Where Interests Lie, Corruption Breeds!

A few days passed.

Then another ten days.

This day.

As usual, Chen Jichuan assumed the identity of Deng Ai, sixth in the Heavenly Dipper Sequence of White Jade Capital's Yan Tower, and went to see Sheng Dayang again.

"My lord."

"Wusheng Sect has made a major move recently. The sect master and elders personally mobilized all Fourth Rank and above experts in the sect, including every Altered Human, to enter Black Prison and mine."

"I'm in the first batch. We're going in the day after tomorrow."

Sheng Dayang came straight to the point.

He felt somewhat flustered.

He had heard that Black Prison was dark, without a glimpse of daylight, damp and bone-chilling—a complete cage. More than ten thousand mine slaves were imprisoned within, laboring day after day. All of Wusheng Sect's Yantie Ore was mined by these slaves.

Those things were not frightening.

What was frightening was that this time, they were entering Black Prison to go to Spirit Mountain.

According to informed sources, Spirit Mountain was a place of death. Fifteen hundred mine slaves had been sent in over the past half year, and now nearly all of them were dead, every one of them meeting a gruesome end.

Once word spread.

Everyone was seized by panic.

Fortunately, deputy sect masters and elders would personally lead the team. And the rewards were generous: five taels of silver for every Spirit Stone mined. Even if they failed to mine a single one, they would receive a subsidy of twenty taels for staying inside for two months.

In recent years.

The common folk of counties such as Yongfeng and Mu Transformation County earned less than ten taels of silver a year.

The reward offered by Wusheng Sect was already extremely high.

With such generous rewards.

The Fourth Rank experts in the sect finally calmed down somewhat.

Even so, unease was unavoidable.

Sheng Dayang was no exception.

"Black Prison."

"Spirit Mountain."

As Chen Jichuan listened, something stirred in his heart.

He had spent six years in Black Prison and knew more or less about it. The moment he heard this, he understood the crux of the matter.

But—

"Why is Wusheng Sect making such a grand show of mining Spirit Stones at this time?"

Chen Jichuan looked at Sheng Dayang and asked.

"I don't know either."

Sheng Dayang shook his head. "There are quite a few rumors in the sect. They say Third Elder Cao Zheng has figured out a way to refine Spirit Stones, which is why they're scrambling to start mining."

"Refining Spirit Stones?"

Chen Jichuan did not know whether the rumor was true, but his heart still tightened.

There was no smoke without fire.

No matter what.

Spirit Stones were precious and beneficial to cultivation. If Wusheng Sect obtained them in large quantities, it would certainly be no good.

However.

The current Chen Jichuan had no way to stop them.

"Let's watch and see first."

"But I can't just stand by and watch."

With a thought, Chen Jichuan entered the Great Yan World and silently calculated for six minutes.

Then he came out.

Outside, only an instant had passed.

Sheng Dayang noticed nothing. Chen Jichuan remained perfectly composed and instructed, "Keep a close eye on this matter. Report every scrap of relevant intelligence to me. This time, I'll count it as thirty merit points for you."

Thirty merit points!

Joy appeared on Sheng Dayang's face.

As he gained a firm foothold in Wusheng Sect, the intelligence he obtained grew increasingly abundant, detailed, and important. Over the past month, he had accumulated twenty-two merit points.

This single reward pushed him past fifty.

"Fifty-two merit points."

"I could exchange them for the Five-Poison Sand-Chasing Palm, or ten Small Restoration Pills, or five Qi-Enhancing Pills. Or I could keep saving until I have a hundred and exchange them for a Second-Rank Iron Lotus Seed?"

Sheng Dayang hesitated for a moment.

The more merit points he had, the more good things he could exchange them for.

He had originally planned.

To exchange fifty merit points for the Five-Poison Sand-Chasing Palm. But a month ago, he had obtained a First-Rank Iron Lotus Seed, and within days, he had cultivated the first level of the Divine Pounce Blade to mastery. Though his inner breath was slightly lacking, he had indeed reached the second level.

Naturally, he longed for a Second-Rank Iron Lotus Seed to the utmost.

Should he keep saving?

Or spend them now?

Sheng Dayang wrestled with it for a moment, then gritted his teeth. "I want the Five-Poison Sand-Chasing Palm!"

"Smart."

Chen Jichuan nodded in approval.

With the Blood-Burning Art, Sheng Dayang found cultivating the Seventy-Two Chen Sect Arts as easy as turning his hand over.

On the other hand, internal cultivation methods like the Divine Pounce Blade took a long time to cultivate. Setting aside the future, before reaching Fourth Rank or Fifth Rank, external arts and hard techniques undoubtedly offered the greatest value for effort.

First cultivate the Five-Poison Sand-Chasing Palm to Fifth Rank or even Sixth Rank. Then, after earning more merit points, rapidly improve his internal cultivation. That was the wise choice.

After passing on the manual.

Sheng Dayang grinned from ear to ear.

Chen Jichuan looked at Sheng Dayang. With the four-hundredfold time difference, his calculations and deliberations had more or less reached completion. He immediately declared, "The experts of White Jade Capital's Earthly Fiend Sequence have considerable demand for Spirit Stones. Since you're entering Black Prison, why not find a way to contact some people and smuggle Spirit Stones out?"

"This—"

The smile froze on Sheng Dayang's face. He hesitated. "Wusheng Sect has deputy sect masters and elders guarding Spirit Mountain, while the Martial Victory Army and Black Armor Army guard the gates of Black Prison. Smuggling Spirit Stones out probably won't be easy."

Wusheng Sect also valued Spirit Stones greatly.

Moreover, deputy sect masters and elders were personally leading this operation.

Once such petty tricks were discovered, the punishment could be light or heavy. He feared no one would be willing to take the risk.

"It is nothing more than profit."

"You only need to secretly make connections."

"Wusheng Sect offers five taels of silver per Spirit Stone. On my side—

If they want silver, twenty taels per stone.

If they want pills, one Spirit Stone can be exchanged for six Small Restoration Pills or three Qi-Enhancing Pills.

If they want cultivation methods, White Jade Capital has over a thousand low-level martial arts manuals for them to choose from.

Even if they want to exchange for Iron Lotus Seeds, that's no problem."

Chen Jichuan could not deal with Wusheng Sect for now, nor did he want to take risks.

But there were countless ways to disgust someone. There was no need for him to appear personally.

Such as this scheme.

It could make Wusheng Sect lose Spirit Stones while also allowing him to obtain enough Origin Force to improve himself.

Harming the enemy while benefiting himself—he never grew tired of it.

As for the risk?

"Where there are people, there are favors; where there are profits, there is corruption."

Chen Jichuan refused to believe that Wusheng Sect's Fourth Rank disciples could all turn a blind eye to a fifteen-tael price difference for every Spirit Stone!

"This—"

Conflict showed on Sheng Dayang's face.

Seeing this, Chen Jichuan smiled. "You don't need to smuggle Spirit Stones yourself. Every Spirit Stone brought out of Black Prison will count toward your share. One Spirit Stone earns five merit points."

For the sake of Spirit Stones.

Chen Jichuan could no longer worry about 'price collapse.'

This way.

The price for him to obtain one Spirit Stone soared to twenty taels of silver plus five merit points. Calculated in pills, it was worth twenty merit points.

That was twice the purchase price he had initially offered Sheng Dayang.

But to Chen Jichuan, merit points were like renminbi to a central bank—

He could issue them however he pleased.

Furthermore, Chen Jichuan's little 'bank' had no regulators, and in the short term, he did not need to worry about inflation.

He could simply do whatever he wanted.

"Five merit points."

"If I bring out ten Spirit Stones, wouldn't that mean—"

Wealth moved people's hearts.

Merit points were even harder to obtain than money. Sheng Dayang wanted to become an expert, perhaps even achieve the immortal path and live forever. He also had a nine-year-old son who needed his care. He craved merit points all the more desperately.

In the end, he could not resist the temptation.

Sheng Dayang steeled himself, looked up at Deng Ai, and said, "I'll give it a try!"

Wednesday, please vote with your recommendation tickets!

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