As expected of the Demonic Sect, even their money-making schemes are so criminal!

Worthy of the Demonic Sect—their money-making methods were this criminal! Zhao Hao walked out of his cave dwelling and headed straight for the hall where inner disciples collected their monthly stipend.

On duty inside the hall was Lu Gui.

"Senior Brother Zhao! You've emerged from seclusion!"

The moment he saw Zhao Hao, Lu Gui rubbed his hands together and hurried up to greet him, bending even lower than last time, almost to a perfect ninety degrees.

His gaze swept over Zhao Hao out of habit, and the fawning smile on his face instantly froze. His eyes bulged round.

"Qi... Qi Refining third layer?!"

One month! From a mortal with no strength to truss a chicken, he had shot straight up to Qi Refining third layer!

Lu Gui's heart felt as though it had been seized by an invisible hand, pounding wildly without end. First came shock, then wild joy that swept through his entire body.

He had bet right!

The thousand spirit stones he had scraped together by bankrupting himself were absolutely the wisest investment he had ever made in his life!

Perhaps in just a few years, Zhao Hao's cultivation would surpass his. Maybe his own chance at Foundation Establishment in the future would even fall upon Zhao Hao.

Zhao Hao was long used to his reaction and spoke calmly.

"This month's stipend?"

"Here! Here! Of course it's here!"

Lu Gui jolted, snapping out of his wild joy, and briskly took twenty low-grade spirit stones and a porcelain bottle containing Qi Gathering Pills from behind the counter, offering them up with both hands.

"Senior Brother, your monthly stipend."

Zhao Hao accepted the items, with no intention of leaving at all, and asked directly, "In the sect, are there any ways to earn spirit stones quickly?"

Lu Gui was startled, then immediately thumped his chest and said, "Senior Brother, you've asked the right person!"

He lowered his voice and began introducing them in a mysterious tone.

"Senior Brother, when it comes to fast money, it has to be the foundation of our three lineages."

"Our Corpse Refining Lineage naturally kills people and refines corpses. A properly refined walking corpse of a high grade can sell for over a thousand spirit stones!"

"The Soul Refining Lineage extracts souls and refines spirits. Resentful souls and malicious ghosts are also hard currency on the black market."

"As for the Blood Refining Lineage, they specialize in hunting demonic beasts, or... raising certain 'blood food' in pens and selling essence blood."

Listening to this utterly inhuman introduction, the corner of Zhao Hao's eye twitched.

Good heavens. Worthy of the Demonic Sect—even their ways of getting spirit stones were this criminal.

"Besides these, is there anything a bit more stable?"

"There is, yes." Lu Gui scratched his head. "It's just slower. Nothing more than alchemy, artifact refining, talisman crafting—those hundred arts of immortal cultivation."

"Alchemy and artifact refining cost a huge amount in the early stage, so they aren't worth it. The simplest is talisman crafting. You just buy some materials and draw them in your cave dwelling. Though the earnings are small, the advantage is that it's stable."

Then he thought of something else, and his expression turned a little grave.

"But Senior Brother, the waters in alchemy run deep. Most of the pill business in the market towns under the sect's jurisdiction is controlled by the Alchemy Hall."

"If you want to enter that line, it'd be best to go register your name with the Alchemy Hall first. Otherwise, there should be some trouble."

"The pills you refine also have to be sold to them first at a discounted price. Otherwise, anywhere near the sect, you won't be able to buy spirit herbs of even slightly higher age."

Zhao Hao took note of this matter.

It seemed that refining pills himself in the future would be a troublesome affair.

Zhao Hao silently memorized it, then turned and left.

"Senior Brother, you don't know the way. I'll take you to the market!" Lu Gui hurriedly followed.

Under Lu Gui's lead, the two quickly arrived at a market at the foot of the mountain.

People came and went here, and it was far livelier than inside the sect.

After agreeing to meet at the exit in two hours, Zhao Hao went off alone, slipping into the flow of people.

Zhao Hao began wandering idly through the market.

The shops here were strange in every possible way.

At the entrance of one shop stood several first-rank puppets. As long as spirit stones were inserted, they could move like people and do some simple tasks.

There was even one shop where, beneath the signboard, a line of small characters was especially shocking to the eye: "All kinds of blood food, fresh corpses, finished refined corpses. Discounts for bulk purchases"!

Zhao Hao stepped inside, and a thick wave of corpse qi mixed with the stench of blood rushed straight at him. The prices marked on the wooden boards on the wall made the corner of his eye twitch slightly.

Mortal corpse, one body, one low-grade spirit stone.

Early-stage Qi Refining cultivator corpse, one body, fifty low-grade spirit stones!

Finished early-stage first-rank refined corpse, one hundred low-grade spirit stones!

Mid-stage first-rank, three hundred!

Late-stage first-rank, one thousand!

Zhao Hao's heart was dripping blood.

Last night, he had directly sacrificed two refined corpses worth more than a thousand spirit stones in total!

If he had known the market sold fresh corpses, he would have sold those two refined corpses and traded them for dozens of fresh bodies. His spiritual roots might have been able to absorb spiritual energy on their own and let him idle on full auto!

But it was too late for regrets now.

In his storage pouch still lay a late first-tier Iron Corpse bestowed upon him by his master, True Person Corpse Heart.

That thing was a hidden danger if kept at his side. Who knew what contingencies that Golden Core Old Devil had left on it? Better to exchange it for solid resources—that was the Demonic Sect's way of survival!

Having made up his mind, Zhao Hao walked up to the counter and spoke to the drowsy shopkeeper.

"Do you buy refined corpses?"

The shopkeeper lifted his eyelids and feebly pointed at the private room beside them.

After entering the private room, Zhao Hao directly released that late first-tier Iron Corpse.

The shopkeeper had originally still been listless, but the instant he saw this Iron Corpse, his eyes lit up. He circled the Iron Corpse twice, clicking his tongue in wonder.

"Not bad, not bad. The refining technique is seasoned, the corpse material chosen is good, the aura is stable, and it even has the potential to assault the second tier!"

He rubbed his hands and looked at Zhao Hao, shrewdness showing in his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist, for this refined corpse, I'll offer six hundred low-grade spirit stones!"

Zhao Hao's face was expressionless.

Without saying a word, he directly fished out the black inner-sect disciple token engraved with the two characters "Zhao Hao" from his storage pouch and slapped it onto the table with a crisp smack.

The sharp sound of the token striking the tabletop was especially grating in the silent private room.

Only then did Zhao Hao speak slowly. His voice was not loud, but every word was icy.

"My master is True Person Corpse Heart. He said this refined corpse was worth at least one thousand spirit stones."

"You said just now that it had the potential to assault the second tier. When I return, I will be sure to invite my Golden Core-stage master to come and properly thank you for your 'keen eye for pearls.'"

The fat on the shopkeeper's face suddenly trembled. His smile instantly stiffened, and bead-sized drops of sweat seeped out on his forehead.

True Person Corpse Heart's... personal disciple!

The shrewdness on his face instantly turned into the utmost fawning. He bowed repeatedly to Zhao Hao, his head nodding like pounding garlic.

"Aiyo! So it was Senior Brother in person! A misunderstanding, a towering misunderstanding!"

"Senior Brother, just look at these eyes of mine, this small business of mine... One thousand! Then one thousand low-grade spirit stones! This junior brother will round it up for you!"

As he spoke, he swiftly counted out one thousand low-grade spirit stones and respectfully handed them over.

Zhao Hao accepted the spirit stones, his expression unchanged.

"Here, how do you sell the corpses of early-stage Qi Refining cultivators?"

"Fifty to others. To you, Senior Brother, forty-five a piece!" the shopkeeper said, patting his chest.

"Give me five."

After spending two hundred and twenty-five spirit stones and putting five fresh corpses into his storage pouch, Zhao Hao turned and left under the shopkeeper's almost humble gaze.

With his wealth having surged, he was not in a hurry to go back.

First, he bought a bronze mask that could isolate divine sense probing from a general store and put it on. Then he found an unoccupied alley and changed into an ordinary gray cloth robe.

After doing all this, under the perfected-level Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art, the aura on his body became that of an utterly unremarkable fifth-level Qi Refining Rogue Cultivator.

He had an even more important purpose on this trip.

Walking into the largest pill shop in the market, Zhao Hao deliberately lowered his voice.

"Pills for mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation."

"Essence Condensing Pills? Three low-grade spirit stones each."

"I want twenty bottles."

One bottle held five pills. Twenty bottles meant one hundred pills, for a total of three hundred spirit stones.

At that same shop, he also bought two thousand blank talisman papers, two portions of talisman ink, and a low-grade magical-tool-level talisman brush in one breath. After paying three hundred and forty-two low-grade spirit stones, he quietly left.

Carrying a huge sum of nearly five hundred spirit stones, five corpses, one hundred Essence Condensing Pills, and a massive quantity of talisman-making materials, Zhao Hao felt more fulfilled than ever before.

Just as he changed back into his original outfit and came out of a shop that sold spell jade slips, preparing to turn into a small alley, he ran head-on into someone.

That person wore brocade clothes, had a slightly plump build, and an oily smile hung on his face.

It was none other than his Seventh Senior Brother, Wu De.

When Wu De saw Zhao Hao, he was first stunned. Then the playful smile on his face became meaningful.

He looked Zhao Hao up and down, his gaze pausing for an instant on the storage pouch at his waist, then sidled over with waggling brows and darting eyes.

"Yo, isn't this my Ninth Junior Brother?"

Wu De leaned in extremely close and let a faint sentence drift over in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"What, was the 'plaything' Senior Brother gave you not easy to use?"

He chuckled, his tongue licking his lips.

"Or could it be... Junior Brother, you've already played it broken?"