Chapter 176
“Senior Sister, this place may not have much, but there are certainly plenty of disciples from the Great Freedom Demon Sect.”
“…”
Zheng Fa paid no mind to Yuan Shijie’s silence.
He walked toward the grand hall where Uncle Pang was.
Yuan Shijie called from behind, “Junior Brother, where are you going?”
“I need to discuss something with Uncle Pang.”
“I’m coming too!”
…
Inside the grand hall, Uncle Pang listened to Zheng Fa’s idea, his mouth agape in shock.
“You mean… to use spirit talismans in the market to buy, no, to reward… the blood of the Great Freedom Demon Sect disciples?”
“Exactly.”
“Two liters of blood from a Foundation Establishment disciple of the Great Freedom Demon Sect can be exchanged for a hundred Xuan-grade talismans?”
“We won’t be at a loss. With Xuan-grade talismans, one talisman can produce a hundred copies,” Zheng Fa calculated. “Two liters means two hundred copies. After deducting the cost of talisman paper and spirit ink, we’ll still make a profit of at least ten or so spirit stones.”
After hearing this, Uncle Pang slowly closed his mouth.
He pondered for a moment and said, “But if there are too many talismans, won’t the price drop?”
“At worst, we won’t make a profit. But we control the reward, right? We can just stop it if it doesn’t work out,” Zheng Fa explained.
Uncle Pang was convinced. He stroked his chin and asked, “What about the Qi Refinement stage disciples? Shouldn’t we include them?”
“Uncle, the biggest threat in the Thunder Pool is still those at the Foundation Establishment stage… As for the Qi Refinement stage, do you think our Jiu Shan Sect disciples are that useless?”
Zheng Fa wanted to use the reward to minimize the casualties among the Jiu Shan Sect disciples. But he wasn’t a mother hen who could protect every single one of them.
“You’ve got a point there,” Uncle Pang nodded, his tone somewhat approving.
“Li Nuo… Li Nuo,” Uncle Pang shook his head, looking at Zheng Fa with an inexplicable admiration. “I heard it was you who insisted on giving him spirit stones for research, and even Zhang Shizhi couldn’t stop you.”
“Who would have thought he’d actually pull off something big!”
Uncle Pang sighed, “That Li Nuo and his son have been hanging around our Jiu Shan Sect for over a hundred years. We old folks really are blind!”
“Uncle, it’s not fair to say that…”
“Especially that Huang! Li Nuo’s father has some connections with her!”
“…”
Zheng Fa couldn’t help but twitch his lips, speaking honestly, “Uncle, it’s understandable that people didn’t value Li Nuo before. If it weren’t for the current situation, I wouldn’t have brought out this talisman technique.”
“... It’s a matter of money or life. Our Jiu Shan Sect disciples aren’t fools.”
The talisman technique wasn’t popular before because it threatened the livelihoods of most Jiu Shan Sect disciples.
But the current situation was different.
On one hand, Zheng Fa’s method was akin to hiring mercenaries to deal with the Great Freedom Demon Sect.
To put it plainly, it was to save their lives.
No one could argue against that.
On the other hand, the Great Freedom Demon Sect was already at their doorstep, and the conflict was escalating.
Most people were busy fighting for their lives against the demon sect.
They didn’t have time to draw talismans.
A rough analogy would be that playing with automation usually takes away workers' jobs.
But when a war breaks out, and the workers are on the front lines, automation becomes a way to compensate for the labor shortage.
“So, what do you want to ask me?” Uncle Pang inquired.
“I’m just worried about offending the Great Freedom Demon Sect too much,” Zheng Fa admitted, voicing his concerns.
This was quite unfriendly toward the Great Freedom Demon Sect.
“Do we really have a choice about offending them?” Uncle Pang sighed. “Do you think your master refuses to leave the Jiu Shan Sect for any reason?”
“…”
“Another question: once the reward is announced, will anyone really dare to fight the Great Freedom Demon Sect?”
Uncle Pang looked at him with a strange expression.
“A hundred Xuan-grade talismans and dozens of spirit stones—who wouldn’t be tempted?”
“…”
“Zheng Shizhi, you don’t understand those loose cultivators,” Uncle Pang sighed. “They’re so poor it’s heartbreaking.”
…
Zheng Fa called over Senior Brother Yang and the others, informing them of the reward details and asking them to promote it in the market later.
“... Zheng Shidi, this reward doesn’t seem fair…” To his surprise, Senior Brother Yang hesitated to leave, looking like he had some objections.
“Hmm?”
“This is for outsiders. Can our Jiu Shan Sect disciples… participate too?”
“…”
Zheng Fa stared at Senior Brother Yang.
He came up with this idea to prevent these people from dying for nothing.
And yet…
Senior Brother Yang looked at Zheng Fa, somewhat embarrassed but speaking loudly, “Slaying demons and eliminating evil has always been my dream…”
“…”
Seeing the others nodding in agreement, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but rub his forehead, saying, “Anyone who wants to go to the Thunder Pool has to pass his test.”
He pointed at Lin Bufan beside him.
Senior Brother Yang and the others looked at him, their eyes shining with excitement, ready to roll up their sleeves.
Lin Bufan: “…”
…
What Zheng Fa didn’t expect was that right after the reward was announced, someone who didn’t seem like they would be interested in spirit stones showed up.
“Zheng Daoge!”
When Uncle Pang mentioned that Yan Wushuang was coming to visit, Zheng Fa was a bit puzzled.
“Yan Daoge.” Zheng Fa greeted him warmly, grateful for the information he received from Chen Ting, which was thanks to this person.
“Is the reward in your market for real?”
Yan Wushuang immediately asked about the recently announced reward.
“It’s real, but Yan Daoge, you…”
Who is this person?
A true disciple of the Tianhe Sect.
Could he really be short on spirit stones?
“Zheng Xiong, you may not know, but as I travel around, making connections and trying to establish an organization, I need money everywhere,” Yan Wushuang sighed. “I’m in a tight spot!”
“…”
Zheng Fa recalled that when this person was enduring the heavenly tribulation, he was indeed wearing nothing but a feather cloak.
At that time, he thought it was the style of the Tianhe Sect.
Now it seemed—was it because he was poor?
Realizing this, Zheng Fa said to Yan Wushuang, “The reward is indeed real.”
“Alright then.” Yan Wushuang paused for a moment before suddenly asking, “If I… bring you a live one, how much will you give me?”
Zheng Fa was taken aback.
He looked at Yan Wushuang, whose face was square and righteous.
You’re the one who’s going to be a wicked slave trader?
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 173: Breeding
“Yan Daoge, this business… the Jiu Shan Sect won’t engage in it for now.”
Zheng Fa rejected Yan Wushuang’s sinister proposal.
The reason for the refusal was quite simple:
The main goal of Zheng Fa’s actions was not to mass-produce spirit talismans but to kill as many demon sect disciples as possible.
Capturing live ones for blood would yield more, but wouldn’t that just reduce the number of dead demon sect disciples?
That was contrary to his purpose.
Moreover, there were too many demon sect disciples; it was far from needing artificial breeding…
According to Lin Bufan, the Great Freedom Demon Sect alone had a population of over a hundred million, and if we consider the proportion of cultivators in the Xuanwei Realm, there should be at least several thousand to tens of thousands who could cultivate.
If we take into account the special bloodline of the Demon Ancestor, the numbers might be even higher.
If one day the demon sect really only had a few left, then Zheng Fa might consider establishing a protection zone for demon cultivators…
Ultimately, the market for spirit talismans was far from infinite. Even with the current reward, Uncle Pang was worried about the price of talismans dropping.
The talisman technique also didn’t solve the issues of talisman paper and spirit ink; even if there was an abundance of demon sect blood, it would still be useless.
Upon hearing Zheng Fa’s refusal, Yan Wushuang looked a bit disappointed. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’ll sell it cheap.”
“…”
This person really is in need of money!
“Yan Daoge, it really won’t work. If our Jiu Shan Sect ends up with that many demon sect disciples, we won’t have to do anything at all.”
Zheng Fa sighed.
Breeding also incurs costs.
Moreover, this would attract far more hatred from the demon sect than simply buying blood, and Uncle Pang probably wouldn’t dare to raise them.
Yan Wushuang nodded, as if he understood.
He then asked, “So the previous reward is confirmed to be valid?”
“Of course.”
Watching Yan Wushuang leave, Zheng Fa turned around and noticed Lin Bufan’s expression wasn’t quite right.
“What’s wrong?”
He asked.
“Master, I came here on my own, without asking for spirit stones,” Lin Bufan suddenly said. “How about you let Li Nuo draw a bit more blood from me?”
“…”
Wait, are we really going to go that far?
…
In the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace, Uncle Pang was unusually not playing games. Though he didn’t show it, his consciousness was focused on Zheng Fa’s room.
In recent days, Zheng Fa’s fluctuations in spiritual energy during cultivation had become increasingly intense, indicating a potential breakthrough.
He couldn’t help but pay closer attention.
Now that the reward had been announced in the market, it might really provoke the Great Freedom Demon Sect. Uncle Pang was also worried that someone might plot against Zheng Fa.
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