Chapter 34 Purchasing Land

On New Light Star, in Ancient Bright City, Tang Yi and his five companions arrived at the City Lord's Mansion. The City Lord of Ancient Bright City was an immortal at the late stage of the Mystic Immortal Realm, bearing the name Qin Ming.

Ancient Bright City served as the primary city of New Light Star, and its City Lord naturally acted as the overlord of this planet. Tang Yi had come here with the intention of finding a good place on New Light Star to temporarily settle down and forge an immortal mansion. To settle down here, one naturally had to go to the main city government for registration.

At present, the cultivation levels of Tang Yi's group of six were as follows: Tang Yi at the late stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm, Cang Mu's avatar at the early stage of the Mystic Immortal Realm, Black Granite at the late stage of the Mystic Immortal Realm, Bing Ling at the middle stage of the Mystic Immortal Realm, Little Vajra at the late stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm, and Little Fire Spirit at the late stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm. Traveling through the Immortal World with such a lineup could only be considered entirely ordinary. At present, it was precisely these cultivation tiers that allowed one to roam freely in the Immortal World. Many families or sects would routinely dispatch individuals around the Mystic Immortal level to lead juniors in the Celestial Immortal stage out for experiential training. Those with even greater strength would dispatch ancient immortal spirits to lead the teams.

In Qin Ming's eyes, Tang Yi's party was no exception. Having two individuals at the late stage of the Mystic Immortal Realm leading the group suggested that this family could be considered a medium-sized one within the Immortal World.

"How may I address this immortal friend?" Qin Ming asked Old Man Cang Mu. Judging by appearance, Cang Mu looked much more like the leader of the party.

"Um... You may call me Cang Mu. As for anything else, please speak with this young brother Tang!" Cang Mu was momentarily stunned, then pointed toward Tang Yi.

"Oh, Immortal Friend Tang, is it? May I ask the purpose of your visit this time?" Qin Ming turned his attention to Tang Yi.

"City Lord Qin, we are planning to reside temporarily on New Light Star for a period of time, so we have come here to apply for a plot of land for a prolonged stay."

"I see. I wonder how long you intend to stay here? Well, different durations come with different fees!" Qin Ming said.

"The duration will be around a hundred-odd years, less than two hundred years. I wonder what the fee would be?" Tang Yi asked.

"In that case, please wait a moment!" Qin Ming thought for a moment before speaking, then took out a palm-sized square jade stone and placed it on the table, tapping it lightly a few times. The square jade stone projected an image depicting the planetary map of New Light Star.

A miniature version of New Light Star slowly rotated in mid-air, displaying various color patches of green, red, yellow, and black across its surface. Pointing to a specific location, Qin Ming explained: "The black areas are places extremely unsuited for cultivation, locations devoid of immortal Qi and filled only with poisonous vapours. The red areas are places already inhabited and fully bought out by others. The yellow areas are those currently rented by people; please look here, the remaining time is displayed. The green areas are currently uninhabited. The white ones are places not open for any rental or sale! This glowing dot represents the location of Ancient Bright City. You may familiarize yourselves with these first!"

After carefully noting down each of the green locations, Tang Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, pointed at a specific spot, and said, "We'll choose this location!"

"Ah, this location is indeed quite good! If rented for two hundred years, it will require two million superior-grade immortal stones!" Qin Ming said after glancing at the coordinates.

"Hmm, that works out to ten thousand superior-grade immortal stones a year. Then if we were to buy it out entirely, how many immortal stones would that take?" Tang Yi asked in surprise.

"Hehe, accounts aren't calculated that way. The longer the lease term, the lower the rent per unit of time. A lease term of just one or two hundred years is far too short; a single session of closed-door seclusion occasionally takes several centuries. Such pricing is also a precaution against contingencies," Qin Ming smiled and said.

"Well, that does sound reasonable. Then may I ask the City Lord to explain the prices for the various tiers so that I can consider them and make a decision?" Tang Yi said after pondering for a moment.

"Certainly. For instance, in this location, the fee between one epoch and one kalpa is forty thousand superior-grade immortal stones per epoch; between one kalpa and one great kalpa, it is three hundred and fifty thousand superior-grade immortal stones per kalpa; between one great kalpa and one universal epoch, it is three million superior-grade immortal stones per universal epoch; above one universal epoch, it only requires twenty-eight million superior-grade immortal stones per universal epoch. If you choose a complete buyout, one hundred million superior-grade immortal stones will allow you to reside here forever, and you won't even need to pay management fees thereafter," Qin Ming stated.

"So expensive!" exclaimed Bing Ling and Black Granite in shock. Cang Mu and Little Fire Spirit were playing with something in a corner and showed no reaction, while Little Vajra, being the foodie he was, went without saying—he was busy playing with his building blocks.

"Ahem, of course. The location I just pointed to is the best and largest plot on New Light Star, so the price naturally has to be somewhat higher," Qin Ming said with a slightly awkward smile.

"Ah, this is a textbook case of asking an exorbitant price and letting the buyer negotiate down!" Tang Yi thought to himself, though he could not voice the words aloud.

"Then I must ask City Lord Qin to quote a genuine price for the location I just selected!" Tang Yi said.

"Well, if Immortal Friend Tang wishes to rent it for only two hundred years, this fee must be at least one million superior-grade immortal stones, not a single stone less. Actually, this price wasn't set by me either; it was determined by the higher-ups. If it's any less, I won't be able to report back with a clear account," Qin Ming said helplessly.

"Then what would the price be for a complete buyout? Give me a fair price. If this transaction succeeds, it should be of great benefit to City Lord Qin as well, right?" Tang Yi said with a smile.

Tang Yi had been trying hard to fathom what was on Qin Ming's mind, but unfortunately, the special ability enhanced by his current cultivation level at the late stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm was unable to probe it. Tang Yi had no choice but to bargain with him.

"Alright, seeing that Immortal Friend Tang is so straightforward, I'll lay my cards on the table. A complete buyout of this location requires ten million superior-grade immortal stones, and I cannot go any lower," Qin Ming said, gritting his teeth. "Although this location is slightly remote, the immortal Qi within it is still quite dense, and the area is relatively large. Furthermore, after a complete buyout, you will not need to pay any fees whatsoever, including management fees, taxes, and so on. In other words, once bought out, you will be the overlord of this territory, and everything within it will be decided by you!"

If Qin Ming successfully completed this transaction, he would immediately receive two million superior-grade immortal stones. One had to know that serving as the main City Lord here yielded only twenty million superior-grade immortal stones per epoch; in other words, this single transaction could save him ten thousand years of labor. This rule was established by the Domain Lord of the Ink Jade Star Domain, setting the lowest selling price for a location of this tier at eight million, while anything sold above that price went directly to the local main City Lord.

Seeing that Tang Yi was still deep in thought, Qin Ming could not help but want to say that nine million could also seal the deal, just to make a friend. Then Tang Yi spoke: "Very well, this is the place. Ten million superior-grade immortal stones for the deal."

Tang Yi retrieved a spatial ring and handed it to Qin Ming, saying, "There are ten million superior-grade immortal stones inside. Please check and receive them!"

After completing all the formalities, Tang Yi and his companions took the jade keys and set off to take possession of their territory. Meanwhile, Qin Ming, holding the spatial ring and a jade slip, went to a dedicated teleportation array to transmit the spatial ring containing eight million superior-grade immortal stones and the jade slip to the Domain Lord of the Ink Jade Star Domain. Having finished all this, Qin Ming stepped out of the City Lord's Mansion with a beaming face, thinking happily to himself: "Haha, I can finally buy that golden feather hairpin and gift it to my wife!"

Before long, Tang Yi arrived at the territory he had bought out. After producing the jade key to verify his identity with the guards, he lifted the defensive array and stepped inside, while the guards retreated to report back on their duty.

"Wuwu, why did Brother Tang choose this place and even buy it out outright?" Bing Ling asked.

"Indeed, Young Brother Tang, I'd very much like to know as well!" Black Granite chimed in with the same question.

"Because I've examined it thoroughly, and buying this location out outright is absolute value for money!" Tang Yi smiled mysteriously.

Back when he had narrowed his eyes in the City Lord's Mansion, Tang Yi had actually utilized his special ability to traverse time and inspect the entire planet inside and out.

"Alright, first of all, we need to dismantle this defensive array. If we're going to do something, we're going to do it the best way possible!" Tang Yi declared.