Chapter 36 – Florida Man's Used Weed Sold for Millions
After clearing the corpses and the crime scenes, Leo temporarily stopped creating or researching anything. He had another plan for the workshop.
Having 8,128 years of lifespan, Leo resumed the upgrade project. There were three things that he needed to do – Upgrade the workshop to level 3, upgrade the refrigerator to level 3, and build a new workshop to increase production.
Spending 1,000 years of lifespan, Leo upgraded it to level 3 and increased the pill quality.
RUMBLE
The building didn't change much except for the cauldron's appearance. The pot's clear surface had a rain dragon carving on it. The eyes of the dragon glittered as if it was looking at Leo, and it continuously emitted red smoke.
Leo ignored the fancy-looking cauldron. He walked toward the newly cleared land and opened the shop domain map.
.
Basic Alchemy Workshop (Second Building)
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 3
Price – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
Space – 10 x 10
.
As the Humble General Store had already been upgraded to level 3, Leo could build the second alchemy workshop. He confirmed the system, spending 1,000 years of lifespan.
The second workshop was placed adjacent to the first one. Leo aligned it and place it next to the first workshop to save space.
A new building appeared out of nowhere. It almost looked identical to the first workshop, but it looked older as it had never been upgraded.
As the new building came out as level 1, Leo could upgrade it twice. He spent additional 2,000 years of his lifespan upgrading the new workshop to level 3. As usual, he put all points to the quality.
DING
.
Basic Alchemy Workshop Level 3
Production Quality Level - (2/5)
[Upgrade] – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
[Research New Ingredient]
[Pill Making]
.
Both workshops had the same status. While admiring the newly upgraded buildings, Leo widely grinned, proud of himself.
With two workshops, Leo could produce more grain pills. He threw iron pine nuts in the cauldrons, and let the cauldron run.
After spending 4,000 years of lifespan, Leo turned his attention to refrigerators. A few days ago, he upgraded it to level 2 to enable its electricity. He wondered what level 3 fridges would improve.
Leo entered the store and touched one of the showcase refrigerators. The shop domain system prompted him.
<Upgrading this refrigerator costs 100 years of lifespan.>
Upgrading electrical appliances were cheap. Leo was relieved.
"Do it!"
DING
The showcase refrigerator's appearance slightly changed. The stainless steel turned black, and the cold air was stronger. Just by standing in front of the showcase, Leo could feel the chilling temperature around it even though it contained two thousand blades of hot immortal grass inside.
Leo was delighted. He upgraded the rest of the refrigerators. He had been enduring the hot and humid air for so long, so he welcomed the cool air from the fridges with open arms.
After upgrading everything, Leo was left with 3,128 years of lifespan. He began searching for new buildings and upgrades for fun, playing with the shop domain menu. As soon as Leo checked the list, he found new locked system buildings.
.
Warehouse
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 4
Price – 500 Years of Lifespan
Space – 5 x 5
.
Small House
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 4
Price – 500 Years of Lifespan
Space – 5 x 5
.
Farm Plot
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 4
Price – 1,000 Years of Lifespan
Space – 10 x 10
.
Stone Road
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 4
Price – 1 Year of Lifespan
Space – 1 x 1
.
Asphalt Road
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 4
Price – 3 Years of Lifespan
Space – 1 x 1
.
Concrete Road
Requirement – Humble General Store Level 4
Price – 5 Years of Lifespan
Space – 1 x 1
.
As if the shop tried to tempt him, it showed the icons of each building. Looking at these icons, Leo thought of the ancient base-building games of his old world.
'You're turning my life into a SIM game, my system. Well, it's not like I hate it. This is fun!'
Leo's next goal was the [Farm Plot], which required 10x10 grids to build. Since it coincided with Leo's goal, he was interested in it. However, the Small House seemed strange as they seemed redundant to him. He wondered why it required 500 years of lifespan to build when he could just sleep anywhere in any building.
'I understand what warehouses are for, but why a small house? I can sleep in the store. I don't need it.'
Leo shrugged. He touched the wall of his store. Then, it prompted him with the upgrade cost.
<Will you upgrade the Humble General Store to Level 4?>
<Upgrading requires 3,000 years of lifespan.>
"..."
Leo almost vomited blood as the upgrade price increased again. Moreover, it demanded most of his precious lifespan. Although it was vexing, Leo grudgingly agreed and spent 3,000 years of lifespan, making the humble general level 4.
DING
<Humble General Store has been upgraded to Level 4.>
<New Construction Options!>
The new buildings were unlocked. Unfortunately, Leo ran out of lifespan to spend. He could only look at the new icons and fantasized about what they could do.
RUMBLE
As the store was upgraded, the interior space expanded again. The previously arranged refrigerators and shelves remained in the same place, but the walls were pushed away. Previously, the interior size was about 15x15 meters, after the upgrade, it became 20x20. The 10 fridges and six aisle shelves seemed too few for the wide area.
WHOO
Leo heard a sound of an air conditioner. He looked up and found an air duct ventilation system on the ceiling. Cold wind circulated in the store building, and the air wasn't as stale as before.
"Wow."
Admiring the store's enlarged space for a while, Leo remembered something. He turned around and looked at the back of the store.
The staff door was still there and was expanded. Leo entered it and discovered that his bed was in the middle of the room instead of being at the corner. Unfortunately, it didn't have a toilet as usual. Leo was disappointed.
'I guess I'll get stuck with the ancient outhouse system for a while. Should I build a small house for a toilet? Hmm...'
After running out of things to upgrade, Leo lost enthusiasm. He took off his clothes and threw himself on the bed.
*JIGGLE*
The 19 rings were still in the pants pocket. Leo forgot about them as he was mentally exhausted.
.
.
= Grand Elder Pagoda, Top Floor =
Three elders sat at a table, looking at a kneeling deacon. The latter was a servant of Ouyang Ting, who also visited Leo's store along with Han Hao. However, because of his leaked info, Ouyang Ting knew about the place.
Han Hao, Han Meng, and Tiger Swordsman glared at the deacon, listening to his confession.
"Let me summarize your report," Han Hao snorted. "You told Ouyang Ting about Daoist Florida Man's store, and that brat brought his men there to assassinate him for treasures!?"
"Y-Yes, grand elder."
Han Hao, Han Meng, and Tiger Swordsman deeply sighed. They finally understood what had happened.
Han Meng snickered, "Good riddance. He never showed respect to us. He thought that he could kill every stronger cultivator with his goons, and he has been monopolizing cultivation resources by robbing other disciples. Now that he's gone, the competitive scenes between the inner disciples should be healthier."
Tiger Swordsman nodded, "True. Many good seedlings were destroyed because of Ouyang Ting. Now that he's gone, those that are in hiding can come out."
Although the two elders were glad that Ouyang Ting died, Han Hao was concerned. He reminded them of the issues at hand.
"And what are we going to explain to Ouyang Long? Tell him the truth and sell out Daoist Florida Man?"
"..."
The two elders closed their mouths. They couldn't imagine which of the two soul formation cultivators would survive if they clashed. Moreover, the Sword Saint Forest was a sacred place for newbie swordsmen. If it was ruined because of them, the cultivators and commoners would blame Life Sword Sect as they were the guardian of that place.
Han Hao leaned back and downed the snake wine in his cup. He voiced his thoughts.
"If we play tricks to protect Daoist Florida Man, the Jianghu Alliance will point their swords at us. But since Ouyang Ting is at fault for provoking a senior, we will simply tell Ouyang Long the truth behind Ouyang Ting's death. If possible, we'll help Daoist Florida Man negotiate with Ouyang Long and retrieve that brat's corpse. Is that alright with you two?"
Han Meng and Tiger Swordsman had no issues. Compromising in this situation was the best answer since none of them were the culprits. As for Ouyang Long's wrath, they could only pray that Leo could handle the angry father without their help.
"Come to think of it," Tiger Swordsman looked at the deacon. "What should we do with this guy?"
As Han Meng handled the Justice System of the sect, he was the only one who could sentence deacons and elders to prison. He looked at the employee, "That depends on the outcome of the aftermath. If everything turns out well, one year of salary deduction is enough. But if things affect the sect and the city, that's 10 years imprisonment at the minimum."
The deacon was shocked, "T-Ten years?!"
"Property damage is 10 years imprisonment, not including the fine. Being an accomplice gets you the same punishment! Since you bowed your head to that brat for spirit stones and social status, you're an accomplice of Ouyang Ting and Ouyang Long. If Ouyang Long somehow damages the city or harms the commoners, we will prosecute you since you're the cause of all this mess!"
"T-That's not fair! I-I just told him about Daoist Florida Man! Also, I confessed. I'm a witness!"
"Leaking sensitive information is a crime, junior. Let's pray that Ouyang Long won't go berserk over this incident. If better, pray that Daoist Florida Man can suppress Ouyang Long's wrath. If not, your head might roll."
"..."
The deacon lowered his head, accepting his fate even though the sect's law was one-sided.
.
.
Meanwhile, at Cauliflower City, a certain alchemist brightly smiled and stood in front of three old men from the Jianghu Alliance in their courtyard. Next to him, Ouyang Long stared at the three old men with a dark expression as he couldn't believe his eyes.
"500 million spirit stones."
"550 million!"
"570 million!"
These three old men were from three different alchemy sects, and they were bidding to get their hands on a single blade of immortal grass.
"700 million!"
"Tsk!"
"Dammit!"
Finally, one of them overbid, and their competitors resigned.
Ouyang Long coughed and glanced at Wu Buyi, "No more bidding, sold for 700 million!"
Wu Buyi cackled. He wanted to see their reactions when they realized that Leo had over two thousand immortal grasses.
"Alright. Next item, 5-element grain pill! I'm sure you all know the significance of a five-element pill since no one has successfully made them before. If you get your hands on this, you might, no, you WILL learn a lot by studying it! I have 20 of them on me, and I'll be selling a batch of eight and two batches of six. The highest bidder gets the batch of eight pills. The rest get six. Now, you should calculate carefully before you bid because you can only bid once!"
The three elder alchemists stared at Wu Buyi with burning eyes. They clicked their tongues and brought out a paper and a brush from their spatial rings. Then, they started writing their offer without showing them to their colleagues.
Ouyang Long deeply sighed. He waited for the transaction to finish as he would get a 15% cut of this private auction. While he was managing this small event, he kept thinking of what Wu Buyi had told him.
'This fool said the mysterious grandmaster alchemist lives outside of Magpie City. Come to think of it, Ting'er attacked someone in a forest. Does that place near the Magpie City?'
Ouyang Long narrowed his eyes, imagining various scenarios. He suspected that the murderer and the mysterious alchemist were the same person.
