Although Fang Yuan had killed Dongfang Qingyu and others, he still had a batch of about one to two hundred remaining members of the Eastern Clan.
The earth spirit replied that she had temporarily created a dungeon deep underground, near a stone-man tribe. She also asked whether they should sell these captives.
These people were not easy to control and use. They wouldn't obediently follow orders; they would have to be forced to refine Gu and work like the Mao people. If not careful, they would rather die, causing destruction and trouble.
Fang Yuan shook his head and instructed, "The earth spirit has already confiscated all their mortal Gu and locked them up. Feed them a little food every day, like keeping pets. I have other uses for these captives, so there's no need to rush."
"Yes, master."
"How many Immortal Essence Stones do I have on hand?" Fang Yuan asked again.
"One hundred and thirty-seven," the earth spirit immediately replied.
Fang Yuan nodded. Unknowingly, the number of his Immortal Essence Stones had again exceeded the hundred mark.
The main reason was that the trade volume of Courage Gu had doubled. Each month, leaving aside discounts, the net profit was ninety-two Immortal Essence Stones.
Thus, breaking the hundred mark became easy.
During this time, Fang Yuan had also instructed the earth spirit to constantly watch Treasure Yellow Heaven, and if there were cheap fox packs, buy them at low prices and raise them in the Fox Immortal Blessed Land to fully exploit its strengths and increase its foundation.
The Little Fox Immortal made several moves, buying two or three batches of fox packs. If not for this, the accumulated Immortal Essence Stones would have been even more.
Doing the monopoly business of Courage Gu, with supply not meeting demand, earning Immortal Essence Stones was indeed easy.
Fang Yuan thought a bit. He kept twenty Immortal Essence Stones for emergencies and took out seventy to transform into Green Immortal Essence. The series of fierce battles to seize the Wisdom Path inheritance had exhausted his original seventy-seven Green Immortal Essence pellets, which urgently needed replenishment.
He gave the rest to the earth spirit Little Fox Immortal, asking her to focus on supervising the refinement of Star Thought Gu. The Immortal Essence Stones given to her were all used for large-scale purchase of refining materials.
"The oil fish is one thing. I plan to use it for the early stage of the Gu Refining Competition. The bubble fish won't be sold, but used to increase the output of Star Firefly Gu. The prose carp is valuable but scarce, so I need to wait for a suitable buyer. But the dark fire dragon pythons, long hatred spider packs, and dragon fish are all abundant and can be commercialized. Especially the dragon fish, can be directly sold." Fang Yuan thought preliminarily to himself.
These three appeared at just the right time.
For a long time, Fang Yuan had only one economic pillar—the Courage Gu trade.
The monopoly business was like hugging a thick golden leg.
But after all, it was only one. The output of Courage Gu was limited, and Fang Yuan had to count his Immortal Essence Stones carefully. Although he had escaped the dangerous state after becoming an immortal, had gained a foothold, and achieved a balance of income and expenses, he had no extra strength to advance further. Currently, Fang Yuan did not dare to refine Immortal Gu at all. He lacked foundation and strength.
Next, Fang Yuan needed to keep moving forward, to shed his Immortal Zombie status and be reborn. He needed to deduce various Gu recipes and killing moves, deal with various external enemies, cultivate the Wisdom Path, and numerous other aspects. One economic pillar certainly could not satisfy his ever-growing needs.
"If I can develop these three commercial projects, then I will have four legs. The income from Immortal Essence Stones will be enough to meet my current needs and greatly drive my rapid progress in all aspects! After all, this is a superpower with deep resources. After looting them, my prospects have immediately broadened."
As Fang Yuan sighed, he also had the thought to soul-search Dongfang Changfan.
These industries were the business secrets of the Eastern Clan. For example, how dark fire dragon pythons could gather in groups and greatly increase reproductive efficiency. Or how to raise dragon fish, what food to feed them, what environment is more suitable for them, and what happens when they get sick.
Forming an economic pillar is very difficult. It involves many things, each with its own tricks and secrets. At the beginning, to cultivate Stardust Grass, Fang Yuan had purchased insights from a few Star Path Gu Immortals and paid a sum of Immortal Essence Stones.
As the supreme grand elder of the Eastern Clan, Dongfang Changfan certainly knew the business secrets of the Eastern Clan.
His soul was like a huge treasure, its value far from being limited to just a Wisdom Path inheritance.
So Fang Yuan soul-searched for the fourth time, trying to obtain these management secrets.
But this time, he obtained Dongfang Changfan's body seizing method. Not only the original version Dongfang Changfan had obtained in his youth in the True Inheritance Secret Realm, but also the complete method that Dongfang Changfan had improved, which extracts the immortal aperture origins of fellow Gu Immortals to become an immortal on the spot.