Born with immortal seed

Chapter 141 Ideas for Making Money
"The lack of Three-Turn Dragon Power Pills still affected the speed of body refining... If there were pills to refine throughout the process, I could probably complete the second level of the Five-Crystal Glazed Body half a year earlier."

With every movement of his hands and feet, Bai Zichen felt that his body was filled with such powerful energy as it had ever been at this moment.

Unlike mobilizing the liquid magic power in one's dantian, this power originating from one's own physical body is more direct and more brutal.

After two and a half years, he finally completed the cultivation of the Glass Body.

"The third level is the Five-Crystal Permanent Forged Body, which requires at least the mid-Foundation Establishment stage to cultivate. What a pity..."

The first level has five crystals; it takes six months to get started and one year to master it.

The second level of the crystal body takes one year to enter the basics and two and a half years to complete.

Following this pattern, he really wanted to try and see if he could master the basics of five-crystal permanent casting in two years.

He directly caught up with Ge Cang Zhenren in terms of his realm in this body-refining technique.

However, the Five-Crystal Glazed Body has certain requirements for the cultivator's cultivation level.

The third level requires the middle stage of Foundation Building, and the fourth level requires the late stage of Foundation Building.

Otherwise, one's magical power would be insufficient to control the overwhelming physical strength, risking the rupture of one's meridians.

However, since the creation of this cultivation technique, this limitation on cultivation level may have only come into play for Bai Zichen.

Even a cultivator with a Heavenly Spiritual Root like Ge Cang Zhenren only achieved the Five Crystal Eternal Forged Body after forming his Core.

No cultivator has ever considered how to cultivate to the third or even fourth level while still in the Foundation Establishment stage.

Bai Zichen walked to the lakeside, clenched his fist, and swung it violently at the lake surface. A powerful and vast force caused the lake water to sink by one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

The surging force of the punch caused the lake water to swirl.

It took a while for the water from the nearby lake to fill in and restore normalcy.

If a cultivator who has mastered the Spirit Eye Divine Power were to look over here now, they would find that Bai Zichen at this moment is like a furnace of blood and qi, with a glassy texture that shimmers with five-colored spiritual light.

He let out a long breath, the power dissipated, and the strange phenomenon slowly disappeared.

"My physical strength has surpassed that of an ordinary second-tier low-grade demonic beast. Without using a flying sword, I can kill a demonic beast of the same tier with just my fists!"

As Bai Zichen sensed the changes in his physique, he began to understand why Ancestor Ge Cang was able to single-handedly chase and beat several Core Formation cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect.

"The problem is that my cultivation level is increasing too slowly. At this rate, it will take at least twenty years to reach the second level of the Fire Dragon Returning to Origin Scripture..."

Within the Qi Sea, compared to when he had just completed his cultivation technique after Foundation Establishment, the shallow liquid mana had only increased slightly.

Based on the cultivation speed over the past few years, it would take at least twenty years to reach the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage.

For Bai Zichen, the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage is equivalent to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

Advancing one realm in over twenty years is considered incredibly fast for 99% of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But Bai Zichen still felt it wasn't enough.

"With enough Spirit Enhancement Pills, this time can be reduced to half."

After a quick calculation, Bai Zichen realized he was far too poor.

Spirit-Enhancing Pills and Vermilion Fruit Mind-Calming Pills are both essential for cultivation that cannot be interrupted.

As my cultivation level increases, my annual fixed expenses will also increase.

The salaries of the sect elders alone are far from enough to cover their expenses.

"I need to find a way to make money; I can't just be a hands-off manager like I used to be."

Back at Baiyulou, Bai Zichen summoned Lu Song.

"You said last time that Old Man Tong kept asking to see me, is there something wrong?"

"Old Man Tong has been very prominent in the Spirit Plant Hall these past few years. There are several second-level spirit plant masters, but he is the only spirit farmer who specializes in farming."

Lu Song never expected that the old man who was in dire straits back then, a farmer at the bottom of the rogue cultivators, would turn his life around.

Despite his cultivation level of the eighth level of Qi Refining, his status in the Spirit Plant Hall was far inferior to that of Old Man Tong.

"The spiritual farmer guest elder hired by the sect said that if Old Man Tong had come from their Shennong Sect, he would have already reached the Foundation Establishment stage and they would be called fellow disciples."

In order to promote the plan of 10,000 mu of spirit fields, Gu Xisheng hired a second-level peak spirit plant master from Shennong Sect with a salary of 300 mid-grade spirit stones over ten years.

In the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom, Shennong Sect is a technical sect that is not strong and focuses on developing spiritual plant technology.

He made significant contributions, especially in the field of Lingnong.

He joined the Holy Lotus Sect early on, becoming a vassal of the Nascent Soul Grand Sect, and offered massive amounts of spiritual rice every year.

The cultivators of Shennong Sect are popular everywhere, and major forces hire them as guest elders to guide and improve their spiritual plant cultivation techniques.

"Old Man Tong is only at the sixth level of Qi Refining. He has no hope for his own life and has pinned all his hopes on his grandsons... He has more than ten grandsons, and the most outstanding one is only seven years old this year, with the aptitude of three spiritual roots."

"Just give a heads-up to the senior brother in charge of the Spirit Plant Hall. The sect has lowered its requirements in recent years. If you cultivate your three spiritual roots well, you can even compete for an inner disciple position."

Bai Zichen listened for a long time but still couldn't understand Old Man Tong's purpose.

With the Seven Luminaries Spirit Body, Lu Song is the one among his attendants with the greatest hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, his ability to get things done was inferior to that of Su Lie and Cai Heng; he would go around in circles without getting to the point.

"Old Man Tong wants his grandson to become your disciple."

"He's dreaming too much."

Bai Zichen chuckled. After his reputation soared, several elders came to his door, trying to push their direct descendants onto him.

Even just being a nominal disciple would be fine.

Among them was even a member of the clan of Senior Brother Yingzhong from the Chuan Gong Hall.

He treated everyone equally and refused them all.

Once a master-disciple relationship is established, it is no less complex than that between direct blood relatives.

He doesn't even have enough time to cultivate himself, let alone instruct his disciples.

"Old Man Tong has told me many times that he only hopes to meet you... Whether his wish can be fulfilled depends on his grandson's fortune."

Lu Song recalled the first two years after he entered the sect, when he and Old Man Tong were inseparable and supported each other.

Old Man Tong's desperate pleas stirred some sympathy in him.

"It would be nice to meet him. He's been doing a lot of work lately... Has anyone from the Jiang family come looking for you recently?"

After the war of reclamation, Bai Zichen used his power of recommendation as an elder to make Jiang Shu an outer disciple.

At the same time, the Jiang family was introduced to the Liu family of Monkey Mountain, and they took over the business of transporting various basic living supplies for cultivators to Monkey Mountain.

The Liu family had just moved to Monkey Mountain, and everything was in need of rebuilding. The family's savings from previous years were simply not enough, and they urgently needed a large amount of resources.

The manpower required to build a completely new clan territory was unimaginable; every member of the Liu clan wished they could be split in two to utilize it.

The trivial task of going back and forth to the market to purchase supplies was originally intended to be entrusted to the caravan.

With Elder Bai of the Qingfeng Sect's influence, it didn't matter who did the business, so it was naturally handed over to the Jiang family.

The Jiang family is used to making talisman paper, and each member of the clan carries two or three storage bags.

Old Jiang was also quite business-minded. He used the channels he had built up from his previous business dealings to purchase goods at a price that was 10% or 20% cheaper.

Each time, they picked out some small items that weren't very valuable but were quite popular with young cultivators and female cultivators.

Along the way, on several mountain peaks where construction was in full swing, the goods were sold out completely.

Using the merits gained from the pioneering war, he exchanged them for a few hundred spirit stones as capital, and after a few trips, he paid off his previous debts.

Originally, I just wanted to help the Jiang family out and that was it.

Now that my cultivation level has increased, my requirements for various cultivation resources have also increased. I really need an extra purse to replenish my spirit stones, otherwise I will have to worry about spirit stones and sect contributions every now and then.

More than 70% of the elders of Qingfeng Sect are involved with the merchant guild.

They can either run the business themselves or find an agent. The simplest way is to register their name in the business, act as a protector, and receive dividends as a share of the profits.

They can earn one or two thousand spirit stones every year, and those who do well can earn even more.

The Jiang family has long dealt with independent cultivators at the lower levels, and judging from the current situation, they do have some skill.

Bai Zichen considered that he should select two businesses for the Jiang family to start, so that they could at least earn back the spirit stones needed to purchase the Spirit Enhancement Pills every year.

"Old Taoist Jiang just came last month to inquire about you and wished to pay his respects."

"Next time you come, bring him to see me. I have something to tell him to do."

Bai Zichen waved for Lu Song to leave and read through all the more than ten letters he had received during his seclusion.

Nearly half of the greetings were meaningless and came from several elders who had also moved to Emerald Moon Lake.

However, the contents of one of the letters are worth noting.

“Establishing three separate halls… Gu Xisheng has quite the courage. I really don’t know if Senior Brother Wei made the right choice or the wrong one by pushing him up.”

Before Bai Zichen arrived at Feiyue Lake, Wei Dao had already gone into seclusion, and all sect affairs were handed over to Gu Xisheng.

A month later, Dai Hui, the master of the Refining Hall, also went into seclusion to seek an opportunity for a breakthrough.

Liang Yu and Bai Zichen had discussed the matter of appointing Gu Xisheng, who was in charge of the General Affairs Hall, as the acting head of the sect.

Wei Dao, with his heart set on the Great Dao, was unwilling to spend any more time on sect affairs before reaching the Core Formation stage. He chose to retire after achieving his goals, but still wanted to maintain his influence. So he chose Gu Xisheng, a person who did not belong to any faction and had low prestige among the elders.

In the future, the Five Palaces will have greater authority to make decisions regarding matters within their jurisdiction.

For this reason, Wei Dao's proposal was approved by all the temple masters, allowing Gu Xisheng to successfully assume the role of acting sect leader.

However, judging from Gu Xisheng's actions in the past two years, he is by no means a person who is content with his lot and follows the established rules.

Without touching the interests of the Five Palaces, he took a different approach. First, under the guise of ten thousand acres of spiritual fields, he opened his gates wide and recruited a large number of menial disciples.

Furthermore, through allocation methods, the number of disciples in the Spirit Plant Hall jumped to the top among the seven halls.

Last month, citing the heavy workload and unclear responsibilities of the Spirit Planting Hall, it was proposed to separate a piece of the Spirit Field and establish a dedicated Spirit Field Hall to manage all the Spirit Fields under the sect's jurisdiction.

The market town gathers independent cultivators from Black Mountain, exerting a far-reaching influence. Its annual revenue is of great importance to the sect, and it is also a separate market town.

There are six third-tier spiritual sites in Jade Moon Lake, where six elders reside. As the area develops, many things will arise, so a Jade Moon Hall has been established to handle the events that occur in Jade Moon Lake.

Bai Zichen clicked his tongue in amazement; this was no small feat.

Previously, the most widely circulated idea within the sect was that the General Affairs Hall and the Market Hall would each establish their own separate hall.

Gu Xisheng did not adopt either of these two proposals, but instead came up with a proposal that shocked everyone.

The layout of five main halls and seven courtyards, which had lasted for nearly a thousand years, was directly changed to five main halls and ten courtyards.

"If you want to open a window, you should first suggest tearing off the roof... I wonder which of the three is Gu Xisheng's real purpose."

Bai Zichen laughed. Anyway, it had little to do with him, so he let them fight it out first.

He discovered another advantage of choosing Feiyue Lake: it was much quieter.

If I were still on this mountain, there would surely be a large number of fellow disciples coming to visit my cave and inquire about my thoughts.

(End of this chapter)