Chapter 135: Big Gains
By the time he finished chatting with Headmaster Mo Bei, it was already the next morning.
Rather than stay, Headmaster Mo Bei left alone.
The instructions he gave made it difficult for Chen Jingzhai to calm down.
Thankfully, none of them were urgent.
He had enough time to prepare well.
It was a pity that Headmaster Mo Bei actually took away the leaf-shaped treasure.
According to Sage Qing Hui, this treasure was actually a living creature.
It was called the Blinding Leaf and was a secret treasure of Puppet Hall.
With this item, others would not be able to hear or guess what the user was saying.
Even a Grade 6 True Immortal of Tribulation would not be able to figure out what Headmaster Mo Bei said to Chen Jingzhai last night.
Chen Jingzhai really wanted this treasure, but he learned about it too late.
He couldn’t keep it!
The Wangdan Pagoda was reorganized.
Puppets were sold on the first floor.
Elixirs and spirit medicine were sold on the second floor.
The third floor was not open to the public.
The 18 outer disciples of Tianzhu Peak worked day and night there to process the materials.
They were put into teams of six by Chen Jingzhai and rotated through.
These 18 disciples were all in the later stages of the Meditation Plane and wished to join Puppet Hall.
They had come together after getting this mission.
Even though it was difficult work, there were great benefits.
There were two Golden Core Sages with them. The disciples could ask them questions at any time.
They first learned the puppet creation methods of the sect and could continue to practice them.
Instead of complaining, they were happy.
Seven days passed.
Chen Jingzhai and the two Golden Core Sages discussed the new puppet together.
Zhang Kui joined in at times, but he usually listened from the side.
Finally, they followed Chen Jingzhai’s suggestion.
The two Golden Core Sages confirmed three types of grade 1 puppets.
They were all humanoid puppets the size of toy figurines.
Their characteristics were sword, arrow, and magic.
The sword puppets focused on speed and fatality.
Grade 1 sword puppets could ignite the three spiritual stones in their bodies and reach the max speed of the Meditation Plane.
Grade 1 arrow puppets could release poisonous needles, arrows, darts, and more. They were mainly for firepower coverage.
Grade 1 magic puppets could spray water and fire, were sword-proof, and could perform poisonous techniques.
These three puppets were produced at the same standard, so their parts could be interchanged.
Only the core was different. The methods, Restrictions, and talismans used were different.
Even so, they built an assembly line, and production speed picked up quickly.
These three types of puppets weren’t the only ones.
They also standardized the phone bug and shape-changing puppets that Zhang Kui had created.
In merely half a month, the puppets sold on the first floor were completely changed.
Wang Tong hurried over as soon as he received this news.
“Master Chen, do you have any grade 2 puppets?” Wang Tong asked with excitement.
“We’re only selling grade 1 puppets at the moment,” Chen Jingzhai said, smiling. “It seems that these are very useful for you.”
“It’s not just useful.” Wang Tong chuckled. “Even the Eastern Ocean Ruler was alerted.”
“Oh?” Chen Jingzhai’s brows furrowed. “The Eastern Ocean Ruler came out of seclusion?”
“Only his divine mind came out and chatted with Commandery Prince Hong Yi,” Wang Tong said, shrugging. “The Eastern Ocean Ruler asks Commandery Prince Hong Yi about the royal house every now and then with his divine mind.”
“I see.” Chen Jingzhai nodded.
“The Eastern Ocean Ruler praised the phone bug greatly and has already ordered the entire army to be equipped with it,” Wang Tong said, chuckling. “Master Chen, you’re going to make a fortune. Regular alchemists can’t produce these phone bugs.”
“Phone bugs aren’t graded, but they’re quite troublesome to produce,” Chen Jingzhai said. “We are not making much money. It is mostly for easier communication. We just want it to be useful to the Dao Cheng Division.”
“It’s extremely useful,” Wang Tong said emotionally. “No one in the Dao Cheng Division died last month!”
Usually, the Dao Cheng Division had casualties every month.
It was mostly because the cultivators of the Dao Cheng Division were not as skilled, but they often ran into strong ghosts and demons.
When they had fewer people, their combat power went down too.
It was different now. After being equipped with the phone bug, they could call for help when necessary.
Wang Tong’s men all had raving reviews of the phone bug.
They could call each other when they went out on missions, and efficiency increased greatly.
Unfortunately, it took too long to produce phone bugs.
They were practically all taken by the royal house, too, so the Dao Cheng Division could not be fully equipped.
“Do not worry about not having enough phone bugs. Our production speed has increased a lot.
“There are now 234 on the first floor.
“If you need it, you can take them all.”
Chen Jingzhai smiled as he spoke.
After standardizing and creating an assembly line, the phone bug production became a lot faster.
Now, all Zhang Kui had to do was put everything together in the end and activate the Restriction.
They could produce more than 200 phone bugs in two short days.
“That’s great!
“With this batch of phone bugs, the Dao Cheng Division can control the small cities in the county.
“Master Chen, it’s all thanks to you!”
Wang Tong was overjoyed. His visit was worth it!
The phone bug’s greatest ability was to establish a communication network.
He had his men try it.
They could use the phone bug to send messages even to the faraway mountain villages of Donglai County.
This kind of communication network really changed his outlook and helped him greatly in managing the Dao Cheng Division.
That day, Wang Tong bought all the phone bugs and chose some of the three puppet types.
The next day, the Dao Cheng Division sent over many spiritual stones and all sorts of materials.
Ten days later, Luo Zhong, the housekeeper of the Eastern Ocean Ruler, came over with 36 knights.
Each one brought out a huge case. They all wanted to order puppets from Chen Jingzhai.
He opened the cases and saw that 30 were filled with water essence stones.
This was a type of spiritual stone that contained pure water essence power.
They were worth ten percent more than regular spiritual stones.
These 30 cases contained three million stones in total, and this was only the deposit.
The remaining six cases all contained invaluable treasures from the sea.
“Master Chen.” Luo Zhong was quite polite. “As ordered by the Eastern Ocean Ruler, I am buying 30 million phone bugs. In addition, Commandery Prince Hong Yi wants to equip the Sea Dragon Guards with three types of puppets. So please complete it as soon as possible.”
“Got it.” Chen Jingzhai nodded. “We will complete a batch of puppets at the end of each month. Please send someone to come pick them up. However, we will need the Eastern Ocean Ruler’s help with the materials. I fear we will not be able to buy it in the future.”
“At the end of the month, I will send guards to bring over a batch of materials,” Luo Zhong agreed.
The ungraded phone bugs and grade 1 puppets did not actually have costly materials.
They could be produced with scrap materials, but the royal house was ordering too much.
Once demand increased, the materials needed would increase too.
This would undoubtedly shake up the market.
After all, most of the cultivators in Pulao Kingdom were in the Meditation Plane. They had a high demand for grade 1 materials too.
The Eastern Ocean Ruler predicted this, too, so they understood as soon as Chen Jingzhai mentioned it.
They would naturally provide the materials in order to get the phone bugs and puppets as soon as possible.
The others were not as crucial, but the phone bugs were the most important.
“This is Commandery Prince Hong Yi’s gift to Master Chen.” Luo Zhong brought out another case. This was bigger than the other 36 boxes. “He knows that you are buying Foundation Establishment cultivation methods, so he prepared these for you. Please accept them so that I can report back to him.”
Chen Jingzhai suddenly laughed. The Commandery Prince Hong Yi really had a good plan.
This kind of gift-giving method was quite familiar.
“No problem!” Chen Jingzhai accepted the case. “Please help me thank the commandery prince. If he needs any elixirs in the future, let me know.”
“I got it,” Luo Zhong said.
Chen Jingzhai waved and had the four maidservants give the 2,000 ready phone bugs to Luo Zhong.
At the same time, he notified Zhang Kui and the others to come split up the 36 cases.
When Zhang Kui saw the 36 cases, he managed to stay calm.
The other 18 disciples were all stunned.
They’d never seen such a luxurious scene before.
Merely the water essence stones were enough to make them drool.
The rogue cultivators of Donglai County usually used water essence stones, so they were not unfamiliar with these.
As for the sea treasures, some were completely unknown to them.
Zhang Kui was embarrassed by this, so he used his divine mind to reprimand the disciples.
He only asked Chen Jingzhai about the situation afterward.
When Luo Zhong collected all the puppets and left, Zhang Kui invited the two sages over.
“Senior uncle, how do we divide this all?” Zhang Kui asked, scratching his head.
“Divide it according to the rules of the Wangdan Pagoda,” Chen Jingzhai said, smiling. “I have a share of the phone bugs. Divide up the three million water essence stones with the rules from before. As for the three puppet types, they were my idea. Other than the expenses for selling them, I will take one spiritual stone for every ten puppets.”
“That’s not okay,” Zhang Kui said with a troubled expression.
“You think I’m taking too much?” Chen Jingzhai joked.
“No, no.” Zhang Kui shook his head. “Too little.”
“Senior brothers, what do you think?” Chen Jingzhai smiled and looked at the two Golden Core Sages.
“Senior Brother Mo Bei said that everything was up to you,” Sage Qing Mu said. “It’s fine if you take it all. After all, it’s all thanks to you.”
“If I really do that, I would be too ashamed to go to Puppet Hall.” Chen Jingzhai smiled and shook his head. “Let’s just go with this! I don’t need these resources, anyway. What I need are the cultivation methods.”
He was unable to improve his cultivation right now.
He earned a lot of spiritual stones and medicine by selling elixirs. The water essence stones and sea treasures were not bad, but he did not lack them either.
“The cultivation methods that Commandery Prince Hong Yi gifted were clearly to bribe you,” Sage Qing Hui said. “Junior brother, you must think clearly. Otherwise, if you come into contact with Dragon Qi, you will lose more than you gain.”
“I understand!” Chen Jingzhai thanked Senior Brother Qing Hui for his advice.
In reality, he had already realized something was amiss when he accepted the case.
But how could he reject the 300 jade slips in the case?