Heretic Apothecary Genius - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Chang Le Gang

After laughing for a long time and when they had both run out of energy, the two of them lay on the huge bed in the spiritual beast carriage, with Fatty hugging the box tightly.

One hundred Jade coins could be exchanged for one inferior-grade spiritual jade, and one million Jade coins could be exchanged for 10,000 inferior-grade spiritual jades. Ten inferior-grade spiritual jades could be exchanged for one middle-grade spiritual jade, and 100 middle-grade spiritual jades could only be exchanged for one superior-grade spiritual jade. That meant his one million Jade coins could be exchanged for 1,000 middle-grade spiritual jades. That was ten superior-grade spiritual jades!

When he thought back about how he had used ten middle-grade spiritual jades to open the channel, Ren Jie felt his heart ache. Heck, how long could all of this last? When he thought about this Ren Jie suddenly realized that he would have to think about what to do with this one million Jade coins. If he used it to open the channel within the sea of knowledge, then who knows how long that would last.

Even though it felt scary, when he thought about the Sage’s preaching and the changes he had experienced in himself because of it, Ren Jie knew that he would do all he could to open that channel again.

After rejoicing, the issue of the channel within the sea of knowledge appeared in his mind again, and the calculation made his heart ache. That was too scary. One billion taels of gold and yet, who knew how long it would last after being exchanged for spiritual jades.

But when he thought about seeing the channel again, Ren Jie felt that everything was worth it.

He thought about how he was able to easily memorize a few hundred books and learn all the array formations, cultivation techniques and medicines beneath the Divine Power Realm easily. These were all things that money could not buy. If not because he had reached the stage of Mighty Realm, no amount of money would give him the ability to read a few hundred books in days and memorize all of them as well as to understand them. Nor would it give him the ability to learn the whole All-Kill Array in one night.

But now, there were more pressing issues for them to solve. When Ren Jie saw the title deed of the Chang Le Casino, he already knew what Fang Yan was playing at, but he did not foil his plans then. He had also caught a glimpse of the middle-grade spiritual instrument that Fang Tianen had people bring over. While he had yet to open the box, Ren Jie roughly knew what was going on.

“We must celebrate, boss. Tell us, where shall we go to celebrate?” Gao Ren grew tired from laughing and slowly got up, his plump stomach hardly getting in the way at all. The first thought that came to his mind after waking up was what he should eat to celebrate.

They were finally rich and did not have to take the Elders’ attitudes anymore, how could they not celebrate this?

“Leave the celebrations for later,” Ren Jie said as he rushed outside. “Uncle Beast, go and find the Chang Le Gang.”

“What are we going to the Chang Le Gang for?” Gao Ren looked at Ren Jie in confusion.

“That bastard Fang Yan fooled us. Even though Chang Le Casino’s title deed adds up to about one million Jade coins, that’s not the most valuable part about it. The people in there and their clients are the most valuable. He must have promised the head of the Chang Le Gang something along the lines of helping them build a new casino or something, which is why he was able to buy the Chang Le Casino at such a low price.”

While others may not have thought of this, Ren Jie was different as he had grown up on Earth. He was well aware of the importance of talent and resources.

He may not have been able to get this straight in the past, but after he leveled up from the Mighty Realm he was able to reconcile the memory he had from both worlds as well as put all the news he heard along the way to use.

In his previous life, Earth experienced a large influx of information, and the amount of information he encountered in a year was easily a hundred times or even a thousand times more than what one would encounter in their whole life just a generation ago. Unfortunately, the human brain’s capacity was limited and could not retain all the information. However, Ren Jie could now clearly remember everything he encountered and even put them all to good use.

Gao Ren was getting more confused as he listened to him talk about clients and resources. Since when did his boss know about all these things? He sounded so sure of himself as if he had gone through all of this before.

“Things may look simple, but it is incredibly difficult to find an experienced team, the relevant resources, and clients. Chang Le Casino has the expertise we need. These 12 casinos are too big and require many experienced people to operate them, which will be too difficult without them. Without them, these houses are merely worth one million Jade coins and maybe less, around 700,000 to 800,000, because they are not operating as casinos. Hence, we must quickly rush over now or else this potentially lucrative business will go to waste and become a one-time lump sum of money instead,” Ren Jie said as he looked at the Fang residence disappearing into the distance. Fang Yan was in such a rush earlier, he could not have done much.

Moreover, he would be tied down over Fang Qi now, which gave him more time to take care of the four Elders of the Chang Le Gang and gain more benefits for himself.

“Sounds… like it… makes sense.” Gao Ren was already lost as he did not know much about business. He simply liked delicious food and money, probably because he had experienced hunger and being poor just a tad too much in the past. Besides that, all he liked was studying medicinal prescriptions and… he realized that he liked coming out with Ren Jie after the last two incidents. It was always thrilling to come out with him. As for managing a business, that was far from his forte.

Even though he did not understand anything, he still thought Ren Jie made a lot of sense. How strange.

Meanwhile, all the servants had escaped Fang Qi’s quarters.

Fang Qi nearly threw up the entirety of her stomach, and in the end, Fang Tianen had no choice but to order someone to seal her sense of smell as well, only then did the situation become better. Only, the stench coming from Fang Qi filled the entire Fang residence, and while it was not as bad as it was around her, it was still bad enough.

The whole Jade Capital was in a flurry as they wondered what had happened at the Fang residence.

“Chang Le Casino, an apothecary room, three silk manors, a plantation, one million Jade coins, and a middle-grade spiritual instrument…” When Fang Qi heard what Ren Jie asked from the Fangs in order to save her, her expression turned sour.

The worst thing was the smell on her, even the thought of it made her want to throw up again.

This horrible Ren Jie, he must have done it on purpose.

“It must have been Ren Jie who poisoned me. And even if it wasn’t him, he must have something to do with it.” Fang Qi was very sure. “To think that Gao Fei didn’t kill him with the ironwood stool but turned him smarter and crazier. Well, that’s all the better. I couldn’t be bothered to deal with that fool in the past. But don’t worry, father. Whatever he took from us I’ll take back one hundred times more!”

“Hmph!” Fang Tianen scoffed angrily. “That’s for sure. Even when Ren Tianxing was the family head he did not dare blackmail me so blatantly. We must avenge ourselves for sure. While those things were precious, it doesn’t matter as long as you’re fine. You must be careful in the future. This is the fight of the five family clans, and while this Ren Jie may be nothing, he does have the whole Ren family as a backing. You nearly killed him, who knows if the Rens will take the chance to make an issue out of this. Even if it won’t be Ren Jie next time, we don’t know if the other family clans will do anything about it.”

“But that useless and pampered Ren Jie got off too easily this time. The Chang Le Casino…” Fang Qi nodded her head as well. Having had a near-death experience, she learned many things, and the gears in her mind quickly started spinning.

“Family Head, first miss, don’t worry. Ren Jie thought that he just because he has the title deeds of the Chang Le Casino he now owns this lucrative business, but he doesn’t know that I coerced the head of the Chang Le Gang into making a deal with me. He will fully work with us in the future, and we will support him by building him a new casino. They have the talents and the resources, and with a new place, they will be able to start work immediately while Ren Jie will only get an empty shell. We would only have spent around 50,000 Jade coins for these things as well as to stop tongues from wagging.” When Fang Yan heard Fang Qi mention the Chang Le Casino, a flash of joy crossed his face because at least he was able to have the last laugh even though they had been forced by Ren Jie.

He did not have the chance or the time to speak earlier, but now he quickly showcased his achievements. “We gained something from this since we managed to force the head to work with us, and the Fangs will be the major shareholder. When Chang Le Casino’s operations steady, we will definitely receive at least two to three million Jade coins a year.”

“Fang Yan, you have put in much effort this time and also suffered much because of Ren Jie. Your contributions are acknowledged by me and the family clan.” Fang Tianen nodded his head and praised him. “That useless Ren Jie really thinks that everything comes so easily in life? He will soon know the consequences, that Looming Dark sword is not so easily wielded.

Looming Dark sword? Fang Qi had felt her heart ache when she heard of the middle-grade spiritual instrument. After all, even the Fangs did not have many middle-grade spiritual instruments. Now that she heard that it was the Looming Dark sword, she smiled in understanding. I see. It’s that useless artifact. Even if Ren Jie is not injured by its Yin energy, he will still have no use for it.

“I’m from the Fang family, and first miss has groomed me to who I am today. I should help when I can. The head of Chang Le Gang is different though, he’s somebody from the streets but is obsessed with gambling and does not value benefits. Thanks to that I offered the Fang’s support in building a new Chang Le Casino and turning it into the biggest casino in the Clear Jade Dynasty in order to make him agree to work with us.” Fang Yan was very pleased with himself for managing to accomplish this in such a short time, and his satisfaction was evident in the way he spoke.

Fang Qi felt less upset when she heard this and praised him as well. “It has been tough on you, Brother Yan. This Ren Jie will regret it one day. You must keep an eye on the Chang Le Gang and make sure nothing goes wrong. The head is a useful man because his casino is lucrative and also because he is at the ninth level of the Divine Power Realm. Based on that alone many family clans have tried to win him over, but he had no interest in them. Since he is working with us now, then perhaps we can slowly make him useful to us. Someone at the ninth level of the Divine Power Realm is useful even to the five major family clans. Damn it, if not for this I could have gone myself…”

Fang Qi had wanted to go and settle this herself, but because she reeked now, she was not willing to step out of the house in fear of tarnishing her image.

Fang Tianen also persuaded her to rest as he was worried about her and wanted her to rest and recuperate.

Fang Yan promised Fang Tianen that he would discuss this with him soon and would do his best to reach a concrete agreement with the head of the Chang Le Gang.