Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 136 Huang Wu's Business

No wonder the Ficus microcarpa never grew after being planted for so long; it was starving!

Zhang Chengdao fell into deep thought.

Based on his shared experiences of seeking wood, normal rainwater is not enough for seeking wood; what is needed to "eat to one's fill" is spiritual energy and water sources imbued with spirit.

The worst part is that because Zhang Chengdao planted Xunmu next to Peach Blossom Pond (【Crane Pond Reflecting the Moon Lamp】), but did not irrigate it with spiritual spring water, Xunmu has been in a state of starvation and can only look at the spiritual spring water in front of it and "sigh at the water".

That feeling of grievance, that hunger... Zhang Chengdao almost felt like he was some kind of villain!
Therefore, as soon as he was free from the feeling of searching for the tree, Zhang Chengdao immediately and very actively dug up the peach blossom pond next to him and diverted the pond water to the roots of the tree.

Immediately afterwards, there was another earth-shaking tremor.

As the water in the pond was drained, the already thick branches of the Xunmu tree grew even larger, raising the ground several feet higher.

When the earth finally stopped shaking, Xunmu also fell into a deep sleep—because no matter how much Zhang Chengdao touched the tree trunk, he could no longer sense Xunmu's state in sync with it as before.

They ignored us after they were full! How heartless!

Considering that the spiritual energy concentration in the area covered by the Seeking Wood was almost comparable to that of the large lake he had dug out, Zhang Chengdao sighed helplessly. He dug out all the peach trees in the entire Peach Garden and put them into his backpack, preparing to expand the Peach Garden to leave enough space for the Seeking Wood to continue growing.

After collecting all the peach trees, Zhang Chengdao flew up into the sky again to observe from high above.

The "Black Abyss" that he had painstakingly carved out, sword by sword, expanded once again. The entire White Stone Mountain range enclosed by the "Black Abyss" was raised several stories high, and even from the edge, one could see the Sword Forging Manor in the distance.

Driven by curiosity, Zhang Chengdao descended to the bottom of the "Black Abyss".

In order to create the illusion of a "barrier", Zhang Chengdao specially placed a circle of bamboo fences at the bottom of the "Black Abyss" and set up permissions. In this way, anyone who comes into contact with the "Black Abyss" will be blocked outside by the invisible "barrier".

At this time, the bottom of the "Black Abyss" was much wider than when Zhang Chengdao last came to set up the [Bamboo Fence]. In addition to some small animal corpses that had fallen in, there were also some strange flowers and plants growing there—all white and pink, because the sun was almost never seen here.

After carefully adjusting the bamboo fence and concealing it all in the mound of earth, Zhang Chengdao returned to Baishi Mountain and planted the peach trees one by one.

Previously, the "Crane Pond Reflecting the Moon Lantern" in Peach Garden had been drained dry by the Seeking Wood. In order to facilitate the irrigation of the peach trees, Zhang Chengdao had to make another one and put it back in the "Peach Garden".

The new Peach Garden is several times larger than the previous one, and to prevent Xunmu from further crowding out the peach trees' living space, Zhang Chengdao specifically planted these peach trees dozens of feet away from Xunmu...

While Zhang Chengdao was busy at Peach Garden, Huang Wu actually set up a stall at the market...

"The large ones cost ten low-grade spirit stones, while the small ones only cost five!"

Huang Wu grinned and patted the two wooden boxes in front of him, saying, "They're very sturdy! I specially selected old pine trees to make them!"

One of the more experienced disciples questioned, "Isn't pine wood easily scratched? And won't it attract insects if it's not dried and varnished?"

“Ordinary wood would be fine, but this is ‘spirit wood’! And it’s ‘lightning-struck spirit wood’!” Huang Wu boasted. “Although it can’t compare to the ‘immortal wood’ used in our sect, this is all wood I got from my second senior sister. It’s genuine lightning-struck wood! It’s very hard. Just making the box took me a lot of effort!”

"Lightning-struck wood?" "With Second Senior Sister's temper, why would she give you something so good?"

Some disciples were confused about what lightning-struck wood was, while others completely missed the point—

In the eyes of the new disciples, Murong Ruyan was someone with a terrible temper.

It wasn't because of what she did to everyone, but because when she and her senior brother Chang Ping'an or her third senior brother Ye Shuyun went down the mountain to buy supplies, they encountered people who were harassing them, and they dealt with them ruthlessly!
If Ye Shuyun hadn't taken the initiative to administer the medication, Murong Ruyan would probably have several lives on her hands by now!
With such a fierce senior sister, and given that everyone had long heard that she was a princess of the Xiao Kingdom and highly regarded by the Emperor, they kept their distance from her and were even trembling with fear when they encountered her.

"My second senior sister is actually a very nice person. I promised to help her make ten lightning-struck wooden cabinets for storing clothes, and she promised to help me get lightning-struck wood on a long-term basis!"

Huang Wu chuckled and added, "So everyone, don't miss it when you pass by! The box made of lightning-struck wood is impervious to swords and spears, and immune to water and fire!"

More and more people gathered around Huang Wu, one of them cupping his hands and saying, "Senior brother, may I ask if you can make anything besides the box? I'd like to make a wooden sword for practice, the iron swords from Manager Ye's place are too expensive!"

Huang Wu readily agreed, saying, "Of course I can do it! This is no trouble at all. The labor cost is 2 spirit stones, and the material cost is 1 spirit stone. Just give me 3 spirit stones in total! I can make it for you tonight!"

"Senior brother, senior brother, can you make a jewelry box? The kind with a bronze mirror!"

"I can do it, but my mirror-polishing skills are only so-so, and this thing will take some effort; it'll probably cost 10 low-grade spirit stones!"

"Oh? That's so expensive! I'll think about it some more..."

"Senior brother, I want a pen holder..."

"Senior brother, I want a wooden sword too!"

Before long, Huang Wu's stall was surrounded by people, and he was almost overwhelmed with business.

Huang Wu finally had to refuse the orders, bowing and apologizing, "Oh, that's about it. I really can't handle this anymore. I'm sorry, I'll deal with it again when I have time in a couple of days. Thank you all for your kindness..."

Before he could finish speaking, a disciple who had rushed over was panting and asked breathlessly, "Senior brother, huff... huff... are you hiring?"

Huang Wu was taken aback, scratched his head, and asked, "What kind of job are you hiring?"

The disciple patted his chest and said, "I can also do some carpentry, and I'm quite skilled at it! Senior brother, if you can't handle it all, how about hiring someone? I'll work with you, and I'll just earn my wages, how about that?"

Huang Wu, of course, wouldn't refuse a business that was offered to him. He readily agreed, "Okay! Come find me at No. 0101 courtyard after class tonight!"

The disciple quickly cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you for your care, Senior Brother!"

……

(End of this chapter)