Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 398 Mandarin Duck Hot Pot and Alchemy Furnace

"Sell...sell 'yourself'?"

The female cultivator frowned and asked, "You mean selling yourself? But I've heard that the Taiyin Sect not only forbids slave contracts, but also prohibits the private buying and selling of people. There's no such thing as servants here?"

"It is prohibited, but I'm not talking about selling oneself into servitude. I'm referring to signing long-term work agreements with the communities established by the Taiyin Sect disciples," Song Bozheng explained. "I have a friend who is a pill cultivator. Because he was short of money, he signed a three-year work agreement with the Longshan Community, which pays him five hundred yuan a month! And he doesn't need to stay in Longshan Port all the time. He just needs to provide a batch of pills according to the list provided by the Longshan Community every week! He works at the famous Spiritual Qi Research Institute! He's doing two jobs and earning two salaries!"

"How... how could this be possible!"

The female cultivator was shocked, her eyes wide with excitement, but then she looked disappointed and said, "But my alchemy skills are terrible, I'm afraid no guild would want me..."

Song Bozheng replied, "Aren't you a weapon refiner? You can sign long-term work agreements to repair spiritual weapons and magic treasures for members of the community. I heard from my friend that the Longshan community recruits cultivators with long-term work agreements, not only alchemists, but also weapon refiners, talisman refiners, and even two culinary cultivators!"

The female cultivator was overjoyed, her voice rising several decibels: "Weapon cultivation is possible too!?"

"Of course! Listen to me, go back and hang another sign next to your own sign, saying you're a weapon cultivator of this level, and then find a community to sign a long-term employment agreement with—I see your cultivation isn't low either, probably higher than mine, and the Taiyin Sect disciples really value this! I'm sure quite a few communities will contact you!"

"Fellow Daoist's kindness is unforgettable!"

As the female cultivator spoke, she bowed deeply, her gratitude overflowing in her voice.

Feeling he had done a good deed, Song Bozheng felt a little lightheaded and waved his hand, saying, "Oh, no need, no need. We're all weapon cultivators, it's only right that we help each other out!"

After saying goodbye casually, he continued strolling forward with light steps.

The stalls on the night market street are all kinds of things, but most of them are scams—worthless trinkets bought from other places, which can only fool the naive "newbie" disciples of the Taiyin Sect!

After wandering around, Song Bozheng, who had come with the intention of taking advantage of the absence of most Taiyin Sect disciples to pick up some rare spiritual materials, finally left the night market street empty-handed.

It was almost time for the event to end. On his way back to the city, Song Bo glanced at the bulletin board and saw that there were only a few tens of minutes left until the end of the "Taiyin Sect Military Exercise". He hurried home.

To my surprise, when I rushed home, a bunch of night owls were already waiting at the door.

A group of night owls were browsing game forums by the door when they happened to look up and saw Song Bozheng's figure in the distance.

"Master Song! You're finally back!"

Song Bozheng smiled apologetically and asked, "I didn't expect you to arrive so early! I saw on the notice board that it wasn't over yet?"

"I only participated a few times, I didn't follow the whole time!" a night owl explained, "It was just too boring, hehe, I was just waiting for you to get that pot out for me so I could have some fun with it!"

"Don't worry! It's already been refined!"

As soon as Song Bozheng pushed open the door, he beckoned a bunch of night owls into the house. As before, although the first floor was not small, it was cluttered with random items.

However, this time, on the relatively open floor in front, there was a golden "Yuan Yang Hot Pot" that was polished to the point of being like a mirror. It was so golden and reflective that it was very eye-catching.

This "pot" is enormous and extremely heavy, its entire body made of a metal alloy primarily composed of copper. The handles on both sides are made of wood, each over an inch wide, and are inlaid into the metal. Beside the "pot" stands its "lid," which is made of glass and also has a wooden handle on top, but unlike a conventional pot lid, it has no vents.

Or rather, this "Yuan Yang pot" is not like the regular pot used in hot pot restaurants.

That's right, it's actually a "calligraphy furnace" specially made by a night owl after working for several days and almost spending all the "wages" it earned—a yin-yang hot pot-style calligraphy furnace!

"This is it!"

As Song Bozheng spoke, he pointed to the huge "Mandarin Duck Hot Pot".

A bunch of night owls trotted over in a few steps, touched the copper pot with obvious delight, and said, "It's exactly the kind I wanted!"

Song Bozheng confidently introduced, "The wood I used for the handle isn't ordinary red ironwood; it's ten-thousand-year-old red ironwood from the wilderness of Duguang. Even if it's burned with true fire, it won't easily break! And in the copper used to forge the pot body, I added some other ores, mainly silver sapphire powder, so it can at least withstand white or even blue true fire. Even when you cultivate to the Nascent Soul or Divine Transformation stage, you can still use it!"

Wow! Ten-thousand-year-old red ironwood!

A group of night owls first exclaimed with delight, then frowned and asked cautiously, "Then, is it very expensive? They said the final payment shouldn't exceed the deposit by too much... I only have this much money left..."

As he spoke, he took out a pile of loose copper coins and a few crumpled banknotes from his Qiankun bag. At a glance, they wouldn't add up to more than twenty yuan.

"Puchi-"

Song Bozheng couldn't help but burst out laughing.

While trying to adjust his facial expression, he said, "It's okay, it's enough. Just give me another ten yuan, hahaha!"

After laughing for a long time, he added amidst the awkward expressions of the night owl, "These materials aren't worth much! I find you Taiyin Sect disciples really amusing. As soon as you hear something about 'thousand years' or 'ten thousand years,' you think it's very expensive. The unscrupulous vendors at the night market always use these kinds of names to swindle money! Actually, these things are very cheap! Unless they are spiritual herbs or lingzhi, otherwise, these woods and minerals, let alone thousands or tens of thousands of years old, even hundreds of thousands of years old, aren't that valuable!"

"So that's how it is..."

A bunch of night owls scratched their heads, revealing a slightly silly grin, and tried to explain: "Mainly, on our Blue Star, trees that are thousands of years old have to be protected, and we've never even heard of trees that are tens of thousands of years old, so that's why..."

Song Bozheng nodded: "Oh right, I almost forgot, your Blue Star has no spiritual energy, so nothing has a long lifespan!"

After he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a little sad and asked, "Then... what will happen to you in another hundred years?"