From Gold Prospector to Shopkeeper

"Eighty-five percent!"

Startled cries rose from the crowd. Dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward Lu Li in unison, their gazes blazing as if old bachelors had just laid eyes on a peerless beauty.

After panning for gold in Treasure Flow River for decades, they had never even heard of blue lead with such high purity.

"How is that possible? How did this kid do it?"

"Did he find some special salvage spot? Or has he mastered some gold-panning technique none of us know?"

"I heard him say he used to do this with his father. Could he be that man's son?"

The crowd buzzed with discussion. They could not help recalling a certain legend of Treasure Flow River. When they came back to themselves, they looked at Lu Li with all manner of expressions—suspicion, envy, and, more than anything, greed.

At the sight of this, Lu Li's heart skipped a beat. He had thought eighty-five percent purity was already very low. If he used the Qi-Combining Cauldron for a second round of differential centrifugal washing, he was confident he could push the purity past ninety percent.

In his eyes, drawing too much attention was not a good thing, but he had no choice. If he sold raw mixed ore or crudely processed mixed ore like the other prospectors, there was no way he could gather two hundred spirit stones in a short time.

After a brief discussion, several White Moon Palace disciples sent their leader forward to ask, "Kid, where did you get this blue lead?"

"It was marked on the river map my dad left me. There are several deposition sites beneath Treasure Flow River. The environment there is special, so blue lead naturally settles there."

That was what Lu Li said. As for his utterly nonexistent father, the gold-panning master, he had already mentioned him to everyone yesterday.

Over the next few days, he would certainly be selling more spirit ore. This excuse would likewise stir others' covetousness, but compared to directly exposing the existence of the Qi-Combining Cauldron, he would rather accept the former.

"I'll offer you one tael of silver per catty. Two and a half spirit stones. We'll take all this ore. If you find more blue lead, save it for us. We'll come back to buy it in a couple of days."

Lu Li was not surprised by that price. Blue lead of eighty-five percent purity skipped the refining process and could be used directly in artifact forging. There was no need to rent the sect's refining puppets, saving a substantial sum.

"Fine."

Lu Li nodded in agreement. Thus, beneath countless watching eyes, he accepted the spirit stones handed over by the disciple and clutched them to his chest. He felt their warmth—and the frantic pounding of his own heart.

At the same time, the greed in the surrounding crowd's eyes grew even stronger. Lu Li did not dare linger and hurriedly left.

Lu Li climbed onto his little boat and was just about to leave when several people soon poled their own boats over. Their faces were full of ingratiating smiles, and a few were familiar faces he had met at the ferry yesterday.

"Little brother, what should we call you? How about we work together?"

"Are you selling that gold-panning spot of yours? You must know other spots too, right?"

Lu Li had not wanted to bother with them, but there were too many of them, and he was not particularly skilled at handling a boat. After some jostling and wrangling, those ten or so people had brought three to five boats over and blocked him against the shore.

They looked as though they would not let Lu Li leave unless he told them the trick and the location. They were even crazier than the fishing fanatics from his previous life.

Lu Li had anticipated such a situation.

With the Qi-Combining Cauldron's effects, he could quickly pinpoint the spots where ore dregs had settled. After decades, even centuries, of deposition in Treasure Flow River, the hidden sites were as numerous as the hairs on an ox. He could never dredge them all by himself.

So he had long had plans to sell the locations.

For one thing, he could make more money this way, fully putting the means of production to use and transforming himself from a mere laborer into a proprietor directing gold prospectors.

For another, he could eat the meat while leaving others some soup. If everyone else dredged up more spirit ore, it would also help scatter the sect disciples' attention over the next few days.

"Everyone can call me Duan Li. If you want to buy, you can. One tael of silver per location."

"Brother, that's not quite right, is it? It's not easy for any of us to make a living out here."

"Yeah, make it cheaper. Why don't you come aboard my boat for a chat, little brother? I've got two jars of wine. Let's make friends."

"No need for that. One tael of silver. I guarantee the returns won't disappoint you, but let me make this clear first: my dad only left me a few locations. Later on, they'll go to the highest bidder."

In other words, Lu Li would raise the price later.

The crowd hesitated. One tael of silver was no small sum for the people present. They were only worried that Lu Li's location might be unreliable. If they could not dredge up spirit ore—or could not even make back their money—it would all be for nothing.

"How about you take us there first? If that spot really is as extraordinary as you say, then a few of us pooling together a tael isn't impossible."

"Exactly. You're just giving us your word, and us brothers really can't rest easy. You know how it is—it's the off-season. Not much spirit ore has been flowing down from upstream these past few months."

They spoke over one another, each pitifully recounting his hardships to Lu Li. On this desolate riverway, he was merely a weak young man without the strength to truss a chicken. If they joined forces and refused to pay, what could he do?

Ahem. If it really came to that, he would naturally beat them all to death!

In the end, both sides gave a little. The others paid half the price as a deposit, and only then did Lu Li lead them to one of the deposition sites he had scouted yesterday.

During the brief wrangling of their conversation, word of Lu Li's feat had already spread among the prospectors. Several boats approached to see what was going on, but the first five buyers shouted them away.

When they wanted to freeload, they called each other brothers. But the moment their own interests were involved, they turned into mad dogs. They had paid for this location—why should anyone else get it for free?

The crowd gradually fell behind as they shook off the main group. Six boats traveled from one remote place toward one even more remote.

At last, they stopped by a stretch of riverbank.

It was an inconspicuous exposed river beach. The water around it had dried up days ago. If Lu Li had not possessed the Qi-Combining Cauldron and an extremely keen sense for spirit ore, he would not have noticed the ore beneath it either.

"There. My dad said it's here. I dug around yesterday, and there really was something underneath."

The others were half-convinced, half-doubtful. But they had already paid the deposit, so they took their shovels and started digging. Ten or so people dug furiously, and after digging a full three feet down, the color of the mud and sand indeed changed noticeably.

Everyone present was an old hand at prospecting. At a glance, they recognized the abundant spirit ore contained in the mud and sand. At this sight, every one of them was overjoyed.

"Damn, there really is some... Th-this-this! We're rich! We're really rich this time! Dig over there and see how much more there is."

"Never would've thought it, truly never would've thought it. Spirit ore actually settled here. Brother Duan Li, are you really not having a drink with me tonight?"

"Why call him little brother? Call him big brother! Big Brother Duan knows his stuff! Are there any other locations? But the ore here is all mixed ore. Little brother, do you have that kind—you know, you know... ore with even higher purity?"