Survival Game: Call Me an Honest Businessman

While Yi was celebrating the upcoming opening of the exchange, Li Zhi, Ling Qiu, and Celia, led by Ling, had already arrived at the palace of the Feather Spirit Emperor.

This was Li Zhi's second visit here within a week.

The two experiences were completely different.

Lingqiu stood to her left, Celia to her right, and Ling stood in front of her.

It feels like no matter what move the Feather Spirit Emperor uses, it will miss.

Emperor Yu Ling did not sit on the throne, but stood in front of the arched French window on the side of the hall, talking to Ao and Xu.

As if he had just heard the commotion, the Feather Spirit Emperor, dressed in exceptionally formal and gorgeous attire, turned around and revealed a gentle smile: "You've arrived."

She brought Ao and Xu over to greet them, as if meeting close friends at home.

"I was surprised when I heard Ling say that Li Zhi and Ling Qiu were together, but after thinking about it carefully, I don't find it strange. Back then, you were always surrounded by lively people. Li Zhi was your student, so he naturally had your style."

Celia's hoarse voice was laced with sarcasm: "She is her, and I am me. There's no real distinction between student and teacher. But your daughters not only lack your demeanor, they also seem to have inherited none of your qualities."

Emperor Yu Ling smiled slightly: "They are still young and have a long way to go before they can stand on their own. Besides, children always need to be nurtured and selected slowly."

She looked at Li Zhi and said in a very gentle tone, "You are Celia's student and Ling's friend. Last time I saw you, I was too busy to prepare a gift for you. Today I'm taking Ling Qiu to my treasure vault to choose a gift, so let me make up for it with this gift for you."

Li Zhi looked at Celia.

Celia: "The treasury of any race's royal family contains treasures accumulated over hundreds of years; you should take your time to choose carefully."

Li Zhi said humbly, "We new races have a saying: 'We dare not refuse a gift from an elder.' Since both the teacher and the Feather Spirit Emperor have said so, I will definitely choose carefully."

Emperor Yu Ling nodded gently.

Celia suddenly let out a sneer.

Yu Linghuang looked over in confusion.

Celia casually changed the subject: "If the timing is correct, Yi should be holding the opening ceremony for the Feathered Spirit Clan's exchange right now. As her sister and the Queen of the Feathered Spirit Clan, why aren't you there to support her opening ceremony? Instead, you're treating us to dinner and helping us pick out gifts. Why?"

Emperor Yu Ling admitted directly, "There was indeed a small misunderstanding."

She glanced at Ao, then looked at Lingqiu, and said, "Your Excellency, I have investigated everything that happened yesterday. Most of the goods in that shipment were tributes from the Beast Alliance to the Feather Spirit Clan, but there were three animal skin bags that the Titan Clan asked my sister Yi to help transport. Ao, as one of the people in charge of receiving the tributes, agreed without verifying the situation. I punished her yesterday, but I still want to explain things to you in person and apologize."

Ao stepped forward, turned slightly to the side, and placed his hand on his chest: "Your Excellency, it was my negligence that led to the failure to detect the tribute procession, but I have no idea what the contents of those three animal skin bags are, neither before nor now. If I have offended you in any way, I apologize."

Li Zhi glanced at Xu and Ling, who were following behind Ao and apologizing together.

Now I finally understand what Yu Linghuang meant by summoning me here.

Ling is her friend.

Yu Linghuang also knew that she and Lingqiu had come to Yu Ling Avenue together.

Naturally, they wanted to use this relationship to have her act as an intermediary or advocate to help Ao overcome this difficulty.

Lingqiu: "The Feathered Spirits and the Titans are both independent and free races. It's normal for you to cooperate with each other. You don't need to apologize for transporting three animal skin bags. The grudges between the Dragons and the Titans are between the Dragons and the Titans. You don't need to bear any responsibility for this."

When Lingqiu watched the movie yesterday, he already knew that Ao was completely unaware of the truth.

According to Li Zhi's thinking, Guan Aozhi was unaware of the situation. Just as the Feather Spirit Emperor said, as the first crown prince of the Feather Spirit Clan, she couldn't even see such a simple crisis, so she should bear the consequences and learn a lesson.

With this information, we can easily extract another sum from Emperor Yu Ling's treasury.

Lingqiu only said, "The centennial rating is approaching. If grudges arise between races at this time, even if they are resolved, they may leave behind resentment, thus affecting the subsequent battle. The dragon race is powerful, but it is not without sacrifices. I cannot leave hidden dangers for the dragon race, nor do I want more casualties because of a misunderstanding."

Li Zhi was silent and suddenly realized something for a while.

It wasn't because of Lingqiu's rejection, nor because of the pity that Lingqiu showed at that moment.

She was once again struck by the unity among the various races on the Tianqi Continent.

With the centennial rating approaching, all the races that have lived on the Tianqi Continent for thousands of years are united and giving their all for this rating.

The humans who have just entered the Apocalypse Continent are still scheming and fighting over factional struggles, the amount of profit, and the ownership of territory.

Can humanity truly reach a new level in the centennial ranking?

Or is it that even a D-level rating is hard to maintain?

A few days ago, Li Zhi thought that she had learned that a beast tide was coming to the Tianqi Continent. She told Bai Ge the news and asked her to ask the leader of District 15 if there were any similar news or rumors.

Bai Ge has very comprehensive information channels.

Before long, Li Zhi learned that the authorities had known about the beast tide even earlier than she had, and were already making preparations for it. However, they were divided into two factions regarding whether the news should be shared with all of humanity.

One side believes that we should inform them in advance so that all of humanity can prepare and overcome the difficulties together.

One side believes this is the best time to select players. The strategy of trying to help most players survive during the beginner period is wrong. With limited resources, it is the right direction to only cultivate elites.

Taking advantage of the beast tide to filter players can help identify those with strong adaptability.

There's no right or wrong here.

The real point of contention between these two factions is not how to save humanity, but how resources should be allocated and how war merits should be calculated.

Compared to the numerous races on the Apocalypse Continent, the human population is simply too large.

There are so many that they are impossible to manage, and they seem insignificant.

At least for now, Li Zhi sees that the last four digits of the numbers in the chat in the Dongqi region change every day without any further fluctuations.

But for Lingqiu...

Every dragon is important.

The casualties of other races also affect her emotions.

Upon hearing Lingqiu's words, Ao's initially reluctant expression gradually turned into astonishment.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, only her sideways bowing posture became more standard.

Yu Linghuang: "Thank you for your understanding."

As they spoke, countless birds flew past the floor-to-ceiling windows, and cannon salutes boomed in the distance.

Celia: "It seems the Feathered Spirit Clan's exchange has opened."

She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked towards the central square.

Emperor Yu Ling looked at Li Zhi: "The annual trade fair always promotes cooperation among races and enhances friendship between different races. Speaking of which, the Yu Ling race and the newly emerging races haven't had in-depth exchanges yet. Fortunately, Ling has become friends with the outstanding members of the new races. To celebrate the successful conclusion of the trade fair and to further enhance the friendship between the two races, I've decided to invest another 50 gold coins. I wonder how much more share this will increase for Ling?"

Only then did Li Zhi realize the true purpose of Yu Linghuang's summons.

—Lingqiu has a gentle personality, and Yulinghuang knew this from the beginning. Calling her along was not to have her act as a persuader, but because she had already decided to give up on Yi and the exchange he opened.

Then, he placed the treasure on Ling's body.

Li Zhi couldn't help but admire Yu Linghuang's decisiveness and shrewdness.

But for the time being, this is more beneficial than harmful to her and Ling.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "50 gold coins will get you 3% of the share, which is all the remaining shares in the exchange."

Yu Linghuang remained calm: "I will transfer the money to you after the contract is signed."

Celia: "No rush."

She turned her head and looked over, but pointed towards the central square. "You can deal with Yi's matter first. I think there seems to be some trouble over there."

Li Zhi and Celia exchanged a glance.

She quickly walked to Celia's side and saw that the central square was in complete chaos.

The Feathered Spirit Guards blocked the customers outside, and some races had already drawn their weapons.

·

The effects of the Genmaru greatly excited the seven shareholders of the exchange.

"Can it really increase the power of the source? What about attribute points? Can they be increased?"

Yi: "We have conducted three phases of experiments. If you consume 60 Source Pills, the probability of increasing attribute points reaches 60%, and 80 pills can reach 100%. However, the increased attribute points are not free attribute points, but random attribute points."

Titan: "Whether it's free attribute points or random attribute points, as long as it increases your stats, it'll definitely cause a frenzy among all races. How much do you plan to price it?"

Yi: "10 silver coins each."

"10 silver? Such a low price?"

"This is just the beginning. It will take time to accumulate 60 pills. We can't take them all at once, otherwise the side effects will be greatly amplified. Once the first batch of people who have obtained attribute points appear, we will be able to raise the price."

"How much will it increase?"

"One gold coin."

"That's not bad."

"Are there any problems with the production of these Genmaru? How many do you have on hand right now?"

Time passed slowly as the shareholders discussed the matter, and the area outside the exchange was already crowded with waiting customers and businessmen.

One shareholder said, "Isn't it time to open? Why hasn't anyone come to report yet?"

Yi: "Something might have gone wrong. I'll go check it out."

She stepped out of the room, her smile vanishing instantly, replaced by a gloomy expression.

"What's going on? Where's Ao? Where's the stuff? Why hasn't it arrived yet!"

"My lord, we sent people to find His Highness and also to find the Blue Guard Captain who is by His Highness's side, but His Highness is in the Imperial Council Hall. The Blue Guard Captain also said that he is receiving distinguished guests and cannot be disturbed. Our people are at a loss."

"Useless! If you can't find Ao, why don't you go find the people who took over? Where are our people?"

"Those people...are all dead."

Yi's expression changed: "Dead?"

"Yes, when we went there, we found that they had all died in their own mansions, and even the priest we had bribed earlier was nowhere to be found."

Yi: "Investigate! Investigate immediately what happened last night. Use all the spies in the palace. I need to know what Emperor Yu Ling and Ao talked about yesterday, and also Ao's spies. Use them all!"

"Yes, but sir, what about the opening ceremony?"

Yi: "Take things from my private treasury first. Don't let all the people at the gate in. Have our people infiltrate and act as merchants and customers. Go quickly."

His subordinates left quickly, and Yi returned to the banquet hall.

She remained composed: "The opening ceremony is about to begin, everyone. Let's move to the exchange hall."

The doors of the exchange slowly opened as Yi and the shareholders arrived.

Yi spread his wings and soared into the sky, surrounded by shareholders, and personally fired a salute: "Welcome everyone to the opening ceremony of the exchange. I hereby announce the official opening of the Feather Spirit Exchange! Customers who complete transactions today will receive a gift prepared by the exchange: Source Pills."

As she spoke, she took out the Genmaru.

"Everyone, this is the special magic potion I mentioned before that can increase the power of the source. The blood of the Didi Beast is limited and can only be given to the first 100 customers who successfully complete a transaction. However, there is a sufficient supply of Source Pills, and every customer who successfully completes a transaction will receive one."

"Now, everyone can start trading."

Yi authorized the exchange, and customers and merchants flocked out.

"I need to stock up on equipment!"

"I'm storing my items!"

"I've completed the transaction! Where's the free gift?"

Amidst the commotion, Yi's face was undeniably pale.

Her bodyguard, Changxiao, sent her a message.

[My lord, I have investigated and found that all the tribute items the Beast Alliance was supposed to transport to the Feather Spirit Avenue yesterday, except for the flesh-eating humans, were intercepted. His Majesty personally went to the Beast Alliance and summoned the Crown Prince to the palace upon his return.]

Yi told the shareholders that he had something to attend to, and then flew to the meeting hall at the back of the trading hall.

Xiao: "My lord."

"All stolen?!" Yi's chest heaved violently, and the feathers on his wings bristled. "Who dares to steal from my Feathered Spirit Clan?!"

Xiao: "The palace's informant said that the Wolf King of the Beast Alliance went to see the Emperor last night."

"The wolves dare to steal my things? Do they want to wipe out their entire clan?!"

After flying around in the sky and finally calming down, Yi asked, "How is it on Yu Linghuang's side? Ao didn't tell me yesterday. Could it be that he's trying to pin all the blame for the 20% of the tribute on me?"

Xiao: "The Emperor is still hosting a banquet for distinguished guests, including His Highness the Crown Prince."

Yi's expression shifted, flashing with anger and resentment before finally turning into self-mockery: "My biological daughter and my twin sister are indeed different. It seems she believed Ao's words and condemned me without even asking me."

"Fortunately, I still have the Genmaru as my trump card, and the exchange will eventually become my foundation."

"Did you bring all the Didi Beast blood from my warehouse?"

Xiao lowered his head even further: "My lord... last night, when His Highness delivered the flesh-eating people to your warehouse, he said that the beast tide was coming and that the blood of the Didi beasts was a strategic resource, so he took them all away."