Gu Workshop's Head

For the next month and a half.

The Gu poisons, Snake Gu, and other Gu worms agreed upon by Chen Dengming and Xu Ning were successively transported to the Golden Character Workshop.

Xu Ning arranged for personnel to sell them in the market of the Gathering Place.

In addition, as agreed, Xu Ning demarcated several plots of land near Lingyue Lake to serve as Gu-making grounds, handed over to Chen Dengming specifically for refining Gu. These became Gu manufacturing sites, with cultivators stationed there daily to guard them.

Near Lingyue Lake, the former secluded residence of the cultivator Old Lin was also directly assigned to Chen Dengming by Xu Ning as a place to rest after refining Gu.

It had to be said, the affairs of this world were truly wondrous.

Back then, the cultivator Old Lin used Chen Dengming loitering in his place of quiet cultivation as an excuse to kill him over two Spirit Fish.

Not only was he killed by Chen Dengming in return, but his residence had now become Chen Dengming's territory. If he knew in the afterlife, he would probably shed tears and slap himself repeatedly.

However, while the Gu refining market was booming, the competition among the dozen or so forces within the Gathering Place grew increasingly fierce.

The source of the turmoil in the Gathering Place was the recent widespread and sensational news of the Luo Family breaking off their engagement with the Luo Family.

Although the Luo Family was not a cultivation family in the Southern Region, they were a prominent family in the Eastern Region, bordering the Southern Region, and had disciples in relatively famous cultivation sects.

The ancestor of the family was also a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator.

Previously, the Luo Family and the Luo Family had formed an alliance through marriage, and their influence had greatly increased. The Zhu Family, which had been competing for resources with the Luo Family near the Gathering Place, had become much more subdued.

But now, the news of the Luo Family and the Luo Family tearing up their marriage contract had spread like wildfire, and they had even offended the Luo Family because of it.

The Zhu Family naturally could no longer remain dormant and subdued. The forces they supported within the Gathering Place were the first to stir up trouble.

Moreover, the emergence of Gu worms had added more danger and malice to the recent chaos and killings.

Recently, the Gu poisons sold in the market had been robbed several times. The robbers were all masked, and their identities could not be ascertained. The Golden Character Workshop had therefore dispatched some people to patrol the market recently.

At this moment, Chen Dengming felt increasingly uneasy, sensing that the situation was about to change.

This change came even faster than he had imagined.

He had only just managed to establish a foothold in this Gathering Place.

The title of "Chief Chen" had not yet been called out enthusiastically by anyone. He had originally planned to earn more Spirit Stone resources for cultivation, but it seemed things were about to become turbulent.

"Chief Chen, the Stone Gu sold very quickly in the market this month. Do you think we need to procure more materials to make some more?"

At the entrance of the Gu-making grounds by Lingyue Lake, a sturdy man asked Chen Dengming with a smile.

This sturdy man was Wu Chen, the cultivator who had invited Chen Dengming to join the Golden Character Workshop in the old shed area.

Back then, he had even used Xu Wei as an intermediary to give away a Low-grade Spirit Stone, as if he was afraid of dirtying his own hands.

Now, he had been assigned as Chen Dengming's subordinate, responsible for guarding the Gu-making grounds, and his attitude had undergone a complete 180-degree change from before.

"It sold quickly because the Gathering Place is becoming more and more unstable. Have there been any more robberies of the selling points by masked cultivators in the past two days? And those few imitation workshops, have you found out which forces they belong to?"

Chen Dengming asked with a frown as he walked into the Gu-making grounds.

The refining process for Stone Gu was not particularly difficult.

The main points were site selection, controlling the refining time, and daily maintenance.

If a cultivator dedicated themselves to studying it, they could gradually figure out the refining method for this common Gu.

Now that things were unstable, the Zhu Family was poised to reclaim the resources they had previously ceded to the Luo Family in the Gathering Place. This had made the Rogue Cultivators in the Gathering Place nervous and apprehensive, leading them to buy Talismans and Magic Items for self-preservation.

In comparison, the prices of various Gu poisons and Snake Gu were cheaper than Talismans.

At critical moments, their effectiveness was even better than Talismans, leading to them selling exceptionally well in the Gathering Place market.

Innate Martial Artists and low-level cultivators were the main buyers, causing Chen Dengming and Xu Ning to earn a fortune over the past month.

Seeing how popular the Gu market was, other forces were naturally extremely envious.

Not to mention the masked robbers, there were even small workshops that had imitated and produced "pirated" Bamboo Slice Gu. Their toxicity was much weaker, but they were cheaper, and they were circulating in small batches in the market, selling well.

At this point, Wu Chen reported, "The workshop master has increased the number of guards at the selling points in the past two days, and no one dares to rob them anymore. The workshop master suspects that those who robbed the Gu items might be from the Iron Forest Hall. As for the small workshops, it's still difficult to find out which forces they belong to. It could be anyone. Therefore, Workshop Master Xu has decided to cooperate with the Merchant Alliance to sell the next batch of Gu goods to the Jingxiu Workshop, opening up the market there. That market is more stable and safer. Together with the Merchant Alliance, we will jointly block counterfeit goods in both markets and achieve a complete monopoly. However..."

Chen Dengming's eyebrows twitched, "However, what?"

"However, the workshop master still suggests that you personally accompany this batch of goods. He's worried the Merchant Alliance might play some tricks, as you are the expert when it comes to Gu."

"Hmm, I will discuss this matter with the workshop master again."

Chen Dengming paused, then turned to Wu Chen, "Is there anything else?"

Wu Chen was startled, then immediately bowed and smiled, "No, sir. Your subordinate will not disturb you any longer."

"En!"

After Wu Chen left, Chen Dengming's brows furrowed. He looked at the stone piles and foul spiritual soil scattered everywhere in the stone forest not far away, then looked at the two cultivators guarding the entrance, pondering to himself.

"Just one month's profit, and it's only the first batch of goods. Is Xu Ning already impatient? Or am I overthinking things?"

In the past month, relying on the Gu market, Chen Dengming had received over thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones as his share from the Golden Character Workshop.

Over thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones was a lot for Chen Dengming, but it shouldn't be a significant source of income for Xu Ning.

However, it must be noted that this income was after deducting Xu Ning's so-called venue fees, daily operating expenses, and 'greasing the wheels' fees, with the remainder split fifty-fifty between them.

The venue fees and daily operating expenses had at least reasonable itemized details.

But the so-called 'greasing the wheels' fees involved an important figure behind Xu Ning, and there were no accounting records for it, or if there were, Chen Dengming wouldn't be shown them.

Therefore, Xu Ning could easily skim an extra sixty to seventy Low-grade Spirit Stones by slightly manipulating the 'greasing the wheels' fees without Chen Dengming's knowledge. That was the real bulk of the profit.

For Xu Ning, earning over a hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones a month was already a very lucrative business.

Chen Dengming chose to turn a blind eye to this.

He always adhered to the principle of only taking what he could handle.

Even if he were to receive three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones a month, with his current strength, he wouldn't be able to protect it. Thirty was enough for his needs.

Moreover, "the clearest water contains no fish."

But the current problem was that Xu Ning was dissatisfied with the unstable and small market in the Gathering Place. He wanted to ally with the Merchant Alliance and jointly expand into the territory of the Brocade Workshop, insisting that Chen Dengming personally accompany the Merchant Alliance's caravan to the Brocade Workshop.

This was, in itself, an acceptable request.

After all, Chen Dengming was currently the main person in charge of the Gu market and the head of the Golden Character Workshop's Gu division.

With him personally overseeing the expansion into new markets, there would naturally be no risk.

However, now, over a dozen forces in the Gathering Place had their eyes on his Gu refining techniques, which could be considered alchemy.

The world was also in turmoil, and the Iron Forest Hall and Flower Rain Gate, supported by the Zhu Family, were very interested in the profits from Gu.

Xu Ning, being such a shrewd person, couldn't possibly be unaware of this.

Was it too rash to insist on sending him with the caravan to the Brocade Workshop at this time?

True, he had also privately spread the word that the Luo Family's eldest daughter forbade anyone else in the Gathering Place from knowing Gu refining techniques.

But such threats were only effective for scaring people on the surface.

When the profits reached this level, there would be plenty of lower-level Cultivators willing to take the risk.

Especially the forces supported by the Zhu Family, they wouldn't take such a threat seriously at all.

"I need to speed up my cultivation. The cultivation environment in the Gathering Place is also unstable. I might have to abandon the hard-won industry I've established here and go into hiding for a while.

I have enough Spirit Stones for now. I can't rush making money; safety comes first..."

Chen Dengming walked slowly along the pebble path with his hands behind his back, sighing that plans couldn't keep up with changes.

He always prioritized safety over making money.

Unless he was completely out of money and it hindered his cultivation, he would never take risks.

Now, his Spirit Stones were sufficient, but just as he had finally stabilized, the cultivation environment had suddenly turned for the worse.

All sorts of benefits and trivial matters also bothered him.

The Zhu Family and Luo Family could go to war at any moment.

The idea of avoiding the conflict and finding a quiet, peaceful place to cultivate in hiding grew stronger.

After a stroll through the Gu-making grounds, Chen Dengming instructed the few Qi Cultivation first-level Cultivators on guard to watch the defensive formations.

He then proceeded to his secluded residence by the lake.

He formed a hand seal and channeled his Spiritual Energy.

Instantly, within the treehouse-like residence, Spirit Stones on the ground lit up with brilliant light, generating dense Spiritual Energy.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh--

Formation Flags began to flutter in the wind.

The Spirit Seizing Array Disk in the center emitted a spiritual glow, activated.

Chen Dengming stood within the Spirit Seizing Formation and began cultivating the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique.

He observed that various perceptible spiritual energies of green, black, red, and yellow floated harmlessly in the air.

Only a large amount of white spiritual energy, filled with sharpness, rapidly swarmed towards Chen Dengming's head, instantly annihilating the small amount of green energy, and then poured in from the crown of his head.

With the Spirit Seizing Formation activated, Chen Dengming used the formation to directly seize a large amount of metal-attribute spiritual energy for his cultivation. Once the surrounding metal-attribute spiritual energy was mostly depleted, he would then seize wood-attribute spiritual energy.

This way, the interference and suppression between the two types of spiritual energy were significantly reduced, and his cultivation efficiency increased by at least fifty percent compared to before, proving quite effective even in the wilderness.

However, the only drawback was that he had to move frequently, changing cultivation locations often.

Chen Dengming generally only activated the Spirit Seizing Formation in his secluded residence every three days.

Three days was usually enough for the depleted spiritual energy to gradually recover.

He had recently commissioned Jiang Qiang to make two sets of these Spirit Seizing Formations.

One set was arranged within the courtyard of the Gathering Place, and another was in this place of quiet cultivation.

A month ago, as soon as he returned to the Gathering Place, he had successfully broken through to the third level of Qi Cultivation, extending his lifespan by another fifteen years.

A month passed, and with the Spirit Seizing Formation and Pure Spirit Pills, his cultivation speed was not slow.

For every four times he cultivated the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique, he would accumulate one point of Cultivation Method proficiency.

However, compared to when he was with the Luo Family, he was still about thirty percent slower.

As Chen Dengming concentrated, a panel appeared in his mind.

"Qi Cultivation Level 3 Cultivator [Chen Dengming]

Lifespan: 163/222

Spiritual Root: Metal, Wood (Medium Grade 50/100)

Martial Arts: Chen Family Martial Arts General Outline (Mastered 99/100)

Daoist Magic: Gu Refining Chapter (Master 25/100), Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique (Level 3 118/300), Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique (Level 1 37/100), Great Fireball Technique (Proficient 11/100), Artifact Control Art (Proficient 11/100), Wood Escape Technique (Proficient 3/100), Golden Spear Technique (Proficient 9/100), Divine Speed Technique (Beginner 10/100)"

I will be merging the Daoist Magic spells on the panel soon to avoid taking up too much space in the future and to prevent padding the word count once the book is officially published. I will handle it smoothly so as not to affect the reading experience.

Also, I am fully aware that a long-form novel should focus on the story, so readers who are worried about me getting sidetracked with jokes need not fret. I will focus on the story itself and create exciting, standalone plots. After all, in online literature, appropriate jokes can add to the discussion and fun without being too dull. Of course, there won't be too many; too many will become tiresome. In short, please continue to follow along. The next week is quite important, and the current performance is still quite good.