Cutting Off My Livelihood

After going to the Eastern Huang Gathering to buy some supplementary materials needed to make the Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Array, then renting a cave abode from the Registry Pavilion, Tang Yuan rode his flying shuttle southwest at top speed.

Gang Lightning Mountain, where the lightning vein was located, lay on the outskirts of the sect, more than five thousand li southwest of the mountain gate. If he continued renting a room in the crowded courtyard inside the mountain gate, it would take him most of the day to reach Gang Lightning Mountain each day, even on the fastest flying shuttle that consumed Spirit Stones. How much time would he have left to make arrays, let alone cultivate?

There were also some independent cave abodes less than three hundred li from Gang Lightning Mountain, known as the Outstanding Talent Southern Garden.

Although the Spiritual Qi there was not as dense as where the inner disciples' cave abodes were located, it was still more than three times as dense as in the crowded courtyard.

The Outstanding Talent Southern Garden also had winding paths leading to secluded spots. Not only did it have some simple arrays for protection and warning, but only one cave abode was built within any ten-odd li.

The rent at the Outstanding Talent Southern Garden was somewhat steep, though, at five spirit coins a month. Of course, the Outstanding Talent Merchant Association had also paid to develop it.

After buying the cultivation methods and supplementary materials, Tang Yuan had over 150 spirit coins left.

To improve his cultivation and make arrays faster, Tang Yuan took out sixty spirit coins and paid a year's rent...

As for three months later, Tang Yuan would be able to go to Golden Shell Island in the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region to catch Red Spirit Eels and sell them in the Demon Realm...

With an independent cave abode for cultivation, only a quarter of an hour's journey from Gang Lightning Mountain, Tang Yuan could finally settle down to cultivate his methods and make arrays.

Tang Yuan's Replica Clone had independent thoughts and Divine Sense.

Whatever Tang Yuan's cultivation was at the time, a Replica Clone he created would have the same cultivation.

Whatever the Replica Clone saw or heard, Tang Yuan's main body could sense it all, as long as the clone was within a thousand li.

The Replica Clone could learn cultivation methods, but its cultivation could not improve. Moreover, Tang Yuan and the Replica Clone could not share their cultivation progress in their methods and had to cultivate separately. Once the clone died, however, all the insights it had gained through cultivation would be passed back to Tang Yuan.

Of course, most importantly, Tang Yuan could control the Replica Clone's actions and whether it lived or died.

Tang Yi was a new clone Tang Yuan had made at the cost of another ten years of his lifespan, so Tang Yi could live for ten years at most.

To guard against any trickery in the Introduction to Lightning Arrays and the Heart Lightning Meridian-Forging Instruction that Feng Bin had given him, Tang Yuan decided to have his Replica Clone, Tang Yi, cultivate the two methods first for the initial month,

while he himself concentrated on cultivating the Purple Cloud Nine Mysteries Scripture.

Sure enough, in less than a month, Tang Yuan discovered Feng Bin's ulterior motive through communicating with Tang Yi.

It was not that there was anything wrong with the Introduction to Lightning Arrays or the Heart Lightning Meridian-Forging Instruction themselves. Rather, making the Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Array required injecting and refining roughly four liang of spirit beast Essence Blood.

Tang Yuan personally tried it, experimenting with Essence Blood from all sorts of sentient birds and beasts, but found that none worked well.

Only a cultivator's Essence Blood produced the best results, bringing the success rate of making the array to nearly one hundred percent.

If other spirit beasts' Essence Blood was used, either the jade array disc was easily ruined, or the finished array lacked power.

Moreover, although Tang Yi was Tang Yuan's Replica Clone, his Essence Blood would not work either. Only Tang Yuan's Essence Blood was effective.

Surely Tang Yuan could not lose four liang of blood every time he made an array.

Although Tang Yuan had already learned the Blood Healing method, losing four liang of blood once was one thing. Losing that much every day would be more than even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could endure.

Tang Yuan soon found a solution: he went to the Eastern Huang Market to buy "humanoid spirit beast blood" from Kou Cheng.

Although everyone knew full well that the "humanoid spirit beast blood" sold in every cultivator marketplace of the Holy Cardamom Sect was actually the Essence Blood of Holy Cardamom Sect disciples, the sect expressly prohibited the sale of cultivators' Essence Blood.

Kou Cheng told him in private that the sect had a Red Charity Hall.

Every day, quite a few Holy Cardamom Sect disciples took the initiative to donate their Essence Blood of their own free will, letting the sect use it to save lives and heal the wounded, and to research pills, talismans, artifacts, and arrays.

Of course, the sect also gave the donors some spirit coins, calling it a nutritional allowance to replenish their Qi and Blood...

...Three months later, Feng Bin was very satisfied with the three Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays Tang Yuan delivered and told him to make as many more as he could.

Counting the blank jade array disc, supplementary materials, and spirit blood, it cost Tang Yuan three and a half spirit coins to make one Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Array. Feng Bin bought each one for five spirit coins, so Tang Yuan earned one and a half spirit coins per array.

Although Tang Yuan earned only one and a half spirit coins per array, he had no choice but to make them. He had been catching Red Spirit Eels on Golden Shell Island for eight years, and whether the eels had changed their migration route or he had caught them to extinction, he caught fewer than a hundred in four months this year, selling them for less than two hundred Spirit Stones. Before, he had caught eight hundred and earned sixteen hundred Spirit Stones.

No matter how good a cultivation method was, it took time to cultivate and comprehend, and Tang Yuan had no time at all to forge Spiritual Qi or refine pills.

Tang Yuan had gone straight from being a "ten-thousand-yuan household" to being poor again: in the Demon Realm, he needed a large number of Spirit Stones to buy pills to improve his, Hu Mei'er's, and Huang You'er's cultivation.

Although Tang Yuan rarely went to the Demon Realm now, there would surely be a great fortuitous opportunity there. He was improving his cultivation now to prepare for its arrival, lest he be told, "You were given a chance, but you were no good!"...

Over the following year, he had Tang Yi spend most of his time making arrays on Gang Lightning Mountain-Tang Yi could only live ten years at most anyway-and the rest cultivating methods.

Tang Yuan himself devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating the Purple Cloud Nine Mysteries Scripture, the Golden Sand Sect's Golden Sand Treasure Body Scripture and Fire Spirit Artifact Forging Instruction, the Hehuan Transformation Scripture Kou Cheng had sold off, and the Introduction to Lightning Arrays and Heart Lightning Meridian-Forging Instruction Feng Bin had given him.

Time slipped by like a shuttle, and in the blink of an eye, more than a year had passed.

On the second day of the second month in the year 4034 of the New Immortal Calendar, Tang Yuan flew to Ding Chunqiu's cave abode with a relaxed expression, intending to repay his loan three months early.

In a little over a year, the diligent Replica Clone Tang Yi had made more than 550 Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays, earning a total of 1,100 spirit coins.

Over the year, Tang Yuan had refined and absorbed one wisp of Great Kun Moonlight and three wisps of fourth-grade mid-tier Spiritual Qi, Ghost Moon Gold Gang, and had now reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Tang Yuan had forged the Ghost Moon Gold Gang from fourth-grade low-tier Spiritual Qi, Thunder Metal Gui Sha, and Moon Jade Radiance.

The Thunder Metal Gui Sha had of course been bought from Luo Ningran's Luo Household Pill Shop in the Demon Realm. Although it was fourth-grade low-tier Spiritual Qi and should have sold for more than 1,200 Spirit Stones per wisp, its special nature made the corresponding higher-grade Spiritual Qi hard to find, so the Luo Household sold it for only five hundred Spirit Stones per wisp.

Tang Yuan had also learned the Purple Cloud Nine Mysteries Scripture, the Golden Sand Treasure Body Scripture, and the Hehuan Transformation Scripture to the fourth layer.

He had also reached minor mastery in both the Fire Spirit Artifact Forging Instruction and the Heart Lightning Meridian-Forging Instruction.

Reaching the Middle Stage of Qi Refinement had brought Tang Yuan another gain: he could now make one more Replica Clone of himself...

Tang Yuan had sent Ding Chunqiu a talisman message a few days earlier, so at Ding Chunqiu's cave abode, it took less than half a cup of tea to hand over the 880 spirit coins and successfully cancel Tang Yuan's loan contract.

"Tang Yuan, in two years, you've not only paid off your loan but also kept up with your cultivation, reaching the Qi Refinement Second Layer.

"I was right about you. You're an outstanding talent of our Holy Cardamom Sect." Ding Chunqiu, who had already reached the Qi Refinement Sixth Layer, wore an expression of admiration for talent.

Tang Yuan was wearing the Seven-Colored Invisibility Robe to conceal his cultivation, so Ding Chunqiu could only tell that he was at the Qi Refining Second Layer.

"It's thanks to Senior Brother Ding for giving me such a good job that I was able to repay the loan and learn an array-making method." Tang Yuan's eyes were full of flattery.

Ding Chunqiu nodded. "Tang Yuan, would you be willing to become an array maker under my Outstanding Talent Merchant Association?

"As long as you agree, you'll have your own array-making workshop, and you'll receive a method for making mid-grade arrays.

"The cost of making mid-grade arrays won't rise by many spirit coins, but the profit will more than quadruple.

"Think it over before you answer me.

"Opportunities like this are hard to come by."

Tang Yuan cupped his hands and thanked him sincerely, then sipped his spirit tea and pretended to consider it.

Over the past two years, Tang Yuan had learned that the Outstanding Talent Merchant Association bought Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays from Feng Bin for seven spirit coins apiece.

In other words, simply by acting as a middleman, Feng Bin had made at least a thousand-odd spirit coins off Tang Yuan in two years.

If Tang Yuan agreed to become an array maker under the Outstanding Talent Merchant Association, he would sell directly to the association.

Even without making the more profitable mid-grade arrays, he could earn at least two more spirit coins per array just by making the Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays he had mastered.

Earning a thousand spirit coins a year that way would surely be no great problem.

But Tang Yuan would not agree.

Over the past two years, Tang Yuan had heard plenty of Feng Bin's complaints about the Outstanding Talent Merchant Association.

Being a refiner under the Outstanding Talent Merchant Association seemed to bring many benefits and a chance to earn money, but one had no control over oneself, and the losses outweighed the gains.

As a refiner under the association, if it told you to work overtime, you had to work overtime,

and if it forced down the price, you could only accept it.

For cultivators, earning money was important, of course, but improving their cultivation was even more important.

Take Feng Bin, for example. He had superior lightning- and fire-attribute Spirit Roots, and originally had a strong chance of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment before sixty.

But because he had to complete the assignments handed down by the merchant association, he had no time to cultivate and improve his cultivation. Now he was over 150, yet only at the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer. He might have no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment in this life and would die of old age at 180.

As for spirit coins, Feng Bin did not have many either.

The merchant association seemed to have it all worked out: every so often, it would harvest its leeks.

Once you had plenty of spirit coins in your pocket, the association would hand down some money-losing assignments.

With the addition of some high-interest loans from the association, the most Feng Bin had ever had in his pocket over the past hundred-odd years was only three or four hundred spirit coins.

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Senior Brother Ding. I'd still like to spend more time cultivating.

"So I don't intend to become an array maker under the merchant association," Tang Yuan answered sincerely.

"Oh, there's no hurry, no hurry. Give it some more thought." Ding Chunqiu smiled, then said in a sinister voice:

"Tang Yuan,

"as long as I, Ding Chunqiu, remain a steward of the Outstanding Talent Merchant Association,

"the Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays you make may only be used by yourself. You may not sell them."

"I understand, I understand." Tang Yuan cupped his hands and rose, but thought to himself:

I was planning to have Tang Yi make arrays while my main body spent more time cultivating.

But now it seems Ding Chunqiu is cutting off my livelihood.

Cutting off a man's livelihood is like killing his parents.

It seems getting rid of you, Ding Chunqiu, is something I, Tang Yuan, have no choice but to do....