Ning Zheng was calculating the financial flow of the villa.

Previously, the three million Magic Coins had mostly been spent.

One million for the Xinyi Continent City Teleportation Array.

Three hundred thousand during the Red Sun period, for purchasing equipment for various professions in the villa.

Three hundred thousand for the purchase of maids and tomb materials from other Demon Cultivator families.

Miscellaneous expenses:

The Paper Houses for the three ancestors, and storing a few extra Paper Houses for use, Middle Grade Spirit Plant Liquid for research, a large number of Continuing Ash Talismans...

Auxiliary metal materials for crafting Painting Card blind boxes and weapon blind boxes, five joint investments for the temporary Teleportation Array for the tomb...

A mess of expenses totaling over four hundred thousand.

Of course.

If that batch of Painting Cards and blind boxes is sold, it's estimated that six to seven hundred thousand in cash flow will return in a few days.

Moreover, with recurring crafting, these two weapons are like golden-egg-laying chickens, and each batch of weapons yields a staggering profit.

Now, Ning Zheng has two paths in front of him.

1. Stick to the established rules, continue crafting Lower Grade Magical Artifacts, Painting Cards, and weapon blind boxes.

2. Break into the Middle Tier market and develop new Middle Grade weapons.

However, developing Middle Grade weapons requires a huge investment, and the payback speed is uncertain!

A single Middle Grade Magical Artifact sells for several thousand Magic Coins.

And one batch of materials for crafting a Middle Grade Magical Artifact—Middle Grade Spiritual Root—costs hundreds of Magic Coins, and if it fails, it's money down the drain.

You, a Middle Grade blacksmith, need practice and research; hundreds for one set of materials, thousands for ten—can you afford that?

Moreover, this is just the overhead on the blacksmith shop.

What about the research on the Spiritual Root for your own Middle Grade weapons?

These can't use the family core Spiritual Roots like Soul Separation Flower or Blood Separation Flower; a new Middle Grade Spiritual Root must be cultivated.

Spirit Farmer, blacksmith shop—money must be thrown into both sides for intense research.

A careful calculation shows that even with one million Magic Coins, whether the villa's new Middle Grade Magical Artifact can come to fruition is quite doubtful!

He's now like some car company, investing a huge amount in developing a new car, unsure if it will profit or lose money.

Meanwhile.

He also needs to consider the market demand for this Middle Grade Magical Artifact.

If the developed weapon is similar to a niche weapon, with a small audience, the market will quickly saturate.

If it's like a Painting Card, with a broad market range, it can sell whatever amount is developed, as much as the market can handle.

Can he really develop such a large market, non-saturating Middle Grade Magical Artifact?

Still quite doubtful!

"It's too much of a test of luck."

Ning Zheng sighed.

This weapon field isn't just fiercely competitive; the cost of research is also something that small families cannot afford.

This meal cannot be eaten by families without deep foundations.

Ning Zheng thought and thought, feeling that high-tier weapons are a necessity.

R&D failure, summarize experience, keep investing, and this process cycle—the foundation of a family accumulates this way slowly.

Every excellent blacksmith has grown in a sea of money.

Thus, cultivating Middle Grade Spiritual Roots with Middle Grade Spirit Plant Liquid is the core for his villa's development.

Previously.

The ten thousand Spirit Plant materials the Shi Family brought back from tombs can still last a while, enough to possibly produce twenty to thirty Middle Grade Spiritual Roots.

But clearly, it's still not enough.

For him, the more, the better in terms of quantity.

Previously at Xinyi Continent City, Ning Zheng saw the price of Middle Grade Spirit Plant Liquid and recognized it had marked up by 40% due to too many people awakening their Spiritual Roots after the Red Sun.

Purchasing from Xinyi Continent City now is clearly not cost-effective.

He has to rely on tombs; those infected Spirit Plants have a very high cost-performance ratio.

"First, take down that City Guard and get the next batch of Spirit Plants."

Ning Zheng drew circles on the paper with his pen,

"Considering their nuclear fusion reaction development, they've been launching everyday recently—it's getting more and more refined."

"Then, I'll contact the Shi Family to find a few more bosses like the tomb City Guard."

"They're so skilled at buying Spirit Plants from tomb owners, there are likely many similar tomb City Guards who leave behind a bunch of heavily polluted Spirit Plants."

They've been raiding tombs for years; there must be a lot of such tombs.

Those heavily polluted plants, Ning Zheng wants them!

Take down those bosses one by one sharply.

Ning Zheng took a deep breath and directly burned the paper used to sort his thoughts, then contacted the Shi Family and clearly stated his demands.

"What are you guys doing? Has your family's brain gone nuts recently?"

Shi Youxing was a bit puzzled, couldn't help but complain: "Has the Brain Separation Flower already affected your family's upper management?"

The tombs they excavated mostly contain only the tomb owner and a batch of contaminated Spirit Plants.

Of course, these old tombs are also a treasure; the tomb owners are still planting.

They purchase new Spirit Plants that haven't been planted long, without severe contamination, which are still usable, every so often.

"This is our family's tomb mine."

"A group of tomb master laborers regularly helps us generate revenue and plant outputs."

Shi Youxing took a deep breath: "Your request is like digging up our family's roots."

Ning Zheng, of course, knew this was excessive.

Saying this was akin to someone asking for their Magic Copper mine.

"We want those high-age polluted plants."

Ning Zheng said, "Bring a portable teleportation array, put it there, and we'll be responsible for taking out the tomb master, then you take the array away without exposing the tomb's location."

"That place is still yours, it's like we're buying at a low price, and we're responsible for collecting."

Shi Youxing, upon hearing this, eased his tone slightly:

"But you have to know, those ancestors are not to be trifled with!"

"If you can't kill them instantly, they will perish together with the spirit plants, nobody will leave their inheritance to robbers."

"I know, this is a difficulty." Ning Zheng nodded.

Thus, those blacksmiths are still researching fusion projections, preparing for a one-hit kill.

"Forget it, as long as you pay enough, we can cooperate."

Shi Youxing said: "Since you really need spirit plants, all the plants in our spirit plant mine can be sold to you in the future."

"That's great, we'll regularly purchase your output," Ning Zheng nodded.

Shi Youxing thought for a moment: "I also know some other Tomb Raider races, who have polluted spirit plants as well, do you want them?"

"Yes," Ning Zheng smiled and said, "We'd also buy the polluted ones, but the price must be reasonable."

"Then I'll contact them for you!" Shi Youxing's eyes lit up, "This is a big business, I can make some profit from the price difference by purchasing from them and selling to you."

Ning Zheng didn't see any problem with it.

If someone helps with the work, shouldn't they earn some money?

Even products in Xinyi Continent City, go through several hands for transportation; buying directly here reduces the middleman's price a bit.

"By the way, recently the Painting Cards are selling quite well."

Suddenly Shi Youxing seemed to remember something, feeling delighted:

"Over here in Yunshan City, we've captured a significant portion of the Mother and Child Rings market, how come your prices are so low? What demon beast materials are you using, is there no cost?"

"We can surely open up the market for you, and other families can benefit a bit too."

We used Water Army.

Others need to breed and cultivate low-tier demon beasts before crafting magical artifacts.

These cost time and money!

The cost of our Mixed Spirit Roots was naturally much lower, opening Three Flowers effortlessly.

This is our price advantage in low-tier magical artifacts.

Other similar low-tier magical artifact products simply can't compare.

However, middle-tier magical artifacts begin to require Middle Grade Spiritual Roots, and the price is roughly equivalent to that of Middle Grade demon beasts' carcasses, offering no discount.

So, the profit margin for middle-tier magical artifacts is not high.

But whether the high-end market is profitable is one thing, it's more about connections and reputation.

After hanging up communication with the Shi Family.

Ning Zheng planned to head up the mountain to discuss the development of middle-tier magical artifacts and the emergence of new bosses in various region dungeons.

The Shi Family promised to provide more than ten abandoned tomb locations.

It's like having secured ten dungeon bosses for them.

Don't they love dungeons?

They always say they lack game dungeon monster mechanics, this time they must be thrilled!

Reaching halfway up the mountain, Ning Zheng saw Dizzy and Erya with eight Embers babies collecting materials.

Thinking it over, Ning Zheng called Dizzy over.

"Sir." Dizzy ran over excitedly, rubbing his snow-covered hands, "I'm still building the cable car."

Ning Zheng smiled: "Very diligent, but we need to develop a terraced field at our villa soon."

"Terraces?" Dizzy was shocked.

"Yes."

Ning Zheng said: "I hope you can find a suitable area for developing terraces, to facilitate the subsequent planting of Meat Fields."

Terraces?

Dizzy was stunned for a moment.

Over this period of collecting and exploring, he naturally knew which terrain was most suitable for planting.

But developing these terraces would be busy work, probably requiring the construction of fences, barbed wire, greenhouses, and it's said that large-scale Meat Fields also need Scarecrows.

Without Scarecrows, even with greenhouse covers, clever bird demon beasts would poke a hole and sneak in to steal food.

"Sir, I understand!"

A Hairpin Lady quickly responded with great joy.

She obviously retained memories from her previous life and, as a player, felt excited about receiving a hidden quest.

She even planned to run up the mountain in a while to share the good news with everyone.

A large Meat Field is only something a sect power can construct, and the villa's meals will be much richer in the future.

No wonder it's the Gourmet Villa.

After outlining the general requirements, Ning Zheng sent Dizzy and the others off, quickly making his way up the mountain.

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