Chapter 626: Evil Qi Energy Company

Chen Mobai's return to Danxia City was, naturally, a familiar journey.

It was just a pity that there were fewer familiar faces.

Although no evidence was found connecting the previous city lord, Qin Baipeng, to the Ascension Sect, he was still held accountable for lax oversight as the city's leader. Consequently, he was completely demoted, and despite being at the peak of his career, he was directly reassigned to the Northern Sea to manage fish farming. It wasn't just Qin Baipeng; within the various departments of Danxia City's Immortal Sect official system, Chen Mobai could count on one hand the number of people he still knew or had previously dealt with.

After Qin Baipeng, Danxia City's new city lord was Sui Shanfu, a graduate of Butian Daoist Academy, making him an alumnus of Chen Mobai. Sui Shanfu had already received news that Chen Mobai might be assigned to oversee Danxia City when Wang Shuye was making arrangements at the Kaiyuan Hall. As soon as the official appointment was confirmed, he immediately called Chen Mobai. Chen Mobai had a brief conversation with him, stating that everything would remain as usual. He explained that he was coming to Danxia City simply because it was his home, which was why he was willing to oversee Danxia Mountain despite the renewed threat from the Ascension Sect. Sui Shanfu expressed his admiration for this.

However, when he called, it took a long time for the call to be answered. But he didn't mind.

Qing Musha, however, said something that somewhat moved Chen Mobai. He looked directly at the beautiful woman before him.

After accompanying Qing Musha around Qingmu City for a month, the two finally finalized all the arrangements.

Jin Junfa's slightly serious reply brought a faint smile to Chen Mobai's face.

Furthermore, with the spiritual rice and wine produced by Xiaonan Mountain, his eldest disciple's current business objective was now progressing towards an annual income of a million spirit stones.

Not far outside the wooden houses stood a large phoenix tree, tall and majestic, at the highest point of the mountain peak. Its trunk, with ancient, gnarled textures, resembled giant dragons, its vast canopy spreading to cover most of the mountaintop.

Jin Junfa's puppet factory had this one drawback from the start: it was located in the most remote area of Qingmu City, within Sui Shanfu's jurisdiction. While the area wasn't large, the spiritual energy that could be supplied to it was only of second-tier quality at most.

The tall woman was wearing a white shirt today, tightly stretched across her chest, revealing a strikingly upright curve as if the button might give way at any moment. Below, she wore a white suit skirt, which perfectly complemented her long, slender legs, dark as jade, making them appear fair, smooth, and luminous.

However, Qing Musha insisted on personally investing, which prompted Chen Mobai to ask jokingly.

Although Jin Junfa had spent one hundred million merit points on a Void Blind Box, the funds remaining in his account were more than sufficient to help Qing Musha establish her company.

It was said that many cultivators from the Spiritual Plant and Alchemy Departments, as well as numerous families responsible for cultivating medicinal fields across the eight nations under Yan Bingxuan, had all prospered due to refining elixirs for him annually.

Besides this, Chen Mobai also devised a reasonable way to get involved in the Earth Fiend Qi industry.

The two ultimately chose a location closest to the second-tier fiend cave. Besides the convenience of acquiring materials in the future, its proximity to Jinjun Mountain also allowed for the transfer of eighth-tier spiritual energy, which would not significantly impede Qing Musha's cultivation.

For the necessary mechanical equipment, they naturally sought out their old acquaintance Zhou Tiangong. Leveraging Jin Junfa's influence, the chief engineer of Tiangong Machinery Factory personally came to hear their requirements, helped design the equipment blueprints, and even conveniently arranged for the factory building plans that matched the equipment.

"Venerable Yuanxu has a company under his name. All patents related to the artificial synthesis of Earth Fiend Qi are available in a package within his company's archives. You can acquire a one-year trial usage under a rental agreement, which will be one-tenth cheaper. After the year expires, you can simply renew for another year of trial, and so on. For this matter, contact Xiao Lou; he is currently in charge of that archive."

Of course, since this was nominally Qing Musha's company, she still used all her personal savings to purchase shares and obtain the business license.

Fortunately, he wasn't someone who held grudges or changed his ways upon gaining power; he hadn't deleted Lou Fengcheng's contact simply because he had achieved Core Formation.

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Mobai called Qing Musha.

Upon hearing it was Chen Mobai's matter, Jin Junfa didn't hesitate and immediately booked a return flight.

To this, Wangwudong merely smiled humbly.

After all, his main reason for coming to Qingmu City was the seventh-tier fire vein here, which could significantly accelerate his cultivation speed.

Thus, after Chen Mobai spent two days down the mountain reuniting with his family, he declined all invitations from Qingmu City and returned directly to the mountain to begin secluded cultivation.

If he hadn't been using spirit stones, the puppet factory would likely have to shut down for eight days of recharging after just one day of operation. But for Jin Junfa, it was a case of maximizing resource utilization. Anyway, these spirit stones couldn't be spent openly within the Immortal Sect, so using them in the Eastern Wasteland was a way to stimulate the local economy.

Among the fiend qi available for mining within the Immortal Sect, there was indeed second-tier fiend qi.

It was a pity that Chen Mobai didn't possess Zhuo Ming's Universal Telepathy; although he attempted to communicate, he never received a response from that spiritual tree.

Wangwudong had clearly done his homework, answering Chen Mobai's questions fluently and without hesitation.

That day, Chen Mobai arrived at the peak of Danxia Mountain, where the person in charge of Jumang Daoist Academy handed over all the research findings from recent years to him. An original copy of these materials was also kept at the Forestry Headquarters of the Immortal Affairs Hall; Chen Mobai also took a copy for easy reference should any relevant personnel come to inspect it later.

The medicinal efficacy of the Golden Crow Holding Sun Elixir, under these circumstances, even showed a slight improvement.

Qing Musha reached out, took it, and thanked him.

Fortunately, he was a Golden Core True Person and was highly regarded by the Immortal Sect as the future sect master of Wuqi Daoist Academy, so they were all willing to grant him this favor.

No wonder Sui Shanfu was dispatched by the Immortal Sect to take over the mess of Qingmu City after the previous official was reassigned.

The geniuses of Butian Daoist Academy had long ago developed methods for the artificial synthesis of all types of Earth Fiend Qi that had ever appeared within the Immortal Sect.

If the vast majority of Xiaonan Mountain's spiritual rice hadn't been consumed internally by Yan Bingxuan, Liu Wenbai would have achieved his annual income target of a million spirit stones much earlier.

That implied if this company were to invest heavily in research, it would at best barely break even, and its profits wouldn't be very high.

The funding for establishing the Fiend Qi Energy Company came partly from loans from the Immortal Sect Bank and partly from private sponsorship from his good friend, Chen Mobai.

When he was at the Daoist Academy, he was renowned throughout the Immortal Sect for his "Qingyang Sword Fiend," a technique derived from the Yuan Yang Sword Fiend, which also required refinement using Jin Jun Fiend Qi.

Although the Earth Fiend Qi was overseen and nurtured by Chixia Academy, its ownership still belonged to the Immortal Sect. And because resolving it through official channels would incur many obligations, local solutions were preferred to avoid reporting it to higher authorities.

From talisman paper alone, Xiaonanshan Shop could generate seventy thousand spirit stones in annual revenue for Chen Mobai. With the future addition of the Golden Crow Holding Sun Elixir, this could potentially increase to seven hundred thousand spirit stones annually.

On the mountaintop stood three wooden houses, which had previously served as Shi Qing's secluded residence for cultivation.

Now that talisman ink was also being sold, it could generate an additional one hundred thousand spirit stones annually.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator and a high-achieving graduate of Butian Daoist Academy, Qing Musha naturally received the most favorable terms from Jinjun City when she returned home to start her business.

It was precisely because of this, however, that Chen Mobai was able to conceal a large portion of his puppet factory's output. While the talisman paper and ink that accounted for the annual spiritual energy costs were circulated in the Immortal Sect market, the rest were channeled into the Eastern Wasteland.

However, at Jin Junfa's current stage, he no longer fully valued spirit stones, as he almost couldn't exhaust his supply in the Eastern Wasteland.

The patent fees from Butian Daoist Academy could be paid for individual items or bundled packages, but all were exceptionally expensive! Even if it were possible, it would be far too time-consuming.

For ten years in Yumu City, Chen Mobai had cultivated an image of diligent practice and a disinterest in pleasure or management. Consequently, no one opposed his arrival to oversee Danxia City.

Chen Mobai remarked, "City Lord Sui is somewhat underutilized in Jinjun City!"

Citing his need to cultivate sword fiend, he inquired about Jinjun City's second-tier fiend qi output.

Both Jinjun Mountain and Jumu Ridge possessed seventh-tier high-grade spiritual veins, but the fire-attribute vein was clearly more suitable for his cultivation.

"Lower-grade second-tier fiend qi can produce seventeen strands annually. Seventh-tier fiend qi yields one strand every eight years. For eighth-tier fiend qi, a report must be submitted to the highest department of the Resource Management Bureau under Chen Mobai; production and extraction are only permitted with our written approval."

And even from Butian Daoist Academy, the very source of the elemental energy system, related patents would still need to be purchased!

Chen Mobai merely gave a slight hint, and Wangwudong perfectly devised a strategy that aligned with his intentions.

Wangwudong replied, "Then find someone who has no obvious connection with Councilor Chen to establish a fiend qi energy company locally. Your Qingmu City officials can then sign an investment attraction contract with them, prioritizing the supply of second-tier fiend qi as a cooperative resource to this company."

Jin Junfa couldn't help but respond, and Qing Musha's slightly pursed lips parted into a uniquely beautiful smile.

He accompanied Qing Musha to inspect the factory construction site. With his influence, Qingmu City's official land available for transfer was naturally at her discretion.

"I am merely a councilor of the Kaiyuan Hall; I wouldn't dare call myself a local emperor. Everything concerning the company must proceed legally and compliantly. And to be frank with you, the reason I'm establishing this company is to prepare for subsequent research into the artificial synthesis of seventeen types of Earth Fiend Qi."

Jin Junfa brought out the Right Palace's Sword Fiend Collection. Chen Mobai then told Qing Musha that he intended to master all the sword fiend arrays within it, integrate them into a 'Myriad Sword Chart,' and thereby demonstrate a higher realm of his sword dao!

"With you, the 'local emperor' of Jinjun City, protecting me, I can't imagine any reason for this venture to fail. Anyway, with you as my fallback, even if the company goes bankrupt, you'll just have to support me."

"Alright, if this company goes bankrupt, I'll support you for life!"

"It's also a second-tier spiritual artifact," he said, "I've engraved a talisman on it for you."

Just as he was contemplating this, a mountain breeze swept through. The two, standing beneath the Jade Phoenix Tree, instinctively looked up as a vibrant green leaf drifted down.

Chen Mobai walked onto the fallen leaves, gazing at the sky-obscuring Jade Phoenix Tree. He couldn't help but reach out and touch it. The smooth, thick bark was faintly warm, which slightly activated the pure Yang spiritual energy within his body. He picked it up, then used his pure Yang spiritual energy to dry it before handing it to Qing Musha.

Within the Jinjun Mountain range, due to the widespread cultivation of phoenix trees, a second-tier fiend qi producing cave had been artificially cultivated.

Jin Junfa's energy company, if it were to artificially synthesize Earth Fiend Qi, would directly implement the successful research from Butian Daoist Academy.