Chapter 113
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Chapter 113: I Have Something to Say, But I Don’t Know If I Should
After Xu Fan returned, the entire sect enjoyed crab roe rice.
Wiping the crumbs left from eating, Xu Fan said contentedly, “Not bad, Yuexian’s cooking skills are getting better and better.”
At this moment, Xu Yuexian squinted her eyes and replied, “Master, I didn’t make this; it’s the grapes controlling the tool puppets that did.”
“It seems I no longer qualify to cook for you, Master,” Xu Yuexian said, pretending to sigh.
“If you want to cook, no one is stopping you. In the future, the grapes’ tasks will become increasingly important; they probably won’t have the computing power to handle everything.”
Then, taking advantage of the moment when everyone was present, Xu Fan began to discuss the sect’s future plans, but he soon realized that no one was interested.
“Master, after your plan is complete, can I go treasure hunting?”
“I want to travel around the entire central continent.”
“After I learn your secret technique, I want to go on some adventures.”
“I want to take my wife out for a nice trip.”
“If you all leave, then I’ll guard the sect and protect you, Master.”
Hearing the last statement, Xu Fan shot Xu Gang a glance, thinking, I can suppress you with one hand; I don’t need your protection.
Xu Fan sighed at everyone’s lazy demeanor, wishing that at least one of them had grand ambitions so he wouldn’t have to work so hard.
It seemed he needed to find one or two management talents from the next generation of disciples.
“You all want to slack off right now, just because the sect is newly established? Dream on.”
“You at least need to train the next generation of disciples before you can leave.”
“Also, our sect’s initial construction plan won’t be completed for at least five years.”
“So, regardless of whether there’s work or not, you all need to stay in the sect.”
“If there’s really nothing to do, go to the Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake and hunt some Nascent Soul stage beasts,” Xu Fan said to the unmotivated group.
“Explore the talents of the next generation of disciples more.”
“These disciples have all passed my tests, and their future achievements won’t be worse than yours. So I’ve decided that each of you must take three direct disciples in the future.”
“No one is allowed to travel far unless they reach the Golden Core Stage,” Xu Fan commanded, not wanting to worry alone.
As time passed day by day, the first batch of Spiritual Energy Armors was finally completed.
Pang Fu, carrying Xu Fan’s hopes, flew toward Lin Sen Fairy City.
“Six months, 400 million spirit stones; this profit rate should be about right.”
At that moment, Xu Fan suddenly recalled the Floating Sky Ship. If the Floating Sky Ship was out for six months, it could at least gather several billion resources. Compared to the Floating Sky Ship, his spirit stones didn’t even amount to the decimal point.
Until now, Xu Fan had not calculated how much spiritual energy was needed to refine a Floating Sky Ship. Was it several hundred billion?
Although he couldn’t create the Floating Sky Ship, he clearly understood the giant cannons on the escort warships.
“Just hold on for now; I must refine a Floating Sky Ship.”
Within a day, Pang Fu returned with spirit stones and the materials Xu Fan needed.
“Elder Xu, I did not disgrace the mission.”
Pang Fu handed over the spirit stones and materials to Xu Fan.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Xu Fan casually took out twenty million spirit stones and handed them to Pang Fu.
"Use these spirit stones to set up our Hidden Spirit Sect’s Business Hall, and you’ll be in full charge," Xu Fan said, noticing that the current Business Hall seemed a bit understaffed with just Pang Fu and his son.
"With this amount of spirit stones, our Hidden Spirit Sect should be able to open shops in the major fairy cities on the central continent."
"Once that happens, our Hidden Spirit Sect will have access to the latest market information."
Pang Fu accepted the spirit stones, thinking he’d have to wait longer to expand the Business Hall.
"Work hard, and I’ll give you a bonus at the end of the year," Xu Fan said with a smile.
"Thank you, Elder Xu."
"Haha, no need to be so formal, Chief Pang."
After their chat, Xu Fan turned and gave all the spirit ore Pang Fu had bought to the grapes.
"In another two years, even if a Transformation God cultivator attacks the sect, I won’t be worried."
Once they had enough spirit stones, everyone on Hidden Spirit Island noticed that the tool puppets, which had been gone for months, were back in large numbers, and the surroundings were changing daily.
With the spirit stones secured, Xu Fan’s interests began to expand again.
In the main peak’s artifact crafting room, Xu Fan was working on a fifth-grade precious artifact, the spirit pearl. This was the 30th one he’d made.
Xu Fan planned to craft 36 spirit pearls and attach them to the sect’s grand formation, which would significantly boost the spiritual energy density on Hidden Spirit Island.
It had been a full year since the sect was established, but Xu Fan felt like he’d forgotten something.
It wasn’t until the next day that Xu Fan realized what he’d overlooked.
That day, an Elder Council servant arrived, the same Nascent Soul cultivator who had warmly welcomed Xu Fan before.
"Master Xu, sorry to disturb you," the Nascent Soul cultivator said, now looking more like a businessperson here on official duty.
"I’m the elder; the master is my disciple," Xu Fan said, gesturing to Xu Yuexian beside him.
"Haha, it’s all the same," the Nascent Soul cultivator chuckled.
At that moment, a puppet girl brought in tea.
"Senior, what brings you here today?" Xu Fan asked.
"Oh, since this is your first time establishing a sect, you might not know some things. I’m here to explain," the Nascent Soul cultivator said, pulling out a communication artifact and projecting an image in the air.
The image showed just a few simple pieces of data: the sect’s net profit for the year and the taxes owed.
Xu Fan stared at the tax amount, deep in thought—partly because it was a large sum and partly because it was so precise.
"Our Elder Council is built on the foundation of 36 invincible respected elders and has existed for 30,000 years. Currently, the council includes 56 respected elders, including those who aren’t official members."
"I won’t mention the council’s slogan, but let me tell you about our ten great celestial tools."
"The first is the Celestial Watch, which oversees the entire central continent."
"The second is the Ten Thousand Star Ship, capable of traveling across myriad worlds."
"The third to sixth are the Qian Kun Mirror, the Causality Mirror, the Zhou Tian Mirror, and the Spirit Realm. When these four mirrors are combined, they can trace the origin of anything."
"This is also the celestial tool used to calculate taxes."
"The seventh is the Ten Thousand Sword Array Plate, which can cut through anything."
"The eighth is the Dragon Immortal Palace."
"The ninth is the Ten Thousand Souls Tomb."
"The tenth is the Demon Slayer Sword."
"I’m telling you all this, Elder Xu, with no ulterior motive."
"It’s just that if your sect isn’t strong enough, it’s best not to resist paying taxes."
"Every year, small sects that refuse to pay taxes are wiped out on the central continent."
"I hope Elder Xu doesn’t make a mistake," the Nascent Soul servant said with a smile. He didn’t need to say so much, but since this was the only sect in their area, it needed to be protected.
The key was that Xu Fan and his group were excellent at earning spirit stones, and their performance would only improve in the future.
Xu Fan handed over three storage bags, each containing ten million spirit stones, to the Nascent Soul servant. Then he asked the question that concerned him most.
"What if a powerful cultivator tries to destroy our sect? Can you protect us, Senior?"
"Unless it’s the beast race, our Elder Council will only issue a warning. After all, we can’t interfere too much."
At that moment, Xu Fan could only think one thing: I have something to say, but I’m not sure if I should.
