Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 1198: Chapter 645: Fencing Stolen Goods (Part 2)

After Chief Ye Yan received notification from the headquarters of Central State Commerce, he investigated the situation of this Master Li.

He found out that before departing, this Master Li had been in contact with the Dongqi branch of Central State Commerce, but at that time, he did not travel with the long-distance flying boats.

However, as he neared the Central State Continent, four additional long-distance flying boats were present, which could only mean he had conducted a heist at sea—something every cultivator crossing the sea would do given the chance.

After all, where do a cultivator’s resources come from if not from robbery? If obtained honestly, who knows how long it would take to gather enough resources.

But upon seeing the four long-distance flying boats, Chief Ye Yan was still taken aback.

At the same time, he understood why, despite having the Central State Commerce markings, the rumor about Li Shiming’s four long-distance flying boats attracted attention when they first entered the Fuhua Islands.

These four long-distance flying boats were clearly not ordinary ones; they were designed to transport numerous goods, and typically, the resources these boats carried were not only vast in quantity but also of high quality.

Nonetheless, no matter how many resources there were, they could be dealt with through the channels of Central State Commerce.

”I encountered a robbery midway, dealt with the robbers, and brought these four long-distance flying boats back. Handling them won’t cause trouble for the commerce house, right?” Li Shiming explained the origin of the four long-distance flying boats and asked.

”These are Haiya Sect’s long-distance flying boats. Master Li, rest assured, matters occurring at sea won’t be pursued unless there are witnesses, and besides, Central State Commerce doesn’t fear Haiya Sect; they were at fault!” Chief Ye Yan inspected the four flying boats closely and replied with a smile.

He recognized the origin of the four flying boats; although Li Shiming had removed the Haiya Sect’s markings, each sect’s long-distance flying boats had distinct features, and as someone specifically handling stolen goods, he had studied these flying boats.

He also gained a deeper understanding of the strength of this Alchemy Master Li Shiming. He knew the Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioners escorting the four long-distance flying boats for Haiya Sect were fairly strong—usually, at least one Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioner could escape.

But according to Li Shiming, none of the four Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioners managed to escape.

”I’ll leave these four long-distance flying boats to Chief Ye!” Li Shiming, much relieved, said with a smile as he handed over the permissions for the four flying boats.

”Master Li, as you are a Guest Elder of the commerce house, I will purchase them at the highest price, rest assured!” Chief Ye Yan said as he received the permissions.

With the permissions for the four long-distance flying boats, his divine sense could now enter the interior of the boats.

Seeing inside, he was astonished to discover that the quantity and value of Haiya Sect’s goods exceeded his expectations.

It wasn’t a secret that Haiya Sect was involved in long-distance business, but even Chief Ye Yan didn’t expect the scale of their business to be so large.

”Master Li, the purchase amount is quite large this time; I need to bring in some helpers to calculate. Please wait a moment longer!” Chief Ye Yan turned and said to Li Shiming.

Li Shiming gestured for him to proceed, thinking what difference another wait made after spending months because of these four flying boats.

Chief Ye Yan soon brought in dozens of cultivators, whose level was not high, all Golden Core Stage cultivators, but they were professionals, documenting and valuing the spiritual objects within the four flying boats.

After nearly ten hours of calculations, the final results were finally consolidated into Chief Ye Yan’s hands.

If it were up to Li Shiming, he could probably have done it in a few minutes, but that was thanks to his life-bound magical artifact, the IBMz15, which was adept at handling such complex calculations.

”Master Li, please verify if there are any mistakes?” Chief Ye Yan handed Li Shiming the jade scroll.

Li Shiming scanned the contents with his divine sense, finding no differences from what the IBMz15 calculated, indicating these Golden Core cultivators were indeed professional.

”No problems!” Li Shiming returned the jade scroll and said.

”Good then; I’ll settle it with trading house contribution points. What do you think? If it’s not acceptable, we can negotiate your needs!” Chief Ye Yan continued.

”Settlement in trading house contribution points will do!” Li Shiming agreed without much hesitance.

The contribution points of Central State Commerce acted as internal currency within the commerce house.

Contribution points could be used to exchange for many extremely rare spiritual objects in the cultivation world; the more precious the spiritual object, the more contribution points needed. Li Shiming had no previous specific needs; his contribution points were primarily used to order some research materials and purchase some spiritual medicine.

Having a large amount of contribution points would enable him to buy some of the coveted spiritual objects in Central State Commerce. Even if he temporarily didn’t need them, he could save them for when rare and useful spiritual objects appeared.

”After calculation, the goods within the four long-distance flying boats, including the boats themselves, are valued at 2,320,000 contribution points!” Chief Ye Yan mentioned the figure, feeling his heart skip a beat.

He had seen larger amounts, but those were transactions between factions, not something an individual cultivator owned.

This counter-robbing by Li Shiming almost gained him over half the assets of a major sect.

Li Shiming was also stunned by the gains; he hadn’t expected his haul to be so large.

He clearly remembered that in the contribution points exchange list of Central State Commerce, one piece of top-grade fourth-grade refining material was valued at just 300,000 contribution points, whereas he had acquired the equivalent value of seven such pieces and more.

Taking top-grade fourth-grade refining materials as a benchmark, that was how he calculated.

The main reason was he simply had no interest in low-quality refining materials; to him, only top-grade fourth-grade materials were useful.

He was already considering what kind of top-grade fourth-grade refining materials to exchange from Central State Commerce, feeling fortunate to have so many choices.

”Thank you, Chief Ye!” Li Shiming expressed his gratitude with a smile.

The notification of 2,320,000 contribution points credited appeared on his Guest Official Jade Plate.

Had Chief Ye Yan not been present, he would have wanted to immediately check which spiritual objects were available for exchange on the Guest Official Jade Plate.

”Master Li, please rest at the branch; let me fulfill my duty as the host!” Chief Ye Yan, seeing the transaction concluded, extended an invitation with a smile.

Due to the transaction earlier, he needed to stay there for the inventory to be completed. Now that it was over, he hoped to use this opportunity to build a relationship with Li Shiming.

He knew Li Shiming’s reputation; while it wasn’t prominent in Central State, he was the top-ranking Alchemy Master in Dongqi Continent.

At Li Shiming’s level of alchemy, even in Central State, he stood out.

Building ties with such an Alchemy Master would be immensely beneficial personally.

”It would be my pleasure!” Li Shiming agreed with a smile, not declining.

After spending over half a year at sea, he could finally take a break, and by the way, gather some intelligence on Central State from Chief Ye Yan.

His intentions were not solely to meet his avatar, Li Yuanba, but also to explore the treasure of the powerful Qiu Hengyi.

Chief Ye Yan was delighted and guided Li Shiming into the branch while other cultivators took care of the four flying boats.

The Central State Commerce branch there was somewhat low-key, located on a medium-sized island, with the buildings appearing quite ordinary.

”Many of the business dealings here have a grey market component, so the construction wasn’t too flamboyant, though the formations here had no expense spared!” Chief Ye Yan explained the branch’s situation to Li Shiming.

This branch had no Great Cultivator overseeing it; the strongest was Chief Ye Yan, a Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioner. At first, Li Shiming thought he might meet a Great Cultivator, but he realized he was mistaken.