Chapter 162: 122. Cultivator on the Island: The Struggle of a Commoner Cultivator (4K, asking for monthly votes)
Face isn’t important! Ye Jeming, of course, understood this. But knowing it and acting on it were two different things. Letting go of his pride felt no less than killing him.
However, upon hearing what Shen Zhou had said earlier, he couldn’t help but smile. "The Five Temple Surnames and the Nine Mountain Great Halls won’t be as easy to convince as we are. Xu Xing will have to face them sooner or later..."
Some things couldn’t be resolved just by shamelessly trying to curry favor with others. For example, certain positions tightly held by the Aristocratic Families...
Reputation and authority are not things one can delegate! The way upward was almost completely blocked.
"So..." Shen Zhou placed Xu Xing’s Jade Certificate in the column for Commoner Disciples, alongside the Jade Certificate of a disciple from an adjacent Family Line. "Flatter him, but once you step out of this door, some things won’t change a bit."
Upon hearing this, Ye Jiming seemed to understand.
「Matters have priorities.」
Seeing Yu Xue was less important than seeing Jiang Yan, so Xu Xing first headed to the Lu Shi Pavilion. This time, Jiang Yan happened to be there, so the young Female Cultivator in the pavilion didn’t need to send a voice transmission talisman to notify him. Without saying much, Jiang Yan led Xu Xing directly into the inner palace—the same room as last time. This time, however, there was an additional old man with a sallow face in the room.
"Let me introduce you. This is Feng Pinggu, the stationed cultivator on Guang Chuan Island. Like me, he is at the Late Stage Immortal Foundation Cultivation, but he has already started preparing for the Jade Liquid Reversion Pill. I believe it won’t be long before Senior Brother Feng becomes a House Elder in the Sect."
"At that time, you’ll have to address him as True Man Feng."
Jiang Yan laughed, introducing the sallow-faced old man to Xu Xing as they entered the room. After the introduction, he continued to inform Xu Xing of the benefits of befriending the old man via Sound transmission via divine consciousness: "Senior Brother Feng’s Guang Chuan Island is rich in Fire Melting Wood and Gold Flame Bugs. If Junior Brother Xu needs them, you can purchase them at a low price directly from him, without going through the Sect, saving a lot of Spirit Shells."
"However..." Jiang Yan paused in his transmission. "If Senior Brother Feng asks to borrow Spirit Shells, Junior Brother Xu, you must carefully consider before deciding. Senior Brother Feng is already over 370 years old. He suffered a hidden injury in his early years, causing instability in his foundation. The chances of him breaking through to the Returning Core Realm are slim. If you lend him too much, it’ll be a wasted effort. Out of friendship, I’ve already lent him thirty thousand Spirit Shells. For anything more, I’ve had to make excuses."
Without this last remark, even if Xu Xing wouldn’t have openly criticized Jiang Yan’s actions, he would still have thought of Jiang Yan as someone he couldn’t trust implicitly. He would have gradually distanced himself. Thirty thousand Spirit Shells might not seem like much, but to Foundation Establishment Cultivators like them, it was not a small sum!
The Sound transmission via divine consciousness ended. Xu Xing and Jiang Yan had already taken their seats near Feng Pinggu.
Since Jiang Yan had evidently introduced Xu Xing to Feng Pinggu beforehand, Feng Pinggu greeted Xu Xing with a smile as he entered. "You must be the Junior Brother Xu whom Jiang Yan mentioned? Truly a talented individual! Junior Brother Xu, your Immortal Base is flawless, and your future is bright. The Immortal Base barrier can be broken within a hundred years. I’m old, so I’m taking a bit of an advantage by calling you Junior Brother now."
In the Cultivation World, there was no such concept as respecting the old and cherishing the young. Within blood relations, such respect might be given. However, among fellow disciples, if the relationship wasn’t close and they weren’t part of the same Master and Disciple Lineage, status was often determined by one’s cultivation Realm.
Xu Xing and Feng Pinggu exchanged polite greetings, and thus, they had formally met.
「Not even half a day later」
A man and a woman entered the room in the inner palace. The man was handsome, and the woman beautiful. Arm in arm, they were clearly a couple.
Jiang Yan introduced them to Xu Xing just as he had with Feng Pinggu, using both spoken words and Sound transmission via divine consciousness.
The man and woman, known as the Luo Ying Two Immortals, were renowned in the Wangchuan Sea’s Eastern Sea Area. Although one of them was at the Late Immortal Foundation Stage and the other at the Immortal Foundation Middle Stage Realm, when they worked together, they had once fought a Returning Core expert to a standstill. For a time, their fame spread far, even beyond Luo Ying Island.
Jiang Yan continued via Sound transmission via divine consciousness: "Luo Ying Island was originally a Nameless Isle. Then, this couple discovered a Shell Field here and began excavating Spirit Shells. So, the Sect named the island after the two of them. Recently, the Shell Field on Luo Ying Island was depleted. The couple has started leveraging connections within the Sect, attempting to obtain Deacon positions in various pavilions. Even though being a Deacon isn’t as free or profitable as being an External Cultivator, once an internal Deacon reaches the Late Immortal Foundation Stage and is preparing for the Jade Liquid Reversion Pill, they can apply to the Sect for a twenty-year free lease of a Blessed Land Cave Mansion, as well as one Soul Condensing Pill."
During their conversation, Jiang Yan also told Xu Xing another secret.
Through Fate Deduction, Xu Xing could only see the general trajectory of events, not the specific details. For example, the distinctions he was now learning about between External Cultivators, internal Deacons, and House Elders. External Cultivators were like officials posted to remote regions; even a minor county magistrate could amass a fortune. Meanwhile, internal Deacons and House Elders in various Sect organizations were like Capital Officials, living frugally and relying on a set stipend each month. Jiang Yan, as a Deacon, was cultivating relationships with these External Cultivators. It was much like Capital Officials cultivating ties with regional officials. There would be occasional ’charcoal tributes’ and ’ice tributes,’ though not as blatant as bribery in the Mundane World. It seems Jiang Yan also has an internal circle of Deacons and House Elders within the Sect. They use the Sect’s power for personal gain, facilitating transfers of benefits among themselves. In other words, it’s a vast Interest Network. External Cultivators, along with Deacons and House Elders from internal organizations, bypass the Sect to line their own pockets at the public’s expense. However, unlike in the Mundane World, the Sect’s high-level members have the power to crush these Deacons and House Elders, so such activities are usually small-scale and not enough to topple the entire Sect.