Chapter 30: A Recommendation for Early Promotion
Fang Yuan continued his shift.
By the afternoon, when the foot traffic had dwindled to almost nothing, Fang Yuan quietly made his way to the Exchange Room and contributed 200 Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills.
He then sent Yu Jin a message.
"Autumn has arrived!"
The moment Yu Jin received the message, he rushed straight to the Treasure Hall.
He already had more than enough Spirit Stones on hand.
Over the past two days, he had handed half of his Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills to his family's sect Elder, earning clan contribution credit while also receiving a family reward — netting him a considerable number of Spirit Stones in the process.
He arrived at the Treasure Hall in short order, first heading to the Exchange Room to convert his Spirit Stones into Contribution Points.
Then he immediately proceeded to the Selection Room to search for treasures.
It didn't take long before he found the listing for 200 Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills.
Without a second word, he selected every last one of the Qi-Nurturing Pills.
He then hurried to the Exchange Room, collected the Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills, and departed in haste.
Fang Yuan watched the whole scene unfold and gave a satisfied nod.
"Good. This way I can convert things into Spirit Stones quickly without worrying about stirring up too much attention."
Fang Yuan patted his Storage Bag. He had just gained another ninety thousand Spirit Stones, bringing his total savings back up to 220,000 Spirit Stones.
That felt very comfortable indeed.
Another day passed by with ease.
He strolled back to his Cave Dwelling at a leisurely pace.
Then he resumed his Body Tempering.
Inside the cultivation chamber, Fang Yuan decomposed a full 20,000 Spirit Stones.
Spiritual Energy, dense to the point of saturation, once again filled every corner of the cultivation chamber.
The Cloud Body Art activated, and Fang Yuan's physical body erupted with a powerful suction force, greedily absorbing the Spiritual Energy.
At the same time, the Cloud Qi Art ran at full capacity.
Strands of Spiritual Power were born within his Dantian, then split into two streams — one flowing into his Sea of Consciousness to continue strengthening his Spiritual Sense, the other seeping into his flesh and blood to keep fortifying his physical body.
Fang Yuan cultivated with pure, unhindered joy.
Outside the cultivation chamber, twelve spirit beasts were also diligently absorbing the Spiritual Energy that seeped out. They too were growing rapidly alongside Fang Yuan.
This refined Spiritual Energy was a tremendous tonic for demon beasts as well.
* * *
Meanwhile, on another front.
Li Pingyuan had uncovered another piece of intelligence.
The Yu family had used over two hundred Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills to establish a connection with another Core Formation family.
This caught Li Pingyuan completely off guard.
A subordinate came to report: "This afternoon, that Yu Jin rushed off to the Treasure Hall again."
Li Pingyuan frowned. "It seems Fang Yuan passed word to Yu Jin again. That position is far too critical!"
He sank into deep thought.
Shortly after, he sought out a Foundation Establishment Elder from the Li family, paid him a personal visit, and made a specific request.
* * *
In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived — overcast and rainy.
A light drizzle fell from the sky.
Fang Yuan opened his eyes, his aura slowly settling.
"Twenty thousand Spirit Stones' worth of Spiritual Energy, and it only pushed the seventh layer of Body Tempering forward by one-tenth. That's truly absurd!"
He let out a sigh. "After accounting for other losses, roughly 15,000 Spirit Stones' worth must have been fully absorbed by my body."
But then he reconsidered, and his mood eased.
An ordinary Body Cultivator would need ten full years to reach the Completion Stage of the seventh layer of Body Tempering — consuming about a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones per day, which added up to a staggering 360,000 Spirit Stones in total.
By his estimate, spending 200,000 Spirit Stones to replace ten years of grueling cultivation was an enormous bargain.
He walked out of his Cave Dwelling at a leisurely pace, tossing out some Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills for his spirit beasts to consume.
Then he left the Cave Dwelling.
When he arrived at the rear hall of the Treasure Hall, he found a group of people standing at the entrance, waiting for him.
They were unfamiliar faces — clearly not warehouse staff.
"You must be Junior Brother Fang Yuan?"
One of the disciples greeted him with a broad smile.
"That's me. What can I do for you?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Haha, congratulations! You've been promoted!"
The disciple offered his congratulations at once.
"What do you mean?" Fang Yuan's brow furrowed slightly.
"Haha, Junior Brother, no need to play dumb with me — I understand, I understand! Here's your appointment letter. Take a look for yourself." The Senior Brother handed over a formal document.
Fang Yuan took it and read:
[To Fang Yuan, Formal Outer Disciple of the Red Dream Branch:
In recognition of your exceptional talent, diligent cultivation, and outstanding performance among the current cohort of disciples, and upon the recommendation of a core disciple of the Branch, you have been granted early promotion to the rank of Inner Sect Disciple of the Branch. You are hereby authorized to oversee and manage a first-tier, upper grade sect enterprise. This notice is issued accordingly.
— Sect Four Affairs Halls]
Fang Yuan read the appointment letter, and one eyebrow rose.
This was, by any measure, good news.
The Branch's Inner Sect Disciples were required to be at least at the Late Qi Refining Stage — yet he had somehow qualified ahead of schedule.
On top of that, the opportunity to be assigned an enterprise was exceptionally rare.
Once he took charge of an enterprise, he would be responsible for its profits and losses. Aside from the portion of income to be remitted to the sect, everything else would be at the manager's discretion.
If managed well, this would be a solid foundation to stand on — a tremendous boon to his cultivation!
And yet this windfall had simply fallen into his lap out of nowhere.
It felt almost unreal.
He glanced up at the genuine smile on the Senior Brother's face.
A quiet understanding settled in his heart. This fellow probably assumed he had a powerful backer and had come to make friends.
Fang Yuan casually produced a Storage Bag and handed it to the Senior Brother. "Thank you, Senior Brother, for personally delivering the appointment letter. This is a small token of my appreciation. May I ask your name?"
"Haha, my name is Meng Sanduo — very pleased to meet you, Junior Brother Fang Yuan!"
Meng Sanduo accepted the Storage Bag and swept his Spiritual Sense inside. To his surprise, it contained a bottle of Pills — ten upper-grade Qi-Nurturing Pills in total, worth four to five hundred Spirit Stones.
"Junior Brother Fang Yuan, this is far too generous."
Meng Sanduo immediately tried to push the Storage Bag back.
Fang Yuan waved it off and asked, "Senior Brother Meng, now that my appointment has come through, has someone else already taken over my old position?"
"Of course — someone has to stand watch at the Treasure Hall. A replacement should arrive to take your spot very soon. No need to worry about that." Meng Sanduo smiled.
Fang Yuan nodded and asked further, "Do you know whether the first-tier, upper grade enterprise mentioned in the appointment letter is fixed, or can it be freely chosen?"
Meng Sanduo said, "I'm not entirely sure about that, but by convention it's usually a free choice. Any enterprise that currently has no manager, or whose manager position has just become vacant, is available for you to take on."
Fang Yuan asked, "Senior Brother, is there any reference material on the available enterprises? I'd be willing to pay for it."
Meng Sanduo's eyes lit up. "There is, there is! I happen to have compiled a guide to the enterprises — especially the first-tier, upper grade ones. I've gathered quite a few listings."
He produced a booklet and handed it over.
Fang Yuan flipped through it. Inside were listings for over a hundred first-tier, upper grade enterprises, all of which were either currently without a manager or soon to be without one.
After a quick look, Fang Yuan had a good sense of things. He passed over four more pill bottles.
Meng Sanduo grinned. "Junior Brother Fang Yuan, you really are generous!"
Fang Yuan cupped his hands. "I should be thanking you, Senior Brother Meng, for all this information."
"Haha, think nothing of it! Junior Brother, let's exchange contact details!"
"Of course!"
Fang Yuan exchanged contact information with him — within the sect's territory, they could reach each other at any time.
After the group departed, Fang Yuan stepped through the rear hall's entrance and glanced inside.
An unfamiliar disciple was already seated in his old spot.
Xiaobao materialized before Fang Yuan and said with a hint of regret, "Fang Yuan, I need to revoke your access."
"It's fine. Go ahead," Fang Yuan replied, his expression calm.
A beam of light washed over Fang Yuan.
He felt nothing, but he knew — his Treasure Hall clearance had been taken away.
The newly arrived guard disciple looked over at him with a smug expression.
Fang Yuan was speechless. "Someone actually fought over a post like this? Must have water on the brain."
"As it happens, I've been feeling like cultivating inside the sect isn't satisfying enough. I was already looking for a chance to head out — and now someone's done me the favor."
He shook his head and walked away.