Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 186 Empty Promises and New Sect Rules

Zhong Hui stared at the carefully packaged ramie cloth, silk, and fur, as well as the "Rose Peach Tea" that had already sold for two pots for one low-grade spirit stone in the sect's teahouse, trying hard to recall the description his second senior sister had drafted for him.

Of course, in order to distinguish them from the normal fabrics sold outside, everyone in the sect called them "ramie cloth," "silk," and "fur," and many other spiritual materials, spiritual cloths, and immortal cloths. Indeed, at the suggestion of the second senior sister and with the approval of Manager Xu, they were changed to those fancy names.

It's said that even the Third Senior Brother and Steward Ye were involved in naming these things...

However, no matter how fancy the names are, it doesn't change the fact that they are the cheapest items in the sect's shops.

For example, the ramie cloth called "Mysterious Azure Immortal Cloth" only costs 400 low-grade spirit stones per bolt, the silk cloth called "Jade Spirit Immortal Silk" costs 1000 low-grade spirit stones per bolt, and the "Black Moon Plain Fur" is even cheaper, costing 200 low-grade spirit stones per piece.

Although compared to his monthly income of less than a thousand low-grade spirit stones, which, including subsidies and salary, amounted to less than 10 high-grade spirit stones, these things were indeed worth a lot of money.

But just as the head of the lecture hall, her second senior sister earns 18 high-grade spirit stones a month! If you add the goods she sells in the sect's shop and her income as the peak master of the Spirit Mine Peak, she once heard her second senior sister mention that she could earn over a hundred high-grade spirit stones a month!

The income gap is tenfold, a stark contrast, so these things are really not worth many spirit stones to Second Senior Sister!
The more Zhong Hui thought about it, the more heartbroken he felt. He even looked at the fabrics with a mixture of longing and envy.

She still can't bear to buy a new piece of clothing and just makes do with the disciple's robes that she gets issued every month!

Zhong Hui's gaze was naturally noticed by Murong Zhen, which successfully deepened the misunderstanding.

Seeing that even the disciples of the White Stone Immortal Sect looked at these things with such envy, he couldn't help but have a thought.

It seems that the gifts my sister gave me are indeed quite valuable!
Murong Zhen was even happier.

It turns out that my restless younger sister is actually a stubborn mule, and I have to stroke her fur the right way to get along with her!

In his excitement, he issued another decree, giving Murong Ruyan an empty promise—granting her the fiefdom of the now divided Kingdom of Silu, which was divided into three factions.

During the previous unified dynasty, the Former Zhou Dynasty, the Silu Kingdom always considered itself a vassal state of the Zhou state. Even in their own historical records, they referred to themselves as "the Silu Kingdom of the Zhou Dynasty" or "the Silu Kingdom of the Great Zhou Dynasty," but it was always a tributary state.

However, when the former Zhou dynasty disintegrated and dynasties changed hands repeatedly in the Central Plains, the king of Silu became ambitious and broke away to become independent, no longer claiming allegiance. After the establishment of the Xiao state, Emperor Taizu fought against it twice, but although he won both times, he did not gain any substantial benefits and gave up, still designating it as a tributary state, even more lenient than when the former Zhou dynasty treated it, only asking for a title.

The reason was simply that the place was too poor, with few people, and even the only local specialties they could send were dried salted fish, ginseng, and furs. The problem was that these things were not unavailable in Liao, so why bother transporting them all the way from Silu? Therefore, Xiao Kingdom had always been indifferent to Silu Kingdom.

Until recently, the Slu Kingdom was embroiled in internal strife, splitting the country into three factions: the Buyeo Kingdom supported by the Bohai Kingdom, the New Slu Kingdom led by the Slu peasant uprising, and the Boji Kingdom, which the Xiao Kingdom recognized with a "let's see what happens" attitude.

However, besides these three forces, the small peninsula also has many other local noble and powerful forces, such as the Duan and Yuwen tribes, making it a complete mess.

Granting this territory to Murong Ruyan also demonstrates Murong Zhen's attitude: if you want to cause trouble, go and cause trouble for Silu Kingdom and Bohai Kingdom, but don't bother causing trouble for Xiao Kingdom!

This empty promise was shameless... but it actually fooled Murong Ruyan!

Murong Ruyan is neither short of money nor troops—her mother's old subordinates have gradually re-established contact with her. Although reclaiming Bohai Kingdom still requires careful planning, there is still great potential if she wants to take on Silu Kingdom!

Moreover, for Murong Ruyan, who received Murong Zhen's "reward," it was a double blessing.

Because she is about to reach the Foundation Establishment stage!

"This item is the Foundation Establishment Pill, which should be of some use to your foundation establishment."

Zhang Chengdao specifically took out one of the Foundation Establishment Pills that had been sitting unused in his backpack for a long time and gave it to Murong Ruyan, saying:

“Your senior brother broke through through enlightenment, not through normal foundation building, so he didn’t need to use this. Your foundation is more solid, so if you use the Foundation Building Pill, it will probably be twice as effective.”

Murong Ruyan gratefully accepted the Foundation Establishment Pill, her face solemn: "This disciple will certainly not fail Master's expectations!"

Of course, there was another unspoken thought: "I will also diligently cultivate and surpass my senior brother as soon as possible!"
It's just enlightenment and breakthrough, what's so great about it!
Zhang Chengdao looked at Murong Ruyan, whose competitive spirit was impossible to hide, and felt quite gratified.

Having a competitive spirit is a good thing. Since the establishment of the monthly sect competition and the annual sect grand competition system a month ago, the disciples' enthusiasm for cultivation has increased considerably.

Each month, the top ten in the sect's minor competition receive a "bonus" ranging from 50 to 5 mid-grade spirit stones.

In addition to the simple cultivation competition, the annual sect competition also includes a ranking of the top three disciples based on their achievements in different cultivation paths. The winning disciple will not only receive a prize of 50 high-grade spirit stones, but will also receive various magical treasures and rare spiritual materials, which are worth far more than 50 high-grade spirit stones!

The rewards for second and third place are less, at 20 and 10 high-grade spirit stones respectively. The magic treasures and rare spiritual materials are naturally not as good as the rewards for the champion, but they are still a great temptation for the disciples of the sect!
In addition to reward mechanisms such as sect competitions and sect contests, there are also certain punishment mechanisms.

For example, if someone fails to complete the tasks assigned by the main peak multiple times and instead focuses on doing tasks assigned by the sect, while their cultivation stagnates for a long time without making any progress, they will be given multiple warnings. Then, the sect leaders, garden masters, stewards, sect leaders, elders, and others will discuss the matter, and finally, the sect leader Zhang Chengdao will decide whether to expel them from the sect.

Despite the rigorous process, which most disciples would find difficult to accumulate so many debuffs, this "invisible blade," combined with the sect's large and small competition reward mechanism, successfully ignited an unprecedented passion for cultivation among the disciples.

Within just two months of starting their training, all the disciples successfully guided their internal energy into their bodies, including Tang Xiaoyu, who was considered a "martial arts stalwart"!
Of course, Tang Xiaoyu single-handedly extended the record of all the disciples who entered the Immortal Fate Conference in one and a half months to cultivate Qi into their bodies into two months.

But even so, it almost cost her her life.

This story begins two months ago.

(End of this chapter)