Chapter 230: A good person? A ruthless person? A person about to leave!

If one wants to get spirit stones, there are two fastest ways.

One is killing people and seizing treasures; after all, a horse doesn't get fat without night grass, and a person doesn't get rich without windfall!

However, this is a robbery act; one careless move and you could easily bury yourself.

Tianlan Xiancheng is not a small place like Dajiang Square or Liuguang Square.

You never know where a great expert might pop out from.

By then, failing to kill the person and instead losing your own family fortune.

Luo Chen naturally wouldn't choose that.

The second way is much more kind, virtuous, and peaceful.

Alchemy!

Why did Luo Chen go to such great lengths, even investing one hundred thousand spirit stones, to purchase Danxia Peak?

Wasn't it to settle the Luo Tian Society!

With this force in place, he could scale up alchemy.

Otherwise, relying only on himself?

He once calculated an account: taking high-grade Jade Marrow Pills as an example, without anyone's help, he could refine at most two furnaces of pills a day.

The high-grade Four Symbols Cauldron takes four portions of materials per furnace, so that's eight portions.

Combined with a fifty percent success rate, the profit is about seven hundred spirit stones.

Looking at it, twenty thousand a month, over two hundred thousand a year—that's a lot, right!

In reality, that's not how the account is calculated.

Before alchemy, you have to buy raw materials, you have to specially process raw materials; just this step alone consumes no less time than the refining itself.

So the time cost has to be doubled.

What about after refining?

You have to take them out to sell!

Without anyone's help, you have to do it yourself, every single time.

It's the same principle as when he was a loose cultivator at Dajiang Square, spending two or three days every month setting up a stall.

In this way, the time cost increases even more.

It looks like twenty thousand a month, but in reality, you can't even earn ten thousand spirit stones a month.

Averaged out, it's only a few thousand spirit stones a month, just a little bit better than being a retainer for someone else.

And you don't even have as much free time as a retainer.

After all, a large amount of time is wasted on alchemy.

It is extremely unfavorable for his cultivation, study of spells, alchemy techniques, etc.

What if there is a force to help?

This is very clear at a glance.

Along the way, whether it was the Poshan Gang or the Luo Tian Society, a familiar model had already been formed.

Dedicated personnel regularly purchase raw materials.

Another group of people processes the raw materials.

During the alchemy process, one can open two, three, or even four furnaces at once to refine simultaneously.

As for sales, he doesn't need to worry about that at all.

The final profit result will be several times that of fighting alone.

Not to mention anything else, the three months after leaving Dajiang Square.

Luo Chen devoted himself entirely to alchemy and refined high-grade Jade Marrow Pills worth eighteen thousand spirit stones.

This is simply not something a loose cultivator could achieve.

No wonder they say all great alchemists come from great sects and great families.

They have unified channels for integration from top to bottom, from cultivation to procurement, refining, and then market development, distribution to various places...

The alchemist is just too worry-free and effortless.

"A year has passed, and the Luo Tian Society is gradually getting on the right track."

"I can almost restart my great alchemy cause!"

"And with the help of the 1st-tier Earth Fire Cave, the efficiency might be even higher!"

Sitting on the flying boat, Luo Chen thought about these trivial matters.

When practicing normally, he is fully devoted and never thinks about these miscellaneous things.

Now that he is out for a trip, he naturally has to plan every aspect well.

"Senior Luo, long time no see. Are you going out again?"

Under the drawbridge.

Xu Jingnian, dressed in spotless attire, waved to greet Luo Chen.

Luo Chen smiled and nodded at him, then steered the flying boat, unfolded flight mode, soared into the sky, and disappeared from everyone's view.

Among the cultivators entering the city, there were some who were familiar with Xu Jingnian.

After Luo Chen went far away, they curiously asked Xu Jingnian.

"You usually aren't that enthusiastic or polite to ordinary Foundation Establishment True Persons!"

"Who is this person that makes you treat him so well?"

Xu Jingnian rolled his eyes. "This person is no ordinary Foundation Establishment True Person!"

"Oh? How so? Tell me in detail!"

Xu Jingnian sipped some hot tea. "You know Danxia Peak, right!"

"Could it be?"

"Yes, this senior is a fierce dragon crossing the river from outside. Back then, he forcibly entered Danxia Peak and defeated three peers of the same level with one move each. For such an existence, don't you think I should be polite?"

His friend suddenly realized.

Indeed, for an expert like this, no amount of politeness would be too much.

Perhaps, when his realm gets higher in the future, he will be a major figure of great importance in Tianlan Xiancheng.

Realm equals combat power, but it doesn't completely equal combat power.

Those with high realms but low ability are not non-existent.

Like Luo Chen, who dared to defeat three peers of the same level at the same level, one can see how strong his combat talent is.

As long as he can continue to grow, he will never be a weak hand among his peers.

"However, politeness is one thing. Why be so enthusiastic? You are an Ice Wave Palace cultivator; you don't need to flatter everyone who passes by!"

Xu Jingnian chuckled. "That's naturally because this senior is very generous!"

"Generous? How generous?" The friend was unconvinced; Foundation Establishment True Persons in Tianlan Xiancheng can't be called generous.

One by one, for the sake of cultivation resources, they are stingier than anyone else.

How generous can a loose cultivator from outside be?

"Do you know my little nephew?"

"Liuzi?"

"Yes! He served as a guide for this senior for a period of time. The other party directly rewarded him with two thousand spirit stones."

"Hiss! Such a lavish move!"

"And that's not all. Senior Luo felt that Liuzi was clever in handling things, so he specially hired him as an outer-sect deacon of the Luo Tian Society, and he can receive an extra salary every month."

Xu Jingnian smacked his lips and sighed:

"I've been working hard in the Ice Wave Palace for many years and haven't earned a proper job for Liuzi."

"But I didn't expect that just by letting him honestly serve as a guide once, the job was arranged."

"This Senior Luo Chen is truly a good person!"

The friend listened and was filled with envy.

A Foundation Establishment True Person who is lavish and not stingy with jobs is indeed rare; why didn't he run into one?

But a "good person"?

He had heard a little about the Danxia Peak incident.

One of those three loose Foundation Establishment cultivators was killed on the spot; the outcome was miserable.

This master is definitely not a soft-hearted fat sheep!

This is a ruthless person!

Regarding Xu Jingnian's change from arrogance to respect.

Luo Chen appeared very calm.

He knew very well.

Upon arriving, no one would particularly look up to him.

Even with the realm of Foundation Establishment, others would only verbally honor him as "Senior."

But when he showed his strength and benefits enough to move people.

Then true respect would naturally come.

Bringing Xu Xiaoliu into the Luo Tian Society was actually not Luo Chen's idea.

It was Sima Hui Niang!

She had been busy letting the Luo Tian Society take root in Tianlan Xiancheng, coming and going to handle many things.

In this process, Xu Xiaoliu had indeed provided a lot of help beyond being a guide.

After a while, Sima Hui Niang had this thought.

After reporting to Luo Chen, Luo Chen didn't refuse.

In fact, accepting local loose cultivators was also a signal to the outside world that the Luo Tian Society was going to integrate into Tianlan Xiancheng.

Currently, this signal was still very weak, and no one cared.

But if someone with a heart inquired, it would fall into their eyes.

A streak of light, like a meteor, broke through the air from the horizon.

Cultivators in Biyou Valley and Zilan Bamboo Forest subconsciously looked up.

Seeing it go straight into Danxia Peak, they withdrew their gaze.

That must be the master of the Luo Tian Society.

This was not someone they could afford to provoke.

After the Langqi Flying Boat entered Danxia Peak, its speed slowed down.

Luo Chen flew while using his good eyesight to scan the entire mountain from bottom to top.

Plots of spirit fields were scattered like stars from the foot of the mountain to the top.

In between, there were many cultivators busy in the fields.

There were over a hundred 1st-tier spirit fields, on which high-quality spirit rice that could be harvested twice a year had already been planted.

When harvested, it would just about satisfy internal needs.

As for the other spirit fields, they were currently in the process of accumulating fertility.

It would still take two years to restore them to 1st-tier quality.

In this process, they could only plant some crops with low economic value, such as Sky Silkworm Cloud Beans and Ten-Fragrance Cardamom.

The main goal was to let the land absorb the surrounding spiritual energy to upgrade its tier.

Besides the original spirit fields.

The cultivators of the Medicine Hall had also opened up twenty additional spirit fields in flat areas.

They were also carrying out spirit field upgrading work in a similar way.

One could imagine that in three or four years, these spirit fields would be fully put into use.

By then, whether planting high-quality spirit rice, medicinal herbs, or special spirit plants, they could bring huge profits to the Luo Tian Society.

Besides satisfying their own needs, they could even sell them to the outside world.

"This is no longer a small-scale operation."

"Granny Yuan truly intends to develop spirit plant cultivation to the scale of a small sect."

"She is indeed devoted, but unfortunately..."

Luo Chen sighed.

The flying boat arrived at a quiet courtyard halfway up the mountain.

Outside the courtyard, various flowers and plants were planted; in the midsummer season, it was colorful and lively.

And inside the courtyard, it was just as "lively."

Or rather, it shouldn't be called lively.

Because most of the people inside had sorrowful faces.

Putting away the flying boat, Luo Chen stepped inside.

"President."

"Good day, President."

"President, you're here."

When Yuan Dongsheng respectfully bowed to Luo Chen, Luo Chen stopped his steps.

"Didn't you say there were still two or three years to live? Why so fast?"

The scene from a year ago when Granny Yuan told him directly how much longer she had to live.

Was still fresh in his memory.

But he didn't expect.

"It was those twenty spirit fields." Yuan Dongsheng said with a choked voice: "My grandmother felt that the spirit fields the Luo Tian Society could use were still too few, so she wanted to open up some extra ones."

"But I didn't expect that there were dormant Black-Spined Stone Dragons underground."

"The Black-Spined Stone Dragons, disturbed in their sleep, were furious and injured many people. Grandmother was on the scene and had to take action herself to subdue them. But because of this, she exhausted her vitality."

"So..."

Stone Dragon, a common monster beast.

Often captured by cultivators to be made into a 1st-tier medicinal ingredient.

Generally speaking, it poses no threat.

But the Black-Spined Stone Dragon is different; it belongs to the extreme temperament.

Either it sleeps and ignores worldly affairs, or it is fierce and cruel, daring to attack anyone.

Even if it's a 2nd-tier or 3rd-tier monster beast, it dares to be stubborn and go up to tear and bite.

One can imagine how much effort Granny Yuan spent to suppress it at that time.

She was already old and frail, her blood and energy decayed to the extreme.

Such a great exertion could only accelerate her path to the end of her life.

In fact, a month ago, Granny Yuan was already paralyzed in bed, unconscious.

This was mentioned in Sima Hui Niang's sound-transmission talisman.

With a soft "hmm," Luo Chen walked straight into the house.

A rich medicinal smell rushed towards him.

It was even a bit choking.

Luo Chen seemed not to smell it, his gaze falling on the bed.

As if feeling something, the old woman, who had been unconscious, slowly turned her turbid eyes and landed on Luo Chen.

At that moment, Luo Chen knew that the other party was awake.

Releasing his spiritual sense, he felt the other party's state.

Luo Chen felt a moment of shock in his heart.

That soul, weak to the extreme, was like a candle in the wind, flickering and about to go out.

But unexpectedly, every time it was about to go out, it stubbornly and tenaciously kept burning.

This was relying on astonishing willpower to force herself to live!

And her purpose for persisting until now was self-evident.

Words of reminiscing were no longer needed.

He opened his mouth, actually feeling his throat a bit dry.

"Granny Yuan... Yuan Yujiao! Head of the Medicine Hall of the Luo Tian Society, in office for more than seven years."

"During her tenure, she was diligent and conscientious. Scheduling medicinal materials for the Alchemy Hall, providing spirit rice for the society, and in many great battles, she fully treated the cultivators of the society; the Luo Tian Society is grateful to her."

"Now, for the Luo Tian Society at Danxia Peak, she organized four hundred spirit fields and opened up twenty spirit fields, establishing a great foundation."

"Today, Luo Chen, master of the Luo Tian Society, is here to verify her achievements and confirm them to be correct."

"Specially awarding twenty bottles of high-grade Jade Marrow Pills, ten portions of Cultivation-Nurturing Spirit Liquid, and three Deep-Penetrating Pills. Additionally, one set of 2nd-tier water-attribute cultivation techniques can be used as the Yuan family's heritage, magic tools... for those twenty newly opened spirit fields, the Yuan family can enjoy half the proceeds for life."

The calm and indifferent words carried an unquestionable tone.

In these words, the merits and demerits of Yuan Yujiao's last seven years of life received the most fair evaluation.

Especially the four hundred and twenty spirit fields organized and opened for the Luo Tian Society, which was a great merit beyond reproach!

Even if she were to pass away at this moment, these rewards would all be issued to her descendant, Yuan Dongsheng.

And as Luo Chen said these words, the old woman's eyes became brighter and brighter.

No longer turbid, they were like stars.

Finally, Luo Chen whispered silently: "Go in peace; spirit plants will be planted in the spirit fields of Danxia Peak every year, and the incense of the Yuan family will also be passed down without end."

After speaking, he pursed his lips and turned to leave quietly.

Behind him.

Was the sudden sobbing and wailing of Yuan Dongsheng.

Out of the courtyard.

Murong Qinglian stood in front of him.

Luo Chen didn't look at her, his gaze far away, just staring at the flowers and plants in the courtyard.

"Did you record it all?"

"Yes, recorded. After the burial, all these rewards will be issued to Yuan Dongsheng."

"Where is the cemetery?"

"I discussed it with the President before, planning to choose the area behind Danxia Peak as the cemetery. In the future, cultivators who have made contributions to the Luo Tian Society can be buried in the cemetery after death."

"Very well, you are responsible for the burial arrangements; I trust you."

Luo Chen's gaze wandered, finally shifting from the flowers and plants to the people in the courtyard.

Xiugu was holding little Yilong, sobbing outside the door.

She had always been a member of the Medicine Hall, whether during the Poshan Gang period or after the establishment of the Luo Tian Society.

Back then, it was Granny Yuan who persuaded her to break her prejudice against Zeng Wen and matched this marriage.

Now that Granny Yuan had passed away, besides Yuan Dongsheng, she was the most heartbroken.

Ceng Yilong stood there, ignorant and innocent, looking at the scene in the house, subconsciously sucking his fingers.

Luo Chen waved his hand, and Ceng Yilong broke free from Xiugu's hand and ran over.

"Let's go, go play with Uncle, don't disturb your mother and the others."

Ceng Yilong looked back, and Xiugu squeezed a smile at him and waved.

The child smiled, held Luo Chen's big hand, and left the courtyard.

Walking on the mountain path, the sobbing behind them gradually disappeared.

In front was the lively figure of the child jumping on the stones, jumping up a tree, jumping down the steps.

"!"

"Counting the time, he was born in the first two years of my Foundation Establishment, three years of seclusion, one year in Tianlan Xiancheng. Such a little one, suddenly able to run and jump."

Luo Chen felt cold in his heart.

If a person dies, what can they leave behind?

Is it bloodline, or incense?

Or is it his evaluation of merits and demerits in those few words?

What if he died?

Suddenly.

"Little Dragon, what is your ideal when you grow up?"

Ceng Yilong hung his hands on a tree branch, his round body swinging back and forth like a swing.

He said loudly: "Earn spirit stones, marry a wife!"

"Uh..." Luo Chen's expression stiffened. "Who taught you that!"

The child nimbly flipped onto the branch, stood firm, and said as a matter of course:

"Uncle Yuan taught me; he used to talk to Granny Yuan every day about marrying a wife, having children, and passing down the Yuan family incense."

Luo Chen frowned.

But not knowing what he thought of, his brows gradually relaxed.

Yes!

Everyone has their own ideals, their own aspirations.

Qu Lingjun was influenced by him since childhood, so he wanted to become a respected alchemist.

Ceng Yilong, raised by women since childhood, and having the family motto left by Zeng Wen before his death, constantly instilled with concepts, naturally his ideals would also be influenced.

These are personal choices, he cannot force them.

Then what about himself?

Compared to incense and bloodline, or great achievements, he, Luo Chen, doesn't like these.

Zhu Zhu Changsheng!

Only longevity!

In this world, there are still too many wonderful things waiting for him to witness.

A hundred years in a hurry is really too short.

Taking a deep breath, Luo Chen grabbed Ceng Yilong.

"You've been a bit wild lately!"

"Have you learned your characters? Have you read your books?"

Amidst Ceng Yilong's sad face, Luo Chen led him towards the Luo Tian Hall of Danxia Peak.

At the same time.

Sima Hui Niang, who was busy, moved her ears.

"Come see me quickly!"

End of chapter ===== CHAPTER 231 =====