Chapter 42: Secondary Market, Another Round of Harvest!

The news that the “Ascension Group” had completely swept through the Mission Hall spread across the entire Qingyun Sect like it had grown wings.

In an instant, the cries of complaint were everywhere.

Countless unaffiliated disciples who relied on doing sect missions to exchange for cultivation resources were on the verge of tears.

“Life’s impossible like this! I squatted at the Mission Hall all day and couldn’t even grab a fart!”

“Exactly! Before, at least we could still pick up herb-collecting or spirit beast-feeding jobs. Now? All of it’s been taken by those lunatics from Ascension Group!”

“What do they even want? They’re eating all the meat and won’t even leave us a sip of soup?”

“Go, go, go! Let’s find the Steward Elder to argue! This is malicious monopoly! They’re destroying the sect’s ecosystem!”

Very soon, hundreds of furious disciples gathered at the entrance of the Mission Hall, their emotions running high, demanding that the sect’s higher-ups punish Ascension Group for their “tyrannical” behavior.

The Steward Elder in charge of the Mission Hall was so overwhelmed by the noise that his head was about to split. He had no choice but to report the situation to the Outer Sect Elders’ Hall.

At that moment, the mastermind himself — Chu Feng — was sitting leisurely in Liu Changqing’s cave dwelling, listening to Wu Hao’s “performance report.”

“President, the plan was executed flawlessly!”

Wu Hao’s face was full of excitement.

“As of this evening, we’ve completed three hundred and seventy-two low-level missions, forty-five mid-level missions, and seven high-level missions! The harvested herbs and materials fill three warehouses! The contribution points credited directly amount to over fifty thousand!”

That number made everyone in the room suck in a cold breath.

One day!

Just one day had created such terrifying profits!

This was the power of “corporate-scale operation”!

“Well done.”

Chu Feng nodded, unsurprised by the result. “What’s the reaction outside?”

“Just as you predicted,” Wu Hao replied with a grin. “The Mission Hall’s practically blocked off. A bunch of rogue disciples are clamoring for the sect to sanction us.”

“Sanction?”

Elder Liu Changqing sneered, stroking his beard.

“With what? We took missions and completed them — all legal and fully in line with sect rules. They’re being unreasonable! A bunch of paupers — just jealous!”

By now, Liu Changqing was completely tied to the Ascension Group.

Anyone who dared touch the Group’s profits was as good as touching his lifeline.

“Elder Liu’s right. They really have no grounds.”

Chu Feng smiled slightly, though his gaze turned deep.

“However, our Ascension Group is a ‘company’ with ‘social responsibility.’ We can’t just focus on our own growth — we must consider ‘market stability’ and give those ‘retailers’ some way to survive.”

“Ah?”

Liu Changqing froze. “President, you mean… we’re going to slow down our offensive?”

Leave money on the table? That didn’t sound like the President’s style!

“Slow down? No, no, no.”

Chu Feng shook his head. “What I mean is — we’re going to create a new ‘business model,’ one that turns these ‘negative emotions’ into our next ‘profit growth point.’”

“Th–that can be turned into profit too?”

Wang Teng, listening at the side, was completely dumbfounded. He felt his brain wasn’t enough to keep up again.

Chu Feng didn’t answer directly but asked instead, “Why are they rioting? Because they can’t get missions and lost their ‘source of income,’ right?”

“Right.”

“Then if we give them an opportunity — one where they can still complete missions and we can profit from it — would they take it?”

“This…”

Everyone looked at each other, unable to follow his logic.

Chu Feng smiled, no longer keeping them in suspense, and announced the answer.

“Wu Hao, tomorrow, issue an announcement.”

“Say this: Our Ascension Group, in response to the voices of our fellow sect members and to maintain internal harmony and stability, has decided to launch the ‘Mission Commission and Outsourcing Platform’!”

“What does that mean? Simple.”

“The missions we’ve taken but don’t have enough manpower to complete for now — like herb gathering or cleaning beast pens — we’ll ‘outsource’ them!”

“Anyone who wants to take these ‘outsourced’ missions can register on our platform. But — there’s no such thing as a free lunch. They’ll need to pay twenty percent of the total mission reward as a ‘platform management fee’ and an ‘information service fee’!”

──

Chu Feng’s words caused the entire cave to fall into deathly silence.

The teacup in Elder Liu Changqing’s hand fell with a “pa”, shattering into pieces.

Wu Hao’s small notebook slipped from his grasp.

Wang Teng and the others gaped, mouths wide open, staring at Chu Feng like he was some kind of deity.

Wait… they could do that?!

They had snatched missions from the Mission Hall through sheer effort — and now, they could resell those missions to people who couldn’t grab any, and skim twenty percent off the top?

This wasn’t just “empty-handed catching a white wolf.”

This was grabbing the wolf, shaving off its fur, then selling the shaved wolf to someone else while claiming it was a new breed of dog!

“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”

Elder Liu Changqing was the first to react. He slapped his thigh, face flushed with excitement.

“President, you… you’re truly a god of business! This way, not only do we appease the rogue disciples’ complaints, we also gain extra profit out of thin air! Is this what you meant by turning negative emotions into a profit growth point?”

“In my hometown,” Chu Feng said calmly, “this is called the ‘secondary market.’”

“We control the absolute pricing power of the ‘primary market,’ so naturally we can do whatever we want in the ‘secondary market.’”

“Starting tomorrow, we’ll not only monopolize missions — we’ll monopolize the right to issue missions! I want every low-level disciple in Qingyun Sect to understand one truth — if they don’t work for me, they won’t eat!”

──

The next day, once the Ascension Group’s “Mission Outsourcing Platform” announcement was posted, the entire Outer Sect exploded.

“What? They’re charging twenty percent? Why don’t they just rob us outright!”

“Too greedy! They’re bloodsuckers!”

“Boycott! We must resist this exploitation!”

At first, everyone was furious, hurling curses at Ascension Group’s shamelessness and swearing never to pay such an “idiot tax.”

However, a day passed.

Two days passed.

When they realized the Mission Hall was still empty, their spirit stones were running out, and they couldn’t even afford next month’s cave rent — their backbone began to soften.

Finally, on the third morning—

A gaunt Outer Sect disciple gritted his teeth and stepped up to the Ascension Group’s “Outsourcing Platform.”

“I… I’ll take that beast pen cleaning mission.” He pulled out two low-grade spirit stones from his robe and handed them over as the “management fee.”

That act was like knocking over the first domino.

“I’ll take one too!”

“Count me in! Twenty percent’s better than starving!”

Watching the new long line forming again, Chu Feng stood at the attic nearby, a faint smile curling at his lips.

He knew that from this very moment, he had truly seized complete control over the grassroots ecosystem of the entire Qingyun Sect.

Yet, just as he was savoring his victory—

A bone-piercing killing intent erupted from the depths of the sect, surging straight into the sky!