Chapter 8

Lin Haoming didn't expect the benefits to come so quickly, but this wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that the Spirit Gathering Pearl now charged spirit stones ten times faster. Originally, it took nearly a day to fully charge a spirit stone with spirit energy, but now it only took one hour.

Given this, Lin Haoming had even bolder ideas.

The next day, Lin Haoming returned to his slaughterhouse. As soon as he arrived, Li Shun Tian, looking somewhat displeased, ran over and whispered, "Manager Lin, are you going to let Bao Wen Liang also take charge here?"

When Lin Haoming heard this, he recalled that when he had initially appointed Li Shun Tian to manage the place, he hadn't received any merit from him, indicating that the young man wasn't entirely sincere. Thinking this, Lin Haoming patted his shoulder and said, "Shun Tian, you know I have seven or eight late-stage Qi Cultivation disciples under me. Your cultivation is a bit weak, and I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it, so I asked Junior Brother Bao to help you!"

Hearing this, Li Shun Tian's expression turned sour, realizing that Lin Haoming was clearly supporting Bao Wen Liang. Thinking about how he had been close to Lin Haoming before but was now overtaken by Bao Wen Liang, he felt a bit resentful.

Of course, Lin Haoming wouldn't really do anything to him. After all, when he was at his lowest, Li Shun Tian had been close to him. So, Lin Haoming smiled and patted his shoulder again, saying, "Shun Tian, don't be upset. Remember, you are my confidant. I have a task for you. Go and ask everyone if they have any leftover waste spirit stones and collect them for me!"

Hearing this, Li Shun Tian recovered from his disappointment. He, who had been somewhat dejected, became even more spirited than before.

Lin Haoming also felt a bit of merit enter the Merit Pearl, and he inwardly cursed Li Shun Tian for not being grateful for his past kindness. Now, after a bit of tough love and a sweet reward, he was grateful, truly a low character!

However, from his performance, Lin Haoming seemed to have grasped something. When you do good for someone without expecting anything in return, few people will be grateful. It's the combination of tough love and sweet rewards that works.

At the slaughterhouse, Lin Haoming directly announced that Bao Wen Liang would also be a deputy manager. Many people, upon hearing this, looked at Bao Wen Liang, surprised by his sudden change in status.

Many people recalled how Lin Haoming had not asked for their contributions the previous day. Instantly, a few people who had been close to Bao Wen Liang approached him to inquire.

Bao Wen Liang knew that to establish himself here, he needed help, especially with Li Shun Tian still around. So, he quietly told others that Manager Lin wasn't refusing their contributions but was waiting for them to show their loyalty. He was the first to show his loyalty, which is why he received the benefits.

Hearing this, everyone understood. Bao Wen Liang only told three people, but in this place, who didn't have a few friends? As a result, when Lin Haoming finished killing the mountain armadillos and was about to leave, Bao Wen Liang ran over with a smile and handed him a cloth bag.

Lin Haoming looked inside and found it was full of Qi Circulation Pills.

Bao Wen Liang immediately explained with a smile, "It's everyone's heartfelt contribution!"

Lin Haoming, recalling how those people had been ungrateful the previous day, didn't hesitate to take the pills. Afterward, he instructed, "Tell those who gave the pills that things will be the same as when Hai Fu Tong was around!"

"Alright!" Bao Wen Liang replied with a smile and returned.

As Lin Haoming watched him go, he returned to his residence. Unexpectedly, he felt the Merit Pearl receive a significant amount of merit, and the fourth golden line was already faintly visible.

Lin Haoming looked back at the slaughterhouse and inwardly cursed these people for clearly being able to benefit but refusing to do so, truly a bunch of low characters.

However, although the amount of merit he received this time was considerable, the quality was clearly not as good as Bao Wen Liang's. After all, not everyone could rise from the bottom, and he couldn't make everyone a deputy manager.

On the third day, Lin Haoming received over three hundred waste spirit stones.

Looking at the large bag of waste spirit stones, Lin Haoming sighed inwardly. Indeed, those who could be here were all struggling. Even waste spirit stones were too precious to discard.

The only use of waste spirit stones was to reinsert them into the spirit stone mine. Since they were spirit stones, over time, the mine would nurture them to the point where they could be recharged with spirit energy and mined again. Therefore, the sect also had people who bought them, but it took one hundred waste spirit stones to exchange for one Qi Circulation Pill. The amount of waste spirit stones these people accumulated in their lifetimes could probably only exchange for one or two Qi Circulation Pills.

However, if it weren't for this, Lin Haoming wouldn't have had the opportunity to obtain so many waste spirit stones. He felt quite lucky.

With over three hundred waste spirit stones, he could charge twelve spirit stones a day, meaning he would have twelve spirit stones' worth of income each day.

Moreover, Lin Haoming didn't want to delay his cultivation. He took out five different types of elemental spirit stones and placed them in five positions, forming a small Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array. With this array, his cultivation speed was at least twice as fast as just absorbing low-grade spirit stones, which was even better than the effect of the Spirit Gathering Pearl, which was equivalent to a mid-grade spirit stone, and it didn't interfere with the Spirit Gathering Pearl producing spirit stones for him.

As for continuing to liberate the mountain armadillos, Lin Haoming no longer planned to do so. After three times of unsealing the seals, he realized that the merit required to unseal the fourth layer would definitely be greater than the third. He had killed over a thousand mountain armadillos without unsealing the third layer, indicating that the returns from killing mountain armadillos were no longer proportional to the time he spent cultivating and producing spirit stones. Therefore, in the coming days, Lin Haoming only occasionally checked on his territory and spent the rest of his time cultivating.

With his current cultivation, absorbing the spirit energy of one low-grade spirit stone, without considering the refinement process, took four hours. Including the refinement time, he could refine the spirit energy of two low-grade spirit stones a day. However, using the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array, he would consume these five spirit stones a day, and the benefit would be less than five spirit stones' worth, meaning some of the spirit energy was wasted.

However, with the Spirit Gathering Pearl producing spirit stones, Lin Haoming didn't care about this. For him, quickly improving his cultivation was the most important.

Now, with the help of the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array, Lin Haoming's one day of cultivation was equivalent to twenty days of pure meditation, meaning his one day of cultivation was equivalent to two months of cultivation, or nearly three years of hard practice.

If it were a disciple with outstanding talent, their cultivation would have greatly improved. However, for Lin Haoming, his cultivation growth was rather meager. Based on his estimation, to cultivate to the eighth layer of Qi Cultivation, even with non-stop hard practice, it would take at least half a year, but the duel with Guo Xin was only a few days away.

Given this situation, Lin Haoming didn't plan to continue cultivating. Moreover, he already had over three hundred spirit stones, and he needed to prepare for his duel.

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