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Chapter 208: Business Opportunity

"That makes sense." Chu Liang nodded. "As long as we join forces, we can definitely achieve good results."

"We will strive to do our utmost to succeed, right until death comes for us," Lackey A vowed, bowing deeply.

"All right. There\'s no need for such literary lines." Lin Bei pulled Lackey A down, forcing him to sit. "In my opinion, both Senior Sister Jiang and Senior Brother Xu are good choices as allies; there\'s no need to offend either side. We can profit by working both sides. Let\'s build high walls, accumulate abundant provisions, and wait for the right time to take over as king[1]."

Lin Bei was from Jade Sword Peak, so he naturally didn\'t want to be at odds with Xu Ziyang.

"That makes sense too," Chu Liang replied, nodding again.

"It\'s easier said than done to try and benefit from both sides, my lord. Don\'t listen to such drivel!" Lackey A urged.

Lin Bei glared at him. "Who are you saying is talking drivel?"

"You, of course!" Lackey A replied.

"Nonsense!"

"Quite the opposite!"

"..."

"Alright, alright." Chu Liang smiled helplessly and stopped the two of them from continuing their fight. "I\'ve got my own thoughts on what to do. I\'ll change my strategy accordingly as the situation unfolds."

"They\'re here!" Shang Ziliang said, pointing at the sky.

In the distance, there were numerous beams of swordlight flying over, making a sudden arrival. The two teams from Jade Sword Peak and Azure Falling Peak came from two different directions and landed simultaneously.

Today was the day that the three teams had agreed to meet to discuss the map. The location was Silver Sword Peak.

If they had the meeting on either of the other two peaks, it was inevitable that there would be many people watching them. However, that wasn\'t a problem at Silver Sword Peak.

"Senior Sister Jiang, you\'re here!" Chu Liang went over and greeted Jiang Yuebai first. Then he turned and gave a light nod to Xu Ziyang. "Senior Brother Xu."

Xu Ziyang didn\'t bother exchanging pleasantries.

He just said, "Just take out the parts of the map."

"Sure."

Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai took out their parts of the map.

Chu Liang held out his parts of the map. He had already spent some time examining them carefully before the meeting. They depicted a wooded mountain and various plants, much like a normal map. However, the ink was very thick and had many overlapping parts, so much so that it was difficult to see the details clearly. He hadn\'t been able to discern much from them.

With everyone present, Chu Liang, Jiang Yuebai, and Xu Ziyang put the four parts of the map together. All of them had the same thick golden ink lines and overlapping features. They vaguely depicted a wooded mountain, but the details weren\'t clear.

"I still can\'t tell where this is," Xu Ziyang said.

Before long, someone on each team had finished making a copy of the map. It wasn\'t difficult for cultivators to create a duplicate from memory, especially since they could refer to the original.

Regardless, having a duplicate didn\'t mean much because no one could understand the map at all.

They\'d initially thought that they would acquire a map with the treasure\'s location once they put four flags together. Yet, this painting turned out to be another puzzle they had to solve.

Chu Liang looked at the painting and said pensively, "Let\'s just head back to our peaks and think about it. We\'re done with the information exchange. As for the answer, that will be dependent on who has the ability to figure it out."

Jiang Yuebai agreed with Chu Liang.

Everyone had arrived in a hurry, and they left just as hurriedly to study the painting.

Before Jiang Yuebai left, Chu Liang stealthily stopped her from leaving and told her about how the Greater-Yin Cult was hunting down the Whale-Riding Immortal.

Upon hearing that, Jiang Yuebai was extremely calm. She nodded casually, seemingly unbothered by the news.

...

Once the people from Azure Falling Peak and Jade Sword Peak were gone, Chu Liang called his team members over.

"Come here quickly. I have something to tell you."

"Big Bro! Did you find something significant?" Shang Ziliang asked excitedly.

"That\'s right," Chu Liang said with a nod. "I found... a business opportunity."

The others stared at him blankly. "Huh?"

"There are over a hundred teams participating in the Mountain God Memorial Ceremony, but only three teams have obtained the puzzle of the second stage. Based on how the previous years went, this means the other teams will be eliminated in the first stage," Chu Liang said.

"That\'s right," Shang Ziliang agreed.

He couldn\'t help but feel a little emotional. If they hadn\'t clung to Chu Liang, they would probably have been eliminated in this stage as well.

"If someone were to tell them now that they could buy the full puzzle of the second stage for fifty sword coins, do you think they would buy it?" Chu Liang asked.

"Eh?" Lin Bei uttered. "For sure. They\'ll definitely buy it. Each person in the team just needs to contribute ten sword coins, and they\'ll be able to participate in the game again. But... which of the teams that have acquired the puzzle would be foolish enough to sell it so cheaply? Hey, wait a moment..."

Lin Bei saw Chu Liang\'s smile and seemed to understand what he was thinking.

"Big Boss, are you planning on selling this painting?" Lackey A was quite surprised. "Wouldn\'t that just give us more competition?"

Instead of answering, Chu Liang asked, "Can you figure out the secret hidden in this painting?"

"I... can\'t," Lackey A answered quietly.

Chu Liang gazed at him with bright eyes. "If even you, with your high level of intelligence, can\'t figure out the mystery, how could those who lost to us in the first stage possibly surpass you?"

Lackey A looked stunned for a moment.

Then, looking as if Chu Liang\'s gaze had lit a fire within him, Lackey A nodded vigorously and replied, "Indeed!"

"But..." Shang Ziliang muttered, feeling there was still something a little off about this idea.

"There\'s no need to hesitate. Just do as I say." Chu Liang patted Shang Ziliang\'s shoulder reassuringly. "Head out immediately. Split up and look for the team captains. Have a private talk with them. Just say... it\'s secret information you stole from me behind my back and that it shouldn\'t be leaked to anyone else. Sell it for fifty sword coins. I believe there won\'t be many teams that will refuse. We can earn at least several thousand sword coins through this business."

That wasn\'t a small sum, and there was almost no cost involved for them.

"But what if other teams sell it too?" Lin Bei asked.

Chu Liang answered, "That\'s why I need you to act swiftly and in secret. Finish making the deals before the news spreads. As for the teams we sell it to, I doubt they\'ll sell it. Who would want to increase their competition for such a small amount of money?"

Upon hearing him say that, his four team members looked at him with baffled expressions.

"..." Chu Liang grinned sheepishly. "This isn\'t a small amount to me; it\'s a lot of money!"

Shang Ziliang had witnessed firsthand the way Chu Liang loved money as much as his own life. In fact, Shang Ziliang\'s father was withholding more than half of Shang Ziliang\'s monthly allowance and would continue to do so until the total was enough to cover the five thousand sword coins that had been given to Di Nufeng and Chu Liang as compensation. One could say that Shang Ziliang was a victim of Chu Liang\'s love for money.

Actually, Chu Liang wasn\'t in dire need of money right now, but how could he pass up an opportunity to make money? After all, a disciple could never have too many sword coins. In particular, after reaching Earthly Gate, the fourth, fifth, and sixth realms... all required many resources, so it was always good to save a bit more money.

Under Chu Liang\'s urging, everyone headed out at top speed and got to work.

...

Chu Liang didn\'t participate in that work. Instead, he returned to his cabin. Nevertheless, he wasn\'t simply going to slack off after ordering his juniors around; he had other work to do.

He erected the scrolls with the duplicates of the four paintings in a square in the center of his room, arranging them in the orientations of east, south, north, and west respectively.

The flags had been placed in specific parts of Sword Sheath Peak. Chu Liang couldn\'t mess up the placements of the paintings; they had to be placed according to where they\'d been placed on the peak.

After that, Chu Liang placed a candle in the middle, turning the setup into something like a lantern. He blocked all light from going into the room through the windows and the door and lit the candle gently.

Swoosh.

The light from the flame shone through the scrolls and projected the paintings onto the walls. The details of the complicated and messy paintings suddenly became clear in 3D. Vivid scenery unfolded before him as if he\'d been thrown into a forest.

The forest was dense with plant life and weirdly shaped jagged rocks. It seemed just like a lush valley surrounded by wooded mountains.

It turned out that the solution for the second stage\'s puzzle had been concealed using such a smart trick.

Nonetheless, if Chu Liang hadn\'t solved the second puzzle yet, how could he have possibly decided to sell it?

In fact, Chu Liang had already figured out that this was no ordinary map when he saw that it still made no sense despite being complete. He racked his brain for a while. Fortunately, he had seen a 3D film before, so he made the connection and thought of the trick to crack the puzzle.

The duplicates weren\'t as good as the originals. If he had used the paintings on the four flags instead, the projection would have given him a magical feeling of having been transported to a whole new place.

The second puzzle had indeed been designed ingeniously.

Chu Liang looked around. The projection was rather blurry, but he could still roughly recognize the valley and the surrounding forest and identify the location.

Coincidentally, he\'d been there before!

1. A saying from The Art of War that basically means to make ample preparations and bide your time for the right moment to strike. ☜