Chapter 239: Chapter 141: The General Meeting

The fifteen thousand shares, which were expected to take a full day to sell, were completely sold out in just half a day. The situation was far more optimistic than Yang Jing and Meng Sima had anticipated.

The vast majority of Cultivators paid with their Spirit Stones on the spot, took the Stock Certificates in hand, and carefully stored them away.

Once they had the Stock Certificates in hand, they started seeing everyone around them as a potential Tribulation Cultivator.

If not for the need to elect the directors, they would have long since used all sorts of methods to flee.

“The Seven Nations Ticket Shop has a total of twenty thousand shares. My Northern Army Governor’s Mansion holds five thousand, and the rest are in the hands of various major and minor shareholders. The members of the board of directors must, of course, represent the interests of all parties.”

Seated cross-legged on a Meditation Cushion, Meng Sima addressed everyone present.

“The board of directors for the Seven Nations Ticket Shop will have eleven members. My Northern Army Governor’s Mansion will occupy five seats, the Seven Kingdoms Royal Families will occupy three, the other Golden Core Clans will get two, and the Foundation Establishment Clans will get one. The directors for each of these groups are to be elected from within. Does anyone have any objections?”

The cabin seemed silent, but in reality, the various Golden Core Cultivators were engaged in a fierce exchange using their Divine Sense. To the five senses of a Golden Core Cultivator, whispering directly into someone’s ear was no different from shouting aloud.

The powerful disturbances from their Divine Sense even caused the very air in the cabin to distort. Yang Jing could see the faces of some Golden Core Cultivators turn grim, then burst with rage, their faces flushing red as they argued. Clearly, the exchange was not going smoothly.

Meng Sima simply closed his eyes to rest, waiting for the Golden Core Cultivators to come to a conclusion.

“Meng Sima, the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion holds only five thousand shares but gets five seats. Isn’t that a bit improper?”

A Golden Core Cultivator suddenly spoke up.

“Master Ji Zhongzao, this is Canyuan True Monarch’s will.”

Meng Sima replied.

Ji Zhongzao instantly dropped his objection.

The Northern Army Governor’s Mansion was willing to play by the rules, taking only five seats instead of grabbing six and rendering the entire board a mere formality. Their approach was already considered quite graceful.

In the Nine Heavens World, the fundamental principle governing the Cultivation Realm was that Power reigned supreme.

When the Nine Yang Sect was annihilated, the Northern Domain Seven Kingdoms suffered a great blow to their Vitality from which they had yet to recover. Across the vast Seven Kingdoms, there were no other Nascent Soul True Monarchs besides Canyuan True Monarch.

The number of board seats for the Seven Nations Ticket Shop was not determined by the number of shares one held, but by overall Power.

After countless backroom deals, it was not until the next day that the five director seats for the Royal Families and the Golden Core Clans were finally decided. As for the director from among the Foundation Establishment Clans and Independent Cultivators, a decision seemed nowhere in sight.

If Meng Sima hadn’t set a deadline of 3:00 PM that day, threatening to appoint someone directly if a director was not chosen by then, there’s no telling how much longer they would have delayed.

The person nominated by the numerous Foundation Establishment Clans and Independent Cultivators was Qian Chengzhi, patriarch of the Bai Bi Qian Family. He was recognized across the Seven Kingdoms as a man of integrity, and with his Cultivation at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, he would at least have some say on a board full of Golden Core Cultivators.

Qian Chengzhi truly didn’t want to be the one to stick his neck out, but he had been forced into the position. With no other choice, he could only bite the bullet, fly up to the Flying Boat, and enter the cabin.

’I’ll just keep my mouth shut during the board meetings,’ he resolved. ’That way, I won’t bring disaster down on the Bai Bi Qian Family.’

The Golden Core Cultivators who were not chosen as directors were led out by soldiers of the Demon Suppression Army. Besides the seven directors, Li Xishan and Zhang Boxiong also remained behind as advisors.

Yang Jing remained as the secretary to the board.

For today, Meng Sima held full proxy for the five seats of the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion.

With a unanimous vote from all the other directors, Canyuan True Monarch was appointed Chairman of the Board.

The various Golden Core Clans of the Northern Domain often formed alliances, so they weren’t unfamiliar with the concept of a board of directors. Moreover, most of them were clan patriarchs; even those who had stepped back from day-to-day leadership had extensive experience managing their clan’s assets.

The meeting wasn’t just empty talk; on the contrary, it was quite grounded, and the topics of discussion were all highly practical.

The board passed a great number of resolutions, such as site selection for the branch offices, the construction of the Spirit Stone Secret Vaults, and their defensive measures.

Because the Seven Nations Ticket Shop represented the interests of most of the Cultivation Clans in the Northern Domain Seven Kingdoms, the resources it could mobilize were terrifyingly vast. The Seven Kingdoms Royal Families offered land for the branch offices at what was practically a giveaway price.

Considering the need to install Tier Three Protective Arrays, such plots of land were normally quite expensive.

The Taichang Trading Company and Celestial Treasure Tower also offered to provide various materials for the construction of the branch offices at cost.

The actual construction was entrusted to the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion. The Governor’s Mansion had its own master craftsmen who specialized in building outposts and mountain passes, specifically for garrisoning fleets of Flying Boats beyond the Northern Domain.

Even the Four Demon Sects were largely helpless against these nigh-impregnable passes.

Having them construct the branch offices was a gross misuse of their talents.

To maintain a balance of power, the seven branches would be jointly operated by the Taichang Trading Company and Celestial Treasure Tower. Furthermore, local Cultivators from the Seven Kingdoms would be recruited for various positions. This would prevent the two Great Trading Houses from seizing complete control of the Seven Nations Ticket Shop’s operations and rendering the board of directors powerless.

Even with resolutions passing quickly one after another, three full days had gone by before the board meeting finally concluded.

Thankfully, everyone present was at least at the Foundation Establishment Cultivation stage. They had already achieved Fasting and possessed powerful Divine Souls, so going a month without sleep wasn’t a major issue. ’Otherwise,’ Yang Jing thought, ’I’d be worried one of the directors might just pass out mid-meeting.’

When the meeting concluded, Yang Jing recorded every single detail of the discussions onto a Jade Scroll and stored it in a Treasure Box. After being compiled and organized, these records would need to be made public to the Cultivators of the Seven Kingdoms.

By the time he finished tidying everything up and returned to his courtyard home, his four disciples and Zuoqiu Feng were already waiting for him.

“Master!”

Ji Feng ran up eagerly. Seeing her master looked tired, she immediately began to massage his shoulders.

During the board meeting, the stream of Cultivators coming to visit and bear gifts hadn’t dwindled; in fact, there were even more than in the days prior.

Those with any foresight naturally perceived the importance of the Board Secretary position. This role was by no means that of an ordinary Wenshu; within the Seven Nations Ticket Shop, it was a post of considerable power and influence.

The upcoming construction of the Seven Nations Ticket Shop’s headquarters and its seven branches was a massive, lucrative prize.

Even the Taichang Trading Company and Celestial Treasure Tower couldn’t provide every single Spiritual Material needed to build the branches. Some Low Tier Spiritual Materials would inevitably have to be procured locally, and even supplying them at market price would yield a substantial profit.

And that didn’t even touch on the manpower required for construction. They couldn’t very well have the master craftsmen from the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion laying bricks, could they?

Moreover, judging by the tremendous success of the Seven Nations Ticket Shop over the past few days, its future prosperity was almost a given. Yang Jing had instantly become a pivotal figure in the Seven Kingdoms, so it was only natural for people to flock to curry favor with him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep