Starting as a centurion, he fought his way through the chaos of the world.

Chapter 132 Master Gou

[Immortal Crafting Furnace, 5000 million points (Superior Magical Artifact, capable of melting spiritual materials from all directions)]

[Fire Control Technique 300 million points (Mastering fire and flames, enhancing the fire control skills of weapon refiners and alchemists, making item crafting easier)]

Lu Ming didn't hesitate and immediately exchanged for the two items.

Then, Muran opened her eyes.

At this moment, Guo Zhun was already standing outside the hall, bowing and waiting cautiously.

Upon seeing him, Lu Ming waved his hand and said, "Come in."

Guo Zhun dared not be negligent and carefully walked in, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

Lu Ming's gaze was fixed on the other person.

Guo Zhun looks much thinner than before, and his eyes are bloodshot, clearly indicating that he has been very busy lately.

Especially the sunken dark circles under the eyes.

Very obvious.

Lu Ming gestured for him to sit down, then asked, "A lot of new supplies have been brought back this time. How much resources does the Marquis's mansion have in total now?"

"My lord, including the supplies you brought back, we have 92 million taels of silver, 7.3 million shi of grain, 5,500 spirit stones, and various other supplies, which are currently being tallied."

"And what about the current consumption?"

"My lord, we now have an army of over 1.6 million, and after numerous battles, the merits earned by our soldiers have been exchanged for high-grade pills."

Therefore, the amount of money spent on medicinal herbs each month is much more than in the past.

It will cost around nine million.

There are also various expenses; the monthly expenditure should be around ten million taels.

Lu Ming nodded.

This is quite a lot, but the silver I have on hand is enough for now.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Among the supplies I brought back this time, there are quite a few spirit rice seeds. You can lead people to clear some wasteland and plant them, and then they will be managed by the Marquis's Mansion."

The general in charge of supplying the Marquis's residence.

"Yes, sir," Guo Zhun replied hastily.

He knew about this thing; he had seen it once in an ancient book.

It is said that even among the immortal sects, not many are planted. I never expected that you would bring back so many.

In the future, we can gradually open up a path to wealth.

However, we can only think about it for now, since the quantity is not large enough.

If one day, spirit rice is planted throughout the Marquis's territory, then there will be no problem.

"Alright, that's all. You can go back now."

Lu Ming said slowly.

Guo Zhun naturally dared not be negligent and immediately replied, "Yes, sir!"

Then he carefully retreated.

After he left, Lu Ming also stood up and walked towards the backyard.

As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw Li Xirou already waiting.

She wore a long red dress with a golden hair ornament tucked diagonally into her black hair.

She had gained some weight and was no longer as thin as before.

It's even more perfect now.

Her skin was as smooth and translucent as porcelain.

When she first saw Lu Ming, a look of surprise appeared on her face: "My husband is back."

She came to greet her.

Lu Ming instantly smelled a fragrant breeze wafting towards him.

"You're back. You've worked so hard these past few days."

“It’s not hard, it’s my husband who’s working so hard,” Li Xirou said softly.

Then, as if remembering something, she said, "My dear husband, I've made your favorite dishes. Come and eat!"

Although Lu Ming no longer needs to eat.

But of course, she wouldn't refuse Li Xirou's kindness.

Following the other person, they entered the house.

The maids have already started serving the dishes.

When all sorts of delicious-smelling dishes are served.

This made Lu Ming's mouth water.

"Bang!" Li Xirou took out a jar of wine.

After opening it, I poured Lu Ming a glass.

"Her husband, try this." Lu Ming didn't refuse and took a sip.

A strong aroma of medicinal herbs filled his mouth.

“There’s still quite a bit of the medicinal wine that Father made at home,” Li Xirou said with a smile.

Lu Ming accepted all comers.

Only after finishing the meal did I feel truly satisfied.

"My lord, will we be going on expeditions again?"

"As a military general, I will inevitably have to go on expeditions in the future, but for the time being, things should be quieter," Lu Ming said with a faint smile.

He now controls fourteen states.

An army of over 1.5 million.

There shouldn't be any problem protecting myself in southern Xinjiang.

Going forward, the most important thing is to improve the capabilities of myself and my subordinates.

Let everyone grow up as quickly as possible.

He had also heard about the renewed turmoil in the imperial court's power structure.

With the existence of those at the Purple Mansion Realm, I must be even more careful in my future actions.

After all, one's cultivation has reached this level.

They're not easy to deal with.

Even if the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation, along with some other formations in his possession, could barely rival the Purple Mansion,

But we can't always gather hundreds of thousands of troops to set up this formation.

Therefore, the most important thing now is to improve our own strength.

Hearing that Lu Ming would not be going to war for the time being, Li Xirou's smile widened. "Yes, husband, focus on your cultivation. I'll cook for you every day."

Her voice was clear and crisp.

Lu Ming smiled and said.

"That's certainly a good thing."

Then, glancing at the darkening sky and the beautiful woman before him, Lu Ming felt a surge of heat in his heart.

"Xi Rou, it's getting late, let's get some rest."

As he spoke, he moved closer to his wife.

After sensing the intense heat emanating from Lu Ming.

Li Xirou naturally wouldn't refuse her long-awaited husband.

What happened next is best left unsaid.

The night passed in a flash.

After Lu Ming walked out of the house feeling refreshed.

Li Xirou was still fast asleep due to exhaustion.

As soon as I stepped out of the courtyard, I saw Bai Hong already waiting outside.

Since joining the Marquis's mansion, this person has been diligent and conscientious, which has greatly pleased Lu Ming.

"You've come so early, is there something you need?"

"My lord, the weapon refiner has arrived and is currently at my residence. My ancestor is talking to him."

Lu Ming raised an eyebrow. "The Purple Mansion cultivators are indeed formidable."

According to Bai Fu's description.

This weapon refiner lives in the Fire Refining Mountain outside the realm. Although it is not far from the Great Yu, it is remarkable that he was able to arrive in such a short time.

That's really fast.

“Let’s go see him!” Lu Ming nodded.

Bai Hong quickly led the way.

A moment later, they arrived outside the Bai family's living room.

A middle-aged man dressed in a black robe with gold patterns sat in the seat of honor.

Bai Fu, hunched over, stood by with a fawning smile.

As soon as Lu Ming entered the hall, the two men turned their gazes to him. Bai Fu cautiously said to the middle-aged man, "Master Gou, this is our Marquis." The middle-aged man nodded noncommittally, and after looking Lu Ming up and down for a moment, he asked, "You want to refine a spiritual weapon?"

"Yes, Master, please help me."

"Don't talk about helping, talk about compensation first. What can you give me?" Before Lu Ming could finish speaking, Master Gou waved his hand impatiently.

Clearly, a marquis title from the Great Yu Dynasty was not enough to earn him a favorable response.

Lu Ming wasn't annoyed.

After all, the strength of a Purple Mansion cultivator is indeed undeniable.

Moreover, I need their help now, so I certainly have reason to be proud.

However, if this Master Gou were to turn his back on someone, there are ways to deal with him.

Therefore, he then took out the secret manual he had exchanged and said, "I obtained this by chance. I wonder if Master is satisfied with it?"

As he spoke, he had Bai Hong hand it over.

After glancing at the "Fire Control Manual," Master Gou's eyes revealed a strange light.

He casually flipped through a few pages and said, "I didn't expect to find such a good thing in a place like yours. I'll take it. Let me see your blueprints."

Without hesitation, Lu Ming took out the blueprints and submitted them.

Master Gou stared at it for a moment and then said, "It is indeed an exquisite work of art. I have been refining weapons for so many years and this is the first time I have ever seen one. However, the materials are not easy to find."

“Tell me what you need, Master, and I will do my best to do it,” Lu Ming said in a deep voice.

"Quite the boast, Stardust Sand, Water-Repelling Stone, Spirit Python Tendon."

A moment later, this Master Gou produced a list.

There are dozens of materials listed.

Bai Fu, standing to the side, was dumbfounded.

Lu Ming, however, remained unfazed.

"Come find me when you've prepared everything." After saying this, Master Gou left the hall and went to the secret room that the Bai family had prepared for him.

The fire control technique that Lu Ming prepared is truly a valuable tool.

I need to do some research on it myself.

The other party didn't seem to care; he had only taken out the second volume, while the first volume was still in his possession.

Master Gou wants to understand this.

We must refine the ingredients first before discussing anything else.

Moreover, according to Bai Tu, although this master has a somewhat eccentric personality, he is a man of his word and will always fulfill what he promises.

"My lord, these things are too valuable. We can't gather that many spiritual materials."

Lu Ming raised an eyebrow. "Tell me about its value."

After he finished speaking, he sat down.

Bai Fu was also negligent and immediately said, "Just the Star Sand alone would cost tens of thousands of spirit stones to buy. All in all, including other things, it would be impossible to refine it without at least 100,000 spirit stones."

At this point, a bitter expression appeared on his face.

Lu Ming's eyes flashed as he spoke.

"Do you have these things on Mingshan Island?"

"Yes, we do have them, but spirit stones are required," Bai Fu said, sounding troubled.

"If you have it, that's fine. I'll find a way to get it. In a while, take me to Mingshan Island." Lu Ming interrupted Bai Fu before he could finish speaking, and got up and left the Bai family's new residence.

He returned to his own office.

As soon as he arrived at the door, Zhang Meng came to greet him, his face beaming with joy, "My lord!"

He has now practically become the chief steward of the outer government, doing all sorts of miscellaneous things.

However, Zhang Meng was enjoying it.

He seemed very satisfied with this job.

"Go and fetch Wang Han."

"Yes, sir." Zhang Meng replied and then withdrew.

Lu Ming went straight to the front hall and had just sat down when...

Then Wang Han's imposing figure appeared before them.

Looking at this general who had followed him for a long time, Lu Ming nodded in satisfaction.

The opponent's current cultivation level is already at the late stage of Qi Refining.

He's quite skilled.

"Take this formation book back and practice it thoroughly with the brothers."

Wang Han naturally dared not be negligent. He carefully took it and looked at the words "Devouring Heaven and Willow Formation" on it.

His eyes flickered involuntarily.

Then he said, "Yes, sir!"

Then, at Lu Ming's signal, he withdrew.

In fact, no one knew that Lu Ming's strength had improved, and his true combat power was comparable to that of a Golden Core cultivator.

If this formation is added to the mix...

Even dealing with the Purple Mansion is no problem.

Especially after the success of the Devouring Heaven Willow Formation, even stronger beings might be able to challenge it.

This is the key reason why he dared to deal with the Purple Mansion.

He had asked Bai Fu, and the strongest sects on Mingshan Island were only at the Purple Mansion Realm.

As long as the "Devouring Heaven and Willow Formation" is practiced.

He could easily have gone and looted once.

Of course, this must be done in secret.

Otherwise, it might incite public outrage.

After all, Mingshan Island is a market.

It is protected by all parties.

Just as Lu Ming was calculating in his mind.

At this moment, Bai Fu was sitting in the seat of honor at the Bai family residence.

The white figure is standing below.

They set up a barrier in the hall to prevent others from probing them.

"Ancestor, are you really going to do this? This is the foundation that the Bai family has built up over many years!" Bai Tu said, unusually excited.

His old face was already flushed red.

"What else can we do? The Bai family and the Marquis are now in the same boat. And if the warship can really be built, it will be a great thing for both the Marquis's mansion and us."

Now that we have chosen to follow the Marquis, and we are powerless to resist, we can only follow this path wholeheartedly.

"And we must go all out to show the Marquis our loyalty and value," Bai Fu said calmly.

"Is it worth it? He's just a marquis now, and he doesn't even have the ambition to reach the top." Bai Tu tried his best to keep his voice down.

"Whether it's worth it or not is hard to say right now, but we have to try. We're both getting old. If we don't get the life-extending herb this time, we'll have to find someone to rely on for our family," Bai Fu sighed.

"However, the only ones with extra spirit stones to buy shops on our Mingshan Island right now are the Imperial Sword Sect. They have always looked down on the Bai family. Last year, when the disciples of the Imperial Sword Sect came to visit us, they even made outrageous remarks after drinking, saying that they wanted to take Xian'er as a concubine."

"We almost had a falling out, and if we sell the shops this time, they will definitely try to lower the price," Bai Tu sighed.

It turns out that in order to support Lu Ming's warship construction, Bai Fu was actually going to sell the family's shops on Mingshan Island.

The Bai family may seem powerful and influential in the southern borderlands, but outside, they can only be treated as doormats.

Through generations of accumulation, they acquired some property on Mingshan Island, but it also attracted the covetous eyes of many sects.

I endured a lot of humiliation.

"Sell as much as you can. In short, the Bai family will do everything in its power to help the Marquis this time. Didn't you see that within the Marquis's mansion, all factions are secretly hostile to the Bai family, especially the Baili family, who have repeatedly made things difficult for us?"

He comes from a third-rate family, yet he acts so arrogantly simply because he has served the Marquis for a longer period of time.

How could I swallow this insult?

If this matter succeeds, the Bai family's status will undoubtedly rise within the Marquis's household.

After Bai Fu finished speaking.

Looking at Bai Tu who remained silent, he waved his hand and said, "Go and prepare. Go to Mingshan Island as soon as possible to sell the shop. Anyway, we can refine weapons. We can rent a shop and do business just the same. It's just that we'll earn less."

"I'll go right away." After hearing the ancestor's words, Bai Tu could only nod and retreat.

Lu Ming, on the other hand, was unaware of all this.

He was in a secret room at that moment.

I just swallowed a Xuanwu Body Refining Pill.

I'm preparing to improve my cultivation level.

Six months from now, we will be heading to Penglai Island, so naturally we must do our utmost to increase our strength.

Thank you to the user "Loves to Doze Off" for the 100 reading coins, and thank you to all the other users for the monthly tickets!

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(End of this chapter)