Chapter 191: Creating Demand When None Exists!
The elders gathered.
Ye Chen looked at the Foreign Affairs Elder and asked, “Foreign Affairs Elder, what did you want to say just now?”
The Foreign Affairs Elder’s anxious mood had already calmed down upon seeing Ye Chen.
At this moment, he hesitated and asked, “Saint Master, have you already listened to my voice message and know what happened?”
Ye Chen smiled.
Ye Chen didn’t need to listen at all. He could tell what the situation was with just a glance.
As such, he simply nodded.
With this, the Foreign Affairs Elder didn’t want to mention the issue of the losses in the courier service that was unpopular anymore.
In his view, the issue of losses in the courier service was actually a dead end.
Raise the prices?
That would only decrease the number of people using the courier service.
Even if they could earn a little more, barely breaking even, it would be of no help.
After all, for the Sacred Land, such a massive investment not making money was as good as losing money.
The root of this situation lay in the fact that the demand for sending couriers among cultivators is too low.
Whoever replaced it wouldn’t be able to solve it.
Losing three million high-grade spirit stones was indeed a big loss.
But their Sacred Land had tools like the Immortal Net Weibo to make money.
Losing three million was not really a big deal.
Compared to spirit stones, the Foreign Affairs Elder was more worried about Ye Chen.
Their Saint Master was extremely young.
Since his debut, whether in cultivation or making spirit stones, he had always been smooth sailing, never failing.
If the Saint Master were to be affected by this failure, that would be the real problem.
Many geniuses in the cultivation world had always been successful, but suddenly encountering failure, their beliefs collapsed, and they never recovered.
So the Foreign Affairs Elder spoke up, “Actually, the Immortal Net Delivery can’t be considered a failure because the entire cultivation world highly regards it. It has received rave reviews. It’s just that the demand is a little low. Saint Master, you don’t need to worry too much about it.”
The other elders also realized this.
Indeed, a little loss was no big deal.
The Saint Master’s unwavering attitude couldn’t be affected.
They all immediately spoke up to reassure, “The Foreign Affairs Elder is right. Saint Master, you have created countless miracles. This time, it’s just not as successful, that’s all.”
“Merely three million high-grade spirit stones, we’ll earn it back with a month of advertising. It’s a trivial matter.”
“Or let the Immortal Net Delivery continue operating. We’ll subsidize tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones each month. What’s the big deal?”
“Saint Master, I truly admire your vision. At such a young age, you can keenly perceive the delivery needs in the cultivation world. Whether it makes money or not doesn’t matter. Your insight can be said to be unprecedented and unparalleled!”
“Our Saint Master has the potential to become an immortal!”
“Saint Master, my friend has a daughter who ranks fortieth in the Top Hundred Beauties. Would you be interested in meeting her?”
Listening to the words of the elders, Ye Chen smiled.
As soon as he emerged from seclusion, the elders hurried over in a panic, extremely anxious.
Now, they were comforting him instead.
Even the supposed failed Immortal Net Delivery was quite magical.
It could send couriers without leaving home.
What would the new application developed by their Saint Master be?
And it could even create demand for courier services among cultivators?
It was truly intriguing.
Ye Chen didn’t speak again.
With familiar ease, he communicated with the Immortal Artifact to update all the elders present. In just ten breaths, the update was complete.
Without waiting for Ye Chen to remind them, everyone immediately entered their own Heavenly Origin Little Spirit Communicators.
After entering, the homepage was empty.
At the top was the familiar search bar, and below it were three areas: “Recommended for You,” “Today’s Specials,” and “Product Categories.”
Seeing this, the elders felt that it was somewhat similar to the Immortal Net Auction interface.
However, there was a significant difference at the bottom: there was a shopping cart button in addition to the homepage.
Clicking into the shopping cart, it was also empty.
At the bottom of the cart were the words “Checkout.”
When the elders tried clicking it, a prompt popped up: “Your shopping cart is empty! If you want to go far on the Immortal Path, you can’t do without pills and magic treasures. Go buy something to reward yourself!”
Seeing this, the elders had a rough guess about the new application’s functionality.
The Foreign Affairs Elder looked at their Saint Master and hesitantly asked, “Saint Master, is this new application for shopping?”
Ye Chen nodded, “That’s right! This application is indeed for shopping. Cultivators can buy goods from within the application, and after purchasing, the goods will be sent to them via delivery.”
Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly understood.
So, what’s the difference between this and the Immortal Net Auction?
Isn’t the functionality redundant?
Elder Wang Changchun asked the question that puzzled everyone, “Saint Master, what’s the difference between this new application and the Immortal Net Auction?”
Ye Chen smiled, “Of course, there’s a difference! The Immortal Net Auction is a platform where treasures are centralized in our Heavenly Origin Sacred Land. After being auctioned off, they are delivered by our Heavenly Origin Sacred Land. Moreover, the items available for auction are rare and not mass-produced.
“But the model of the new application is different. Merchants apply for online stores within the application, upload photos of their products, and when cultivators choose to purchase, the merchants themselves send the goods via courier.
“Different from the auction, what is sold on the new application are consumer goods, covering everything from pills, poisons, magic treasures, spiritual treasures, formations, techniques, to clothing...
“Anything that can be delivered by courier can be sold on it.”
At this point, Ye Chen felt amused.
The previous Taobao in his previous life was like this — strange and unexpected things were readily available.
Even wake-up call services were sold on it, which was absurd.
He wondered what kind of unique and peculiar goods would appear on Immortal Net Taobao once it became popular!
Upon hearing this, the elders had a better understanding of the new application’s functionality. However, their confusion only deepened.
The Foreign Affairs Elder looked puzzled. “Saint Master, auction items are rare in reality, and it’s a matter of luck to encounter them. The Immortal Net Auction gathers auction items from the entire Great Yan Province, making it easy for everyone to see and bid on them. That’s why people bid for treasures on it.
“But magic treasures, pills, and so on are sold in any street market. You can buy them anytime, anywhere, and pay and receive them in person.
“In this case, why buy these things on the new application? Buying from the new application not only requires paying more for shipping but also waiting two or three days to receive the goods. It seems completely unnecessary!”
The Foreign Affairs Elder voiced the thoughts of everyone.
Online shopping like this seemed unnecessary!
The new application indeed seems to require the use of couriers, but everyone feels that this new application seemed to have no demand.