Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 42: Night Talk
"I see." Song Xian nodded and winked at Zhang Ningyuan, who immediately understood and left with Zhong Wenyuan's red fan.

"Fellow Daoist Qi, to be honest, we don't have that many spirit stones on us. Since you're in a hurry to use them, we can only sell the magic tools we carry. Please wait patiently for a while."

Song Xian asked him some trivial matters and his life experience. It turned out that Qi Xiaobai was not from Bianxi City. He was born in Anyuan City, Xijiang County. When he was young, an old cultivator from the same clan returned to the clan. Seeing that Qi Xiaobai had spiritual roots, he accepted him as his disciple.

From then on, he followed his master in wandering, and after he became a mortal, he inherited his master's alchemy skills. One time, the two went to the Muhe grassland to find a magical medicine to make an elixir, but unfortunately they encountered a monster and his master was killed.

As for why his friend was attacked by the blood-flame snake and his eyes were injured, he was vague and said that he was injured by the monster while collecting herbs.

About an hour later, Zhang Ningyuan returned here and took out nine third-level spirit stones from his sleeves.

"Master, Senior Brother Zhong, that magic weapon was exchanged for nine hundred spirit stones."

Since Bianxi City is close to the Mulan Grassland, the situation is more chaotic than in the inland area, so the price of magic tools is higher than that in Pingyuan County.

"That's enough." Song Xian took out a hundred spirit stones from his storage ring and handed them to Qi Xiaobai: "Here are a thousand spirit stones. Use them to treat your friend's eyes!"

"I'll come back to you after I finish what I'm doing. Tell me where you're staying or the address of your clan."

Zhang Ningyuan was worried that he would take the spirit stones and run away. This was no small amount of money, so he interrupted and said, "Master, why don't I accompany Fellow Daoist Qi to treat his friend for the next few days? We can take care of each other and then reunite with you later."

Song Xian knew what he was thinking and waved his hand, "No need. Let Fellow Daoist Qi handle his personal affairs alone. We are currently staying at Room 10, Tianzi, in the Youyuan Inn on Donglan Street in Bianxi City, but we won't stay long. Unless there are any unexpected events, we will leave on the 16th. If Fellow Daoist Qi hasn't finished his business by then, that's fine. Our sect's main gate is in Bianxia Town, near Guzi Mountain, two hundred miles east of the Tianshan Mountains. It's called Hunyuan Sect."

Qi Xiaobai nodded, said nothing, and turned away.

"Master, if we just let him go like this, what if he doesn't come to join us?" Zhang Ningyuan looked at his departing back, still worried, and said with a frown.

"Don't employ a man you doubt, and don't doubt a man you employ. If he's not sincere, what's the point of forcibly bringing him back to the sect? Should we chain him to the mountain gate and not allow him to leave? Instead of being suspicious, it's better to show your sincerity and let him go and handle his affairs. If he returns, he will surely be convinced, and then our sect will have gained a capable person. If he doesn't return, we'll just consider it a trick and learn a lesson."

Zhang Ningyuan sighed, "One thousand spirit stones to buy a lesson, this is too expensive."

Zhong Wenyuan said, "The Sect Master's words make sense. I'm just worried that his unknown background will cause trouble. Since we've already decided to recruit him into our sect, there's no need to be suspicious and appear petty."

Zhang Ningyuan felt unhappy when he heard this. This petty-minded man was undoubtedly referring to him, which reminded him that Zhong Wenyuan was secretly mocking him for being angry about the buying and selling of the formation flag yesterday.

"It's come to this, there's no need to dwell on it any further. It's getting late, let's go back to the inn."

The three of them left the market town and returned to the inn in Bianxi City.

At night, Zhong Wenyuan came to his room and asked, "Master, if Qi Xiaobai does follow us back to Lonely Child Mountain, what should we do with him?"

"Of course I'll let him be in charge of alchemy. I'm so impressed by his alchemy skills that I'm willing to take a gamble of a thousand spirit stones."

"But now the sect can't provide him with spiritual medicine to make pills, and there is no dedicated alchemy room for him to use. We must first assign him a position. Otherwise, the other junior brothers have responsibilities and are busy all day long, while he is the only one who is idle and has nothing to do. This is not right."

"I'll find a way to build an alchemy room. As for the elixirs, I can just buy them from outside."

"Master, this may not be as simple as you think. An alchemy room cannot be built casually. It requires integrating fire veins underground. With the financial resources of our sect, it is simply not feasible."

"I know it's not easy to set up an alchemy room, and I don't plan to build one at the mountain gate. The cost is too high, and it wouldn't be worth it if it were just for him. What I mean is that I plan to rent an alchemy room for him somewhere else. For example, there must be alchemy rooms for rent in the market. Isn't our Bianxia Town going to build a market soon? Then we can rent an alchemy room there for him long-term."

"For him alone, we have to cover the alchemy room and provide spiritual medicines. This requires the sect's financial expenditure. I am afraid that the other junior brothers will feel unbalanced."

"We will cover the cost of the alchemy room. With his skills in refining pills, we can ensure a balance between income and expenditure. It should also cover the cost of the alchemy room and will not bring any additional burden to the sect's finances."

Zhong Wenyuan finally stopped talking. "Brother Wenyuan, there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

"Master, just say whatever you want to say. There's no need to be shy."

"Senior Brother Ningyuan seemed a little angry about what happened yesterday. I'm not saying that Senior Brother Wenyuan is wrong, but as the elder in charge of the sect's internal affairs, big and small, I still hope that Senior Brother Wenyuan can take other disciples' feelings into consideration when handling matters. There's a saying that goes, 'A kind word warms you through three winter months, while a harsh word hurts you through six months of summer.'" Song Xian said slowly, choosing his words carefully.

He actually didn't have much interaction with Zhong Wenyuan before. Since he became Zhang Shilin's disciple, he occasionally saw Zhong Wenyuan when he went to Zhang Shilin's mansion, but it was just a meeting, and the conversations between the two were very few.

It was not until everyone left Qingyun Sect that the two of them had more interactions, and he had a deeper understanding of him. Zhong Wenyuan was a rather stubborn person, which was certainly not a bad quality, but as the person in charge of the sect's political affairs, he seemed a little tactless.

The Qingyun Sect had declined to such an extent that its internal affairs were in a mess, and the leaders and subordinates followed suit and engaged in excessive corruption.

Even though Zhong Wenyuan was not the main reason, as the actual manager of the sect's affairs, he was somewhat responsible. This also indirectly confirmed that he was not suitable for internal affairs, or in other words, he did not have the talent in this area.

But there was no trustworthy and useful person around Song Xian. Zhong Wenyuan had many years of experience and was better than others. On the other hand, as the only two people in the sect who had reached the late stage of Qi Refining, they might have resentment if they were not given adequate treatment and positions.

To put it bluntly, the headmaster Song Xian was picked up. He was not qualified in terms of either cultivation or qualifications.

Therefore, he must unite the people around him to secure this position, especially the two capable men, Zhong Wenyuan and Lin Zixiang.

Because these two people not only have high cultivation, but also have the prestige to win the support of the people.

Therefore, Song Xian still appointed him as the elder of internal affairs, but judging from this incident, there were indeed certain problems with the way he handled affairs.

Zhang Ningyuan bought the battle flags and made a direct conclusion without asking any questions. This was fine, at most it was just a misunderstanding.

But today in the market town, he implied that Zhang Ningyuan was petty, which was a problem.

This matter has already passed, but he is still bringing it up.

Song Xian had noticed the change in Zhang Ningyuan's expression at that time, but it was not easy to say it out loud.

There were only two people in the room at the moment, so he decided to give them a reminder. He naturally didn't want any conflicts to arise within the sect.

"Did Junior Brother Zhang say something to the headmaster?" Zhong Wenyuan said expressionlessly.

"No. This is my personal opinion. If you think it's useful, please listen to it. If not, just pretend I never said anything."

Zhong Wenyuan said coldly, "The affairs of a sect are not just a game. Mistakes are inevitable, and offending people is unavoidable. It's impossible to be perfect and make everyone happy. I never target anyone, and I have a clear conscience."

Seeing that he refused to listen to his advice, Song Xian became angry and said nothing more.

"Senior Brother Wenyuan is right. If there's nothing else, let's all take a break!"

Zhong Wenyuan then stood up and left. Song Xian shook his head helplessly. It was not easy to be the headmaster!

He knew why Zhong Wenyuan was angry. He had been handling government affairs for so many years and thought he was very experienced. Of course, it was not the turn of a young boy like him to teach him how to do things.

To put it bluntly, it was because he was young and his cultivation was low, so he underestimated others in his heart.

(End of this chapter)