Scripture of Days Past

Chapter 103: Virtue Treasury

However, all of these skilled workers were still using archaic techniques that had been passed down for generations, and none of them were willing to study or innovate out of fear of demonification.

Thus, Chu Qiguang had no choice but to ask Daoist Master Law Origin to perform a preemptive exorcism on them, giving them the confidence to step out of their comfort zones.

Additionally, he secretly fed the twelve skilled workers some golden wine before putting them through the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique. After undergoing this process, all of them had fiendish bloodlines within their bodies, making them more resistant to demonification.

The next day, the twelve workers felt as if they had been reborn. Naturally, they were unaware that they had been put through the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique. They simply believed that Daoist Master Law Origin’s exorcism had worked, and that they had been blessed by the Profound Origin Dao Lord.

To further sweeten the deal, Chu Qiguang rewarded each of them with one tael of silver. He also told them that if they could make a functioning prototype of either machine, each of them would receive an additional one hundred taels of silver. If they successfully made both machines, then each person would receive three hundred taels of silver.

After dangling a tantalizing carrot at the end of the stick, Chu Qiguang also applied some pressure to the twelve workers. ”However, if you can’t get the job done... I’m sure you all know what type of person Master Wu Wei is. You have one year to work on these two machines. If you can’t produce even one of them in a year, then all of you will suffer the consequences.”

The combination of the monetary reward being offered and Wu Wei’s intimidating reputation in Azure Sun County was enough to drive the twelve workers to toil tirelessly day and night on this project.

Chu Qiguang left them to work on the project and visited the Daoist temple. Chen Zhu had informed him that he had to scrap the atonement slip idea and think of another way to secure funding.

After some probing, Chu Qiguang learned that a high-ranking member of the Heavenly Master Religion had disapproved of the atonement slip idea.

After some contemplation, he suggested, ”How about this? The Daoist temple, the Wu Clan, and I can work together to fund the construction of a virtue treasury, where people can store their money for safekeeping. The households who put their money into the virtue treasury will have Daoist priests praying for them every day, and once the agreed term ends, their money will be returned to them.

”Along with that, we can set up a virtue roll at the entrance of the Daoist temple, and those who deposit money into the virtue treasury can choose whether they want to have their names listed on the virtue roll. For those who choose to do so, we can hire a master calligrapher to inscribe their names onto the roll in gold according to the amount they contributed.

”We also have to think of some auspicious names to attract investors. For example, the biggest contributor will be called the Golden Virtue Benefactor, and the second biggest can be called the Silver Virtue Benefactor, and so on. The roll itself can become an attraction at the entrance of the Daoist temple for everyone to see whenever they come to pray or offer incense.”

”That’s a brilliant idea!” Chen Zhu exclaimed.

For this plan, Chu Qiguang wasn’t even offering any interest. Given how deeply superstitious people in this world were, there was no need to even offer interest as a monetary reward to attract investors.

For most wealthy households, there were very few investment opportunities for them aside from investing in cultivation resources. However, not everyone had the aptitude for martial arts, and even among those who did, some were unwilling to embark on that path for fear of increasing their susceptibility to demonification.

In this world, banks charged management fees to investors depositing money with them. If the Daoist temple could provide an alternative that charged no management fees while also allowing people to accumulate virtue and good karma with the Profound Origin Dao Lord, then it was undoubtedly going to be a more attractive option. Furthermore, many of the prominent clans in the county had spare money on their hands after dividing the Ding Clan’s assets, and they would surely be eager to jump on this opportunity.

Thus, a three-way agreement was made between Chu Qiguang, the Wu Clan, and the Daoist temple to jointly fund a virtue treasury. Chu Qiguang would contribute three thousand taels of silver, while the Wu Clan and the Daoist temple would each contribute ten thousand.

Both the Wu Clan and the Daoist temple were worried that the other party would misappropriate their funds, but they also both had complete confidence in Chu Qiguang’s abilities. Thus, it was decided that these funds would be solely managed by Chu Qiguang, and that they could only be used for textile production.

The agreement also stated that all future profits would be divided between Chu Qiguang, the Wu Clan, and the Daoist temple in a 20:40:40 ratio.

After making that investment, Chu Qiguang’s wealth had shrunk all the way down to four thousand six hundred taels of silver.

In this era, there was no need for anything like contracts because all the terms were dependent on the power, status, and abilities of the three parties involved.

While putting this latest money-making scheme into motion, Chu Qiguang also made sure to keep up with his martial arts and Dao arts cultivation. However, reaching the fifth state in Dao arts was far from simple. There was no set path to achieve the mental breakthrough required to reach the fifth state, so all Chu Qiguang could do was continue his daily meditation and slowly improve his own mental state by alleviating the symptoms of his condition whenever they flared up.

On the martial arts side of things, he had to continue improving his sensitivity to his qi and blood and attempt to use his qi and blood to nurture his brain. Due to the complexity of the human brain, this was a very dangerous process, and it had to be carried out with the utmost care and precision. Once he became able to supply his qi and blood to his entire brain, he would reach the fifth state.

Aside from cultivating martial arts and Dao arts, another part of his daily routine was studying the Sumeru King Scripture.

His physical constitution and heat tolerance were improving with each passing day, giving him superior explosive power compared to other fourth-state martial artists.

***

On this day, Chu Qiguang had just finished discussing some business matters with Chen Zhu when he began asking him about pills.

Given how close they had become, it was now very easy for Chu Qiguang to purchase pills from Chen Zhu. He had even asked Chen Zhu if it would be possible for him to buy talismans, but the answer had been a firm no.

”I have some of the Seven Treasure Pills that you asked about last time, but they’ll cost you five hundred taels of silver per pill. Are you sure you still want them?” Chen Zhu asked.

Seven Treasure Pills were refined using seven types of precious medicinal ingredients and could temporarily enhance one’s cognitive functions, granting enhanced intelligence and learning ability for two hours.

Given that the pill affected the brain, the pill poison it contained was extremely potent. For an average person, the limit was one pill every seven days. Generally speaking, a cultivator would only consume a Seven Treasure Pill at a critical juncture while making a breakthrough.

Of course, if someone could take these pills without restriction like Chu Qiguang, then they would definitely be able to reach the fifth state in martial arts much faster.

”Not many people use these pills, and at most, only one can be taken every seven days, so I only have three on hand,” Chen Zhu said.

Chu Qiguang bought all three and asked Chen Zhu to secure even more Seven Treasure Pills from the Heavenly Master Religion for him.

Chen Zhu suspected that Chu Qiguang might be reselling the pills to others, but that hardly mattered to him. They were business partners anyway, so he was happy to supply Chu Qiguang with whatever pills he asked for, whether they were for personal consumption or resale.

After that purchase, Chu Qiguang’s wealth had dwindled to three thousand one hundred taels of silver. It seemed like a lot, but he was planning to buy more Seven Treasure Pills and also save some money as liquid assets for the textile business, so it really wasn’t much to work with.

Back at home, Chu Qiguang took a Seven Treasure Pill and immediately experienced an unprecedented level of mental clarity. He took advantage of his heightened cognitive state and began trying to supply qi and blood to his brain.

Two hours later, the effects of the Seven Treasure Pill wore off, but Chu Qiguang felt like he had made more progress in those two hours than he would’ve from an entire day of arduous cultivation.

This stuff really works, but it’s so expensive! According to Qiao Zhi’s estimates, even with my aptitude, it’ll take me at least a year of cultivation to reach the fifth state. If I take Seven Treasure Pills nonstop, I can reach the fifth state in just twenty-five days of uninterrupted cultivation, but it’ll take over three hundred Seven Treasure Pills to accomplish that, which will cost me around one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver.

Chen Zhu had only three Seven Treasure Pills today, so even if I have the money, I don’t currently know anyone who can supply me with that many Seven Treasure Pills. If I want to reach the fifth state as quickly as possible, I’m going to need more wealth, influence, and connections.

Given that he was already a fourth-state martial artist, passing the martial examination set to take place in two months would be a walk in the park.

I’m probably only going to be able to take unlimited pills as I please once the textile export business is fully up and running.

At the moment, the twelve skilled workers were still tirelessly developing the two water-powered machines that Chu Qiguang had drawn up, while the Wu Clan and the Daoist temple were ironing out all of the other details. Hence, there really wasn’t much that Chu Qiguang had to do before the entire project was launched.

It’s about time I visited those ruins and paid my respects to Ergou’s father and brother. That way, I should be able to completely rid myself of Ergou’s mental influence.

With that in mind, Chu Qiguang tossed a second Seven Treasure Pill into his mouth.