Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 284 Shocking

"Ah He, you've really grown up in just a few years! You've made us wait this long!" the strangely dressed old man teased.

"Hehe, Brother Ran, how could I dare? It's just that I wasn't at the restaurant, so I rushed over as soon as I heard the news. I've been looking forward to seeing all of you brothers and sisters." Chu He said with an awkward laugh.

"Gan Ran, stop making fun of Ahe. Can't you shut your mouth a little?" the old man in plain clothes immediately chimed in.

"My mouth stinks, but yours smells good? Sikong Nong, I've put up with you for a long time!" Gan Ran roared.

"Brothers, take a rest first. This is a restaurant with a lot of people. Don't let people laugh at us. Besides, this is the young master's property. We should also think about the young master and save him some face, right?" Chu He was annoyed just looking at these two clowns who had been arguing for over a hundred years.

"Gan Ran, Sikong Nong, you two shut up! Did you hear what Ahe said?" At this moment, the elegant old man who rarely spoke frowned and said.

The two old men then stopped to rest.

"Ah He, what you just said is..." The old man in brocade robes, who had been lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to reality. He pointed at the restaurant and asked in surprise.

"Young Master designed and built this restaurant four years ago, so that all of you brothers and sisters who have come from afar could have a comfortable place to stay. He said that building the restaurant here is better than building it there. I didn't understand it at the time, but now I think it really makes sense," Chu He said with an awkward smile.

"Ah He, tell us quickly, what earth-shattering things has Ming'er done all these years?" Dugu Xian pulled Chu He to his side and asked.

"Well, I know you all have a lot to ask, but this is the main hall, not a place for idle chatter. Let's go upstairs to a private room to talk. I'm sure the young lady has already prepared a feast there. Let's eat and chat together." Chu He noticed that quite a few onlookers had gathered in the hall. The sudden appearance of this large group of strange old men was bound to cause a stir. So he quickly led the dozen or so people up to the third floor of the restaurant.

The restaurant has three floors above ground. The first floor is the main hall and regular dining area. The second floor has VIP private rooms. The third floor is a separate hall, but it is not open to the public. Only restaurant staff and authorized personnel can enter. This hall can accommodate hundreds of people for dining and entertainment.

A table laden with delicious food had already been set out in the hall. The large round table, over ten feet in diameter and capable of seating twenty or thirty people, was overflowing with twenty or thirty dishes, along with various fruits, vegetables, and drinks. It was a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate.

"Please enjoy your meal, everyone. Please feel free to ask if you need anything." After all the old men were seated, the maid who had been serving in the hall arranged the utensils, then politely bowed and left the hall, closing the door behind her.

"Brother Dugu, Brother Mubai, and all the brothers, I'm here on behalf of the young master to welcome you all! There won't be any outsiders here besides us, so please eat and drink as you please. If you have any questions or anything you want to say, please feel free to ask! If there's anything I can't explain, Ah Shui will be here later, and you can ask him too."

Grandpa He raised a glass of fruit wine and addressed the group of old men.

"Ahe, tell us about your experiences here over the past few years. How did Ming'er take over these two towns and build a restaurant on this cliff? What's going on with the Great Xia Empire? Where did Ming'er and the others go?" Dugu Xian, who was usually not very talkative, rarely spoke so much and asked so many questions.

"It's a long story. It all started four years ago when we left the canyon and you all left..." Chu He downed the fruit wine in his glass in one gulp. Then, he launched into a long, rambling account of his experiences over the past few years, like a storyteller. From the riot at the tavern, to how he killed the commander, occupied Dongying Town and Xiyu Town, built the tavern, defeated the armies of the two countries, to the gradual expansion, the clever capture of Jian'an City, the crushing defeat of Wu Ji's army, the occupation of Shangyuan City, the opportune attack on Zhongyuan City, and then the seizing of Liangzhou and Jingzhou to defeat Wu Yi's army and stabilize the border, he recounted a whole series of events.

Even Dugu Xian, a man who had lived for over two hundred years and seen much of the world's harsh realities, was stunned by what Mo Yuming had done in the past few years. If he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it was true. How could a mere child have accomplished so much in just four years? Every single thing he did was earth-shattering, as fantastical as a fairy tale. His audacity and boldness left even this centuries-old man in awe. It made him feel as if he had wasted his entire life.

After listening to Chu He's story, even the usually leisurely Li Mubai was moved. He nodded and sighed more than once. The other old men were even more stunned by these deeds, speechless for a long time.

The air in the hall suddenly froze. The dozen or so old men fell silent as if their mouths had been sealed by runes. Even Gan Ran and Sikong Nong, who had been bickering for nearly a hundred years, stared at each other, forgetting how to speak.

This silence lasted for several dozen breaths before being broken by Qiu Shui, who rushed over unaware of what was going on.

"Uh, everyone, Ah Shui is late! I'm so sorry!"

"Why are you so late? The banquet is almost over!" Chu He quickly called out loudly, trying to escape the awkward atmosphere.

"Weren't you with Ah He? Why did you take so long to arrive?"

"Well... I went down to collect natural salt. You guys don't know, but the demand for natural salt is huge right now. We can't even supply a few hundred or a thousand catties a day!"

"Yes, natural salt is indeed a good product and should fetch a good price. If this business gets going, it will definitely be very profitable."

"Young Master never sold this natural salt. It was allocated in limited quantities to various chain restaurants. Even Wushuang Restaurant had a quota, which stipulated that it could only be used in a few specific dishes."

Currently, the market in the entire Great Xia Empire is dominated by crude salt that has undergone only simple processing. The factories processing this crude salt are located in Jian'an City, selling tens of thousands of catties daily. Even this simply processed crude salt is of higher quality than others. Several salt merchants from neighboring states are queuing up to buy crude salt from the Jian'an City salt fields; business is booming. The price is 20% higher than the original local salt or water salt, and it's still in high demand. If these salt merchants knew about the existence of natural salt, it would probably lead to war.

"Since business is so good, why not increase production? That way you can make more money! Are you afraid of making more money?" Gan Ran asked, puzzled.

"Young Master said this is called 'hunger marketing,' with limited daily supply, a uniform price, and uniform production. No exceptions will be made, even if someone offers a higher price. Young Master also said that salt is related to people's livelihood and cannot be sold at high prices; we refuse to make exorbitant profits. Moreover, outsiders are prohibited from entering the salt fields, and they are strictly controlled. All salt merchants can only pay and pick up their goods at designated locations and are not allowed to intentionally approach the salt field personnel or inquire about information about the salt fields."

"This prevents technology from being stolen. It's definitely a good method. This kid has a pretty good business sense."

"Hehe, although this saltworks is very prosperous, it doesn't make much money. But it's nothing in the young master's eyes. He hasn't even visited it since it was established. The young master has many ways to make money! A kingdom can't just rely on selling salt to make a living."

Qiu Shui chuckled as he spoke.

"What other profitable businesses are there?" Gan Ran asked, her eyes shining.

"Look at that bear, his mouth is watering as soon as he hears about money!" Sikong Nong couldn't help but tease Gan Ran again when he saw her excited.

"Young Master has many ways to make money. Take, for example, the Fuyuan Restaurant and Fushan Hotel, which are scattered throughout the Tianxuan Continent. There are over two hundred of them, and each one is incredibly popular. The houses built in Shangyuan New City are also selling very well; each house sold earns more than the saltworks in a month. Even more outrageous is the armory that produces two thousand Xuan Iron weapons a day. Although nearly half of the weapons are kept for the military, it still sells nearly a thousand Xuan Iron weapons every day. The profit from those Xuan Iron weapons is much higher than that from coarse salt! There's also the vigorous recruitment of immigrants to reclaim wasteland for medicinal herb cultivation, the development of animal husbandry, the establishment of specialized markets, and much more."

"Two thousand weapons produced every day? And they're made of Xuan Iron! How is that possible? How many weapon refiners would it take to achieve that!" Zhang Tieqiao, who had been feeling melancholy, finally couldn't help but ask after hearing this. He was a master weapon refiner, and weapon refining was something he was very familiar with.

"Indeed, we can produce two thousand weapons every day, starting directly from ore refining. The entire arsenal, including the mining craftsmen, only has about two hundred people, and there are only a dozen or so actual weapon refiners. Right now, A Lei, A Dian, and A Bao are all refining weapons at the arsenal," Qiu Shui said earnestly. He Ye, standing beside him, nodded in agreement.

"A dozen or so weapon refiners can forge two thousand Xuan Iron weapons in a day? How is that possible? Even ordinary iron weapons can't be forged like that!" Zhang Tieqiao couldn't help but stand up and said excitedly.

"Of course, a dozen or so weapon refiners couldn't possibly forge that many weapons, but the young master designed a large blast furnace that could continuously smelt pure black iron. There's also a machine that uses the water flow from the waterfall to automatically press the weapons into shape. After being refined and processed by some weapon-refining apprentices, these weapons become semi-finished products. The weapon refiners only need to continuously inscribe runes on the weapons. Because of the large number of inscriptions, the weapon refiners are so familiar with those runes that they can now inscribe them with their eyes closed. Their speed is simply amazing. Inscribing two thousand sets of runes a day basically doesn't require much effort."

Qiu Shui explained.

"You can actually do that?" Zhang Tieqiao said in disbelief.

"Brothers, once you've rested well, you'll know for yourselves when you go out and explore tomorrow. See if what I've said is true."

"Brother Tieqiao, don't be surprised, there's something else unbelievable I'll tell you, I guarantee you'll never guess it!"

Qiu Shui got carried away and couldn't wait to tell everyone everything so they could see the surprised expressions on their faces.

"What incredible thing? Isn't a machine that can automatically forge weapons amazing enough? Is there something even more amazing?" Even Li Mubai was moved.

"I won't go into details about the weapons; you can see them for yourselves in a few days. But there's something I must tell you, because you'll see it soon enough, right beneath our feet. I can say that no one in the entire Tianxuan Continent has seen anything like it in thousands of years. It's incredible!"

"How is it so magical!"

Several old men spoke up almost simultaneously.

"Brother Tieqiao is a weapon refiner, so he should be very familiar with the materials used to refine weapons! What's the best material you've ever seen?"

Qiu Shui deliberately kept everyone in suspense.

"The best material for refining weapons is of course meteorite iron. It is the only choice for refining divine weapons. Are you referring to meteorite iron? Although meteorite iron is rare, some people have seen it. As far as I know, at least a few top families now possess meteorite iron divine weapons. Otherwise, if they have never even seen it, how would they know that meteorite iron exists! To say that no one in the Tianxuan Continent has seen it for thousands of years is probably a bit of an exaggeration."

Iron Bridge said dismissively.

"I know that powerful families today may have ancestral artifacts. But have you ever seen any family with an artifact that weighs hundreds of thousands of kilograms, is tens of feet tall and hundreds of feet long, and can even fly on its own?"

"Hundreds of thousands of kilograms? Isn't that a mountain peak? Are you sure it's a divine artifact forged from meteorite iron?"

The one who exclaimed in surprise was not Zhang Tieqiao, but Dugu Xian. Zhang Tieqiao was stunned; among these people, he was the most familiar with meteorite iron, knowing its value and understanding the long-standing craze for it in the Tianxuan Continent. As the former head of the largest weapon-refining family in the Tianxuan Continent, he knew many secrets about meteorite iron.

As an object from outer space, even a piece of meteorite the size of a fist can cause strange phenomena in the heavens and earth, shocking the world. Every time it appears, it will cause a chaotic battle, and countless people will lose their lives as a result.

After a long while, Zhang Tieqiao came to his senses and said confidently:

"It can't be a meteorite artifact! The largest piece of meteorite in the history of Tianxuan Continent was only a few hundred kilograms, and that was just an unrefined crude iron ingot. Since then, no one has ever heard of anything exceeding that weight, because the appearance of meteorite is always accompanied by celestial phenomena, and no one can hide the truth. So it must not be a meteorite."

“I know you won’t believe me even if I told you. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it either. And you would be even less likely to believe me if I said that this artifact was brought from beyond the heavens by the young master’s soul. But it is indeed an indisputable fact, and you have no choice but to believe it. Brother Xianlin was a participant in the whole thing. You should trust Brother Xianlin’s character and knowledge!”

"At that time, strange phenomena also appeared in the heavens and earth. On that day, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck the border region of the Blue Kingdom. A white light pierced the sky and blasted a huge crater ten thousand feet wide. But that thing was so fast. Before the explosion over there had even ended, it entered the Grand Canyon under the control of the young master's soul. Ten thousand miles was covered in the blink of an eye."

Chu He also spoke up.