Xu Xian was in high spirits. He felt that the system in the Wendao Sword Sect's Merchant Hall was practically tailor-made for building his Sword Tower.
He immediately reached a verbal agreement with Elder Qian.
He commissioned the Merchant Hall to find Ten-Thousand-Year Heaven-Connecting Wood and Innate Bitter Bamboo for him.
The price: 2,000,000 merit points.
Xu Xian took the initiative to ask if he should pay a deposit first.
Elder Qian declined, saying they could discuss payment once the goods arrived.
Xu Xian naturally agreed with a smile, repeatedly praising the elder for his reliability.
As for the Blazing Red Jade, Elder Qian didn't dare make any guarantees.
He explained that such an extremely rare immortal gold was seldom seen in circulation on the market. He wasn't certain he could buy it, but he promised to do his absolute best...
Xu Xian felt a bit troubled.
Earlier in their conversation, when Elder Qian hadn't mentioned the ore at all, Xu Xian had felt a nagging doubt in his heart.
He hadn't expected his hunch to be correct.
But for now, besides relying on the Merchant Hall, he really had no better options.
He was in Fanzhou.
He was a stranger in a strange land; what else could he do?
He could only wait.
Besides, hadn't Elder Qian mentioned an auction by the Wanxian Chamber of Commerce in two months? Perhaps it would appear there.
Seeing the sky darkening as the sun gradually dipped below the horizon, Xu Xian bid farewell to Elder Qian, who rose to see him out.
"Elder Qian, these three items are very important to me. I'm counting on you. Especially the Blazing Red Jade—if it appears, you must secure it for me. If the hall can't cover it, I can pay for it with spirit stones myself..."
Elder Qian immediately reassured him, "Martial Junior Uncle, you can rest easy. As long as it exists, my Merchant Hall will buy it back for you at any cost. If all else fails, I'll personally go out and snatch it for you."
Xu Xian patted the old man's shoulder, moved. "Loyal! I, Xu Xian, accept you as a friend."
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare!"
"I'm off then."
"Take care, Martial Junior Uncle!"
After Xu Xian left, Elder Qian returned to his room, picked up a brush, and ground some ink. He wrote the three items down on spirit paper.
He then took out his exclusive seal and pressed it onto the paper.
Summoning a disciple, he instructed, "Deliver this quickly to every Branch Hall Master. Tell them to keep a sharp eye out. Once any of these are found, they must buy them back for me, no matter the cost."
"Understood!"
Who was the Little Grand-Uncle?
The new disciples in the sect might not know, but these old-timers were well aware.
Every Little Grand-Uncle in history, without exception, had eventually become the Sect Master.
One could say that from the moment Xu Xian became Li Taibai's disciple, he was already the sole heir to the leadership of the Wendao Sword Sect.
In the future, the Wendao Sword Sect would forge ahead under his leadership.
The Merchant Hall would naturally do everything in its power to get him what he wanted.
Although initially, they had been somewhat worried about Xu Xian—after all, his actions during the Three Inquiries of Nature were still fresh in their minds.
When told to save someone, he filled the well.
When given a choice, he killed everyone.
When told to be honest, he turned the tables so hard even the River Spirit couldn't clear its name...
They say you can judge a man by the child he was at three, and he was already twelve. While his talent was outstanding, his character seemed questionable.
However, the incident in Yecheng had overturned their perceptions.
A seventeen-year-old youth at the foundation establishment stage had chosen to disregard his own safety in a desperate situation. He had risked his life to save his fellow disciples and finally stayed behind alone to cover their retreat...
At that moment, he must have been prepared to die.
They were curious about how Xu Xian had survived, but they valued his choice even more.
Whether it was the reckless courage of youth or a swordsman's sacrifice for righteousness, he had done it.
And that was enough to make him a hero.
To say they saw him in a new light was an understatement.
After leaving Elder Qian, Xu Xian didn't depart immediately. Instead, he turned toward the Merchant Hall's trading floor.
Finding a counter, he pulled several storage bags from his sleeves and dumped them out onto the table with a clatter...
Medicinal pills, armor, spirit herbs, weapons, ores...
There was everything.
They piled up like a small mountain.
The middle-aged disciple on duty didn't seem to recognize Xu Xian at first.
He was slightly startled, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.
"Uh, what is this?" he asked.
Xu Xian pulled back the storage bags and grinned. "Exchange all of this for merit points."
"Are you selling everything?"
"Yes."
The middle-aged disciple gave Xu Xian a long look and nodded.
"Alright! But this will take some time. You have quite a lot here."
Xu Xian sat down, propping his hands on the desk. "Take your time. I'm in no rush."
And so, the disciple began to count and calculate the value right in front of Xu Xian...
While there weren't many items that were exceptionally valuable on their own, there were a staggering number of them.
Driven by curiosity, the disciple struck up a conversation. "Where did you get so many things?"
"These?" Xu Xian assumed an air of seasoned weariness, sighing nostalgically. "These are spoils of war. I earned them with my life."
"Oh? There's a story there?"
"Want to hear it?"
"Yes!" The male disciple nodded naively.
Xu Xian gazed at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle. "It's a long story..."
The disciple's eyes filled with anticipation, and his movements subconsciously slowed.
Xu Xian lowered his gaze to stare at him. "So, I'm not going to tell it."
The disciple: "???"
Xu Xian chuckled. "Alright, get back to work."
The disciple pursed his lips and said nothing more, burying his head back into the accounts.
Even though Xu Xian had been a bit of a killjoy, the disciple could roughly piece together the picture from the loot.
They likely came from demonic cultivators. And judging by the quantity, he had killed quite a few.
In any case, the fact that he was killing demonic cultivators meant he shouldn't be treated lightly.
The Wendao Sword Sect was always very open-minded toward its disciples, rarely interfering with their choices.
Disciples could choose to roam the world with their swords, slaying demons and devils, taking the path of slaughter and adventure.
They could grow through combat, complete missions, earn merit points, and exchange them for resources...
If you didn't like fighting and killing and only wanted to focus on cultivating for longevity, the sect would never force you. You could choose daily sect duties just like this clerk.
Building houses or sweeping floors in the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.
Tending flowers and herbs in the Elixir Hall.
Doing odd jobs in the Merchant Hall!
And so on...
While these jobs earned less, you would certainly never starve. They provided enough to satisfy normal needs.
Whether to focus on internal affairs or external ventures was entirely up to the disciple.
However, even an internal worker like him still deeply admired those disciples who risked their lives for the sect.
Soon, the calculation was complete.
The middle-aged disciple listed out a manifest and handed it to Xu Xian. "Please take a look and see if there are any issues. If not, give me your dao jade, and I will transfer the points from this list to you. Then we'll be done..."
Xu Xian's eyes swept over it. He didn't care for the details; he only looked at the total.
[Total merit points: 183,000 exactly]
It wasn't a huge amount, but it certainly wasn't small either.
He muttered to himself, "Heh... those demonic cultivators really are poor."
Medicinal pills made up the bulk of the value. It was a pity so many had already been consumed; otherwise, the total would have been even higher.
"What did you say?"
Xu Xian glanced up and smiled. "Nothing. Let's go with your numbers."
He casually handed over his dao jade.
The middle-aged disciple took it and scanned it with his divine sense. He suddenly jumped to his feet in shock and bowed ninety degrees.
"Greetings, Little Grand-Uncle!"
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