Chapter 175

Mo Hua visited Mr. Zhu the next day; after all, he was Mr. Zhu's registered disciple, and having been stuck at the spirit mine for so long without paying his respects, he felt guilty.

Mr. Zhu was still asleep, so Mo Hua played a few rounds of Five Elements Chess with Puppet Old Man.

After all this time, both their chess skills remained equally poor, with virtually no improvement.

But Five Elements Chess is a simple game—overthinking it only ruins the fun; the joy lies in straightforward, back-and-forth battles.

Mo Hua and Puppet Old Man were evenly matched, trading blows in a fierce, indecisive struggle.

When Mr. Zhu finally woke up, Mo Hua reluctantly ended the game, bid farewell to Puppet Old Man, and paid his respects to Mr. Zhu.

Mr. Zhu largely left Mo Hua to fend for himself—letting him learn on his own and ask questions only when needed—and said nothing about it.

As Mo Hua was leaving, Mr. Zhu remarked, "Well done."

Mo Hua was delighted, his eyes crinkling into a smile.

Only after leaving Mr. Zhu's bamboo chamber did Mo Hua begin to feel puzzled.

He hadn't told Mr. Zhu anything, yet Mr. Zhu seemed to know everything…

And he'd praised him for doing well.

Mo Hua frowned. How did Mr. Zhu know?

Mo Hua puzzled over it, then thought better of it: Mr. Zhu was a master—perhaps he could divine the future. Besides, their clash with the Qian family had been loud enough; it was natural Mr. Zhu would know.

Mo Hua nodded and let the matter drop.

Mo Hua then went to visit Bai Zisheng and his sister.

Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up at the sight of Mo Hua, then immediately complained, asking where he'd been all this time.

Mo Hua recounted everything about the spirit mine.

Bai Zisheng listened, fired up with excitement and deep envy.

Beside him, Bai Zi Xi pretended to read, but his eyes were fixed on Mo Hua, sparkling like autumn waters, his book tilted askew, unnoticed.

"Next time something like this happens, you must call me—I'll help you!" Bai Zisheng declared with fierce determination.

"What good would that do? Snow Auntie won't let you go," Mo Hua replied coolly.

Mo Hua's words doused Bai Zisheng like a bucket of ice water.

Bai Zisheng instantly lost all spirit, slumping to the ground like a wilted eggplant, his whole life suddenly gray.

Mo Hua sighed. "I'll bring you some food tomorrow."

Bai Zisheng sat up straight at once. "Make it spicy!"

"Fine, fine," Mo Hua sighed, then noticed Bai Zi Xi watching him too, his eyes gleaming.

Mo Hua thought for a moment. "My mother is making Bai Yu cakes—I haven't tried them yet, but the scent is wonderful. I'll bring some tomorrow for you to taste and see if they're good."

Bai Zi Xi gave a slight nod, his expression calm and content.

The next day, Mo Hua arrived as promised with food.

Bai Zisheng devoured his portion greedily; Bai Zi Xi nibbled slowly at the fragrant, snow-white cakes, like a kitten, his eyes half-closed in delight.

Seeing them enjoy themselves, Mo Hua couldn't help but smile, his own eyes crinkling.

A few days later, Elder Yu summoned Mo Hua to the Hunter's Guild warehouse to collect spirit stones.

The spirit mine had yielded many stones; they couldn't be distributed all at once, or they'd be squandered or seized by force, sparking chaos.

The Hunter's Guild also needed to keep a reserve of sufficient spirit stones for emergencies.

Thus, the stones stored in the warehouse were distributed in batches over time, according to merit—slow and steady, to ensure longevity in their use.

Mo Hua waited in line outside the warehouse, and soon received a storage pouch containing over three hundred spirit stones, heavy in his arms.

Over three hundred!

More than enough for a very long time—he wouldn't have to worry about spirit stones for a while.

And this was only the first installment; more would come later.

Mo Hua was overjoyed.

Not just Mo Hua—all the hunter cultivators collecting spirit stones wore smiles; some stared at their haul in disbelief, even weeping with happiness.

How often did lowly wandering cultivators ever see so many spirit stones?

With these stones, their children wouldn't go hungry, their cultivation had a future, and they no longer had to risk their lives so desperately for every stone.

Under the crushing weight of their lives, they could finally breathe.

And this life could last ten years!

Mo Hua felt a quiet relief—but then his thoughts darkened.

What then, after ten years?

Mo Hua frowned.

After ten years, when the stones ran out, wouldn't everyone just return to their old lives—living on the edge, enduring hardship and suffering?

Mo Hua thought of Aunt Meng, of Jiang Yi, of Brother Da Hu, and the other familiar hunters.

He thought of their tears in daily life, their blood spilled in hunts, their suffering and constant peril.

His heart grew heavier still.

Was there any way to make this good life last longer?

This thought haunted Mo Hua's mind.

He thought of it while eating, while cultivating, even while drawing arrays.

One day, as Mo Hua flipped through an array manual, a sudden insight struck him.

He rushed to the Hunter's Guild warehouse and found Elder Yu.

The warehouse was piled high with spirit stones; Elder Yu, uneasy, had been guarding it personally these past days.

Mo Hua asked, "Elder Yu, how did the Qian family become wealthy?"

Elder Yu blinked in slight surprise, but after a moment's thought, he said:

"The Qian family's founding ancestor was originally a beast hunter. Later, he saved up a sum of spirit stones, quit being a beast hunter, and turned to forging and pill refining…"

"He bought the materials harvested from slain beasts at low prices, hired wandering cultivators to forge spirit weapons and pills, then sold them back to beast hunters at high prices."

"As he expanded, he lowered the prices he paid for materials, extended the working hours of the wandering cultivators he hired, and raised the prices of his spirit weapons and pills—so naturally, the Qian family grew richer and richer."

Mo Hua asked in confusion, "Didn't anyone compete with them?"

"They couldn't compete," Elder Yu shook his head. "Their hearts weren't as dark, their methods weren't as ruthless—they couldn't match the Qian family."

Mo Hua added, "I heard the Qian family rose from nothing."

Elder Yu sneered, "That's just the Qian family flattering themselves."

"Isn't that true?"

Elder Yu scanned the surroundings with his spiritual sense, confirmed there was nothing unusual, then sat down, sipped tea, and began speaking to Mo Hua:

"I just said the Qian family's founding ancestor saved up a sum of spirit stones. Can you guess how he got them?"

Mo Hua thought carefully, then suddenly gasped in shock.

Elder Yu raised an eyebrow. "All of us are beast hunters. Why could no one else save up such wealth, but he could? The spirit stones needed to open a forging and pill refining business aren't a small amount—most beast hunters can't save that much in a lifetime…"

Mo Hua's gaze sharpened. "What did he do?"

Elder Yu said, "Elder beast hunters told me the Qian family's founding ancestor was corrupt from childhood. He went hunting with others, even murdered his companions to steal their beast cores. Later, he disguised himself as a bandit and robbed travelers on Great Heishan. Behind the scenes, he cheated, deceived, and swindled—anything to earn spirit stones. That's how he amassed his first fortune…"

Elder Yu sneered again. "Horses don't grow fat without night grass; men don't grow rich without ill-gotten wealth. How many truly rise from nothing in this world?"

Mo Hua listened, his heart trembling inwardly.

After finishing his gossip, Elder Yu sipped tea to moisten his throat, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "You came to me for more than just this, didn't you? What do you want?"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "Elder Yu, let's open our own forging and pill refining businesses to earn spirit stones!"

Elder Yu laughed bitterly. "Foolish boy, the Qian family amassed their fortune through murder, robbery, cheating, and swindling. Where would we get that kind of capital?"

Mo Hua smiled. "We don't need murder or robbery or cheating. We already have the capital."

Elder Yu shook his head, about to speak further, when suddenly his heart leapt—he turned toward the storage room.

Inside the storage room lay a dense, overwhelming pile of spirit stones! Spirit stones freshly mined from the spirit mine and exchanged through Dao Ting Si!

"But… forging and pill refining aren't that easy."

"There are plenty of pill refiners and forgers among wandering cultivators. If we lack manpower, we can just hire more with spirit stones."

Elder Yu frowned, thinking. "The hardest part is still the forging furnace and the pill furnace. To scale up, we need large, high-quality ones."

"Is it hard to forge such furnaces?"

"Forging them consumes vast amounts of manpower, material resources, and refined iron—but the most difficult and crucial part is inside the furnace itself…"

As Elder Yu spoke, his heart jolted—he couldn't help but glance at Mo Hua.

The most crucial part… was the array inside the furnace!

Elder Yu connected the dots in his mind—his thoughts suddenly cleared.

Everything was ready! They lacked nothing!

They had spirit stones. They had manpower. And the hardest part—the array—they already had Mo Hua.

Elder Yu could hardly believe it.