Chapter 176: A Fortune Made
Chapter 176: A Fortune Made
The next day, Mo Hua paid a visit to Master Zhuang. After all, he was Master Zhuang's named disciple, and having been stuck in the Spirit Mine for so long, he felt a little guilty for not paying his respects sooner.
Master Zhuang was still asleep, so Mo Hua played a game of Five Elements Chess with Guai Lao.
Even after all this time, both of their chess skills were equally lacking, with little improvement.
However, with a simple game like Five Elements Chess, overthinking it would only make it less enjoyable. The fun was in the simple back and forth of the game.
Mo Hua and Guai Lao were well-matched opponents, and the game was a close call.
By the time Master Zhuang woke up, Mo Hua was still reluctant to leave, so he bid Guai Lao farewell and went to pay his respects to Master Zhuang.
Master Zhuang mostly left Mo Hua to his own devices, allowing him to learn at his own pace and only offering guidance when asked. He didn't have much to say about Mo Hua's absence either.
As Mo Hua was leaving, Master Zhuang even offered a word of praise, "Well done."
Mo Hua was delighted, his eyes narrowing with joy.
However, it was only after leaving Master Zhuang's bamboo room that Mo Hua felt a twinge of confusion.
He hadn't really discussed anything with Master Zhuang, yet the master seemed to know everything that had transpired…
And he had even complimented him.
Mo Hua furrowed his brows, wondering how Master Zhuang had found out.
He was perplexed, but then he reminded himself that Master Zhuang was a sage and might have the ability to predict such things. Besides, the commotion they had caused with the Qian family was significant, so it wasn't surprising that Master Zhuang was aware of it.
Mo Hua nodded to himself and decided not to dwell on the matter further.
Mo Hua then went to see Bai Zisheng and his sister.
Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up when he saw Mo Hua, and he immediately started complaining, asking where he had been all this time.
Mo Hua recounted his experiences in the Spirit Mine.
Bai Zisheng listened eagerly, his blood boiling with excitement and envy.
Beside him, Bai Zixi feigned reading a book, but she was also listening intently, her eyes sparkling like autumn water, unaware that the book in her hand had tilted at an angle.
"Next time something like this comes up, you have to take me with you. I'll help you!" Bai Zisheng declared enthusiastically.
"It wouldn't make a difference if I called you. Your mother wouldn't let you go anyway," Mo Hua replied nonchalantly.
Mo Hua's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Bai Zisheng's head.
Bai Zisheng's dreams instantly deflated, and he slumped to the ground like a frost-bitten eggplant, feeling like his world had suddenly become much gloomier.
Mo Hua sighed, "I'll bring you some food tomorrow."
Bai Zisheng immediately straightened up, "Make it spicy!"
"Alright, alright," Mo Hua said helplessly. As he turned, he noticed that Bai Zixi was also looking at him, her eyes shining brightly.
Mo Hua thought for a moment and said, "My mother is making jade souffle cakes. I haven't tried them yet, but they smell wonderful. I'll bring some for you to try tomorrow and see how they taste."
Bai Zixi nodded gently, her expression relaxed and content.
The next day, Mo Hua arrived as promised, bearing food.
Bai Zisheng devoured the food with gusto, while Bai Zixi ate the white jade-like cakes slowly, her eyes half-lidded like a contented kitten.
Seeing them enjoy the food so much, Mo Hua couldn't help but smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
A few days later, Elder Yu instructed Mo Hua to go to the Demon-Hunting Corps' warehouse to collect spirit stones.
A large number of spirit stones had been mined, and they couldn't be distributed all at once, as it could lead to reckless spending or attract those who would try to take them by force, causing all sorts of troubles.
The Demon-Hunting Corps also needed to reserve a substantial amount of spirit stones for future needs.
Therefore, the spirit stones in the warehouse were to be distributed periodically in batches based on merit, emphasizing a steady and gradual approach to ensure their long-term availability.
Mo Hua lined up outside the warehouse and soon received a storage bag containing approximately three hundred spirit stones, which felt heavy in his arms.
Three hundred!
That would last a long time. For the foreseeable future, he wouldn't have to worry about spirit stones.
And this was just the first batch; there would likely be more in the future.
Mo Hua was thrilled.
It wasn't just Mo Hua who was happy; every demon hunter who came to collect spirit stones wore a broad smile. Some even looked incredulous, and a few were so overjoyed that they wept.
When had struggling solo cultivators from the lower realms ever seen so many spirit stones?
With these spirit stones, their children wouldn't go hungry, their cultivation resources were secured, and they wouldn't have to work themselves to the bone to earn spirit stones.
Under the heavy burden, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
And this comfortable life could last for ten years!
Mo Hua felt a sense of relief, but his thoughts soon turned somber.
What would happen after ten years? Mo Hua furrowed his brows.
Wouldn't they be back to their previous lives of scraping by, enduring bitter hardships, and licking their wounds? Mo Hua thought of Madame Meng, Aunt Jiang, Dahu and his brothers, and the other familiar demon hunters.
This thought lingered in Mo Hua's mind constantly. He thought about it while eating, cultivating, and even when drawing formation arrays.
One day, as Mo Hua was flipping through a book on formations, a sudden insight struck him.
He rushed to the Demon-Hunting Corps' warehouse and found Elder Yu.
The warehouse was stacked with a large number of spirit stones, and Elder Yu was personally guarding them as he couldn't afford to be careless.
Mo Hua asked, "Elder Yu, how did the Qian family make their fortune?"
Elder Yu was slightly taken aback but thought for a moment before replying, "The ancestor of the Qian family was also a demon hunter at first. Later, he saved up a sum of spirit stones and stopped being a demon hunter. He started dealing in pill and artifact forging instead..."
"He would buy the materials obtained from slain demonic beasts at low prices, hire solitary cultivators to refine them into artifacts and pills, and then sell them back to demon hunters at high prices."
"As his business grew, he lowered the prices for the materials even further, lengthened the working hours for the cultivators he employed, and increased the prices of the artifacts and pills. That's how the Qian family became richer and richer."
Mo Hua asked in confusion, "Didn't anyone compete with them?"
Elder Yu shook his head. "They couldn't compete. Their hearts weren't as dark, and their methods weren't as ruthless. They couldn't keep up with the Qians."
Mo Hua said, "I heard that the Qian family started with nothing."
Elder Yu scoffed. "That's just the Qian family blowing their own horn."
"Isn't that how it was?"
Elder Yu scanned the surroundings with his spiritual sense to ensure there were no eavesdroppers before sitting down to drink a cup of tea and continuing, "As I said earlier, the ancestor of the Qian family saved up a sum of spirit stones. Can you guess how he managed to save up that amount?"
Mo Hua thought carefully and suddenly realized something, his eyes widening in shock.
Elder Yu raised an eyebrow. "We're all demon hunters. Why is it that others can't save up, but he could? The amount of spirit stones needed to start a pill and artifact forging business is no small sum; it's something a regular demon hunter couldn't save up in a lifetime..."
Mo Hua's gaze sharpened. "So, what did he do?"
Elder Yu said, "The older generation of demon hunters told me that the ancestor of the Qian family had malicious intentions from a young age. When he went demon hunting with others, he even harmed his companions and took the inner cores of the demonic beasts for himself. Later, he disguised himself as a bandit and robbed people on Big Black Mountain. He was also deceitful and treacherous, doing anything for spirit stones. That's how he amassed his initial wealth."
Elder Yu coldly snorted, "A horse doesn't get fat without eating in the night, and a man doesn't get rich without ill-gotten gains. Where in this world do people truly start with nothing?"
Mo Hua's heart pounded as he listened.
After finishing this juicy gossip, Elder Yu drank some tea to soothe his throat and then suddenly remembered something. "You didn't come here just to chat about this, did you? Is there something else?"
Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "Elder Yu, let's open a pill and artifact forging business to earn spirit stones too!"
Elder Yu laughed at the suggestion. "Silly child, the Qians could only amass their fortune through murder and deceit. Where would we get so much capital?"
Mo Hua smiled. "We don't need to murder and deceive. We already have the capital."
Elder Yu shook his head, about to say something, when he suddenly felt his heart skip a beat, and he turned to look at the warehouse.
Piled up inside were countless spirit stones—those freshly mined from the Spirit Mine and exchanged from the Court of Dao Governance!
"But... pill and artifact forging aren't that easy," Elder Yu said.
"There are quite a few pill and artifact refiners among solitary cultivators. If we don't have enough people, we can always hire more with spirit stones," Mo Hua replied.
Elder Yu frowned in thought. "The most troublesome part is the pill and artifact furnaces. If we want to make a big business out of this, we'll need large, high-quality furnaces."
"Is it difficult to refine the furnaces?"
"Refining the furnaces requires a lot of manpower, material resources, and fine iron, but the most challenging and crucial part is the formation array inside..." As Elder Yu spoke, his heart leaped, and he couldn't help but look at Mo Hua.
The most critical component was the formation array inside the furnaces! As Elder Yu connected the dots, he felt a sudden clarity.
They had everything they needed!
They had the spirit stones, the manpower, and now, with Mo Hua, they even had the formation array master!
Elder Yu found it hard to believe for a moment.
(End of Chapter)
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