Chapter 379: Sixteen Years Old, Annual Income of Thirty Million Low-Grade Spirit Stones

"Jiang Ding, it's been quite a while."

Zhang Dingjun offered a greeting.

"Hello, Zhang Laoshi; hello, Teacher Guo; hello, Teacher Wang..."

Jiang Ding greeted them one by one.

Most of the teachers were at the peak of the Qi Refining realm, around eighty years old, having already missed the prime years for Foundation Establishment.

Besides, many had attempted Foundation Establishment once, failed, survived thanks to life-preserving pills, and since then settled down to teach and nurture students.

"How have you been these past years, Zhang Laoshi?"

"Not bad."

Zhang Dingjun smiled: "Last year, several of us turned eighty and retired one after another. Now we have plenty of free time. Hearing there's a banquet at your place, we rushed over to mooch a meal."

"The teachers are just thinking of their student."

Jiang Ding said somewhat embarrassedly.

He chatted with the teachers, listening to their experiences over the years, what talents Rongcheng No. 1 High School had cultivated, how the Ministry of Education had increased funding, how wages gradually rose, and reminiscing about those high school days.

The banquet continued until evening before slowly winding down, and the guests dispersed one by one.

The family, together with the hired staff, busied themselves cleaning the residential compound, seeing off neighbors from nearby and relatives and friends who had traveled from afar.

With a thought from Jiang Ding, magnetic sense-lines materialized, spreading throughout the entire compound; bowls, plates, and chopsticks floated up on their own, cleared away leftover food, shone as clean as new, and were neatly stacked dish by dish, while chopsticks flew into their holders.

Tables were folded; leftover food, cigarette butts, firecracker paper scraps, and other debris flew through the air, sorting themselves into their respective categories.

Work that would normally take dozens or even hundreds of people half a day was finished in the blink of an eye, and done quickly and well.

The residential compound returned to its usual clean and tidy state.

"This is a Foundation Establishment cultivator..."

Jiang Yuan, Lin Lin Yuanwang, and others stared in awe.

"Alright, that's enough."

After bidding farewell to the hotel manager who kept thanking him, the family first saw off his maternal grandparents and his uncle's family, then returned home.

As usual, they watched television for a while,

then Jiang Ding returned to his own room.

Everything inside was arranged exactly as it had been forty years ago during his high school days, with no changes whatsoever.

"I wonder how things are in the Demon Kingdom?"

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

Yet he did not leave; a faint spiritual light flickered in his hand, producing several jade boxes. He opened them, revealing pill after pill, bright red and still brimming with spiritual energy, their medicinal effects undiminished despite decades of time.

Bang! Bang!

Chirp! Chirp!

By the window, a tiny kingfisher appeared with practiced ease and knocked on the door.

"Little one, you're still alive, and you've advanced to the peak of Qi Refining?"

Jiang Ding was surprised.

This kingfisher was none other than the courier bird he had met decades ago, which had helped him greatly during high school.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

The kingfisher gazed longingly at those bright red pills.

Foundation Establishment Pills!

And they were supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills; inferior ones were completely absent.

"You want them?"

"Indeed, your age has come. Not every kingfisher can achieve Foundation Establishment."

Jiang Ding thought for a moment and understood.

"Very well, I'll give you one as well."

Several boxes were closed.

"Remember to deliver these Foundation Establishment Pills to Zhang Laoshi Dingjun, Teacher Guo Kui, Teacher Wang Lan, and the other teachers."

Jiang Ding instructed: "You must deliver them when each of them is alone; even if family members or relatives are present, it won't do. Deliver them individually."

"Do you understand?"

To this day, supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills were merely something easily within his reach for Jiang Ding; even Liu Liu Sanqi could give one away. Since his high school teachers needed them, giving one or two supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills was naturally no problem.

However, such pills were enough to drive Qi Refining cultivators nearing the limit of their lifespan to madness, causing them to disregard all laws and human sentiments, posing certain dangers.

Even relatives could not necessarily be trusted.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

The kingfisher circled excitedly, chirping happily, and tried to nuzzle his cheek with its wings, only to be pushed away with disdain.

"Go quickly."

Jiang Ding said with a scolding smile.

Even with a supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, success was not guaranteed; at over eighty years of age, even with protection, death could still occur.

As for using it himself, it would be better to maximize resource utilization by giving it to a descendant of exceptional talent.

That would depend on the teachers' own choices.

"Chirp!"

The kingfisher performed a bow with its two tiny wings, gathered all the Foundation Establishment Pills, and flew away happily.

Its figure flashed and vanished without a trace.

Demon Palace.

A youth in green robes sat cross-legged, his eyes closing and opening again; a faint ripple of emotion surfaced deep within his gaze, then slowly faded.

A psionic-like spiritual particle radar wave swept across a hundred kilometers.

Fifteen years had passed,

and great changes had occurred here in Master Tushan Demon City.

The former capital of the demon kingdom had vanished entirely, replaced by a vast cultivation city, its dwellings scattered everywhere, streets lined with shops selling spirit pills, spirit talismans, spirit beasts, and magical artifacts—abundant and bustling, far surpassing any cultivation market city in the Three Kingdoms.

There were very few ordinary humans in the city; cultivators numbered over a hundred thousand, and Foundation Establishment cultivators passed by regularly, nothing unusual.

Foundation Establishment cultivators frequently flew in from afar, bringing ores, spirit materials, and spirit herbs from their respective territories, delivering them into Master Tushan City's treasure vault.

"Annual income comes from mines, spirit fields, herb fields, spirit trees, spirit beast and spirit fish farms, and taxes on first- and second-tier spirit veins across the regions, plus commercial taxes."

Jiang Ding counted his current sources of income on his fingers.

"Deducting the salaries of Foundation Establishment cultivators like Li Li Qingyun, Wu Ma Kong, Monk Fa Zheng, and Gong Gong Caiyu, plus the wages of scattered cultivators like Liu Liu Hongshao who were gradually recruited, the salaries of market enforcement squads, the wages of spirit planters and laborers at spirit fields and herb fields across the regions, the maintenance costs of the great arrays, and the investments I require to maintain stability and prosperity among ordinary humans."

"That's all—no disciples to cultivate, I have only employer-employee relationships with them, and no other Jin Dan cultivators are shareholders."

"Industries across the demon kingdom,"

"are planned by specialists from the Immortal Sects who specialize in developing other worlds—expanding spirit plantations, spirit fields, and spirit lakes, increasing the number of spider-like mining golems, promoting commercial trade..."

"Thanks to all these measures, the output of spirit materials within the demon kingdom is at least three times that of Yue and Chu, mining output is roughly ten times higher, and moreover, the demon kingdom has never endured the decades-long exploitation that those two kingdoms suffered—its resources remain abundant."

"For all these reasons, my annual income is..."

"Over thirty-four million low-grade spirit stones!"

"That much!"

Jiang Ding calculated again and again, found no error, and was stunned by his own wealth.

He took a deep breath.

"In one year, I earn the net worth of a Jin Dan cultivator!"

"I'm so rich!"

"I'm a tycoon!"

Of course, this was somewhat exaggerated.

A Jin Dan cultivator's personal treasures and spirit stones might be worth twenty to thirty million, but that doesn't mean his total net worth is that amount—it's merely liquid assets.

Moreover, first- and second-tier spirit mines and spirit herbs are nearly useless to Jin Dan cultivators; they wouldn't deliberately stuff such low-grade items into their storage bags.

If a Jin Dan cultivator were interested in these low-grade materials, gathering several times the nominal net worth would be effortless.

"The residence of a tycoon is a bit too modest."

Jiang Ding looked around.

"This quasi-third-tier Heaven Sword Meteor Stream Array needs upgrading—it's too shoddy; only a top-grade third-tier array can match my demon kingdom's capital."

"We don't lack money."

Same

(End of Chapter)