No way, this can also make money?

Li Xiuchang stared at the uninvited guests in his small courtyard, initially unsure of their purpose.

Then, someone from the law enforcement team exclaimed, "Did you guys have a fire?"

Wang Long looked towards the Foundation Establishment cultivator leading the enforcement team and said, "Senior Brother Wu, our smoke is just a bit heavy. There's no fire, it's all a misunderstanding."

Senior Brother Wu, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, frowned. "What are you doing here?"

Li Xiuchang finally understood and looked up at the massive plume of smoke overhead.

He hadn't considered this aspect before.

A few days ago, when he was smoking spirit meat by himself, there wasn't much smoke because he only used one stove.

Today, thirty-one stoves were operating simultaneously, and they were all manned by cultivators in the late Qi Condensation stage. Their cultivation was higher than Li Xiuchang's, so they produced even more smoke.

The smoke from these thirty-one stoves converged, naturally creating an astonishing sight.

Although Li Xiuchang had opened a gap in the Courtyard Protection Array to let the smoke dissipate, the Immortal Dust Sect's sect-protecting grand array had no such opening. All the smoke was attracted by the array's spirit-gathering effect and accumulated overhead.

If this continued, the entire Immortal Dust Sect would soon be shrouded in smoke.

As the host, Li Xiuchang naturally couldn't remain silent. He stepped forward:

"Senior Brother Wu, we are just smoking spirit meat. We apologize for the commotion."

Senior Brother Wu sized up Li Xiuchang, seeing a new face. He asked curiously, "Are you a junior disciple who recently joined?"

"I am Li Xiuchang, and I joined less than a month ago."

Senior Brother Wu nodded, his tone apologetic. "You'll have to stop smoking the meat for now."

Before Li Xiuchang could speak, Wang Long jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on. "Senior Brother Wu, we haven't violated any sect rules!"

Senior Brother Wu was momentarily stumped. The sect rules only prohibited starting fires, not producing smoke. Forcing Li Xiuchang and the others to stop would indeed be without basis.

However, he quickly came up with an idea. "There are trace amounts of poison in your smoke, and the sect does not allow the use of poison. If you wish to continue, you either need to find another location or find a way to resolve this dense smoke so it doesn't leak into the sect."

He then swept his gaze over Wang Long and the other three Talisman Masters maintaining the stoves, speaking earnestly. "We are all Talisman Masters, and we should look out for each other. I understand your difficulties, but please don't make things difficult for me."

With Senior Brother Wu having said so much, Wang Long and the others had nothing more to say. They all looked at Li Xiuchang, awaiting his decision.

Li Xiuchang pondered for a few moments. He knew the sect wouldn't open a hole in the top of the sect-protecting grand array for him, and he had no other way to prevent the smoke.

His only option now was to move the smoking operation outside the sect.

However, doing so outside would likely attract a crowd of onlookers, potentially causing disturbances, but there was no other choice.

Directly dealing with the smoke would require magical artifacts and manpower, incurring significant expenses. It would be better to move the production line outside the sect.

Just then, several more figures flew down from the sky.

These were all unfamiliar faces to Li Xiuchang. Seeing that members of the Law Enforcement Hall were also present, they paused for a moment before one of them asked:

"Whose residence is this?"

"I am Li Xiuchang. May I ask what guidance Senior Brother has?"

The person was very polite and explained their purpose.

It turned out they were all first-tier Poison Masters who had noticed the special toxins in the smoke and wished to collect it for making poisons.

Li Xiuchang's eyes lit up. A stroke of luck!

It was like someone delivering a pillow just as he was falling asleep!

With someone offering to solve the problem of smoke leakage for free, Li Xiuchang was naturally eager to agree. But just as he was about to, another group flew over rapidly.

This time, it was a group of first-tier Gu Masters who wanted to feed the smoke to their special Gu worms.

Immediately after, another group of Artifact Refiners arrived, wanting to collect the smoke to integrate into their standard magical artifact, the "Smoke Soul Banner," for upgrading and refinement.

Then came a group of Formation Masters, who wanted to collect the smoke to set up a "Poison Smoke Maze Formation."

And then Puppet Masters, Beast Tamers...

In the blink of an eye, seventy to eighty senior and junior disciples from various small groups had gathered around Li Xiuchang's residence.

Li Xiuchang was stunned. He had never imagined that the smoke, which had been a headache for him moments ago, would become a coveted commodity, with everyone vying for it.

However, he quickly realized that since so many people wanted to collect the smoke, it meant the smoke had value!

And why would something valuable be given away for free?

He looked around at the representatives from each small group, his expression troubled. "Everyone wants my smoke. What should we do?"

The representative from the Poison Master group said, "Junior Brother Li, we were the first ones here. You must give this smoke to us!"

The representative from the Artifact Refiner group retorted, "We all arrived one after another. Don't use that excuse. It shows no sincerity at all. Junior Brother Li, we are willing to pay one Spirit Stone per day to buy the exclusive right to collect this smoke."

"One Spirit Stone a day? How can you even suggest that! We Gu Masters will pay two Spirit Stones a day!"

Good!

Very good!

Li Xiuchang was excited. Let them compete like this and drive up the price!

However, things didn't develop in the direction Li Xiuchang had hoped. After the Gu Masters offered a price of two Spirit Stones per day, no one responded for a long time.

After a moment, the Formation Masters offered a price of three Spirit Stones per day.

But that was already the highest bid.

This made Li Xiuchang realize that the smoke generated by his Charcoal Attribute Mana had limited value and wasn't anything precious. It could only be sold for a few Spirit Stones by relying on sheer volume.

Furthermore, the price of three Spirit Stones per day was only something the Formation Masters were willing to pay, and not even all of them were willing to pay two Spirit Stones a day.

Li Xiuchang's thoughts turned, and he pretended to be in a difficult position. "Esteemed senior brothers and sisters, please don't let this cause any discord. How about this: instead of three Spirit Stones or two Spirit Stones, each family contributes one Spirit Stone as a gesture, and we all gather this smoke together, how does that sound?"

"Junior Brother Li, you've certainly calculated well. But there's only so much smoke. If we all gather it together, each family won't get much."

These senior brothers and sisters weren't fools; they immediately pointed out the crucial issue.

Li Xiuchang, his intentions exposed, showed no embarrassment and chuckled, "There's no need to worry about that. We plan to expand our scale further, so there will be plenty of smoke! If you all agree, I'll start making arrangements now."

The representatives of the few small groups exchanged glances and nodded in unison, "If you can guarantee that we have enough smoke to collect, then it's acceptable."

Li Xiuchang was overjoyed. "Since that's the case, while the senior brothers from the Law Enforcement Hall are here to witness, let's draw up a written agreement..."

Senior Brother Wu from the Law Enforcement Hall had already been stunned. His mind was filled with question marks: What was he even here for?

It wasn't until Li Xiuchang mentioned him that he snapped back to reality, feeling a bit of existential doubt—This can be sold for money too?

There's profit to be made from this too?

The three fire tenders hired by Li Xiuchang were even more dumbfounded. They couldn't believe that the smoke produced by their hands as first-tier Talisman Masters could be so valuable!

The Spirit Stones Li Xiuchang received just from selling the rights to collect smoke were several times more than their wages.

When did Spirit Stones become so easy to earn? Why didn't they, as Talisman Masters, know about this!

Especially the Pockmarked Senior Brother, who felt a surge of bitterness, his stomach acid almost rushing to his forehead.