Chapter 70: Wealth and Honor Are Won in Peril

Fingers tapping slowly on the clean table, Lin Dong appeared somewhat relaxed. He believed Xiao Tianchi would take this gamble.
Just as Bai Jingtai wanted to establish a family for his descendants, Xiao Tianchi’s lifelong dream was undoubtedly to develop Gu Huanzong into a major sect. After forty years of striving, the greatest opportunity was right before him. If the conditions weren’t too harsh, few would refuse.
After a long while, Xiao Tianchi, with tears streaming down his face, finally seemed to wake up. He drank the tea in his cup in one gulp, then sat down in front of Lin Dong, his expression resolute.
It was absolutely impossible to steal from him. Not to mention the unheard-of spiritual skill that could instantly send someone a hundred meters away, even the reclusive experts behind Shopkeeper Lin were beyond Gu Huanzong’s capacity to handle. Moreover, Tianhao was Gu Huanzong’s greatest hope. Having advanced spiritual skills and a ninth-tier spiritual array was useless without talented disciples.
Trying to attract talented youths to join Gu Huanzong with such skills and arrays would only lead to self-destruction. If those skills and arrays were revealed, the former might only attract small or ordinary sects, while the latter would surely draw the attention of major sects.
With Tianhao’s temperament, anyone who dared steal from Shopkeeper Lin might even consider destroying Gu Huanzong.
After reflecting further on Lin Dong’s words, although Xiao Tianchi was fully awake, his voice still trembled slightly. “Shopkeeper Lin, Gu Huanzong will eventually belong to Tianhao. These spiritual skills and arrays…”
“Not yet,” Lin Dong said with a smile, shaking his head. “Master Xiao, don’t even mention passing the sect leader position to Tianhao right away. You know my attitude toward Tianhao. Instead, tell me what price you’re willing to pay for this!”
Xiao Tianchi smiled awkwardly. After pondering for a moment, he declared firmly, “As long as the consequences aren’t severe enough to destroy the sect, I’m willing to accept any condition.”
Lin Dong was speechless. After a long pause, he said, “For example, what if I asked you to send a few people to the inn as guards? Would that be considered consequences severe enough to destroy the sect?”
“Of course not,” Xiao Tianchi shook his head.
“What if some peak-level experts come to cause trouble at the inn? Would those guards return to Gu Huanzong immediately or fight to the death?”
“Well…” Xiao Tianchi looked troubled. If such a thing really happened and they offended a peak-level expert with a bad temper, the consequences could indeed be the destruction of the sect.

“I might as well tell you the truth!” Lin Dong was too lazy to beat around the bush and said directly, “I plan to have the Gu Huan Sect set up a plantation and enclosure on Gu Huan Mountain for me, dedicated to growing spiritual materials and raising spiritual beasts. The Gu Huan Sect will handle everything, while I’ll just send people to fetch the necessary spiritual materials and beasts.”
“That’s the only condition?” Xiao Tianchi was stunned. There was only the Gu Huan Sect on Gu Huan Mountain, and the sect already used the entire mountain as a natural plantation and enclosure. After all, the Gu Huan Sect only had a few spiritual techniques related to refining, so spiritual materials and beasts weren’t very useful. Allocating land larger than Xilan City just for plantations and enclosures, with only a few disciples to guard them, meant fewer materials and beasts to exchange for pills with other sects.
Lin Dong smiled and said, “High-tier spiritual materials and high-tier spiritual beasts.”
Xiao Tianchi was astonished. “High-tier spiritual materials are extremely rare, and capturing young high-tier spiritual beasts is almost impossible. Let alone establishing plantations and enclosures—even major sects, after hundreds of years, can develop at most one of these.”
Lin Dong said slowly, “I’ll find ways to get seeds and young ones. In the next few years, it should mainly be low-tier spiritual materials and beasts. Collecting their seeds and young ones shouldn’t be too difficult for the Gu Huan Sect, right?”
Xiao Tianchi smiled bitterly. “The Gu Huan Sect is just a small sect. If they really dare to grow high-tier spiritual materials and raise high-tier spiritual beasts, in the eyes of other sects, it would be like having an unprotected mountain of gold.”
“Then it depends on how well Sect Master Xiao can keep it secret and how much the Gu Huan Sect can grow in two or three years. Wealth comes from taking risks!”
Xiao Tianchi remained silent.
Lin Dong wasn’t in a hurry. After pouring another cup of tea for Xiao Tianchi, he waited for a reply.
Silence fell in the room again. It wasn’t until Lin Dong had drunk six or seven cups of tea that Xiao Tianchi’s mood gradually returned to normal. Clearly, he had made a decision after some deliberation.
“Shopkeeper Lin needs to hand over the spiritual techniques to me first and allow me to send disciples to the inn to train.”
Lin Dong smiled. It was in his interest as well for the Gu Huan Sect to grow stronger quickly. Why refuse? As for whether Xiao Tianchi would break his promise, he wasn’t afraid of losing—he could just recover it with interest later.
“Agreed! The disciples sent to the inn to train must be guaranteed to be absolutely loyal to the Gu Huan Sect. I suppose I don’t need to remind Sect Master Xiao about that?”
Xiao Tianchi said seriously, “Rest assured, Shopkeeper Lin. Whether the news about the Spiritual Speed Array spreads also affects the survival of the Gu Huan Sect. I’ll conduct thorough evaluations before selecting candidates.”

“Next are some minor matters. First, I need a fourth-tier spiritual technique. Additionally, I require Lord Xiao to provide a token proving that this technique was voluntarily given by the Ancient Huan Sect.” Without hesitation, Xiao Tianchi took out the Ancient Huan Sect’s core spiritual technique and sect leader’s token from his storage ring. “Next…” Lin Dong asked, “Does Lord Xiao know anything about Wind Spirit Grass?” “Wind Spirit Grass is a seventh-tier spiritual material, usually found in grasslands rich in spiritual energy.” “Seventh tier?” Lin Dong felt a slight headache. Seventh-tier spiritual materials were extremely valuable and hardly available on the market. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Could Lord Xiao help investigate which sects have Wind Spirit Grass or its seeds? If the cost is within the Ancient Huan Sect’s budget, I hope Lord Xiao can help collect as many as possible. If it’s beyond their means, I’ll find another way. At least ten plants need to be collected within half a year.” Xiao Tianchi nodded. “There aren’t many pills that can be made using Wind Spirit Grass. Most alchemy sects keep a few plants, so the cost shouldn’t be too high.” “Then thank you, Lord Xiao. Also, you must know that spiritual arrays require spiritual stones to function. I hope Lord Xiao can also step in when the disciples at the inn encounter trouble…” Suddenly, Xiao Tianchi raised his hand to stop Lin Dong. “Shopkeeper Lin, someone is coming.” “Lord Xiao, the spiritual techniques,” Lin Dong said, nodding at the techniques on the table. Overjoyed, Xiao Tianchi quickly stored all twenty-one techniques in his storage ring. Moments later, there was a knock at the door. When Lin Dong opened it, it was Liu Hao. “Shopkeeper, Miss Bai Qi plans to return to the Ancient Huan Sect. She asked me to check with you whether it’s true that there’s no point in going with her.” “Bai Qi? Why did she come down the mountain to the inn?” Xiao Tianchi was surprised. “It’s for the Spiritual Speed Array! I’m friends with her father. I was planning to talk to you about her later.” Lin Dong explained briefly before instructing Liu Hao, “Ask her to come over. Just say I need to talk to her about something else.” Liu Hao nodded and ran back. Lin Dong didn’t close the door and briefly explained why he wanted Bai Qi to come over. “Just a few minor matters!” With the revival of the Ancient Huan Sect on the horizon, Xiao Tianchi was in high spirits. After Lin Dong sat down, he suddenly stood up. “What’s going on, Lord Xiao?” Lin Dong was puzzled. “In front of Shopkeeper Lin, how could I, Xiao Tianchi, dare to sit and talk?”