Chapter 142: Martial Arts Master

One hundred thousand coins was not a huge sum. Most wealthy young masters would hardly bat an eye at it. However, claiming the top spot was not merely about the reward; it was about catching Shiqin's attention.

Fueled by a surge of competitive adrenaline, several young aristocrats frantically bid against one another. They drove the stakes up from seventy thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand, and then straight to two hundred thousand, without so much as a single blink. After all, the first-place finisher would receive a hundred-thousand-coin reward. The second and third places would receive eighty thousand and fifty thousand respectively. When calculated this way, their net expenditure wasn't actually that high. On top of that, they would win the favor of a beauty—why not participate?

In an instant, a grand contest of wealth commenced. Zhou Chang pushed his bid to three hundred thousand in one breath, seizing the top of the leaderboard. Sun Haoli took second place with two hundred and seventy thousand, and Dong Ran came in third...

This wave of operations more than doubled their previous revenue. Although they hadn't tallied the total sum yet, it was safe to predict that it had long surpassed five million!

As the event concluded, Cheng Chuliang busied himself with presenting the awards to the top contributors.

Li Zhi asked Cheng Zhijie, "Well? What do you think now? Do you still have the confidence to win against me?"

"This, this..." Cheng Zhijie knew he had lost, yet he simply could not produce one million coins. He decided to default on the debt entirely. "I don't have the money anyway, do whatever you want with me!"

"Damn it!"

"I knew you were that kind of person!" Li Zhi hadn't truly expected to extract a million coins from Cheng Zhijie's mouth. If he couldn't cough it up, so be it; he would just chalk it up to a personal favor.

...

Late at night, everyone gathered on the top floor of the club to tally the profits.

The total came to seven million three hundred and thirty thousand! All of this was revenue generated by Shiqin.

"Where is Shiqin?" Li Zhi suddenly recalled that he hadn't seen her since the afternoon.

"She's in the Fragrance Storage Courtyard!"

"I'll go take a look." Li Zhi casually grabbed a handful of paper currency from the table, amounting to roughly one hundred thousand coins.

Upon finding Shiqin, Li Zhi shoved the money directly into her hands. "This is everything you deserve!"

"So much?" Shiqin had just finished removing her makeup. Staring at the hundred thousand coins in her palms, she was utterly stunned. She had merely sung a song and tried on a few outfits, taking no more than an hour or two in total. To think she could earn one hundred thousand coins just like that? This speed of earning money was simply too terrifying!

What Shiqin did not realize was that a single song of hers was worth far more than just one hundred thousand.

"My salary... this is way too much, I can't accept it!" Shiqin felt she hadn't contributed enough to justify it, and taking it weighed heavily on her conscience.

"Just take it since I'm giving it to you!" Li Zhi forced the money into her grasp.

This scene, witnessed by the other young women of the Fragrance Pavilion, filled them all with intense envy.

"My lord, you are breaking our hearts..." The girls began to throw playful tantrums.

Li Zhi replied, "If you want me to reward you as well, then work hard. Just like Shiqin, generate revenue for the club! If that day comes, I will personally hand one hundred thousand coins to each and every one of you."

"It's a deal, then..." Everyone was brimming with confidence. Seducing men was just a matter of routine for them; as veterans of this world, they had methods to spare.

...

Shiqin seamlessly integrated into the small family of the club. Under Li Zhi's explicit instructions, she was promoted directly to the club's premier courtesan. Her salary was more than double that of the previous top-tier attraction, and she was excused from participating in tedious daily chores or waiting on patrons directly. Whenever her participation was required, it would invariably be for grand, bustling spectacles like the one tonight.

She might not act often, but whenever she did, it would haul in millions!

"Your Highness spent three days earning over seven million. While that is already a huge sum, there is still a massive gap to the goal of fifty million. What does Your Highness plan to do next?" Early the next morning, as everyone gathered together, Cheng Chuliang asked.

"Is it only seven million?" Li Zhi smiled faintly. "Over the past three days, the club's other projects have also earned quite a bit of money. When you add everything together, it has easily crossed ten million!"

"Mhm, mhm!" Cheng Chuliang nodded. "Even so, we're still falling far short!"

"Don't worry, this wise man has his own plans!" Li Zhi had already mapped it out. With so many lucrative ventures within the club, why worry about not making money?

Take the gambling tables, for instance. By manipulating a few things here and there, he could rake in money hand over fist.

A few days later, the customer flow at the club began to gradually dwindle. This phenomenon had only occurred in the past couple of days. Why? Because everyone who came here had suffered massive financial losses, and many had been reduced to complete destitution.

Anyone who participated in the gambling rings—whether betting on high or low, playing *Zha Jinhua*, pushing *Pai Jiu*, or rolling dice—all those gambling-centric activities guaranteed one outcome: whatever money you brought, you lost. The club had turned into a bottomless abyss of wealth accumulation!

In just a few short days, through various manipulative means, Li Zhi had illicitly raked in over twenty million! Combined with the club's other revenues and the seven million Shiqin had previously brought in, they were infinitely close to thirty-five million!

Such a frantic accumulation of wealth left father and son Cheng dumbfounded. It made them wonder why they had never noticed these methods before. If they had started making money this way earlier, they would have been multi-millionaires by now.

...

On this day, Li Ji arrived at the club to report on the recent status of the commercial association.

"Have you managed to earn twenty million?" Li Zhi asked. The time limit imposed by the system was drawing very close. Li Zhi had already amassed thirty-five million, leaving a shortage of just over ten million.

Li Ji replied apologetically, "Please forgive me, Your Highness. To gather twenty million in such a short period of time is truly difficult. I have contacted all the merchants and taken advance reservations for the Immortal Wine, but that only amounts to thirteen million."

"Is the money in hand?"

"It has already been deposited into the treasury!"

Li Zhi let out a long breath of relief. "That's good then!" Even though it fell eight million short of his targeted sum, in a few more days, it would definitely be enough.

"I'll leave the club in your hands. I need to head back to the commercial association to take a look. Have someone load all the money into carts later and deliver it to the association!" Li Zhi instructed Cheng Chuliang.

"Understood!"

The colossal sum of fifty million was quickly assembled. Li Zhi successfully completed the task, and the system issued its reward!

"Congratulations to the host for completing the side quest 'Fifty Million'. You have obtained one set of 'Automatic Processing Machinery'! It has been deposited into the warehouse in the backyard of the commercial association!"

Automatic processing machinery? What on earth was that?

Filled with curiosity, Li Zhi rushed to the backyard warehouse to inspect it. A set of machinery stood neatly inside, exquisitely crafted with bizarre designs, bearing a striking resemblance to products of a modern factory.

After studying it for a long time, Li Zhi finally understood. This contraption was used for processing grain. Crops such as soybeans, wheat, sweet potatoes, and millet could all be poured in for processing, coating their surfaces with a thin protective film that extended their storage lifespan.

Ordinarily, sweet potatoes could only last a single season in a dry place. After being processed by this machine, their shelf life increased fivefold—meaning they could keep for over a year! This vastly improved the nation's grain storage issues and food quality.

"A brilliant device!" Li Zhi immediately ordered men to transport the automatic processing machinery to Hynong outside the city, where an army of one hundred thousand soldiers could provide heavy protection.

...

...

In Taiyuan, Luo Tong led the Golden Saber Guards to their destination, only to be promptly intercepted and surrounded by a massive wave of assassins. Among them were many formidable martial arts experts, causing great trouble for Luo Tong.

Of course, Luo Tong was not afraid of them. He cut down any human who stood in his way, and sliced through any Buddha who blocked his path. No matter how many enemies came, none could stop him and his Golden Saber Guards.