214: Chapter 207 The Last Session

Finally, there were the flora and fauna resources. He collected a batch of various wild medicinal herbs with any medicinal value and put them into his space as reserves. He gathered as many wild vegetables, fruits, and mushrooms as possible, as genuine wild ingredients were not easily found on the market. It was worth mentioning that in the core area, there was a large field of wild flowers with more than ten bee colonies distributed around it. From that area alone, he obtained several hundred kilograms of natural honey and over ten catties of royal jelly. Like a goose plucked of its feathers, that flower field was thoroughly ransacked by him. A large number of ornamental flowers were transplanted, intended for use in Tianxing Garden. Flowers with particularly unique scents were collected to extract essential oils. Once he developed a perfume formula, combined with ambergris, he could create some unique perfumes. There weren't many animal pelts—five tiger skins, two bear skins, twelve crocodile skins, and eighteen python skins. Actually, the density of wild animals in the core area was unexpectedly high, but he didn't want to kill too many. It was mainly because he couldn't use much himself, nor could he give them away or sell them, so getting too many was pointless. The tiger and bear skins would be used for chair cushions, the python skins for a set of summer sofa cushions, and the crocodile skins would be good for making shoes or bags.

He had explored the core area of Yeren Mountain thoroughly. He was also aware of the entities the Huang father and son regarded as taboo, but compared to that terrifying giant tree, they weren't much of a concern. Their commonality was that they all possessed a certain degree of intelligence and some peculiar abilities. They couldn't exactly be called supernatural powers or sorcery; it was just that for some unknown reason, certain instincts had been greatly enhanced, such as strength, speed, physical toughness, or toxicity. If nothing else, even an ordinary venomous snake with the intelligence of a seven or eight-year-old child would become incredibly difficult to deal with. However, in Cao Xiao's view, their terror lay in the unknown and the eerie. In a direct confrontation, a Huajin martial artist could wipe them all out. Being 'unmatchable' only applied to ordinary people. Perhaps the true taboo was that super giant tree; with its level of intelligence, even if it didn't move, it could command other animals to turn the core area into a forbidden zone for humans. If he used his spatial abilities, he could naturally kill or capture them without any effort. But he didn't do so. He was taking the giant tree away, and if these creatures were gone from Yeren Mountain, it would likely suffer severe damage within a few years.

The harvest this time was too large. He couldn't keep so many things in his space forever; he wasn't a gluttonous collector. These items were the stuff of dreams for any multi-billionaire, but he didn't value them that much. As long as he wanted gold or other precious metals, he could get ten thousand tons with a bit of time. The same went for gemstones. Things that were too easy to obtain didn't feel precious. As for antiques, to be honest, he didn't like old objects much. In his eyes, an antique worth millions wasn't as pleasing as a piece of modern art; this was his psychological quirk. It was clearly unrealistic to digest thousands of tons of gold through jewelry stores, and he couldn't trade with the state again, or any fool could guess there was a major issue. The only way was to slowly release it on the international futures market. Of course, if given the chance, he wouldn't mind giving the market a heavy shearing. A few thousand tons of gold were enough to move the entire market, but the prerequisite was having enough capital, a meticulous plan, and being discreet enough not to be exposed to the gaze of those financial sharks.

There were tens of thousands of miscellaneous antiques in the space. He could plan a museum outside Tianxing Garden to house them, or slowly release them through auctions. The theme of future Tianxing Auctions would be rare curios, but including some antiques and jewelry to make up the numbers was also fine. The emeralds from Somalia, the blue amber from the Hengyu Coal Mine, the diamonds from South Africa, and the amethysts from Baiyun Mountain, combined with precious metals like gold, platinum, and silver—if low-end jewelry was sourced externally—would be enough to support a large international jewelry company's long-term sales. As for jadeite, there was too much, and almost half of it was high quality. If he tried to digest it through his own jewelry company, even at half price, it might take several hundred years to sell it all. He had already figured out a way to move the stock, but he had to wait until he was free to first solve the problem of the jadeite's origin.

...

The first two days of the secret bid auction were just a warm-up. The final day was the main event. Forty percent of the entire public auction's raw stones would be traded today, while the open bids only accounted for about twenty percent.

As luck would have it, he ran into an old acquaintance—or rather, an old enemy—Jiang Hezheng right at the entrance. There were also several other familiar faces, who were none other than the people he had heavily fleeced during the last Gem Expo. Taking someone's money is like killing their parents. Seeing Cao Xiao, their expressions naturally changed drastically, and they gritted their teeth. Including Jiang Hezheng, their gazes were filled with undisguised murderous intent, while Cao Xiao met them with a continuous smile.

“Gentlemen, it truly is a small world! I see you everywhere. I’ve already donated that money on your behalf to do good deeds; you should be thanking me. Why are you all looking at me like that? Still not convinced? Want to bet again?” Cao Xiao hadn't expected these people to harbor murderous intent toward him, but he didn't care. Small-minded people were all like this. These people were worth billions and each considered themselves extraordinary and superior. In the past, they were the ones who seized things from others. Having had a large chunk of meat carved out of them by him, and now that Cao Xiao had appeared abroad, it was only natural that they, relying on Jiang Hezheng as a local power in Myanmar, would collectively harbor the worst intentions toward him. But he really didn't fear these people. How much power could a mere Jade King have? At most, it was just some local thugs or jade mine owners. As long as it wasn't the official government forces, he could completely ignore them. In fact, he was even looking forward to these people taking the bait.

“Hmph! A brat who’s succeeded and become arrogant! This isn't the country. We'll see!” Jiang Hezheng gritted his teeth and snorted coldly. Without another word, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

Cao Xiao watched their departing backs with some regret and shouted persistently, “Hey, don't be in such a hurry to leave! I’m being very sincere. If a billion us dollars isn't enough, let's make it two billion. Or I’ll even give you a handicap—as long as you can cut out a glass species, you win!”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hezheng felt as if he had been greatly insulted. He stopped in his tracks, his face ashen as he looked at Cao Xiao and then at the several people beside him who were clearly very tempted. Feeling his authority challenged, he didn't respond to Cao Xiao but said to the people around him with unquestionable authority, “Let’s go! If you have the ability, go ahead and bet with him yourselves!”

Seeing Jiang Hezheng so resolute, Cao Xiao knew the game was off. Regardless of what conspiracy Jiang Hezheng was brewing, he said disinterestedly, “Tsk! Some Jade King! Just a fraud who tricks children.”

Just then, a large fat man suddenly appeared before his eyes. Cao Xiao was startled. Seeing Zhang Wenfu's Maitreya-like round face, he said speechlessly, “Brother Zhang, what are you doing?”

“Haha! Brother Cao, it really is you! Did I see that right just now? You scared that old man Jiang away! He didn't even dare to fart! Do you own a jade mine?” Zhang Wenbin asked in astonishment.

“Oh! No, but I’ve beaten that old man before. He’s afraid I’ll beat him again!” Cao Xiao told the truth.

“Uh! Tsk tsk! Brother Cao really has a personality! If you have time to go and beat everyone on the rich list, regardless of age or gender, you could walk sideways anywhere!” Zhang Wenbin was stunned and stared at Cao Xiao in a daze before suggesting with great interest.

“Haha! If I have the chance to meet Uncle Zhang, I’ll give it a try!” Cao Xiao was also amused. This Zhang Wenbin really had an imagination, actually thinking he had handled Jiang Hezheng solely through force. If that were the case, he would have been ruling the world long ago.

“Then the one being beaten will definitely be you. My old man is frail and has offended many people, and he’s quite afraid of death, so he often stays home and doesn't go out. My house alone has three teams of professional bodyguards, over twenty people, plus more than ten fierce dogs and a tiger,” Zhang Wenbin said nonchalantly.

“Your old man is truly an oddball... Forget the banter. Brother Zhang, how has your harvest been these past two days?” Cao Xiao hadn't expected someone to be even more exaggerated than himself, but it was a bit unethical to talk maliciously about someone's father to their face, so he changed the subject.

Zhang Wenbin said indifferently, “I’ve had some harvest. I just like jadeite, but I know absolutely nothing about raw stones. To be safe this time, I hired three stone-gambling masters. I didn't expect that they wouldn't pick many stones, but they made my ears go numb with their arguing! I got annoyed and kicked them all out. I decided to just pick them myself; I buy whichever one looks right to my eye. It’s all down to chance anyway. What about you? I haven't seen you these past few days. Did you go straight to the mines?”

Cao Xiao said, “I went out to play for a few days. Although my teacher is a famous geologist, I, his student, haven't learned even one percent of his skill. I just came to the public auction for fun; I’ll just buy a little as an investment.”

Zhang Wenfu looked at Cao Xiao with even more satisfaction, patted him on the shoulder, and said happily, “Haha! We’re the same kind of people. The prices for raw stones have risen too fast this year. Looking at the situation these past few days, I estimate they’re forty percent higher than last year. This is the only source of high-quality jadeite, but many mines are almost empty. It’s said that after this public auction, the Myanmar government will introduce policies to limit mining output and implement planned mining. If that really happens, prices might double next year. I was thinking of buying more this time to stock up without cutting them open. Regardless, selling them next year will make a profit. How much capital did you prepare this time? How about we buy together and distribute them according to our investment ratio after they arrive?”

“I didn't specifically prepare capital, and I haven't thought about how much to buy. Let's just buy separately,” Cao Xiao shook his head and refused without thinking. He was here to sweep the goods. Although Zhang Wenfu had helped him, their relationship hadn't reached the point of sharing interests, especially since what he was doing couldn't see the light of day and he didn't want anyone to notice anything amiss. The two just got along well. The saying 'a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring' was just a famous quote to teach people to be good and grateful. If one had to exert all their effort to repay every small favor, they would only be able to do two things in life: repaying favors and granting them. Zhang Wenfu just liked jadeite; he could just give him a few good pieces later. If he led him to get a batch of raw stones containing high-grade jadeite and he sold them without cutting them, it would only benefit others.

Zhang Wenfu was a bit disappointed but didn't push it. After a few pleasantries, he took his leave.

Having missed two secret bid auctions, he felt some regret that many top-quality materials he had his eye on were bought by others. Fortunately, more than half of them were being auctioned today. As long as he bought today's batch, his goal would basically be achieved. There were too many to bid for; if he bought them all in his own name, it would attract the organizers' attention. So, he first filled out some bid slips himself and had his bodyguards scatter and bid randomly. Just before the bidding stopped, he would use his spatial ability to secretly swap the original bid slips. The slips would bear the bodyguards' names, and each bid price would be slightly higher than the highest price in the bid box. This way, he could ensure he took everything he wanted when the bids were opened without being suspected.

Cao Xiao's goal was to collect as many raw stones containing high-end jadeite as possible from this public auction. Additionally, since he had sabotaged the vast majority of Myanmar's jadeite production areas, the future output of high-end jadeite would definitely drop to freezing point. When high-end jadeite became extremely scarce on the market, he would grandly and forcefully 'create' some jadeite mines in Yunnan Province. This would allow him to achieve the goal of monopolizing the world's high-end jadeite trade, thereby gaining absolute discourse power over the entire jadeite industry and further encroaching on the jewelry raw material and gemstone mining supply market. Using this as a foothold, he would then plot to dominate the world's mining industry.

Therefore, after this jadeite public auction, the Myanmar jadeite public auction would no longer be as grand as before. The exhaustion of more than half of the jadeite veins would directly lead to a major depression in the jadeite market. Lacking high-grade raw stones, they wouldn't even have the strength to organize another session. Once he set things up in Yunnan Province and announced the discovery of multiple jadeite mines, the Myanmar jadeite public auction would completely become history!

The secret bid auction went without a hitch. Cao Xiao spent nearly four hundred million us dollars and successfully obtained the raw stones he had designated. However, a small problem arose during the open bid auction the next day. Jiang Hezheng had organized a group of people to deliberately oppose him. Whenever he bid on a raw stone, someone would block the bid, sparing no expense to force the price up significantly. The prices became higher than the actual value of the jadeite inside, making it a losing proposition to buy them. Having the bodyguards bid in their own names yielded the same result. Cao Xiao was very annoyed but helpless. However, he naturally didn't want Jiang Hezheng and the others to get the good things he couldn't have. So, he simply went head-to-head with them, bidding up to their psychological limits before letting them take the stones. On the surface, he pretended to be indignant to deceive them, while secretly and silently tampering with those raw stones.

As if finding a sense of achievement through him, this group of people felt psychologically satisfied and became even more frantic with their bids. To others, it looked like Jiang Hezheng and his group were deliberately bullying Cao Xiao. But when the auction ended, Cao Xiao suddenly burst into laughter. He walked up to the glowing Jiang Hezheng, cupped his hands, and said loudly, “Elder Jiang, congratulations to you all! You spent three or four hundred million us dollars to buy a pile of stone eggs. I’m sure the Myanmar government will be warmly grateful to you when they find out!”

Jiang Hezheng thought Cao Xiao was just sour because he hadn't won a single stone and was trying to use some trickery to get the raw stones back from him. He didn't take Cao Xiao's words to heart. He stood up leisurely, looked at Cao Xiao mockingly and proudly, and said, “Do you think I’m a three-year-old child? Is my, Jiang Hezheng's, skill in stone gambling for nothing? Can I not see if a stone's performance is good or bad? No matter how you try to sweet-talk me, don't think you can get them back. But I must thank you; if you hadn't had some eye for it, I might have missed out on some good stones. It truly is: 'In vain, year after year, I embroider with golden thread, only to make a wedding dress for someone else!' Hahaha!”