95: Chapter 43: Father’s Ambition_3 95: Chapter 43: Father’s Ambition_3 “With your great-grandmaster here, we won’t be bullied.”
“Let’s both encourage each other, Dad.”
Li Ping’an smiled and said, “Look at you, Dad, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t have a drink today.”
Li Dazhi glared and scolded, “Am I supposed to drink with you?
Let’s talk business!”
In Li Dazhi’s eyes, Castcloud Hall was Wanyun Sect’s ‘Magic Artifact Factory’; when talking about its future planning, Li Dazhi spoke confidently and knowledgeably, leaving Li Ping’an no room to interject.
This was what you called professionalism.
Li Dazhi could only stay for one hour as he had to continue back to Wanyun Hall to prepare Castcloud Hall;
Castcloud Hall was his future foundation, so he naturally needed to keep a close watch on it.
As Li Dazhi left, he glanced at the empty iron pot and the neatly stacked pile of bones, his expression somewhat indescribable.
Ping’an’s teacher, Qing Su, looked so slender but surprisingly could eat a lot.
After Li Dazhi left, he did not visit Li Ping’an for several months;
It was only when Li Ping’an occasionally went to visit his own father that father and son were able to meet.
The father was indeed very busy.
With the support of the Sect Leader and the elders, Wanyun Sect’s Castcloud Hall was established within the sect’s gates in just half a month, occupying an entire uninhabited peak.
The first batch consisted of twenty Yuan Immortals and three hundred outer disciples, becoming the ‘workforce’ of Castcloud Hall.
Meanwhile, the Sect Leader arranged for several elders skilled in artifact refining to study the twelve magic artifacts intensively, constantly improving and optimizing them;
Thus freeing Li Ping’an from having to spend time and energy on this aspect.
In addition to rushing around, Li Dazhi would also meditate and cultivate earnestly during his free time every day, after all, his own cultivation was the fundamental basis for establishing himself.
One month later, the first batch of six thousand good-quality flying swords was sent to the market towns along the coast of the East Sea.
Elder Xiaoyue, who was already prepared, took only two short days to sell out the flying swords, priced at only sixty percent of the market value;
Even, Xiaoyue initiated a pre-sale for the second batch of ‘good-quality magic artifacts’ in the market town, setting a sale date on her own.
Li Dazhi immediately announced an expansion of the production scale, and batch after batch of good-quality flying swords were continuously sent to the East Sea shores.
After half a year of operation, Castcloud Hall earned over three hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones for the sect, shocking the Wanyun elders.
—This was after deducting all costs, a net profit of more than three hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen so many Spirit Stones; Wanyun Sect had a profound foundation and could be considered wealthy.
However, this wealth had been accumulated over many long years.
The elders truly did not expect Castcloud Hall to earn Spirit Stones so rapidly.
After one year of operation, a hundred assembly lines had been established, earning the sect two million low-grade Spirit Stones, leaving the elders stunned beyond words.
Some elders requested the Sect Leader to order an increase in the monthly allowance for the sect’s disciples, but Li Dazhi single-handedly vetoed it.
Li Dazhi had his reasons—raising the monthly allowance was easy, but lowering it was hard; the sect could use the surplus Spirit Stones for reserves or set up some rewards and distribute benefits to the disciples.
After deep consideration, the Sect Leader adopted Li Dazhi’s suggestion.
Two years after Castcloud Hall began operation, it was able to consistently earn the sect more than two hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones each month;
Limited by the number of shops in the market towns and the integration of sect resources, this number had already reached its current limit.
In the various market towns along the East Sea, Wanyun Sect’s magic artifact shops had built a reputation for good quality and low prices among loose cultivators, and all kinds of middlemen thrived.
Li Dazhi opportunistically introduced a batch of top-quality magic artifacts close to magical treasures, targeting the market for glittering yet impractical artifacts, and achieved considerable results.
Suddenly, everyone in Wanyun Sect was discussing ‘Elder Dazhi’s talent for commerce’ and the many benefits this person of great fortune brought to the sect.
Li Dazhi’s reputation within the sect soared, earning him the nickname ‘Great Wealth Immortal’;
By contrast, Vice Sect Leader Moyi and Elder Bi prudently extended their retreat by a few more years.
While his father was busy to the point of almost becoming thin, Li Ping’an had it much easier.
Qing Su, who was often in seclusion, would teach Li Ping’an about the Dao, give lectures, and instruct magical combat whenever she was not in seclusion.
Ningning Mu still came to visit Li Ping’an every now and then, and Li Ping’an had added a bedroom for her in his cave dwelling, where she occasionally stayed for a few days.
Although neither of them had openly spoken of their feelings, there was already a lot of tacit understanding between them.
Li Ping’an was quite self-disciplined; despite Ningning Mu’s increasing beauty and charm, he managed to maintain a steady Dao heart.
Once Ningning Mu knew of her senior brother’s feelings, she did not press further but let their relationship naturally progress.
In terms of cultivation, Ningning Mu felt quite depressed.
She did not know how Ping’an senior brother cultivated.
No matter how hard she practiced, her speed of cultivation still lagged behind Li Ping’an’s, and the gap seemed to widen.
This truly drove her anxious.
After two years, Ningning Mu encountered and smoothly overcame a bottleneck, reaching the ninth stage of the Condensing Light Realm, just half a step away from the Void Refinement Realm, ready to break through at any time.
Reaching the Void Refinement Realm in five years of cultivation was already pleasing progress, and Ningning Mu was highly regarded by the Colorful Cloud Peak Immortal.
But whenever the two were alone, and Ningning Mu secretly observed Li Ping’an, even if he did not deliberately disguise his level, she could no longer see through his realm and only saw a faint aura of Spiritual Energy surrounding him, his skin more translucent, his aura robust, mild, merging with nature, sometimes with clouds swirling around him…
This was clearly the Dao Charm that only appeared in the middle and later stages of the Void Refinement Realm!
Li Ping’an felt somewhat embarrassed about this.
It wasn’t that his constitution had been fully replenished;
With the constitution-enhancing Elixir Pill refined by the Elixir Dust Peak Master, he had merely gone from lacking in the earth element to having a bit of earth element.
It was just the weight of fatherly love.
Just when Li Ping’an thought he would spend another few years peacefully cultivating in the mountains, a Jade Talisman broke through the clouds and integrated into Wanyun Sect’s Mountain Protection Array.
Two hours later, a patrolling disciple with a Jade Talisman from the Mundane Affairs Hall landed outside the array of Li Ping’an’s cave dwelling and called out:
“Senior Brother Ping’an, are you cultivating?”