Chapter 162: Chapter 159: The Plant Autonomy Talisman? Mine!_2
 

Ding Guangming silently complained, “Hong Cai, stop staring, just bow your head and have a sip of your bubble tea already, it’s completely cold.”

Ding Guangming looked at Zhu Hongcai’s bubble tea, then lowered his head and took a sip of his own, only to find his bubble tea was gone, and he immediately felt a bit of regret.

However, as soon as he raised his head, he saw a female cultivator with outstanding temperament approaching from afar.

“Hong Cai, turn around, look behind you!”

Zhu Hongcai had originally no intention of paying attention to Ding Guangming, but when his ears caught the sound of high heels kissing the floor, his neck acted as if it received the highest command – bypassing his brain, it instinctively turned.

Then he saw what could be called the ceiling of beauty at Lotus University—a female cultivator.

She wore a high-waisted, light-colored floral dress with a pastel gold mini leather bag over her shoulder, and a pair of strapped high-heeled sandals that revealed a set of delicacy-grade tender white jade feet.

She didn’t walk quickly, but her presence was commanding, her long jade legs moving in a cadence, the floral dress fluttering up and down. Combined with the ample sunlight in the library, she shimmered with a radiant glow.

Seeing the beautiful female cultivator walking toward him, Zhu Hongcai’s expression quickly changed from awe to horror!

Mostly because he had not yet thought of what to name his child, how was he going to explain this to his parents?

But soon, Zhu Hongcai didn’t have to worry about the child’s name anymore.

Because what to name the child had nothing to do with him.

Yue Linger didn’t recognize Jiang Cheng’s roommates; she just regarded Zhu Hongcai as an ordinary freshman, walked past them, and sat down opposite Shen Menghan with a hint of warning, next to Jiang Cheng.

Setting aside their work relationship, she, Yue Linger, still had a certain standing in Jiang Cheng’s heart.

After all, no matter what, she also had the identity of a “good daughter,” something not any random female cultivator could match.

Seeing the top beauty of Lotus University voluntarily sit next to Jiang Cheng, Zhu Hongcai went stiff all over, as if struck by lightning!

At this moment, he had begun to question his life.

What exactly was the issue with Lotus Cloud University?

How come all the good-looking female cultivators, one by one, can be related to Jiang Cheng?

However, don’t panic just yet, not all of them, at least there’s still Cheng!

Cheng definitely has nothing to do with Jiang Cheng!

Just as Zhu Hongcai was praying for Cheng Bingxin, she came walking over carrying four cups of bubble tea.

Cheng Bingxin sat next to Shen Menghan, distributed bubble tea to the three of them, and didn’t forget to tease the “beautiful couple” she favored.

Zhu Hongcai, witnessing this scene, felt utterly disheartened.

His sturdy back now expressed an indescribable sense of desolation.

If Jiang is to exist, why should Cai exist?

How unfair fate is!

Cheng Bingxin sat opposite Jiang Cheng, next to Shen Menghan, in a position where she could clearly see Zhu Hongcai and the other two sitting behind Jiang Cheng.

After all, as a member of the Talisman Drawing Society, Cheng Bingxin waved at the three of them.

“Linger, that’s the junior I told you about before, the one who tried to bribe me.”

Yue Linger and Jiang Cheng turned to look over.

Jiang Cheng was surprised and said, “Zhu Hongcai? Aren’t they my roommates?”

Zhu Hongcai, who had nearly given up hope, suddenly perked up upon realizing all three senior sisters had noticed him.

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng asked, puzzled.

With newfound conviction, Zhu Hongcai said, “Just taking a break from studying to grab something to eat.”

Ding Guangming and Song Junsheng: …

As more and more people started gathering, Shen Menghan knew it wasn’t the right time to continue her conversation with Jiang Cheng and made an excuse to take her leave.

Yue Linger had demonstrated her standing in front of Shen Menghan and exchanged a few polite words with the two junior members of the Talisman Drawing Society. Since she had a class to attend, it wasn’t convenient to stay longer, so she left with Cheng Bingxin.

Finally, only the four from Jiang Cheng’s group remained in the library.

Jiang Cheng stayed to look for information on the Bridge-crossing Talisman and didn’t leave. As for Zhu Hongcai, he stayed because he was intent on inquiring about the relationship between Jiang Cheng and Cheng Bingxin.

“Jiang Cheng, are you very familiar with Cheng?”

“Not really.”

“What about Yue Linger?”

“I’m quite familiar with her, since we’re both from Wuyue City.”

“Oh”

Zhu Hongcai finally understood.

Jiang Cheng seemed to have a good rapport with women, but in reality, he was just a paper tiger. His relationships with several senior sisters were confined to mere acquaintances.

He probably couldn’t even count them as ordinary friends.

Delayed by Shen Menghan, Jiang Cheng now had even less time today.

He simply didn’t have the time to consider what Zhu Hongcai might be thinking; he needed to quickly add the Bridge-crossing Talisman’s function to the Plant Autonomy Talisman to achieve the win-win of “feeding trees” and “weeding” as soon as possible!

“Hello? Dad?”

In a secluded spot, Shen Menghan dialed her father through a communication talisman.

“Yes, go ahead.”

“I’ve found out everything you asked me to look into. The talisman is called ‘Plant Autonomy Talisman’. It’s developed by Jiang Cheng himself and has nothing to do with Lotus Cloud University. The talisman is still in the testing phase, with two versions expected: a basic version and an enhanced version. The basic version’s ability shortens the Blood Orange Tree’s annual yield cycle to just 24 days.”

“The enhanced version of the Autonomy Talisman isn’t out yet. But according to Jiang Cheng, he already has a plan and will be revising it soon – probably within a day or two. The enhanced version is expected to cut the 24 days down by a third. Oh right, after using the talisman, a Blood Orange Tree can yield thirty fruits, which is about twenty-five more compared to without the talisman.”

“Dad? Why are you silent? Are you still listening?”

On the other end of the talisman, Shen Mi’s hands were shaking as he held the communication device.

His daughter, Shen Menghan, although the young mistress of the Miaodan Workshop, had never actually dealt with the affairs of the workshop.

She knew the Plant Autonomy Talisman was very effective, but she didn’t know just how powerful it was.

With the current scale of the Miaodan Workshop, if the Plant Autonomy Talisman were used to increase the production of Blood Orange Fruit and reduce the cost of pill production, they could earn an extra 150 million low-grade Spirit Stones each year!

Just the Qi Blood Pill orders alone could contribute eighty to ninety million low-grade Spirit Stones!

Although these profits were short-term and might not be sustainable once the talismans became widespread, the short-term figures were outrageous enough!

“Dad? Dad, are you there?”

“Yes. Hanhan, did you ask Jiang Cheng how much he plans to sell his talismans for?”

“The basic version is one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, and the enhanced version is one thousand five hundred low-grade Spirit Stones. That’s roughly the price range.”

Shen Mi was stunned; he thought he had heard wrong.

“One thousand? Isn’t the Plant Autonomy Talisman a first-order talisman? He’s selling it for one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones?”

“Yes, I’ve confirmed it with Jiang Cheng, it’s one thousand.”

One thousand for one, ten thousand for ten, one hundred thousand for a hundred, one million for a thousand, ten million for ten thousand!

After doing the math, Shen Mi realized that if he bought talismans from Jiang Cheng to use, the bulk of the profits from Blood Orange Fruit would be spent on purchasing talismans!

His painstakingly managed Miaodan Workshop would end up being a mere laborer for Jiang Cheng!

“Dad? Do you have anything else to discuss? If not, I’m going to hang up.”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

After the increased production of Blood Orange Fruit, the profit per fruit would surely drop, and it wouldn’t be as profitable as the early stages.

But with the Plant Autonomy Talisman, it was as though they could control the entire Blood Orange Fruit industry in Liang Kingdom!

Shen Mi’s expression darkened, and a bold idea emerged in his mind.

If he wasn’t mistaken, a talisman still in testing wouldn’t be registered for certification with the Talisman Master Association.

That meant that with a little manipulation, the owner of the Autonomy Talisman could be Jiang Cheng or it could be him, Shen Mi!

As a merchant who had been in the capital for more than two hundred years, Shen Mi knew better than anyone that kindness, goodness, honesty, and sympathy were detriments to a successful person.