Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 116 A two-pronged approach
"Let's do as you wish! It's almost the end of the year, so don't bother. Wait until next year to ask for a pass from the Beastmaster Sect before setting off again. I'll give you 5,000 spirit stones then. The sect is currently short-staffed, and everyone has their own errands, so let Junior Sister Carissa accompany you!"

"Forget about Junior Sister Carissa! Last time, because of Apu's incident, I hid it from her and killed those who knew about it. If she had followed him and learned the truth, she would probably resent me."

"That's right. Then let Senior Brother Xu Ning go with you."

Zhong Wenyuan nodded. "Oh, there's one more thing. Junior Brother Qi recommended an alchemist to join our sect. He said he knew him from the past. His surname is Cheng Qian, and he's at the fifth level of Qi Refining."

"It's time for the sect to recruit more people. People are needed everywhere now, and we are obviously short of manpower. Now that we have sufficient finances, recruiting more people can not only strengthen our own strength, but also expand our industry. I plan to recruit a group of independent cultivators to join the sect next year. What do you think, Senior Brother Wenyuan?" Song Xian said.

He actually had this idea a long time ago. There are only thirteen people in the sect now. The Alchemy Hall needs manpower, the Nanyuanfang shop needs manpower, and the Qingfengfang shop needs manpower. In the future, other shops will be opened and other industries will be added. Without manpower, it is impossible to do it.

Before, it was because the sect was short of financial resources. Now, everyone has settled here for more than a year, has completely established themselves, and has a financial surplus. It is time to recruit more people to strengthen the sect.

Especially after returning from Bianxi City, this idea became even stronger. Isn't it because the Yuyuan Sect has been making trouble for him time and time again because they have so many people and so much power?

Zhong Wenyuan frowned after hearing this. He was a conservative in his thinking and neither disdained nor trusted independent cultivators. In his mind, independent cultivators were mostly a mob, people who would forget their principles when they saw profit. Recruiting independent cultivators on a large scale would surely cause chaos in the sect.

"Loose cultivators have no loyalty whatsoever. If the sect encounters trouble, they will immediately scatter. It's probably unrealistic to rely on them. In my opinion, if we want to strengthen the sect, we still need to recruit more children with spiritual roots and train them step by step. This is the right way."

His attitude was within Song Xian's expectations.

"Training disciples is certainly the best way, but it's not something that can be done overnight, and it's not easy to find children with spiritual roots. Last time, we screened the spiritual roots of the children in Shizhai Village, and out of dozens of people, not a single one had any spiritual root aptitude. We're currently short on manpower, and to address this urgent matter, the fastest and best way is undoubtedly to directly recruit independent cultivators."

"To say that independent cultivators are completely devoid of loyalty is not entirely true. Junior Sister Feng, Junior Brother Qi, and Junior Sister Carissa have all made significant contributions to the sect's current development. I believe that even if the sect is in trouble, they will remain loyal."

"On the other hand, Qingyun Sect's Chang Jinmian and others, for their own selfish interests, did not hesitate to collude with external enemies and invite wolves into the house."

"From this perspective, whether one is loyal to the sect or not does not depend on whether one is recruited as a casual cultivator or trained as a disciple by the sect, but rather on the sect's system and norms."

"People are all made of flesh and blood. As long as we treat all disciples fairly and impartially, even the recruited independent cultivators will do their utmost to protect the sect."

"On the contrary, if we treat them differently, it will lead to the formation of many factions and the formation of gangs to attack those who are different. Even the elders of the sect will turn against us."

Zhong Wenyuan was speechless. The Qingyun Sect incident was a recent example for him, and he really had no confidence to argue. After a moment of silence, he still insisted on his opinion.

"The Qingyun Sect's downfall was certainly due to internal divisions within the sect, but this is completely separate from the troubles caused by the massive recruitment of independent cultivators. The two are unrelated. Currently, the sect already has three independent cultivators. Of course, I don't deny the contributions of Junior Sisters Feng, Qi, and Carissa to the sect. However, if independent cultivators become too numerous and outnumber the sect's disciples, gaining a dominant position within the sect, then serious trouble will undoubtedly ensue."

Song Xian looked at him deeply, and he suddenly understood Zhong Wenyuan's real concern. He was worried that if there were too many independent cultivators, they would overwhelm the power of the Qingyun Sect elders and eventually take over their place.

People like Feng Yan and Qi Xiaobai now occupy important positions in the sect.

Qi Xiaobai is in charge of all matters related to alchemy, while Feng Yan is in charge of all matters related to the sale of Yuxiang Pills. This is the sect's only industry, and their annual share is much higher than that of others.

These two were newcomers, but now they controlled the most important industry of the sect. Naturally, this attracted the covetousness of the former disciples of Qingyun Sect who had followed them all the way. This was because Qi Xiaobai was the founder of Yuxiang Dan and was indispensable, and Feng Yan had made great efforts to open up the market in Bianxi City, so other people could not gossip.

In fact, Zhang Ningyuan had expressed this idea to him in person before, but he didn't care at that time. Now it seems that it is not just Zhang Ningyuan. I am afraid that many former disciples of Qingyun Sect are dissatisfied with this, but they just didn't say it out loud.

What Zhong Wenyuan was worried about was that these former disciples of Qingyun Sect would lose their dominant position in Hunyuan Sect and be slowly replaced by others.

His proposal to develop new industries and to take the lead in the trade between Bianxi City and Muhe Grassland probably also contained this meaning. To put it bluntly, he wanted the former Qingyun Sect disciples represented by him to control the profits and income of other sects to avoid being marginalized.

Thinking of this, Song Xian suddenly felt a chill in his heart. There were only thirteen people in the sect now, and they had been settled in Bianxi City for just over a year, but they had already started to intrigue and undercurrents were surging.

As the sect's leader, he naturally hoped that everyone in the sect could unite as one and work together, so he tried his best to treat everyone equally.

He didn't expect that there were already signs of differentiation where he couldn't see.

This was the fact he least wanted to see, but he had to face it.

The more the sect grows and becomes stronger, the more obvious the factions become and the more serious the divisions become. He realized that this was a result that could not be changed no matter what he did.

"Don't give up eating because of choking." Song Xian looked outside the door, as if he was talking to Zhong Wenyuan, but also as if he was talking to himself.

"No matter what, if the sect wants to grow stronger, it must absorb cultivators with fighting ability. Even if there will be troubles in the future, we cannot stand still."

"Not only do we need manpower in all areas right now, but we also have to deal with the friction that the Yuyuan Sect might stir up. Without manpower, nothing can be done. So, we can take a two-pronged approach. Next year, we'll first recruit five to ten independent cultivators, and at the same time, we'll send people to the villages of Bianxia Town to conduct a large-scale search for children with spiritual roots and potential, and recruit them into the sect for training."

.........

After discussing with Zhong Wenyuan, Song Xian came to the puppet-making hall, where Shen Fan was concentrating on forging the puppet's torso.

Hearing a noise from behind, he turned around suddenly and saw that it was Song Xian. He hurriedly went to greet him and saluted respectfully: "Master, you have come out of seclusion."

"Let me see how your refining is going." Song Xian looked around and saw a snake-shaped puppet placed next to the stone beam. His eyes lit up, and he walked over and took the puppet in his hand to look at it carefully.

This puppet already had a very nice shape, with a well-formed appearance, a head that was neither flat nor flat, a waist that was neither fat nor thin, and a tail that was neither long nor short. But when I touched it, I felt that its joints were very stiff and had the slightest cracks.

"This is the latest puppet I've refined, but unfortunately it still hasn't been successful." Shen Fan touched the back of his head, feeling a little ashamed.

He had used up most of the materials in the sect's treasury, but still failed to completely refine a puppet, which made him feel lost and a little ashamed.

To this day, he has been completely obsessed with the art of puppet making, and he studies it almost every day without eating or drinking. However, he has no one to guide him, and he doesn't know the key points.

"It's already very good. Think about what it was like when you were refining it at the beginning of the year. You have made such great progress in a year, which is much faster than I expected. This skill is inherently complicated and cannot be achieved overnight. It's amazing that you can achieve this step." Song Xian knew that he had worked very hard, so he comforted and encouraged him.

Shen Fan's greatest strength is that no matter what he does, he can devote himself wholeheartedly and fully. It is precisely because of this effort that he can make rapid progress in the art of puppet refining.

"Master." Shen Fan opened his mouth, seeming to be hesitant to speak.

"What's wrong? Just tell me if you have anything to say."

"I've already used up a lot of the materials in the sect's treasury. To continue my research, I need to buy new materials."

"Since one thousand spirit stones are not enough, then we will make additional investments. Next year, I will allocate another one thousand five hundred spirit stones to purchase puppet materials. Just focus on your research and don't worry about anything else."

"Thank you, Master." A smile immediately appeared on Shen Fan's face. He was now obsessed with puppets and was afraid that the sect would cancel the project due to financial reasons. Now with Song Xian's words, he naturally didn't have to worry.

"This puppet secret record was bestowed upon our sect by heaven. If we can master it, it will become our sect's ultimate weapon. Study it diligently, and I will send others to study with you in the future."

"Yes." Shen Fan replied solemnly.

…………

The days in the sect were as peaceful as water, and in the blink of an eye it was the end of the year.

Just like last year, Song Xian called everyone back to the mountain gate.

Everyone was sitting together in the spacious and bright main hall. This year, the sect had two new disciples. One was Mu Hong, the manager of Hunyuan Pavilion in Qingfengfang, who was recruited by Feng Yan. Mu Hong was twenty years old and had the cultivation level of the second level of Qi Refining. He was an old acquaintance of Feng Yan.

The other one is Cheng Qian, the alchemist recruited by Qi Xiaobai. He is about 40 years old and has reached the fifth level of Qi Refining. The two of them also arrived here today.

Song Xian first introduced the identities of the two to everyone, made a polite opening speech, and then discussed financial matters.

Everyone reported their expenses and income for this year one after another.

The total expenditure this year is 25,200 spirit stones.

This includes a disciple’s salary of 5,000 spirit stones.

The fire vein corridor is paved with five thousand spirit stones.

One thousand spirit stones in the Nanyuanfang shop.

Qingfengfang shop costs 3,500 spirit stones.

The cost of the alchemy room is 1,800 spirit stones.

The raw materials for the Jade Fragrance Pill cost three thousand spirit stones.

"Purchasing the puppet materials costs one thousand spirit stones."

In addition, the reward for Zhong Wenyuan, Lin Zixiang and others who went to Muhe Grassland to help Apu last time was 4,300 spirit stones.

Other trivial expenses, such as the consumption and maintenance of the formation, the construction of the mansion, the expenses of servants, and the travel expenses of sect personnel, add up to several hundred spirit stones.

This year's income totals more than 33,000 spirit stones.

It is divided into three parts. The main income comes from the sale of a total of 3,056 Yuxiang Pills by Qingfengfang Hunyuan Pavilion. In addition to handing over 30% to Luoyun Sect, the total income is more than 21,000 spirit stones.

Nanyuanfang sold a total of 224 Jade Fragrance Pills, totaling more than 1,900 spirit stones, and Apu received 10,000 spirit stones as reward.

After deducting expenses from income, the net income this year is more than 8,000 spirit stones.

The current balance of spirit stones in the treasury is exactly 33,000 spirit stones.

(End of this chapter)