Master of the System

“Sect Leader Michelle, it’s just too difficult to sell our products to those people,” a disciple said and shook her head. She was a core disciple who had accepted a mission to find out what local produce the Moon Lotus Sect could sell to the galactic society. “They keep calling our herbs illegal, and whenever I present the titan hearts, flesh, and blood to them, they treat me as if I’m someone to be avoided! Even when I explain the effects to them, no one is willing to try the titan flesh.”

Michelle frowned. This was a bit unexpected. According to common sense, their local products should’ve been quite valuable. What was the advantage of entering a pocket realm that was left untouched for years? There was a chance at finding extinct herbs! Since they were so far behind technologically, how was it that their plants weren’t behind as well? Shouldn’t one of their common weeds be an extinct product worth a fortune? It seemed like the heavens weren’t looking out for the Moon Lotus Sect anymore, actually putting them in such a pitiful state. Since that was the case, then there was no need to rely on the heavens any further. “Gather all the merchants of notable repute. Within one week, I want them all in front of me. Since they can make money here, there should be no problem with them making money on an even bigger stage.”

“Yes, Sect Leader Michelle,” the disciple said and cupped her hands towards the sect leader. Thankfully, it seemed like her task wasn’t to be counted as a failure and had shifted to a different one. “I’ll use every method available to me to bring them here within a week!”

In the eyes of an expert, a week was nothing. However, in the eyes of Emily, a week could be a torturously long amount of time. When she received her mission to compete with other system owners, the first thing she did was begin buying up a ton of small businesses. Surprisingly for her, her luck wasn’t bad at all, and she had actually taken over one of her competitors. Upon buying his company, he had shouted, “I’m free!” and ran to the nearest bar to have a drink. Apparently, losing one’s business didn’t result in death, and Emily felt like it was the system giving the users a chance to opt out of the competition.

Emily had considered giving up as well; after all, she never asked for this life, but with her first competitor defeated, she had unlocked the World Map feature—a nifty ability which showed her the locations and names of all her competitors on a holographic map only she could see. The new feature fired up her competitive nature, and upon seeing all the merchants who still hadn’t begun expanding, Emily couldn’t help but plot to get rid of them. However, before she could initiate her plan, something big happened! The world, which was already gigantic, had become much, much larger! Not only did this planet exist, but there were thousands upon thousands of other planets just like this one, each with their own markets, and the Moon Lotus Sect was seeking her help to penetrate foreign spheres of financial influence.

In the first place, Emily had no idea those worlds had even existed until now. There was a massive construction going on the in the sky for a month, and she had assumed the Moon Lotus Sect was assembling a world-shaking treasure, but who knew that it would actually be a teleportation formation leading to a massive place? Without knowing what kind of products were being sold in the foreign markets, Emily had no idea what would do well over there, but as an experienced business leader, one who had survived dozens of life-or-death situations given to her by her system, she had a few ideas for the Moon Lotus Sect’s money-making opportunities.

In a room filled with the capable merchants, the disciple of the Moon Lotus Sect finished given the introductory speech. Once it was finished, Michelle walked into the room and sat in the seat with the highest position. She looked around at the merchants, observing their faces. The panicked-looking ones obviously wouldn’t have any good ideas, and the stunned ones were looked down upon just as equally. When Michelle’s gaze landed on Emily, the sect leader’s eyes lit up. “You there,” Michelle said and read the nametag attached to Emily’s chest. “You’re the boss of the Heavenly Golden River merchant company, right? It seems like you have an idea.”

Oddly enough, after the sect leader finished speaking, a wall of red text appeared in Emily’s vision.

[New Mission: For the Moon Lotus World!]

[The Moon Lotus World is in a precarious position. Money is what makes the intergalactic civilization go round, and the Moon Lotus World is dangerously incapable of making intergalactic credits. Solve this problem with all you got because if you don’t, your quality of life is about to change drastically. Don’t forget you’re a part of the Moon Lotus World as well! Convince the Moon Lotus Sect to use your idea, and make them a boatload of money!]

[Reward: Five Instant-Win Coupons]

[Note: Instant-Win Coupons can be used on competing system users. Once used, their businesses will be transferred over to you, and they’ll lose access to the system. Please note that this mission has been given to the other users as well. If you don’t want to be the target of an Instant-Win Coupon, you better be the one who completes this mission.]

Luckily, Emily was a nascent-soul cultivator—albeit one who had risen up through the use of lots and lots of money. Thanks to that, she was able to read the text and give her reply at almost the same time. “Culture!” Emily said before clearing her throat. Her eyes shone. “There are many planets out there, each with technological capabilities higher than ours. According to the information we’ve been given, the intergalactic market isn’t interested in any of our products. In that case, the only thing we have to sell is our culture. We have to advertise the appeal of a world untouched by technology; there are a few countries who rely heavily on tourism to keep their economy afloat. We can sell common items such as locally produced clothing, bedsheets, teapots, jade necklaces, anything that can be seen as a status symbol, and charge ridiculously high prices for them.”

Michelle nodded. “Afterwards?”

“Afterwards, when we have enough capital, we begin improving ourselves technologically as well,” Emily said. “With Elder Vremya’s capabilities, I believe his craft will improve by leaps and bounds once he has access to the right tool.”

“You’ll be in charge,” Michelle said, waving her hand to silence the other merchants. “Everyone here is required to work under the Heavenly Golden River’s instructions. Those who attempt to sabotage the operation shall be held accountable. In other words, you and the last nine generations of your family will be executed.”

[Nice work!]

[Mission: For the Moon Lotus World! completed]

[Reward: Five Instant-Win Coupons]

[New Mission: When the End Seems Like the Beginning]

[Now that you’re important and experienced, it should be a lot easier for you to grow again financially. Using the Moon Lotus World’s resources, dominate the intergalactic market!]

[Reward: The reward is the money that comes with domination]

“There’ also another way to make money, but it’ll require the cooperation of the Moon Lotus Sect,” Emily said after a moment of consideration. “We can use half our initial capital to purchase forms of transportation and have some people act as mercenaries. Selling one’s body is an effective way of making money early on.”

“We’re one step ahead of you there,” Michelle said. “The sect ancestor spent the majority of our treasury on a—as the spaceship dealer put it—really kick-ass ride fit for a walking god like you. She’s off doing who knows what in who knows were, but we’ll likely see a bag of money coming our way in the next few weeks thanks to her.”