Chapter 92

"Shuangliu, white nitre, yuntan, liuli powder... Truly, the Moon Washing Sect is rich and generous." Tang Jie carefully sorted through the various materials, categorizing them.

These materials were all excellent for setting up arrays, and they were estimated to be worth 1,800 spirit coins.

For Tang Jie, who had neither the support of a wealthy family nor any golden finger to make money, and certainly no invention to make him rich, he had to seize every rare opportunity.

Since coming to the Moon Washing Academy, Tang Jie had already made two windfalls. One was from Xie Fengtang, and the other from killing Zhuang Shen. This would be the third.

With these resources, he could refine his muscles and bones again, further enhancing his strength. By then, he might truly have the qualifications to go out for trials and create wealth.

However, this time, Tang Jie did not plan to sell these materials to outsiders.

If these materials were used on Wei Tianchong's puppet, they would definitely elevate it to a higher level. Most importantly, they matched the array techniques on the Heavenly Control Pavilion, making them very suitable for use. Even if it couldn't reach the strength of the Heavenly Control Pavilion's puppets, it would still be much stronger than the previous wolf puppet.

The next morning, Tang Jie went to find Wei Tianchong. Wei Tianchong was delighted to hear that someone was selling a batch of rare materials at a low price, but his face soon turned sour. "I don't have much money left, and I need to save some for cultivation. Last time, when we made the wolf puppet, you said it would make money, but we lost everything. Now, this one will cost even more. Even if the Wei family gives me a monthly allowance, it won't be enough."

Tang Jie could only say, "Last time, the wolf puppet was a loss, but it was destroyed before we could use it to make money. That was due to our lack of experience. This time, I have a good idea to ensure that Young Master can immediately use it to make money after completion."

"What method?"

"Tiger Roar Valley."

"Tiger Roar Valley? You want to go there for trials?" Wei Tianchong jumped up.

Tiger Roar Valley is a valley located in Qingyun Mountain.

The valley is surrounded by a large array, and inside, fierce beasts and demons are kept. It is considered the most dangerous place in the Moon Washing Academy and is also a trial ground. However, the academy's masters call it a practical exercise.

According to the masters, the demon beasts in Tiger Roar Valley are just for the students to practice and improve their survival skills in the wild.

Since everything in Tiger Roar Valley is artificially cultivated, the spirit herbs are deliberately planted, and the demon beasts are captured from outside, students must pay an entry fee to enter for trials. However, all the benefits generated from this are the students' own, whether they make a profit or a loss depends on their own abilities.

According to the academy's rules, students must pay 200 spirit coins per person per day to enter Tiger Roar Valley, and only students below the Spirit Lake stage are allowed to enter.

Because of this, although the safety level in Tiger Roar Valley is higher than outside, students still dare not enter easily—suffering and sweating aside, if the benefits earned are not enough, they might even have to pay more.

"Yes, to Tiger Roar Valley. You are still far from the top of the rankings. I was too eager before. Now, I think going to Tiger Roar Valley is more suitable," Tang Jie replied.

"Not suitable!" Wei Tianchong pounded his chest. "Do you think 200 spirit coins a day is easy to earn? Don't think that the things we buy in the market are worth hundreds or thousands, those are brought back by students above the Spirit Lake stage from dangerous places, not like Tiger Roar Valley! A fragrant herb that costs ten spirit coins in the valley might be guarded by a demon... You say a ten-spirit-coin herb, in Tiger Roar Valley, it could be guarded by a demon! Is there any justice in this world?!"

"From the tone of Young Master, it seems you have done some research."

"Heh, do you think I'm still as naive as before?" Wei Tianchong said casually.

Before this, Wei Tianchong had already inquired about it.

After the trials began, many students had the idea of making money by entering the valley to hunt demons, but they all ended up with broken heads and bleeding noses.

Their biggest mistake was equating the value of materials in the market with those in Tiger Roar Valley, ignoring the fact that the Moon Washing Academy, no matter how generous, could not afford to throw in thousands of materials for students to harvest.

As Wei Tianchong said, even a ten-spirit-coin spirit plant might be guarded by a demon!

200 spirit coins? If you can break even, you're already capable!

As for demon beasts worth hundreds or thousands of spirit coins, well, be careful not to be eaten by them.

That's why famous students like Qi Shaoming and An Rumei never go to that place—it's purely a money pit!

"What if I take the puppet?" Tang Jie said calmly.

"Huh?" Wei Tianchong was taken aback.

Tang Jie continued, "No matter how many restrictions there are, they are ultimately meant to deal with those who are not strong enough. The rules of the Moon Washing Academy are always that the capable get more. Puppets cannot be transferred in the practice arena, but there is no rule in Tiger Roar Valley that they must be led by the owner. Young Master, do you think I would lose money if I take the puppet?"

"Absolutely not!" Wei Tianchong blurted out.

Tang Jie is at least a Sword Canon inheritor, one of the top twenty in the rankings, and a well-known 'stronger' among the current students. If he takes a puppet made by Wei Tianchong, he can't possibly lose.

Realizing this, Wei Tianchong exclaimed, "You, Tang Jie, are really calculating. With my puppet, you can indeed make a fortune... But why should you use my puppet? I spent money and effort on it!"

"I'll rent it, Young Master." Tang Jie smiled. "Isn't the purpose of making the puppet to make money? How can you make money? By competing in the rankings? You don't have the strength for that. Why not rent it out? A few dozen spirit coins a day, and you can recover the cost in a hundred days."

Wei Tianchong opened his mouth, speechless for a moment. Then he thought and said, "No, what if it gets damaged again?"

Tang Jie sighed, "This time, the puppet isn't made of lightning-struck wood, and the materials are tougher. I promise to add protective arrays, so it won't break so easily. Besides, if you don't trust others, why not trust me?"

Wei Tianchong looked at Tang Jie suspiciously, "I don't trust you... Why do I always feel that the wolf puppet breaking so easily had something to do with those array patterns?"

Tang Jie's heart raced, "The student selling the materials is a friend of mine. I can help you negotiate, and the price should be around 1,400 spirit coins."

"1,000 spirit coins."

"Young Master, this batch is already hundreds cheaper!"

"1,200 at most, or I won't do it."

"..." If I can return from Tiger Roar Valley with a full load, I will widely publicize that it was all thanks to your puppet. Then your rental business will be much easier."

"Exempt you from one day's rent, help you buy a control puppet spell, and cover the cost of going to Tiger Roar Valley, but you have to pay me back."

"..." Tang Jie gritted his teeth and agreed, "Deal!"

Usually, this guy doesn't seem like much, but why is he so ruthless when it comes to business?

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With the money from Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie immediately went to the Spirit妙坊 to buy 1,000 spirit coins worth of herbs for refinement. As for the remaining 200, he bought some other materials.

Since it was only a 1,000 spirit coin refinement, the effect was far less noticeable than the second time. In fact, Tang Jie barely felt any improvement, making him realize that as his physical condition improved, the same level of enhancement might require more resources in the future.

This made Tang Jie somewhat regretful, wishing he had saved it all for later use.

But he realized that some things can only be understood after making mistakes, so he didn't dwell on it.

This trip to Tiger Roar Valley was extremely meaningful for Tang Jie. It would directly determine whether he could turn this place into a source of future gains and wealth.

To improve quickly, he needed a way to make money.

The resources in the Divine Weapon Arena were limited, and for long-term development, students needed a more stable income source.

To make money, students tried various methods, including working for the academy or engaging in the four arts of alchemy, talismans, arrays, and artifacts.

But working for the academy paid too little, and the four arts required a large initial investment with slow returns. His only advantage, array techniques, could not be exposed, so he had to find another way, ultimately setting his sights on Tiger Roar Valley.

But Tiger Roar Valley wasn't easy to profit from. Cai Junyang had been there twice. The first time, he only brought back 80 spirit coins worth of herbs, and the second time, with more experience, he brought out 120 spirit coins worth of goods. In total, he lost half. Since he entered the academy through the Jade Gate and wasn't from a wealthy family, he said he lost everything, even his pants.

Given Cai Junyang's strength, it was clear how difficult it was to make money. Tang Jie estimated that even with his Unphase Golden Body, he could at most break even. Of course, this was partly due to entering too early. If he waited until the late Spirit Spring stage, he might make some profit, but that would be too late for students.

To make this place a long-term resource supplier, he needed greater strength.

Moreover, there was another important reason why he had to go to Tiger Roar Valley...

Now that he was fully prepared, he just needed to wait for Wei Tianchong's puppet.

Today, Wei Tianchong's puppet was finally completed. Unlike the previous one, this was a true humanoid combat puppet.

The biggest advantage of a humanoid combat puppet was that it could wear armor and use weapons. With the right array techniques, it could be used like a spirit master of the corresponding level.

This was Wei Tianchong's biggest investment yet. Excluding the materials left from the wolf puppet, he spent 5,000 spirit coins, almost depleting all his savings and even borrowing from his older brother. If Tang Jie couldn't help him turn the puppet into wealth and strength, he would really have to fight Tang Jie to the death.

After receiving the puppet, Tang Jie again sought help from Qin Liang, a student skilled in array techniques, to refine the arrays.

A few days later, after receiving it back, Tang Jie made further adjustments.

This time, he did not use the array techniques from Xu Muyang's Array Dao True Explanation but the array techniques from the Heavenly Control Pavilion's puppets.

After studying for so long, he had mastered most of the array diagrams on those puppets.

The puppets from the Heavenly Control Pavilion were powerful enough to make Tang Jie and Qi Shaoming vomit blood and retreat, even without the high-grade materials. This puppet's strength was still formidable.

It took Tang Jie five full days to complete the array refinement. Then, he rented a puppet token from the academy, which had its own space for storing the puppet but could not hold other items like a storage bag.

Finally, Tang Jie tested his newly learned spirit control technique. Unfortunately, it could help him sense the golden needles he threw, but there was still a distance limit.

But it was better than nothing.

With everything prepared, the next step was to take it to Tiger Roar Valley to implement the plan.

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PS: I have very few drafts left, so I will be updating one chapter at a time. I will try my best to catch up.