Ways to Make Money

School let out at noon.

Jiede hurried home.

Old Jack had already returned to the village that morning, while his parents were doing business in the city. The courtyard was empty.

He shut the courtyard gate tightly and used yellow mud mixed with dry straw to build a small blast furnace in the yard.

He poured in coal and lit it.

Once the charcoal had burned red, Jiede tossed the Whale Glue into the coals to roast it.

As time passed, the Whale Glue gradually softened, changing from a solid into a thick, sticky gel.

Using a fire hook, Jiede pulled out the softened Whale Glue and tossed it into the Mystic Pellet.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and continued refining the Whale Glue with soul power.

An hour later.

Jiede wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had finally purified all the side effects from the Whale Glue.

He did not dare consume it all at once. He pinched off a piece of the Whale-Gel Pill and stuffed it into his mouth.

The fishy taste of the Whale Glue mixed with the stench of the Mystic Pellet, creating a truly unforgettable flavor.

He did not dare chew it and swallowed it whole.

The next second, energy surged into his body. Jiede felt invigorated and brimming with strength, while his physical constitution greatly improved.

"Whale Glue is great, but it's a shame our family's circumstances are limited."

Jiede sighed. "Sure enough, no matter what world you're in, you can't do without money."

By the time he finished everything, it was already evening. Jiede put away the remaining Whale-Gel Pills and was about to clean up the mess in the yard when his parents happened to return from work.

"What are you messing around with?"

Jie Yuan took off his coat, which was stained with grease and blood, and looked at the small blast furnace plastered from mud before him, completely baffled.

He had never seen such a strange design before.

Jiede asked instead, "Dad, did you find the sulfur I asked you to help me look for a few days ago?"

"I asked someone to search near the volcano crater. We should hear something in the next few days."

Jie Yuan casually draped his coat over the clothesline. "What exactly are you trying to make?"

"Something good. Something for hunting soul beasts. You'll know once I make it."

Jiede grinned.

Normally, small amounts of sulfur could be bought from an apothecary, but Jiede needed quite a lot. Given their family's financial means, it would be no small expense.

Jie Yuan nodded, though he sighed inwardly. He only hoped the money Jiede spent would be worth it...

The four main ingredients of black powder were sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal, and white sugar.

The first three were already taken care of. Only the last one remained: white sugar.

Douluo Continent commonly used brown sugar. White sugar was rare and expensive, usually priced in Gold Soul Coins rather than Copper Soul Coins.

Thinking of the benefits Whale Glue had for tempering the body, an idea suddenly popped into Jiede's mind. "Dad, I'll teach you a way to make money."

"You don't need to worry about money."

Jie Yuan waved his hand dismissively, though he felt pleased inside. His son had become sensible.

"I'll have plenty of expenses in the future, Dad. You'd better prepare yourself mentally~"

Hearing his son lecture him so seriously, Jie Yuan's mouth twitched.

"Fine. Let's see what you're capable of."

Late at night.

Jie Yuan stared at the white sugar Jiede had purified from ordinary brown sugar, his expression complicated.

He had never imagined that the technique for making white sugar could be so simple.

And that a six-year-old child had taught it to him.

Jiede glanced at his father and explained, "I figured it out by reading books at the academy. As long as you think it through, the principle is very simple."

"Simple?"

Jie Yuan fell silent.

"Actually, the principle behind purifying coarse salt into refined salt is pretty similar. It's just that some details are different..." Jiede coaxed.

"What did you say? Refined salt?" Jie Yuan's voice suddenly rose.

"Dad, I'll teach you."

"Selling refined salt in large quantities is a serious crime. Do you know that?"

"Then forget it."

"Ahem, making a little for our family to eat isn't impossible..."

For five consecutive days, neither Jie Yuan nor Liu Yun went out. They stayed home and studied how to make white sugar.

The butcher shop simply suspended business.

Over those five days, under Jiede's guidance, the couple successfully refined ten catties of white sugar.

Jie Yuan divided the sugar into ten portions, wrapped them in oiled paper, and eagerly headed out with the bundle.

Meanwhile, Jiede sat at the table, rolling kraft paper into tubes and brushing on a layer of glue every few turns.

He did not stop until the paper tube was a centimeter thick.

Following a ratio of seventy parts saltpeter, ten parts sulfur, twelve parts charcoal, and eight parts white sugar, Jiede thoroughly mixed the black powder and packed it into the paper tube.

He then inserted a fuse, sealed and compressed it, and a simple Thunder Bomb was complete.

Its power rivaled that of a six-inch fireworks shell!

If it caught someone off guard, crippling a three-ringed Soul Elder would not be a problem.

After all, even Tang San's mechanical hidden weapons could kill low-level soul masters.

Jiede spent an entire day making ten Thunder Bombs.

He tied the remaining black powder into an explosive bundle to make up for his fear of insufficient firepower.

After putting away all his finished products, Jiede was exhausted. He collapsed onto his bed and fell sound asleep.

That night, Jie Yuan shook Jiede awake.

"Son, wake up. Guess how much those ten catties of white sugar sold for?"

Jiede rubbed his eyes. White sugar sold for one Gold Soul Coin per catty on the market, so ten catties would be ten coins.

And those ten catties of white sugar were of excellent quality, definitely worth more than that.

He guessed, "Twenty Gold Soul Coins?"

Jie Yuan shook his head.

Jiede guessed again, "Thirty?"

"No!" Jie Yuan actually jumped up like a child. "A full sixty Gold Soul Coins!"

Jiede was stunned. "That much?"

He had never expected white sugar's price to rise sixfold.

"Today, when I delivered soul beast meat to a wealthy household, I promoted the white sugar to them. They liked it at first glance and bought all of it in one go."

Jie Yuan proudly pulled out sixty Gold Soul Coins and handed them to Jiede.

"Son, take them and use them."

Jiede pushed them back. "Dad, you should keep them for now. Consider this money the startup capital for our family's white sugar business."

Making black powder and consuming Whale Glue both required substantial funding. Their white sugar business needed to get going as soon as possible.

Jie Yuan hesitated for a moment but did not refuse. He put away the Gold Soul Coins.

"Dad, pay more attention to the white sugar business. Be careful of people getting jealous and causing trouble," Jiede warned.

Their family had no backing. Such a business could easily attract unwanted attention, perhaps even bring danger to their lives.

"Don't worry, son. I know what I'm doing."

Jie Yuan continued.

"I only dare sell small amounts to those wealthy families that aren't short on money. Once the business grows, we can hire some guards."

"Mm."

Late at night.

"Ah, where's my treasure?"

In the living room, Jie Yuan searched through his usual hiding place while shouting.

"Damn it, where did it go?"

Jiede covered his mouth and snickered next door.

Tonight was destined to be a sad one!

Daytime.

Jie Yuan asked Jiede where the Whale Glue had gone.

Jiede blinked innocently. "That black stuff? What was that? I don't know!"

"How could it have disappeared? No one even came to the house." Jie Yuan muttered to himself, trying hard to piece together his memories.

He glanced at Jiede and thought:

"Something as nourishing as Whale Glue couldn't have been taken by a child. It would be useless even if he ate it."

"Could Grandpa have taken it?" Jiede added from the side.

Jie Yuan suddenly understood. A few days ago, he had heard his father mention missing his late wife. He must have taken it.

After all, he was getting old and no longer as capable as before.

"Forget it."

Jie Yuan accepted it through gritted teeth. Old Jack was his father, after all.

What else could he do?

Spoil him, of course!

Two days later.

Jiede completely refined and absorbed the Whale-Gel Pill in his hand.

Father and son each carried a backpack filled with Thunder Bombs as they set off for the freshwater lake outside Notting City.