179 Ma Moxi's Stubbornness
"Oh, you're back, Moxi. But why not?" The three elders wondered why Ma Moxi sounded displeased. Just now, his tone was furious.
"As I said before, grandfather. I have a way to make money and restore our family. We can make more than 1,000 refined stones a year! You just have to trust me!"
Ma Moxi was in the middle of a story arc, where he was proving his usefulness to the family. Unfortunately for him, Cao Mao interrupted the story progression.
In reality, Ma Moxi could use his Pagoda cheat and refine rare pills without alchemy knowledge. Also, he had thousands of ways to make a better spirit liquor to sell in their tavern, so he could potentially make more than 1,000 refined stones within less than a month.
But Ma Ping and Ma Shoucheng hadn't trusted the protagonist yet.
"On what basis should we trust you?"
"Have you checked the spatial rings I gave you?"
Ma Ping paused. He recalled that Ma Moxi had given him a few spatial rings and asked him to buy a few basic herbs with that fund.
"Not yet."
"Then, check what I have prepared for you. You'll see if I'm capable of making more than 1,000 refined stones or not."
Ma Ping glanced at Pang Lingming, "The rings should be in the family's treasure chest. I wrapped them under a piece of black cloth."
Pang Lingming nodded and entered Ma Ping's house. Soon, he came out with the black cloth bundle. The elder spread the cloth and revealed the spatial rings inside.
Ma Ping turned to Cao Mao, "Please excuse us. We would like to have a private chat with our family members."
It was an indirect excuse to chase Cao Mao out for the time being.
Cao Mao inwardly sighed. This stupid protagonist interrupted him at a critical moment, and he seemed to have a plan to make money for the family.
"Haiz, Ma Moxi. You don't like me at all, do you?"
Cao Mao gave the protagonist a sarcastic smile. He had an urge to kill Ma Moxi on the spot, but he was at Ma Ping's house and Pang Lingming could kill Cao Mao at any moment.
The plot armor of Ma Moxi was still strong. Xie Tian's Plot Armor level 1 was already a tough nut to crack, but Ma Moxi's level 3 plot armor was like a giant mountain.
Before Cao Mao could kill Ma Moxi, he had to kill Pang Lingming and these two elders first.
Still, creating enemies left and right was not the way to go.
For now, Cao Mao wanted to keep the Ma Clan's strength in check, so he needed them on his side. It would be easier to suppress and manipulate the protagonist if Ma Ping, Ma Shoucheng, and Ma Xingjuan could become his hostages.
Cao Mao rolled his eyes. This idiot harem protagonist had the habit of collecting love interests, including his kins. This kind of incest taste disgusted Cao Mao.
"So, as long as I don't marry your cousin, you won't have any problem if your clan becomes my vessels. Is that correct?"
"My clan doesn't need a backer to thrive. My family can prosper without your help."
"Hah."
Cao Mao sighed and facepalmed. He shook his head, "I bet you'll still refuse even though I have a way to restore your grandfather's dantian?"
"WHAT!?"
Ma Ping, Ma Shoucheng, and Pang Lingming exclaimed in shock.
The reaction of Ma Ping was different from when Ma Moxi told him that he could restore his dantian. The credibility between a good-for-nothing son and a mysterious and talented rich young master was like Hell and Heaven.
On the other hand, Ma Moxi sneered, looking down on Cao Mao's offer. He had learned the conditions of his grandfather, and he was aware of a certain pill that could restore Ma Ping's dantian. Moreover, it would enhance the latter's foundation to the point that he could break through to the 8th-stage.
It was the same pill that Kunwu requested Cao Mao to make – The Yin Yang Divine Vein Pill.
"I doubt any local medicine can cure my grandfather. Why don't you explain how you will treat him?"
As cunning as he was, Ma Moxi tried to extract information from Cao Mao.
Cao Mao was also a cautious man. He rubbed his chin and raised his eyebrows, thinking of a way not to reveal too much information.
Ma Shoucheng gazed at Cao Mao with high expectation. He interjected, "Do you have a way to treat my father?"
"I do," Cao Mao looked at Ma Shoucheng. He was aware of this elder's conditions, and he could easily give him a cup of hollowed spring water to cure his paralysis. Still, it would be counterintuitive to boost Ma Moxi's plot armor strength for no reason.
He wanted to group to be as weak as possible, so he could manipulate them!
Ma Shoucheng made his decision, "Then, how about this? If you can treat my father, our entire clan will be forever your servants!"
"Uncle!" Ma Moxi yelled at his uncle in anger. It was an unnecessary offer.
Cao Mao grinned. He smiled at Ma Shoucheng, "I'll remember those words. Very well, since I can't prove my words at the moment, I shall retreat. But please consider my offer. And also…" Cao Mao turned to Ma Moxi.
"I hope you have finished your job properly last night. You have already spent a night having sex with 10 prostitutes at the VVIP suite in the Vitoria Group Brothel. If you can't even finish such a simple task, I'll be very disappointed."
Cao Mao intentionally leaked Ma Moxi's little deed to the elders, discrediting him.
Hearing about the deed, the elders stared at Ma Moxi in disgust. They doubted if they should believe in this trashy child at all.
Cao Mao retreated early. The longer he stayed, the more likely that Ma Moxi would try to extort more information from him. Moreover, he was at a disadvantage if this protagonist tried something drastic, such as attacking him to force out intel.
.
.
After leaving the Ma Clan's courtyard, Cao Mao groaned, getting frustrated by Ma Moxi's attitude.
Cao Mao could have pushed the deal or healed Ma Shoucheng to earn their trust. However, since Ma Moxi had a hostile attitude against him, there was no point in boosting the Ma Clan's strength.
What important the most was the protagonist's mindset. If Ma Moxi couldn't be his friend, the master-servant alliance wouldn't work.
'That bastard is quite confident with his cheat skill. If his storyline goes according to my guess, he will eventually cure his grandfather and his uncle. Then, he will restore his clan with his abilities, win the favor of many girls, and dominate the world after that. He is designed to be a clan leader type protagonist, isn't he?'
Cao Mao contemplated what he should do against Ma Moxi. He wanted to separate Ma Ping and Ma Moxi, but it might be difficult since they were blood relatives.
The only way to destroy Ma Moxi's clan restoration scheme was to destroy his source of income.
Using his webnovel knowledge reference, Cao Mao thought of novel plot templates.
The fastest income of protagonists usually came from two major sources. The first source was the stupid rich antagonists, who came to seek trouble with the protagonists or their friends, and handed the protagonists their assets on a silver platter.
The second source came together with a story plot, which usually happened when the MCs were still weak - Auction House Story Arc.
Anyone could get rich easily as long as they had valuable treasures that could excite auction participants. In most stories with a reincarnated protagonist, MCs often made rare pills, modern items, or advanced artifacts to sell in an auction house. Then, they would secure enough funds to achieve their goals.
'Hmm. So you have a way to make more than 1,000 refined stones within a year? What kind of pills or weapon you can make? I guess it's time to visit the herb markets.'
.
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Meanwhile, Ma Moxi unloaded the items in the spatial rings to prove his worth.
The items belonged to the dead young master of the Qiang Clan. However, Ma Moxi already got rid of tokens, ID cards, or cultivation manuals, which could reveal the owner of these rings. Thus, the only items coming out of the rings were spirit stones, low-grade items, medium-grade items, and other valuable trinkets and jewelry.
The value of these items was about 150 refined stones.
Had Ma Moxi showed this to everyone before they talked to Cao Mao, they would have been impressed. However, comparing to the 1,000 RSS offer that they could get from Cao Mao, these items seemed worthless.
"Moxi, you chased our potential employer away because of this? Who did you rob it from?"
"I worked, of course. You guys just thought I was playing around in that brothel. I told grandpa before. Qiang Yan gave these rings to me as a reward for my work."
Ma Moxi insisted on using the same excuse even though his grandfather already figured out how the former got these rings.
"Bullshit. Qiang Yan has always treated you like shit! Didn't he bully you to the point that you got bedridden for weeks? Why should he give you jobs when he could easily kill you anytime!? I think you killed Qiang Yan and stole his rings."
Unfortunately for Ma Moxi, his family members doubted the former's credibility. They believed that Ma Moxi had killed and robbed these items from someone.
Moreover, Ma Ping was never an ignorant old man. Pang Lingming had been collecting information regarding Ma Moxi's actions when he went out to play, and he always informed the grandpa. Therefore, Ma Ping knew everything about his grandson and his daily life, including his relationship with various young masters from other clans.
"You're not very thorough, Moxi. One of these weapons has the signature of Qiang. It's an heirloom item from the Qiang Clan. No sane person can give away an heirloom item to others," Pang Lingming also pressured Ma Moxi to tell them the truth. He pointed at a high-grade broadsword with [Qiang] character engraving into its blade.
Getting cornered, Ma Moxi reluctantly confessed, "Yeah, I killed him."
Ma Ping and others rolled their eyes, "Yeah, figured as much."
"You guys knew?"
"You and Qiang Yan have been trying to kill each other for ages. It's totally normal if one of you suddenly dies a dog's death one day. But I'm quite surprised. How did you kill him?"
…
That day, Ma Ping and other elders interrogated Ma Moxi for hours. The protagonist hesitated at first, but he revealed everything, except for his soul treasure, to every senior.
Ma Moxi showed off his skills, his invisible skills, and techniques that he had mastered to get their trust.
In the end, Ma Moxi managed to persuade Ma Ping, Ma Shoucheng, and Pang Lingming to cooperate with him and give him a chance to prove himself.
Ma Moxi requested Pang Lingming's aid. With the fund, he wanted to buy certain common herbs from the local markets. He also needed the servant to find a list of rare ingredients to make the Yin Yang Divine Vein pill.
Also, Ma Moxi planned to concoct some pills to sell in the upcoming grand auction, which would be held in the next month.
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