X-Dragon Era

Xin Yun had already planned out his approach. He rushed directly to where Yan Qingying was scheduled to appear, bought her as soon as he could, and immediately headed to Combat Dragon Academy. While attending school, he sought ways to make money, qualify for a loan, and then profit big time during the devaluation of silver.

With the money he earned, he planned to buy a massive amount of hardware to repair divine artifacts.

However, Xin Yun certainly couldn't just go directly there. Before that, he had to earn enough money. Although purchasing Yan Qingying wouldn't cost a lot, the tuition and daily expenses of three people were not small matters. And there was more... he needed to prepare startup capital to do some business while in school. Otherwise, where would he get his loan qualifications from?

The business dealings along the way need not be elaborated upon. It was nothing more than buying low and selling high, flipping goods based on experiences from his previous life. In terms of Earth language, this would be likened to being a middleman or a wholesaler.

After accumulating one hundred thousand gold in capital, Xin Yun certainly no longer deigned to engage in small-scale business. He mainly pursued high-end deals, carrying only a small amount of goods that were exorbitantly priced and highly profitable.

Along the way, leveraging his past life experiences, Xin Yun successfully increased his capital over ten-fold, totaling over one million gold, with ten banknotes worth one hundred thousand gold each!

Ten times the profit might sound astonishing, but in fact, it was not difficult at all for Xin Yun, a reborn individual. Utilizing memories from his past life, earning only 10% per transaction was actually quite foolish. The fact that it took fifteen transactions over two months to increase his capital tenfold truly frustrated Xin Yun for a while.

If he had solely pursued profit, Xin Yun could have increased his capital by several dozen times within two months, but because of his specific goals, he had to avoid many lucrative opportunities, so naturally, the profit margins decreased.

Looking at the ten banknotes in his hands, while Xin Yun was quite discontent, Yi Luo Xiang was astounded. Although she was clever, she knew very well that without sufficient time to investigate and research, not only would she fail to make a profit, but she might also end up with monumental losses. Enjoy new stories from empiren/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

If Xin Yun's performance at the Treasure Exchange Convention was shocking to Yi Luo Xiang, what he was doing now could only be described as unfathomably deep. Yi Luo Xiang might not have seen much of the world, but she understood that making money was not that easy.

In the past, living in the village, the entire village of more than three hundred households subsisted on hunting. But even if so many families worked together for a year, how much could they earn? One thousand gold? At most. Yet when she looked at Xin Yun, in such a short time, he had become a millionaire!

A year ago, in Yi Luo Xiang's eyes, a millionaire was like a cloud in the sky—as ethereal as the fiction of another world. Yet now, Xin Yun was sitting right there, apparently brooding and unsatisfied with his achievements. Just how much would it take for this man to be content?

In Yi Luo Xiang's view, one million gold was already an astronomical figure, but for Xin Yun, a million gold was just the threshold. A fortune of a million gold was barely enough to buy a nice house near Combat Dragon Academy, and if treated as initial capital, it was insufficient for most of the trades.

But now that he had accumulated a capital of one million, it was time to stop dealing in everyday commodities. The next step was to take a detour and engage in the trade of luxury and high-grade consumable goods.

With nearly ten months until Yan Qingying would appear, it seemed like there was plenty of time, but in reality, it was not so. This world was not Earth; reaching the destination alone required five months of travel. Including the time needed for resupply and rest, it would take at least eight months, meaning Xin Yun only had two months to take a detour.

Moreover, this venture was too important for Xin Yun to risk arriving just in time. What if something went wrong and he was delayed? Missing out on Yan Qingying would result in a lifetime of regret.

In the following half-year, Xin Yun continued on his journey, trading as he went, though the nature of his merchandise steadily increased in value—from gemstones to jade, from Essence Gold to pearls, and finally, he began trading Dragon Creation Stones. When Xin Yun's capital surpassed the ten million mark, he was finally able to start dealing in Dragon Creation Stones.

The price of Dragon Creation Stones was peculiar. In the regions where Dragon Creation Stones were produced, the price of a First-grade Dragon Creation Stone was just one silver, but the further away from the production areas, the more expensive it became, with the highest price reaching one gold for a First-grade Dragon Creation Stone—a tenfold price difference!

The production of Dragon Creation Stones was not high, and there were only a few mines where they could be extracted, which is why their prices had always been steep. However, Xin Yun wouldn't bother with these low-grade Dragon Creation Stones; otherwise, how would one manage to sell them if tens of thousands were transported?

If sold in too great a quantity, the price would inevitably drop, reducing profitability, making it an unwise business move.

Therefore, Xin Yun spent over a month taking detours to visit the Three Major Dragon Stone Mines. He spent ten million gold to purchase a thousand Sixth Grade Dragon Creation Stones, with the most eagerly sought-after attributes of fire, wind, metal, ice, darkness, and earth—especially those of the fire attribute.

Dragon Creation Stones of these attributes were the easiest to sell, in high demand and fetching a high price, and thus welcomed everywhere. Because only these six attributes were needed, a single mine wasn't sufficient to meet the demand. It took visits to all three major mines to gather an adequate quantity.

Armed with a thousand Sixth Grade Dragon Creation Stones, Xin Yun began his long journey. On the way, he no longer engaged in trade but instead continued to fly at full speed. Finally... half a month before Yan Qingying was unveiled, Xin Yun arrived at Ethereal City!

Ethereal City was a very peculiar city, built atop a large mountain. Starting from the foot of the mountain, the city was constructed around the mountain range in a circular fashion; then, one hundred meters above, another ring of city, and so on in layers up the mountain, totaling nine circles until reaching the mountain's peak—where there was a massive platform with a ten-kilometer radius.

Although Xin Yun was reluctant to recall, the reality was that this mountain bore a resemblance to Mount Fuji on Earth, only not as steep and more gently sloping—it was a bona fide mountain city!

Ethereal City was vast, certainly qualifying as a massive city. While not the largest by any means, from Xin Yun's knowledge, it ranked within the top one hundred colossal cities.

It was a trade metropolis, a hub for the distribution of goods. The mountain's summit, with its ten-plus-kilometer radius platform, was the very place where trading occurred.

Some might say that situating a market atop a mountain is inconvenient. But let's not forget, this is a world of dragons, where 80% of adults own their own dragons. In this context, it's actually more feasible to build on mountain peaks, forgoing the need for landings, with direct horizontal flight providing perfect access to the top.

Of course, landing directly on the summit is impossible. Around the top, encircling the entire body of the mountain, there are thousands of dragon landings. After parking their dragons on these platforms, visitors need to walk up a hundred meters to reach the mountain-top market.

Ethereal City owes its name to its location atop the mountain. Here, the clouds are less than a kilometer away, making it seem as if one could touch them just by reaching out from the mountain summit.

Although in terms of area and population this city doesn't make the world's top ten, or barely even the top hundred, when it comes to trading, goods distribution, and commerce, it is one of the three great cities! This is presumably why Yan Qingying is to be auctioned here.

Unlike Yi Luo Xiang, Yan Qingying was very beautiful since she was small—extremely so. In fact, it makes sense, as if she weren't beautiful, if she didn't have the potential to become a super beauty, the brothel would not have taken her in, let alone having been spotted and purchased by the demons.

As one of Xin Yun's three idols, Yan Qingying's beauty was beyond question. In fact... among the Nine Great Experts, whether male or female, were all undoubtedly favored by the gods. Since they were given such formidable power, why would they care about a small matter of outer appearance? Absolutely perfect.

If Yi Luo Xiang could be described as enchantingly beautiful, then Yan Qingying was definitely the epitome of cold beauty. Perhaps due to her myriad experiences, Yan Qingying was always cold-faced, giving off a 'keep away' impression, further accentuated by her thin lips and their pale pink hue, contributing to her overall icy aura.