Cultivation: Beginning with the Heart Reflecting Heaven and Earth

Zhao Qi then stood up and poured Lu Qian a cup of tea. "I've heard about you. I heard there's a woodcutter in the outer sect who can chop down hundreds of pounds of bamboo all by himself without needing a team. I didn't expect you to stand out so soon after you've just entered the sect!"

Lu Qian was somewhat surprised, "You even know, Senior Brother?"

He thought no one cared about his affairs, but it turned out that those people only pretended not to care; in reality, they were spreading his information everywhere.

Who says cultivators can't gossip?

"You've already mastered the One Qi Sword technique right after you started. Not only do I know about it, but some of the elders in the sect have also taken notice of you, and even people in the Sword Pavilion have heard of your reputation."

Zhao Qi was laughing and joking, making it hard for Lu Qian to tell if he was joking or not.

However, it is likely that even if they pay some attention to Lu Qian, it won't be too much, otherwise an inner sect elder would have already wanted to take him as a disciple.

Since there isn't one, it means it's just that.

After chatting for a while, Lu Qian explained his purpose: "Senior Brother Zhao, I've been keeping an eye on you ever since you said I'm good at alchemy. Right now, I'm missing a suitable alchemy furnace, and I don't know where to buy one."

"You want to buy the alchemy furnace now?"

Zhao Qi exclaimed in surprise. He had long since discovered that Lu Qian had already reached the second level of Qi Refining and believed that he was a promising talent. However, it was still a bit too early for him to start refining pills now. "Junior brother, having a spiritual root suitable for pill refining is not the same as actually refining pills. Even with some talent, it still requires a lot of resources. Are you mentally prepared?"

The meaning is quite clear: with Lu Qian's wealth, he cannot currently afford to refine pills.

However, Lu Qian had his own reasons. With the help of his inner world, he could quickly learn alchemy and then use it to improve his cultivation. He was quite confident in this, so he firmly said, "I want to try it first without investing too many resources. If it doesn't work, then forget it."

Seeing that Lu Qian wasn't joking, Zhao Qi began to think seriously. "Whether you want to practice or really refine pills, a pill furnace is quite expensive. Finding a usable one will cost at least several hundred spirit stones. Even with my connections, it will still cost at least two hundred spirit stones. Can you afford that?"

"Is it really that expensive?"

Even though he was mentally prepared, Lu Qian was still taken aback. His original idea was to ask first if there was a cheap and easy-to-use alchemy furnace that he could get for a little over a hundred spirit stones, which he could scrape together. But the so-called several hundred spirit stones, which would cost at least two hundred spirit stones just to save face, was still a bit too much for him to bear.

However, since Zhao Qi is willing to help, he will definitely find something usable and of good quality; that should be guaranteed.

Lu Qian thought for a moment and then asked, "Are there any alchemy furnaces that aren't of very good quality but are relatively inexpensive? I'm just practicing, so I don't need anything too fancy."

"The kind you're talking about, which will explode after only a few uses and could even injure you. If I really found you one of those, wouldn't that damage my reputation?"

Zhao Qi refused without hesitation, but seeing that Lu Qian was not going to give up, he suddenly had an idea. "Actually, I can help you buy a pill furnace. You can pay me back two hundred spirit stones later, but I need you to do me a small favor."

Lu Qian was wary. "If it could be like this, that would be wonderful. However, my cultivation is low, and I don't know how I can help you, senior brother."

Zhao Qi looked troubled. "It's a very simple favor, there's no danger, but the situation is a bit complicated. You shouldn't have joined any factions yet, right? I remember you were focused on your cultivation, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you."

Lu Qian nodded and joked, "I never expected that my reputation would spread to my senior brother after all my hard work in cultivation."

He was a little puzzled. He hadn't done anything, yet the news had spread everywhere, and he hadn't even known about it.

Or is it that Zhao Qi has been intentionally keeping an eye on him all along?

"The sect's fishpond will be ready for harvest soon. I used to do a pearl-collecting task. It's not a particularly special task, nor is it dangerous, but the number of spirit pearls is rather uncertain, and there are often losses."

Zhao Qi gave Lu Qian a look, letting him figure it out himself. "Sometimes the losses can be quite significant, and I can only pretend not to see them. But recently I've heard some rumors that someone in the sect seems to be paying attention to this place. I don't want to get involved in this matter again this year. You've just joined the sect, so these things won't affect you."

Having said that, Lu Qian roughly understood. Someone had embezzled a large sum of money, attracting the attention of the sect. Unfortunately, Zhao Qi himself wasn't entirely clean either; at the very least, he had known about it but failed to report it. If the sect's investigation happened to implicate Zhao Qi, things would become unclear.

Lu Qian has not joined any faction and is focused on cultivation, so he has a clean background. If he goes to collect pearls in place of Zhao Qi, he should be fine, and he will also be doing Zhao Qi a favor.

"There are some things I really can't refuse, like now that you've come to me, I have to help you out."

Zhao Qi tapped the table. "So? What do you think? If you're not willing, then let's call it quits. I'll still help you inquire about alchemy furnaces, but I can't advance the money for you."

Lu Qian was speechless. He really thought Zhao Qi was so enthusiastic, but he didn't expect him to be waiting for him here. But this was already good enough. At least he spoke clearly and didn't try to hide anything. Anyway, Zhao Qi didn't refuse to ask about the alchemy furnace.

"Let me think about it and I'll give you an answer within three days."

In the end, Lu Qian did not agree immediately. He needed to go back and find out more information first. He couldn't just do things blindly. He needed to know whether the actual situation was the same as what Zhao Qi said.

Zhao Qi wasn't dissatisfied at all. "It's good to think about it. If I were in that situation, I would definitely think about it for a few more days."

After returning, Lu Qian first summoned Nie Tiefeng. He didn't know if Nie Tiefeng knew about these things, but he could at least ask him.

Of course, he wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal everything; he just subtly inquired about it from the sidelines.

Nie Tiefeng quickly nodded and said, "This kind of thing is not uncommon. Take our wood-cutting task for example. The odd amount is usually rounded off, but it is still calculated in the end. Where does that odd amount go? It all becomes contribution points and goes to some senior brother. This is really nothing out of the ordinary."

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

Where there is profit, there will be corruption.

Even if the Canghai Sect is a cultivation sect, it is still made up of people. Is it possible to expect them all to be fair and impartial, and not to steal or cheat?

Moreover, there is a special situation in the fish pond: the spirit fish inside will die, run away, or hide, all of which result in losses.

If the harvest volume does not meet the target, it can be easily covered up by saying that the fish died, escaped, or hid. Does the sect really need to turn the fish pond upside down and patiently check every inch of the land?

Obviously, that's impossible.

So, the water here is deep, the water in the fishpond is deep, that makes sense.

Seeing Lu Qian deep in thought, Nie Tiefeng quickly advised him, "These shady dealings are beyond our ability to handle. You need to have connections. If you get involved rashly, you'll only get yourself killed."

If everyone knows about a benefit, then only a few people can obtain it.

Lu Qian was clearly not one of those few.

"Of course I know that, I'm just a little curious."

He smiled and didn't continue the topic, but instead started chatting casually.