The Fire-tailed Horned Horse King stamped its hooves and snorted loudly, making the whole yard silent. A level nine riding beast like this would definitely be the highlight of the year-end auction at the Adventurer's Guild.
Miss Feifei was already drooling; this Fire-tailed Horned Horse King was worth dozens of regular steeds. She felt like she should upgrade her carriage.
Although Grolina wasn't a knight, having such a mount would greatly enhance her strength. Adding a level nine riding beast and a semi-artifact equipment, Grolina was sure that she would become the top fighter among the younger generation in the Temple of Dark Gods.
Dinolla was the most eager. As a true warrior, if she could get on such a cool riding beast and squeeze Gezheng for a better weapon, her strength would increase a lot. For a woman warrior with a natural tendency for violence, power was her eternal pursuit.
Gezheng thought to himself: its single horn should be a good material or a high-quality medicinal herb. However, this beast looked so irritable; it wouldn't be easy to take it down. If only he could decode the secret of the efficacy of herbs in this world...
As a monster, the Fire-tailed Horned Horse King's inherently acute sixth sense made it subconsciously glare at Gezheng and the others. Gezheng squinted at it and the Horse King felt a chill in its heart, making up its mind to keep away from that guy.
Sorgevlin was very satisfied with the scene. His position in this family was finally being taken seriously. "Sir, how about it, is this riding beast pleasing to the eye?" Sorgevlin was a bit pleased with himself.
Gezheng was even more puzzled. Sorgevlin had clearly gained a lot from him, and all signs indicated that he had ulterior motives for sticking around him. However, the appearance of the Fire-tailed Horned Horse King made Gezheng's already confused mind even more puzzled: What is this guy's purpose?
A level nine riding beast was two levels higher than the highest level on the market. Its value was no less than that of a semi-artifact. Sorgevlin gave it to him with hardly blinking, so what did he want?
The most valuable thing Gezheng could bring out was a semi-artifact, but now it seemed that Sorgevlin was not interested in that. Gezheng was getting more and more puzzled.
Dinolla smiled strangely, kicked Comis, and gestured at Gezheng and Sorgevlin. Comis couldn't help but think of Dinolla's "judgment" and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"You gave it to me?" Gezheng was not sure. Sorgevlin shrugged: "Of course, if it misbehaves, you tell me, I'll discipline it!" The Fire-tailed Horned Horse King shivered. A Dragon's discipline was a nightmare. The discipline of an intelligent Dragon was definitely a nightmare within the nightmare.
Gezheng laughed and said, "Let's not worry about that for now. A priceless gift should not go to waste." He walked up and patted the Horse King's neck. The pitiful level nine magical beast subconsciously backed away. It felt that Gezheng had "malicious intentions" towards it.
"Master." "Teacher." "Sir!"
The three women all spoke up, and for the first time, Dinolla called him "Sir" instead of "weirdo." He looked at them and shook his head. "Don't even think about it, I want to keep this Horse King to myself."
The three women were disappointed, but Gezheng would not let it go so easily. He turned his back to Sorgevlin and winked at the three women, then grinned. The women suddenly realized something and simultaneously pounced on Sorgevlin: "Uncle Soso, I also want a level nine riding beast!"
Gezheng shivered, Comis shuddered, and the two of them pulled Norodon and left. "Get out of here quickly, women's world is too crazy…"
...
"Um, Master," after careful deliberation, Norodon spoke, "I still think Master should stay in the Delson Royal City. Here, for you, it's a boundless sky, most conducive to unleashing your talents!"
Gezheng chuckled inwardly. The fish was about to bite the hook. He pretended to contemplate, "Forget it, the risk is too high." Norodon urged, "I am willing to help Master manage the business. Master, you have seen it yourself, I, Norodon, have some talent in business. If Master is not at ease, you can test me first."
Gezheng thought, "You don't just have some talent, you're practically a genius." But outwardly, he still had to feign reluctance, "Isn't this inappropriate? After all, you are a viscount, the lord of Rolingel City, having you look after my business…"
Gezheng didn't care much about the nobility of this world, but he used it to deceive Norodon. As expected, the more he refused, the more eager Norodon became. He quickly dissuaded, "Master, you mustn't say that. Without you, Rolingel City would have been wiped off the map long ago. Master, you have given me a new lease on life. If Norodon can earn gold for Master, even if it's just a little, it would be my small repayment to Master!"
Since Norodon even mentioned repaying the kindness, Gezheng reluctantly agreed. He seemed "reluctant" and said, "Alright, I will give you a chance to repay the kindness. Otherwise, this matter will always weigh on your heart, not good for you."
Norodon was touched and felt he was despicable, to be treated like this by his benefactor, and that he needed to help his benefactor earn a lot of gold, or else, he wouldn't be able to face the 200,000 citizens of Rolingel City!
"Rest assured, Master, I will definitely not let you down!" Norodon pledged solemnly.
...
At dinner, Sorgevlin appeared at the table in tattered clothes, guaranteeing once again to give each of them a level nine riding beast before escaping from the clutches of the three women, but his hair was turned into a chicken's nest and his clothes had several tears, clearly indicating that he had been abused in the afternoon.
Gezheng chuckled to himself.
In just one afternoon, the business genius Norodon had prepared a complete plan. Before the dishes were served, Norodon presented his plan: "Master, in my opinion, in Delson Royal City, there is no market for low-end products!"
Gezheng's business in Joho Mountain and Oba City mostly involved low-end goods. Nevertheless, he agreed; in a place like Delson Royal City, one of the five largest cities on the continent, high-end products must be made.
"Hmm, go on," nodded Gezheng.
"For high-end products, we need spacious storefronts that face the streets, luxurious and extravagant decoration, and plenty of stunning female dark elves who will mostly stand around doing nothing. This is too expensive. I calculated that to do it like the top three alchemist shops in the city -- as I mentioned before, for our startup capital, we'd need at least 1.6 million gold coins, with monthly fixed expenses around 300,000 gold coins."
Gezheng was not surprised at all; this was Delson, where a meal would cost 5,000 gold coins, and to run a top alchemy shop, if Norodon had said the budget was below a million gold coins, he wouldn’t have believed it.
"Operating this way involves too much risk," summarized Norodon. "My idea is that we don't need a shop; we only need reputation."
Gezheng frowned. "What do you mean?"
Norodon explained, "The key to my plan is you, Master. If you can make a name for yourself at the Royal Challenge, my plan can be realized."
Gezheng still didn't understand the plan. He simply asked, "Explain yourself."
Norodon immediately began to flatter: "We all here understand Master's abilities very well. There is no suspense about winning at the Royal Challenge. It didn't matter before, but now, I need you to win handsomely. It must leave a deep impression on everyone. This way, you will definitely become famous in the Royal City. Then... it will be our sales strategy, Master's work, sold through the East Wins Academy as a sales channel."
"There are many students like me in the East Wins Academy. Although they are nobles, after accumulating thousands of years of nobility in the empire, it is too many, and they are also very poor and in desperate need of some work-study opportunities. However, they are still nobles, and most of their associates are also nobles, including many influential ones. We will price Master's works for them, giving students a three-thousandths commission for each item sold. Their rewards depend on their sales performance; how does everyone feel about it?"
The commercial plan did not seem particularly outstanding to Ge Zheng, but just an original direct selling model. However, when Nuo Luodon was able to combine the student resources in Dongsheng Academy to develop this plan, Ge Zheng secretly nodded, realizing that he had not misread him.
But for the true Alchemists like Dinora, this plan seemed too far-fetched.
Gronia opened her mouth, feeling that she had no right to express her opinions here, so she thought about it and swallowed it back. Dinora never cared about such matters, and besides being sensitive to combat, she was generally indifferent. After hearing Nuo Luodon's plan, she felt it was bold but had nothing to comment on.
Miss Feifei, however, had no reservations and said aloud, "This plan..." Nuo Luodon had already prepared himself for her rebuttal, but surprisingly, Miss Feifei's eyes lit up, and she praised with a smile, "This plan is fantastic! As long as we have the endorsement of a guild like the Adventurers' Association and the teacher's reputation for security, the students promoting our products can win the trust of the nobility, and it will surely be successful!" Miss Feifei secretly thought to herself: Old teacher, rotten teacher, punishing me to copy books, this crappy business plan, I'll make you regret it!
Ge Zheng saw Nuo Luodon visibly relieved and couldn't help but think to himself: In this world, is there anything that a daring little witch wouldn't dare to do?
"Dunk, Combs, what do you think?" Ge Zheng asked for the opinions of his two servants. The two of them were clearly stunned, never expecting that for such a major decision, Ge Zheng would actually seek their opinions. Dunk was a bit slow to react, as this was a matter of over a million gold coins, and the master was actually asking me! I'm just a villager, and the master actually values me so much...
Ge Zheng did not have the same class consciousness as the people in this world. Dunk and Combs were also members of his large family now, and he would not consider all that money as his own, so he would make all the decisions himself.
Excitedly clasping his hands, Dunk stammered, "Master, whatever decision you make is fine by me. If there's something you need, just give me the order. I will do my best to satisfy you to the best of my abilities!"
Combs's thoughts were different from Dunk's. He now truly felt like Ge Zheng's accountant, and it was not just about keeping accounts, but also about having a certain financial authority! Combs felt a strong sense of responsibility welling up inside, and he thought about it seriously, but unfortunately, he ultimately had no conclusion: "Sir, I don't have any opinion." He also couldn't tell whether this sales plan was good or bad, so he refrained from making any judgment.
"Well, since no one objects..." Ge Zheng hadn't finished his sentence when Solgeween became unhappy, "Hey, what about me? How can you habitually leave me out?"
Ge Zheng had no intention of "leaving out" Solgeween; it was just that Solgeween was reminded of his lover's absence.
"Oh, I really forgot about you." Ge Zheng said with a smile. Solgeween felt greatly disappointed: Just received the other person's mount, and he's already forgotten about me. Sir, you really have a conscience.
"Alright, if you have any opinions, just say it." Ge Zheng said.
Solgeween actually disagreed from the bottom of his heart; he felt that his wisdom among this group of people was definitely the highest. How could he agree to such a plan made by a little brat like Nuo Luodon? However, as he was about to voice his objection, he looked around and saw that nobody opposed it. He had worked hard to establish some "popularity" within this household, and he couldn't afford to dissipate it with a moment of impulsiveness. He pursed his lips, "Well, I have no objection."
"Well, then, it's settled," Ge Zheng announced loudly, "Everything will be left to Nuo Luodon to handle."
Nuo Luodon was overjoyed.
Ge Zheng flicked his wrist, and two crystal cards appeared. "Nuo Luodon, here are two crystal cards. One of them contains ten thousand gold coins; consider it your three months' salary. The other one contains fifty thousand gold coins, which will serve as your startup capital. If it's not enough, you can come and ask me."
Nuo Luodon quickly waved his hand, "Master, you have been very kind to me, and besides, I will continue to freeload at your place in the future. I absolutely cannot accept this money..."
"Take it," Ge Zheng pushed it into his hand, "You must receive your salary, and keep accurate records. You will have to pay for your meals; one hundred gold coins for groceries and two hundred gold coins for honest Dunk's hard work. That's three hundred coins in total, not too expensive, right?" Ge Zheng thought to himself that he might as well take this opportunity to completely eliminate the freeloading. "You can pay for the groceries," Gronia promptly chimed in, "I've only got three hundred gold coins, so it's fair that I can eat and drink legitimately now."
Ge Zheng's eyes turned to the other two people, and Dinora hastily said, "I'm your bodyguard; you haven't paid me a salary, so doesn't it offset the cost of meals?" Ge Zheng narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Do I need your protection? You eat and live here on my expense, yet you want to extort from me. Shouldn't we settle this account based on the principle of mutual cooperation and friendly cooperation?"
"Erm..." Dinora hesitated as she pondered; her small savings might not last much longer.
Solgeween, the wise dragon, immediately said, "I can use my mount to offset the cost." Everyone in the room knew that he was penniless.
At that moment, Solgeween felt that perhaps the habits of his kind, liking to collect shiny items, were not entirely without merit.
...
"Third Prince," a middle-aged man entered with his hands meekly down, "The people sent to Oba City have returned."
Inside the room, a red curtain fell over a figure, and the wooden bed underneath creaked and swayed. The figure seemed not to have heard his announcement, and the fight continued, panting loudly. Sweat had soaked through the curtain, making it glisten. The tumultuous struggle seemed like a knight riding a horse and dodging a spear.
The woman under him had already lost consciousness in the raging storm, but the figure paid no heed, continuing until he made a low, grunt-like sound, and then suddenly thrust his body upward. His member pulled out from the female body, bringing out a bloody mess.
When the Third Prince landed, he stepped on a chair, causing it to overturn, and the large cloak on top of it seemed to fall like a black cloud onto him. "What is the result?" the Third Prince never inquired about the process.
The middle-aged man bowed his head low and said, "My apologies, Third Prince."
"Hmph!" The Third Prince's sweat had not yet dried, but the face of the Manchu man already showed a hint of hostility, "A bunch of useless people!" he bit out angrily.
The middle-aged man didn't say much, just pleaded for mercy with a single sentence.
"However, they didn't return empty-handed. They have learned the most likely identity of that person," the middle-aged man added.
"What identity? Speak quickly!" The Third Prince seemed somewhat impatient, but it was only because he was facing his most trusted person that he acted so fiercely.
"Ge Zheng, the most renowned alchemist under Duke Maris," the middle-aged man said, "He has left Oba City and arrived at the capital with the national mission."
"Maris..." The Third Prince's face showed a strange smile, "So, it turns out we're old acquaintances. Well, let's see how you can escape from my palm this time!"
"Send someone to bring back that alchemist for me," the Third Prince instructed casually.
The middle-aged man withdrew, and although the Third Prince had spoken lightly, he could not afford to take it lightly. The few people who did his work were all cultivated by him, and their actions were very cautious and meticulous. The Third Prince naturally knew that these talents were hard to come by, so even though he was angry, he did not unjustly punish them.
These people had missed out in Oba City, but they had also brought back detailed information about Ge Zheng. There is nothing difficult in this world, only if one sets their heart on it. Although Ge Zheng had concealed most of his actions very well, there were still some of his materials that were obtained by others.
The middle-aged man knew that this alchemist was definitely not to be taken lightly.
He looked back at the room and saw the Third Prince, who had just vented, now slumped in the chair, fast asleep. The black, gorgeous cloak draped over him, highlighting his extraordinary status. However, in his sleeping face, there was only weariness and exhaustion. The middle-aged man sighed inwardly: Everyone says that the rich and noble are the imperial family, but few know the path of the emperor hanging on the edge of a sword. The Third Prince had grown up under his care since childhood, and fundamentally, he was not a tyrant. but as the child grew older, the pressures grew along as well. If he wasn't fierce and aggressive, others would be, and if he wasn't cruel, others had already trampled over him. Perhaps only the pleasures of women and carnal desires could slightly loosen the tension in his heart.
The middle-aged man felt helpless as well; after all, who asked him to be born into an imperial family?
...
"Good morning, Master!"
Three days before the Royal Challenge, Demont came early in the morning to seek help from Ge Zheng. Ge Zheng saw the flush on his face and congratulated him with a smile, "It seems that the Viscount has already come up with a new technique for the beast knight. This time you are determined to win the Royal Challenge!"
"Hahaha..." Demont laughed heartily, and put his arm around him, "It's all thanks to Master's help. But I have another matter to seek Master's assistance with today."
Ge Zheng said, "Feel free to ask for anything." Demont exclaimed, "I knew Master wouldn't let me down."
"With the Royal Challenge about to begin, some top-notch talents in the capital have been hired as drill instructors, and I was a little late to act. I can't find any high-caliber experts now. It's said that the Master's mansion has a female hero, with superb skill in swordsmanship. Please loan her to me, and let her practice actual combat with me for a few days. What do you say?"
Ge Zheng frowned, not because he was unwilling to help, but because the word "loan" made him extremely uncomfortable.
德克蒙特 is a member of the royal family after all, and he still holds deep aristocratic thoughts in his heart. In his opinion, everything in the house belongs to the master, so the ownership of Dīnuòlā is definitely Gē zhēng’s. As a woman, she is not much different from an object, just relatively more precious.
"I have no objection to this, but we should see what her opinion is," Gē zhēng said. De kè měng tè looked at him strangely, but didn't say much.
Dīnuòlā was worried. With a monthly food expense of three hundred gold coins, although she had some savings, she couldn't just spend them all. Coincidentally, Dè kè měng tè brought a deal to make money: three days, with a daily reward of five hundred gold coins.
"Of course I'll do it!" Dīnuòlā couldn't wait to start working.
"Well then, thank you, miss. De kè měng tè will go back to prepare, and when the miss is ready, she can come over." De kè měng tè could see that Gē zhēng had a different attitude towards Dīnuòlā, so he was much more polite to her when speaking.
He always had some dirty, aristocratic thoughts in his mind. When leaving, he glanced at Dīnuòlā and Gē zhēng through the crack in the door, and couldn’t help but smirk: does Master Gē like this kind of style?
After some preparation, Dīnuòlā took out the leather armor she hadn't worn for several days and put it on in front of Gē zhēng. Although she was wearing a small garment underneath, with Dīnuòlā's figure, it really couldn't cover much. The two pieces of cloth could only cover the two red beans on her chest, and her full lower body was exposed. Gē zhēng couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. This woman was really a bit wasted as a tomboy.
With a slap, Dīnuòlā casually slung her broadsword over her back, one hand on Gē zhēng's shoulder, and the other casually picking her teeth with a toothpick. Gē zhēng immediately regained his composure: a tomboy is just a tomboy, and can never become a sexy goddess.
"Sir, I'm going with De kè měng tè to train in mounted combat," she said, speaking to Gē zhēng with a sweet smile, which she rarely had the chance to do. How could Gē zhēng not understand her intentions?
"Do you want to borrow the Firetail Horned Horse King?"