Chapter 253: Hundred Beasts Hall

With a plan formed in his heart, Li Yuan stopped provoking the Profound Whale Hammer, exited the Mi Jing, and fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, he unusually did not go to Pure Yang Peak but descended the mountain into the city.

The morning in Dao City was also quite lively; beneath wisps of cooking smoke, many pedestrians were already on the streets, mostly heading to work, and he encountered several blacksmiths recruited by the weapon shops along the way.

The weapon shop was located on the left side of Minghua Street, a relatively bustling street in the outer city; though its area was not as large as it had been at Zhe Long Mansion, it was considered a large shop on this street.

Li Yuan arrived very early; the blacksmiths in the forging room had not yet started work, but Liu Zheng had risen early and was reviewing accounts in the rear courtyard; upon learning Li Yuan had arrived, he hurried out to greet him.

"Brother Li."

Liu Zheng approached quickly and instructed the shop's clerks and apprentices to go buy breakfast.

"How is the shop's business?"

Li Yuan asked casually; having long been accustomed to being a hands-off owner, except for paying out and collecting money, Liu Zheng handled the vast majority of miscellaneous tasks.

"These are the shop's expenditure accounts and personnel list for the past half year."

Liu Zheng took out the account book and handed it over; as Li Yuan flipped through it, Liu Zheng reported beside him.

Though called income and expenditure, most of it was actually expenditure.

The weapon shop had only officially opened for a few days; for several months, they had been recruiting blacksmiths and apprentices, constructing facilities like the forging room, and purchasing various iron materials.

Setting aside other things, the price of the shops on either side alone exceeded the weapon shop's profits for one or two years.

If it were not for the huge demand for weapons, Li Yuan felt that doing some other trade might bring money faster, of course, excluding himself.

In Dao City, various expenses were high, and the value of famous weapons was rising accordingly; with his current skill in forging weapons, if he truly just hammered iron with his head down, he could earn enough in a year to buy ten thriving shops.

"A slight loss is fine; there is little business just after opening, but it will improve later."

Li Yuan put down the account book and set down the several sharp blades and famous weapons he had been carrying; these were his personally crafted masterpieces, temporarily serving as the shop's treasures.

"Everything in Hengshan City is expensive; personnel costs and purchasing iron materials are more than fifty percent higher than they were at Zhe Long Mansion."

Mentioning the loss, Liu Zheng felt quite pained.

"That is different; Huizhou is one of the largest mines in Hengshan Dao, and with the care of the Divine Weapon Valley, all materials are naturally cheap, but there is no such treatment in Hengshan City."

Li Yuan was not very skilled in doing business; in his past life, the business of the small supermarket he ran was very bleak, barely managing to make ends meet.

In these past few years, the trades he conducted in various places made money for two reasons: first, his blacksmithing skill was excellent, and second, his status was high enough.

In fact, coming to Hengshan City was the same.

If he were not an inner disciple of Dragon Tiger and did not have the matter of "Ancestral Master's Approval," no matter how much of a business genius Liu Zheng was, it would have been impossible to establish a foothold so quickly and buy the thriving shops on either side at market price.

"That is true."

Liu Zheng actually knew this clearly in his heart, but when complaining, if one does not complain, how can one show that one has done something?

Liu Zheng's inner calculations were of little concern to Li Yuan; after exchanging a few words, Liu Zheng reported while Li Yuan gave instructions.

"You still want to expand the scale?"

Liu Zheng was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, the shop's premises need to be several times larger than the current basis; as for personnel recruitment, we must recruit blacksmiths and also apprentices; yes, spread the word that I will occasionally come to instruct apprentices, spread the word privately."

Li Yuan did not explain, only giving orders.

These past few days on Pure Yang Peak, he was not purely just hammering iron; he was also familiarizing himself with the operation of Pure Yang Peak, and he was very interested in assembly-line style forging.

For ordinary martial artists of the Jianghu, the more special the weapon, the better, but for him, the more similar they were, the higher the success rate of Bing De Cheng Gong.

"This, I understand."

Liu Zheng clasped his hands and agreed.

"As for weapon forging, besides common swords and blades, forge more hammer weapons, preferably of a uniform style."

Li Yuan reached into his robe, actually retrieving a blueprint from the Weapon Space; this was a sketch he had casually drawn before coming, depicting a long-handled hexagonal hammer.

"Ah, hammer weapons?"

Liu Zheng was stunned; hammer weapons were far less easy to sell than swords and blades, but the doubt swirling in his mouth turned into a question:

"How many to forge?"

"Hmm..."

Li Yuan calculated slightly in his mind; a single seventh-tier hammer weapon required three sixth-tier famous weapons, and by this logic, it would require two thousand one hundred and eighty-seven unranked hammer weapons.

Seven would mean...

"The more, the better."

Li Yuan's fingers couldn't count it out, but he knew this would require a massive amount of silver; even if he forged them himself, labor and iron materials were all money.

Not to mention, the Divine Fire Weapon Fusion Furnace required not only incense but also gold and silver to burn as fuel.

However, compared to incense, these were all minor problems.

High-tier incense was not easier to obtain than divine weapons...

"Ah?"

Liu Zheng was somewhat dazed.

"If silver is insufficient, come to me anytime to draw funds."

Li Yuan took out five thousand taels of silver notes and one thousand taels of gold notes and handed them to Liu Zheng, while calculating in his heart that it would be good if he could get hold of a few mines.

"Yes."

Liu Zheng accepted the notes, suppressed his doubts, and pondered how to get the matter done well.

Normally, if one asks for a quantity and the other answers "the more, the better," that quantity is certainly not a small number.

"Trouble you, Brother Liu."

Being a hands-off owner was naturally very comfortable; although he had spent money, Li Yuan's mood was actually very good, and he took out a booklet from his robe:

"This is a booklet I wrote these past few days; it is a bit of my insight; you can flip through it when you are free, and give a copy to Pei Yao and the others..."

"Thank you, Brother Li."

Liu Zheng's expression turned serious as he accepted it with both hands.

"Take this thousand taels of gold notes to Wang Peiyao. Do not stop the collection of spirit beast leather, bones, and blood. If there are finished boots, acquire them all."

Li Yuan spent money like water, yet showed not the slightest sign of heartache, which made Liu Zheng gasp in amazement.

He had heard that before leaving the valley, the Valley Master had gifted a sum of gold and silver; now thinking back, that was likely a very large figure.

"Mm, that is all."

Li Yuan had given all the instructions he could; Liu Zheng had been memorizing them at first, but later had to take out paper and brush to write them down.

"Hah!"

After seeing Li Yuan off, Liu Zheng let out a long breath, only to realize he had actually broken out in a cold sweat.

"Brother Li's aura grows heavier and heavier."

Liu Zheng felt both envy and a certain reverence; even though he had followed Li Yuan all these years, he still felt he could no longer see Li Yuan's back.

"This is also the best opportunity for my Liu family to rise rapidly!"

Liu Zheng made up his mind and opened the booklet Li Yuan had left behind; he had no confidence in his own martial arts talent and did not think this notebook could help him.

But after opening it, he could not help but shiver with a jolt.

"A correspondence table between the various forms of the Bai Yuan stance and the Liu Hu Xi Fa..."

"All nodes and sequences of the small and large qi and blood circulation..."

"The sequence and secrets of entering force into the interior..."

"This?"

Liu Zheng instinctively straightened his body and widened his eyes.

For any martial arts secret manual or past masters' insights, nothing is not mysterious and profound, leaving one confused as if in clouds and mist; only those with exceptional comprehension can grasp their meaning.

But the booklet Li Yuan left behind was different.

This was not merely simple and easy to understand; it was not just pure plain language, but even listed exactly which breathing method corresponded to which stance form, when the breathing method should change,

how the qi and blood should circulate, and every single step was enumerated.

"Even a fool could strengthen the interior by following this map like a horse seeking a jade, couldn't he?"

Liu Zheng had long stood up; holding this booklet, his heart filled with joy and shock, he quickly became immersed in it.

"If this still doesn't work, then I can do nothing more."

Looking back at the weapon forge, Li Yuan muttered to himself; he truly wanted to lend a hand to his old comrades.

He had put his heart into this booklet, completely analyzing and sorting out all the steps from practicing martial arts to transforming the form; this was not Wu Gong, but according to the terminology of his past life, it was a guide.

It was only applicable to those whose practiced Wu Gong was roughly the same as his.

"Mm, Senior Brother Yue and Senior Brother Wu should also find it useful, and Second Brother; I am also familiar with the Mang Niu Gong, hmm, let's add a copy of the Tiger Roar Art..."

After wandering around the long street, Li Yuan found a major escort agency, preparing to mail the other insight booklets and letters to his Second Brother, Yue Yue Yunjin, and others.

Hengshan City was too far from Dechang Prefecture; ordinary escort agencies would not accept such a long distance; only major escort agencies would take on such business.

Of course, they would take it on as a side job while escorting goods.

Li Yuan visited several agencies before finding one; after paying the escort silver, he finally returned to Longshan.

Next, Li Yuan returned to his previous dull and regular life.

Before dawn, he rose to stand the Long Chan Vajra Stance; after dawn, he went to Pure Gang Peak to forge iron; in the evening, he returned home to tease the little tiger cub and feed the little rat, then changed his root and bone and cultivated the visualization method.

After practicing martial arts for several years, Li Yuan's temperament had become increasingly steady; although he had many things he wanted to do, he could restrain himself and wait quietly.

He traveled daily between Pure Gang Peak and his own small courtyard, sometimes going to the Library Tower to browse and borrow books.

Occasionally, he went to seek Monk Douyue for instruction on the Long Chan Vajra Sutra, and also sought out Long Long Xinglie several times until the latter descended the mountain.

During this period, Wang Shan Xuan came to the door; this time, he entrusted the Jiang siblings, Yu Yu Xuanji and his sister, as intermediaries, and arrived with heavy gifts to apologize.

Daoist Li was not the type to hold grudges; he only demanded five years' worth of spirit rice and spirit pill quotas, plus two mines outside the city.

The latter felt the pain deeply but still gritted his teeth and agreed.

Time flowed like water, passing quietly.

With the arrival of a night of north wind, the Longhu mountain range was entirely dyed with white frost.

At dawn, Li Yuan pushed open the door and saw the world was a vast expanse of white; the accumulated snow was deep enough to cover the ankles. In the snow, the little tiger cub, whose size had not changed at all over the past half-year, paced about, leaving little plum-blossom footprints, having returned from some unknown stroll.

"Today's dose of pills."

Li Yuan flicked his finger, and a bottle of Zeng Xue Dan landed in the cat's paw.

"Mrr~"

While the little tiger cub lowered its head, Li Yuan quickly reached out to pet it; amidst the latter's fur bristling and screaming, he laughed loudly and vanished.

In these two-plus months, he had transformed his spirit form three times, all into the forms of spirit birds; his movement speed was even faster and more agile than before.

"The speed increase of this little tiger cub is actually no less than mine."

Walking slowly through the wind and snow, Li Yuan felt somewhat surprised; with such an intensity of arduous cultivation, if not for the support of the Commanding Talisman, seeing progress every day, he would have long since collapsed.

This little cat cub sleeps all day and eats, eats all day and sleeps, yet still makes progress so quickly...

"Even if this little fellow is not one of the legendary divine beasts, he is probably not far off, is he?"

Li Yuan pondered in his heart and stopped his steps.

Before him was not Pure Gang Peak, but 'Hundred Beasts Peak', belonging to the Three Halls of the Dragon Gate, under the Hundred Beasts Hall; it was also one of the nine halls of the Longhu Gate, the largest in terms of territory.

"Roar!"

Li Yuan gazed at the distant mountain ranges, and faintly, he seemed to hear the sound of a dragon's chant.

Within these mountains, over a hundred species of spiritual beasts are kept, including beast kings of the 'Ten Thousand Gold' tier; it is said that the descendants of the mounts of Chan Master Long Yin and Daoist Chun Yang dwell in these mountains.

The Bai Tan Spiritual Sheep King and the Spirit Fire Ling Ox King, whom he had coveted for so long, were also present.