96: Chapter 96 Doubling

Wang Shouren roughly estimated in his mind that just this visible patch alone had a reserve far exceeding his initial expectations.

This was definitely not an amount that could condense within a hundred years; I am afraid this subterranean fire branch vein had undergone countless years of accumulation to nurture such a fire marrow crystal mine.

This was the true foundation of the Family, a foundation that generations of energy and the Wang Family could not exhaust.

He turned and floated upward, breaking through the magma back to the shore, and reported everything he saw one by one.

"Estimated by reserves, if mined at full capacity, this vein is enough for the Family to mine for thirty years."

Wang Shouren's voice was kept very low, yet it could not suppress that heavy weight, "Conservatively estimating, the annual output is no less than one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

Wang Yaowu gasped, plopping down onto the ground, his sword almost slipping from his hand: "One hundred thousand Spirit Stones?! Just this single item alone equals the entire income of the Family for the past five years!"

He calculated on his fingers, his eyes widening the more he calculated, until finally he couldn't figure it out anymore, and slapped his own thigh with a smack, "My good lord, thirty years! This motherfucker is a Spirit Stone vein!"

Wang Chongyang stroked his beard without a word, his gaze lingering on the surface of the magma lake for a long time before turning to Wang Yaowu.

"The matter of mining must be considered in the long term. The Family members cannot mine at full capacity. Regardless of the scale of the commotion, Cultivating and enhancing the strength of the Family members is the fundamental root. Moreover, the subterranean fire branch vein and the fire marrow crystal mine coexist; when mining, one must not damage the fire vein's direction of the subterranean fire, otherwise the gains will not make up for the losses."

"Yaowu, you must quickly select reliable personnel from the Family, dividing them into two shifts: one shift responsible for the defense of the outer outposts, and one shift responsible for mining inside the cave."

"Mining tools and transportation routes must also be prepared in advance, ensuring everything is secretive and secure."

Wang Yaowu suppressed the shock in his heart, "Even so, exchanging the obtained Ore each year for Spirit Stones must still be at least thirty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

He hurriedly put on a serious expression and clasped his fists: "Sixth Uncle, rest assured. I will start making arrangements as soon as I go back. The apparent reason for the outer outposts will be Family defense, so no one can find fault with it. The mining personnel will only be chosen from the direct lineage of the Family and trusted retainers, and word will definitely not leak out."

"There is another matter." Wang Chongyang turned to Wang Shouren, his tone becoming a bit solemn, "This vein was discovered by you. According to Family rules, you are entitled to ten percent of the vein's proceeds, three thousand Spirit Stones annually, which will be regularly allocated by the Family treasury."

Wang Yaowu climbed up from the ground, heavily patted Wang Shouren's shoulder, and smiled broadly.

"Three thousand Spirit Stones, you brat will be richer than several elders in the Family combined from now on! With these Spirit Stones, you won't have to worry about resources for Cultivating to Foundation Establishment."

When he said this, there was envy in his tone, but even more so, it was gratification.

This nephew was someone he watched grow up. Back when he proposed the metaphor of a cup of water in the side hall, he was still a greenhorn, but now he could earn a mine for the Family.

Two months passed, and there was still no movement coming from Wang Yaozu's closed-door seclusion chamber.

All the informed high-ranking members of the Wang Family were concerned in their hearts, but no one else could help with this matter. On the contrary, Wang Chongyang's aura was nearing exhaustion.

On the ledger of Lotus Pier's treasury, the numbers had never looked so good.

The aged Wang Chongyang sat in the bamboo building, no longer recuperating his body, but instead flipping through the ledger submitted by Wang Yaowen over and over again.

The output of the fire marrow crystal mine far exceeded expectations. Because the upper-layer fire marrow crystals were extremely easy to mine, just the raw Ore mined in the first batch was enough to equal a whole year's income for the Wang Family.

He paused for a long time on the column of "Spirit Stone Balance", his aged fingers gently rubbing against the ledger, closing the book only after a long while, and sighing with emotion: "Since the establishment of the Wang Family for hundreds of years, it has never been so wealthy."

Wang Yaowen stood aside, also beaming with smiles, taking over the conversation: "Sixth Uncle is right. I've managed Family affairs for so many years, and previously every time the end of the year arrived, I would frown, allocating this sum only to lack that sum. This year is fine, though—there are so many Spirit Stones on the account that I don't know where to spend them."

Wang Chongyang placed the ledger on the desk, pondered for a moment, and said: "Since that is the case, let the Family members also share in this blessing. Pass down the order—starting this month, the monthly Spirit Stones for all descendants of the Wang Family will be doubled, and the allocation of qi gathering pills will be increased to three times the original."

"The monthly salaries of retainers with different surnames will also be doubled together, and an extra portion will be added for New Year and holiday condolences. In addition, Family members mining the veins will be issued an extra hardship allowance, calculated based on the Ore output, with more work yielding more rewards. You and Yaowu can discuss and handle the specific details."

Wang Yaowen was stunned, then overjoyed, bowing and saying, "Sixth Uncle is benevolent; on behalf of the Family members, I thank Sixth Uncle."

He tucked the ledger into his sleeve and added another sentence, "Right, Sixth Uncle, as for Shouren—according to Family rules, the discoverer of the vein can receive ten percent of the proceeds. I have already instructed the treasury to keep a separate account and allocate three thousand Spirit Stones to him annually."

Wang Chongyang stroked his beard and nodded: "It is only right. This brat doesn't say it out loud, but he knows it in his heart. In the future, the resources for Cultivating to Foundation Establishment won't require the Family to worry."

Within two days of the news spreading down, the entire Lotus Pier became lively.

The first to feel the change was the lecture hall of the Family school. The allocation of qi gathering pills changed from one bottle a month to three bottles. The young descendants of the Shou generation held the newly issued Medicinal Pill bottles, and some were so excited that they wanted to go into closed-door seclusion on the spot, only to be yanked back by a companion.

The courtyard where the retainers of different surnames lived was also full of joy and festivity. Several veteran guards gathered together to drink wine, chatting about the newly increased monthly salaries and holiday condolences. Among them, an old soldier who had guarded the mountain gate of the Wang Family for more than twenty years held his wine bowl and sighed with emotion: "When we first entered the Wang Family, when would we ever have thought we could have today."

This remark did not reach Wang Yaozu's closed-door seclusion chamber; he was at a critical juncture of his Breakthrough and could not be distracted.

All things are renewed, and everything goes smoothly.

This was the most comfortable and pleasant days since the Wang Family established itself.

In the detached small courtyard in the east of the pier, inside the quiet room, the candlelight flickered slightly.

Wang Shouren sat cross-legged on the rush mat, with two snake fangs just sawed from the mouth of the Ridge-backed Fire-scaled Python placed horizontally in front of him.

The bodies of the fangs were as long as a small arm, entirely dark gold, and the tips were as sharp as awls. Even though they had left the snake's mouth for a long time, a trace of extremely faint fire-shae venom still lingered on the tips of the fangs, casting a faint red glow under the candlelight.

He reached out and grabbed one of them, closing his five fingers, feeling the icy touch coming from the fang's body and that faint baleful aura.

The fangs of a Tier 2 Yao Beast, in terms of material, were already not inferior to the embryonic Materials of a High Grade Magical Artifact. If refined properly, they could even touch the threshold of a top-tier Magical Artifact.

He put down the snake fangs, and from his storage ring took out a few fist-sized diamonds and a fist-sized fire marrow crystal.

The diamonds were some of the best-looking pieces selected from the Family's mineral veins, completely translucent white, refracting a dazzling cold light under the candlelight. In terms of hardness, ordinary High Grade Magical Artifacts couldn't even leave a mark when chopping onto them.

The fire marrow crystal was the one he kept for himself, about the size of a fist, entirely crimson red, with flowing light wandering inside. The Innate fire essence it contained was enough to elevate the power of any fire-attribute Formation to a new level.

These Materials combined together were enough to refine a High Grade Magical Artifact, and there was even hope of challenging the best quality.