Book 3: Chapter 2: Cash Cow

The Han Royal Dynasty’s imperial casino promoters were excellent salespeople that Gu Hai had gathered in the six nations. They were talents that Gu Hai had nurtured with his business empire. Hence, when they were all assigned to the imperial casino, they understood the heavy responsibilities.

Although the promoters were busy, they were all extremely excited and enthusiastic. This was the principle that Gu Hai always abided by. The harder one worked, the greater the reward. They even received commissions.

Right now, the commission was not just gold but spirit stones—large amounts of spirit stones.

Su Mo was one of these promoters. Since the imperial casino’s opening, he had trained his eyes to be sharp.

Even from a distance, Su Mo could see a group of twenty-one finely dressed people walking over. Judging by their clothes, he knew that these were not ordinary people. These were extremely wealthy people, and they radiate an ethereal air.

Su Mo immediately rushed over, shooting forward. A few other promoters saw that Su Mo was one step ahead of them and scowled at him. Fortunately, there were many cultivators around, so no one noticed.

“Immortal Venerates! This humble one is a promoter of the Han Royal Dynasty’s imperial casino holiday villa. If everyone does not think me beneath notice, this humble one can function as a tour guide for everyone. How about that? I will make sure that Immortal Venerates feel at home!” Su Mo welcomed the group with a polite smile.

“A promoter? Tour guide?” Li Shenji looked at this extremely polite man in confusion.

“Immortal Venerates, please come with me. I’ll bring everyone to view the Nascent Soul Cliff outside the imperial palace. That is the most popular landmark of the Han Royal Dynasty. All the Immortal Venerates who come here go there to take a look,” Su Mo explained.

Everyone looked at Su Mo in confusion. After Li Shenji felt certain that Su Mo had not recognized him, he eventually nodded.

Along the way, Li Shenji saw many of such groups. Some groups had a person holding a small flag as they led the groups. Those people called on dozens of cultivators who were looking around to follow them.

“Oh, those are public tour groups. Those cultivators come from various places of the Thousand Islands Sea and do not know each other. That promoter is using a small flag to gather them so that they don’t get lost. After all, there are too many Immortal Venerates here to see the sights,” Su Mo introduced.

Li Shenji: “…”

Public tour groups? This has become a business?

The group followed Su Mo to the cliff outside the imperial palace.

At this moment, nearly ten thousand cultivators surrounded the cliff. The various promoters explained the origins of this cliff.

“Can everyone see? There are eighty-nine Nascent Soul Realm Immortal Venerates up there! All of them died while pinned there. They were all people who tried to barge into the imperial palace. Ah! Look! Here comes another one. This makes ninety. To think that back then, Nine-Five Island only had a total of five Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. My Han Royal Dynasty is not tolerant of people who come to cause trouble!” Su Mo said as he pointed to the distance.

Gasp! The people behind Li Shenji inhaled sharply, their faces twitching.

It was not just them. The ten thousand other cultivators looking at the cliff produced shocked gasps.

“Making an example of them? Haha!” Li Shenji showed a cold smile on his face.

“Battalion Commander, with this cliff here, the cultivators who come here won’t dare cause trouble in the Han Royal Dynasty’s imperial palace, right?” one of Li Shenji’s subordinates said with a frown.

“Tour? Haha! Although it is somewhat contrived, the effects are obvious. These people speak of this cruel fact with such a calm mentality, which causes great shock to those who see this. Nascent Soul Realm? This is announcing to the world that the Han Royal Dynasty is more powerful than they imagined. They don’t even care about these ninety Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. However, others do not realize that these ninety Nascent Soul Realm cultivators did not attack the imperial palace together!” Li Shenji sneered.

“Immortal Venerates, are you done seeing this sight? Next is our imperial casino holiday villa. Everyone, please come with me. That is our next destination!” Su Mo said while smiling after walking over from nearby.

“Let’s go, then!” Li Shenji said, feeling curious.

Before coming, Li Shenji had not expected that Gu Hai would implement such a tour.

Li Shenji’s group followed Su Mo. Soon, they arrived at the imperial casino holiday villa.

When the group arrived at the entrance, two rows of two hundred people in uniform greeted them extremely respectfully. “Welcome, Immortal Venerates. Immortal Venerates, this way, please!”

Li Shenji and the others goggled.

“These are the holiday villa’s greeters. Immortal Venerates, just follow me. That’s right. Immortal Venerates, are you planning to stay, or are you leaving tonight? If you are staying, can I help you register for a residence?” Su Mo asked, providing attentive service.

“We are staying!” Li Shenji replied while frowning.

“In that case, please come with me. Do you see the villas there? Most of them have been rented out already. There are just a few more over there. There are nine grades of villas. The highest grade costs one superior-grade spirit stone per day. There are swimming pools, snooker rooms, gyms, juice bars, wine, snacks, and an independent yard. The scenery there is the best. There are also foot reflexology, massages, scrubbing, hot springs, and other leisure services!” Su Mo introduced. 

“One superior-grade spirit stone per day? You might as well rob us?” someone at the back shouted while glaring.

Su Mo said calmly, “I did say there were nine grades. The ninth grade costs ten inferior-grade spirit stones per day, a difference of one thousand times. However, the ninth-grade rooms house two in each room. Of course, there are also semi-detached villas, connected villas, ordinary apartments…”

“We will take the best, then!” Li Shenji said indifferently.

Su Mo’s eyes lit up. These were extravagant people. He would receive a commission for the accommodations. When he introduced this group to the gambling venues later, he was sure to earn even more commissions.

“Immortal Venerates, this way, please. Rest assured. I will arrange everything for you!” Su Mo said with a smile.

When Gu Hai was a businessman, he had already implemented leisure activity businesses like foot reflexology, massages, and scrubbing. It was just that he moved them to these holiday villas.

Su Mo led the group into a villa. The novelties there dazzled the group.

After a foot reflexology session in the villa, the group felt refreshed. Although it felt somewhat strange, they slowly came to accept this.

Su Mo waited patiently. After all, the foot reflexology session cost money, and he also received a commission for that.

“Would everyone prefer to go to the restaurant or the casino after this? We have our local specialties in the restaurant with the best chefs cooking for you. As for the imperial casino, there are the most exciting events in my Han Royal Dynasty. There is the lottery, horse racing, twenty-one points. Just pick what you want! I guarantee that you will not want to leave even after spending three full days there!” Su Mo introduced.

When Su Mo spoke of these strange names, Li Shenji and his subordinates felt like they were country bumpkins. You are the one who is a country bumpkin, alright? We come from the Divine Continent.

Thus, they skeptically followed Su Mo to the casino.

——

Three days later:

Li Shenji had long returned to the villa. As he looked at the distant Han Royal Dynasty’s imperial palace, he frowned slightly.

There was not a lot of providence in the sky above the Han Royal Dynasty’s imperial palace. However, it was continuously increasing.

“Battalion Commander! Battalion Commander! Old Eight got beaten up! Gu Hai’s men beat him up!” Li Shenji’s subordinates ran over anxiously.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Li Shenji looked coldly at one of his subordinates.

“We spent the past few days in the imperial casino. Those gambling methods are indeed novel. However, we kept losing. Eventually, Old Eight became upset over his losses and started saying that the casino was cheating, causing a scene. However, the imperial casino actually has a ritual array. It restrained Old Eight while Gu Hai’s people beat him up. Fortunately, that promoter, Su Mo, came over. Otherwise…” that subordinate said with an unsightly expression.

“Old Eight lost to the point of becoming upset? How could that happen? I recall that Old Eight brought one hundred superior-grade spirit stones with him when we came, right?” Li Shenji looked at the bruised man at the back.

Bruised? I have not even done anything to Gu Hai yet, and my man already ended up bruised?

“Gone. I lost them all!” Old Eight growled as he touched his face.

“You lost them all? Are you here to squander your fortune?” Li Shenji glowered at Old Eight.

“It is not just me. The others also lost a lot. Over the past three days, we lost nearly two thousand superior-grade spirit stones to the Han Royal Dynasty’s imperial casino!” Old Eight said with his head lowered.

Li Shenji glowered at the group.

“You lost everything? I told you to go and scout for information over the past few days, and you went to gamble? Never mind gambling, to think that you lost everything!”

“Immortal Venerate! Immortal Venerate, the imperial casino cannot be blamed for this. The various Immortal Venerates bet too big. At that time, many people saw it. The largest bet they placed was actually three hundred superior-grade spirit stones. Only our casino would dare take a bet like that!” Su Mo immediately said with a bitter smile from the side.

“You, go out! We have things to discuss!” Li Shenji said coldly.

“Alright, alright. I’ll wait outside. If you have any requests, just inform me.” Su Mo left extremely politely.

Su Mo’s commission over the past three days drew his colleagues’ envy. Indeed, he could earn the most from the rich and extravagant.

After Su Mo left, Li Shenji coldly eyed his subordinates. However, he felt quite shocked and horrified at this moment.

“Did you manage to scout any information? Or did you all waste all your time in the casino?” Li Shenji asked with a cold glare.

“We did not. Their casino cheated. They were cheating,” Old Eight insisted in a low voice.

“What nonsense!” Li Shenji glared, saying, “I investigated it already. This casino does not cheat. Winning or losing is entirely dependent on chance. They were just earning money using probability. Did you all go mad gambling?”

Li Shenji’s subordinates lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

After Li Shenji scolded his subordinates, his anger subsided slowly.

Then, he turned his head and gazed at the distant imperial casino. With a grave look in his eyes, he said, “This Gu Hai is indeed quite capable. The imperial casino? What a cash cow! Han Royal Dynasty? Humph!”

——

The imperial palace’s study in the Han Royal Dynasty:

While Gu Hai wrote official replies for some documents, Gu Qin brought Su Mo over.

“This citizen, Su Mo, salutes Your Majesty. Long live my emperor! May my emperor live for ten thousand years!” So Mo saluted extremely excitedly. This was his first time seeing the emperor.

“Imperial Father, Li Shenji sent a visitation notice!” Gu Qin handed over a purple-gold letter.

“Li Shenji? Li Haoran’s uncle?” Gu Hai suddenly raised his eyebrows as he put down the brush in his hand.

Then, Gu Hai extremely seriously received the letter.

“Li Shenji is currently staying in the imperial casino holiday villa. This promoter is the one who attends to them. They have been here for four days already,” Gu Qin said seriously.

“Oh? Four days already? What have they been doing over the past four days?” Gu Hai’s expression changed as he looked at Su Mo gravely.

“Replying to Your Majesty, the leader, Li Shenji, only gambled a little on the first day. However, his twenty subordinates gambled every day. In the end, they lost everything and caused a scene in the casino. However, the ritual array restrained them, and the casino’s men beat them up. After Li Shenji lectured his subordinates, he sent me to deliver the visitation notice!” Su Mo said respectfully.

“Gambling? Lost everything? The casino’s men even beat them up?” Gu Hai said with some shock.

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