Who is playing with fire and beaconing the feudal lords?

"It's you!"

Li Xiuchang and someone behind Senior Brother Wang Long said in unison.

"You know each other?" Wang Long asked in surprise.

"We've met twice," Li Xiuchang said with a smile.

The person behind Wang Long was Senior Brother Pockmarked, a "rent-a-boat driver" by profession. He had tried to recruit Li Xiuchang twice to ride his flying boat, but the first time Senior Brother Zhang Wanzhi stopped him, and the second time Li Xiuchang's question, "Senior Brother, are you a Talisman Master?" broke his defense.

Seeing the lingering resentment in Senior Brother Pockmarked's eyes, Li Xiuchang magnanimously said, "If you don't want to do it, Senior Brother, it's not too late to back out now."

Senior Brother Pockmarked forced a smile. "What are you saying, Junior Brother? You think too little of me."

It wasn't easy for a first-tier Talisman Master to earn Spirit Stones. This job was something he had finally managed to secure, and he was reluctant to give it up.

Normally, when driving a flying boat, if he was lucky, he could earn more than one Spirit Stone a day, but it was also possible that he wouldn't get a single passenger all day.

Although the pay for the job Li Xiuchang offered wasn't high, it was stable.

"If there are no problems, hurry up and get to work!" Senior Brother Wang Long was already impatiently urging the three of them.

The group immediately got to work. Wang Long, along with the three Talisman Masters, cut the smoked meat and placed it above the stoves.

Li Xiuchang began to light the fires in the thirty stoves one by one.

Seeing the thick smoke billowing from the stoves, even though they had already heard Wang Long describe it, the three Talisman Masters still showed expressions of shock and envy.

Li Xiuchang didn't try to hide it. His Charcoal Attribute Mana couldn't be concealed anyway. As for the method of smoking the meat, it wasn't a secret. Even if others knew it, they wouldn't be able to imitate it.

The amount of smoke from one stove could simultaneously smoke an equivalent of fifty strips of Spirit Meat.

The unranked Spirit Meat that Li Xiuchang had purchased for thirty Spirit Stones was exactly enough to be smoked in all thirty stoves at once.

At this point, the costs and profits could be calculated.

The production cycle for smoked Spirit Meat was five days: one day for marinating and four days for smoking.

Hiring three Talisman Masters for four days would cost a total of twelve Spirit Stones.

The cost of raw materials was thirty Spirit Stones.

The total cost was forty-two Spirit Stones.

As for the rental fee for the stoves, it was negligible.

Thirty stoves, over five days, could produce 1500 strips of smoked meat. Calculated at 1.5 Spirit Stones for ten strips, this would yield 225 Spirit Stones.

After deducting the costs, Li Xiuchang would make a net profit of over 180 Spirit Stones!

Earning 180 Spirit Stones in five days was a speed that would make all the first-tier artisans in the Outer Sect cry with envy and make first-tier Talisman Masters die of jealousy.

The key was that if he reinvested these 180 Spirit Stones, hired more people, rented more stoves, purchased more raw materials, and increased production, he could earn even more!

Of course, whether to expand the production scale or not would depend on the sales of this first batch of smoked meat.

All thirty stoves were running, and the three hired Talisman Masters were fully occupied.

Li Xiuchang observed and realized that it wasn't easy for each of these three Senior Brothers, who were at the late stage of Qi Condensation, to maintain ten stoves simultaneously.

They were constantly busy, needing to replenish Mana to the ten stoves without pause, working like donkeys on a production team, constantly on the move.

Clearly, Senior Brother Wang Long was making the most of everyone's labor to save costs.

Li Xiuchang sighed. Senior Brother Wang, such a warm and kind person, had also learned the ways of capitalists, squeezing his fellow struggling brothers.

Since the smoking of the meat didn't require his direct involvement, Li Xiuchang took out the stove artifact he had bought earlier, placed the marinated piece of first-tier Demonic Beast meat on it, and prepared to try smoking it.

As soon as he lit the fire, Senior Brother Wang Long took over his task.

"Junior Brother, I'll watch it for you. You go do your own thing."

Li Xiuchang was happy to have it this way. Senior Brother Wang Long could supervise and guard the stove for him simultaneously, without neglecting either task, allowing him to free up his hands for other things.

He currently had two things on his hands: one was to practice the Dao of Alchemy, and the other was to try cultivating the "Fire Starting Skill" using the Spirit Tung Wood he had bought.

In the small courtyard at No. 18 Eastern Geng District, several people were working furiously, unaware of the huge stir they were causing outside.

"What is that?"

"Who lit the signal fire? Is someone attacking our Immortal Dust Sect?"

"You're overthinking it. Our Immortal Dust Sect has communication methods; we wouldn't need signal fires for that."

"Exactly. Besides, who would dare attack our Immortal Dust Sect? They must be tired of living!"

The disciples of the Immortal Dust Sect, coming and going, looked at the huge pillar of smoke rising in the east and discussed it noisily.

The pillar of smoke was spectacular, like a waterfall connecting heaven and earth, gathering in the sky and growing larger.

The protective formation of the Immortal Dust Sect usually did not block wind, frost, rain, snow, or fog. However, the formation also had a spirit-gathering effect. This smoke carried Spiritual Qi, so it was bound by the spirit-gathering effect and could not dissipate.

This anomaly also alerted the Law Enforcement Hall of the Immortal Dust Sect's Outer Sect.

Several patrol disciples from the law enforcement teams looked at the pillar of smoke and gritted their teeth.

"It must be someone who forgot to extinguish their fire after practicing Alchemy or Artifact Refining, causing a fire again!"

"Or perhaps an Immortal Brew Master accidentally ignited the Immortal Brew!"

"These Artifact Refiners, Alchemists, and brewers are such a handful! We Talisman Masters have always kept to ourselves, yet we've fallen so low!"

"The Heavenly Dao is unjust!"

At this, the Talisman Masters of the law enforcement team exchanged glances, a shared sense of melancholy settling among them.

Just then, a Foundation Establishment cultivator flew over, shouting, "What are you dawdling for! Hurry and follow me to put out the fire! If you delay and the fire spreads, Senior Brother Yan will surely punish you!"

Upon hearing the name "Senior Brother Yan," several of them shivered and quickly followed the Foundation Establishment cultivator's pace, flying towards the source of the smoke in the east.

"This smoke seems to be coming from the Eastern Geng District..." the Foundation Establishment cultivator mused, "Those four in the Eastern Geng District have never caused trouble before. This is the first time."

Li Xiuchang was cultivating in his quiet room.

He circulated the "Fire Starting Skill," and from a piece of verdant Spirit Wood before him, pale green energy continuously detached, being absorbed by Li Xiuchang's Spiritual Apertures and entering his Dantian.

Fortunately, even though he had advanced his "Fire Starting Skill" to the "Charcoal Burning Skill," external wood-attribute Spiritual Qi could still aid his cultivation.

It was just that the roles had been reversed.

In the normal "Fire Starting Skill," wood-attribute Spiritual Qi was the fuel, the firewood, an auxiliary item to boost fire-attribute Mana, with fire-attribute Mana being the main component.

But in Li Xiuchang's "Charcoal Burning Skill," the wood-attribute Spiritual Qi was the main component, with fire-attribute becoming the auxiliary.

After the wood-attribute Spiritual Qi was tempered by the fire-attribute Spiritual Qi, it generated charcoal-attribute Mana.

Li Xiuchang's physique leaned more towards the fire attribute. The amount of fire-attribute Spiritual Qi he converted during cultivation far exceeded the wood-attribute Spiritual Qi, which resulted in a slower cultivation speed.

After all, no matter how strong the fire, if there was little wood, it naturally wouldn't produce much charcoal.

Fortunately, wood-attribute Spiritual Qi could be replenished from external sources, compensating for Li Xiuchang's own deficiency in converting wood-attribute Spiritual Qi.

This could greatly enhance his cultivation speed.

Li Xiuchang was immersed in his cultivation when he suddenly heard noisy commotion outside.

"Someone's coming?"

Li Xiuchang quickly stopped cultivating, pushed open the door, and stepped into the courtyard. At a glance, he saw several people in Law Enforcement Hall uniforms descending from the sky towards his courtyard.