Chapter 139

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Chapter 139: The Art of Conversation

Five Elements Sect, Outer Sect

Almost a thousand disciples stood on top of a dam, cheering and dancing with joy. Lin Jiang stood on a distant hill, looking at the towering dam that was almost a hundred meters high, feeling amazed.

This dam is almost a hundred meters tall and several tens of meters thick. Even in Blue Star’s modern civilization, it should be considered a large project. But a group of cultivators managed to build it in less than a year.

"But considering the power of cultivators, it can be understood."

Lin Jiang then thought about it. Cultivators may not have various modern tools, but they have various methods. Without surveying tools, they can use their divine senses. Without bulldozers or cranes, they can use their cultivation power. Even the most ordinary female cultivator, with her spiritual power, can easily lift objects hundreds of kilograms heavy.

The mountain is solid and cannot be moved. A flying sword from someone in the Golden Core Period is tested, and with one strike, a whole hill is shattered.

"Junior Brother, in these past few months, I have felt a lot. Though the lower-level disciples may not have the same level of cultivation as us, they still possess great power. Utilizing this power well can lead to extraordinary achievements."

Zhang Shuhua stood beside Lin Jiang and said. In these past few months, he, just like Lin Jiang, had labored together with these lower-level cultivators, gaining a deeper understanding of them. He deeply admired these people.

"A large part of the wealth of the Five Elements Sect is produced by them."

Lin Jiang quietly said, they might not be able to produce high-end resources, but the basic resources of the Five Elements Sect are not produced by them, and experts often start from the bottom.

"Yes, we’ll see the results this year. If we have a great harvest, we can expand this model to other places."

Zhang Shuhua said that they still don’t know if this model is feasible or how effective it is. If it works well, they will implement it in other places, such as with low-level spiritual medicine.

Lin Jiang strongly agreed with this. He wanted to build prestige for Zhang Wanjing, to create absolute prestige among the lower-level disciples. This prestige may not be useful in the short term, but over time, it might be. There will definitely be someone among these lower-level disciples who will stand out.

There is no need for these people to reach the level of the sect’s higher-ups, just the middle level. That way, when Zhang Wanjing needs something done, he’ll have a team and people to execute it. In a sense, it can bypass those higher-ups directly.

"Ahem"

Just as the two were talking, they suddenly heard a cough behind them. They immediately turned around and saw an old man standing in front of them.

"Disciple Zhang Shuhua greets the sect master ancestor."

"Disciple Xiao Yi greets the sect master ancestor."

Lin Jiang saw Zhang Shuhua and immediately bowed. He didn’t recognize the sect leader, so no one came out.

"No need for excessive formalities, just wanted to come and see."

"Yes, sect leader."

"You all built this dam."

"My master led all of us to build it, took us eight months."

Lin Jiang quickly replied, feeling the need to highlight Zhang Wanjing.

"Wan Jing, hey…"

"Our plan is not yet complete. We have only finished one dam. The other dam is only halfway built. We plan to build a total of three large reservoirs, over ten small ones, and even irrigation channels and ditches stretching thousands of miles. Once completed, it is expected to increase the yield of the Five Elements Sect’s spiritual paddy by over 30%, with a total value of no less than 500,000 spirit stones per year. The funds for maintenance will only require a small amount."

Without waiting for the sect leader to feel amazed, Lin Jiang immediately spoke. All the top leaders of the Five Elements Sect are here. We can’t wait any longer to report on our work.

"Are there so many?"

The headmaster was also a little surprised. He remembered only giving Zhang Wanjing a hundred thousand spirit stones. Can it create so much profit, or is it available every year?

"Yes, disciples can guarantee it."

"What’s the use of your guarantee? I want results."

"Then let’s wait and see after a few months when the spiritual paddy has been planted. We’ll know when we harvest."

"Haha, you said it."

"It’s what the disciple said. If we can’t do it, the headmaster can punish the master and disciple."

Lin Jiang immediately said. If there’s a punishment, Zhang Wanjing should be included too. Nobody should escape.

"Alright, I will personally come to see later. Do you have any difficulties now? I can ask the various halls to help."

"As long as they don’t cause trouble, they also help."

Zhang Shuhua got angry as soon as he heard it. They had asked other halls for help in the past few months, but not only did they not help, they also caused trouble.

"Ahem, Head Master, don’t listen to him. Each hall is indeed supportive, but the disciples hope for a greater level of support, such as providing more people and more money…"

Lin Jiang glared at Zhang Shuhua. He didn’t understand. Why would he go and complain at a time like this? He should take advantage of the situation and ask for benefits.

To be honest, they were really short of people, not just physical laborers, but also professionals like a tool refiner. They needed various tools to be crafted, but they had very few dedicated tool refiners for their service. It was too troublesome to constantly have to go back and forth.

"I may not be able to provide spirit stones, but I can allocate 200,000 Merit Points to the sect and give them to Zhang Wanjing. When the time comes, he can use them to assign tasks to get whatever kind of people or things they need from the sect."

"Thank you, Head Master."

"Hmm, you may continue."

The Head Master nodded, then turned around and walked away, disappearing from their sight in a few steps.

"See, learning how to interact with people, different people have different ways, isn’t this beneficial?"

Lin Jiang said to Zhang Shuhua, after spending these months with thousands of disciples, he became less cold-hearted, but it’s still not enough.

This statement from Lin Jiang made Zhang Shuhua feel overwhelmed, are there so many rules here?

·······

"The first phase goal is already half completed, once the other dams are built, it will be considered finished. Then the irrigation ditches will be simple."

Zhang Wanjing brought Lin Jiang and Zhang Shuhua to see the newly built dam in the evening, he was very satisfied and had great confidence in the upcoming plans.

"Master, how is the promotion of farming tools going?"

Lin Jiang said, the dams and irrigation ditches will consume most of their funds, and there is very little money left. Even with the special approval of two hundred thousand Merit Points from the sect leader, it’s still not enough.

"It’s difficult to promote the wooden kites and farming carts. Ordinary disciples only cultivate one or two hundred mu of land, and most of them are transitional. They haven’t considered farming for a lifetime, and they are unwilling to spend money to buy these tools. Even if they buy them, it would be wasteful."

Zhang Wanjing shook his head. As a disciple at the bottom of the sect, no one wanted to be a farmer for their entire life. Even if they had no skills, they still wanted to improve themselves. If they couldn’t refine pills, they would draw symbols. If they couldn’t draw symbols, they would refine tools. If all else failed, they would learn formation techniques. Even being a true Spiritual Farmer planting spiritual herbs would be better than farming.

Lin Jiang had realized this outcome. The disciples of the Five Elements Sect rented low-level spiritual land, so they couldn’t grow much. Isn’t this just like a small-scale farming economy? And one of the characteristics of a small-scale farming economy is a lack of funds.

It’s actually not difficult to solve the issue of spiritual paddy seeds. If we switch to new seeds this year and have a good harvest, it will attract people to buy them next year. The premise is that the price should not be too expensive or we can directly promote them through the sect.

And as for these farming tools, I have a solution. As long as the master is willing to put in the effort…

"Tell me your solution."

"We can invest to create a batch of tools and then hire people to use them to cultivate the fields and apply fertilizers for the disciples. But our goal is not to make profits, so we can set the prices very low. As long as there is even a small profit, it’s fine."

"But won’t that take away the livelihood of the Zheng family? You’re stealing their job, aren’t you?"

"No, we will use the Zheng family’s people in the first batch. Although the profit margin will be thin, with more customers, we can still earn a bit. We can compensate them in various ways from other sources. Besides, if it really takes away their livelihoods, then we’ll need to make adjustments."

Lin Jiang said. Don’t blame him for being ruthless and taking away people’s livelihoods. It’s because he has to strategize for Zhang Wanjing to gain reputation through various means.

"Just do as you say."

Zhang Wanjing thought about it, this was the only way to solve the problem, he couldn’t find any other solutions for now.

"Master, may I ask when will you break through to Nascent Soul?"

"I don’t know."

"Does the sect have any treasures for Foundation Establishment?"

"Yes, but it’s not my turn yet."

Zhang Wanjing said, he had offended so many Nascent Soul Elders, how could he possibly obtain such treasure.

"Can we buy it outside?"

"What do you think?"

"Probably not possible, right?"

Lin Jiang hesitated a bit. He knew that the sect had always monopolized strategic pill recipes, like the Building Foundation Pill and the Five Elements Golden Fruit Pill. While they sometimes released a few Building Foundation Pills to give independent cultivators some benefits, they would never release Nascent Soul cultivation pills. No sect would risk having too many Nascent Soul cultivators. Other sects were the same. They had an unspoken agreement, like a gang of five that monopolized certain techniques.

"Even if some treasures appeared on the market, they would definitely end up in the hands of a few major sects. The smaller sects won’t have a chance."

Zhang Wanjing said. When it comes to financial resources and foundation, how can independent cultivators compare to these major sects? Even the smaller sects can’t.

"So, we can only look for opportunities in the Wilderness?"

"Pretty much."

"Then the disciple really can’t do anything."

Lin Jiang said. If we could buy it, I could contribute some money. But if we can’t buy it, I can’t go to the Wilderness either. It’s too dangerous, I won’t do it.

"I’ll handle this matter myself. I don’t need your help with the Nascent Soul cultivation."

Zhang Wanjing shook his head. He thought highly of himself. How could someone at the Building Foundation stage dare to interfere with the matter of refining babies?