Chapter 397: Investment
"Fellow Daoists, we are unworthy of your generosity," Silas declared, bowing deeply. "Please, allow me to make things right."
The auction was over, and the group of five had moved to a separate underground area connected to the half-circular hall. The place was a vast warehouse with a single stone desk, the latter featuring Mairis’ trio bowing deeply at the couple on the other side.
That extreme politeness was to be expected. Up until the very end, Grace had kept bidding, always overpaying for the goods. She could have exploited the lack of competitors to her advantage, but doing so would have hurt the three families’ bottom line, so they had taken their gesture as an extreme kindness.
That kindness even had an eye-catching physical representation. The only other item in the warehouse was a huge pile of translucent crystals with several containers buried underneath.
That massive purchase of ingredients had cost Liam and Grace over two hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones, which they didn’t have even after putting together their finances.
However, the couple had plenty of items worth hundreds and even thousands of spirit stones. Several rank 1 alchemical products and a few dozen rank 2 ones had been enough to compensate for the missing money.
That had left Liam and Grace virtually broke when it came to spirit stones, but their space-rings were now flooded with alchemical ingredients, which a quick math on his side easily pointed to profit.
Liam would have to concoct for himself, both in terms of products he needed and sheer alchemical training. Yet, he had enough to seclude himself for months now. Not everything would result in rank 2 items, but the promised earnings could still be absurd.
Even if Liam only chose to spend two weeks filling Grace’s wares with rank 2 products, he could still concoct around five hundred of those, which sold for over one thousand spirit stones each.
There were also plenty of rank 1 products Liam could make while having no use for. Of course, their number would surpass the rank 2 ones since the rank 1 ingredients were the bulk of the purchase.
Through a rough estimate, Liam believed he could perform rank 1 concoctions nonstop for three months, each yielding five to six rank 1 products, each selling for a few hundred spirit stones.
The sum of that would earn the couple way above one million spirit stones. Even after splitting them, their individual capital would have increased by a factor of ten.
The return promised to be over five times the initial investment.
Such was the value of an alchemist unburdened by additional taxes or limited by ingredients, and that wasn’t all. Liam and Grace still had more of the inheritance to unload, especially the priceless martial arts.
There were only two issues with the matter. The first involved the time required to make those concoctions, while the other was of a far simpler nature. It was unclear whether Mairis’ three families had access to that kind of wealth.
In theory, Mairis should have as much. It wasn’t an individual after all. Its three ruling families had the means to produce that many resources as well as host such a large population of cultivators.
Chances were that the three families could also borrow that money from whatever backers they had, which shouldn’t be hard since those were richer areas of the Kingdom.
It was just about mentioning the matter, a role that obviously fell on Grace.
"Making things right would imply a mistake," Grace announced. "Are you suggesting I was wrong?"
The trio promptly straightened and mumbled apologies, at which Liam almost laughed. Except for the issue with the two young men, everything had gone according to plan, but Grace sounded and looked unusually pissed, and he knew why.
’She must hate to give away so many spirit stones,’ Liam understood, instinctively taking Grace’s hand to appease her.
Grace’s gaze snapped at that surprising touch, quickly rising toward Liam’s face. She scoffed but still clung to his arm, lying her head on it.
"As I told you," Grace sighed. "My beloved is the only one who can handle me when I get like this."
The trio didn’t know what "this" was or what had caused it. Honestly, they were too overjoyed even to dare show the slightest hint of impoliteness. The three families had earned big from Grace’s overbidding, basically turning the couple into priority clients whose desires had to be accommodated no matter what.
"A Fairy in love has nothing to apologize for," Kris laughed. "It was our fault for suffocating you with our pleasantries."
Silas and Samantha nodded almost in unison. The three belonged to three different families that oppressed each other, but they showed a united front now, and for an obvious reason.
Liam and Grace’s wealth had indeed proven their lie beyond a shadow of a doubt. What they had splurged in the auction was too much for two rooting experts, meaning they truly had an incredible backer.
The families had also earned a lot, but it was what the couple had promised would come next that put the trio on their best behavior. Now that the auction was done, it was time to talk about martial arts.
"That’s right," Grace feigned to remember something, inspecting the warehouse. "Do you consider this a suitable place for private trades?"
Since Liam and Grace had been the only buyers throughout the auction, no one else had come to the warehouse to trade money for their purchases. The group was alone and had complete privacy.
"We’d be more than willing to arrange a space that better suits your taste," Silas vowed.
"I’m talking about your ability to spend the finances you have just earned," Grace pointed out, glancing at the huge pile of spirit stones and items. "Though I believe the change in our escorts was for this exact reason."
"Fairy Grace, nothing escapes your eyes," Kris confirmed, smiling from ear to ear.
"But we would understand if you didn’t want to handle them today," Samantha added. "You both must be tired, or I hope in a celebratory mood."
Grace didn’t reply. She just waved her hand, and several sheets appeared on the stone desk. That was something she had prepared before her first visit to Mairis, written by her own hand. It was a series of short summaries of the martial arts she was willing to sell.
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