Reincarnated as the Death Spider Queen, sacrificing Bibi Dong at the start

"Unfortunately, they were unlucky and encountered a shipwreck in the deep sea. They either ran into a powerful group of sea spirit beasts or encountered an irresistible super sea storm. In the end, they and their ship all perished in this dark seabed."

Of course, no one knows exactly what happened, and it's not important to them right now.

Looking at the seemingly bottomless spatial rift in Nanfeng's eyes, Xiaowu finally couldn't help but swallow hard and curiously leaned closer to ask, "Just how much money was in that mountain of gold?"

Nan Feng stroked his chin, briefly estimating the feedback from the space just now in his mind, and calmly gave a number:

"There are nearly a thousand tons of pure gold, and the other rare metals that are also present add up to several tens of tons. If you add in all the miscellaneous antique jewelry and top-quality gems... all of this stuff, conservatively estimated, should be worth around two or three hundred million gold soul coins."

"Two...three hundred million?!"

Upon hearing this astronomical figure, Ning Rongrong, the little money-grubber of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, immediately had her eyes twitching wildly, muttering to herself:

"This...this really is literally a fortune that could topple a nation..."

Chapter 391 The Visual Shock of Two or Three Hundred Million: A Nation's Fortune Poured on the Beach

……

Compared to Ning Rongrong's shock, Xiao Wu, who didn't have much of a concrete concept of the human money system, blinked blankly and tilted her head to ask, "Two or three hundred million... is that a lot?"

"A lot? Remove the 'ma' from your answer!"

Ning Rongrong took a deep breath and began to forcefully explain the economics of human society to this illiterate rabbit:

"Xiao Wu, let me put it this way: the Heaven Dou Empire, the wealthiest empire in the world today, typically has an annual total revenue of only around 200 million gold soul coins!"

"However, the emperor can't pocket all of these two hundred million! After deducting the huge military expenditures, the salaries of officials at all levels, the embezzlement by local city lords, the fixed share taken by the Spirit Hall every year, and the relief for various sudden natural disasters... the net surplus that can actually remain on the books is very limited!"

Ning Rongrong counted on her fingers, seriously calculating: "In a good year with favorable weather and abundant harvests, we can probably get 30 to 40 million gold soul coins into the national treasury. In normal circumstances, we'll be grateful if we can get around 20 million left."

"And that's not all! Besides the royal family's enormous and extravagant daily expenses, the money that barely makes it into the national treasury also has to be used to reward meritorious ministers, to spend money to win over those exceptionally talented young soul masters, plus all sorts of other miscellaneous royal expenses..."

Ning Rongrong helplessly spread her hands: "After all this fuss, the Heaven Dou Empire will only have less than five million gold soul coins left each year, which can truly be locked into the underground vault of the national treasury as a foundation. If we are unlucky enough to encounter a war, and military spending increases dramatically like water flowing out, then the country will not only be unable to save money, but will even have to dig out the national treasury's reserves to fill the hole!"

"So, my dad once calculated it when we were chatting. After so many years of the Tian Dou Empire, the actual cash flow accumulated in its treasury is at most around 100 million gold soul coins, with fluctuations of about 20 to 30 million."

"And the pile of stuff we just dug up is worth hundreds of millions! Damn it! What kind of magical country is this? How could they possibly amass so much money?!"

After listening to Ning Rongrong's long explanation of the accounting records, Xiao Wu was completely dumbfounded.

"A total income of 200 million, and after all that, only 20 million was left? And in the end, less than 5 million was actually saved?!"

Xiao Wu stared wide-eyed, her face filled with disbelief. "Such a huge expense? I thought the royal family's underground vault must have at least a few hundred billion gold coins piled up collecting dust!"

"Hundreds of billions?! What are you thinking?!"

Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes in exasperation and couldn't help but poke Xiao Wu's forehead with her finger. "Do you think gold soul coins fall from the sky? The operating costs of a massive national machine are terrifying!"

"Let me tell you the truth: even if you add up the treasuries of all the empires on the entire Douluo Continent, the treasury of the Spirit Hall, and the wealth of the three upper sects and all the nobles, the total existing wealth of the entire continent would definitely not exceed two billion!"

"Take our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School for example. It's rumored that we're incredibly wealthy, but in reality, the actual amount of wealth stored in our sect's treasury is only around 200 million. Moreover, we don't have the terrifying ability of the Heaven Dou Empire to collect taxes from the entire nation. Our 200 million is something the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School has accumulated bit by bit over thousands of years through various businesses!"

"Currently, the entire sect, including our affiliated chamber of commerce, has an annual cash flow that is indeed quite staggering, perhaps exceeding 100 million. However, after deducting various costs such as purchasing goods, bribery, and training Soul Masters, the actual net profit is less than 10 million! Moreover, most of this 10 million will be used as working capital and reinvested in the following year."

"You really think everyone makes money just to dig a hole and hoard it to death? If that were the case, the country's economy would have collapsed long ago, and the money would have become dead money!"

"Wealth is only true wealth when it circulates. Once it stops circulating and is locked away in a dark, sunless deep-sea box, gold is no different from a broken rock on the seabed!"

After listening to Ning Rongrong's insightful and easy-to-understand explanation of economics, Xiao Wu looked puzzled, astutely grasping the blind spot:

"So, according to you... the wealth that the shipwrecked flotilla was carrying was just as rich as the current Heavenly Dou royal family?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Ning Rongrong's eyes twitched violently again. She abruptly turned her head to look at the seabed, gasping as if she had seen a ghost:

"This is a completely different concept!"

"Xiao Wu, you must know that before the Star Luo and Heaven Dou Empires established their absolute dominance, the Douluo Continent was a chaotic era with hundreds of kingdoms!"

"In those days, small countries had limited territories and populations. For a small ancient royal family to amass two or three hundred million in such a war-torn era—a terrifying fortune that would make even the two great empires of today envious..."

Ning Rongrong swallowed hard, her voice filled with horror:

"This is unbelievable! How did they manage to do that?! There's absolutely no way they could have amassed that wealth through tax collection!"

"These guys... they definitely stole it, right?!"

After the initial excitement, Ning Rongrong forcibly pulled her gaze away from the dazzling treasure.

She took a deep breath, turned to look at Nan Feng, and excitedly rubbed her hands together, asking:

"Teacher, how...should we divide this money?"

"If this pile of stuff is really worth two or three hundred million, and if we, a dozen or so people, divide it among ourselves, each of us can get at least ten million gold soul coins!"

As they spoke, Xiao Wu, Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu, and the others all turned their heads, their eyes sparkling like little stars as they gazed longingly at Nan Feng.

That's hundreds of millions!

Even if it's ten million, it's an unimaginable sum for these young girls who haven't really entered society yet!

Looking at these money-grubbing girls, Nan Feng rubbed his temples helplessly: "What's the point of dividing things up here in the deep sea? Let's go back first."

As he spoke, Nan Feng had a thought and directly controlled the Vast Ocean Universe Cover, leading everyone to launch a series of spatial jumps.

In a flash of light, everyone felt a blur before their eyes and found themselves safely back on the beach in front of the private villa on the west coast of Purple Pearl Island.

"Splash—"

As soon as he landed, Nan Feng waved his hand.

The spatial rift in front of his chest opened again, and the mountain of gold he had just collected in the deep sea, along with countless treasures, poured onto the white sand like a cascading waterfall.

Bathed in sunlight, this small hill, constructed entirely of gold and gemstones, radiates a dazzling and mesmerizing brilliance.

Looking at the golden mountain so close at hand, everyone was stunned, and even their breathing stopped.

While we were in the deep sea, behind the light barrier and in the dim light, we were all awestruck, but the distance between us meant our senses weren't as intense.

But now, when this substantial wealth, worth hundreds of millions of gold soul coins, is laid out before us without any concealment and with a striking visual impact...

Holy crap! There are way too many!!

The golden light was so dazzling it almost blinded people!

Chapter 392 The Radiance Before the Statue: Poseidon's Last Wish and its Conclusion

……

"Alright, stop drooling."

Seeing Ning Rongrong's eager expression, Nan Feng waved his hand and said, "Rongrong, you have the best sense of the value of these good things. You are in charge of leading everyone to count them and then distribute them."

Ning Rongrong was taken aback, then suddenly turned to look at him: "You broke up? Teacher, what about you? Don't you want it?"

"What would I need this for?" Nan Feng shook his head. "I don't need the money."

"Of course, if there are any particularly strange or interesting little items in this pile, you can leave some for me when you're taking inventory. You can handle the rest yourselves."

Nan Feng turned his head and looked at the distant horizon. "I'm going to Poseidon Island now to deliver the soul tool of that Illusionary Ocean Robe to Poseidon so that he can personally complete the formation."

Upon hearing this, Xue Qinghe, who had been standing by as if she were invisible, suddenly brightened up. She quickly stepped forward, grabbed Nan Feng's sleeve, and desperately signaled with her eyes: I want to go too!

Nan Feng looked at her "I'll make a scene if you don't take me" expression, sighed helplessly, and nodded: "Alright, I'll take His Highness the Crown Prince to take a look too."

Upon hearing this, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and the others, who were drooling in front of the gold mountain, immediately objected. Even the gold mountain in front of them, which could buy half of Tiandou City, suddenly seemed unappealing.

"The teacher is biased! We want to go too!" Xiao Wu tugged at Nan Feng's clothes and pleaded.

Nan Feng's eyes twitched slightly. "Poseidon Island isn't some tourist resort. It's the place where the gods passed down their legacy. There are tons of rules there. If you girls who love to stir up trouble go there, I'm afraid you'll tear down the Sea God Pillar. Let's talk about it another time."

Nan Feng turned to Xue Di and instructed, "Xue Di, while I'm away, please keep an eye on them and make sure these girls don't cause any major trouble on the island."

Xue Di nodded slightly without speaking, but her icy aura spoke volumes.

After making the arrangements, Nan Feng turned to look at the sea woman and Xiao Bai, who were staring at Jin Shan with shining eyes: "Sea woman, Xiao Bai, stop looking and come with me."

The sea maiden reluctantly pulled her gaze away from the golden mountain, and pitifully protested, "Lord Demon God, you're just going to deliver a package, it won't take long for you to come and go. We've finally come back, is it alright for us to stay here?"

"Besides, if we stay here, we can protect their safety! Don't you think so?" The female diver tried to find a plausible reason to stay and divide the spoils.

"Protect them?"

Nan Feng looked at her like she was an idiot, speechless: "Do you think I would dare leave you here alone to take care of these kids, given your troublemaking personality?"

"Also, stop using protection as an excuse."

Nan Feng pointed to the Arctic Queen beside him, who exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay, and said, "With the Snow Emperor personally overseeing things here, I don't think anything on this vast ocean can threaten their safety."

"Even if that so-called overlord of the sea, the deep-sea demon whale king, really went crazy and came here to cause trouble, he would have to obediently get lost."

If the Snow Emperor were to unleash her full power, a single absolute zero strike could freeze this entire sea area.

The ultimate ice has a perfect counter to water attributes. Unless the Deep Sea Demon Whale King has seawater in his brain, he won't think of going head-to-head with the Snow Empress.

Although the sea maiden still longed for that mountain of gold, she could only dejectedly accept her fate and obediently follow Nanfeng and Xiaobai to prepare to leave.

Before leaving, Ning Rongrong waved to the female divers, showing her loyalty, and shouted, "Don't worry, female divers! When you come back, I'll make sure you get your share!"

The female diver instantly beamed with joy and blew a kiss to Ning Rongrong.

……

With the sea goddess, Xiaobai, and Qianrenxue in tow, Nanfeng launched several long-distance space jumps in succession.

Since there was no need to consider the speed of the main force, the familiar outline of Poseidon Island appeared in everyone's sight in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

"We'll be there soon."

Nan Feng stopped in mid-air, turned to look at Qian Renxue beside him, and sternly warned, "After we get to the island, don't talk nonsense and stick close to me."

Qian Renxue nodded, as if she had suddenly thought of something.

She simply removed the soul bone skill she used for disguise, and in a burst of golden light, she reverted to her true form as a stunningly beautiful girl. Then she stepped forward and hugged Nan Feng's arm tightly.

Nan Feng's eye twitched violently as he tried to pull his arm away: "What are you doing? You don't need to get so close."

"I'm scared." Qian Renxue hugged even tighter without backing down, making up an excuse with a straight face, "Have you forgotten? There is an irreconcilable blood feud between the Spirit Hall and Seagod Island! If I don't hold on to you, my strong backer, what if those Seven Sacred Pillar Guardians on the island come out and cut me down?"

Nan Feng looked at her speechlessly: "If you don't remove your disguise and keep wearing Xue Qinghe's face, besides Poseidon, who on this island can tell your true identity?"

"Stop fooling around, quickly turn back into Xue Qinghe. This is Seagod Island, be serious."