At home.
"Father, you're back."
Li Qingyu looked at his storage ring with practiced ease.
Li Daoxuan smiled and took out the things she had asked him to buy from his storage ring and gave them to her.
The little guy has grown into a beautiful young woman, and Li Daoxuan couldn't help but sigh at how fast time flies.
Through his own efforts and the blessing of his elixirs, Li Qingyu reached the early stage of Foundation Establishment at the age of sixteen.
"Hmm, when does Xiaoyu plan to break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage? You haven't taken the Spirit Replenishing Pills your father gave you yet, have you?"
"I plan to hone my skills in the early stages of Foundation Establishment for a while, and then try to break through to the middle stages after I've adapted."
Li Qingyu responded while eating the pastries.
"Alright, cultivation is all about the individual. Just follow your own plan. Every cultivator has their own path to walk."
Li Daoxuan did not deliberately plan her path.
As for side hustles, Li Qingyu also dabbled in one: formations, which interested her.
Without the system's support, she had limited energy for the other three paths.
With his cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage and mastery of second-tier array formations, he can definitely be considered a genius.
"Li Qingyu, how many times have I told you not to eat before meals?"
Lu Xueqi, who had just brought out the food, saw Li Qingyu showing off her pastries.
"What does it matter? I can eat it all anyway."
Li Qingyu paused in his movements.
“You’ve gained a lot of weight recently. If you keep eating like this, you’ll turn into a fat pig sooner or later.”
Lu Xueqi threatened.
Li Qingyu couldn't believe it. She pinched her stomach and felt that she had indeed gained weight.
"Dad, have I really gained weight?"
"It's okay, Dad will still like you even if you're chubby."
Li Daoxuan found it amusing and continued along with Lu Xueqi's suggestion.
"Hmm... then I won't eat any snacks for the next few days..."
Which woman wants to be fat? For the sake of her figure, she decided to lose weight.
Seeing that Li Daoxuan was cooperating with her, Lu Xueqi gave him a flirtatious wink, thinking that she was in for a treat tonight.
......
Several days later.
"Hmm? A bountiful hunt?"
The passing monk rubbed his eyes and looked at the plaque.
He was just thinking of going to the Abundance Shop to buy some talismans, but what the heck is this Abundance Hunting?
He wasn't the only one puzzled; many passing cultivators were equally bewildered.
Only after inquiring at the store did I learn that the former Hunting Merchant Guild had reached a cooperation agreement with the Abundant Merchant Guild, and that the items they would sell would be identical to those of the Abundant Merchant Guild, and the prices would remain the same.
"Ahem, everyone, our store is newly opened today. Spend 100 spirit stones and get 10 spirit stones back. The more you buy, the more you get!"
The shopkeeper announced as instructed by the chairman.
Upon hearing about this good news, everyone rushed into the store to buy the products. Since they were all from Fengrao, it didn't matter where they bought them.
This scene took place in various locations on Nine Star Island.
This result led to even more sluggish business for other chambers of commerce.
They were barely making ends meet with meager profits, but now all their customers have been drawn away, and they can hardly earn a penny.
As time went on, many chambers of commerce became restless. They thought of lowering commodity prices to wage a commercial war and attract customers back first.
"Chairman Li, shall we make our move?"
Zhao Tiande and the others asked Li Daoxuan for his opinion.
"No rush. There are so many chambers of commerce. We need to teach them a lesson so they'll know their own limitations. We can sell less for a few days and consider it as accumulating inventory. But how much capital do they have to continue losing money?"
Li Daoxuan said.
Instead of inviting each family to banquets and explaining the pros and cons, it's better to wait until they realize something is wrong and give in to join in. At that point, he can still negotiate a lower price and make more profit.
After all, those who enter the game first get the most out of it.
Sure enough, less than half a month later, many small chambers of commerce could not hold on any longer. If they continued to lose money like this, their cash flow would be cut off, and the operation of the chambers of commerce would be in trouble.
It was at this time that Li Daoxuan instructed Zhao Tiande and others to deliberately spread news of changes in his chamber of commerce.
"Franchisee?"
Many chamber of commerce presidents were a bit confused; was this some new concept?
So they sent their own spies to find out the exact information. Li Daoxuan and the others did not deliberately hide it, so these spies quickly obtained accurate information.
After learning the whole story, they were all tempted.
The entire Starship Sea! Such a huge pie, no wonder the Abundant Merchant Guild is willing to share a piece with them.
As a result, rumors circulated within the industry that the president of the Fengrao Chamber of Commerce had created a large cake and sincerely invited various chambers of commerce to join.
Upon hearing the news, the chambers of commerce were skeptical, but with the attitude that there was no harm in trying, they visited one after another to request to join.
Li Daoxuan naturally accepted all offers, and the cooperation details were finalized.
Soon, various prosperous chambers of commerce sprang up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
Now it will be even harder for those chambers of commerce that haven't joined to make money. Given this situation, unless they have unlimited funds, their fate as franchisees is already sealed.
"This is the real business war."
Li Daoxuan surveyed the entire situation, with everything under his control.
Subduing the enemy without moving is the best strategy.
As the trend of franchising grows ever stronger, the chambers of commerce that are struggling to stay afloat are gradually declining, and the tide of the times will ruthlessly crush their arrogance.
In just one year, all nine star islands were teeming with bountiful harvests.
This change in the situation has attracted the attention of the four giants.
"Chairman Li, what did the four giants say?"
Many chamber of commerce presidents gathered together and asked Li Daoxuan, who had just returned.
Li Daoxuan helplessly shrugged: "Of course we were warned. After all, Star Island is their territory. We, the Abundant Land, are showing our monopolistic intentions, so it's only natural that we were reprimanded."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions turned grim. They were all in the same boat now, and suppressing Fengrao was tantamount to cutting into their flesh.
Li Daoxuan suppressed the slight upturn of his lips and said, "Gentlemen, Star Island has already restricted our abundant development. Why not bypass Star Island and trade with other islands? Expansion is within reach. There is countless wealth waiting for us to reap outside. We don't need to be sad about this."
"Chairman Li is right...this is a prize that even the four giants can't touch..."
The crowd's eyes flickered.
That year they had already tasted the sweetness of abundance; the nine star islands alone had made them incredibly wealthy, and the countless islands outside were practically mountains of gold and silver.
So what if there are four giants? We'll give you face. We don't want Sing Tao anymore. We'll develop overseas trade. You can't stop us from doing that, can you?
Otherwise, your Star Islands can forget about having any fun in the Starship Sea. The combined power of the nine Star Islands is not something they can afford to provoke.
"That's settled then. Star Island will serve as our production base. You can allocate our surplus land to us for factory construction, and our production capacity will be greatly expanded..."
Li Daoxuan licked his lips.
All this scheming was for this moment; he had anticipated the four giants' considerations long ago.
"Then we'll have to trouble Chairman Li. We'll open up trade routes between the islands as soon as possible. Over the years, we've each built up some connections, so we can coordinate things. Sharing is caring, right, everyone?"
Zhao Tiande laughed.
Everyone nodded in approval.
If there's money to be made, everyone's naturally happy to do so. Developing trade is driven by profit, so cooperation is not out of the question. Once the route is open, how much one earns will depend on their own abilities.
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