Looking at the uninvited guests in his little courtyard, Li Xiuchang still had not figured out why they had come.
Then someone in the law enforcement team exclaimed, "You didn't have a fire?"
Wang Long looked toward the Foundation Establishment cultivator leading the law enforcement team and said, "Senior Brother Wu, it's just that there's a little too much smoke here. There wasn't a fire. It's all a misunderstanding."
Senior Brother Wu, whose Cultivation Level was at Foundation Establishment, frowned. "What are you doing?"
Li Xiuchang understood at this moment as well. He raised his head and looked at the enormous pillar of smoke overhead.
He had not considered this aspect before.
A few days ago, when he had Smoked Spirit Meat by himself, there had only been one stove, so the smoke had not been too heavy.
Today, thirty-one stoves were operating at the same time, and he had hired only cultivators in the Late Qi Condensation stage to keep the stoves running. Their Cultivation Levels surpassed Li Xiuchang's, so the smoke they produced was even heavier.
The smoke from all thirty-one stoves gathered together, naturally creating a shocking sight.
Although Li Xiuchang had opened a gap above the Courtyard Protection Array to let the smoke disperse, the Immortal Dust Sect's Sect Protecting Great Array had no opening. All the smoke was drawn in by the array's spirit-gathering effect and accumulated overhead.
At this rate, the entire Immortal Dust Sect would soon be shrouded in smoke.
Li Xiuchang was the master of this place, so he naturally could not remain silent. He stepped forward and said:
"Senior Brother Wu, we're only Smoked Spirit Meat. We caused a little too much commotion. I'm truly sorry."
Senior Brother Wu sized Li Xiuchang up. Seeing that he had an unfamiliar face, he asked curiously, "Are you a junior brother who entered the sect recently?"
"My name is Li Xiuchang. I've been in the sect for less than a month."
Senior Brother Wu nodded, his tone troubled. "I'm afraid you'll have to stop smoking the meat for a while."
Before Li Xiuchang could say anything, Wang Long sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Senior Brother Wu, we haven't violated the sect rules!"
Senior Brother Wu was momentarily at a loss for words. The sect rules only said that setting fires was forbidden; they did not say anything about producing smoke. If he forcibly made Li Xiuchang and the others stop, there truly would be no rule to rely on.
However, he immediately came up with an idea. "There are trace amounts of poison in your smoke. The sect does not permit releasing poison within its grounds.
"If you want to continue, either find another place or figure out how to deal with the thick smoke. Don't let it leak into the sect."
As he spoke, Senior Brother Wu's gaze swept over Wang Long and the other three Talisman Masters maintaining the stoves. He said sincerely, "We're all Talisman Masters, so we ought to look out for one another. I know things aren't easy for you, but don't make things difficult for me either."
With Senior Brother Wu having put it that way, Wang Long and the others could not say much. They all turned to Li Xiuchang and waited for him to decide.
Li Xiuchang thought for a few breaths. He knew that the sect could not possibly open a hole in the Sect Protecting Great Array for his sake, and he had no other way to stop the smoke.
At present, the only plan was to move outside the sect to Smoke Spirit Meat.
However, doing so outside would certainly attract quite a few onlookers, and they might very well be disturbed. But there was no other way.
Directly dealing with the smoke would definitely require magical artifacts and manpower, which would be another considerable expense. It would be better to move the production line outside the sect.
But just then, several figures flew over from the sky.
All of them were unfamiliar faces Li Xiuchang had never seen before. When they saw the people from the Law Enforcement Hall there as well, they paused in surprise before sending one person over to ask:
"Whose residence is this?"
"My name is Li Xiuchang. May I ask what Senior Brother needs?"
That person was very polite and explained why they had come.
It turned out that they were all Tier 1 Poison Masters. After discovering that the smoke contained a special toxin, they wanted to collect it to make poison.
Li Xiuchang's eyes lit up when he heard this. There was such a good thing?
When he was sleepy, someone had actually delivered a pillow!
Someone was willing to help him deal with the leaking smoke for free, so Li Xiuchang naturally could not have been happier. He was just about to agree when another group came flying over at top speed.
This time, it was a group of Tier 1 Gu Masters, who wanted to collect the smoke to feed special Gu worms.
Immediately afterward, another group of artifact refiners flew over. They wanted to collect the smoke and incorporate it into their standard magical artifact, the Smoke Soul Banner, to upgrade and improve the artifact.
After that, another group of Formation Masters arrived, wanting to collect the smoke to set up a Poison Smoke Maze Formation.
There were also Puppet Masters, Beast Tamers...
In the blink of an eye, seventy or eighty senior and junior fellow disciples from various small groups had gathered around Li Xiuchang's residence.
Li Xiuchang was dumbfounded. He had never imagined that the smoke that had been giving him a headache moments ago would suddenly become a hot commodity, with everyone scrambling to get it.
However, he immediately came to his senses. Since so many people wanted to collect the smoke, that meant it had value!
How could something valuable be given away for free?
He looked around at the representatives sent by the various small groups and said, caught between a rock and a hard place, "All of you want my smoke. What should I do?"
The representative of the Poison Master group said, "Junior Brother Li, we were the first to arrive. You must give this smoke to us!"
The artifact refiner group's representative refused to yield. "We only arrived moments apart. Don't use that as an argument; it shows no sincerity at all. Junior Brother Li, we're willing to pay one spirit stone a day to buy the exclusive collection rights for this smoke."
"One spirit stone a day? How can you even bring yourself to offer that! We Gu Masters will pay two spirit stones a day!"
Good!
Very good!
Li Xiuchang's heart surged with excitement. That's it—let the competition heat up and drive the price higher!
But things did not develop in the direction Li Xiuchang had hoped. After the Gu Masters offered two spirit stones a day, no one responded for quite some time.
After a moment, the Formation Masters finally offered three spirit stones a day.
But that was already the highest bid.
This made Li Xiuchang realize that the smoke produced by his Charcoal Attribute Mana had limited value. It was not some precious treasure.
It could only be sold for a few spirit stones because there was a large quantity of it.
Moreover, only the Formation Masters were willing to pay three spirit stones a day. Not even every group was willing to pay two spirit stones a day.
Li Xiuchang's thoughts turned, and he deliberately said troubledly, "Senior brothers and sisters, don't hurt your harmony over this. How about this? Let's not talk about three spirit stones or two spirit stones. Each group can contribute one spirit stone, and everyone can collect this smoke together. How does that sound?"
"Junior Brother Li, you've certainly made a good calculation. But there's only so much smoke. If we collect it together, none of us will get very much."
These senior brothers and sisters were not fools. They immediately pointed out the crux of the matter.
With his thoughts exposed, Li Xiuchang showed no embarrassment whatsoever. He smiled and said, "There's no need to worry about that. We'll continue expanding our operation, so there'll be more than enough smoke! If you all agree, I'll start making arrangements right now."
The representatives of the small groups exchanged glances before nodding in unison. "If you can guarantee that we'll have enough smoke to collect, then that works."
Li Xiuchang was overjoyed. "Since that's the case, with the senior brothers from the Law Enforcement Hall here to witness this, let's draw up a written agreement..."
Senior Brother Wu from the Law Enforcement Hall had been standing there dumbfounded for a long time. His mind was full of question marks. What was I here for again?
Only when Li Xiuchang mentioned him did he return to his senses. He began to doubt his own life. This can be sold for money too?
There's actually profit in this?
The three fire tenders hired by Li Xiuchang were even more wide-eyed and slack-jawed. They could not believe that the smoke produced through the hands of three Tier 1 Talisman Masters could actually be worth so much!
The spirit stones Li Xiuchang received from selling the smoke collection rights alone were already several times greater than the wages he paid the three of them.
When had spirit stones become so easy to earn? Why had they, as Talisman Masters, never known about it?
Especially the Pockmarked Senior Brother. A wave of sourness surged up inside him, and his stomach acid felt as if it were about to rush straight into his brain.
Before you continue