Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery
Chapter 996 - 967: Just name your price, don't hesitate!

In the reception room of the Central Bank of Immortal Sect, Jiang Ding met the bank president, Goldflow Celestial Monarch.

Goldflow Celestial Monarch was the only Level 6 Chartered Financial Analyst in Immortal Sect and had made numerous breakthrough achievements in Array Spirit financial algorithms, a titan in finance, Array Spirit, and mathematics.

"Jiang Ding, I've truly been looking forward to your visit."

Goldflow Celestial Monarch, dressed in a sharp legal elite's outfit, looked about thirty-four and wore a very approachable smile. He led Jiang Ding to take a seat at the tea area, and said with a sigh, "Do you know, ever since you reached Nascent Soul, I've been waiting for you to apply for a loan. I've been watching eagerly."

"Otherwise, Immortal Sect's funds simply can't be disbursed. We aren't like the Immortal Sects, who can give money to whomever they want. Everything must follow rules and regulations."

"In a few more years, if you still hadn't come, I would have asked Divine Mechanism Heavenly Monarch to pull you here."

Goldflow Celestial Monarch stated seriously.

"As cultivators, although our lifespans are far longer than mortals, many things in the Dao still cannot be delayed. Otherwise, being slow once means being slow everywhere, and that would be troublesome."

"Senior Jin Liu, it's an honor to meet you."

Jiang Ding touched the back of his head bashfully.

Honestly, he thought himself an honest person, one who wouldn't resort to loans from Immortal Sect unless utterly necessary.

"Enough of the chit-chat."

"Tell me, how much money do you want?"

Goldflow Celestial Monarch, exuding the air of wealth, said frankly, "I'll be honest with you, Immortal Sect isn't what it used to be—it's very affluent now. You can ask for a large amount, as long as it's not wasted, complies with the rules, and can be used efficiently. Just speak your mind boldly."

"I've been prepared for this day for a long time now. Money is no issue."

"Senior, then I won't be polite."

Jiang Ding took a deep breath. "I would like to apply for a long-term loan of 12 trillion low-grade Spirit Stones, preferably of around five hundred years!"

The construction cost of a super mothership was 23 trillion low-grade Spirit Stones, and he had recently seized another 10 trillion from Xu Jiezhong, so the gap was just about right.

"What did you say?"

Goldflow Celestial Monarch was stunned and speechless.

"Senior, I know it's a lot, but I really do need this much. You see..."

Jiang Ding, even more embarrassed, hurriedly explained.

"That's too little."

"What?"

"I said it's too little!"

"It's really too little!"

Goldflow Celestial Monarch became a bit angry and exclaimed discontentedly, "Jiang Ding, I know you've always been frugal, but constructing your Destiny Warship, refining flying swords—these matters concern your Dao and future potential."

"Saving money is a virtue, but can you skimp in this area?"

"Not at all!"

"You're still young and there's much you don't understand!"

Goldflow Celestial Monarch earnestly advised, "Saving money now is fine, but when you face the challenges of achieving Divinity Transformation and refining nothingness in the future, those will be major difficulties."

"The money you save now will cost you tenfold, even a hundredfold more when trying to overcome refining nothingness later—it's really not worth it!"

"Ah?"

"Senior, I wasn't being thrifty."

Jiang Ding became puzzled. "I genuinely only need 23 trillion for constructing the super mothership, and you know, after my trip to Xu Jiezhong, I have roughly enough. Any more would be pointless."

"What?"

"23 trillion?"

Goldflow Celestial Monarch furrowed his brow, skeptical. "Who told you that a super mothership only needs 23 trillion?"

"Just an ordinary Starry Sky Fortress requires 56 trillion. Yours is a high-spec version, and I heard Divine Mechanism say that Immortal Sect will also fit it with a vast amount of top Immortal Sect technologies and a huge unmanned fleet."

"Ultimately, it will need at least 50 trillion, possibly with additional investment."

"50 trillion?!!"

Jiang Ding gasped in disbelief, suspecting he had heard wrong.

"Ship Spirit told me..."

Jiang Ding's voice dropped and he handed over a design diagram of a Super Mothership.

"This won't do."

"It cannot be used."

"That Ship Spirit is too young, too weak, and lacks experience; there are many things it doesn't know."

Goldflow Celestial Monarch quickly scanned the blueprint and said immediately, "In times of peace, it might suffice, barely passable, but now it's far from enough."

"Perhaps you're not aware of future warfare conditions."

"In the distant future, there's the battle of life and death for eight Great Experts six to seven thousand years from now. If we can't get past the Immortal Sect, we're doomed, no matter how much money we leave behind."

"In the near future, we face the threat of the Horned Demon Imperial Clan, an alien from the Immortal Dao Civilization, that might be much stronger than us, and we don't know what kind of perilous situations we'll encounter. It's very likely you could be surrounded and attacked by dozens of Divinity Transformed beings. It's not paranoid."

"Considering all this, your Super Mothership isn't just about how much it costs."

"It's about where the technical limit of the Immortal Sect stands!"

"Fifty trillion Low-Grade Spirit Stones, that's the minimum price. If there's an appropriate technological breakthrough, like in the study of Golden Causality, the cost might increase."

Goldflow Celestial Monarch said gravely.

"...This is too exaggerated..."

Jiang Ding's head spun a little. He steadied himself, barely regaining his senses and refused, saying, "Right now, it's almost impossible for me to possess Void Refining combat power; allocating so many resources to me is a waste."

"If this money were used to build a fleet, it might greatly enhance the strength of the Immortal Sect."

The Immortal Sect, the root of his path—this he never forgot.

"Ha ha ha!"

"You're overthinking, kid."

Goldflow Celestial Monarch chuckled, "Fifty trillion Low-Grade Spirit Stones is just the cost of ten Starry Sky Fortresses. Forget about Void Refining combat power; that's something we haven't even dreamed of."

"This amount of money, from the perspective of a Realm Dominator Force, is actually not a lot."

"Fifty trillion is simply due to the current currency system of the Immortal Sect, using Low-Grade Spirit Stones as a unit of value, which makes the number appear huge."

"According to the next phase of financial reform within the Immortal Sect, using Mid-Grade Spirit Stones as the unit, it would be just five hundred billion Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

"If we used the Immortal Sects' method of pricing with Top-Grade Spirit Stones, it would be only five hundred thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones."

"This money, for any Immortal Sect, isn't a huge amount. There's no chance it could bring about Void Refining."

"Therefore, there's no need to doubt the strategic vision of us old things. The preparation given to you is definitely for the best of the Immortal Sect, and there's no wastefulness involved."

Goldflow Celestial Monarch said seriously.

"Then... thank you, seniors."

Jiang Ding no longer refused, stood up, and deeply bowed, "I wish to take a loan of fifty trillion Low-Grade Spirit Stones! Using fifty percent ownership of Great Sun Heavenly Pond as collateral."

Fifty trillion, such an immense amount; one must abide by the laws of the Immortal Sect and have sufficient collateral.

"Thank you for what?"

"As collateral with Great Sun Heavenly Pond? That works too. We were originally planning to have Yuan and Wan Ji vouch for you, they both have plenty of money."

Goldflow Celestial Monarch nodded, took out a document and began writing and sketching, processing the paperwork. After a while, he asked, "That's fifty trillion, five hundred years as the term, with an annual interest of a mere 0.1%, and debt collection scheduled after your death, unless the debt is deferred."

"Does this process work for you?"

"Ah? Waiting till after my death to collect debts, is this compliant with the regulations?"

Jiang Ding was stunned.

"It definitely complies with the regulations, trust me."

Goldflow Celestial Monarch said as a matter of course, "And it's not about not repaying; as I said, the debt is deferred but the interest still accrues."

"You're a major client, one with distinguished military exploits, so it's nothing to give some favorable conditions."

"Is that so?"

Jiang Ding felt like he had an epiphany.