I Can Control Resources

The exhibition hall erupted in an uproar.

It wasn’t just Wu Qingjing and Yutian who were stunned; the representatives from the other major noble families and sects all shot to their feet.

A price that was a tenth of the market value!

And they were all finished elixirs...

What did this mean?

It meant that an elixir that sold for ten million on the market would be sold by Gao Neng for just one million. And, from the sound of it, the supply was unlimited.

’He must be insane!’

If this happened, how would their noble families and sects even survive?

How could they possibly sell the elixirs they refined?

Most importantly, at a tenth of the price, they couldn’t even organize a collective boycott. The price was just too low—so low that it didn’t even cover their production costs.

To put it bluntly, for an elixir with a market price of ten million, even for a noble family or sect, the actual cost of production was around four to five million once you factored in success rates and inflated material prices.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to sell them for more, but the Federation Government regulated the market.

Of course, this regulation only applied to common, low-tier Attribute Elixirs, not precious ones like the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill.

But in reality, most sects and noble families relied on these common elixirs for their livelihood.

Their descendants were born with access to vast resources. Where did those resources come from? Wasn’t it from the profit margins earned through alchemy?

After all, in an era like this, real estate and the like... weren’t exactly a safe bet.

Not many people hoarded fixed assets.

The main source of income for all the sects and noble families came from alchemy, or from returns on research-related investments.

"Gao Neng, do you have any idea what you’re saying? You want to sell elixirs at a tenth of the market price? Do you think the Federation Government will agree to that?!" a Noble Family Head demanded.

"Hmm, if I recall correctly, elixir prices are regulated by the Federation Government, and the Federation Government’s decisions are primarily made by the Supreme Council."

"It’s good that you know that!"

"Of course, I know. That’s why I made sure to secure the chairmanship of the Elixir Medicine Federation ahead of time!" Gao Neng said, smiling at the Noble Family Head who had spoken.

"..." The Noble Family Head was stunned once again.

He finally understood what Gao Neng was doing.

’This is a massive scheme!’

Or rather, this entire Alchemist conference was a conspiracy designed by Gao Neng to trap all the sects and noble families.

The elixir contributions, the alchemy competition...

It was all just a pretext!

Gao Neng’s true target had always been the chairmanship of the Elixir Medicine Federation. Or to be more precise, his true target was the elixir market controlled by the sects and noble families!

The Supreme Council was indeed responsible for regulating elixir prices, but the specific department that carried out the Supreme Council’s price control policies was the Elixir Medicine Federation.

With Gao Neng as the chairman of the federation, he had them by the throat when it came to elixir sales.

He would be unstoppable in the elixir market, free to do as he pleased.

"Gao Neng, don’t be so naive. Do you really think you alone can satisfy the entire Federation’s demand for elixirs? So what if you have a one-hundred-percent success rate in alchemy? Do you have enough attribute ingredients? With just the three thousand raw ingredients before you, how long do you think you can last?" a Sect Leader spoke up.

"That’s right. Even though these are all high-tier ingredients, the quantity is still limited. With only three thousand ingredients, can you really support the entire Federation’s supply and demand?!" another Noble Family Head added with a nod.

"You’re both right. Three thousand ingredients isn’t enough. Not just not enough—it’s far from enough. Because once the price of elixirs drops to a tenth of the original, I’m sure that with your financial power, you can all frantically hoard them and buy up every single elixir refined from these three thousand ingredients. Am I wrong?" Gao Neng asked, looking at the two men seriously.

"..." The Sect Leader didn’t speak.

But his expression made his thoughts perfectly clear.

The Noble Family Head, however, clenched his fists, a cold glint in his eyes. "Are you planning to restrict the purchasing rights of our noble families and sects?"

"Why would I restrict your purchasing rights?" Gao Neng chuckled again.

"Hmph. Just as you said, if you don’t restrict us, the elixirs made from these three thousand ingredients probably won’t even last three days on the market!" the Noble Family Head said with great confidence.

If all their noble families and sects rushed to buy them at a tenth of the price, forget three thousand ingredients—even six thousand or eight thousand wouldn’t be enough to satisfy their buying frenzy.

And once they bought out the entire stock,

then the move made by Gao Neng and the Celestial King Group would be akin to doing all the hard work just for them to reap the benefits. It would be utterly meaningless.

"Mm, that is indeed a problem. So, I plan to acquire a massive amount of attribute ingredients. I’ll buy them at the normal market price. I wonder if you gentlemen would be willing to sell them to me?" Gao Neng said with a sincere nod.

"Acquire them at the normal market price?"

"Hahaha..."

"Gao Neng, if you retract your previous decision and sell the elixirs at a normal price—or maybe you can offer a twenty-percent discount—then we’d be willing to sell our ingredients to you. But you want to talk about normal prices with us now? Do you really think our noble families and sects are all fools?"

The Sect Leader and the Noble Family Head laughed in unison.

"It seems you’re all a bit unwilling? Should I offer to buy the ingredients at twice the price, then?" Gao Neng asked, seemingly having anticipated this situation.

"Hmph!" No one answered, but from the expressions of the sect and noble family members present, their attitude was already quite clear.

"Alright, it looks like you really aren’t willing. In that case, I have no choice. I can only turn to Governor Yun for help." Gao Neng shifted his gaze to Yutian.

"The ingredients aren’t the problem, it’s just..." Yutian’s expression became rather complicated when he saw Gao Neng looking at him.

"It’s just that the quantity isn’t large enough, right?" Gao Neng asked with a smile.

"Yes. Although the Underground City is a source of attribute ingredients, my main responsibility as Governor is to maintain public order. Any attribute ingredients gathered outside the city essentially belong to the gatherers. The Underground City only takes a ten-percent cut of the profits... Alright, the Underground City currently has less than seven hundred attribute ingredients. If you really want them, I can sell you a portion." Yutian gritted his teeth as he finished.

"Only a portion of seven hundred ingredients?"

"Gao Neng, stop pressuring Governor Yun! The attribute ingredients from the Underground City have always been purchased by our sects and noble families on a long-term basis. No matter how much you push him, you won’t get much out of him!" another Noble Family Head spoke up again.

"So that’s how it is." Gao Neng looked as if he had a sudden realization. Then, his gaze swept across the room, taking in the various emotions in the eyes of all the sect and noble family heads.

There was anger, worry, and contemplation...

A colorful assortment of expressions.

But regardless of their attitudes, for now, only a few people from the sects and noble families had spoken up. The rest remained silent.

Gao Neng smiled. Everything was going just as he had predicted.

Among these ancient sects and noble families that had existed for hundreds or even thousands of years, there were still some smart people. Or perhaps, they had already foreseen the future trend.

They just couldn’t quite figure out where Gao Neng’s confidence was coming from.

Gao Neng scanned the room one more time, feeling assured.

He knew it was time to play his trump card...

"Master, is the Military Department willing to cooperate with me?" Gao Neng asked, turning immediately to Li Tiannan.

"You brat, stop beating around the bush. Just say what you mean. If you’re thinking of having the Military Department supply you with ingredients, then forget it. The Military Department’s ingredients mostly come from the battlefield, and you know the situation there. We’re primarily on the defensive right now. We have some ingredients, but definitely not a lot!" Li Tiannan didn’t try to hide anything.

"I don’t need the Military Department to supply them. I just need the Military Department to help me gather them!" Gao Neng replied casually.

"Help you gather them? You mean... you want to get those ingredients from the wilderness outside the Underground City..." Li Tiannan’s eyes narrowed, then suddenly lit up, because he already knew what Gao Neng was about to say.

"And Master said he wasn’t following me? Heh, that’s right. I know the location of every ingredient growing in the wilderness outside the Underground City. I assume no one has any objections to that?" Gao Neng tilted his head back and pointed upward.

The hall erupted.

"What? He knows the location of every ingredient in the wilderness outside the Underground City?!"

"How is that possible?!"

Some of the people from the sects and noble families were going crazy.

This was their first time down in the Underground City, but they knew about the dangers of the wilderness area outside it, and how rare attribute ingredients were.

’He knows the location of all the ingredients?’

’Is he even human?!’

’Not even an Immortal could do that!’

"All you Sect Leaders and Noble Family Heads are probably new here and don’t understand some things. I, Gao Neng, am not particularly skilled at anything... except for being exceptionally skilled at gathering ingredients!" Gao Neng’s gaze swept around, pausing for a moment on Shaximo, who was beside the old monk from the Esoteric Sect, and on Wei Ya, who was next to Wei Wuya.

And at his words, the expressions on both Shaximo’s and Wei Ya’s faces changed visibly.

In fact, it wasn’t just them. Even Yi Qinglian, who was standing behind Gao Neng, stared with wide eyes.

Which of the Dragon List Geniuses didn’t know that Gao Neng could gather dozens of attribute ingredients in a single day? It was just that they had always assumed he was using his evolutionary energy to create them.

But now, it seemed they were having second thoughts.

Then, Gao Neng’s next action completely confirmed their suspicions.

"Master, here is a map of some of the ingredient locations in the Underground City’s wilderness area. You can directly dispatch people from the Military Department to start gathering. However, I have one condition." Gao Neng handed a map to Li Tiannan.

"What condition?" Li Tiannan asked as he immediately took the map.

"You can have all the ingredients at eighty percent of the market price!" Gao Neng said, the corners of his mouth lifting.

"Eighty percent?! You brat, did I hear you right? Are you sure you said eighty percent, and not fifty percent or thirty percent or something?" Li Tiannan asked in disbelief.