Chapter 1611: The Money That’s Gone

Shen Yuanbao was speechless.

He had started with crystal mining.

To put it simply, he was a mine owner.

No mine owner dared to say that he received his mining rights by relying on his own charm, rich knowledge, or professional skills.

Oh, perhaps Lu Zhongqi of Sky Pillar Corporation was qualified to say so.

After all, he was the top prospector and crystal expert in Dragon City.

However, the corpses of his competitors and countless unspeakable secrets lay beneath every crystal ore vein that Shen Yuanbao had seized.

Despite that, it was impossible for him to exterminate all his competitors.

There were still numerous competitors licking their wounds in the dark, like hungry hyenas waiting for the old lion king to fall before pouncing on its young cubs’ throats.

In fact, that was also one of the reasons why Shen Yuanbao had spared no expense to build The Grand View of the Universe.

It was not only a magnificent palace, but itwas also a self-sufficient manor and an indestructible fortress.

Deep underground, there was even a small but high-quality mother lode of crystals. The facilities for mining and refining were all available.

The disciples of the Shen family could stay in The Grand View of the Universe for years and cultivate in seclusion to surpass their limits!

Meng Chao appeared to see through Shen Yuanbao’s thoughts.

“Senior Shen, do you think that The Grand View of the Universe alone can protect your clansmen and blood descendants forever?”

Meng Chao scoffed. “It’s true that The Grand View of the Universe is like a modern fortress, which can be attacked and defended.

“However, it is only destined to stand for a short period of time. It cannot defend for a lifetime.

“In history, the ancient fortresses have allowed many powerful families to even decide the fate of a dynasty. All of them are much more awe-inspiring than the nine great cultivation families.

“In the end? Did these powerful families persevere till today? Do the ancient fortresses, which they painstakingly built using all their money and food to squeeze people in, still exist?

“In fact, forget the great clans. Would even the ruler of a powerful dynasty at its peak, who didn’t command thousands of soldiers and horses, who didn’t possess the wealth of the world, who didn’t cough lightly only for ten thousand heads to fall to the ground, who didn’t conquer countless foreign tribes and expand his territory to the limits of his ability, who didn’t have palaces that were a hundred times more luxurious and sturdier than The Grand View of the Universe as a barrier for themselves, who didn’t want to rely on all of the above to rule for thousands of generations, last forever?

“Which emperor or dynasty can rule forever?

“The old will be reformed, and the new will be established. There is no such thing as a thousand-year-old fortress, and there is no such thing as a thousand-year-old noble family.

“It’s common for nobles and generals to die after a hundred years.

“Moreover, the nine great families of cultivation today cannot be compared with the noble families and emperors of the past.

“First of all, the nine noble cultivation families rose too quickly. Their foundations are too shallow. Their family members aren’t flourishing. Most times, they rely on their in-laws and adopted in-laws to provide support. The in-laws and adopted in-laws are the ones who stray or betray the easiest. The incident between Shen Chengyi and Shen Chengxiu today is the best proof.

“To put it bluntly, the so-called nine noble cultivation families rely on the peerless martial strength of nine, at most a dozen or twenty Deity Realm fighters.

“The so-called nine great mega corporations are just abnormal products developed after the Deity Realm powerhouses used peerless force to monopolize a certain resource or a certain key field.

“However, many Deity Realm warriors are already old.

“Furthermore, when they were young, they were careless and reckless, leaving their body with many internal injuries. In fact, the entire cultivation system is unscientific.

“Don’t misunderstand, Senior Shen. I’m not targeting you. I’m saying that the cultivation systems of all the Deity Realm warriors in Dragon City, including Battle God Lei Zongchao, are unscientific. At most, we can call it ‘Deity Realm 1.0.’

“Besides, when one reaches your age, it will be very difficult to level up to Deity Realm 2.0 with a riddled body that is strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

“Let me ask you. When you people start to die one after another, you won’t even have to wait until the end of your lives. As long as you show some signs of decline, what will happen to the nine noble families of cultivation and the nine mega corporations that are supported by unparalleled armed forces?

“Even the Ancients knew that it was the foolish act of a child to carry gold and swagger around in public.

“Senior Shen, don’t you realize that the enormous wealth and monopoly in the key fields that you’ve accumulated by relying on your unparalleled armed forces are ‘gold,’ and your descendants are ‘children?’ By pushing so many glittering resources into their hands, you are not helping them but harming them instead.

“More importantly, times have changed. We’re not in a decadent feudal era anymore but a post-industrial, information-based era where everyone is educated. Everyone has an independent personality and a fighting spirit.

“If the common people of ancient times had a choice to not kneel on the ground and kowtow to the armed forces of the wealthy families in heavy armor, they would not have done so.

“An ordinary citizen of the modern society would never kneel and kowtow even when he faces a Deity Realm warrior who can move mountains and overturn seas. He should never have to bow and kowtow!

“Perhaps, there is a great gap between the ordinary citizens and the Deity Realm warriors in terms of strength and wealth, but in terms of personality and human rights, they are equal.

“If Dragon City’s civilization continues to develop, and ordinary citizens still have to kneel and kowtow at the feet of Deity Realm warriors, just like the citizens from thousands of years ago, then what the hell are we fighting and developing for?”

His words made Shen Yuanbao’s facial muscles twitch, and sparks flew out of his teeth. However, he could not think of a rebuttal.

“Then, in your opinion, how can I protect my family and business?” Shen Yuanbao gnashed his teeth and asked.

“You’ll return all the money that’s gone!”

Meng Chao resolutely replied, “Just as I said, you’ll spread your wealth as far as possible and make friends with all the heroes and ordinary citizens. By building hospitals, schools, bridges, roads, and other measures to help the citizens in need, you’ll firmly tie the interests of the Shen family to the interests of Dragon City’s civilization. You’ll fork out real money and invite small, as well as medium-sized enterprises, and the superhumans from humble families to make and share the cake with the Shen family.

“That way, not only will you save your family and business, but your name and glorious deeds will also live on to the next millennium!”