Chapter 148: Dealing with Them

"Fire cotton, Uncle Zhou." Xie Wu smiled as he unwrapped one of the large bundles, revealing fluffy, fiery-red cotton-like tufts inside.

"What? Fire cotton, of all things? This is truly a treasure." Zhou Kangzai’s interest was instantly piqued upon hearing this. He walked straight up to the large bundle, picked up a tuft, squeezed and pulled at it before appraising, "Is this fire cotton grown locally? Is it expensive?"

"There are several contiguous volcanoes here, and the Huowei Zhi clan cultivates large fields of fire cotton on the slopes around the crater rims. It's a bit on the expensive side—forty purple gold coins per catty. However, their yield isn't particularly high; a single mu of land only yields a little over a hundred catties of fire cotton tufts," Xie Wu explained.

"Cough, cough! Forty purple gold coins a catty? Isn't that a bit too exorbitant?" Zhou Kangzai said powerlessly.

"It's not actually that expensive. If we were to trade other resources with them, that would truly be exorbitant," Xie Wu continued. "Earlier, we saw people from the Dao Court also going to buy fire cotton. They used all sorts of resources to barter. Those spirit golds and spirit coppers, which are extremely precious on our side, were traded at a rate of several hundred catties for just a few tens of catties of fire cotton. It blew my mind. They even used various spirit crystals to trade for fire cotton. Alas, several dozen catties of spirit crystals were only exchanged for a little over three hundred catties of fire cotton. Even if I worked all year round, I could only earn a few pieces the size of the palm of my hand.

"Still, Shen Qingjin and his siblings are truly formidable. Shen Qingjin is an incredible bargainer; he managed to trade for five thousand catties of fire cotton using just over one hundred thousand purple gold coins, a hundred catties of deep-sea black jade, and a dozen deep-sea giant clam shells, each as large as an ordinary room. From the looks of it, the Huowei Zhi clan didn't feel they were getting the short end of the stick at all—in fact, they were quite pleased."

"That makes sense. If it were me, I would have made that trade too. When the shells of those deep-sea giant clams are ground into powder and formulated into a bathing powder, it is one of the premier master ingredients for medicinal treasures used to clear the meridians and bones of children under six, helping them consolidate their foundations and embark upon the path of cultivation.

"Such deep-sea giant clam shells are easily obtainable for the aquatic races, but for the terrestrial races, they are exceedingly difficult to acquire. This is because the aquatic races control the export volume of deep-sea giant clams to prevent terrestrial races from developing too rapidly and producing too many talents that might threaten the rise of the aquatic races."

Xie Wu’s jaw dropped in shock.

"No wonder those Huowei Zhi were so warm and enthusiastic towards the three Shen siblings, and even gifted them an extra three hundred catties of fire cotton at the end."

"Naturally. With so many clam shells, the Huowei Zhi clan won't have to worry about running out for the next few decades," Zhou Kangzai remarked.

"The Shen family is truly a divine descendant clan with a deep foundation," Xie Wu sighed with emotion.

Zhou Kangzai simply rolled his eyes. After Ning Qi returned, he had already told him that the Shen siblings were most likely divine descendants, so Zhou Kangzai wasn't completely in the dark about them. However, based on his own analysis: "What deep foundation divine descendants? The human race has no such thing as overt divine blood inheritance. That family... though it's unclear how they acquired divine descendant bloodlines, they definitely enjoy the protection of a bloodline source. Moreover, they must have been discovered and sheltered by that bloodline source only very recently. Otherwise, if the Shen family had possessed a divine blood inheritance for long, it would have come to light ages ago. How could it possibly have remained hidden until today?"

"The Shen family has indeed recently caught the eye of an ancient entity suspected to be a primordial god-demon. Shen Qingjin was even taken in as a disciple by that being," Ning Qi chimed in at this moment. "That entity's Dao arena is located underwater within their territory—that lake whose name was changed to Panlong Lake."

"Panlong Lake?" Zhou Kangzai muttered thoughtfully upon hearing this. "By the way, I noticed there are quite a few cotton seeds left among these tufts. You should pick them all out and collect them; perhaps we can try planting them when we get back."

"Master, does our Ancient Sacred Sect have any volcanic terrain?" the young boy asked in surprise.

"We do," Zhou Kangzai replied. "Our Ancient Sacred Sect has plenty of territories, but unfortunately, we lack personnel skilled in cultivation, so taking them back means we can only give it a try. There's no guarantee they'll survive."

"Master, Zhou Canghai, the head of the caravan, is coming over," Zhou Kangzai's female disciple said, spotting someone approaching, and reminded her master.

Zhou Kangzai looked at the bundle of fire cotton before him, a plan already forming in his mind. He quickly stood up to welcome him and his confidants into his tent.

When Zhou Canghai caught sight of the fire cotton on the ground, his eyes lit up.

"Brother Zhou, to be honest, I came specifically for this fire cotton. I never expected to encounter such a fine thing while traveling with the Gray Elephant Caravan. The only pity is that they refuse to sell it unless you buy a minimum quantity. The Dao Court folks used their connections within the Huowei Zhi clan to exchange a small wooden plaque for a single trading opportunity. Aside from them, I only know of a few alien individuals who managed to trade for small amounts of fire cotton.

"Originally, I thought all hope was lost, and that I wouldn't be able to buy even a single catty of this fire cotton. But then I saw your martial nephew and a few other human youths purchasing massive quantities of it. So, I brazenly came over. Brother Zhou, could you spare me a hundred catties of fire cotton? The price is negotiable."

"If anyone else had come, nothing would have made me agree. But since our relationship is different... one hundred catties it is. However, I can only spare you this one hundred catties; I absolutely refuse to trade with anyone else. Everyone knows this fire cotton is a rare treasure. Not only can it be refined into top-grade dharma robes with exceptional warmth retention, but even mortals can use it."

The most crucial point was precisely that mortals could use it. Who didn't have mortal younger generations or relatives they cared about? Zhou Canghai figured that once he got his hands on the fire cotton, he intended to have a few garments made for his mortal relatives, let alone anyone else. Therefore, anyone hoarding large quantities of fire cotton was bound to strike it rich.

"Then I thank Brother Zhou immensely," Zhou Canghai said with a smile.

"Ning Qi, measure out one hundred catties of fire cotton for Senior Zhou," Zhou Kangzai instructed Ning Qi.

Upon hearing this, Ning Qi nimbly unpacked one hundred catties of fire cotton for Zhou Canghai. Sure enough, the large and small piles in front of Zhou Kangzai were reduced by half.

Zhou Canghai smiled, then transmitted his voice to Zhou Kangzai for a brief, confidential conversation. In the end, both parties were satisfied.

***

Zhou Canghai handed a small storage pouch to Zhou Kangzai.

"Who are the other people who bought large amounts of fire cotton?" Zhou Canghai asked again.

"They are guests of the Gray Elephant clan. Because they previously promised to look after us to some extent, the Gray Elephant clan placed us fifth in line," Ning Qi answered, highlighting the key point. By saying this, he was also warning Zhou Canghai not to go knocking on their doors with idle time on his hands to beg for fire cotton. Shen Qinghu would certainly not agree. She might even snap: *Beg for what? Don't your own legs work? Go buy it yourself!*

Um, Ning Qi felt that Shen Qinghu was entirely capable of saying something like that.

"It was actually them?" Zhou Canghai asked in astonishment. "No wonder they were able to haul away so much fire cotton from the Huowei Zhi clan." The Huowei Zhi clan had carted out so many bales of fire cotton—it must have been five or six thousand catties at least.

"Cough, cough. They did indeed buy a fair bit of fire cotton, but my friend has a rather overbearing personality. It'll probably be quite difficult to squeeze any fire cotton out of her hands," Ning Qi said.

Hearing this, Zhou Canghai forced an awkward smile. "I was just asking. I have no intention of trying to get any fire cotton from your friend."

Ning Qi put on an expression that seemed to say he was finally relieved.

"By the way, do those friends of yours have connections within the Gray Elephant clan?"

"Not quite sure, they didn't mention it. We only just met not long ago," Ning Qi replied.

At this point, Zhou Canghai completely gave up hope. Whether Ning Qi was unwilling to tell him or genuinely didn't know, the bottom line was that he wasn't going to get any information out of him.

After sitting for a little longer, Zhou Canghai took his leave.

As soon as he left, Zhou Kangzai grabbed Ning Qi and demanded, "What friends do you have over on the Gray Elephant side? Are they those three Shen siblings? Are they with the Gray Elephant clan?"

"That's right, it's the divine descendant Shen siblings," Ning Qi nodded and admitted. He had previously mentioned the Shen siblings' involvement with the Gray Elephant clan, so there was nothing really to hide.

"Divine descendants... are they dangerous? Your master only has you as a disciple. If something happens to you, your master will surely go mad."

Hearing this, Ning Qi was simultaneously touched by his martial uncle's concern and chuckled, "With my master's silent and taciturn nature, how could he possibly go mad?"

Zhou Kangzai thought to himself: *You really underestimate your master, kid. If he ever goes mad, ordinary people won't be able to withstand it.*

"In any case, be careful. Don't go rushing blindly toward every shiny benefit you see, only to end up trapping yourself."

Ning Qi wiped a cold sweat. "Uncle Zhou, I'm not that foolish."

Zhou Kangzai silently retracted the words he was about to speak, though in his heart he couldn't help muttering: *You really aren't all that smart.*

***

After acquiring the fire cotton, Shen Qingjin had been dragged out by Qin Zhen to tour the scenery around the Huowei Zhi clan.

Shen Qinghu continued tinkering with the small tools she had forged using the divine metal stored in the wind-breathing boat. While repairing the wind-breathing boat, she also hauled out the Earth Fruit, slowly refining it bit by bit into a small vessel. Refining a divine warship out of an intact, unitary Earth Fruit made the quality of this earth-and-wood-attribute skiff vastly superior to the wind-breathing ship. The problem was that with better materials came much greater difficulty in forging.

Over the past few days, Shen Qinghu had consumed about forty of her sixty-odd drops of divine liquid just to barely hammer out the exterior shape of the earth-and-wood skiff. Originally, she had intended to nurture the Earth Fruit, turning it into a spatial realm native to a Earth-Nether Treasure Tree, and then load it onto the wind-breathing ship or the light-ripping ship. Later, upon closer inspection, she realized the Earth Fruit in her hands was remarkably well-preserved with excellent quality, so she decided to forge it directly into a warship. Otherwise, it would have been a waste of heavenly treasures.

Both small boats were only about the size of a palm: one was the roundish, wind-entwined wind-breathing ship, and the other was the light-ripping ship's dual-attribute sibling, the earth-dominant and wood-assisted Earth-Nether ship, which looked somewhat heavy and rugged in its exterior design.

Shen Qinghu placed them on the table, looking at them back and forth while continuously and repeatedly designing the various internal structures and weapon mounts for the warships in her mind.

"Sigh, the tools on hand are a bit subpar and awkward to use. Once I finish tempering my physique and can open the secret repository, I'll have enough equipment to continue building warships," Shen Qinghu muttered to herself. Then, she picked up her small tools once more and resumed carving various divine prohibitions onto the hull of the small boat.

She still had another flagship—the light-ripping ship—but it was only a semi-finished product, lacking quite a bit of equipment and resources compared to the complete version of the fissure-light warship. Not to mention anything else, purely in terms of energy sources, the best sources were the sun and the moon.

The fissure-light warship was stocked with an ample supply of sun and moon essences.

The light-ripping ship, however, didn't have a single one.

Although the warship's weapon systems were all installed, without the sun and moon, the attack power of the primary weapons was considerably diminished. After all, sunlight and moonlight were the energies most closely aligned with the rules of the solar and lunar Great Daos. Their offensive might was also closest to those two Daos.

Therefore, the newly made little boats would all need to accumulate power slowly over time.

We'll see what other good things turn up in the future.

***

Shen Qingjin and Shen Qinglu did not return to the camp until evening, both in high spirits.

It was another temporary courtyard. They were still staying in the main courtyard, surrounded entirely by members of the Gray Elephant clan, saving them from any disturbances.

As soon as Shen Qinglu stepped inside, he saw his four bird "sons" standing obediently in a row on the table. His younger sister was holding a small golden rod, pointing it at the feet of whichever bird, and that bird had to flap its wings, fly up a foot, and then land back in its original spot.

Because their wings were too short, their age too young, and their bodies too round, every time the little birds flew up and dropped back down, they did so puffing and panting.

By now, who knew how long they had been flying? Their sweat had dampened the fluff on their heads. Not just their heads, but their chins were plastered with matted downy feathers. It was impossible to tell whether it was sweat or tears!

At the sight, Shen Qinglu immediately wanted to step forward and rescue them.

Who would have thought that with a single glare from Shen Qinghu, Qin Zhen would instantly shrink back.

Shen Qinghu had stated two days ago that the little birds were overweight and that if they didn't exercise, they wouldn't be able to fly in the future. Were they just going to stay on the ground and be treated like ostriches?

She had even warned Shen Qinglu that he must make sure to exercise the radiant finches properly. These little creatures had sturdy bones, after all.

Yet Shen Qinglu simply hadn't the heart, figuring he'd wait until they grew a bit larger.

As a result, they had been caught red-handed by Shen Qinghu today.

"Look at you all! You can't even fly a single foot without struggling? Anyone who knows better would sympathize, realizing you're just radiant finch chicks whose sheer chubbiness makes flying difficult. Anyone who doesn't know better would think you're ostrich chicks, born to do nothing but run around on the ground!"

The little radiant finches were scolded into a drooping, dejected state.

They didn't dare to breathe a single loud breath!

Shen Qinghu sped up the rhythm of her tapping, and the little birds desperately flapped, landing and rising over and over. One particularly unlucky fellow ran out of energy; right after flying up, it went *thud* and crashed straight down onto the table.

It immediately flopped onto its back, lying there completely rigid like a corpse.

"Number Four, playing dead, are you? I'll throw you straight into the fire oil to practice high-condition extreme-environment flying in a moment."

Hearing this, the "corpse" of a bird instantly struggled to right itself and made one more desperate effort to fly.

It seemed to be saying: *I can still be saved! I can complete the mission! I am a bird of steel!*

Seeing this, the other little birds tightened their nerves and clamped their wings shut. *Damn it, we have to fly seriously now. Nobody dares try playing dead, squeak squeak squeak!*

Their own bird-father was actually standing by, watching them suffer in silence—squeak squeak squeak!!~

Alas, no matter how much they squeaked, they could only keep flying up and landing under the tyrannical high-pressure regime of their little aunt Shen Qinghu.

Seeing how miserable the little birds looked, Shen Qingjin felt a sudden sense of impending doom. "Where's little meow?"

Shen Qinghu kicked a new cage beside her. "Right here."

There sat a chubby little white cat, running endlessly inside a wheel-cage that spun rapidly.

The faster it ran, the faster the cage spun, but the moment it dared to slow down, the small golden rod in Shen Qinghu's hand would instantly poke it. And it hurt.

The little cat ran for its life in tears, casting a look full of desperate appeal the moment it spotted its cat-father.

*Save me, meow.*

Shen Qinglu felt utterly helpless. *I can't save you.*