I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

A moment later, Lin Xuandong raised his head, a flash of understanding in his eyes.

"Father, I understand." His voice was more composed and less impatient than before.

"Cooperation isn't something you beg for; it's something you earn. You have to make them feel that cooperating with the Lin family is more advantageous than confronting them."

Lin Che nodded slightly and tapped his finger lightly on the table as a sign of approval.

"So how do you plan to change it?" He put down his teacup and looked calmly at Lin Xuandong.

Lin Xuandong pondered for a moment.

"The Cheng family mainly deals in magical artifacts, and their biggest weakness is raw materials." He began his analysis, clear and unhurried.

"The Cheng family started by repairing spirit armor, so they have a great need for metal spirit materials."

They can source their goods from the Fen Gu Guan channel, but the cost is high and the quality is unstable.

Over the years, we have discovered many mineral veins in the Black Tooth Swamp, including several rare metal ores that the Cheng family needs.

If we use these ores as leverage to negotiate cooperation with the Cheng family, they probably won't refuse.

Lin Che neither nodded nor shook his head, but simply continued to look at him, waiting for him to continue.

Encouraged, Lin Xuandong continued, "The He family is in the business of transporting spirit beasts. They don't lack spirit beasts, but they lack high-quality spirit beasts."

Although their spirit beast workshop is large in scale, the quality of the spirit beasts is generally not high, so they can only do low-end transportation.

Our Wind-Stepping Steed is much faster and has greater endurance than other spirit beasts of the same rank. If used for long-distance transport, it can significantly improve efficiency.

If a cooperation agreement can be reached with the He family, providing them with high-quality transport spirit beasts, the He family should not refuse.

"The Liu family mainly deals in elixirs. If we can provide them with high-quality spiritual herbs so they can refine even better elixirs, the Liu family should not refuse."

After he finished speaking, he looked directly at Lin Che, awaiting his father's evaluation.

Lin Che remained silent for a moment, then picked up the osmanthus cake on the table, which had already cooled down, took a bite, and chewed slowly.

"When did you become so shrewd?" Lin Che looked at him with a smile, his tone teasing.

Lin Xuan scratched his head, the shrewdness on his face vanished instantly, and he reverted to his carefree, boyish self.

"Hehe, I learned this from my older brother. He said that doing business is not about how much you can earn, but about how much you can bring to others. People will only do business with you if you can bring them benefits."

Lin Xuanqi was slightly taken aback, then laughed.

"When did I say that?" He picked up his teacup and raised it towards Lin Xuandong. "However, what he said is quite right."

Lin Xuandong chuckled, picked up his teacup and clinked it against his elder brother's, then tilted his head back and took a big gulp.

Lin Che watched his two sons clink glasses, and the smile on his lips deepened.

He put down the pastry in his hand, patted the crumbs off his hands, and his gaze fell on Lin Xuandong's face again.

"Your idea is good, but it's not enough." His voice regained its composure, with a hint of instruction in his tone.

"The Cheng family, the He family, and the Liu family are the local strongmen of Burning Bone City. They are deeply rooted and not so easy to sway. The bargaining chips you mentioned are indeed valuable, but they are not enough to make them lower their guard and cooperate with you sincerely."

Lin Xuandong put away his smile and listened attentively.

"What the Cheng family needs isn't ore, but a stable source of ore. You can provide it once, twice, but can you provide it for ten or twenty years?"

"Although the Black Tooth Swamp has abundant mineral veins, they are ultimately finite. You need to show the Cheng family that by cooperating with the Lin family, they can obtain a long-term, stable, and reliable supply channel, rather than a one-off deal."

"What the Liu family needs is not high-quality elixirs, but a stable supply of elixirs that are of consistent quality and reasonably priced."

As he spoke, Lin Che took out a jade slip from his sleeve, which contained information about the Liu family that Zhi Hei had sent.

"The Liu family's spiritual herbs mainly come from their own cultivation and purchases from independent cultivators, which is not stable enough and the quality varies."

Therefore, you need to show the Liu family that by cooperating with the Lin family, we can provide them with a stable output of spiritual herbs, elevate the quality of their pills to a higher level, increase their profits by several times, and spread their reputation further.

He paused, put the jade slip back into his sleeve, and his gaze darkened slightly.

"As for the cooperation with the He family..." His tone softened, and his fingers tapped lightly on the table.

"I'm not optimistic. The He family might be the biggest obstacle to our entry into Burning Bone City. You should prepare for this as soon as possible."

Lin Xuandong paused for a moment, his expression becoming more serious: "I understand, Father."

"As for support from my family," he paused, looking at Lin Che with a more earnest tone, "I need three things."

"Speak," Lin Che nodded.

"First, spirit stones. Rent in Burning Bone City is several times more expensive than in Beginning Sun City. Renovation, inventory, hiring—all of these require money. I've roughly calculated that the initial investment will be at least 500,000 spirit stones. As for home..."

"I'll double the budget," Lin Che interrupted him. "One million spirit stones, is that enough?"

Lin Xuandong was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "Enough! Enough! More than enough!"

"And the second one?" Lin Che asked.

"Secondly, regarding the supply, we need to ensure a stable supply of spirit beasts, spirit beast meat, and pills. We can't let customers feel that we're unreliable or have inconsistent availability. Especially spirit beast cubs, the demand is huge. Back home... could we expand the breeding scale a bit more?"

"Don't worry about that."

Lin Che didn't answer, but Lin Xuanqi spoke up:

"The third-tier spirit vein in Black Tooth Swamp will soon be put into use. The spirit fields there are enough to open up new spirit beast breeding areas. I have also formulated a plan to increase the breeding frequency of spirit beasts. Leave the supply to me."

Lin Xuan nodded, feeling a little more at ease.

"And the third one?" Lin Che asked.

Lin Xuandong remained silent for a moment.

"Third... are array masters, alchemists, and weapon refiners." His tone carried a hint of helplessness, as well as a barely perceptible urgency.

"The Chamber of Commerce in Burning Bone City needs a formation master to maintain the Chamber's protective formations and provide formation-related services to its clients."

However, what our Aoki Chamber of Commerce lacks most right now is talent. Besides providing goods, we can't offer services like alchemists or formation masters, which would significantly reduce our Chamber's influence.

Lin Che thought about it and realized that this problem was indeed tricky.

Why are large chambers of commerce like Fengxing Chamber of Commerce able to stand the test of time?

Besides having a large reserve of spiritual items, what's more important is that they have a stable pool of talent.

There is a group of reliable worshippers,

Just like Qin Yulin back then.

Array masters are rare talents in the cultivation world, and even fewer are willing to be stationed in a remote place like Burning Bone City.

Even if they exist, they are either too expensive or of dubious origin, so I dare not use them easily.

Xuan Qing does meet the requirements, but Lin Che doesn't intend to expose her.

That was one of the Lin family's trump cards; it couldn't be revealed unless absolutely necessary.

That being the case...

"I'll handle this."

Lin Che stood up, hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over his sons present:

"Alright, let's stop here for today. Our next focus is on getting the Greenwood Merchant Guild up and running in Burning Bone City, as well as developing the Black Tooth Swamp. Keep it in mind, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

"Yes!" the four responded in unison, their voices echoing in the conference room...