A thoughtful look flashed in Tang Xiu's eyes. He did tell Hao Lei before that he would pull out such a stunt, but he then felt that two types of pills would be lackluster. After all, this was an unprecedented auction where they must face the super-rich from all over the world and the number of guests was likely to exceed 1,000 given the current situation.
Further, he also obtained a lot of treasures from the Joyous Palace, some of which were quite priceless but had no value in many people's eyes. The distribution of wealth in the world today could be said to be practically controlled by those from cultivation forces, which meant he must have something that could attract these super-rich people.
What do cultivators need?
One thing for sure was medicinal pills aside from array disks, talismans, magic weapons, and some others. Once he put out these types of objects, it was very likely the forces around the world would flock over to obtain them, which in turn would send the money literally flying into his pocket at that time.
After giving it a thought for a long while, Tang Xiu tilted up his head to look at Hao Lei and seriously said, "How much money do you think we can earn if all the goods are auctioned?"
"I've talked about this subject with four treasure appraisers previously and it's estimated that we should earn about 200 billion yuan," answered Hao Lei.
Tang Xiu took a deep breath and shook his head. "200 billion yuan seems to be a huge number but it's nothing to speak of considering the consumption of the Tang Sect's disciples. If my estimation is correct, even 2 trillion yuan won't be enough for them to break through the Spirit Formation Stage in two decades."
"2 trillion!?"
Hao Lei slightly shuddered. Even if she didn't care about money, she was still taken aback by this figure.
Tang Xiu forced a smile and said, "Your current cultivation level is still low, so you have no idea how much resources are required for the later stages of cultivation. However, I'll make some important decisions later which should reduce the spending, but spending 2 trillion yuan is a definite number needed for this purpose. The Magnificent Tang Corp is a money-making machine and it will likely be able to earn a massive amount of wealth. It should be easy to earn hundreds of billions or a few trillion in the future. And we should earn at least over 1 trillion yuan from this auction."
Gasp…
Hao Lei didn't expect that Tang Xiu had such a big appetite. But the number of articles they currently had for the auction was not enough! The total value of the treasures obtained from the Joyous Palace and the Gene Camp only amounted up to 200 billion yuan.
Tang Xiu got up and slowly said, "Hao Lei, release an announcement to the public that the Genesis Auction House will have elixirs beneficial to practitioners, array disks, various powerful talismans, magic weapons, and even cultivation art manuals in this auction."
Hao Lei was shocked and asked incredulously, "Sect Master, are you sure you want to sell them… even manual for cultivation techniques?"
"That's right. I'll also sell cultivation manuals." Tang Xiu solemnly said, "But this cultivation technique can only make those who practice it reach the Foundation Establishment Stage and mainly emphasizes physical refinement. The physical quality of human beings on Earth is getting worse nowadays, so if I sell this cultivation art now and once it spreads out later, the chance is the overall physical fitness of human beings on Earth and the standard level of martial arts will be greatly improved in the future."
"Do you… want all human beings to be strong, by chance?" asked Hao Lei again.
"Yeah. Earth is just a tiny existence in the vast universe and can only be called as a speck of dust." Tang Xiu nodded. "Let alone mentioning some higher planes, the number of galaxies in our cosmic space alone is countless, many of which house incredibly powerful technological advanced races, magical worlds, and even some cultivation worlds. If Earth is too weak, in case these more powerful extraterrestrials from other galaxies come here one day, it would be very likely that it would be the end of humanity on Earth."
Tang Xiu walked towards the window and watched the scenery outside surrounded by darkness along with all walks of life there. Then, he went on, "Earth may be minuscule, but it is forever our roots. We'll leave this place to struggle in a much vaster stage in the future and we won't have the luxury to even care about anything that happens here when that time comes. I don't want to see humanity massacred and go extinct when we set foot on this planet again one day, nor do I wish to face the reality of being unable to find this planet and this part of galaxy at that time."
At this moment, he didn't speak only to Hao Lei but also to himself. Even at this moment, a huge idea crossed his mind and he knew that he would be extremely busy should he implement it one day.
Late at night.
As Tang Xiu went home to his house in Bluestar Villa Complex, he saw Mu Wanying, Ouyang Lulu, and Andy sitting on the sofa in the living room hall. But one thing he never dreamed of was that there were still other two women besides these three. They were Zhang Xinya and Zhang Xinyue, whom he hadn't met for a long time.
"You all…"
Tang Xiu's mouth opened, but his head was full of a real urge to just turn around and run away.
Andy was the first to jump up from the sofa and strode to Tang Xiu's front, smilingly saying, "You're finally back, Boss. I'm afraid they were going to fight if you didn't come back."
Tang Xiu let out a dry chuckle in response. This was a scene he never wanted to see nor face. Despite so, he still let Andy pull him and walked to the sofa where Andy had just sat.
At this moment of restlessness, five pairs of beautiful eyes were fully concentrated on Tang Xiu alone.
Despite how fearless he always was, Tang Xiu would rather fight countless gods and demons than to face this kind of scene. He coughed twice, loosened his arms and said, "Haih, this is karma I cast upon myself for having love affairs. You can hit me, curse at me, or anything. I'll accept that. If you can't stand it and want to leave me, I'll also respect your decision."
"Will you be sad if I leave you?" asked Mu Wanying softly.
Tang Xiu remained silent for a few seconds before he slowly replied, "It would be difficult to bear and would break my heart. But if it's your choice, I'll respect it."
Mu Wanying got up as she yawned and said, "I wasted all afternoon here and haven't had dinner yet. You guys can keep chatting. I'm going upstairs to sleep."
After that, she ignored a pair of eyes staring at her and headed straight to the stairs and quickly disappeared.
Tang Xiu retracted his gaze and was about to speak when Ouyang Lulu got up, stretched her body and walked straight to him. She gently held Tang Xiu's cheek and kissed his forehead, then went back to pick her bag. Afterward, she raised the hand on the gripper and chuckled. "Well, I'm heading to Paradise Manor first. I'm free tomorrow, so be sure to remember to see me!"
"But I'm going to Nine Dragons Island tomorrow," said Tang Xiu hurriedly.
Ouyang Lulu's eyes shone. "Then I'm going with you. I got nothing to do recently, anyways."
"But you'll be bored. I got very important things to do and won't have time to keep you company," said Tang Xiu. "Besides, I will only stay for 10 days there since I need to return to Shanghai to prepare for Genesis's auction."
After hearing it, Ouyang Lulu immediately shook her head, "Forget it, then. I guess I'll just stay in Paradise Manor and make money! My Paradise Manor's business has been very good recently, especially the significant increase in the number of foreign tourists. That's right, be sure to reserve a place for me in the auction."
"Alright!" Tang Xiu felt a bit relieved and nodded.
Ouyang Lulu didn't say anything more. She picked up her bag and headed straight to the outside. She didn't even spare a glance at Zhang Xinya and Zhang Xinyue.
Andy looked at the Zhang sisters and interjected with hesitation. "Boss, I'll take the guest room and sleep there. The door won't be locked."
Having said that, she also ran straight towards the stairs.
With his head struck by a headache, Tang Xiu turned to Zhang Xinya and Zhang Xinye, both looking gloomy with complicated expressions.
"Tang Xiu, I wanna go to Nine Dragons Island," said Zhang Xinya all of a sudden.
Tang Xiu nodded right away and said, "That won't be a problem. You can come with me tomorrow."
"I want to go there too," said Zhang Xinyue.
Tang Xiu's mouth opened and hesitantly said, "But you…"
Zhang Xinya got up and pulled her younger sister, saying, "We are both all right. Alright, we'll be waiting for you at the airport tomorrow, then."
Just like that, the two sisters left.
Tang Xiu glanced around at the now-empty hall with a forced smile on his handsome face. The love affairs and relationship between men and women were always something that gave him a headache. He now realized how woeful were those lords and officials in ancient times. They, too, had three wives and four concubines in their backyards. Their situations shouldn't be very peaceful and tranquil, either, should it?
A long time passed by.
Tang Xiu smoked and burnt several cigarettes one after another before he got up and went to the second floor. He pushed the bedroom's door and walked in and then saw Mu Wanying in pajamas sitting on the bedside, reading a book quietly. After hesitating for a while, he said, "Wait for a while here, I'll see if there's anything to eat."
Tang Xiu himself was familiar with cooking and he spent half an hour to make two bowls of noodles. He delivered one bowl to Andy's room and quickly returned to the kitchen after he handed it to her. Then, he took the remaining bowl of noodles to the second-floor bedroom and spoke, "Have a bite."
Mu Wanying stroked the hair in front of her forehead and took the bowl and chopsticks. After having some, she nodded and smiled. "It tastes good."
Tang Xiu forced a wry smile and said, "About today's matter… it's really…"
"It's all right!" Mu Wanying shook her head and interrupted him. "I have long known that there would be such a day. But it's enough for me as long as you care about me and it's all your business no matter how many women you have. I can understand that outstanding men are just like a natural magnet that attracts women to them. I can tell that each and every one of them is very outstanding too."
Tang Xiu himself had stomached what he would say back when he was cooking. But watching Mu Wanying start eating with such a tranquil expression made him sigh inwardly. Then, he said, "Anyways, you can put the dishes on the bedside table after eating. I'm having a shower first."
That night, Mu Wanying, who was always gentle and refined, became extremely wild and pestered Tang Xiu with her demands for several hours before strength finally left her body. Drenched with sweat, she hugged Tang Xiu when he carried her and fell into a deep sleep before she even took a shower.