I Can Control Resources

"Partnering with the Celestial King Group? At such a critical time..." Wu Qingjing’s brow was also furrowed tightly, because he couldn’t determine if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

As the Speaker of the Supreme Council, his perspective was obviously broader than others, so he naturally understood the various interests and dangers involved.

Gao Neng’s sudden interference was a massive wave in a calm lake.

What kind of impact would this wave cause...

No one could truly predict it.

Moreover, the most crucial problem now was that Wu Qingjing realized this massive wave seemed to be slipping out of control; there was simply no way for him to stop it anymore.

「In the exhibition hall.」

Following the conversation between Li Tiannan and Fang Yuan, all eyes were drawn to the authorization contract in Li Tiannan’s hands.

What on earth was written on it?

What could force even Li Tiannan to negotiate with the Celestial King Group?

Qin Lei and Sword Elder exchanged a glance. They were all old foxes, and they knew Li Tiannan’s personality all too well.

If Gao Neng truly held the rights to the pills, Li Tiannan would never have turned to negotiate with the Celestial King Group, let alone offer to buy them.

So, the only possibility was...

Gao Neng had truly granted the Celestial King Group full rights to the pills.

This complicated things.

After all, the Celestial King Group did not fall under the Supreme Council’s jurisdiction. To put it another way, although the Celestial King Group was a military-industrial enterprise, it was, in fact, privately owned.

On the surface, it seemed like Fang Yuan had simply spent two hundred billion to acquire Gao Neng’s pill authorization, but the underlying issue touched upon the interests of the entire Alliance.

After all, Gao Neng’s actions had already proven one thing to everyone: he could use his high-humidity flash-roasting method to produce pills with a one hundred percent success rate.

What’s more, the grade of the pills didn’t matter!

From low-tier to supreme-grade...

He could make them all!

To put it bluntly, Gao Neng was a walking pill treasury. But the owner of this treasury wasn’t the Federation Government—it was the Celestial King Group.

"Gao Neng, can’t we discuss this a bit more before making a decision?" Qin Lei didn’t actually participate much in politics, but this time, he still spoke up.

"Of course we can discuss it," Gao Neng nodded.

"Oh, you can change the authorization in the contract?"

"Mhm, you just need to pay a termination fee of one thousand times the original price..."

"A thousand times?!" Qin Lei’s expression changed slightly. He had just heard that the Celestial King Group had paid Gao Neng an advance of two hundred billion Alliance Coins.

Two hundred billion!

’How much is a penalty of a thousand times that amount?’

Qin Lei didn’t dare to think further. Even if they emptied the entire Federation Government’s treasury, it would be impossible to come up with that much money.

Unless the Federation Government frantically printed money. But if that happened, the entire Alliance’s economic system would suffer a devastating blow.

A few hundred bucks would instantly become worth only what one buck could buy.

Who could stand that?

Although Qin Lei was a Strongest.

Even he couldn’t make that decision. Forget him—no one in the entire Alliance could.

Qin Lei said no more.

He already understood Gao Neng’s determination.

Since that authorization contract was signed with a penalty a thousand times the value, it meant Gao Neng had given the Federation Government no room for further negotiation.

Since that was the case, he might as well just watch and see what Gao Neng was really up to.

As he was lost in thought, the negotiations between Li Tiannan and Fang Yuan also came to an end.

What was the selling price of one Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill?

Eighteen point seven billion!

This was absolutely... a price that would make you cough up blood.

Not because it was expensive.

But because it was too cheap!

So cheap it was like buying cabbages...

At least, when Li Tiannan heard Fang Yuan state this price, his expression clearly went blank for a moment. He even found it a little hard to believe.

Because any fool knew that the cost of the materials alone for a single Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill was more than this price.

But this was the price Fang Yuan offered.

And most importantly, Li Tiannan saw the three directors behind Fang Yuan conferring seriously for a moment.

What did this mean?

It meant the Celestial King Group really only intended to sell one Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill for less than twenty billion.

So, after his moment of shock, Li Tiannan agreed on the spot without a second thought and even signed a purchase contract right then and there.

Once everything was completed, the exhibition hall erupted.

"A single Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill sold for less than twenty billion? That’s too ridiculous!"

"Where can you find a pill that cheap?"

"I’ve never seen anything like it!"

The young masters from the surrounding sects and prestigious families were all dumbfounded.

It wasn’t just them. Wu Qingjing, Yutian, Qin Lei, and the others were also looking at Gao Neng with expressions of complete confusion.

Because they all understood...

The Celestial King Group setting such a price for the pill was definitely Gao Neng’s idea.

After all, the Celestial King Group wasn’t some charity. How could a military-industrial enterprise that had grown to its current scale not know the true market price of a Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill?

"A Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill sold for less than twenty billion. Everyone must be a little surprised, right?" Gao Neng smiled, then spoke again. "But, what I want to say is, there will be many more surprises like this in the future."

The room erupted.

This time, someone finally couldn’t sit still any longer.

"Gao Neng, what on earth are you trying to do?"

"Are you trying to disrupt the market all by yourself?"

"Aren’t you afraid of causing unnecessary trouble by doing this?"

The first to speak out were some of the smaller prestigious families.

For them, profits from pills were often the economic pillar supporting their entire family, so naturally, they were unwilling to let someone deliberately suppress prices.

"Are you saying I’m disrupting the market?" Gao Neng’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Aren’t you?" someone retorted.

"Mhm, you’re right. I am disrupting the market. But I’m doing it with my own skill!" Gao Neng grinned, completely unfazed.

"..." The room fell silent.

Gao Neng didn’t bother with pleasantries and continued, "First, I can use evolutionary energy to evolve low-grade attribute materials directly into mid- and high-grade ones, even supreme-grade materials. This gives me a massive source of materials. And then, I can perform alchemy...

And I’m damn good at it!

You all saw for yourselves. My alchemy is incredibly easy. I just light a fire, and that’s it. It’s fast, has a one hundred percent success rate, and the quality is off the charts.

You can’t compete with me at all! Pretty hopeless, isn’t it?"

A series of sharp cracks echoed as fists tightened around the room.

Gao Neng paid them no mind, casually stowing the Pill Furnace in front of him before speaking again. "One Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill requires five different supreme-grade attribute materials. A single supreme-grade attribute material has a market price of around fifteen billion. But once you factor in the premium, you’re looking at closer to twenty-five or thirty billion—and that’s assuming you can even find one for sale!"

"Gao Neng, what’s your point?" someone asked through gritted teeth.

"I’m just running the numbers for everyone. One supreme-grade material costs nearly thirty billion. How much is five? That’s one hundred fifty billion! If you add in the cost of refinement and assume a fifty-percent success rate, you’d need at least three hundred billion. And that’s just the cost. If the prestigious families and sects want to make a little profit... I estimate it wouldn’t go for less than five hundred billion, right, Master?" As Gao Neng spoke, his gaze suddenly shifted to Li Tiannan.

"Hmph!" Li Tiannan snorted, then immediately replied, "The purchase contract is already signed. It’s useless for you to raise the price now!"

"Haha, you misunderstand, Master. Of course I won’t raise the price. To be honest... I was actually considering giving you a twenty-percent discount, but you signed the purchase contract so quickly. *Sigh*... Now I can’t give you a discount even if I wanted to!" Gao Neng shrugged, feigning an expression of utter despair.

"..." Li Tiannan.

’I don’t believe him for a second!’

’A Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill sold for less than twenty billion, and he’s talking about a twenty-percent discount...’

’Who in their right mind would believe that!’

Gao Neng naturally guessed that Li Tiannan didn’t believe him.

So, he decided to say a few more words to make Li Tiannan believe him.

"Alright, since we’re on this topic, I’ll take this opportunity to announce the details of my partnership with the Celestial King Group." After speaking, Gao Neng paused for a moment before continuing, "I have already assigned all future pills I refine, including the ones I’ve just made, exclusively to the Celestial King Group."

"..." No one spoke; everyone had already guessed as much.

"Therefore, in the future, the Celestial King Group will have more than enough pills to supply the market. Furthermore, I hereby announce that all finished pills will be sold to the public at a price ten times lower than the market rate!" Gao Neng declared.

"What?!"

"Ten times lower?!"

"Th-this... how is this possible?"

This time, everyone stared at Gao Neng with wide eyes.

Including Wu Qingjing, Yutian, Qin Lei, and the others. When they looked at Gao Neng now, they were all in a state of utter disbelief.

In their minds, even if Gao Neng really wanted to compete with the sects and prestigious families, there was absolutely no need to go as far as selling at a price ten times lower.

To put it bluntly, if the price was just halved—a fifty-percent discount—the sects and prestigious families probably wouldn’t be able to take it.

"This kid, is he really going to make such a huge move? Selling finished pills at a price ten times lower than the market? What on earth is he trying to do?" Yutian was now leaning close to Wu Qingjing, because he truly couldn’t wrap his head around it.

"I always thought his sights were set on running for the next Speaker of the Parliament. But if becoming Speaker really is his goal, he should be fostering good relations with the sects and prestigious families. Instead, he’s stealing the food right off their tables..." Wu Qingjing trailed off, hesitating.

"Exactly, that’s what I can’t figure out either!" Yutian nodded. "This is just too illogical. He’s completely ignoring the rules of the game."

’You’ve offended the sects and prestigious families...’

’How can you still run for Speaker?’