Chapter 11

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Putting the spirit stones into his storage bag, Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe walked out of the secret chamber.

In the living room of the cave abode, uncle and nephew sat opposite each other. A tea set was placed on the tea table in front of them; Chen Xianhe was making tea for Chen Daoxuan.

The refreshing tea flowed into the teacup from the mouth of the teapot. Immediately, the fragrance of the tea filled the air. Chen Daoxuan smelled the fragrance of the tea and felt that his spiritual sense had become more active. Obviously, this was not an ordinary tea, but rather a type of spirit tea.

Seeing the greedy look on Chen Daoxuan’s face, Chen Xianhe smiled and handed the teacup over. “Have a taste. This spirit-nourishing tea is one of the few good things that your thirteenth uncle has.”

“This nephew receives it respectfully.”

Receiving the teacup, Chen Daoxuan drank it as if he was chewing on a peony. After drinking it, he smacked his lips.

“How is it?”

Chen Xianhe asked as he sipped the tea.

“Fragrant!”

Seeing thirteenth uncle glaring at him, Chen Daoxuan said embarrassedly, “It feels like my spiritual sense has been soaked in warm water. It’s very comfortable.”

“That’s right. Spirit-nourishing tea is very beneficial to a cultivator’s spiritual sense. Drinking it over a long period of time has the effect of increasing a cultivator’s spiritual sense.”

At this point, Chen Xianhe laughed self-deprecatingly. “Ordinary people think that we cultivators live in the wilderness and abstain from food. What would they think if they knew that it’s not that we cultivators don’t eat, but rather that we’re poor and can’t afford to eat?”

He looked at the spirit-nourishing tea on the table and continued, “Just this small pot of spirit-nourishing tea is worth fifty spirit stones.”

“Pfft!”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Chen Daoxuan had just drunk his second cup of spirit-nourishing tea. When he heard the terrifying price of the tea, he immediately choked and coughed.

“Fifty spirit stones? That’s so expensive!”

Chen Daoxuan widened his eyes in disbelief.

Chen Xianhe said to himself, “Let’s not talk about the spirit tea. Cultivators from big clans usually eat spirit rice. You should know that long-term consumption of spirit rice can nourish the body.”

“In Guang’an Prefecture, even one hundred jin of the grade one spirit rice, jade crystal rice, can be sold for five spirit stones. How can ordinary cultivators afford to eat them all year round?”

“Not to mention, there are all kinds of spiritual pills, spirit fruits, spirit wine, and other rare treasures that can assist in cultivation. All of these require spirit stones!”

Chen Daoxuan was silent. He knew that thirteenth uncle said all this to tell him that, once he had enough spirit stones, he should first nurture the spiritual vein.

This was because, as long as he had the spiritual vein, the cultivation resources thirteenth uncle mentioned could all be slowly obtained by relying on the spiritual vein.

“Thirteenth uncle, I understand what you mean. When the refining workshop is completed and we start earning spirit stones, I will definitely nurture the spiritual vein as soon as possible,” Chen Daoxuan promised confidently.

Seeing Chen Daoxuan’s attitude, Chen Xianhe did not say anything further. He then changed the topic and said, “Daoxuan, do you have any thoughts regarding the future development of the clan?”

This was the first time that Chen Xianhe had taken the initiative to talk to Chen Daoxuan about the development plan for the clan.

In the past, Chen Xianhe did not really let Chen Daoxuan worry about the matters of the clan. He told Chen Daoxuan then that his most important task was to learn how to refine artifacts and to strive to become a refiner as soon as possible.

Now that Chen Daoxuan was already a first-tier refiner, the increasingly aged Chen Xianhe had no choice but to consider the issue of grooming a successor.

Hearing this question, Chen Daoxuan knew that his thirteenth uncle was testing him.

After sorting out his thoughts, Chen Daoxuan said, “Patriarch, I think that the most important thing for the clan right now is to build a refining workshop and, while we establish the refining workshop, we need to make preparations for three things.”

“What three things?”

“First, investigate the market for spiritual artifacts in Guang’an Prefecture. Second, purchase the raw materials required to construct a refining workshop and refine spiritual artifacts and, third, rent a shop to sell the finished spiritual artifacts in Guang’an Prefecture.”

Chen Daoxuan explained his thoughts on how to develop the clan over the next few years.

Chen Xianhe listened to his explanation while sometimes tapping his fingers on the table; sometimes praising, and at other times interrupting and correcting.

As the uncle and nephew continued their discussion, the Chen clan’s rough development plan for the next few years was gradually finalized by the two of them.

To sum it up, over the course of the next five years, the focus of the clan’s development would revolve around the refining workshop, and Chen Daoxuan would be the core executor of this development plan.

This was naturally because he was the only one in the Chen clan who knew how to refine artifacts, as well as the only one who knew how to refine the unique spirit smelting furnace.

Unknowingly, the spirit-nourishing tea in the teapot was already empty.

Chen Daoxuan shook the teapot and found that the tea had already been emptied. He could not help but smack his lips.

Putting down the teapot awkwardly, he thought hatefully in his heart that, when the clan became rich in the future, he would definitely buy spirit-nourishing tea to soak in.

“Alright, since this matter has been settled, I will use the clan leader’s order to announce this development plan publicly at the clan meeting tomorrow,” Chen Xianhe concluded.

Seeing Chen Daoxuan’s hesitant expression, Chen Xianhe withdrew the hand that was prepared to send him off and asked, “Why, is there anything else?”

Hearing his question, Chen Daoxuan said with a serious expression, “Clan leader, Daoxuan thinks that while we should focus on developing the artifact refining workshop, the cultivation of the clan members should also keep up. Our Chen clan can’t always rely on the two of us, right?”

He knew clearly that Chen Xianhe was thinking of accumulating 100,000 spirit stones to nurture the spiritual vein.

Chen Daoxuan, on the other hand, thought that the objectives of nurturing the clan’s disciples, and nurturing the spiritual vein, were not in conflict. However, this was based on the premise that the refining workshop could earn large amounts of spirit stones.

Otherwise, whether it was nurturing the clan’s disciples or nurturing the spiritual vein, both would remain but a dream.

Hearing Chen Daoxuan’s suggestion, Chen Xianhe hesitated.

He thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, “Let’s put this matter aside for now. However, I can promise you that as long as the spirit stones earned by the refining workshop reaches a certain level, you can implement both the clan disciple cultivation plan and the spiritual vein nurturing plan simultaneously.”

“However, we must always put the spiritual vein nurturing plan before the clan disciple cultivation plan!”

“Okay!”

Chen Daoxuan nodded. “But…”

“But what?”

Chen Xianhe glared at him. He realized that Chen Daoxuan’s previous deference was all an act. In reality, this kid had more ideas than anyone else.

Chen Daoxuan said embarrassedly, “How many spirit stones does the refining workshop need to earn every year in order to meet the standard? Thirteenth uncle, you can give me a specific target, right?”

“Since you insist on raising the disciples of the clan, I will give you a target. If the refining workshop’s annual net profit can reach more than three thousand spirit stones, I will agree to your request!”

Hearing his guarantee, Chen Daoxuan was overjoyed. He stood up excitedly and said, “It’s a deal. Let’s shake hands on this!”

“Get lost! I’ll beat you up!”

Seeing Chen Daoxuan’s impudent manner, Chen Xianhe immediately huffed and glared at him, as if wanting to beat him up.

Seeing this, Chen Daoxuan did not say anything else. He ran away and left the cave abode in a flash.

Seeing Chen Daoxuan’s cheerful gait, Chen Xianhe could not help but display a hint of a smile on his face, which had been pretending to be angry.

“You little brat… Haha!”