Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 137 - 137 0147 Packaging Scheme

Chapter 137: Chapter 0147: Packaging Scheme Chapter 137: Chapter 0147: Packaging Scheme Chu Yang and the other second-class managers had already made up their minds to stand by and do nothing in the matter of ransoming the captives. They were not really well-off in fact, if they had money, who would come to such a hard and bitter place like Lianying Realm to guard safe houses? Every single coin was precious to them, and they were all in the breakthrough period from Qi Cultivation to Foundation Establishmentstage. The consumption of cultivation resources during this period was an astronomical figure to them. They had to save every possible coin for the upcoming breakthrough.

Moreover, according to the bilateral agreement reached between the Imperial Master Mansion and the Lianying Realm, these second-class managers were not allowed to directly participate in such matters, unless the vital interests of the disciples of the Imperial Master Mansion were threatened, otherwise they had to maintain an aloof attitude.

“Are you all cowards from the Imperial Master Mansion? I ask you one last time, will you ransom or not? If not, I’ll kill him right now.” The native cultivator who was leading the Imperial Master Mansion captive shouted out loud. “I’ll count to three, one, two…”

There is slave trade in the Lianying Realm, but to become a slave, a cultivator must first be physically sound to do work, and the captured disciple of the Imperial Master Mansion is already injured. To restore his health would cost not just a small amount of money, something the native cultivator was reluctant to do. Since the good price could not be attained by selling, it is better to kill him instead.

“Brothers and sisters, save me, I don’t want to die yet.” The disciple of Imperial Master Mansion could also understand the common language of the Cultivation World, facing great terror of life and death, he could no longer suppress the fear in his heart and knelt down with a thud.

Seeing this, many disciples of Imperial Master Mansion closed their eyes or turned their backs, they all felt somewhat unbearable, but that was all. At this time, if no one stood up, it’s one thing, but even the idea of several people pooling their money together to pay for a ransom of 400,000 coins was not proposed.

Qi Tian sighed. This kind of thing shouldn’t fall to him. He was the youngest, with the lowest cultivation level, and he had never planned to build any influence in Imperial Master Mansion, so he was not originally planning to take action. However, he never expected that when seeing a comrade about to be killed, no one was willing to stand up. The fickleness of human nature chilled his heart.

Seeing that the native cultivator had already raised his hand and might drop it in the next second, Qi Tian knew that he could not wait any longer. Thus, he exclaimed, “Hold on, I’ll ransom this man.”

Qi Tian feared that there might be some misunderstanding, so he expressed his intention in the common language.

“Who? Who wants to ransom?” The native cultivator was somewhat surprised and happy. He had initially thought that the deal was going to fall through, but at the last moment, someone wanted to buy, which naturally made him very happy.

“Excuse me, make way please.” Qi Tian pushed his way through the cultivators blocking his path and walked to the front of their side.

The native cultivator was originally filled with hope, but when he got a clear look at Qi Tian’s face, he was instantly disappointed. A kid like this, only at the Qi Cultivating Stage 4, could he afford 400,000 coins?

“Boy, are you sure you want to ransom?”

Qi Tian took out a coin bag and a coin storage tube, the latter being his spoils of war from a captured storage bag. At the time he had found it, there were still more than a million more coins that hadn’t been emptied out of it.

Qi Tian poured the contents of the coin bag into the storage tube, and soon enough, the 400,000 mark on the tube lit up. “Tell me, do I qualify to ransom?”

“Yes, absolutely enough.”

The native cultivator was overjoyed and quickly led the captured disciple of the Imperial Master Mansion over to Qi Tian’s side. He had a coin bag in his hand, and Qi Tian directly handed over the 400,000 coins from the storage tube to him, then the man handed over the captured disciple of Imperial Master Mansion to Qi Tian.

Qi Tian cut the ropes tied to the captured disciple of Imperial Master Mansion and said softly, “Welcome back, brother. I’m sorry you were wronged.”

The freed disciple from the Imperial Master Mansion, suddenly overwhelmed by his emotions, had previously thought he was going to die. Out of nowhere, Qi Tian intervened and saved him. Fall prostrate onto the ground, he said to Qi Tian, “Thank you, younger brother, for saving my life. From now on, I, Wen Di, owe my life to you.”

“Wen Di, my brother, please stand up,” Qi Tian said hastily, helping Wen Di to his feet. “I did not save you to earn your gratitude. If you could just keep living and practicing well, that would be my greatest reward. Here are two healing potions. Please take them and go to the safe house to recover.”

“Thank you, thank you. “Wen Di thanked Qi Tian repeatedly, then took the healing potion and headed to the safe house.

Once Wen Di had walked a few steps away, Qi Tian returned his gaze to the indigenous cultivators. He declared loudly, “I am someone who values forthrightness and dislikes things being unnecessarily drawn out. It would be an insult to force我 every single helpless disciple to be ransomed separately. So, here’s a bundled ransom plan: for every male cultivator, 500,000 coins; for a female cultivator, an extra 50,000, making it 550,000 coins. For the bodies of those unfortunate enoughO to have been killed, 30,000 coins each. If you agree, let’s get this over with. I should clarify that my plan is all-inclusive and not open for negotiation. If you agree, let’s do one big trade. If not, then I’ll have no part in it – whoever wants to ransom can ransom. It’s no business of mine. I’m giving you ten minutes to consider. Afterwards, please give me a clear response.”

Qi Tian’s proposal seemed like a loss initially, but it was indeed the result of careful consideration. On the one hand, it would ensure to the greatest extent possible that the indigenous cultivators did not ill-treat the captured disciples of the Imperial Master’s Manor, particularly those who were severely injured, bleeding and barely alive. Any indigenous cultivators wishing to claim a ransom should, therefore, feed them some healing potion to keep them alive. On the other hand, for some captured high-ranking disciples of the Imperial Master Mansion, the ransom demanded by the local cultivators would certainly exceed 500,000 coins. Qi Tian’s proposal of bundled ransoms was designed to prevent the indigenous cultivators from hiking up the piece disproportionately. Otherwise, Qi Tian might have to pay a far greater price.

The additional 50,000 for female cultivators was to ensure that all captured female cultivators could be ransomed, to prevent them from becoming enslaved or being violated by the indigenous cultivators.

Of course, Qi Tian’s proposal of an all-in-one package was also designed to prevent people like Li Yuman and Li Hongbin from interfering halfway to ransom their own people. That would significantly undermine the impact of Qi Tian standing out as the sole character willing to ransom everyone, which wouldn’t be conducive to establishing his reputation. While Qi Tian had no intention of establishing his own faction within the Imperial Master’s Mansion, he did not object to building a strong public image. Sometimes, a good reputation may seem useless, but at other times, it can play a significant role.

Qi Tian was mentally prepared for his packaged ransom scheme which could cost him up to one or two million coins.

For a power base, the number of people is always a precious resource. When one individual is too powerful and the power base behind them too weak, it is not necessarily a good thing. Only when the strength of both the individual and the power base increase simultaneously, does the principle of mutual benefit hold true. For example, in this case, when the indigenous cultivators of the Lianying Realm set up an isolating array with the intention of hunting down Qi Tian and others, it was due to the intervention of the Imperial Master’s Mansion that forced the Lianying Realm to sign a bilateral agreement, thus preserving a lifeline for Qi Tian and the others. Had the Imperial Master’s Mansion been less powerful, it certainly could not have intimidated the Lianying Realm into submission.

Rescuing these captive Imperial Master’s Mansion disciples would reduce their losses to a minimum, which will be equivalent to fueling the Imperial Master’s Mansion’s pathway to more significant power. In the future, if Qi Tian were ever to face challenges, the Imperial Master’s Mansion will have more clout when backing him.

Within his power, Qi Tian is still willing to do things even at the potential expense of himself. As long as the loss is within an acceptable range, there’s no need for too much consideration.

As ten minutes whizzed past.

An unprecedented argument broke out among the numerous forces of the Lianying realm during this time. Most of the native cultivators who had obtained captives were in agreement with Qi Tian’s proposal, with the exception of those who captured disciples at the Nine Levels of Qi Cultivation. In their view, Qi Tian’s offer was unacceptable – fifty thousand per person was far too little. They felt that each captive should be ransomed for at least seven to eight hundred thousand coins, with one million being perfectly reasonable.

However, the native cultivators such as Cai Qilong forcefully suppressed this dispute. The captives had already been stripped of all of their belongings, thus any ransom would be a pure profit. And considering that no one aside from Qi Tian was willing to pay ransom, there was no guarantee that they would be able to sell off the captives at a high price. What if they ended up not being able to sell them at all?

Did they think they could sell the captives in the Lianying realm themselves? If they could achieve a good price for them there, why would they idiotically allow the Imperial Master’s Mansion to ransom them?

Moreover, those who captured cultivators at the Nine Levels of Qi Cultivation also detained disciples at the Eighth and Seventh levels of Qi Cultivation. Selling them for fifty thousand each was like taking an average. As a result, they weren’t really losing out.

Of course, the more important reason was that if they didn’t sell these captives, Qi Tian wouldn’t buy back the other captives. That would certainly not be acceptable to the indigenous cultivators eager to sell their captives. If disagreement arose in the Lianying realm and unity was disrupted, it might provide the Imperial Master’s Mansion with an opportunity to break through one by one, creating unforeseeable consequences.