The next day, Mo Hua went to visit Master Zhuang. After all, he was Master Zhuang's registered disciple, but due to being stuck in the spiritual mine for so long, he hadn't come to pay his respects. Mo Hua felt somewhat guilty about this.
Master Zhuang was still asleep, so Mo Hua played a game of Five Elements Chess with Elder Kui for a while.
After all this time, both of their chess skills remained equally poor, with little improvement.
However, for a simple game like Five Elements Chess, it was better not to overthink it. Just playing it straightforwardly was more interesting.
Mo Hua and Elder Kui were evenly matched in their games, exchanging moves that were hard to decipher.
When Master Zhuang woke up, Mo Hua was still not satisfied to leave, but he bid farewell to Elder Kui and then greeted Master Zhuang.
Master Zhuang was generally lenient towards Mo Hua, letting him learn on his own and only offering guidance when asked, without saying much else about it.
As Mo Hua was leaving, Master Zhuang even praised him, saying, "Well done."
Mo Hua was very happy and smiled with his eyes squinted.
However, after leaving Master Zhuang's bamboo room, Mo Hua became somewhat puzzled.
He hadn't said anything to Master Zhuang, yet it seemed like Master Zhuang knew everything...
And even praised him.
Mo Hua furrowed his brow. How did Master Zhuang know?
Mo Hua was puzzled but then thought again. Master Zhuang was a highly skilled individual; perhaps he could deduce things, especially considering the large commotion they had with the Qian family. It wasn't surprising that Master Zhuang knew.
Mo Hua nodded to himself and decided not to dwell on it.
Mo Hua then went to see Bai Zisheng and his sister Bai Zixi.
Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up when he saw Mo Hua, but then he immediately complained and asked where Mo Hua had been all this time.
Mo Hua recounted the events at the spiritual mine.
Bai Zisheng listened with enthusiasm and envy.
Bai Zixi pretended to be reading a book, but she was also listening intently, her autumn-like eyes gleaming and her book slightly crooked, showing her distraction.
"If something like this happens again, you must call me. I'll help you!" Bai Zisheng said with great enthusiasm.
"It wouldn't matter if you called; Aunt Xue wouldn't let you go," Mo Hua replied casually.
Mo Hua's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Bai Zisheng's head.
Bai Zisheng instantly lost his dreams, collapsed like frostbitten eggplant, feeling that life had darkened considerably.
Mo Hua sighed. "Tomorrow, I'll bring you some food."
Bai Zisheng immediately straightened up. "Spicy ones!"
"Sure," Mo Hua said helplessly. Then he turned to see Bai Zixi also looking at him, her eyes sparkling.
Mo Hua thought for a moment and said, "My mother is making Jade Crisp Cakes. I haven't tried them yet, but they smell wonderful. Tomorrow, I'll bring you some to taste and see if they're good."
Bai Zixi nodded gently, looking quite relaxed.
The next day, Mo Hua brought the food as promised.
Bai Zisheng enjoyed it heartily, while Bai Zixi delicately savored the delicious and fragrant cakes, resembling a small cat with her eyes slightly narrowed.
Seeing them enjoying the food, Mo Hua couldn't help but smile with his eyes squinted.
A few days later, Elder Yu asked Mo Hua to go to the demon hunting guild's warehouse to collect spiritual stones.
Many spiritual stones had been mined from the spiritual mine, but they couldn't be distributed all at once, as that could lead to wasteful spending or even theft, causing many disputes.
The demon hunting guild also needed to reserve a sufficient amount of spiritual stones for emergencies.
Therefore, the spiritual stones stored in the warehouse were distributed periodically according to merit, ensuring a steady supply to prolong their use.
Mo Hua stood in line outside the warehouse and soon received a storage bag containing over three hundred spiritual stones, which felt heavy in his arms.
Over three hundred spiritual stones!
It would last a long, long time. In the short term, there was no need to worry about spiritual stones anymore.
And this was just the first batch; there should be more coming after some time.
Mo Hua was extremely happy in his heart.
Not just Mo Hua, but every demon hunter who came to collect spiritual stones wore smiles on their faces. Some, upon receiving the spiritual stones, couldn't believe it and even cried tears of joy.
For independent cultivators struggling to make ends meet at the bottom, when had they ever seen so many spiritual stones?
With these spiritual stones, children wouldn't go hungry anymore, and there would be resources for cultivation. They wouldn't have to struggle so desperately to earn spiritual stones anymore.
Under the heavy pressure, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
And they could live like this for ten years!
Mo Hua felt some comfort, but then he thought again, and his mood grew heavier.
What about after ten years?
Mo Hua frowned.
After ten years, when the spiritual stones ran out, wouldn't everyone go back to living the bitter and harsh lives, scraping by and struggling like before?
Mo Hua thought of Aunt Meng, thought of Aunt Jiang, thought of Da Hu and the others, as well as other familiar demon hunters.
He thought of the tears shed in their lives, the blood spilled in demon hunts, and their bitter suffering and perilous existence.
Mo Hua's heart sank even further.
Was there any way to make everyone's good days last a bit longer?
This thought lingered in Mo Hua's mind incessantly.
Whether he was eating, practicing cultivation, or studying array formations, Mo Hua would think about it.
One day, while flipping through an array book, a sudden inspiration struck him.
He hurried to the demon hunting guild's warehouse and found Elder Yu.
The warehouse was stocked with a large quantity of spiritual stones, and Elder Yu was so concerned that he had been personally stationed here these days.
Mo Hua asked, "Elder Yu, how did the Qian family get rich?"
Elder Yu looked slightly surprised but then pondered for a moment before answering, "The ancestor of the Qian family was also a demon hunter. Later, he saved up a sum of spiritual stones, stopped hunting demons, and began practicing refining and alchemy..."
"He bought demon materials at low prices from other demon hunters, employed independent cultivators to refine them into spiritual tools and pills, and sold them back to demon hunters at high prices."
"Later on, as he grew bigger, he lowered the prices for purchasing materials, extended the labor time for hired cultivators, and increased the prices for the spiritual tools and pills he sold. This way, the Qian family naturally became richer and richer."
Mo Hua asked, "Didn't anyone challenge them?"
"They couldn't. The Qian family is ruthless and cunning. Their methods are beyond others' reach," Elder Yu shook his head.
Mo Hua then said, "I heard the Qian family started from scratch."
Elder Yu scoffed, "That's just their own self-praise."
"Isn't it true?" Mo Hua asked.
Elder Yu scanned his surroundings with divine sense, ensuring there were no eavesdroppers, then sat down, drank a cup of tea, and began to speak to Mo Hua:
"As I said earlier, the Qian family's ancestor saved up a sum of spiritual stones. How do you think he managed to save up such a large amount of spiritual stones?"
Mo Hua thought carefully and suddenly realized.
Elder Yu raised an eyebrow, "We're all demon hunters. Why could he accumulate spiritual stones when others couldn't? Accumulating enough spiritual stones to start a refining and alchemy business isn't a small sum that an ordinary demon hunter can save up in their lifetime..."
Mo Hua's gaze sharpened, "So, what did he do?"
Elder Yu replied, "The older generation of demon hunters told me that the Qian family's ancestor had a deceitful nature from a young age. He followed others on demon hunts, even causing the deaths of companions, secretly keeping the demon beasts' inner cores for himself. Later, he even disguised himself as a bandit and robbed others on Great Black Mountain. Behind the scenes, he engaged in deceit and fraud, doing anything to earn spiritual stones. That's how he accumulated his first batch of spiritual stones..."
Elder Yu chuckled cynically, "No grass grows overnight, and no one gets rich without a windfall. Where in this world are there so many self-made success stories?"
Mo Hua listened, silently shocked.
After Elder Yu finished gossiping and cleared his throat with a cup of tea, he remembered something and asked, "You didn't come here to chat about these things, did you? What's the matter?"
Mo Hua's eyes brightened, "Elder Yu, why don't we start a refining and alchemy business to earn spiritual stones too?"
Elder Yu chuckled, "Silly child, the Qian family earned their wealth by murder, robbery, and deception. We don't have that kind of capital..."
Mo Hua smiled, "We don't need to resort to murder, robbery, or deception. We already have the capital."
Elder Yu shook his head, wanting to say something more, but suddenly his heart skipped a beat. He turned to look at the warehouse.
Inside the warehouse were densely packed spiritual stones! These were just mined from the spiritual mine and exchanged from the Ministry of Dao!
"But... refining and alchemy aren't that easy," he hesitated.
"There are many alchemists and craftsmen among independent cultivators. If we're short-handed, we can hire them with spiritual stones," Mo Hua suggested.
Elder Yu frowned in thought, "The most troublesome part is the refining furnaces and alchemy cauldrons. To expand this business, we'll need large, high-quality furnaces and cauldrons."
"Is refining and alchemy difficult?"
"It requires a lot of manpower, resources, and refined iron. But the most critical and challenging part lies inside the furnaces..."
Elder Yu paused, suddenly realizing something, and looked at Mo Hua.
The most crucial part... was the formation inside the furnaces!
Putting everything together, Elder Yu's thoughts suddenly connected.
Everything was in place! They lacked nothing!
They had spiritual stones, manpower, and Mo Hua for the most difficult formations.
For a moment, Elder Yu found it hard to believe.
(End of the Chapter)