Making Money

If I wanted to speed up my cultivation, I could only improve my innate aptitude.

Chen Xuan thought to himself.

With the blessing of Morning and Evening Destiny, he could use one day as a year, directly accelerating the cultivation of a martial art and gaining a year's worth of skill.

Even on that foundation, he still needed to cultivate faster.

There was only one path.

That was to improve his own innate aptitude.

"Branch Master!" Just then, a voice came from outside. A hook-nosed gang member entered the small courtyard where Chen Xuan was staying. "News has come from the prefectural city. Treasure Pavilion will hold an auction in ten days."

This hook-nosed gang member was named Liu An. He was an old hand of the Red Sun Gang, clever at handling affairs and quite familiar with the situation in Tiannan Prefecture.

"Treasure Pavilion auction?"

Chen Xuan raised a brow and turned around.

"Yes," Liu An said in a deep voice. "Treasure Pavilion is the largest trading house in Tiannan Prefecture. Experts above the seventh level of the Zhuqi Realm stand behind it, and its reputation is excellent. Every half year, they hold an auction in the prefectural city. It is said that this time, treasures such as Zhuqi Realm cultivation methods and Marrow Cleansing Pills will appear."

"Marrow Cleansing Pills..."

A sharp gleam flashed through Chen Xuan's eyes.

Marrow Cleansing Pills were medicinal pills capable of improving one's innate aptitude.

If someone with inferior aptitude took one, their aptitude could rise to average. Taking another five could raise it further to above average.

His current aptitude was inferior, and his qi channels were naturally weak. Even cultivating bitterly for a year, he could only open a single qi channel.

There were thirty-six qi channels in total. At his current pace, it would take thirty-five days to open them all. But if his aptitude rose to average, the speed at which he opened qi channels would surely increase greatly.

Chen Xuan only had one Great Merit at present, not enough to exchange for a Marrow Cleansing Pill from the Guiyuan Sect. However, the Guiyuan Sect was not the only way to obtain one.

Those top-tier powers capable of dominating several prefectures could all refine Marrow Cleansing Pills.

It was just that pills like Marrow Cleansing Pills, which could improve aptitude, rarely circulated outside. Even if most factions could refine them, they reserved them for their own disciples and would not sell them externally.

Yet some chambers of commerce and trading houses would put out resources unavailable elsewhere for auction, either to build their reputation or to consolidate their position and retain customers.

For example, Marrow Cleansing Pills, Zhuqi Realm cultivation methods, and the like.

As the largest trading house in Tiannan Prefecture, it was hardly strange for Treasure Pavilion to put Marrow Cleansing Pills up for auction.

"What is the starting price for a Marrow Cleansing Pill?" Chen Xuan asked.

"Reporting to Branch Master, Marrow Cleansing Pills are extremely valuable. At Treasure Pavilion, the usual starting price is ten thousand taels of silver per pill. But people fight over them at every auction, and the final price often falls between twenty and thirty thousand taels of silver."

Liu An answered.

"A starting price of ten thousand taels!"

Chen Xuan fell silent.

When he had first arrived in Tiannan Prefecture, he encountered bandits and found several hundred taels in banknotes on them. From the merchant caravan members killed by those bandits, he had found several thousand taels more in banknotes.

After recapturing Qingshi Town, Sun Tianxing had also rewarded him with three hundred taels of silver.

Chen Xuan's entire fortune now totaled five thousand seven hundred taels. He had thought it would be enough for ordinary expenses in the secular world.

But if he wanted to compete for Marrow Cleansing Pills, he did not even have the right to open his mouth.

To successfully bid for one, he needed to gather at least thirty thousand taels of silver.

Now it seemed that being able to obtain one Marrow Cleansing Pill from the Guiyuan Sect for just two Great Merits truly counted as a benefit for sect disciples.

Out in the world, they cost tens of thousands of taels at the drop of a hat.

Liu An stood to one side. Seeing Chen Xuan remain silent, he did not dare speak further and merely waited quietly for instructions.

He understood what Marrow Cleansing Pills meant to martial artists.

Especially for martial artists with inferior innate aptitude, a single pill could improve their aptitude.

"I'm short on money!"

Chen Xuan considered how to make money.

Five thousand seven hundred taels was a vast sum in the eyes of ordinary people, but it did not even reach the threshold for competing over Marrow Cleansing Pills.

And he needed more than one.

One could only raise his aptitude from inferior to average. To raise it from average to above average, he needed another five.

In total, he needed six Marrow Cleansing Pills.

At thirty thousand taels per pill, that would be one hundred and eighty thousand taels of silver.

Never mind that Chen Xuan was only a branch master of the Red Sun Gang. Even the gang leader would not earn one hundred and eighty thousand taels in a year.

That was because most of the Red Sun Gang's profits had to be handed over to the Guiyuan Sect.

"Since making money through normal means is too slow, I can only use extraordinary methods."

A chill flashed through Chen Xuan's eyes.

The Blood Wolf Gang.

Aside from the Iron Sword Sect established by the steward of Ten Thousand Sword Villa, it was the Red Sun Gang's greatest enemy in Lianshan City—and the nearest money bag.

As the saying went, "While my neighbor stores grain, I store guns; my neighbor becomes my granary."

The Blood Wolf Gang had entrenched itself in Lianshan City for many years. It had more than a dozen branch halls under its command and controlled all the gray industries in Beicheng—gambling houses, brothels, protection fees, and more—as well as mines, taverns, apothecaries, and other businesses. Its monthly income was no less than tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Rather than painstakingly save money, he might as well take it directly from the Blood Wolf Gang.

Wasn't that a ready-made cash machine?

"Liu An."

"Your subordinate is here."

"Compile a detailed report on every branch hall of the Blood Wolf Gang, including the scale of each branch hall, its primary sources of income, and the strength of its branch master." Chen Xuan said gravely, "Also, pay special attention to their flow of funds, particularly the times and locations where their silver is gathered each month."

"Yes, Branch Master!"

Liu An bowed and withdrew.

An hour later.

Liu An arrived at the study carrying a thick stack of documents.

"Branch Master, the Blood Wolf Gang has sixteen branch halls in Beicheng and the surrounding towns and villages. This is all the information your subordinate was able to gather."

Liu An placed the documents on the desk.

"You've worked hard."

Chen Xuan nodded, picked up the documents, and began reading from the start.

The Blood Wolf Gang's sixteen branch halls were divided into two major categories.

The first were branch halls within the city, mainly concentrated in Beicheng's bustling districts, operating gambling houses, brothels, taverns, and similar businesses.

These branch halls had plenty of fat to skim.

But robbing them was far too risky.

Beicheng was the Blood Wolf Gang's headquarters. The branch halls were close to one another, and once he made a move, reinforcements could arrive quickly.

Moreover, the Blood Wolf Gang's leader, Qin Sihai, was stationed within the city. He was an expert at the fourth level of the Zhuqi Realm.

If Qin Sihai were alerted, even growing wings would not let him escape.

Therefore, Chen Xuan directly gave up the idea of robbing the Blood Wolf Gang's branch halls within the city.

He would only consider it after breaking through to the Zhuqi Realm.

The second category consisted of branch halls in towns and villages outside the city. Most operated iron mines, copper mines, and quarries around Lianshan City.

These branch halls were located in remote places and had comparatively weaker defenses. However, their monthly earnings were also low, only several hundred to around a thousand taels. Their branch masters possessed seventh-level Body Tempering cultivation.

But even among them, there were branch halls that made money.

One of them was the Baishui Town branch hall, eighty li southeast of Lianshan City. It was home to the Blood Wolf Gang's most important medicinal fields, where vast stretches of herbs were grown. In particular, there was an herb called Blood Spirit Grass, one of the main ingredients for refining Body Tempering Pills.

The profits from Blood Spirit Grass alone exceeded ten thousand taels each month. With the other herbs included, its monthly income surpassed twenty thousand taels of silver.