I Can Add Points Infinitely - Chapter 60

“Hahaha… Interesting, this is really too interesting…”

Unlike Senior Brother Fang Nan, who was furious, Su Luo seemed overjoyed when he heard the news from Dongshi Valley.

“This Shen Lian is quite amusing; he doesn’t play by the rules at all. I thought he would be stuck in a deadlock with Senior Brother for a while, but I didn’t expect him to kick Senior Brother out so quickly…”

“Haha… I bet Senior Brother must be fuming right now.”

Su Luo laughed heartily, unable to hide his excitement.

“Senior Brother is definitely angry, but the important question is, what should we do next? I doubt he will take this lying down.”

Standing beside Su Luo was Su Cheng, a mature and steady young man ranked second among the core disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect. He and Su Luo were biological brothers. Both were prodigies, having entered the sect together and advanced to core disciples one after another. However, Su Cheng had no interest in becoming the sect leader, so he was content to stay behind the scenes, advising Su Luo.

“No rush, let’s wait and see what Senior Brother does next,” Su Luo replied thoughtfully.

“In my opinion, we should proceed on two fronts. If you wish to befriend Shen Lian, we could quietly move towards Dongshi Valley in advance,” Su Cheng suggested calmly. “Meanwhile, we should also keep a close watch on Senior Brother’s actions to ensure we are prepared if things go south.”

“Oh? Second Brother, are you worried that Senior Brother might take drastic measures?” Su Luo asked.

“I’m not certain yet, but given Senior Brother’s nature, he’s never one to suffer a loss quietly,” Su Cheng said meaningfully.

Hearing this, Su Luo fell silent, deep in thought.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

The output of the Dongshi Valley mine had skyrocketed several times. Because Shen Lian had kept every promise he made, the workers’ enthusiasm for labor was at an all-time high. They no longer slaved away for just two steamed buns a day. Now, after a day of work, they could eat well-balanced, nutritious meals with plenty of meat, and still save up a significant amount of wages. Additionally, many of their family members were employed in the canteen, earning a second income.

At this rate, even if they became too old to work in the future, the wages they saved could be enough to buy property and farmland back in the city and live comfortably. Everyone was filled with hope for the future.

Under Shen Lian’s new policies, the mine thrived and gradually settled into a healthy rhythm.

In the central main building.

After reviewing the accounts, Shen Lian nodded in satisfaction.

“Not bad.”

After deducting all the operational costs of the mine and the profits handed over to the sect, he still had two thousand low-grade spirit stones left. All of these belonged to him as personal assets. With this stable income, he could invest freely in many things in the future, indirectly supporting his cultivation.

“How are Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister doing?” Shen Lian asked, closing the account book.

“They’ve both gone into seclusion for cultivation. At most, they’ll break through to the Foundation Establishment stage in a week,” Yun Xiong replied with a smile.

Shen Lian had always been generous to his people. Since he had successfully taken over the management of the mine, spirit stones needed for cultivation had been provided without restriction to Yun Xiong and the others. This had accelerated their cultivation speed several times. Of course, all the spirit stones consumed were included in the mine’s operating expenses. After all, the sect was wealthy and didn’t care about such a small amount of spirit stones.

Now, Luo Junyuan and Shan Qing had consolidated their strength and officially announced their seclusion today to prepare for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm. As for Yun Xiong, his strength had also increased to the third level of the Foundation Establishment stage. Meanwhile, Shen Lian had adjusted his displayed cultivation level to the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment stage.

“Junior Brother, I didn’t expect you to have such a strong talent for both cultivation and managing businesses. The Sect Master was indeed right about you,” Yun Xiong exclaimed with admiration. His gaze at Shen Lian was filled with respect.

“It’s all thanks to everyone’s help,” Shen Lian replied with a modest smile. “By the way, where is Fourth Senior Sister?”

“Ah, that girl…” Yun Xiong sighed with a helpless expression. “She just advanced to the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage, so I asked her to consolidate her cultivation.”

“Haha…” Shen Lian chuckled. Every disciple recruited by their master had good potential, including Dong Yanyan. But she was too playful. Even with the unlimited supply of spirit stones Shen Lian had provided during this time, she still didn’t focus on her cultivation. Now she had only just broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, which left Yun Xiong, the senior brother, feeling frustrated.

“After all, Fourth Senior Sister is still young. Let’s take it slowly. Even Master can’t do much about her,” Shen Lian comforted with a laugh. “Senior Brother, I plan to leave for a few days. You will be in charge of the mine during this time.”

“Oh? Where are you going?” Yun Xiong asked, puzzled.

“To the capital, to see if there’s any chance of collaborating with the branches of the major commercial firms,” Shen Lian replied casually.

“Alright, go ahead, but come back soon,” Yun Xiong nodded.

After giving some final instructions, Shen Lian left on his own.

His main purpose in going to the capital was to inquire about the exact date of the large auction so he could prepare in advance to purchase the Ningzhen Pill. As for seeking business partnerships, that was just an excuse. With the mine as his backing, he didn’t need to worry about capital. However, if he entered into a business partnership, it would consume too much of his energy, which would be detrimental to his cultivation. At least, he needed to find a reliable intermediary before considering this further.

Leaving Dongshi Valley, Shen Lian flew out of the formation and immediately took to his sword, turning into a streak of light heading towards the capital.

However, shortly after taking off, Shen Lian suddenly sensed seven figures quietly following him, keeping a certain distance behind.

Ever since advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage, Shen Lian had developed the habit of spreading his divine sense whenever he traveled to guard against unforeseen events. Today, right after leaving, he immediately noticed something unusual.

“Are they coming for me?”

Shen Lian’s heart stirred as he monitored the seven people with his divine sense. Thanks to the  Split Soul Technique, his divine sense was several levels higher than his actual cultivation. Among the seven trailing him, the strongest was a Golden Core cultivator at the third level. The rest included one at the tenth level of Foundation Establishment, two at the ninth level, and three at the eighth level. None of them seemed aware of Shen Lian’s divine sense probing, not even the Golden Core cultivator.

“It looks like they were prepared for this…”

Flying for a while, Shen Lian noticed the group behind him remained at a distance, never getting too close. It was clear they had a specific purpose.

With his mind racing, Shen Lian quickly deduced what was happening. His actions at the mine must have threatened certain interests, and this was clearly a planned retaliation.

Thinking this, Shen Lian maintained a leisurely pace, pretending to be unaware as he continued to fly.

About half an hour later, he had completely left the area around Dongshi Valley.

At that moment—

The seven people behind him suddenly sped up. Led by the Golden Core cultivator, they cut through the air with a fierce howl, quickly surrounding Shen Lian in mid-air.

“Heh… So they couldn’t wait any longer…” Shen Lian chuckled softly, his expression calm as he halted in mid-air.

He looked around to see the seven figures strategically surrounding him from all directions, their expressions unfriendly.