"My path lies in commerce. In profit."

Jiao Xiuyuan spoke with a touch of emotion. "All under heaven bustles for the sake of profit. The path of commerce permeates the world with inexorable force.

"So I refined countless puppets to observe the world's gains and losses, and cultivated in this way.

"Assets always accumulate fastest at the very beginning. I made progress nearly every day, and my realm climbed step by step alongside it.

"But after a certain point, the expansion of Thousand Li Hall slowed.

"My cultivation stagnated for a long time. I had hoped the insight from this recent massive profit would let me push through in one go and make a breakthrough. I never expected that final spark to still elude me.

"It's like seeing a mountain clearly, only...