60: I want to take the sect public

Dead silence.

Inside the great hall, a pin drop could be heard.

The expressions on the faces of the several Foundation Establishment Elders who remained behind quickly shifted from initial reverence to bewilderment, and then to extreme absurdity.

Package the Sect?

Issue options?

Fundraising?

Every word was like a bolt of lightning, striking their centuries-old understanding, making their Divine Souls hum.

An old man with white hair and beard, the most Senior Elder in the Sect, his lips trembled, and he finally couldn't help but step forward.

"Lu... Grandmaster Lu, what... what exactly do you mean by this?"

"Are you saying that you want to sell the... Dao Lineage of our Qingyun Sect?"

His voice trembled, his eyes filled with pleading, only hoping that he had misheard.

Another Elder with a fiery temper turned red with anger, utterly furious.

"Absurd! This is utterly absurd!"

"The Sect is our foundation, the root passed down by our Ancestral Master! How can it be treated like goods in a market, to be appraised and bought and sold at will?!"

"If this matter gets out, our Qingyun Sect will surely become a laughingstock of the world!"

Opposing voices rose one after another, and the atmosphere in the hall was anxious.

They revered Lu Yuan's Golden Core Stage cultivation and were even more grateful for the world-shaking achievements he had made for the Sect.

But this reverence was not enough to make them accept such a subversive, almost blasphemous, crazy idea.

Lu Yuan sat in the main seat, his expression completely unperturbed.

He didn't even offer an explanation.

Trying to explain the cruelty and subtlety of finance to a group of old fogeys who didn't even understand what "shares" were, was a complete waste of time.

What he needed was not their understanding.

It was obedience.

His gaze slowly swept across the face of each Elder.

That gaze was terrifyingly calm.

The Elders whose eyes met his felt their heartbeats stop for half a beat, and all their words of protest were choked in their throats.

The great hall once again fell into a dead silence.

"I am not discussing this with you all."

Lu Yuan's indifferent voice set the final tone for this matter.

"I am merely informing you of the outcome."

"If this succeeds, Qingyun Sect will ascend to the heavens in one step."

"If it fails, all Karma will be borne by me alone."

After speaking, he no longer looked at the people in the hall, got up directly, and his figure disappeared behind the hall.

Only a hall full of Elders remained, looking at each other, their expressions extremely complex, yet no one dared to utter half a word of dissent.

Three days later.

Lu Yuan left the Qingyun Sect mountain gate alone.

In his hand, there was only a Jade Slip that he had painstakingly refined himself.

It was not a Cultivation Technique, nor was it a map.

It was a [Project Plan] unprecedented in the cultivation world.

Within the Jade Slip, his Divine Thought had imprinted the optimal solution he had summarized from the [Sandbox Simulation], detailing the contract rules, profit prospects, and risk mechanisms of the "Qingyun Sect Luck Index Futures."

His destination was the grand cultivation city three hundred miles away—Tianbao City.

He needed to find an "underwriter" with sufficient strength and credibility for his "product."

Looking across the entire Southern Domain, only one force was qualified and potentially able to take on this crazy plan.

Wanbao Tower.

With the Scribe's token from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, Lu Yuan passed unhindered and met with a steward at the Wanbao Tower branch in Tianbao City.

Inside the elegant quiet room, sandalwood incense wafted.

Lu Yuan gently pushed the Jade Slip in front of the chubby steward opposite him.

The chubby steward, with a beaming smile, probed the Jade Slip with his Divine Thought, but the fat on his face gradually stiffened as time passed.

He sometimes frowned, sometimes looked puzzled, and sometimes his eyes burst with brilliance, his breathing becoming heavy.

After a full stick of incense, he finally withdrew his Divine Thought, drenched in sweat, and when he looked at Lu Yuan again, his eyes were like he was looking at a monster in human skin.

"Lu... Fellow Daoist Lu, the... scheme in your Jade Slip..."

His Adam's apple bobbed violently, unable to find a word to describe it.

"Simply put."

Lu Yuan spoke calmly.

"I want to turn the future of Qingyun Sect into a tradable commodity."

"Wanbao Tower can take a ten percent commission."

The chubby steward felt his mouth dry and his back soaked with cold sweat.

He understood it only partially, but a merchant's intuition made him instinctively smell a terrifying storm vast enough to swallow everything.

This matter had far exceeded the scope of what he could decide.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, this matter is too significant; I would never dare to act on my own!"

"Please wait here for a few days; I must report it to the main tower immediately!"

A few days later, a top-level confidential letter from the Wanbao Tower headquarters was delivered to Lu Yuan.

There was no superfluous text in the letter, only an invitation and a mark representing teleportation authority.

Lu Yuan was invited to the headquarters of Wanbao Tower.

It was a city in the sky, suspended above a sea of clouds, built entirely from rare white Spiritual Jade, surrounded by a visible Spiritual Qi aura, extraordinarily magnificent.

Led by a maid, Lu Yuan entered the most magnificent central main hall.

The hall was spacious, with only a bead curtain separating the view of the back.

"Qingyun Sect, Lu Yuan."

Lu Yuan calmly reported his name to the bead curtain.

"I know you."

From behind the bead curtain came an old and steady voice.

"Your plan is very interesting."

"In my life, I have seen countless ingenious schemes, but you are the first to sell Sect Luck as futures."

As the words fell, the bead curtain slowly parted to both sides.

An old man, dressed in plain linen clothes, with white hair and beard, but eyes as sharp as swords, sat cross-legged on a futon.

In his hand, he was playing with a small sword-shaped talisman.

Seeing that talisman, Lu Yuan's pupils suddenly constricted.

That was precisely the one he had casually given away in the Burial God Abyss to forge a good Karma.

This mysterious Tower Master of Wanbao Tower before him was none other than that unfathomable Nascent Soul Old Monsters—Sword Elder!

"Your courage is even greater than I imagined."

Sword Elder scrutinized Lu Yuan, his eyes playful.

"Aren't you afraid that your Qingyun Sect will be shorted to oblivion in this market?"

"If Senior wanted to short, he would have acted back in the Burial God Abyss."

Lu Yuan's expression remained unchanged.

"High risk brings high returns. Wanbao Tower should understand this principle better than I do."

"Hahaha, well said, high risk, high returns!"

Sword Elder burst into laughter, his laughter full of approval.

"My Wanbao Tower accepts your plan."

"We can not only provide a trading platform but also help you complete the issuance of the first batch of contracts."

Lu Yuan's mind raced, knowing that the other party's "but" was about to come.

"What are Senior's conditions?"

Sword Elder's laughter ceased, the warmth in his eyes suddenly cooled, and killing intent filled the air.

"The conditions are very simple."

"The first product you issue must be a combination contract."

"Besides betting on the future of your Qingyun Sect, you must also add one more thing—"

"Betting against the hundred-year Luck of the Purple Gold Wang Family!"