Chapter 31: Chapter 31: The Sect Master Is Outside Picking Up Trash to Raise You
Sales were low at first, but they gradually added up. Once the business scaled, it would become a considerable fortune.
Seeing the real potential in wine-making, a few more players later joined Fan Guzhou.
After all, Fan Guzhou was only one person. It took more people to grow the business.
Combined with Zhou Xiao and another male player who were in charge of researching the game’s cuisine, they simply joined forces to open a winery and a food stall.
Their first step was to penetrate the market of ordinary mortals, squeezing out every bit of profit they could.
Meanwhile, Chen Miaomiao made a major discovery.
She discovered that the reason mature Spirit Grass died so easily when its roots were cut was that it needed to be nourished with Spiritual Energy even during the harvesting process.
It was just like in the real world, where some flowers, even if just being transplanted, had to be placed in water immediately.
You couldn’t just yank them out carelessly.
In this case, they needed to be continuously nourished with Spiritual Energy.
But this nourishing process was also very troublesome. The Spiritual Energy had to be supplied at the same rate the plants naturally absorbed it; too slow or too fast, and it wouldn’t work.
And ordinary Qi Refinement Realm disciples lacked the ability to control it with such flexibility.
The Spirit Grass Seedlings that A Wu bought were all specially soaked by Medicine Sect disciples.
That’s why they could survive for a long time.
This Spiritual Energy-infused soaking solution was a specialty of the Medicine Sect. Chen Miaomiao hadn’t managed to replicate it yet, but at least she now knew how to increase the survival rate of Spirit Grass using conventional methods.
A Wu had left ten Spirit Grass Seedlings in the ground for her, unpicked.
At first, Chen Miaomiao didn’t have the right Magic Technique. Whenever she tried to harvest them, the moment the root was severed, both the Spirit Grass and its root system would die.
Now, with only the last two plants left, she had already managed to propagate thirteen new Spirit Grass Seedlings from five of the previous plants. They no longer needed to buy more seedlings, only some fertilizer.
Chen Miaomiao planned to research that as well.
At the very least, as long as the Longevity Sect had Chen Miaomiao, they were guaranteed to never have to spend extra money on seedlings again.
A Wu was stunned when he found out.
He had been growing Spirit Grass for so many years without knowing this method. He had tried to propagate them before, but he always failed completely.
He asked Chen Miaomiao how she did it, and she gently explained to him, "The circulation of nourishing Spiritual Energy through the root system is a process. Each Spirit Grass has a root system of a different length, so the duration of this process varies. What we need to do is measure the optimal duration to ensure the Spiritual Energy can circulate properly..."
Her explanation—a blend of modern knowledge and Cultivation theory—left A Wu utterly dumbfounded.
He listened for ages but didn’t understand a single word.
Embarrassed, A Wu gave up and scratched his head. "Junior Sister, I’d better leave this to you."
"Okay," Chen Miaomiao replied.
’Actually, this sort of thing is easier to understand the higher one’s cultivation is. But everyone here is in the Qi Refinement Realm, so they can only rely on rote memorization...’
She wrote up a template for this theory and sent it to the group chat.
Those who could understand it were in the best position. As for those who couldn’t, like Wu Dahu and the others, they felt for the first time that this whole Cultivation thing was a major headache.
Besides, not everyone had Chen Miaomiao’s talent. Even if they understood the theory, putting it into practice was another matter entirely.
In any case, everything was heading in the right direction.
Song Jiulai was still grinding away on First Mountain.
She had already been there for seven days. She still hadn’t entered the Second Rank area with Lin Qian, but she had killed quite a few First-rank Demon Beasts.
She separated from Lin Qian to run an experiment and found that by expending all her Spiritual Energy at once, she could conjure six or seven large Fireballs to deal with two or three weak First-rank Demon Beasts without much problem.
Any more than that, and she couldn’t handle it.
She would have to stop and rest for a bit, although she recovered quite quickly.
Comparing this to Lin Qian’s usual fighting style, she would pause after casting the Fireball Technique several times in a row.
And her fireballs were much smaller than Song Jiulai’s. Without chugging potions, she’d have to rest for half a day just to get back to full strength.
Song Jiulai noticed the difference between herself and Lin Qian. When she attacked in front of Lin Qian, she would consciously hold back a bit and would also rest for a long time, just like Lin Qian.
’When you’re away from home, it pays to be a little more cautious.’
Recovering Spiritual Energy took time, but hunting demon beasts did in fact increase the reserves of Spiritual Energy in her body, and her combat abilities were improving as well.
At first, she would shriek at the sight of an ugly demon beast. Just looking at them gave her goosebumps and tanked her SAN score. Now, after killing a few, she could pick up their corpses without even batting an eye.
However, the Jiezidai that Su Huanli gave her wasn’t very big, and it was quickly filled with dozens of demon beasts.
Intact demon beast corpses could be sold for a higher price, but most people simply killed the beasts and immediately harvested the valuable parts.
All Demon Beast Materials could be put to use.
Some could be used for Artifact Refining, some for Alchemy. Although First-rank Demon Beasts weren’t very useful, their strength was in their numbers.
Song Jiulai was too broke to bring herself to carve them up...
Tagging along with Lin Qian had its perks, though. At least she’d managed to snag a Second-order Qi Replenishing Pill.
That thing was definitely more effective than a First Rank one. After Song Jiulai popped the pill, she recovered half her Spiritual Energy and could still kill a few more demon beasts.
’It’s just too expensive.’
’Just as I thought, Lin Qian must have been well-prepared to dare venture out like this!’
She had even brought food that could replenish one’s vitality, which meant she was prepared for the long haul.
’I wonder how big her Jiezidai is.’
Even an Outer Disciple from the Medicine Sect was this wealthy. Song Jiulai was so envious she was practically drooling.
She was originally planning to return, but then she discovered a way to exploit a bug.
’She could actually use these demon beast corpses to directly reward the players!’
Here’s what happened.
When Fan Guzhou was out selling wine, he first used the proceeds to pay back A Wu, who had fronted him the money for the grain and fruit. Then, he chose to submit 30% of the remaining profits to the system in exchange for points.
Sales were low at first, but every little bit added up, and the Sect’s account balance grew by five low-grade Spirit Stones.
This was an excellent start.
Song Jiulai felt it was necessary to give a reward to boost morale, so she asked the system, "What do you think would be the best reward?"
’Money is definitely out of the question right now.’
’The live-streaming privileges are settled at the end of the month.’
The system said, "You can reward them with the Demon Beast Materials from the beasts you’ve killed."
Song Jiulai was stunned. "Send it over directly?"
System: "Correct. I can directly transfer any property belonging to the Sect for you."
"...Holy crap, why didn’t you tell me sooner!!!"
’All this time, I’ve been so afraid of wasting space in my Jiezidai that I didn’t even dare to pick up the useless ore fragments I saw!’
System: "You never asked."
Song Jiulai: "...You wretched beast! Who the hell designed a system like you?"
System: "As long as you work as hard as a mule, you can call me whatever you want."
"..."
Song Jiulai sorted through her loot, found a spot, and carved the shells off two First-Rank Green Spiders.
The Green Spider Shells were each the size of a human head and were the only things one might consider remotely attractive.
It’s just that Song Jiulai couldn’t stop gagging as she carved them out...
They looked like jade and could be used for Artifact Refining.
’I don’t know what Fan Guzhou can make with these, but it’s the thought that counts, coming from his Sect Master.’
Song Jiulai really wanted to give him some demon beast ingredients for his gourmet cooking, but the ’demon beasts’ themselves were just too uncooperative.
’They’re all grotesquely shaped, like mutated zombies. What kind of halfwit could possibly eat that?’
「Meanwhile, within the Longevity Sect.」
[Ding! Congratulations to player Fan Guzhou for exchanging Sect Points for the first time. As a commendation, the Sect Master has rewarded Fan Guzhou with two First-Rank Demon Beast Material: Green Spider Shells.]
[Green Spider Shell: A demon beast mineral-type material. Can be used for Artifact Refining, optimal for defensive artifacts.]
[No storage space available for delivery. Fan Guzhou, please proceed to the spawn point to collect your reward.]
The first announcement was sent to everyone.
Song Jiulai, far away on First Mountain, was very satisfied when the announcement sent the players into an uproar.
’My children, work hard and make some money.’
’Your Sect Master is out here picking up trash to support you!’
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