairs office have plenty of blank top-secret files. Why don't we just fabricate an identity for him?!"
"We'll say he's the sole surviving direct heir of some reclusive family in Shrek City! Secretly raised from childhood and versed in all the world's knowledge!" Yan Shaozhe grew increasingly excited. "Put that file straight into the Sea God Pavilion's highest-security archive and stamp it with your official seal, Pavilion Master! In Shrek, as long as the Sea God Pavilion says it's true, even a lie becomes true! Who would dare question it?!"
"There's no need to make it too complicated. Just list him as the Pavilion Master's final disciple, or as a special appointee of the Sea God Pavilion. As long as we grant him a position absolutely above the ordinary departments, those rumors will collapse on their own."
Mu En listened quietly to the suggestions. After a long while, he slowly nodded.
"It isn't merely a question of fabricating an identity."
"Pass down my highest directive!"
"From this moment onward, Su Xian's existence, along with every word he has spoken, is officially classified as Shrek Academy's-[Highest-level top secret]!"
"Other than those of us present and the core personnel involved in the Niulai Village extras plan, no one-not even the Sea God Pavilion's other elders-may reveal a single word about him without my permission!"
"If the Sun Moon Empire's Mingde Hall or Di Tian of the Star Dou Great Forest learns that we have someone so powerful in our hands, someone who can see through the course of ten thousand years, they will absolutely spare no cost and risk death to infiltrate Shrek and assassinate him!"
Cold sweat broke out on everyone as they listened.
Indeed, Su Xian's current value was ten times greater than even Mu En, a Limit Douluo!
"So his safety is our highest priority! Everything within a ten-li radius of the wooden cabin on Back Mountain will be designated a first-class military restricted zone, personally covered and guarded by my spiritual power!"
Mu En made the final decision, then turned to Zhang Lexuan. "Lexuan, when Elder Zhuang examined him again yesterday, how did he estimate the time until his eyesight returns?"
"Elder Zhuang said the clotted blood in Teacher Su's brain is rather stubborn. At the current rate of acupuncture and medicinal baths, it will take roughly another two months before it fully disperses and the bandages can be removed."
Zhang Lexuan answered respectfully, "The Outer Court's architecture department has already rushed to complete the Niulai Village set on Back Mountain. It will reveal absolutely no flaws and is one hundred percent certain to last until the day his stitches are removed."
"Two months..."
Mu En stroked his beard and murmured softly.
Then they exchanged glances.
As though they had thought of something amusing, these old fellows, whose combined ages amounted to several hundred years, suddenly all revealed perversely expectant smiles.
Yes.
This blind man still thought he was in Daliang Mountain, gleefully hurling insults.
They really looked forward to two months from now, when he removed the bandages over his eyes, joyfully believing he could finally see Niulai Village's simple, honest villagers...
Only to discover that everyone standing before him was one of the "Shrek old fossils" he had spent the past few months insulting in new ways every day.
When that happened, the expression on this "immortal's" face would surely be... spectacular!
Before you continue