Buzz!
Li Guanqi's jade slip flared with brilliant light. Furrowing his brows slightly, he picked it up and was met with Wu Bing's rapid-fire explanation.
Li Guanqi's breath hitched as he listened. He had not expected Tu Kui to still be the same master of Tianjin Peak at heart.
His conscience was not entirely extinguished, and he had awakened to his senses in time…
Remembering how much Tu Kui had looked out for him in the past, Li Guanqi could not help but shake his head with a bitter smile.
"Don't stop him for now. Everything will be resolved in three days at most.
"Let these three days… serve as his punishment.
"Senior Brother Wu, don't intervene either. As long as he doesn't seek death immediately, let it be."
Lowering the jade slip, a trace of understanding surfaced on Li Guanqi's face. If Tu Kui had truly been blinded by power, he would not have hesitated to kill him.
Yet now that Tu Kui had come to his senses, Li Guanqi naturally could not bring himself to deliver a fatal blow.
Furthermore…
"Wait… if he doesn't send the message, wouldn't my performance have been completely in vain?"
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered, narrowing slightly as his brow furrowed deeper.
The aura of Tu Kui's fading vitality would definitely be detected by the other side!
Once Tu Kui lost his value to them, whether he lived or died wouldn't matter anymore.
In fact, the other side might even give him a final shove!
"Phew…"
Li Guanqi exhaled a long breath. He sent a sound transmission to Gu Changsheng to inquire about several matters, but received no response.
Rather than worrying, the lack of reply made him breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed the plan on that end was progressing smoothly.
Li Guanqi paced back and forth across the room, suddenly looking as if he had made up his mind.
If he did not make a decision today, the rest of the plan could very well collapse entirely!
Tu Kui had originally been a crucial link, yet an unexpected turn had occurred.
Meanwhile, rumors were running rampant across the outside world, all claiming that Guanyun Pavilion was finished.
As the hearsay grew increasingly exaggerated, many even claimed that Li Guanqi intended to disband Guanyun Pavilion altogether.
Numerous reports alleged that many middle-ranking members had already left Guanyun Pavilion.
Guanyun Pavilion offered no explanation whatsoever, almost as if confirming these rumors.
Across the Six Domains, shops managed by Guanyun Pavilion closed their doors one after another, and many even put up signs offering their premises for transfer.
Gu Yong said coldly, "Hmph, whether it's a smokescreen or not, we'll know once we test it.
"First, use one billion spirit stones to test Guanyun Pavilion's reaction by buying up their shops across the Six Domains on a massive scale!
"Hmph, they ambushed us before, so this time we'll recoup our losses from them!
"If they refuse to sell, that means Li Guanqi is still preparing other backup plans.
"If they do sell, we will aggressively drive the prices down and buy low!"
The rest of the crowd nodded in agreement, sneers appearing on their faces.
"I knew it! He's just a greenhorn, how capable could he possibly be?"
"After a couple of moves, he's completely out of steam! Hahahaha, Guanyun Pavilion's internals must be in utter chaos right now!"
Yet someone could not help but voice a warning. "Li Guanqi hasn't shown his face this whole time. We should still proceed with caution."
Shen Feng scoffed. "How could he show his face? That four-hundred-million order alone is enough to give him a headache.
"Right now, our Tianji Pavilion shops are packed to the brim. All the customers who originally belonged to Guanyun Pavilion have flooded into our establishments."
At this moment, the master of the Yellow Tower chimed in with a beaming smile. "Indeed. A void storm must have appeared across the Six Domains recently.
"Quite a few fragments of grotto-heavens and blessed lands drifted out, leaving countless cultivators in desperate need of pills and the like.
"In addition, numerous rare mutated beasts carrying ancient bloodlines have surfaced, and the Mercenary Association has been purchasing massive quantities of supplies as well.
"Recently, we've made several billion spirit stones in profit!"
Gu Yong frowned, speaking with a hint of vigilance. "Shen Feng, have you investigated this sudden explosion in revenue?"
Shen Feng nodded with a serious expression and said in a deep voice, "I did. We've indeed been raking in massive sums lately, so I looked into it.
"I confirmed that a void chaos storm swept up some spatial fragments of grotto-heavens and blessed lands, which appeared throughout the Six Domains.
"The demand is real, and the buyers do not belong to a single faction. Every single transaction can be traced. There shouldn't be any issue."
Gu Yong tucked his hands into his sleeves, his eyes narrowing as he muttered under his breath, "All of it… can be traced?"
Not seeing what was wrong with that, Shen Feng furrowed his brows and nodded. "Reporting to the Pavilion Master, that is correct. Every single transaction has a clear trail."
Gu Yong made an immediate decision, his tone grave. "Something is wrong. Pass down the order: shorten operating hours and impose purchase limits!"
Puzzled, Shen Feng asked, "Pavilion Master, what could be wrong with this?
"Even if this is Guanyun Pavilion's doing, we received genuine money for the goods we sold.
"No matter how wealthy Guanyun Pavilion might be, they couldn't possibly bankrupt us through such methods."
Gu Yong shot to his feet, a sharp gleam flashing in his cloudy eyes.
"No! There is definitely something wrong!
"When everything appears completely reasonable and leaves a perfect trail… that in itself makes it suspicious!
"It's deliberate… entirely too deliberate…"
Just as Gu Yong began to sense the trap and adjust his countermeasures, Li Guanqi had already shifted tactics.
"Uncle Tang, have all the fake identities for the earlier purchase orders been prepared?"
Tang Wei patted his chest and laughed. "Rest assured, anyone investigating would be able to uncover them in about an hour.
"Fake identities, fake factions, even fake orders!
"A blend of truth and falsehood—if I didn't keep track of them myself, even I wouldn't know which ones were fake!"
The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly as he said in a low voice, "Yu Hua, instruct our hidden agents posing as shopmaids in Tianji Pavilion's stores to maintain their cover!"
Yu Hua chuckled softly. "Yes, Pavilion Master. According to reports from our agents, Tianji Pavilion has already begun checking the orders. All their shops across the Six Domains have closed for an hour to audit the accounts."
Li Guanqi nodded. Everything remained well within his grasp.
Sometimes, a plan could not be entirely flawless; one had to deliberately leave slight vulnerabilities for the enemy so that they could feel at ease.
Only when an opponent believed they had peeled back the disguise and uncovered the 'truth' would that 'truth' become firmly cemented and never questioned again!
What Li Guanqi needed to do was make Tianji Pavilion notice that something was amiss!
Then, they would see through the 'falsehood' he had meticulously constructed, arriving at a 'truth' that would set their minds at ease!
Once Gu Yong confirmed that all the orders were without issue, he would inevitably seek to capitalize on the victory and aggressively amass wealth!
The moment they fell into the trap he had laid, Li Guanqi would lunge forward with ruthless force, ripping flesh from their bones!
While Tianji Pavilion was busy auditing their ledgers, Tang Wei finally had a brief moment to catch his breath.
Inside the study, Li Guanqi personally brewed tea for Tang Wei, asking softly, "How much have we poured in so far?"
The man downed his teacup in one gulp and murmured, "Eleven point five billion!"
Li Guanqi's lips curled into a slight smile as he asked gently, "Aside from us, roughly how much have the cultivators of the Six Domains purchased?"
Tang Wei said in disbelief, "The herd mentality of people is truly terrifying…
"We only spent two days creating the illusion, and other cultivators who saw it swarmed in like mad.
"During this period, Tianji Pavilion's total revenue has reached at least fifty billion! What we put in only accounts for a portion of it."
Looking at Li Guanqi, who seemed utterly in control of the situation, Tang Wei could not help but swallow hard.
In a low sound transmission, he asked, "Are you confident you can punch a hole through a massive vessel like Tianji Pavilion?
"Don't end up dragging us down with it…"
The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth turned upward. Lifting the teapot, he poured another cup for the man and said softly, "Leave this matter to me.
"A while from now, you'll be even busier than you are today!"
Chapter 1052