Inner Competition Had Its Benefits Too

"Is this... smoked meat?" Wang Long asked hesitantly.

It wasn't that he couldn't recognize this smoked Spirit Meat. Rather, he sensed the Spiritual Power within it, and it was clearly an unranked piece of smoked meat.

That made it somewhat difficult for him to believe.

Anyone with even a little understanding of the spirit-chef path knew that Smoked Spirit Meat required specific spirit wood as fuel, and even the cheapest spirit wood that met the requirements cost several hundred times more than this unranked Spirit Meat.

No one would use precious spirit wood to smoke meat of this quality!

As a result, low-tier Smoked Spirit Meat was practically impossible to find.

Li Xiuchang smiled. "Senior Brother Wang, give it a try."

Wang Long had no idea what medicine Li Xiuchang was selling in his gourd, but he still tore off a strip of meat and stuffed it into his mouth. After chewing several times, he was reluctant to swallow it.

"Delicious!" he praised.

After swallowing, he closed his eyes for several breaths. Then he opened them and said, "That piece I just ate had the effect of one Grain-Aversion Pill... It also seemed to replenish a little Mana."

"What price does Senior Brother Wang think the piece of meat you just ate could fetch in the market?"

Wang Long immediately grew wary, thinking, Is he trying to collect Spirit Stones from me?

As an experienced Tier 1 Talisman Master, he was truly poor enough to fear poverty, and he was especially sensitive when it came to money and possessions.

But when he remembered that Li Xiuchang wasn't that kind of person, he relaxed a little and said, "Although this smoked meat has excellent flavor and aroma, it's still only unranked Spirit Meat, so its effects are too weak. It would probably sell for about twice the price of a Grain-Aversion Pill."

"It can sell for twice the price?!"

Li Xiuchang was delighted. Senior Brother Wang had been in the sect for quite some years, so his grasp of prices was definitely more accurate than his own. His estimate should be close.

Wang Long nodded. "Twice the price shouldn't be a problem. Anyone who can afford spirit dishes isn't short of Spirit Stones in the first place, and they're willing to spend a few more for better flavor.

"Cultivators who are truly strapped for cash have to ration even their Grain-Aversion Pills."

By the end, he couldn't help thinking of himself, and his heart ached with sympathy.

But Li Xiuchang's next words made his entire body jolt.

"Senior Brother Wang, if I can supply this Smoked Spirit Meat continuously, I'll supply it to you at three low-grade Spirit Stones for twenty strips of meat. Would you be willing?"

The effect of one strip of meat was equivalent to one Grain-Aversion Pill. Twenty strips were thus equivalent to two bottles of Grain-Aversion Pills, making the price one and a half times that of the pills.

That still left Wang Long a considerable profit margin.

"You mean you can provide this smoked meat steadily over the long term?" Wang Long asked incredulously.

Li Xiuchang didn't keep him guessing. Cultivating Charcoal Attribute Mana wasn't any secret, so he told Wang Long how he had coincidentally produced Spirit Meat through smoking.

After listening, Wang Long fell into a daze. He couldn't help sighing inwardly that some people truly had their Ancestor Master chasing after them to feed them.

He had entered the sect twenty years ago, taken one wrong step, and fallen into the deep pit of talisman-making. To this day, he still hadn't climbed out.

Li Xiuchang had only arrived a little over ten days ago, yet he had already found a way to earn Spirit Stones steadily.

Comparisons were the death of joy...

Although envy had turned his Dao Heart purple, he still shook his head and said, "Junior Brother Li, you'll get a higher price if you take this smoked meat to the market yourself. One should not accept benefits without contributing, so I can't take advantage of you for nothing."

Li Xiuchang smiled and shook his head. "Senior Brother, you misunderstand. I'm not giving you Spirit Stones for nothing. I genuinely need someone to help me sell them.

"I don't want to waste my time setting up a stall to sell meat and delay my cultivation. If I sell directly to a shop, they'll also force the price down. Since that's the case, I might as well give you that profit to earn."

Li Xiuchang was blunt, but Wang Long understood that Li Xiuchang could have chosen anyone to cooperate with and had singled him out because he trusted him.

"Thank you, Junior Brother!" Wang Long said sincerely.

"There's no need to thank me, Senior Brother. I've also benefited from your care during this period."

Although he agreed, Wang Long still felt that if he couldn't do something for Li Xiuchang, earning these Spirit Stones would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

He pondered for several breaths before asking, "How much smoked meat are you producing now? If you had more people helping, could you increase the output?"

Li Xiuchang had already been planning to increase production, but Wang Long's question opened up a new line of thought for him.

He had originally intended to buy two more Artifact Fire Furnaces. Once several furnaces operated together to smoke meat, production would naturally multiply.

However, there were difficulties involved.

Li Xiuchang had to use Charcoal Attribute Mana to start the fire in each furnace before it could produce smoke. After that, he had to inject a strand of Mana into the furnace at regular intervals to keep the flames from going out.

Even if Li Xiuchang did nothing else and focused entirely on smoking meat, he could probably maintain at most three furnaces operating simultaneously.

After all, his Cultivation Level was shallow. Any more than that, and he wouldn't have enough Mana to supply them.

Having three furnaces running at full capacity sounded good, but Smoked Spirit Meat took several days to finish. Li Xiuchang also had to consider the cost in time.

With all three furnaces running, Li Xiuchang would have little time to practice other skills.

It would be more loss than gain.

But if he could hire people to handle these tasks for him, wouldn't that be wonderful?

He could earn Spirit Stones while freeing his hands to do other things.

The furnace only required Li Xiuchang's Charcoal Attribute Mana when it was first started and lit. After that, any attribute of Mana could be used to maintain the flames.

After all, as a tool Artifact specifically designed to maintain a fire source, the Artifact Fire Furnace could operate as long as Mana was injected into it.

Li Xiuchang only needed to start the fire properly. Everything else could be left to others.

Moreover, this had another advantage: as long as he hired enough people, he could operate multiple furnaces simultaneously and break through the production limit.

Forget three furnaces—even three hundred would be nothing to worry about!

Imagining his smoked meat forming an industrial chain, with Spirit Stones rolling in like a tide, Li Xiuchang's mind was filled with only four words—grow bigger and stronger!

Although the idea was beautiful, there were still two problems to solve.

First, where could he find cheap and reliable labor?

Second, Li Xiuchang had limited funds and couldn't purchase Artifact Fire Furnaces in bulk.

Li Xiuchang voiced his two problems, then discussed them with Wang Long.

Unexpectedly, Wang Long immediately offered a solution.

"These two problems are easy to solve."

"There are plenty of Tier 1 Talisman Masters in the outer sect. They spend every day waiting for the sect to distribute Spirit Stones next month. Give them one low-grade Spirit Stone a day, and I guarantee they'll fight over the work! They're all fellow disciples, and we know each other's backgrounds, so they're absolutely reliable."

"As for the furnaces, that's easy too. There's no need to buy them. We have so many First-tier Artifact Refiners in the outer sect, and who knows how many Artifact Fire Furnaces they've accumulated while practicing. We can simply rent them. I'll negotiate the price. With a large enough quantity, there'll definitely be a discount. One Spirit Stone for a low-grade Artifact Fire Furnace, and we could probably rent one for a year!"

Li Xiuchang had never expected the problems he considered difficult to be no problem at all in Senior Brother Wang's eyes.

Li Xiuchang suddenly realized that sect-wide inner competition had its benefits too.