Chapter 87: Tempering
“Surely, Senior Brother must be joking?”
Although the chubby senior brother’s face was plastered with an ingratiating smile, Zheng Fa’s tone was cold.
Returning to the Zhao family was out of the question—turning the ship around would offend everyone aboard. This suggestion felt far from genuine.
The chubby senior brother’s smile faltered slightly. After an awkward pause, he signaled to another senior brother, who immediately handed Zheng Fa a small, rectangular box.
“What’s this?”
Zheng Fa had a guess, and upon opening the box, his suspicion was confirmed—it was filled with gold, roughly fifty or sixty taels.
“Thanks to you, Junior Brother, our book sales were exceptional! I’d already planned to share some of the earnings with you, but now that we’re all under Senior Sister Zhang’s tutelage, it’s only right that we share as a family.”
Zheng Fa stared at the box for a moment, then asked, “May I ask, Senior Brother, how much does that book sell for in Jiushan Sect?”
“In the marketplace? Eight taels,” the chubby senior brother admitted in a quieter voice. “We buy it for four taels, so we make a profit of six taels per book.”Zheng Fa nodded. At least these three weren’t as greedy as they seemed.
With sixty taels in the box, it was clear that they’d handed over all their extra earnings—two taels per book.
After a moment of thought, Zheng Fa took two taels of gold from the box and then shut it firmly.
“I’ll keep this much.”
The chubby senior brother’s smile brightened.
But then Zheng Fa continued, “Please return the rest of the gold to the disciples, giving each two taels.”
“...What?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Of course not,” the chubby senior brother replied reluctantly. “But… return it?”
“Yes, return it.”
The senior brother hesitated briefly before sighing. “Fine, Junior Brother, as you wish.”
His smile faded slightly, and without another word, he carried the box out of the room.
Once they were out of earshot, one of his companions asked, “Why are we leaving so quickly?”
“That Zheng Fa isn’t easy to fool,” the chubby senior brother replied grimly, his expression turning sour.
“Huh?”
“Why did we give him money in the first place?”
“To apologize?”
“No,” he snapped. “It was to curry favor! We talk about Senior Sister Zhang all the time, but does she even know who we are? Zheng Fa, on the other hand, was personally mentored by her. If we gave him the money, it’d be like working for him.”
The companion nodded in sudden understanding. “Ah, we wanted him to join us in ‘mutual benefit.’”
“Mutual benefit?” The chubby senior brother kicked him. “Call it what it is—teamwork!”
“So why are we leaving?”
“He’s too proud. He doesn’t want to align himself with us for a little gold. He’s not one of us.”
“Oh, I see. He wants to be the good guy.”
“No,” the chubby senior brother growled, glaring at the box. “He’s using our money to play the good guy!”
His companion glanced at him warily. “Are we really going to return this?”
“This time, yes. But I’m going to find out if Senior Sister Zhang truly values him as much as people say. If she doesn’t… we’ll see.”
“We’ve arrived at Jiushan Sect!”
The excited shout echoed through the corridor. Zheng Fa opened his door and joined the others on the deck, where the new disciples had gathered.
Several greeted him warmly. Thanks to the incident with the returned gold, Zheng Fa had gained some popularity among his peers.
“Zheng Fa!” Zhou Qianyuan waved at him from the edge of the deck. “Look, Jiushan Sect!”
Ahead lay nine towering peaks.
One peak stood out above the rest, reminiscent of the Ninth Mountain Zheng Fa had climbed during the Immortal Talent Conference. The other eight peaks extended like arms, encircling a central valley.
Where the arms met was an entrance, flanked by a roaring river that served as a natural barrier.
The scene was strikingly familiar to Zheng Fa. If the peaks were viewed as city walls, then the river would be the moat, making the valley defensible. However, he couldn’t help but wonder how they dealt with cultivators capable of flight.
The ship shuddered lightly before descending to the river near the valley entrance.
The port was bustling with activity. Numerous ships docked and departed, while the riverbank teemed with people moving about. Only one area stood empty—a solitary figure waited there.
It was Senior Sister Zhang.
She nodded at Zheng Fa as soon as she spotted him, gesturing for him to approach.
Behind him, the chubby senior brother stared in disbelief.
“That’s Senior Sister Zhang!” one of his companions whispered.
“I know!”
“Have you ever seen her smile like that?”
“...”
“So, are we still going to investigate him?”
“...If I die, don’t give them my name,” the chubby senior muttered before fleeing.
As Zheng Fa approached Senior Sister Zhang, he noticed the warmth of her smile—then glanced at her outstretched hand.
She wasn’t here to greet him.
She was here to demand his work.
With a resigned sigh, Zheng Fa handed her the notebook he had prepared. She weighed it in her hand, nodded in satisfaction, and said, “Come, I’ll take you to your residence.”
As they walked side by side, she suddenly asked, “What did you buy on the way here?”
“?” Zheng Fa looked at her in confusion.
Senior Sister Zhang gave him a sidelong glance and explained, “Why do you think I told you to bring extra money?”
“You knew about this?” Zheng Fa pulled out Zhenren Zhang’s Treatise on Talismans.
“That’s from a lecture I gave at the Talisman Pavilion,” she replied. “For every copy sold, I earn one tael of gold.”
…So you’re the benefactor of those three scammers?
“Only if I take my share according to the rules can they make money according to the rules,” Senior Sister Zhang said lightly, as if reading his mind.
“...And the antics on the ship? You knew about that too?”
“What antics? I didn’t need to know to guess. They’d scare you at first, lock you up, then sell things. New disciples don’t dare offend them, so they buy out of fear.”
“...”
“Do you think the decline of spiritual energy only happened recently?” Senior Sister Zhang raised an eyebrow. “Bullying new disciples to squeeze out benefits has been common for years.”
Only then did Zheng Fa understand. He had wondered why the three senior brothers would risk trouble for mere gold—but it turned out this was routine.
“What kind of sect is Jiushan?”
“There are rules. They won’t harm you. As long as you hold firm, they won’t truly cross the line,” Senior Sister Zhang reassured him.
“Why does this happen?”
“Ever since spiritual energy began waning, the lower-ranking disciples’ grievances have only grown. Compared to killing and robbing, a little extortion is something the sect can tolerate.”
Zheng Fa fell silent.
Senior Sister Zhang glanced at him and said, “I’ve been scammed by senior brothers too.”
“And then?”
“They ended up selling my books for me.” Her tone was casual as she stopped in front of a small courtyard. “If you’re strong enough, you can ignore these things.”
Before leaving, she added, “The decline of spiritual energy has turned immortal sects into harsh places. If you can’t handle these challenges, then I’ve misjudged you. Take these incidents as a little tempering.”
The next morning, when Zheng Fa opened his door, he found the chubby senior brother squatting at his doorstep, looking utterly dejected.
“Senior Brother, what are you doing here?”
“Senior Sister Zhang said I should guide you around Jiushan Sect for a few days,” the senior brother replied miserably. “Today, we’ll register your identification token and get your cultivation techniques...”
...It seemed that Senior Sister Zhang’s idea of tempering wasn’t limited to Zheng Fa.
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