Translator: Anubis Translations
Frowning, Gu Feng walked out of the Cultivation Method Hall, greeted by a cacophony of noise louder than ever before.
"The Robbery Guide, twenty Spirit Stones each, exclusively transcribed by the Jade Maiden Sect!"
Gu Feng's eyes lit up with amusement. The efficiency of the Jade Maiden Sect was truly impressive, as they had started selling the guides two hours earlier than scheduled.
"Sister, how many members does the Jade Maiden Sect have? You managed to transcribe so many copies in just one night?" Gu Feng asked curiously, tugging at the sleeve of a Jade Maiden Sect disciple.
Four copies? Even with ten thousand cultivators working simultaneously, each would have to transcribe four copies, each containing over twelve thousand names and around thirty thousand characters.
With the extraordinary speed of cultivators, transcribing two copies in one night would already be an astonishing feat. Four copies would be impossible, especially considering the Jade Maiden Sect didn't have that many members.
"Ah, Junior Brother Gu, it's you! Come help us sell; we're swamped," the sister greeted with a smile upon recognizing Gu Feng.
"Oh, sure," Gu Feng replied, thinking he had nothing better to do and joined in the selling.
The scene was bustling, with a long line of cultivators queuing to purchase the Robbery Guide, and more continuously joining from afar.
Twenty Spirit Stones couldn't even buy a single pill, trivial for Outer Sect disciples. To avoid offending Gu Feng by mistakenly robbing someone, they were more than willing to make the purchase.
"Last night, all three thousand disciples of the Jade Maiden Sect worked through the night, even the Sect Leader joined in," the female cultivator chatted with Gu Feng during a lull in sales.
"Senior Sister Chu also joined in the transcription?" Gu Feng asked, finding it hard to imagine Chu Youhuan bent over in fervent writing.
"We had no choice. To gather the five million buyout fee, we not only emptied our coffers but also dipped into the Sect Leader's savings, and she even took on over ten million in debt!"
Hearing this, Gu Feng's expression turned complex.
He truly hadn't expected that a mere five million could bankrupt the top Outer Sect organization, even driving them into debt.
It seemed the entire Jade Maiden Sect wasn't as wealthy as he was; they were really that poor.
"If you can't make back the capital, will your Sect Leader be upset?" Gu Feng asked softly, a thought crossing his mind.
"More than upset, she'll go mad! But losing money is impossible. We've set up four sales points, and in just one hour, we've sold six thousand copies.
At this rate, fifty thousand copies might not be enough. In half a year, it will be pure profit.
Ah, happiness has come so suddenly. Hunting demon beasts is too harsh, with the risk of injury or death. Finally, we won't have to do that anymore.
The Sect Leader and Senior Sister Qi are still leading the disciples in fervent writing," the sister beside him said excitedly.
Gu Feng's heart raced, his mind filling with the image of Chu Youhuan's fury if this business was banned, making him shudder.
"Sister, I have something to attend to, I'll take my leave."
"There's a celebration banquet tonight; the Sect Leader invites you!"
"No, I have an appointment tonight!"
A celebration banquet? No, if I get drunk and let something slip, I definitely won't return alive.
I hope the Outer Sect doesn't ban this business too soon, at least let the Jade Maiden Sect make back their capital!
Gu Feng prayed silently as he walked away.
...
As fate would have it, that very night, Gu Feng was summoned by Elder Liu for tea.
Waiting for him were Elder Liu, Elder Wu, and several other familiar elders.
As soon as he entered, Elder Liu tossed the Robbery Guide in front of Gu Feng.
Then the elders launched into a tirade, accusing Gu Feng of severely disrupting the balance of the Outer Sect, distorting competition... and they must strictly prohibit it, deciding to draft a ban overnight to announce to the entire Outer Sect the next day.
"I guarantee this is the first and last time!" Gu Feng asserted firmly, expecting this outcome, just sooner than anticipated.
"You're now in the Qi Refining Realm; to advance quickly, you should go to Carp Mountain, not cause trouble in the Outer Sect every day," Elder Wu glanced at Gu Feng.
"Elder Wu is right!" Gu Feng obediently agreed.
"Is there anything else? If not, go and rest!" Elder Liu asked, slightly puzzled as Gu Feng stood there.
"Uh—I deeply recognize my mistake and promise it won't happen again.
But... could you hold off on issuing the ban for a while?" Gu Feng tentatively asked.
"Why?"
"Because if the ban is issued, I'm afraid Senior Sister Chu will kill me!"
At this, Elder Liu was taken aback, curious, "What does this have to do with Chu Youhuan?"
"I sold the transcription and sales rights of the Robbery Guide to the Jade Maiden Sect for five million!" Gu Feng nervously confessed.
Cough... cough—
Hearing this, all the elders, including Elder Liu, couldn't help but cough violently.
Five million for a Robbery Guide? That's absurd; one might think it was a supreme cultivation manual that could make one invincible.
"You used this useless directory to swindle five million Spirit Stones from her?" Elder Wu widened his eyes, incredulous.
"The directory is useful; at least I can guarantee that the disciples listed won't be robbed tomorrow," Gu Feng replied softly.
"Originally, I just wanted to pay them to transcribe it for me, but they coerced and tempted me into selling them the rights. I refused, but it was no use!
Normally, it would take five months to break even, but who knew you'd issue a ban on this!" Gu Feng also cried foul, as he genuinely hadn't intended to swindle the Jade Maiden Sect initially.
"You must have foreseen this, or you wouldn't have sold it," Elder Wu said with a sidelong glance, knowing Gu Feng was as shrewd as a fox and wouldn't give up a monthly income of over a million for a measly five million.
Any normal person wouldn't do that; he must have done it on purpose.
"I don't know what to say; with so many disciples in the Sunset Glow Sect, couldn't you pick someone else to swindle? If there's nothing else, get out!" Elder Liu said, both exasperated and amused.
"Alright, I'm leaving, but what about the ban?"
"We'll study it carefully in the coming days to ensure there are no loopholes before issuing it, to prevent you from exploiting any gaps again.
At the latest, by the end of next month!"
"Great!" Gu Feng cheered, almost wanting to run up and kiss Elder Liu.
His words of 'careful study' were a lifesaver!
At least for the next month or so, Chu Youhuan wouldn't be coming after him.
...
The day after the resources were distributed, Yan Xixi came to tell him that the chief elder of the Alchemy Hall had left.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Following Yan Xixi, they arrived at the Alchemy Hall.
The sight of the Alchemy Hall left Gu Feng momentarily stunned, feeling somewhat unreal.
"This Alchemy Hall..."
"Hehe, were you going to say it's too magnificent?" Yan Xixi asked, her eyes curving as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"You must know about our founder, Luo Qingyan, right? She had strong cultivation talent but was determined to become an alchemist.
The entire Sunset Glow Sect, only this Alchemy Hall was personally overseen by her. The current inner sect was expanded because there were too many disciples..."
So that's why, Gu Feng nodded in understanding, realizing why the peaks of the inner sect were named after medicinal herbs.
It seems our founder Luo Qingyan had the heart of an alchemist!
This founder is truly interesting, too bad she lived over five thousand years ago.
(End of the Chapter)
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