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The three old men who were about to speak in support of Ye Ming slowly stopped.
That’s right, because humans have a limited lifespan, they subconsciously believe that time is expensive, even priceless.
But at the mountain gate, powerful immortals can live for hundreds of years, and some Kunpengs can live for at least thousands of years.
This was awakened by Senior Brother Zhou, and they remembered that they were facing an existence beyond common sense.
The old man smiled bitterly: "May I ask Mr. Zhou, who is the oldest among the mountain gate members?"
"Master."
"how long?"
"I don't know."
Hearing this, the old man fell silent.
I don’t know if this answer is to hide something from them or cover up something, but the master has lived too long, and Senior Brother Zhou, who is hundreds of years old, should not know.
After collecting his deep feelings and envy of longevity, he asked, "Which of the things we brought are of high value?"
"Hmm..." Senior Brother Zhou reached into the box and pulled out a piece of metal the size of a peanut. "This thing is okay."
铼？
The four looked at each other in confusion.
To be honest, although rhenium metal is a rare substance, it is the most valuable, which is a bit beyond the four people's expectations.
In their opinion, as a sect that has existed in the world for at least ten thousand years, the thing that Shanmen should have the most of is various minerals.
Ye Ming asked doubtfully: "Rhenium metal is also extracted by humans. Uh, although the reserves on Blue Star are limited, they are inexhaustible on other planets.
The Immortal Xu can travel through space in his physical body. For the Mountain Gate, this is also an industrial product that can be mass-produced in theory. Why is there a difference in price?"
"Everyone, there seems to be a misunderstanding."
Senior Brother Zhou waved his hand, and the wooden chair in the corner floated behind them.
After everyone sat down, he explained: “All the things from your country are not needed by the mountain gate.
As for the transaction between the mountain gate and all of you, one of the reasons is that the uncle-master ordered it, and none of the disciples dared to disobey.
The second reason is that because the gate is sealed, people inside do not need to come here often to collect supplies.
I have been sitting in Qingfeng Hall for hundreds of years, and it is really boring. It is rare for you to come here, so I want to find some entertainment. "
Frowning and thinking for a while, Ye Ming said: "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Zhou, I don't quite understand."
"Hahahaha... As the saying goes, things are valuable because they are rare. This is not true for the mountain gate, but for all of you."
The group of people seemed to be electrified and suddenly understood.
To put it simply, Shanmen is not seeking profit, but "helping the poor".
Based on this, Shanmen has given a preferential policy - judging whether an item is valuable based on your conditions.
Both sides come from the same planet, and the other side has military force and exploration capabilities far superior to ours. In other words, I can dig what you dig, and even faster than you.
This can't even be called a preferential treatment, but rather a gift.
The four of them stood up together: "Thank you."
"No need to be polite." Senior Brother Zhou put his hands in front of him, and everyone was pushed back to their wooden chairs by an invisible force. "Please leave the items with me for now. I will make a list later, and you can come and pick them up later."
Hearing this, several people stood up, bowed and thanked, then turned back to the courtyard.
The director and others had been waiting there for a long time. When they saw him coming back, they went up to him and asked him what happened.
Ye Ming briefly explained the situation, and then several people sat around the stone table to discuss it.
"You have understood what Mr. Zhou meant just now. If you want to exchange stones, you have to use rare objects defined by humans."
"It is not enough to manufacture industrial products with recyclable materials. From material selection to finished products, everything must meet the conditions mentioned by Mr. Sun."
The director thought for a while and said, "But the problem is that the ore with large output is not valuable, and the rare ore... we don't have much, right?
Take rhenium for example, how much is the global reserve of that stuff? "
Everyone was silent after hearing this.
The facts are indeed as he said.
After a while, Ye Ming's eyes suddenly lit up: "I understand!"
"What do you understand?"
"Xu Xianren is telling me not to rest on my laurels."
Mr. Sun reacted quickly and immediately said, "Going to space?"
"That's right!" Ye Ming was a little excited, "Director, do you still remember the guess I told you about?"
After thinking for a while, the director asked tentatively, "Does Master Xu care about our future?"
"Yes, I can't think of any other reason."
"If that's the case," the old man sitting next to Mr. Sun said, "we have a direction for what we can exchange for, and we'll focus on aviation."
"Then the national defense..."
"You old man, let alone the Immortal Xu, just based on the Kunpeng that is tumbling in the sea of clouds every day, who would dare to cause trouble to us?"
"Uh, that's right."
"Okay, it's decided, Xiao Xu."
"Here." The director stood up quickly.
"Contact the country, keep a small number of rhenium for emergencies, and bring the rest over."
"Yes! I'll do it right away!"
Chapter 241: China's tight action, Ying country unwilling to fall behind
The so-called Senior Brother Zhou was the one who made the price list, and it was naturally Zhang Mu who did it.
His skill level is not enough to create a puppet with such extraordinary intelligence.
Therefore, he manipulated Brother Zhou to find an excuse to drive everyone away, and he began to write the list.
The process was not difficult or obstructive, it was even quite easy and pleasant.
Among the pile of items, Zhang Mu only needs to consider the price of rhenium, and for the rest, he can just pick a number at random within a fixed range.
It took him half an hour to complete the work. He closed the lid of the metal box and ran to the courtyard to check on the group's subsequent plans.
The development of things was somewhat beyond his expectations.
Zhang Mu will only be back on Blue Star for a month this time, and his main goal is to establish a stable channel for obtaining supplies.
As for helping the countries on Blue Star to open up new areas for resource exploitation, he felt that time was running out and it would be difficult to advance.
Even if all is given, it will take some time for countries to digest it.
However, no one expected that China would be so decisive and immediately mobilize most of the rhenium metal in exchange for "stone".
And under Zhang Mu's intentional or unintentional hints, he decided to devote all his efforts to the development of aviation technology while convening experts in the domestic aerospace field to form a research and development team.
"In that case, it would be only natural for me to give it a push."
Muttering to himself, Zhang Mu released the shadow spell and appeared, pretending to have teleported here from somewhere else. He sent the director who was calling him out of the "world" and then disappeared on the spot.
evening.
The three academicians and Ye Ming rushed to Qingfeng Hall together.
Excitedly, he took the list and turned around to return to the courtyard, calculating how many "stones" he could exchange for.
But just as they raised their feet, Brother Zhou, who was sitting behind the counter with his hands in his pockets, stopped them and told them, "I am deeply pleased that you can understand my good intentions, so I have specially asked my disciples to give you a small gift."
As he spoke, he took out a fist-sized piece of transparent crystal from the bottom of the table and explained, "This thing is a floating stone. I believe you all know its specific effects."
Shocked by the unexpected joy, the four of them were dizzy for a long time. Finally, Ye Ming came to his senses, carefully took the gift with both hands, thanked them, and returned to the courtyard with the old men.
Ye Ming still held it in his hands and moved to the stone table and sat down.
The four of them left empty-handed, but when they came back they not only had a list, but also a piece of crystal that looked extraordinary. Everyone gathered around them out of curiosity.
Mr. Sun explained the reason in two sentences, and then asked about how to use this thing.
The booklet that Senior Brother Zhou gave me did explain the function and origin of the floating stone, but it did not mention how to use it at all.
After thinking for a while, Ye Ming tried to rub the surface, but the result was not surprising, there was no reaction at all.
The unwilling group took turns trying to get the crystal ball, but it seemed like an ordinary glass ball and it didn't move at all.
I wanted to go to Qingfeng Hall to ask, but it was already dark and Senior Brother Zhou had already left work.
I have to go find someone early tomorrow morning.
But even though they had the "magic object" in their hands, they could not see the magic. They were afraid that they would not be able to sleep the whole night.
They gathered in a circle to discuss but couldn't come up with any practical solution. Finally, Zhao Qi suddenly remembered Luo Xiling at the top of the mountain behind the mountain.
Since it is a "thing of the immortals", it must be driven by magic power or something like that, right?
Although Luo Xiling has just started practicing, there is no harm in trying, so why not?
So Zhao Qi, who proposed this method, took on the responsibility of calling someone, climbed the mountain in the dark and brought the little girl back to the courtyard.
After learning about everyone's thoughts, she scratched her head in confusion and said that she didn't understand it.
However, Ye Ming knew how to manipulate her very well, and he kept praising her. Soon she became addicted to the flattery and raised her hand to point the sword.
To their surprise, the crystal ball had no reaction to the sword, but was activated by the unsheathed Yueming Sword.
The beam of light shot out from the sword fell on the surface of the ball, and it seemed to be injected with energy and slowly floated up.
Mr. Sun subconsciously ordered his assistant to check the buoyancy, but then he remembered that he had no equipment with him, so he just pressed it with his hand.
But he used all his strength, and with the help of several people, the sphere still floated up slowly and steadily.
Everyone was shocked.
They believe that the power shown by the crystal ball at this moment is by no means the limit.