Five days later.
In the dense woods where the trade of the Wood Spirit Boy occurred.
“Mr. Gongsun is really bold. He even dares to monopolize all the materials for the Spiritual Pulp?!” Mo Wuzhou exclaimed with a look of admiration.
“To give away such a profitable exclusive deal, is he really willing to let me take it?” Mo Wuzhou was doubtful.
“How dare we compete with the Lower Courtyard for money,” Shang Huan said with a big, ingratiating smile on his face.
It’s not like they could do anything about it anyway.
The surprise attack from the last time still made him shudder.
Thank goodness his boss was reliable. Otherwise, he would have surely died that night!
“You don’t dare, but do you think I do?” Mo Wuzhou rolled his eyes.
It was only because he had a good master. Otherwise, he reckoned he’d have been assigned to a hunting team and not be able to cultivate in peace on the mountain as he was now.
“I can go and make contact with the Administrative Affairs Institute for you.”
“Thank you, Elder Brother Mo,” Shang Huan smiled and squinted, “Once the deed is done, there will be a handsome reward for sure.”
“You weren’t planning on giving me the deal in the first place, were you?” Mo Wuzhou glared at Shang Huan. “You just wanted me to act as the middleman?”
“You’re overthinking it, Elder Brother Mo,” Shang Huan chuckled.
Mo Wuzhou rolled his eyes: “Just you wait.”
…
Three days later.
In the dense forest outside the fourth campsite in the Yiyou District.
“Mr. Gongsun, I’ve completed all the handovers with the Administrative Affairs Institute,” Shang Huan respectfully handed Chen Mu a Mustard Seed Talisman.
Behind the mask, Chen Mu’s still slightly swollen face could not help but reveal a smile.
“You’ve kept your share, right?” Chen Mu took it and asked.
“We did!” Shang Huan said, eyes filled with excitement.
Although the past two months had been tough and hair-raising, the money made was indeed substantial!
Just as Chen Mu was about to leave, he paused, then couldn’t help but offer some advice, “The person who died had backers, so there’s always a risk.”
“Stay quiet for a while, and focus on your cultivation.”
“Your strength is, quite frankly, not up to par.”
When using the Seven Souls Return to Origin, it was his Jade Seed that was the smallest.
“Yes!” Shang Huan bowed respectfully. He had similar plans.
Although the fight that night was short, it was so intense that it scared him terribly, and even the residual force of the battle was enough to knock him over.
Seeing Shang Huan’s earnest agreement, Chen Mu nodded slightly.
He couldn’t let this fat man cause any more trouble.
After thinking it over, Chen Mu didn’t continue to nag.
At worst, he could activate Seven Souls Return to Origin and directly extract the spirit of this fat man.
Even if it meant he would be listless for several days, he couldn’t let him stir up any more trouble.
…
At Peng Yue Mountain, Cold Moon Pond, at the Scripture Transmission Institute’s residence.
Fu Zi sat behind the counter at the entrance of the Scripture Cave, engrossed in a scroll of Jade Slips.
“Right before Prefect Zhang went missing, it seems he was looking into the Spiritual Pulp,” a man in his forties said respectfully at the counter.
Fu Zi’s eyelids lifted slightly: “Of little use, indeed.”
He had clearly instructed to focus solely on finding and guiding Exotic Beasts, yet Zhang Jin was still fixated on the Wood Spirit Boy.
The middle-aged man continued, “The sale of Spiritual Pulp is now overseen by Prefect Sun of the Administrative Affairs Institute.”
“There might be a breakthrough point there; we should be able to locate the previous sellers of Spiritual Pulp.”
“Prefect Zhang’s disappearance is probably related to those individuals.”
“Hmm,” Fu Zi nodded slightly, then after some thought, asked, “Can we determine the direction of his activities before he went missing?”
The middle-aged man replied, “Generally within the scope of the A and B sections.”
Fu Zi was silent for a long while before letting out a sigh. Explore new worlds at empire
“Let it be for now.”
“We can’t let Zhang Jin’s personal issues ruin the plan we’ve been setting up for so long.”
“Yes!” the middle-aged man replied, bowing his head.
…
With the investment of the Wood Spirit Boy, the hunting teams up front were searching and killing Exotic Beasts more swiftly than ever.
They could push forward several miles every day, and the teams opening up the land had to speed up as well.
As they got further from Peng Yue Mountain, the cleared area enlarged, and the hunting teams were short on manpower.
Gaps in the defense line appeared, and several times, Exotic Beasts broke through.
A few unlucky teams clearing the land were affected.
As time moved on, a month quickly passed by.
After several bouts of cold rain, the weather rapidly cooled down, and the leaves gradually dried up and turned yellow.
This made many of the disciples from the Lower Courtyard feel intrigued.
In the past, in the Lower Courtyard of Tongtian River, it was like spring all year round; the sights of autumn and winter were rarely seen.
…
At night, in the Yiyou District of Peng Yue Mountain.
Chen Mu sprang out from the underground secret chamber, concluding today’s cultivation.
He accessed the grey wall to check his progress.
Fire Cloud Curse: 2111/10000/Second Rank;
Manipulation: 2936/10000/First Rank;
Triple Yin Slaying Demon Technique: 1953/10000/Third Rank;
“God knows when this land reclamation will end,” he thought. It took too much time to accumulate experience.
During the day, it was either chopping or carrying trees, leaving almost no time.
Returning at night only at nine o’clock, and deducting four hours for sleep, he only had four hours to grind.
Allocating equal time to the Fire Cloud Curse and the Triple Yin Slaying Demon Technique was still not enough.
Unlike before, when he only needed to finish dealing with the Yellow Bud Rice, he would have the entire day free to cultivate leisurely.
Thinking of this, Chen Mu couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the field of Yellow Bud Rice beside the wooden hut.
The leaves were covered with withered yellow spots, the grain at the top was shriveled, and the weeds in the field were taller than the Yellow Bud Rice itself.
“This season’s Yellow Bud Rice is done for.”
“The price of Yellow Bud Rice will definitely go up this year!”
The Lower Courtyard ordered the clearing of the mountains, and indeed they provided more money.
But because of the shortage of supplies, except for Exotic Beast Meat, everything in Peng Yue Mountain was getting more expensive.
“Isn’t the little bit of wage they pay just going straight back into the Lower Courtyard’s pocket?”
“The Administrative Affairs Institute has some real talent,” Chen Mu sighed.
Thinking of making a fortune by working for the Lower Courtyard, tough luck!
“Thankfully, I have a special skill.”
A cloud of black smoke swirled, and a brown square wooden box appeared before him.
This was all the earnings from the past three months of trading with the Wood Spirit Boy and selling Spiritual Pulp.
Even though he’d counted it several times already, Chen Mu still couldn’t resist counting it again.
“27,125 coins! Heh heh…”
The feeling of counting money was so satisfying!
Although the process was dangerous, the profit was indeed substantial!
The Wood Spirit Boy earned 24,000, Shang Huan monopolized the Spiritual Pulp trade, turning 8,000 White Jade into 12,000.
Chen Mu left 2,000 for Shang Huan and the six siblings from Wu Mountain, keeping 2,000 for himself.
Plus the dividends from the Insect Repellent Incense, Chen Mu’s fortune had truly skyrocketed.
If he were still in the Lower Courtyard of Tongtian River, he would definitely spend the whole day at Red Sleeve Square.
Maybe he’d even follow a Ling Boat to visit the Heavenly River Water Mansion and see the world.
“What a pity.”
Stuck in the poor mountain ravines of Peng Yue Mountain, he could only spice up his meals with different preparations of Exotic Beast Meat.
…
A cool, refreshing breeze blew by, making Chen Mu take a deep breath involuntarily.
The long-missed scent of autumn cleared his head.
Over a month passed, and seeing a box of savings still thrilled him.
But that urge to splurge came to a gradual halt.
“It’s also a good thing this place isn’t the Lower Courtyard of Tongtian River. Otherwise, I’d be regretting it right about now.”
After all, he needed to save money to buy the Condense Aperture Secret Method.
Thinking of that Condense Aperture Secret Method starting at a hundred thousand, Chen Mu felt immense pressure.
Black smoke billowed.
A fist-sized, ghastly white bone sphere appeared in his right hand.
A palm-sized, jet-black moon blade appeared in his left hand.
“A stroke of serendipity?”
“Nice items here!”
Whether it was the sharpness of the jet-black moon blade, which easily sliced through Spiritual Armor and the Spiritual Light Barrier, or the sturdy defense of the hollow bone sphere, which held up against his heavy strikes, he coveted them both.
“These are no ordinary items; probably a lot of people know about them,” Chen Mu narrowed his eyes.
“But I still need to cultivate them. I’ll master them first before anything else.”
Deadly in attack, formidable in defense.
At critical moments, they could save his life.