Chapter 73 – Su Xing’s Benefactor, Jin Congxue!

Chapter 73 – Su Xing’s Benefactor, Jin Congxue!

“After achieving the Nine-Revolution Golden Core, my pill-refining speed has noticeably improved again. At my current pace, if I don’t eat, drink, or sleep, I should be able to refine three hundred Beauty-Preserving Pills a day. In a week, that’s barely two thousand—far from enough…”

Su Xing pondered as he refined pills.

“Regardless, I’ll refine first and think later. The more pills I can stockpile, the more money I can make!”

And so, over the following week, Su Xing refined pills day and night, relying on Fasting Pills to maintain his stamina, going seven full days without sleep.

After seven days, Su Xing had refined a total of 1,000 Beauty-Preserving Pills, 300 Premium Beauty-Preserving Pills, and 800 Healing Pills.

Even at this speed, it was only after Su Xing’s breakthrough in cultivation that he barely managed to achieve this output—it had squeezed out every last drop of his energy.

After seven days, Su Xing sported a pair of dark circles under his eyes, yawning nonstop.

Seven consecutive days of refining pills without eating or drinking, expending enormous amounts of mental and physical energy—it was only thanks to Su Xing being a Golden Core stage cultivator that he hadn’t dropped dead from exhaustion.

Looking at the small pile of pills in his storage ring, Su Xing revealed a satisfied smile.

“Counting the few hundred pills I had saved up before, I now have three thousand pills on hand. While it’s not enough to acquire the Lingyun Merchant Association, it’s enough to give it a try for now!”

Su Xing took out his phone and sent Jin Congxue a message, arranging a time to meet.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at a villa where they had pre-ordered dinner, planning to eat and talk at the same time.

When Jin Congxue saw Su Xing’s appearance, she paused for a moment and said in confusion, “I haven’t seen you for a few days—how did you get even more handsome? Strange, though… you’ve got this kidney-deficiency vibe going on.”

Su Xing rolled his eyes at this. The improved looks were due to his talent’s effects, and as for the kidney deficiency look—that was entirely from staying up all night refining pills!

Soon, the servants brought over the luxurious dinner they had ordered. Su Xing hadn’t eaten anything in days, and although the Fasting Pills had sustained his stamina, the sight of such a lavish spread was irresistible. He grabbed a large chicken drumstick and stuffed it into his mouth.

Watching Su Xing eat without a care in the world, Jin Congxue rolled her eyes, handed him a napkin, and teased, “Were you a starving ghost in a past life? It’s like you haven’t eaten in ages!”

Su Xing shoveled rice into his mouth while giving a thumbs up and said, “It’s a real shame you didn’t become a fortune teller! I really haven’t eaten in several days—seeing all this delicious food, I just can’t help myself!”

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Su Xing and Jin Congxue got down to business. She first handed over the 300,000 pieces of white-grade equipment she had acquired over the past week.

Then she said, “Su Xing, do you know about the big news in the Capital City’s business world lately? The Lingyun Merchant Association has been mismanaged and has started dumping its assets at a large scale, especially in the low-tier equipment retail sector. Are you interested in acquiring them?”

Su Xing had expected this, so he nodded and asked directly, “I’ve heard of the Lingyun Merchant Association. It barely qualifies as a first-rate merchant association. But how much capital would be needed to acquire these assets?”

Jin Congxue held up two fingers and said, “At least two hundred billion yuan! The Lingyun Merchant Association has indeed declined in recent years. At its peak, it held a near-monopoly over most of the low-end Class User market in the Capital City, with a valuation of several trillion. But a starving camel is still bigger than a horse!”

“Although the Lingyun Merchant Association has fallen, its current asset valuation is still above five hundred billion yuan. It’s only because of internal shareholder disputes that they’re dumping assets at such bargain prices!”

“As long as we can swallow up the Lingyun Merchant Association, I’m confident I can elevate the Tarot Trading Company to first-rate status within a year!”

Su Xing nodded, filled with admiration for Jin Congxue’s business acumen.

The benchmark for a first-rate merchant association was an asset valuation of at least a trillion. In all his previous simulations, Su Xing had leveraged the advantage of foreknowledge and spent over a decade each time, yet never managed to elevate the Tarot Trading Company to first-rate status.

Only someone like Jin Congxue—born into a merchant family, with razor-sharp instincts, extensive resources, and a vast network—could make such a claim with confidence.

Su Xing thought to himself that if Jin Congxue also had a talent, it would be at least a purple-grade business mogul talent.

After thinking it over, Su Xing said, “Two hundred billion is still too much for the Tarot Trading Company. Right now, we’re only a second or third-rate merchant association, with an asset valuation of just a few billion… I’m afraid the company can’t come up with that kind of money?”

In truth, Su Xing had wondered about this in his simulations too. Even if he refined pills at maximum capacity, raising two hundred billion in a short time was unrealistic. How had Jin Congxue managed to acquire the Lingyun Merchant Association?

Jin Congxue patted her full stomach, rolled her eyes, and said, “Su Xing, you really don’t know the first thing about business! Even my Jin Commerce Group would have trouble producing two hundred billion in liquid capital outright. Normally, acquisitions are done through asset swaps or phased purchases!”

“The Tarot Society’s current holdings are too thin for an asset swap, obviously. But we can absolutely do a phased acquisition! For the first installment, we only need one-tenth of the total—that’s twenty billion!”

Su Xing nodded slightly, then produced bottle after bottle of pills from his storage ring. “These are 1,500 Beauty-Preserving Pills, 500 Premium Beauty-Preserving Pills, and 1,000 Healing Pills. This is the last of my reserves. Going forward, I’ll supply at least 1,500 pills per week. Let’s try to acquire the Lingyun Merchant Association as soon as possible.”

When Jin Congxue saw Su Xing produce so many pills at once, she was completely stunned.

The pills in Su Xing’s hands alone were worth 3.5 billion yuan!

And Su Xing had indicated he could supply 1,500 pills per week, meaning at least 1.5 billion in value each week.

“Good heavens, you’re basically a walking money printer!”

Jin Congxue was somewhat shocked. After thinking for a moment, she said, “My original plan was for us to at least take over the Lingyun Merchant Association’s equipment trading assets. But looking at how fast you make money, we could absolutely swallow up the entire Lingyun Merchant Association!”

Seeing Jin Congxue’s excited expression, Su Xing smiled and nodded, though he felt some hesitation inside. “But 3.5 billion in initial capital shouldn’t be enough for the acquisition, and buying the Lingyun Merchant Association directly with pills doesn’t seem quite right either…”

Hearing Su Xing’s words, Jin Congxue giggled and said, “Have you forgotten who I am? I’m the young lady of the Jin Commerce Group—I’ve got at least that much clout! Of course we won’t trade pills directly. I’ll first deposit these pills with the Jin Commerce Group as collateral and take out a loan of three or four billion—no problem at all!”

“Then I’ll negotiate the acquisition using my identity as the Jin Commerce Group heiress, with the Jin Commerce Group serving as guarantor! With that name behind us, even though the initial few billion is a bit thin, as long as you can provide a batch of capital every month, completing the full acquisition within six months shouldn’t be a problem!”

Hearing this, Su Xing felt another wave of gratitude.

Now he finally understood how Jin Congxue had managed to acquire the Lingyun Merchant Association within a year in his simulations—with a top-tier merchant association like the Jin Commerce Group acting as guarantor, the Lingyun Merchant Association would naturally feel assured.

“Jin Congxue truly is my benefactor. Without her, the Tarot Society’s growth would be who knows how much slower…”