Chapter 301

Chapter 301: The Rich of Mirror Lake

In February, the spring wind blows like scissors, reviving all things. The willow branches bud, and just as the gentle breeze sweeps over Mirror Lake, it suddenly disappears, revealing a mirror-like surface that remains still and calm.

Outside is so peaceful, yet the lake bottom is lively. Several figures float high above, slowly cleaning off the plaque at the cave entrance, brushing away the dust to reveal the words "Water Moon Palace," which gradually sparkled with light.

“Faster over there! Pull out all the dead vines!” Chef Zhao directed the miscellaneous disciples in cleaning the walls. No one had visited for seventy or eighty years, and Li Maocai had been in seclusion, oblivious to the chaos caused by the spiritual birds and spiritual plants. After years of neglect, the Water Moon Palace finally welcomed new owners and began to restore itself from the inside out.

Mirror Lake was vast, covering five hundred acres. Below the lake was a formation that compressed space, making the area even larger, reaching three thousand acres.

It was too big to see the edges with the naked eye, and many spirit herb gardens and spirit bird gardens spread out within, while beneath the lake, there was a vein of Miao Jade—not just a small vein, but rather a medium-sized vein close to being a large one.

Li Maocai told Li Hui that the ancestral property had no connection to him, but in reality, it was just a core treasury, with spirit fields and spirit herb gardens all being inherited. Moreover, there were hundreds of properties scattered across Yunzhou that deposited a large sum of money in the bank each year, available for him to check at any time with the seal.

The Mirror Lake faction was known within the Haotu Sect for its wealth, land, and properties. Li Maocai was not good at managing, indifferent to upkeep, and did not know how much valuable stuff he had lent out. Li Hui found three large boxes filled with promissory notes and clenched his teeth in frustration.

“Sigh! And they say I can’t keep money! Yuan Ciheng hadn’t been born then. If he had been in charge of recruiting disciples, my long-deceased ancestor would have surely slapped my master for being a wasteful son.”

At this moment, Huo Qiniang approached and asked, “Young Master, most of the spirit fields are neglected. To utilize them, we’ll need to hire a lot of miscellaneous disciples.”

“Wait, let me think,” Li Hui said, holding a set of keys that Li Maocai had entrusted to him. The wasteful master had forgotten half of where the treasury was, leaving it for his disciple to find.

“There are indeed too many spirit fields, which is a hassle. Not to mention whether the sect has that many miscellaneous disciples, even if there are, it would require a large amount of money. For the first two years, maintaining the fields wouldn’t only not yield profit, but would also incur a lot of expenses. We need a way to grow something that is exceptionally easy and requires no upkeep.”

“Ah? There are such crops?” Huo Qiniang felt overwhelmed.

“Yes, even if they are useless to others, they will be useful to us,” Li Hui stood up, paced around, and clapped his hands, saying, “You go and buy the seeds of tail grass, Poria grass, and purple vine. Tomorrow, have Zhong Yuan and Jin Feng take the Explosive Talismans to clear the weeds in the spirit fields, then just sprinkle the seeds.”

“Is that really okay? Tail grass and Poria grass aren’t spirit plants. The purple vine absorbs spiritual energy, but it’s hard to manage once it takes root.”

“It doesn’t matter; just buy as much as possible,” Li Hui said with confidence, “When we plant tail grass and Poria grass in the spirit fields, they will initially thrive, but they won’t withstand the washing of spiritual energy. They will wilt and turn yellow after half a month. At that point, we just need to set up a talisman formation to create a vortex with the wind, allowing us to uproot and gather the dead grass. We’ll need to design a mechanism that works day and night to grind the dead grass while pressing the purple vine to extract its juices. This way, we’ll have the materials ready for making rough talisman paper.”

“Talisman paper?” Huo Qiniang expressed great interest. Money symbols and silver money symbols are money, and spirit talismans are no different. Who wouldn’t like to print their own money?

Li Hui nodded, saying, “Exactly, it’s talisman paper, and we won’t need to hire anyone. We just need to set up a few simple talisman formations to let the juice from the mixed grass debris rise up. If it’s distributed evenly, it can automatically stretch into talisman paper in the air; it’s simple and convenient!”

Huo Qiniang’s eyes lit up as she quickly called for people to join her in purchasing seeds without wasting a moment.

At that moment, there was a loud "boom." Li Hui looked into the distance, a slight smile forming on his lips.

The spirit herb garden, covered by the Water Moon Mirror Sky, vanished in an instance. Before long, the Mysterious Pearl flew back, with Yao’er giggling, “Father, the Earth-Rending Talisman is powerful indeed! It successfully brought the spirit herb garden into the Mysterious Pearl. Now the insect demons have work to do—fertilizing, tilling, and pruning branches!”

“Is there enough space? Using you to manage the spirit herb garden will be better than leaving it at the bottom of the lake. Let’s transfer enough!” Li Hui affectionately patted the Mysterious Pearl.

“Yes, of course! But it lacks spiritual energy, so I need Father’s support.”

“Let’s go to the treasury first and see what good things Master has stored,” Li Hui said as he waved the keys in his hand, leading the Mysterious Pearl deep into the Water Moon Palace.

Li Maocai had emphasized that Room No. 1 and Room No. 2 were where most of his accumulated items were stored.

There were spoils from battles won with magic, items found while exploring ruins, local produce gathered from markets, and resources distributed by the sect. He had lived a long time, unknowingly filling Room No. 1 and nearly filling Room No. 2, all for the disciples.

“Crackle, crackle…” With the noise, the thick-leaved palm suddenly caved in and spun quickly, revealing a deep entrance.

Li Hui stepped inside, and sunlight immediately illuminated the space.

He saw a vast number of items floating in the air, all in disarray. Yao’er exclaimed and directed the Mysterious Pearl towards a row of boxes.

“Yao’er, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Golden Jade Peaches, sealed in boxes—there are more than eight!”

“Eight? This is indeed a surprise!” Li Hui’s face lit up. When he received the keys, Master had mentioned that there were Golden Jade Peaches in the treasury but didn’t specify how many, only saying there would be a surprise.

“My Mirror Lake faction is truly wealthy, to have stored eight Golden Jade Peaches.”

“Good, good! Yao’er needs thirty-three, which leaves twenty-five more to go. There’s a way; we can use Master’s name to exchange for them.”

Li Hui was excited. He had eaten Yao’er’s life-bound peach and vowed to get thirty-three Golden Jade Peaches to give her a new opportunity, also for his longevity. Now having taken this crucial step, how could he not be joyful?

With such a large inventory, he toured around, looking quickly. Li Maocai couldn’t identify many items, and neither could Li Hui. So he only gathered Miao Jade and items related to talisman-making.

After bustling about for two hours, he finally completed a simple sweep of the two storerooms. Fifty boxes of medium-grade Miao Jade and twelve boxes of high-grade Miao Jade were sufficient to prove the strength of the Mirror Lake faction.

Of course, once the Miao Jade reached Li Hui’s hands, it would vanish in an instant, as the Treasure Cabinet Array quickly operated, enhancing the stalled potential.

“Master stored these boxes in the treasury likely because they are all mixed-colored Miao Jade, which happen to be just what I need. We are still a little short of promotion; I must think of a way to quickly gather resources.” Li Hui took out a small token for entry, used for recording personal information.

The token was half the size of a palm, neither gold nor jade, resembling a wooden token but feeling more metallic.

All the information on it was hidden, showing only the name and sect points. After passing the entrance test, Li Hui received twenty-seven thousand points, which were automatically converted into two thousand seven hundred points after Li Maocai nodded in agreement. However, it was still not enough, as collecting Golden Jade Peaches throughout the entire sect would not be an easy task…