Treasure Flow River

After hearing Elder Duan's words, Lu Li suddenly realized that he seemed to have returned to the very first problem—making money.

If he had money, why would he have to suffer in this godforsaken place?

If he had money, he would not be in debt, his father would not have died, his younger sister would not have been sold off, and his mother would not have been deceived into pursuing those illusory things like the Immortal Unification Sect and stock refining.

If he had money, he could enter an academy, cultivate the Way of Automata, then take Azure Sun Hall's sect entrance examination, become a cultivator, and soar straight into the clouds from then on.

If only he had money—

"Ah, Azure Sun Hall. Ah, White Moon Palace. Ah, those damned immortals."

"You never hated immortals. You only hated that you weren't immortals yourselves."

Elder Duan's single remark pierced straight to the heart of it. Lu Li was stunned at first, then nodded, wearing a deeply helpless expression.

"That really is true. But I think I'm different from them."

"If one day, you truly get on the right track of cultivation, and become an immortal maiden of the righteous path—or a demoness of the demonic path—then suddenly discover that you can easily exploit mortals and low-level cultivators for unimaginable gains, who knows how wicked you might become."

"I don't know. Wait, why an immortal maiden and a demoness?"

"Hehehe, this old woman was only giving an example. Just take it as a slip of the tongue."

There was a perfunctory note in Elder Duan's voice. It was not as though this was the first time she had done something like this. Though Lu Li was a poor boy, in her eyes he had long since become a delectable prize, so she had unconsciously said those things just now.

Realizing that she had let something slip, Elder Duan hurriedly changed the subject.

"Keep going. If I remember correctly, fifty li ahead should be the Treasure Flow River. If you're short on money, you can go take a look there."

"Who is Liu Baohe?"

"Not a person—a river. Have you heard of Skyfall Sea?"

"Never heard of it."

"Skyfall Sea is the center of our entire cultivation world. Its waters contain countless spirit mines. Skyfall Sea radiates outward, forming three great spirit rivers. Those three great spirit rivers continue radiating outward, forming nine spirit waterways. The spirit waterways flow farther down and become eighty-one spirit rivers. The one ahead of us is one of those eighty-one spirit rivers: the Treasure Flow River."

As Elder Duan described it, a spiderweb-like map of rivers unfolded in Lu Li's mind.

"All sects in the cultivation world are built alongside water, and their ranks are strictly divided. Those around the three great spirit rivers are called upper-reach sects; those around the nine great spirit waterways are called middle-reach sects; and those around the eighty-one spirit rivers are called lower-reach sects."

"So the middle-reach sects consume the upper-reach sects' wastewater, and the lower-reach sects consume the middle-reach sects' wastewater?"

"You're teachable indeed. Azure Sun Hall and White Moon Palace are divided by the Treasure Flow River. Of course, what lies ahead is downstream of the Treasure Flow River."

"Then where do Skyfall Sea's spirit mines come from?"

"Th-that, I don't know."

"Could they be wastewater discharged from somewhere above too?"

"Bullshit!"

"I was just saying. What does this Treasure Flow River you mentioned have to do with me making money?"

"You'll know once you get there."

Still puzzled, Lu Li returned to the ruined temple and rested for the night, listening to Elder Duan prattle on about the Way of Automata.

Thirty days was not a long time, but Lu Li had attended university in his previous life. Compared with starting from scratch three days before an exam, thirty days was downright luxurious.

Besides, Lu Li had put in some effort over the years. He would not be like his former self, dozing off in class.

By the time the rain stopped, it was already the next morning. He set off again along the muddy path.

After walking for an entire day, Lu Li finally reached the Treasure Flow River Elder Duan had spoken of.

The river glimmered orange-red beneath the setting sun, splitting the vast plains in two. Yet despite the rushing current, fishermen busied themselves on the water in their little boats.

Far from Southern Sun Town, far from the streets overrun by Wood Crows, far from the stamping workshops reeking of spirit oil, Lu Li stood by this riverbank and watched the people on the water, feeling somewhat dazed.

"A fisherman's life is pretty nice. There are actually fish in this water?"

"Which eye of yours saw them fishing? There are no fish in or around the Treasure Flow River—only gold-devouring beasts. Look carefully. What are they doing?"

Lu Li fixed his gaze on the nearest boat. Two people were aboard, both sallow and gaunt, their faces heavy with exhaustion.

One held a long pole, with a rope as thick as hemp tied to its end. The other end stretched into the water. He stirred it around beneath the surface, then scooped up silt from the riverbed and placed it into a bucket beside him.

His companion sat cross-legged nearby, using a sieve-like mechanism to wash the silt. In the end, he loaded the reddish-brown sediment into another wooden bucket at his side.

Looking at the people on the other boats, Lu Li saw that although their tools varied, the work they were doing was more or less the same.

They were not fishermen at all, but gold panners.

Lu Li immediately understood why this river was called the Treasure Flow River. These people were panning the wastewater for lingering spirit minerals, then selling them.

"Cultivators really are rich beyond measure. They just toss away so much ore without a second thought."

"Not exactly. If something valuable is found, Azure Sun Hall will still buy it back. There are two reasons cultivators do not wish to do this work.

"First, the river water itself is toxic, and cultivators do not wish to be contaminated by it. Second, the returns are not proportional to the effort. Cultivators usually have more important things to do, and gold-panning profits are too unstable.

"After the river has gone through several rounds of panning, the valuable spirit minerals have long since been collected by the lower-reach sects along the banks. The only things mortals can pan are a tiny handful of fish that slipped through the net."

"So I need to find one of those fish that slipped through the net?"

"If you can manage it."

"Is that thing in their hands a first-turn Yan device?"

"Far from it. What they're holding are all low-grade mortal mechanisms, not worthy of being called Yan devices."

Lu Li fell into thought. He suddenly recalled the scene of himself killing the Azure Sun Hall disciples earlier. At the time, he had controlled iron with qi, turning iron filings into flying blades to kill his enemies.

Since he could control iron filings, perhaps he could also control the spirit minerals in this river. Having made up his mind, Lu Li immediately grew eager to try.

But if he wanted to pan for gold, he definitely could not do it standing on the shore. He needed a boat. Lu Li looked around and eventually found a ferry dock, where dozens of gold panners in conical hats had gathered, haggling with a boat dealer.

"This is a small business I'm running. Twenty copper coins a day, settled daily. Rent it or don't."

"Old Liu, cut us some slack for two days. You know there hasn't been any cargo coming down from upstream these past few days. The brothers haven't had a good haul either."

"That's your problem. I've rented boats to you lot for so many years—have I ever raised the price? It's hard for you, so it's easy for me? Do you know how much I have to pay the Monkey King every month to lease this stretch of river—five spirit stones! A full five spirit stones! Do you think you're only renting a boat? Your protection fees are counted on my head too."