After traveling with Xu Guan and the others for nearly a month, Shu Xin had more or less figured out what kind of people they were.
Put simply, they were a bunch of sheltered youngsters who had never been beaten down by society.
There were fewer than ten living beings in the Asking Gods Sect from top to bottom. On top of that, Xu Guan himself had no great ambitions; all he wanted was to protect his own little patch of ground.
As a result, although the disciples under Xu Guan were all fairly talented and had decent cultivation levels, they were completely lacking when it came to actual combat and schemes.
Shu Xin was confident that if she ever developed malicious intentions, she could tear the Asking Gods Sect apart in less than a year.
Honestly, if she could stay in the Asking Gods Sect for the rest of her life without ever having to venture outside, Shu Xin would be more than happy to spend her retirement there.
Unfortunately, that was impossible.
The Asking Gods Sect gave Shu Xin much the same feeling as those small companies founded on a whim by rich second-generation heirs in her previous life: lax attendance requirements, decent salaries, little work pressure, and harmonious relationships among coworkers—but no business performance, meaning the company could easily go bankrupt.
In short, even if a highly cultivated practitioner truly wished to join the Asking Gods Sect, the sect would almost certainly only ever be treated as a temporary stopover.
“Isn’t that a good thing? Why are you worrying about it so much?” the Sword Spirit asked, utterly baffled. “It’s not as though you’re planning to become the sect master of the Asking Gods Sect, right? We’re only staying in this sect temporarily anyway.”
“No. I just think that if things continue like this, the Asking Gods Sect won’t even need the Longevity Dao Sect to take action. One Qin Rushan alone will be enough to play it to death.” Shu Xin clicked her tongue in annoyance. “If I were in charge, all I’d have to do would be to form a few little factions among the disciples, play some office politics, and randomly dump the blame on one of them to shift responsibility. They’d fall apart on their own. And Xu Guan doesn’t have the professional skills needed to clean up the mess caused by all that infighting.”
The Sword Spirit fell silent for quite a while before saying, “Could you at least try to act like a protagonist on the side of justice? I’m starting to feel as if I actually contracted a grandmaster of demonic cultivation.”
“Maybe it isn’t an illusion. I really am not a good person.” Shu Xin shrugged. “But precisely because I’m not a good person, I’m better suited to this world. If you had truly contracted a pure and flawless cultivator, I guarantee you wouldn’t survive thirty years.”
The Sword Spirit could not be bothered to argue with her anymore. There was no way it could win.
Fortunately, the Asking Gods Sect was not far from the Longevity Dao Sect. So even though they had not hurried along the way, they eventually arrived.
The moment Shu Xin saw the mountain gate of the Asking Gods Sect, she seemed to understand why Xu Guan had agreed to help her for a mere hundred thousand spirit stones.
There was only one reason: they were desperately poor.
“…It’s at least a former major sect. Does the Asking Gods Sect not even have a sign over its entrance?” Shu Xin asked Xu Guan curiously.
Xu Guan paused for a moment before answering, “The sign over the Asking Gods Sect was once forged from excellent artifact-refining materials. But my master dismantled and sold it in order to gather enough pills and spirit stones for me to break through to the Wugou Realm.”
“And what about this completely bare mountain?”
“Senior Sister, I know the answer to that one,” Yuan Dawei said. “Before we left the sect, we were worried that thieves might come, so we pulled up and sold all the spirit herbs growing here. We still have the seeds, though. We can plant them again when we get back.”
You really were overthinking things. Any thief who saw your sect in this condition would probably leave behind a few spirit stones before leaving.
“I remember that the Asking Gods Sect used to have a spirit vein. According to the records of the Longevity Dao Sect, the Asking Gods Sect’s spirit vein is connected to theirs,” Shu Xin said.
“Before Qin Rushan defected to the Longevity Dao Sect, he hollowed out the spirit vein and exposed its aura. That allowed the Longevity Dao Sect to lock onto it, and they often used formations to steal the spiritual energy from our mountain gate. So we completely sealed the spirit vein. Of course, that also means we can no longer use it.”
That was practically injuring the enemy by one hundred while crippling themselves by eight thousand.
The Longevity Dao Sect would not decline simply because it lost that spiritual energy, but the Asking Gods Sect truly was on the verge of collapse.
Without the spiritual energy from the vein, everyone in the Asking Gods Sect had to rely on spirit stones to support their cultivation.
And the amount of spirit stones required for even a single cultivation session by a Wugou Realm practitioner like Xu Guan was astronomical.
Thinking about it this way, Qin Rushan’s move had been truly vicious. He clearly knew exactly where the Asking Gods Sect was most vulnerable.
“If that’s the case, perhaps you should give me an answer, Sect Master. If the Asking Gods Sect has nothing at all, then what exactly does the Longevity Dao Sect want from us?” Shu Xin raised her brows and looked at Xu Guan. “Surely it isn’t because they can’t stand watching the Asking Gods Sect ruin itself and want to help rebuild it?”
Xu Guan turned to Shu Xin, surprise written across his face. “You’re the first person to ask me that question immediately after arriving at the Asking Gods Sect.”
In fact, as a Wugou Realm practitioner, Xu Guan had encountered all kinds of people.
But people as perceptive as Shu Xin were exceedingly rare.
No wonder she had managed to escape from the Longevity Dao Sect unscathed.
That level of perceptiveness was one in ten thousand.
“Thank you,” Shu Xin said modestly.
It was simply a matter of habit.
In her previous life, modern information had been a mixture of truth and falsehood. Without approaching everything with a questioning mind, there was no way to tell whether other people were telling the truth.
Xu Guan did not answer Shu Xin’s question. “That is a sect secret. I can’t tell you for now.”
After saying that, he added, “You’re not the only one who doesn’t know. The other disciples don’t know either. On this matter, I treat everyone equally.”
Oh? So there was a major secret involved.
Shu Xin rubbed her chin. Her curiosity had been piqued.
“Besides, it’s not as if we have nothing at all right now. At the very least, your hundred thousand spirit stones are enough to ease our immediate crisis.” Xu Guan led the way, bringing Shu Xin to a dilapidated but neat and tidy residence. “There are plenty of empty rooms here. Pick whichever one you like. The sect used to have many more buildings, but we dismantled and sold them. There’s plenty of open ground behind the mountain. If you want to practice swordsmanship or do anything else, feel free.”
“Master, may I apply to buy that spirit sword I saw at the foot of the mountain?”
“Master, I’d like to replace my robe.”
Now that they knew their master had money—and that they had returned to their own territory—the disciples, led by Yuan Dawei, completely let themselves go.
They had at least pretended to maintain some dignity in front of Shu Xin before. But now that she had seen the sect’s shabby condition, there was no longer any point in pretending.
“All right, all right. I’ll buy everything for you,” Xu Guan said.
In front of outsiders, Xu Guan always appeared aloof and unapproachable, but in reality, he doted on his disciples.
Otherwise, he could never have raised so many pure and innocent little lambs.
Xu Guan was just about to take out the spirit stones and distribute them properly among his disciples. They had indeed worked hard, following him from place to place, and deserved a good reward.
But when Xu Guan saw Shu Xin standing off to the side with her arms crossed, watching coldly, the hand reaching for the spirit stones inexplicably stopped.
“Shu Xin, my disciple, if you have any thoughts, feel free to say them,” Xu Guan said. After all, these spirit stones had been provided by Shu Xin, and how many spirit stones could a Dao Infant cultivator possibly have? These hundred thousand spirit stones might well be Shu Xin’s entire fortune. If Shu Xin truly wanted something, then as his master, Xu Guan would naturally not treat him unfairly.
“Can I really speak frankly?” Shu Xin asked, just to be sure.
“Of course. Now that I’ve accepted you as my eldest disciple, your master will naturally listen to whatever you have to say,” Xu Guan replied warmly.
“In that case, I’ll be blunt.”
Shu Xin’s expression turned solemn. He strode over to Xu Guan and pressed down on the hand Xu Guan was reaching out to retrieve the spirit stones with.
“With the sect in its current state, and you, Master, being the head of the sect, you need to consider the distribution of the sect’s wealth carefully,” Shu Xin said seriously. “As for how these hundred thousand spirit stones are to be spent, we need to establish a proper plan.”
Xu Guan felt that Shu Xin had a point and nodded. “Go on.”
“First, since the sect’s spiritual vein has been sealed and cannot be used, we need to set aside some spirit stones to arrange a Spirit-Gathering Array so that we can cultivate. Correct?”
There wasn’t even the slightest plan for managing finances. No wonder they were poor.
Poverty was a way of thinking, not merely a state of being.
Since the previous generation, the Seeking Gods Sect had always been smashing pots and selling iron to trade for resources and improve their cultivation. Xu Guan had been shoved into the position of sect master without any preparation. The previous sect master had never taught him how to manage a sect, and Xu Guan was devoted entirely to cultivation, so he could only act on instinct.
Unfortunately, he was not the meticulous, calculating type.
Whenever he ran out of money, he would simply use the old-fashioned method: check whether there was anything in the sect that could be sold, then sell it for spirit stones.
It would have been strange if they weren’t poor.
The last time Shu Xin had seen someone like this was in a short-video commentary.
It felt strangely familiar.
To be honest, if Shu Xin had been Qin Rushan, he would not even have needed to deliberately target the Seeking Gods Sect. If he simply left them alone, they could destroy themselves perfectly well.
Xu Guan and the disciples all thought Shu Xin’s suggestion made sense.
“Excellent. You’re right. This is indeed our most urgent matter.”
“Eldest Senior Sister is right.”
“Our Spirit-Gathering Array does need repairs. Let’s set aside some of the spirit stones for that first. We have a hundred thousand spirit stones, after all!”
Under Xu Guan and the disciples’ watchful eyes, Shu Xin brushed Xu Guan’s hand aside, emptied all one hundred thousand spirit stones from the storage pouch, and separated thirty thousand of them.
“These thirty thousand spirit stones will be used to maintain the Spirit-Gathering Array. They should last us about a year or so, though the exact duration will depend on the progress and level of everyone’s cultivation.”
“These spirit stones absolutely cannot be touched.”
Everyone nodded in unison.
“Next is the emergency fund,” Shu Xin continued earnestly. “To prevent unexpected situations from arising in the sect that require spirit stones, we must set aside a reserve. Let’s put aside twenty thousand spirit stones for now. Master, you should keep these safe. Unless we reach a critical juncture, they must not be used.”
For some reason, whenever Shu Xin discussed how to allocate the spirit stones, he possessed an especially convincing air of professional expertise.
Shu Xin had previously been an outer sect elder in charge of administration at the Longevity Dao Sect. He had managed affairs there for over a century without the various aristocratic clans discovering any obvious leverage against him. The experience contained in that alone spoke for itself.
Xu Guan nodded and put the spirit stones away, feeling that he had truly made the right choice in taking this disciple.
“Of the remaining fifty thousand spirit stones, we first need to set aside ten thousand to purchase commonly used pills, spiritual herbs, talismans, and basic magical artifacts,” Shu Xin continued. “Also, the sect has gone without a proper signboard for far too long. We need to maintain a certain degree of dignity, so this expense cannot be spared. I’ve also noticed that no one in the sect wears a uniform. When we go out, we don’t even look like members of the same sect. We’ll need to set aside some spirit stones for sect robes as well.”
With every item Shu Xin mentioned, the pile of spirit stones on the ground grew smaller.
The six disciples of Xu Guan watched the spirit stones dwindle before their eyes, their expressions becoming increasingly pitiful.
It seemed that spirit stones really weren’t enough to spend.
A hundred thousand spirit stones looked like a lot, but in practice, they were gone in no time.
“Of course, the junior brothers and sisters are getting older too, so they naturally need some spending money,” Shu Xin added, his tone taking a sudden turn as he smiled warmly. “I’ll set aside ten thousand spirit stones specifically as pocket money for them. For now, each person will receive ten spirit stones a month. Even if you’re in seclusion or away cultivating, you can save them up and collect them all at once. If you incur necessary expenses, such as having a magical artifact repaired while traveling outside the sect, then as long as you go through a simple reimbursement procedure, any reasonable expense can be covered by the sect. Everyone can rest assured.”
The disciples had originally thought that there would be nothing left for them. They had not expected such a sudden reversal, and now they would even have pocket money. Their faces immediately lit up with delight.
“Thank you, Eldest Senior Sister.”
“Eldest Senior Sister is the best! We’ll have pocket money from now on.”
“Ten spirit stones a month means one hundred and twenty a year. I suddenly feel so rich!”
Only after assigning every portion of the spirit stones did Shu Xin turn back to Sect Master Xu Guan.
“Master, may I ask how our sect managed to survive in the past? No, more specifically, how did we earn spirit stones?”
“Ahem.”
Xu Guan felt somewhat embarrassed under Shu Xin’s gaze. After all, compared with Shu Xin’s professional allocation of the spirit stones, he appeared to be a remarkably incompetent sect master.
“Your master is at least a cultivator of the Immaculate Realm. As long as I leave the sect and take on a few escort or bodyguard missions, I can easily earn several hundred, or even over a thousand, spirit stones,” Xu Guan said, puffing out his chest.
“That’s right, Eldest Senior Sister. Master has an excellent reputation in that line of work.”
“But Master values his dignity. He disguises himself and suppresses his cultivation, so no one can guess his identity.”
“We’re planning to go out and take on some missions too, so we can earn some money. Merchant caravans in particular are generous and pay quickly. And if we happen to run into a few people trying to rob us, we can even make a little extra.”
…
In simple terms, the cultivators of the Seeking Gods Sect earned spirit stones mainly by selling their labor.
With the sect as poor as it was, they had never had the opportunity to develop any money-making talents in alchemy or artifact refinement. Naturally, they could only rely on the most primitive way of earning money.
If Xu Guan had not been burdened with this group of disciples, then with his cultivation in the Immaculate Realm, he could have joined any sect and comfortably become an elder with real authority. Every day, he would only need to think about how to improve his cultivation.
Instead, he had to struggle to support these six disciples while guiding them in their cultivation. Naturally, this left him with less time to accept missions, so he could only take jobs that involved short return trips and carried little risk.
Moreover, if he revealed his cultivation in the Immaculate Realm, it would actually be difficult for him to find work. He had to suppress his cultivation to the Dao Infant Realm or the Grotto-Heaven Realm before anyone would hire him.
The reason was simple: Immaculate Realm cultivators were simply too powerful. Ordinary people had no use for them.
Those who could afford the protection of an Immaculate Realm cultivator were usually members of major powers. They had people specially trained for such work and had no need to place their trust in an outsider. Otherwise, if the hired Immaculate Realm cultivator developed malicious intentions, wouldn’t that be inviting a wolf into the house?
This was the only way Xu Guan could teach his disciples to make money.
That was why, whenever Xu Guan went out to take on a job, he would take turns bringing his disciples along. He taught them how to accept commissions, how to collect their payment, and how much they should charge to remain competitive.
After all, poor cultivators made up the majority. Jobs such as bodyguard and escort work were highly sought after by those desperate to earn spirit stones. Without connections or a good reputation, it was truly difficult to land any decent work.
The class system was rigid, while wealth and resources were firmly controlled by the great sects. Cultivators from smaller sects and ordinary rogue cultivators could only fight tooth and nail over pitiful resources, competing so fiercely that they exhausted themselves. Naturally, the price of their labor could not rise very high.
The rich grew richer, and the poor grew poorer.
“Your master has considered taking up other businesses, but all the better storefronts in the nearby markets already have owners. Even setting up a temporary stall at a rogue cultivator market requires paying a booth fee.” Xu Guan sighed. “The biggest sum I’ve earned in all these years came from a demonic cultivator who was foolish enough to block my path and bring about his own death. I only managed to help several disciples successfully form their cores because of that demonic cultivator’s belongings.”
But the demonic cultivators who were doing poorly these days did not have many spirit stones on them. As for those who were doing well, they traveled in loud, ostentatious groups and valued their lives dearly. Usually, the moment they realized Xu Guan was difficult to deal with, they would flee.
Besides, the God-Questioning Sect was so close to the Longevity Dao Sect. What demonic cultivator would be foolish enough to roam around this area?
Xu Guan was even planning to wait until his disciples grew strong enough to protect themselves before traveling farther afield to sweep out a few demonic lairs and earn some spirit stones.
Even the Sword Spirit was shocked. Although it knew that cultivating in this era was difficult, this was almost absurdly difficult.
Immaculate Realm cultivators had been considered the backbone of the cultivation world ten thousand years ago. Very few of them had managed to live in such miserable conditions.
“You know how much I used to make by taking advantage of the Longevity Dao Sect, don’t you?” Shu Xin said with a sigh. “Making money from the rich and making money from the poor are two completely different things. If the Longevity Dao Sect hadn’t treated me as someone to use and discard, I might really have stayed there for the rest of my life.”
Every wage earner knew that although major corporations were fiercely competitive, their benefits were good.
Small companies worked you just as hard, but without paying you properly. Each had its own way of being awful.
And divine companies had a habit of going bankrupt all too easily.
Alas, one could not have both fish and bear’s paw.
Xu Guan’s disciples felt the same way.
But even though cultivating was so difficult for them, they were still far better off than the rogue cultivators drifting aimlessly outside.
Of course, Shu Xin was an exception. She was the sort who was exceptionally good at making money.
“I’ve heard that you’re gifted at finding ways to make money, my disciple. Do you have any ideas that could help us earn more spirit stones so we can focus on cultivating?” Xu Guan had no sense of hierarchy. Until one managed a household, one could not appreciate the cost of firewood and rice—and he truly had no other options.
He had heard that the rates for escort work had dropped again.
Being a bodyguard required capital as well. Spiritual energy consumption and the wear and tear on magical artifacts all had to be included in the cost.
If one was unlucky enough to be injured, one also had to provide one’s own medicinal pills. That was no small expense either.
“Actually, I do have an idea. It would allow us to make full use of our sect’s greatest advantage and earn money quickly. The only problem is that it doesn’t sound very respectable.” Shu Xin, seeing the hopeful looks Xu Guan and the others were giving her, offered them a suggestion.
“Does our God-Questioning Sect have any reputation left to ruin?” Xu Guan had a very clear understanding of their situation. Their sect had fallen into such disrepair that every nearby sect knew about it.
“That makes things easier.” Shu Xin smiled. “When you took your junior brothers and sisters to the Longevity Dao Sect to attend Situ Jian’s Dao Infant Conference, you must have brought gifts. The Longevity Dao Sect should have given you return gifts as well, right?”
Xu Guan froze for a moment, then took a gift box from the corner of his storage bag.
“They did.”
Inside the box was a bottle of medicinal pills, a stack of talismans, and some spirit herbs. Altogether, they were worth at least a thousand spirit stones.
“The return gifts from these major sects are worth far more than what you can earn by working as a bodyguard.”
“Our God-Questioning Sect has only one thing left that is valuable: its name. Unfortunately, it also has a bad reputation. But that is precisely our advantage, and we can make use of it.” Shu Xin spoke with complete sincerity. “There are plenty of famous and righteous sects in the cultivation world. Even when the Longevity Dao Sect holds a banquet, our God-Questioning Sect is qualified to attend. Could it be that our sect would not be welcome at banquets held by sects whose reputations are inferior to the Longevity Dao Sect’s?”
“In the past, you rarely attended banquets, Master. I imagine that was because you were troubled by the gifts you would have to bring.” Shu Xin smiled. “Why not buy some inexpensive jade slips and write down a few simple cultivation insights in them? Better yet, use the cultivation insights Qin Rushan once stole. Since the Longevity Dao Sect has already obtained them, we have no reason to keep protecting its secrets. You don’t need to give too much information in any one jade slip. Just record it in scattered fragments. Anyone who wants to piece together a complete cultivation method will have to gather several of the jade slips we give away.”
“Every time you attend one of these sect gatherings, bring along several junior brothers and sisters. When you meet wealthy elders or sect masters, give their disciples some simple cultivation insights. Those elders and sect masters will naturally have to offer your junior brothers and sisters suitably generous welcome gifts.” Shu Xin paused, then added, “You only need to praise their disciples a little more than necessary, and the welcome gifts will be even more generous. Of course, your junior brothers and sisters will also have to learn to be a little thicker-skinned.”
“That way, whenever you take your junior brothers and sisters to attend one of these banquets, you’ll return with a full load. And as long as those sects aren’t stupid, they’ll realize the true value of the jade slips you gave them. They won’t say anything, and we’ll be happy to pretend not to understand. After that, whenever they hold a banquet, they’ll certainly send an invitation to our sect. They may even make the return gifts especially generous—all for the sake of the cultivation insights we gave them.”
What made money these days?
Blind boxes, of course.
“Most importantly, none of us can admit that these are cultivation-method jade slips. We’ll just call them cultivation insights.”
“Even if the Longevity Dao Sect discovers what we’re doing, the sects that received these jade slips won’t obediently hand the cultivation methods over. And even if they do surrender the jade slips, who can guarantee that they haven’t secretly made copies?”
“Besides, these are cultivation methods from our sect. If one of them happens to resemble an ancestral cultivation method belonging to some clan of the Longevity Dao Sect, that’s merely a coincidence.”
Xu Guan’s eyes lit up. He seemed to understand just how formidable this plan was.
He had never imagined that Shu Xin would give him such a tremendous gift. It could resolve the sect’s financial crisis in one stroke.
He would have to return and see whether the graves of his sect’s ancestors were shooting smoke straight into the heavens.
