Chapter 110: Partners

Yan Liqiang wrapped up his morning tasks by taking a clean bath in the lake and putting on a fresh change of clothes, washing the clothes, gloves, and other things he had worn to clean the toilets, and dried them.

He wasn’t particularly a germaphobe. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to take on this assignment. However, the clothes he wore earlier reeked of some odor after he cleaned the toilets. Yan Liqiang didn’t want to be ‘viewed in a new light’ wherever he went, so he naturally wanted to change into a new set of clean clothes. This was also the reason why Yan Liqiang had prepared a few sets of clothes for himself.

“Brother Liqiang, catch!” When Yan Liqiang had just finished drying his clothes, Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng came over to his courtyard while nibbling on their corn. They tossed one of the cobs they had cooked and a boiled egg to Yan Liqiang.

The corn was still a little hot but not scalding to the hands. Yan Liqiang caught the corn and as soon as he peeled the leaves, the sweet aroma of corn instantly wafted into his nostrils. After working the entire morning, his tummy had been growling since long ago. Hence, Yan Liqiang who had just received some corn wasn’t shy to start gobbling down his food.

The Divine Sword Sect only provided two meals. For external disciples like Yan Liqiang, those meals merely meant going to a few designated meal collection points at Gray Hall to collect their meals which consisted of nothing but six steamed or salted vegetable buns. The treatment an external disciple received was no different than when they were in the Commandment Courtyard. All the sect had to do was ensure was they were not starved to death.

Yan Liqiang had never tasted salted carrots in his steamed buns before; he experienced it yesterday for the first time in his entire life. The food from Gray Hall could simply be rated as the most exotic.

There weren’t any issues if the external disciples wished to treat themselves to better food. As long as you could afford them, there were luxury restaurants among a few marketplaces which served lavish meals.

The practice of the Divine Sword Sect was to force external disciples to either clench their teeth and bear the hardships, or clench their teeth and work towards becoming stronger so they could break away from the external disciple rank as soon as possible.

In actuality, Gu Zexuan, Yan Liqiang, and the rest weren’t allowed to eat the corn in the fields here as all of the harvests belonged to the sect. But there’s a saying that goes, ‘If there’s a will, there’s a way’. After Gu Zexuan offered some silver to a few of the older residents here, he usually bought some eggs from the old men to boil and eat them, but the few chickens here were considered to be private property reared by the same bunch of old men. The old men just pretended they didn’t see anyone picking a few corn cobs from the fields and conveniently cooking them with the eggs.

“How did it go? Is your work easy to do? Just let us know if you need help. Zhao Huipeng and I are willing to help you out.” Gu Zexuan told Yan Liqiang while nibbling his corn.

“It’s not that bad, there’s no need to trouble both of you. It may be a little tough, but I can do it alone.”

Yan Liqiang wasn’t sure if he was famished or if he had gotten too sick of eating steamed buns these days, but the corn he was eating right now that was only boiled with plain water had an exquisite sweet taste to it.

“Your speed in cleaning the toilets is pretty fast. Some of the external disciples who came to Tianqiao Peak to clean the toilets in the past took half a day to carry the water from the foot of the mountain up there, let alone the rest…”

“Perhaps there were more people on Tianqiao Peak’s mountain path in the morning so it took a little longer to get the water up there. I went before the sun rose and ran while carrying the water since there was no one else on the mountain path, so it was faster!” Yan Liqiang humbly answered. However, the current physical strength and stamina of his body were incomparable to those ordinary external disciples. He could complete the process of lifting water alone a few hours less than other the other disciples, which significantly reduced the time it took for him to complete his work.

“Haha, seems like Brother Liqiang will have your entire morning freed up to properly cultivate. Seize the opportunity to advance as soon as you can to spite that Huo guy!”

“I have no idea when I can advance either. I have only passed the Horse Stance stage. There’s still a long way before I can advance as a Martial Warrior, let alone Supreme Martial Warrior!”

“Don’t worry too much. You can’t rush into things like cultivation, just take it slow and steady. As long as you persevere, success will follow naturally when the conditions are right. But bear in mind that there’s one thing you mustn’t take slow— earning money!” Gu Zexuan sighed. “Without money, life is tough in the Divine Sword Sect before can you attain the direct disciple rank. Even enjoying a meal would be a problem. Although my clan isn’t that poor, I can’t have my clan send someone to deliver money to me forever. A man should stand on his own feet out here. Do you have any ideas on how to earn money, Brother? If you do, we can do it together. After all, it’s always easier to do that with three people rather than just one. We all pitch in whatever we can offer, be it money, ideas or efforts. Let’s see if we can find a way to earn money…”

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“What have Senior Martial Brothers done before to earn money? Let’s hear it!”

“Well… My clan was involved in stonemasonry before. A few months ago, Senior Martial Brother Gu bought me some tools and the both of us tried to create a few mortars and pestles for crushing medicinal herbs to sell at the marketplace. But none of them were sold…” Zhao Huipeng blushed and explained in embarrassment.

“Sigh, let’s not bring that up. Everything’s great at home but not when you are outside. Brother, you saw it too when you went to shop at the marketplace yesterday. Whatever that can bring in money has already been done by someone, and even the ones that cannot bring in money has already been done by the others. It’s definitely not easy to find ways to earn money without impacting our cultivation…”

An idea suddenly popped up in Yan Liqiang’s mind. Although Yan Liqiang had done his very best in cleaning the toilets today, there was still something he was unsatisfied with— he wasn’t able to completely get rid of the odor in there even after he had done the cleaning. When he was bathing, he kept pondering about how to perfectly carry out this task. There were already a few plans brewing in his mind. It just so happened that when Gu Zexuan mentioned making money, he immediately recalled one of the easiest plans that they might as well give a try.

“Well… I have a plan, but I am not sure if it will be successful!”

“Let’s hear it then!” Gu Zexuan’s interest was instantly piqued.

“I also thought of this idea when I was cleaning the toilets today. Hmm… My grandfather used to be a wandering physician. He knew of a way to dispel the odor in toilets. Senior Martial Brother Gu, if we can create something that can dispel or significantly reduce the odor in toilets, do you think it will be a hit?”

“Are you talking about perfume sachets? But those already existed long ago.”

“Not perfume sachets. Those sachets will only cover up the odor in the toilets instead of getting rid of it. I am talking about something else…”

“Then is this thing you are talking about that’s easy to make? How much silver do we need to invest to see the result?”

“It’s very easy to make. If you are asking about investment, then probably a few candareens of silver would do. We can make one sample batch to try first…”

“Just a few candareens of silver?!” Gu Zexuan’s eyes widened like saucers. “That cheap?!”

“It doesn’t cost a lot to make them, but it’s a little time-consuming. If we start making them now, we will have the finished products in about two or three months!”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s do it!” Gu Zexuan immediately slapped his own thighs and yelled enthusiastically. “It’s just a few candareens of silver which hardly worth anything. It will be gone right after a good meal. But this is a long-term business investment we are talking about here. It definitely worth a try! How about this— since this is your idea, Zhao Huipeng and I will contribute in terms of money and effort. You’ll just have to tell us what to do and we will do it for you. If these things can be sold for money, we’ll let you have half of the profit while Zhao Huipeng and I will share the remaining half. Sound good?”

“Sure, that’s settled then!” Yan Liqiang smiled.

Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng were both quite excited and were eager to get started. “Brother, tell us what are the necessary ingredients to make this thing you speak of?”

“We need a few huge clay jars used for marinating salted vegetables…”

“Huge gray jars for marinating salted vegetables?” Gu Zexuan was a little dumbfounded. “Alright, I will go buy them…” He then agreed without any questions.