After the brief frenzy passed, the money-minded Caine quickly calmed himself down.
He forcefully suppressed the uncontrollable excitement surging through his chest.
Only then did he suddenly realize that such an enormous harvest felt… a little too dangerous.
Caine frowned and fell into deep thought.
If he placed himself in their position—if he discovered that one of his subordinates had earned such terrifying wealth so easily—would he feel tempted?
The answer was obvious.
Absolutely.
If he really swallowed all this money alone, he might very well be crushed by it.
If this world did not contain the powerful existence known as Hassan, and if he himself were already invincible, then naturally all this wealth would belong to him.
But both The Art of Alchemy and the Golden Core cultivation methods had been provided by Hassan.
And Hassan himself was a Golden Core Ancestor.
An old monster who had cultivated the Golden Core Dao for centuries.
The energy contained within that Golden Core was like a blazing sun—vast and magnificent.
Facing such an Ancestor, even if the other party didn't ask for anything, Caine still had to show proper respect.
As long as he relied on Hassan's protection, he could stand against the entire world without fear.
After careful consideration, Caine finally made what he believed to be a very wise decision.
He would pay taxes.
He would keep only thirty percent of the profits.
The remaining seventy percent would be offered to Clan Leader Hassan.
In this way, he could reduce the pressure on himself while ensuring that Hassan would never grow dissatisfied—or greedy.
…
…
At the same time, the Continental Hotel managers who had purchased the cultivation methods also began to act.
They summoned their most trusted subordinates.
Without hesitation, they prepared to teach them the Soul Acupoint Method and grant them Spirit Qi Seeds.
Of course, this generosity came with conditions.
In exchange, every subordinate had to sign a special cyber contract.
The core clause of the contract was simple:
They were forbidden from spreading the cultivation method on their own.
This ensured the method's scarcity and exclusivity.
At the same time, from that moment onward, they would have to hand over thirty percent of all the Spirit Qi they acquired.
Once the contract was signed, the Spirit Qi didn't even need to be handed over manually.
It would automatically flow to their superiors.
This idea had been proposed by Winston, the famous manager of the New York Continental Hotel.
He had suggested something clever.
If the cyber contract could restrict people from spreading the cultivation method…
Then why couldn't it also automatically transfer Spirit Qi?
After all, condensing spirit coins manually left too much room for fraud.
Everyone's talent differed, and only the cultivators themselves knew how much Spirit Qi they had refined.
Subordinates could easily skim a little for themselves.
But if the Spirit Qi transferred automatically—
No one could cheat.
When tests proved that the method worked perfectly, identical smiles appeared on every manager's face.
The smiles of experienced businessmen.
That very day, the Continental Hotel officially opened this extraordinary power to all of its customers.
Of course, the conditions varied.
Trusted subordinates received better terms.
Outsiders who wished to obtain cultivation methods had to pay a far heavier price.
Not only did they need to hand over fifty assassin gold coins, they also had to surrender fifty to seventy percent of their Spirit Qi income.
Despite how unfair these conditions were, the demand exploded.
Customers flocked to the Continental Hotel in endless waves.
The assassin gold coins issued by the High Table suddenly became the hottest commodity in the entire dark world.
People across the globe fought desperately to obtain them.
Some wealthy individuals even offered up to one million dollars per coin, just for the chance to enter the Continental Hotel and purchase extraordinary power.
Taking advantage of the frenzy, the hotel secretly began selling assassin gold coins.
They harvested not only Spirit Qi, but also money.
Customers were squeezed to the very last drop.
The reason was simple.
After testing, people discovered that even a slight increase in Spirit Qi could raise their physical abilities beyond those of world-class athletes who had trained their entire lives.
The enhancement was astonishing.
Even a third-rate assassin could rival a king-level assassin once they possessed Spirit Qi.
Giving up seventy percent of their Spirit Qi income?
Even if it were eighty percent, many assassins who lived by the blade would still accept without hesitation.
However, the High Table also understood one thing.
If they pushed the lower-tier cultivators too hard, another ruthless monster like Caine might appear and slaughter them all.
So, their exploitation became more subtle.
And far more sophisticated.
They introduced a new product:
The Golden Book Jade Page.
This item was essentially a simplified version of the Golden Book Jade Tablet.
It contained viewing limits and embedded contract clauses.
Anyone who wished to read its contents first had to sign a contract agreeing to supply Spirit Qi.
The contract itself could specify how much Spirit Qi would be provided—and to whom.
The meaning behind this system was obvious.
If someone disliked supplying Spirit Qi to their superiors…
They could simply recruit others beneath them.
Let others supply Spirit Qi instead.
To encourage this system, the High Table even included a free copy of The Art of Alchemy with every Golden Book Jade Page.
Because the contracts signed with the High Table only referred to "acquired Spirit Qi."
That meant it didn't matter where the Spirit Qi came from.
As long as someone beneath them generated Spirit Qi, the High Table still received its share.
In simple terms:
The more subordinates someone recruited—
The more Spirit Qi they harvested.
However, the Golden Book Jade Page could only be purchased using Spirit Qi or spirit coins.
This further drained the already limited Spirit Qi reserves of the lower-tier cultivators.
Yet even so, people eagerly paid.
Because by purchasing a Golden Book Jade Page, they could transform themselves from oppressed producers into predators.
Once a person's class changes, their way of thinking changes as well.
When someone benefits from a system, they naturally become its strongest supporter.
Such is human nature.
Through a careful strategy of winning some over, suppressing others, dividing the classes, and harvesting them all, the High Table rapidly expanded its control.
In just one month, the number of Cyber Cultivators exploded like a swarm.
Countless people were dragged onto the pirate ship of cultivation.
And once they tasted the power it offered—even if the road was difficult and exhausting—none of them wanted to turn back.
These tireless cultivators became the High Table's greatest workforce.
An endless source of Spirit Qi.
"Oh, shit…"
"These bastards are unbelievably good at making money!"
After studying the development model of the Continental Hotel managers, even Caine was stunned.
Then he made a simple decision.
He joined them.
After all—
He couldn't let the Continental Hotel take all the profits.
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