In the global desert, I have a spring of spiritual water.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chen Chuan regretted them.

This is the desert era, not the internet era. Besides, the other side is a bandit leader. There's absolutely no need to add any bubbly sounds.

"Are you the owner of Taiping Manor?"

A moment later, a woman's voice rang in Chen Chuan's mind; obviously, this voice was inaudible to outsiders.

The sound-transmitting jade pendant seems to have created a medium that allows the two to communicate using their consciousness.

"I am Chen Chuan, the master of Taiping Manor. Are you Hong Zhu'er?"

Chen Chuan countered with a question.

He had learned the name Hong Zhu'er not recently. He had mentioned it when he was chatting with Master Mo before. The "Red Feather Water Bandits" active in the Shanghe County area were members of the Red Feather Gang's Chiyan Hall, and the hall leader was named Hong Zhu'er.

At the time, Chen Chuan was still thinking that such a name must be a woman's, and it turned out to be true.

"The 1000 jars of water you sent to ransom people were all of the highest quality. Has Taipingzhuang discovered a superior water source?"

Red Spider asked directly.

"Yes."

Chen Chuan gave an affirmative answer: Taipingzhuang has more than 10,000 people, and this kind of thing cannot be kept secret.

"In that case, I'd like to make a deal with Master Chen."

"What kind of business?"

"Exchanging goods for water".

"What can the Crimson Flame Hall offer?"

Chen Chuan asked curiously.

"Pills, weapons, or anything else that Master Chen desires, please let him know."

"Do you have alchemists and weapon refiners there?"

Chen Chuan reacted quickly. Hong Zhu'er's suggestion of exchanging goods for water was likely a long-term exchange, which would require the Crimson Flame Hall to provide a continuous supply of pills and weapons. Without alchemists and weapon refiners, it would be impossible to sustain itself.

"I am an alchemist myself, and as long as there are sufficient materials, low-level pills can be supplied without limit."

Red Spider returns.

Upon hearing that the other party was an alchemist, Chen Chuan was immediately excited. According to the information in his memory, alchemists and weapon refiners were special professions. Although their status was lower than that of life source masters, they were still incomparable to ordinary cultivators.

If a faction possesses alchemists, weapon refiners, and life essence masters simultaneously, then it's only a matter of time before that faction grows stronger.

Chen Chuan himself is a Life Source Master. If he can establish a long-term cooperation with Hong Zhu'er, an alchemist, and have a continuous supply of pills, the overall strength of the Taipingzhuang Demon Suppression Team can be rapidly improved.

What Chen Chuan didn't know was that Hong Zhu'er was not only an alchemist, but also a weapon refiner. However, she was a fire-attribute cultivator and could only refine low-level weapons. High-level weapons could only be refined by metal-attribute weapon refiners.

However, for the demon-suppressing team of Taipingzhuang, low-level weapons were sufficient, which is why Hongzhuer suggested exchanging pills and weapons for water.

"It's a win-win situation, a good deal. I'm sure Master Hong already has a transaction plan. Why don't you tell me?"

"10 Qi Gathering Pills or Marrow Replenishing Pills can be exchanged for 500 jars of high-quality water. This transaction can be completed once a day."

Hong Zhu'er had indeed come up with a trading plan. Pills and water are consumables, so this kind of trade could last a long time.

"no problem."

Chen Chuan agreed without hesitation. Qi Gathering Pills and Marrow Replenishing Pills are basic pills needed for cultivation, and they are very useful for a first-level cultivator like him. He could share the ones he couldn't finish with Geng Hu, Hu Changhe and others so that they could improve their cultivation as soon as possible.

The cost of 500 jars of water was negligible to Chen Chuan; in his view, any resource that could be obtained by exchanging water was a huge profit.

"Alright, then let's trade at the water delivery place every day at noon."

"make a deal."

After ending the conversation, Chen Chuan put the jade pendant into his spiritual spring space.

After disposing of the "corpses" of Ma Baoquan, Guo Longyuan, and others, Hu Changhe returned to the government office. He approached Chen Chuan and whispered, "All traces have been erased. Everyone who knows about this has been warned that anyone who leaks the information will have their entire family executed!"

Chen Chuan nodded. With so many people around, it was unrealistic to keep this news a secret forever, but a show of force still had to be made to prevent the news from leaking out, at least in the short term.

"Old Hu, there are two more tasks for you..."

Chen Chuan then told Hu Changhe about framing the Hongyu bandits and his dealings with them.

Hu Changhe was stunned after hearing about these two tasks. This new manor owner wanted to frame the Red Feather Water Bandits for killing Ma Baoquan, Guo Longyuan and others, while also doing business with them.

I wonder what the Red Feather Water Bandits would think if they knew that Taipingzhuang was impersonating them and framing them.

"Master, I will send someone I trust to handle this immediately."

Hu Changhe accepted the order and left. After today's killing of Ma Baoquan and Guo Longyuan, he was completely convinced by Chen Chuan.

This new lord is not only a master of destiny with extraordinary abilities, but also decisive in killing and never lets his subordinates suffer. Working under such a person must be incredibly comfortable.

It gives him a sense of security and stability, so he will carry out any order issued by Chen Chuan without hesitation.

"Young Master, there's something else I need to do..."

After Hu Changhe left, only Chen Chuan and Geng Hu remained in the council hall. The latter spoke somewhat awkwardly.

"Uncle Tiger, just say what's on your mind. We're not strangers."

"I've used up that elixir."

Geng Hu rubbed his hands together, feeling a little embarrassed. He knew that the spiritual liquid was extremely precious. Chen Chuan had given him a large bottle the day before yesterday, but it was used up in just two days.

Actually, Geng Hu didn't want to "waste" such good stuff. The main reason was that the spiritual liquid was too useful. In just two days, he had reached the level of the first-tier nine-star perfection. If he had enough spiritual liquid, he might be able to take the step to the second tier very quickly.

"How's the result?"

Chen Chuan wanted to know how the spiritual liquid would affect a first-tier, nine-star expert like Geng Hu.

"Excellent!"

Geng Hu said solemnly, "With the help of the spiritual liquid, I have reached the first rank, nine stars, and am only one step away from the second rank."

"Excellent, excellent!"

Chen Chuan nodded repeatedly, then took out a bottle of spiritual liquid from his spatial storage and handed it to Geng Hu: "Just focus on cultivation for the time being, don't worry about anything else!"

"Thank you, young master!"

"I will definitely cultivate diligently and live up to Young Master's expectations!"

Upon receiving the spiritual liquid, Geng Hu excitedly expressed his gratitude.

"I already said we're all family, no need to be polite."

"Go and cultivate!"

Chen Chuan waved casually and then walked straight to the backyard.

Upon returning to his main residence, Chen Chuan's consciousness entered the Spirit Spring Space. The scene within the Spirit Spring Space had changed somewhat. What was originally a hazy expanse with only a single Spirit Spring had now been replaced by an acre of fertile land.

The information in the Spirit Spring Space has also changed.

Spirit Spring Level: 2

Available clones: 15 (5/15)

You can collect 8 liters of spiritual liquid (a level 2 spiritual spring produces 3 liters of spiritual liquid daily).

Available spiritual land: one mu

Number of usable spirit field clones: 3 (0/3)

Upgrade requirement: Nourish 100000 subjects (13961/100000)

Upgrade effect: Unknown.