Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 169 Face-to-Face Plan
Of course, you can't just apply for a "shop" in this kind of place; you need to have certain "qualifications" first.

For example, you need to have a sufficient quantity of goods and a certain amount of funds, and you also need to obtain an "import and export trade license" and operate within the scope defined by the trade license.

Certain levels of military equipment and firearms are not allowed to be traded privately—although it is really difficult for ordinary players to manually create high-level firearms.

However, if it's the kind of "Watt" explosive pack concocted by the Jade Emperor, it's actually unrestricted. That kind of thing is really low-level, and this isn't Earth. Aside from ordinary human civilians, the people of every other race are incredibly fierce. A typical explosive pack would probably only scratch the skin, so there's no need to regulate it. Of course, the low level of technology is also a factor. Skilled alchemists can identify the formula just by smelling it; hiding it is pointless.

Even more remarkably, after the Jade Emperor patented the formula for the explosive charge, he made it publicly available in the library—completely free for non-commercial use!
This is of great significance to a group of ordinary people who do not know magic. It means that people no longer have to passively wait to die or pay a great price to ask cultivators for help when driving away strange beasts and some demons. In fact, many ordinary people who have become strong and healthy by attending "night school" in Chang'an City have the courage to carry these things and various talismans that have become very cheap to hunt large wild beasts!

Of course, these things were not what Han Yi and Wang Ergou cared about. The reason they got together was actually to prepare for their meet-up during the National Day holiday!

"Then, shall we make replicas of this as souvenirs, one set for everyone?"

The suggestion was first proposed by Zhao Qing, and Wang Ergou was immediately interested. He happened to run into Han Yi in the game, whom he rarely saw, so he asked Han Yi for his opinion.

Han Yi had no objection to the idea, but he was skeptical about the technical level: "Completely replicating this... would be quite difficult, wouldn't it?"

"No, we only aim for a resemblance in form, not in spirit!"

Wang Ergou shook the Zhongzhou coins in his hand and said, "For example, this colorful silk part, we can use transparent holographic plastic paper or cellophane or something to replace it. It only costs a few yuan on Taobao! The rest is just digital printing, very simple! But..."

As he spoke, he pursed his lips and added, "It's just that this Taiyin copper coin is not easy to replicate. You have to make a mold for it, and the weight and the level of detail make it quite expensive!"

Han Yi was completely ignorant about this area, so he tentatively asked, "How many tens of thousands of yuan?"

Wang Ergou waved his hand exaggeratedly: "How could that be! At most a few thousand yuan! I estimate that the cost of a set is only twenty or thirty yuan RMB—that's including shipping!"

Han Yi rolled his eyes: "Then why do you look like you're about to bleed hundreds of thousands!"

"The main problem is that there are already more than 300 people registered, and many new players don't even know about this yet. I estimate that there will definitely be 400 or 500 people in the end, which will make things difficult!"

Wang Ergou said, "I was thinking that if it were only a hundred or so people, I would just cover all the expenses. Anyway, I've been making a fortune from live streaming lately. But with several hundred people, your brother can't handle it!"

Han Yi asked, "I heard that Longshan is the one who wants to sponsor us?"

Wang Ergou curled his lip: "That boss is all money-grubbing. The idea over there is for each person to pay 500 yuan for three days and two nights of accommodation at hotels under their Longshan Group. I checked, and it's just a run-down place with four-star hotels. Even tour groups and boutique tours are embarrassed to charge that much!"

Han Yi couldn't help but speak up: "No matter what, the National Day holiday is a peak tourist season, so their price isn't outrageous..."

"It's not about the money, it's just that he doesn't handle things this way! You know that?"

Wang Ergou waved his arms, his Northeastern accent blaring, and said with a look of disdain, "Either you hold a bidding process, say how much we charge per night, and then offer group discounts and benefits—that's business. Or you can just not charge at all, be generous, spend money on advertising, what's a little bit of money for hundreds of people's room fees? So stingy! You pay how much for a few days' stay, so we pay you money, give you business, and then we have to do you a favor? Why should we? You get all the good stuff? This isn't how you do business! It's so unfair!"

"Um... how about we ask if anyone in the group is interested in bidding?"

"Okay, let's get everyone's opinions and see if this coin set is a good idea for the souvenir!"

As he spoke, Wang Ergou gestured wildly and brought up a chat application right there on the street.

A few native NPC cultivators passing by in the distance chuckled, seemingly unfazed, and continued on their way. Those looking over with curiosity were mostly newcomers to Chang'an City, not yet accustomed to the style of the Taiyin Sect disciples. The chat group was consistently at 999+ messages. When Wang Ergou suggested using the entire set of commemorative coins as a souvenir for their meetup, almost everyone agreed, while rejecting several unrealistic suggestions such as a life-size body pillow of the sect leader, a mountain cat police officer doll, and a butterfly Daoist figurine.

"The other issue is accommodation. I originally planned to cover all of Er Gou's expenses, but there are too many people now, so we can't afford it. We have two options: one is to pay together and we can all stay together. A few hundred people should be enough for a decent hotel. The other option is for everyone to fight freely, and then we can have a group meal together afterwards. What do you guys think?"

The moment the message was sent, the group chat exploded with messages, like a barrage of bullet comments.

"I chose free fighting because my child is poor and can't afford a hotel, so I'll just make do with a hostel!"

"Don't talk nonsense! You can afford a gaming pod, why would you stay in a hostel?"

"That's different. The gaming pod is funded by the parents, and the travel expenses are only covered by the food allowance!"

"If all else fails, you can stay at my place. I live in N City and I happen to have a spare room!"

"Sister, I want to stay here too!"

"I must decline, I don't accept guests of the opposite sex!"

"We can share a hostel! I've never stayed in a hostel before! Is that fun?"

"I wouldn't recommend it if you have the money; it's quite hard work, and the hygiene conditions are rather poor..."

"Actually, you can stay at my hotel for free."

"How is the hostel unhygienic? Who do you think you are, some rich kid? Is staying in the dorm an injustice to you?"

"No, we're just discussing the matter at hand. Why are you reacting so strongly?"

"Quiet down, quiet down, there's a rich guy upstairs!"

"If you can't speak properly, then shut up! 'Respond'? Are you trying to impress me, young master?"

"Didn't you start by being sarcastic?"

"You two, stop arguing! There's a rich guy upstairs!"

"Oh, can this rich guy be richer than that young master? The young master can't even live in the dorms because he complains about the poor hygiene!"

"So you're ignoring the facts, huh?"

"If you two keep arguing, I'm going to mute you!"

Unable to contain himself any longer, a manager sent a message, followed by a fawning voice message: "Brother Fu, where is your hotel located? Let's talk about it in detail?"

Only then did everyone realize that the "rich guy" who had just said he could stay at his hotel was actually the famous wealthy gamer, [Master].

(End of this chapter)