Chapter 37: Plans

But hotpot still had to be eaten.

Bian Chunzhou possessed a dipping sauce-mixing skill so exquisite it could be called divine. Combined with the delicious, completely game-free spiritual mutton of the cultivation world, the two together were a true blessing for any foodie.

Even when dipping the lowest-grade spiritual vegetables, which lost most of their spiritual energy after being cooked, the flavor was incredible. They were sweet, fresh, crisp, and springy, not to mention completely organic and pollution-free. Even Bian Chunzhou, who usually disliked vegetables, could easily devour a whole plate.

“Say, if I went to Langyuan City to open a hotpot restaurant, do you think I could make money?”

Wen Xu was taken aback by his friend’s erratic train of thought. “For cultivators or for ordinary people?”

Bian Chunzhou immediately patted his chest. “Only kids make choices. Why can’t I choose both? I can open a chain! The high-end ones will use spiritual beast meat and spiritual fruits and vegetables, charging only spirit stones. The low-end ones will use ordinary ingredients, but the broth will be simmered with spiritual fruits. Ordinary people’s bodies will be able to handle it, and they’ll still get to taste the deliciousness of the hotpot. Right?”

Chen Zui said, “Why are you looking at me? At most, I can help you slice meat.”

…That really isn’t necessary. You slice meat like you’re trying to hack someone to death. I’m afraid you’d scare the customers away.

Wen Xu was much more realistic. “Do you have the money to rent a shop? Hire staff? Hire a chef? What about the source of your ingredients? Although Yonglu Mountain doesn’t forbid disciples from starting businesses at the foot of the mountain, will your master agree?”

Bian Chunzhou: …Well, that immediately put out his fire.

No, getting deflated was out of the question. Although being showered with money by Pei Mingshan made him feel a bit looked down upon, he really did need to earn cultivation resources. His master was very nice and provided him with materials to practice talismans, but to be honest, a Water-Fire Spiritual Root burned through spirit stones. He had to keep trial-and-erroring, and his failure rate in talisman-making was too high. He felt too embarrassed to keep sponging off his master.

Therefore, cutting expenses was not as good as increasing income. It was indeed hard to open a hotpot restaurant on his own, but he could raise capital! Over at Spiritual Beast Peak and Planting Peak, senior and junior brothers went down the mountain every month to sell excess spiritual beast meat and spiritual plants. The meat his hotpot restaurant would sell would just be the most ordinary spiritual pork and mutton. As for the vegetables and fruits, he could easily hire people to grow them at the foot of the mountain.

Ordinary grade-one spiritual vegetables had a very short growth cycle. Even without using spiritual energy to force their growth, they could mature in as little as three days.

He could start small, targeting only ordinary people at first, with mid-range pricing and some promotions for the grand opening. He had to admit, although Biyu Tower was deadly, its business model was indeed highly advanced.

So, this deadly mission wasn’t entirely without reward :).

Thinking this, Bian Chunzhou also felt he might be a bit too optimistic. “I did some rough calculations, and it’s actually not that difficult. After all, I have a Water-Fire Spiritual Root, so my demand for cultivation resources will only grow. I doubt my monthly disciple salary can support me, so starting a side hustle is absolutely necessary.”

“And during this mission, I realized…” Not having a cell phone is seriously too annoying! He couldn’t invent modern technology, but he was determined to create a real-time communication talisman. Message-transmitting talismans were like pagers, clunky and limited. Of course, he knew that powerful cultivators could transmit their voices and communicate across thousands of miles with a single thought without any hindrance, but wasn’t he still struggling in the Qi Refining Stage?

Back in Biyu Tower, Bian Chunzhou had tried to use a message-transmitting talisman, but because of his low cultivation, the talisman had been blocked by the tower’s array. Talk about a scam! Therefore, this real-time communication talisman had to be able to bypass any harsh or high-risk environments.

This point was indeed very difficult to achieve, but it was just like a cell phone base station. If he could ask his master to help set up a base station, a Soul Formation Venerable’s divine sense should be able to cover communication in 90% of the cultivation world.

So, the problem still came down to a lack of money, a lack of spirit stones, a massive, desperate lack!

Bian Chunzhou had originally thought that talisman masters were a highly lucrative, incredibly profitable, and trendy profession in the cultivation world. But once he entered the trade, he realized it wasn’t like that at all. The initial investment was ridiculously high. The talisman masters who actually made hand-over-fist money needed an extremely high success rate and had to make highly liquid talismans that sold for a good price. If it was an unpopular talisman, even if you were skilled enough to make ten thousand a day, you would still be dirt poor.

Like his master, Venerable Ruoshui, she had a unique Youth-Retaining Talisman. The price wasn’t very high, but it sold out every month, truly a “single talisman to retire on.” Bian Chunzhou didn’t have grand ambitions; he just wanted to have his own retirement talisman for his cultivation life.

Wen Xu was surprised by his friend’s wild imagination, yet he also looked forward to seeing these ideas come to life. He had no passion for talismans, but there was one way he could help: “If you run out of spirit stones later, just say the word.”

“Wow!” Bian Chunzhou’s eyes sparkled. “So generous? You’ll give me however much I need?”

“Not quite. Within two hundred thousand.” Any more, and he wouldn’t be able to produce it either.

Two hundred thousand!!!!

Tears of envy drooled from the corners of his mouth. “Waaaah, Wen Xuxu, you’re so nice! I must have done something great in my past three lives^[1] to make a friend as good as you!”

Wen Xu paused, pursing his lips. Actually, those words should be reversed. If not for Bian Chunzhou, he would have died in the Poyun Secret Realm long ago. Furthermore, he was willing to offer this sum of spirit stones because he believed in Bian Chunzhou’s ideas.

“But I don’t need it for now. I have to write up a proposal first. I can’t just trick an investor out of their money with empty words.”

Wen Xu was always hearing new terms from Bian Chunzhou. “Investor?”

“‘Money-giver’ doesn’t sound very good, so ‘investor’ it is.”

Wen Xu: …Fair enough.

The hotpot meal was soon finished, and all the prepared ingredients had been devoured. Bian Chunzhou patted his slightly protruding belly. “Excellent. Tomorrow, we start working hard!”

Smelling of hotpot, Wen Xu returned to Guochun Peak, only to be caught red-handed by his master.

“Axu actually snuck out to eat delicious food without bringing Master along. Master is so heartbroken.” His master pretended to cover his face and cry.

Wen Xu: …

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“I was just thinking that Master should have already abstained from food.”

After all, for the sake of cultivation and seclusion, almost all cultivators except culinary cultivators chose to fast after reaching Foundation Establishment. First, food more or less contained impurities, which was unfavorable for keeping the body in its optimal state. Second, eating consumed time. During deep seclusion, a single moment of sudden enlightenment could easily last a year or two. If one hadn’t fasted, and suddenly felt hungry halfway through an enlightenment, it was impossible to eat while meditating.

Besides, eating meant having to excrete, which didn’t fit the image of a transcendent immortal at all.

Of course, achieving inedia didn’t mean completely giving up food. Cultivators could still consume spiritual wine and spiritual food, as these would completely transform into nourishment upon entering the body. His master, for instance, was a spiritual wine fanatic.

Oh, the term “fanatic” was borrowed from Chunzhou.

“Yes, I have indeed achieved inedia^[2], but if it is a filial offering from A-Xu, this master will certainly accept it with gratification.” He continued to pretend to cover his face and weep.

Wen Xu: …Understood. Master was starting to act up.

He always felt that his master’s age of over a thousand years was highly exaggerated. No wonder the Sect Master flew a bit faster on his sword every time he passed Guochun Peak.

“This disciple understands.”

A-Xu really was like a little adult. Venerable Chengwei, having received a satisfactory answer, switched to his reliable persona in a split second. “I heard you just went to see the young master of Jinding Pavilion and gave him a beating?”

His master was incredibly well-informed. Wen Xu obediently admitted his mistake. “This disciple already knows he was wrong.”

“What did you do wrong?”

Wen Xu fell silent, because from the moment he finished the beating until now, he hadn’t felt a single shred of regret.

Seeing this, Chengwei couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, a teasing look on his face. “If you did nothing wrong, there’s no need to apologize. As my disciple, you don’t need to apologize to anyone you beat up!”

Wen Xu: …Although I’ve never been anyone’s disciple before, is it really okay to be favored like this? Fortunately, I’m not the type to look for trouble.

“I heard you’ve been running to the Refining Peak a lot lately? Do you want to learn artifact refining?”

Wen Xu hastily replied, “I only went to the refining chambers to sense the fire energy of the furnaces. This disciple does not possess a Metal Spiritual Root, so I cannot learn artifact refining.”

Only then did Chengwei remember that his disciple had a Wind Spiritual Root. “Ah, that’s right. Come to think of it, I don’t know how to refine artifacts either. I was thinking that if you wanted to learn, I would go to the Refining Peak and kidnap… invite a teacher over for you.”

Wen Xu: “…Master, I heard that.”

“Don’t sweat the details. If you don’t want to learn artifact refining, what do you want to learn?” Chengwei adopted a posture of ‘tell me what you want to learn, and I’ll kidnap a teacher for you on the spot.’ “Let’s get one thing straight, though. Forget about wind arts. That fellow Jun Zhaoying has already mastered them to the limit. Even I probably can’t teach you much more.”

Wen Xu did have a thought in mind. “Then, what about wind formations?”

“How is your cultivation of the 《Art of Myriad Things Co-Creation》 progressing?”

The 《Art of Myriad Things Co-Creation》 was obscure and difficult to understand, yet it contained profound subtleties. The first thing Wen Xu did upon waking up every day was to silently recite and read through the first chapter he could understand, 《The Birth of All Things》. But even though he could recite it backward, he still could not fully grasp its mysteries.

It was a mystical, inexplicable feeling. Perhaps only when he could fully comprehend it would he realize that he had truly understood it.

“This disciple is ashamed. I have only barely scratched the surface.”

Venerable Chengwei, however, gave a knowing smile. “No wonder. There is no rush in this matter. I heard you have a folding fan. Bring it out and show me a demonstration.”

His master really knew a lot. Wen Xu retrieved the Wind-Folding Fan from his storage ring. During this time, he had learned a few moves to set up formations using wind. Originally, these formations were set up using a sword, but he later discovered that using the Wind-Folding Fan required less spiritual energy. Thus… this was the only thing he could decently show.

《Nine Revolutions Sword Art》:

First Form: A Gentle Breeze Stirs.

Second Form: Windblown Catkins Brush the Face.

Third Form: Rising Wind and Gathering Clouds.

Fourth Form: The Approaching Storm.

Fifth Form: Wind Sweeps the Clouds Away.

Sixth Form: Gale Force Winds.

This sword art had six forms in total, each requiring him to spin his body and swing his spiritual sword. Since he was holding a folding fan instead, he could use his turns to plant formation cores in six directions. With himself as the central core, Wen Xu drew a simple Gale Formation.

The Gale Formation, as the name implied, subjected any enemy within it to the effects of howling winds. Naturally, the higher the enemy’s cultivation, the less they would be affected.

Just like now, when he directed this clumsy attack at his master, his master’s hair only stirred slightly, showing no offensive impact whatsoever.

“A-Xu^[3].”

Master Chengwei thought about his wording before speaking. “Your sword formation looks nice, but… it’s quite rigid. If you encounter an evil cultivator down the mountain, he won’t just stand there and wait for you to draw a formation. Formations may seem to require a lot of preparation, but in reality, they can also be cast instantly. A-Xu, you’ve limited yourself.”

Wen Xu froze on the spot.

Venerable Chengwei proved that when he got serious, he could also be a strict teacher. “A-Xu, I know you used to be a scholar. Studying indeed requires adhering to many rules, but cultivation is precisely the thing that requires them the least. Your mindset determines the scope of your cultivation. If you believe something must exist in a certain way, then it will exist that way. But in truth, as long as you break through the limitations you set in your mind, it can take any form.”

“Who says a formation must follow the rules of those who came before?”

Wen Xu felt a sudden wave of enlightenment wash over him. He truly hadn’t realized this at all. In his past, studying for the imperial examinations meant using the Four Books and Five Classics as sacred texts. All exam questions and essays were based on them, and it was impossible to deviate from them. Consequently, after entering the path of cultivation, he had also treated the contents of the jade slips as absolute truth, because they represented the path that predecessors had walked and succeeded on.

Because it was the authority, he had never questioned or challenged it.

But in reality, cultivation was not the same as studying. He could not conflate the two!

“Master, you are truly incredible. This disciple has learned much.”

Chengwei squinted his eyes happily. “It’s good that you understand. Go back and study it well. This master will be waiting for your surprise~”

This master-disciple duo, one daring to teach and the other daring to learn, had no idea that with Wen Xu’s current learning pace, he was actually already far ahead of the vast majority of his peers.

Practicing a sword art combined with a formation and utilizing a spiritual root after less than two months of cultivation? If other cultivators outside found out, they would surely cry out for mercy. The cultivation world shouldn’t be this competitive!