Senior Brother Wu no longer worried about the smoke problem at all.
If people had to use spirit stones to buy it, what was there to worry about leaking?
Even if it really did leak out, the huge community of Tier 1 Talisman Masters would surely scramble to collect it and sell it.
Tier 1 Talisman Masters were the Immortal Dust Sect's street sweepers.
The other members of the Law Enforcement Hall behind Senior Brother Wu, along with Wang Long and the others, all wore expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
Li Xiuchang's way of earning spirit stones had somewhat overturned the understanding of this group of Tier 1 Talisman Masters.
In their eyes, someone was practically rushing to give Li Xiuchang spirit stones while conveniently helping him deal with the smoke pollution.
Next, under Senior Brother Wu of the Law Enforcement Hall's witness, Li Xiuchang signed contracts with representatives of several small groups.
The terms in the contracts had all been discussed repeatedly by the parties involved.
They were more or less the same as what had been agreed upon verbally earlier, with only some details refined.
For example, each household could send at most five people to collect smoke each day. If they exceeded five, they would have to pay more!
In addition, the spirit stones were settled daily: one day of collecting smoke meant one day of payment. If they had something to do and did not come one day, naturally they would not have to pay.
Li Xiuchang also had to guarantee that the amount of smoke produced afterward would be at least double the current amount.
Finally, both sides had the right to unilaterally terminate the contract at any time.
After signing the contracts, Li Xiuchang immediately received five spirit stones from the five small groups.
Several other small groups planned to wait until Li Xiuchang upgraded the smoke output before joining the collection effort.
The small groups that had paid the spirit stones immediately organized people to collect the smoke in the sky.
The Gu Masters directly released the Gu they had raised, letting them gulp down the smoke.
The Poison Masters took out small jade bottles and absorbed the smoke like giant whales drinking up seawater.
The artifact craftsmen took out cloth sacks. When they opened the sacks, a fierce wind blew out, sweeping up the smoke before drawing it back into the sacks...
People from all walks of life used their own methods, and all of them were highly professional.
The dense mass of smoke that had accumulated overhead quickly thinned considerably.
Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Senior Brother Wu bid farewell and prepared to lead his men away.
But after flying for a while, he turned his head and saw that several of his subordinates were still standing where they were.
One of the Law Enforcement Hall disciples asked Li Xiuchang with an ingratiating smile, "Junior Brother, what cultivation technique are you practicing? Is it still too late for us to switch over?"
Wang Long saw through their thoughts. They were all Tier 1 Talisman Masters and had some friendship with one another, so he laughed and scolded them, "You lot, stop dreaming. This spiritual power was cultivated by Junior Brother Li through a fortuitous coincidence. Even if I gave you the technique, you still wouldn't be able to cultivate it."
Although they had long expected that result, the few of them still could not help looking disappointed.
Another one cautiously asked, "Do you still need people here?"
"We do! One spirit stone a day, settled on the same day," Li Xiuchang replied.
Originally, he had planned to wait until the first batch of Smoked Spirit Meat was finished after four days before expanding production. But now that even smoke could earn spirit stones, there was profit to be made even if the furnaces burned empty!
Naturally, Li Xiuchang had to move this plan forward.
"Then can we do it?" the few of them asked eagerly.
"Our little workshop offers no guarantees whatsoever. It could stop operating at any time."
"That's no problem. We don't have any guarantees in the Law Enforcement Hall either. When there's work, we come running; when there isn't, we go back and work there for a few days."
They were all only at the Qi Condensation Stage. In the Law Enforcement Hall, they were merely low-level underlings, not even holding formal positions. They could not earn more than a few spirit stones a month, and they were worlds apart from Senior Brother Wu, who was in the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Li Xiuchang fell silent and merely looked toward Senior Brother Wu. He could not exactly poach people right in front of him.
Those few people also gazed hopefully at Senior Brother Wu.
Senior Brother Wu shook his head helplessly, but still said, "Junior Brother Li, these few are all reliable workers. If you really need people, take all of them."
Only after hearing Senior Brother Wu say that did Li Xiuchang nod.
There were five new furnace workers in total, all in the Late Qi Condensation stage. That meant fifty more furnaces could be added!
Senior Brother Wu waved his hand and turned to leave.
A crowd had come when they arrived, but only he was left when they departed... He shook his head and sighed.
Still, Senior Brother Wu was happy that these old subordinates had found more profitable work, so he naturally would not stop them.
Besides, with so many Tier 1 Talisman Masters in the sect, was he really worried they would not be able to recruit people?
Now that they had recruited people, they naturally could not let them sit idle.
Li Xiuchang immediately found Senior Brother Wang Long to discuss having him rent another fifty furnace artifacts.
Senior Brother Wang Long said quietly, "Renting furnaces is no problem, but we don't have any spirit stones to buy ingredients right now. Won't burning empty furnaces be too wasteful?"
Li Xiuchang thought it over. Adding fifty empty furnaces would not exactly result in a loss. Increasing the smoke output would attract more people to join the smoke collection, which would completely cover the costs and perhaps even bring in a small profit.
But it was indeed a waste of time and resources. If all fifty furnaces could be used to smoke spirit meat, they would produce several hundred spirit stones again in a few days.
"It is a bit of a pity, but we don't have enough capital, so there's nothing we can do," Li Xiuchang said helplessly.
Once the first batch of Smoked Spirit Meat came out of the furnaces four days later, their financial straits would be resolved.
They could only survive these four days first.
Wang Long asked tentatively, "How about borrowing some spirit stones?"
Li Xiuchang was somewhat tempted when he heard that, but he was also troubled, not knowing whom to borrow from.
He had only joined the sect recently and did not know many people well. He had already incurred a debt of gratitude to Senior Brother Song Yu, so he naturally felt embarrassed to ask him. Surely he could not go to his own master for a loan?
Seeing Li Xiuchang's hesitation, Wang Long's gaze fell on the five newcomers who had just joined. "I'll give it a try."
With that, he walked over to the five men. They conferred among themselves for a while, and soon satisfied smiles appeared on all their faces.
"The five of them will each lend us ten spirit stones, fifty in total. That's just enough," Wang Long reported to Li Xiuchang with a smile.
"Where did they get ten spirit stones each?" Li Xiuchang's first reaction was actually to wonder about that, rather than wonder why they were willing to lend them spirit stones.
"Their wages from the Law Enforcement Hall haven't been settled yet. It isn't difficult for each of them to pool ten spirit stones. I promised that they would only lend them for four or five days, and that I'd give each of them one spirit stone as interest. How could they refuse?" Wang Long explained. "You supplied the capital, Junior Brother, so count the interest as mine."
Li Xiuchang shook his head. "Senior Brother, there's no need to be so distant. Although I supplied the capital, I'll also be taking the lion's share of the profits, and you've put in plenty of effort too."
Li Xiuchang understood that the five men had agreed to lend the spirit stones because of Wang Long's reputation. Otherwise, who would take a job only to put money into it before earning anything?
He could not let Senior Brother Wang Long contribute both effort and money.
Wang Long was about to say something, but after thinking that it was only a matter of a few spirit stones, he ultimately did not waste more words. He simply became even more energetic and headed out with the five newcomers.
He had to accompany them to the Law Enforcement Hall to collect their wages so they could use the spirit stones to buy supplies.
As for the five newcomers, they were also arranged to come to work the next day, conveniently leaving one day to marinate the spirit meat.
That very day, Wang Long bought the spirit meat and rented fifty furnace artifacts.
However, Li Xiuchang's small courtyard could not hold so many furnaces, so the second batch of fifty furnaces was simply placed outside the courtyard.
There were few people in the Eastern Geng District anyway, so they did not have to worry about inconveniencing anyone.
Everything proceeded in an orderly manner, and the newly rented fifty furnace artifacts successfully began smoking spirit meat on the second day.
In the blink of an eye, four days passed. The first batch of thirty furnaces' worth of spirit meat had finally finished smoking!
I'm posting Monday's first update a little earlier so the book can show its face on the new-book rankings.
Please follow the new book. This is the first round of trial recommendations this week, and the data is crucial.
Both of my previous books had started in hell. Please let this book let me hold my head high for once—please!
Before you continue