Chapter 551: An Investment Genius

The fundraising drive moved far faster than He Zhenghao had expected.

The moment he let slip that Li Fan was about to restart the investment plan, the cultivators of Congyun Sea scrambled to transfer their contribution points to him, terrified of missing a rare chance to make their fortunes.

He Zhenghao was swamped. It was a state of painful bliss.

In under seven days, they had already cleared half the target, receiving nearly fifty-three million contribution points.

Handling such an astronomical sum caused He Zhenghao's own mentality to undergo a subtle, unconscious shift.

"What kind of life was I living before I met the Secretary-Envoy?" he murmured, shaking his head. "Counting every coin, sick with worry over two or three hundred thousand contribution points. Pathetic."

"Fortunately, those bitter days are gone forever!"

He looked at the numbers still climbing in his ledger, his chest tight with an excitement he couldn't quite suppress.

Barring any accidents, once the fundraising round was complete, the Secretary-Envoy would surely share a portion of the profits with him, as he had done before.

Even if it was just one percent—no, even one-third of one percent would satisfy He Zhenghao utterly.

After all, given the Secretary-Envoy's ability, turning a profit equal to the principal each time was surely no great difficulty.

Doing the math, that meant he could expect a reward of at least three hundred thousand contribution points...

A foolish grin spread across He Zhenghao's face before he even realized it.

It was a long while before he pulled himself back to the present.

He decided to begin by transferring the contribution points already in his possession over to the Secretary-Envoy.

Then something stopped him cold.

The Tianxuan Mirror returned a prompt: transaction target not found. Transfer failed.

Beads of sweat the size of beans broke out across He Zhenghao's forehead.

There were only two explanations.

Either he had entered the wrong target, someone who didn't exist.

Or the target had temporarily suspended all functional permissions within the Tianxuan Mirror.

He Zhenghao grasped the problem almost immediately.

The first possibility was obviously out of the question. The Secretary-Envoy was an existence personally appointed by the Immortal Alliance, with an entire region under his authority.

Which meant...

He also recalled what Li Fan had said before withdrawing: that he was entering deep seclusion and was not to be disturbed. That he had left behind a Consciousness Jade Slip for emergencies.

Oh no. He Zhenghao slapped his thigh.

This really is a test. Just like that brat Gao Yuan said.

He stared at the astronomical figure in his account, his face draining of color. The numbers that had looked so beautiful moments ago now felt like a death sentence.

This is bad. This is very bad. My investment skills are exceptional, yes, but only at a certain scale. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, I can manage. But over a hundred million? How would I dare touch that? If I turn a profit, fine. But if I take losses... would I have to cover them myself?

The more he thought about it, the more his chest tightened with dread.

He knew better than anyone what those cultivators were truly like. The ones who'd come to him today, calling him "Fellow Daoist He" and "Brother He" with such warmth? That warmth existed only as long as there were profits. If the contribution points they had scraped together over years, perhaps their entire family fortunes, were to take losses in this venture, they would be the first to tear He Zhenghao apart.

Dizziness swept over him. His legs went unsteady, and he nearly collapsed on the spot.

For one brief, terrible instant, the thought of absconding with the funds crossed his mind.

Fortunately, a shred of reason held. That road led nowhere but ruin; he shook it off. Then he forced himself to move. In a frantic rush, he went to find Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan heard him out and grew serious. He did not offer any hasty opinion. Instead, he fell into thought, frowning as he habitually did, tapping the table with one finger.

He Zhenghao didn't dare interrupt. He stood to one side, too restless to sit, and waited.

After a long silence, Gao Yuan's brow smoothed. The tension left his face.

"Put your mind at ease, Fellow Daoist He," he said. "Make no rash moves. Simply wait for the Secretary-Envoy's orders."

He Zhenghao blinked. "What do you mean, Brother Gao?"

Gao Yuan smiled, composed and assured. "Consider what manner of person the Secretary-Envoy is. He himself may not particularly care about one hundred million contribution points, but even I can see that a sum of that scale is entirely beyond the reach of an ordinary person. Well-regarded as you are, Fellow Daoist He, you clearly have no confidence in managing it yourself either."

He Zhenghao nodded immediately.

"Precisely," Gao Yuan continued. "If it's obvious to both of us, how could the Secretary-Envoy possibly not realize it? And think about that Consciousness Jade Slip he left. When he gave his instructions, he said we could use it to contact him in an emergency. But consider the reverse: that jade slip holds a wisp of his divine sense. Which means he can just as easily use it to reach us."

He Zhenghao's eyes went wide.

"The Secretary-Envoy must have already made arrangements for what to do with these one hundred million contribution points. Your task, Fellow Daoist He, is simply to carry out the instructions he gave you: complete the fundraising. Then wait. For people like us, the greatest taboo is taking matters into our own hands and fancying ourselves clever."

Gao Yuan's tone grew earnest. "This time, you were fortunate to come to me first rather than panicking and reaching for that jade slip to report to the Secretary-Envoy directly. Had you done that, I believe you would have failed the test."

He Zhenghao went still, working through it, then drew a sharp breath.

He stood quickly and bowed. "Thank you, Brother Gao. You've saved me. If there is ever anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

"You're far too kind, Brother He. Working under the Secretary-Envoy, the two of us should look out for each other," Gao Yuan replied with equal warmth.

With Gao Yuan's guidance behind him, He Zhenghao finally steadied himself and hurried back to press on with the fundraising.

Gao Yuan watched him go, his expression unreadable.

The reason he had repeatedly tried to draw closer to He Zhenghao was simple: he had noticed that this man held a somewhat particular place in the eyes of the Secretary-Envoy.

Both of them were tools. That much was plain. But even tools could be favored or kept at a distance.

One always reached first for the tool that felt right in the hand.

And He Zhenghao, it seemed, was exactly that kind of tool.

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