Flender had no idea that there was a whole business logic behind selling commemorative merchandise.
He took the recent earnings in golden soul coins and part of the academy's funds to a local workshop in Tiandou City, ordering ten thousand sets of uniforms in one go.
The Seven Treasures team had limited their commemorative uniforms to one thousand sets, each priced at one thousand golden soul coins. They decided to sell ten thousand sets, each at five hundred golden soul coins—it seemed reasonable, right?
Once all were sold, it would amount to five million golden soul coins.
After deducting costs, the net profit would exceed four and a half million golden soul coins.
"Boss Flender, isn't ten thousand sets too much? Why don't we start with five hundred and see how it goes?" Liu Erlong couldn't help but raise a question.
Flender, confident in his sharp business acumen, adjusted his glasses and smiled. "Erlong, on the first day of selling uniforms, foot traffic is always the highest. If we sell them in batches, it will only get harder to sell as time goes on."
Liu Erlong still felt uneasy.
If the uniforms didn't sell, they'd lose everything. Moreover, a significant portion of the funds Flender used for the order came from the academy's operational budget.
Yu Xiaogang, who didn't want to return to living frugally, said, "Erlong, trust Flender on this. Four million golden soul coins will be enough to build several more simulated cultivation fields for the academy. Next year, we'll have a competitive edge in recruitment."
After some thought, Liu Erlong realized he had a point.
---
The workshop Flender approached happened to belong to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
Recently, both the Seven Treasures Academy and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had been buzzing about Shrek Academy's order of ten thousand uniforms.
Upon hearing the news, Sun Buyu immediately informed everyone.
"Ten thousand sets—what are they going to do with so many uniforms?" Chen Huayu, who was eating at the time, nearly choked.
Even if uniforms got damaged during every match, they wouldn't need that many, would they?
Moreover, did Shrek Academy even have ten thousand students?
"Hmph, they're just jealous of the million golden soul coins we made and are trying to imitate us," Ke Jie sneered.
Ning Tianchen couldn't help but chuckle. "They're probably going to regret it."
The value of commemorative items lay in two aspects:
First, the inherent value of the item itself. Second, the story or symbolic meaning behind it.
The success of the Seven Treasures team's uniform sales wasn't just because the audience liked their uniform design. More importantly, the team's achievements while wearing those uniforms earned the audience's recognition.
On the other hand, Shrek Academy's uniforms were poorly designed. Their previous greenish-brown uniforms had already left a deep impression on the audience—how could anyone buy their uniforms now?
As for their performance, given Shrek's strength, they weren't capable of maintaining an undefeated streak in the preliminaries.
Hearing Ning Tianchen's explanation, Ning Rongrong felt a sense of satisfaction. "Hmph, I'd love to see the look on their faces when they're stuck with ten thousand unsold uniforms."
Ning Tianchen smiled faintly. "The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect is one of the main sponsors of the Great Spirit Arena and has close ties with the royal family, which allows our disciples to enter the venue disguised as vendors to sell the uniforms. Shrek Academy doesn't have that capability."
"Outside the arena, unless they sell at a discount, no one will buy their uniforms."
---
That afternoon, a middle-aged man knocked on the door of the Seven Treasures team's rest area.
Chen Huayu opened the door and, seeing an unfamiliar face, asked, "Who are you?"
The man bowed respectfully. "Hello, I'm Chen Xing, the head coach of the Zixing Academy team."
"Come in," said Chen Huayu, following Ke Jie's orders.
As soon as he entered the room, Chen Xing quickly approached Ke Jie, bowing deeply. "Principal Ke, our team captain, Kote, has been missing since the end of the match two days ago. He hasn't shown up for yesterday's or today's matches…"
Ke Jie frowned. "Your academy member is missing, and you come to me? Hmph, are you implying that I or the Seven Treasures Academy made your player disappear?"
Chen Xing, of course, didn't mean that.
The Seven Treasures team was powerful and had already competed against the Zixing Academy.
Making Zixing Academy members disappear wouldn't benefit them in any way.
"Principal Ke, our academy has no influence in Tiandou City. I've come here to ask your academy to send someone to help search for Kote within the city."
With that, he took out a bag of golden soul coins from his soul-guided device and bowed again. "Principal Ke, please, I beg of you."
Ning Tianchen, standing nearby, was well aware of what had happened.
In the original timeline, the teacher Shi Nian from the Canghui Academy had hunted down talented soul masters from other teams during the tournament.
The Seven Treasures team had strong backing, so Shi Nian didn't dare to touch them—but other teams weren't so lucky.
It seemed that Zixing Academy's captain had been killed by Shi Nian.
Shi Nian had a spirit bone in his head, which happened to suit Ning Rongrong perfectly. With that in mind, Ning Tianchen decided to take it for himself.
Ke Jie hesitated for a moment, then returned the money. "This matter will be reported to the tournament organizing committee. If there's nothing else, you may leave."
After Chen Xing left, Chen Huayu and the others began discussing.
"I think I've also heard that several people have gone missing since the start of the tournament. Do you remember the Beacon Fire Academy?" Yudie spoke softly.
The Beacon Fire Academy had been their opponent a few days ago.
Yudie whispered, "I heard that their vice-captain has been missing for several days."
"Multiple contestants disappearing consecutively can't be a coincidence," Feng Xiaotian muttered, stroking his chin.
Such incidents had never occurred in previous years, and he couldn't figure out the reason.
Ning Tianchen countered, "If our team wasn't strong but wanted to advance in the preliminaries, what would you do?"
"Bribe the referees?"
"Buy off the opponents?"
Everyone offered their own ideas.
Finally, Ke Jie said, "All the methods you mentioned would leave evidence. The cleanest and most straightforward way is to eliminate key members of rival teams."
"It seems some people in this tournament have ill intentions."
Even though they could guess that someone was targeting the contestants, finding the specific culprits in a city as large as Tiandou City wouldn't be easy.
"From today onwards, none of you should go out alone. Prioritize your safety. Later, I'll consult with the sect leader to identify the culprit as soon as possible."
Everyone nodded seriously.
When it came to their own safety, they had to be cautious.
Ning Tianchen picked up the tournament schedule next to him, and a smile immediately appeared on his lips.
A few days later, there would be a match between the Shrek Academy and the Canghui Academy.
It seemed that in the coming days, Shi Nian would strike again.
Ning Tianchen whispered a few words into Sun Buyu's ear, and the latter immediately left the rest area, heading toward the Seven Treasures Academy.
"Boss, we're the biggest threat among all the teams. What should we do?" Chen Huayu asked anxiously.
Ning Tianchen chuckled. "Fatty, why don't you wander around some deserted corners of the city alone? When you disappear one day, we'll roughly know who targeted you."
Chen Huayu shrank back, muttering, "You guys can go—I'm not doing it."
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