Chapter 351: Chapter 351

A Transcendent cultivator, seemingly leading a life of stark poverty, was secretly consuming resources and wealth several times greater than a rich merchant who feasted daily.

Teresa, who often used her private funds to subsidize other Priests, naturally faced immense financial pressure.

And this was exactly what Byron wanted.

The door to Teresa’s room closed once more, blocking the fervent gazes of the Priests outside. The warm smile on the Nun’s face gradually faded.

Wealth, Spices, all sorts of resources are merely means to my end; they have never been my pursuit. But just as a tree must go through the process of taking root, sprouting, blossoming, and bearing fruit, not even gods can wish for outcomes without enduring the process. Before accomplishing great deeds, I must first secure the funds! Money isn’t omnipotent, but one can do nothing without it.

She pretended to continue praying before the Silver Cross, but her consciousness entered the virtual platform—Financial Street—through a yellow diamond intermediate membership card.

This online street, deserted on her first visit, now bustled with at least several thousand newcomers.

Many of them already bore the decorations of red diamond junior members, and a sense of urgency welled up within her.

In her mind, the words Mr. Wednesday once said involuntarily resurfaced:

"As you see, this attempt to experiment with the abilities I possess is just beginning, and it’s still quite rudimentary.

But I believe it won’t be long before this place becomes busy, with facilities and services gradually improving.

Ultimately, it will become a financial, trade, and logistics center that the entire human world cannot ignore.

And in doing so, it will spark a wealth-creation movement for those who seize the opportunity—people like... you!" Follow current novels on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝗂𝗋𝖾⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥

Teresa had long ago sworn a solemn oath to her barren wallet:

I will use the early-bird advantage of being customer number 001 on Financial Street to earn a mountain of gold and silver that can support the realization of my ideals.

But reality often contradicts ideals.

She found she had no talent for business; the largest transaction she’d ever handled was the monopolized sale of Indulgence Certificates.

Even if she had a large batch of high-quality goods at low prices, she lacked the outlets and personnel to sell them and convert them to cash.

It was not until Teresa recently discovered an excellent investment opportunity on Financial Street.

It was a "good deal" that didn’t require complex business acumen, only sufficient funds, keen insight, and the Creator’s blessing to make money from money.

"It’s 9:30! The stock market has opened!"

Following an announcement on Financial Street, phantom screens suddenly lit up in a newly opened stock exchange in the core district.

Many doors along the street opened in succession, as stock investors... uh, members of the mood-setting team stepped out and, with a WHOOSH, surged towards the exchange.

Teresa was naturally among them.

The enthusiasm seen in others was mostly feigned, but hers was genuine.

Using her small stature to squeeze to the front of the line, she looked up to see eight stocks displayed on the phantom screen:

Ticker 000001: Hightins Pioneer Navigation Colonial Trading Company; Ticker 000002: Netherland Ocean Shipping Company; Ticker 0000003: Rhein Alliance Banta’an Trading Share Company...

Her eyes glittered with gold, filled with envy:

Although buying stocks can be profitable, it’s these eight companies themselves that make the most money. However, these people are indeed wealthy. They acquired advanced memberships not long after Financial Street opened, allowing their projects or companies to register and go public. I wonder when I’ll be able to take the church I lead... public, and raise funds from around the world. Once a victor chooses Priests from our Religious Order to establish a presence in the colonies, I’ll attempt it. Then it shall be called the ’Bantan Grand Cathedral United Company’! I have a premonition that, under my, Teresa’s, leadership, by expanding into several related sectors like vegetarian food, Cross-themed merchandise, apparel, and remote prayer services... it’s sure to be a massive success!

The membership levels of Financial Street mainly consisted of red diamond, yellow diamond, and green diamond. These could be simply understood as junior, intermediate, and senior memberships.

At the senior member level, one had the qualifications to use this online platform to raise funds for their enterprise or project, share risks, and distribute dividends.

Moreover, this shareholding model wasn’t novel; Teresa was already familiar with the concept.

At the beginning of the Age of Sailing, merchants with limited strength often needed to find partners and investors to raise funds for commercial activities.

This was especially true for high-return, high-risk ventures like oceanic shipping.

To facilitate fundraising and risk diversification, they divided the shares of an overseas trade venture according to the amount of capital invested. This gave different investors stakes in the profits and risks of the enterprise.

The stock market here simply expanded this model, making shares tradable.

Anyone who bought a share certificate became a company shareholder. Trading these shares constituted the stock market.

By creating a unique account using one’s identity on Financial Street, one could buy and sell at will. Funds could be cashed out at any time without having to wait for their return from the months-long shipping cycle.

Of course, this inevitably transformed normal commercial activities into a blatant speculative market.

Teresa didn’t care about speculation; she only knew this was a quick way to make money.

After observing for several days, seeing more and more participants make fortunes, and hearing ’chase the rise and kill the fall,’ ’sell high and buy low,’ and other such winning secrets from a few members, she finally couldn’t resist jumping in herself.

She also knew about the "Great Good Man" operation of Hightins Pioneer Navigation Colonial Trading Company in acquiring merchant ships; even though she had some ties with The Sea Hunter, she wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.

Instead, she followed "insider" tips and purchased shares of Ticker 0000003: Rhein Alliance Banta’an Trading Share Company.

On the first day, she invested all the savings she had painstakingly scraped together.

Heeding the advice paid off handsomely; the stock soared that very day!

Because of the good news—the company had secured the contract to transport the first shipment of silver from the Rhein Alliance’s volcanic silver mines (Chapter 69)—the stock price jumped a full 20% in a single day. (The stock market had just opened, so there were no upper or lower limits yet.)

The next day, adhering to the principle of "chasing highs and selling lows," she and a group of stock market friends she knew continued to invest.

She even invested the public funds of the Religious Order accumulated over the past few months from selling Indulgence Certificates, as well as the savings of Armed Priest Brendan and Quasi-Sword Saint Herman.

As expected, the stock price continued to rise.

By the third day, which was yesterday, she succumbed to the urgings of several stock-savvy friends and the mounting financial pressure.

She wagered all the public funds of the Religious Order under her temporary management.

She even borrowed from the exchange at the maximum two-times leverage available only to intermediate members, ready to go all-in!

According to the anticipated rise, the interest from the principal alone was enough for her, a Third Order Transcendent, to live for twenty years without eating or drinking.

If she won this bet, she would have everything.

In her fervor, she had completely forgotten the exchange’s warning: "The stock market is risky; invest with caution."

She just stared wide-eyed, waiting for the trend chart to update.

At the top floor of the exchange, beside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Mr. Wednesday and Lady Friday observed all this, gently clinking their wine glasses.

Catherine watched her brother, who was practically "bubbling" with mischievous schemes, her eyes, now golden vertical slits, full of admiration:

"The ’pig-butchering’ dry run was a success! You’re going to be rich, tycoon!"

"You’re going to be rich too, little rich girl!"

"Speaking of which, although this is just a mock trading session without the company’s authorization to issue shares, everything else is real. The market even responds to good and bad news alike.

Whether it’s the staff or the mood-setting team, everyone played their parts naturally. Even Teresa’s earnings from the past few days were subsidized by us out of our own pockets.

The money spent daily was genuine gold and silver.

However, money lost can be earned again. But a lost conscience..."

The siblings, who had personally mobilized thousands of extras and directed this grand play, looked at each other and chuckled, saying in unison:

"Means you can earn even more! Hehehe..."

"Now, it’s time for our dear Nun to learn about the harsh realities of the world and the cruelty of the financial markets.

Come, let’s teach her a lesson!"