Entrance of the Five Elements Sect and Cold Crow Mountain
"Martial Uncle Xiao, sorry for being late, sorry for being late."
Zheng Yi saw Lin Jiang from afar, with a smile on his face. He was very enthusiastic towards Lin Jiang. If it weren't for Lin Jiang, he would still be working on the farm.
"Senior Brother Zheng, it's been a while since we last met, huh?"
Lin Jiang also warmly greeted Zheng Yi. Zheng Yi had previously made a fortune with him and was not content to stop cultivating. He even bought Building Foundation Pills, but unfortunately, he didn't make a breakthrough and now appeared much older.
According to the rules of the Five Elements Sect, those in the Qi Refining Period above sixty years old would be expelled from the sect and no longer considered disciples. They would lose the benefits provided by the sect. Most people would choose to leave the sect and live in a cultivation town or a mortal village.
However, there are still a few who choose not to leave, and Zheng Yi is one of them. He is still active at the outer sect, but without the support of the sect, he faces a lot of pressure in life. Now, he relies entirely on his two sons.
"Da Hu, Er Hu, call martial uncle!"
"Martial Uncle Xiao."
Zheng Yi's two men by his side said that they were Zheng Yi's sons and now also outer disciples. To secure their positions, Zheng Yi invested all his remaining wealth to establish connections.
"Da Hu, Er Hu, Senior Brother Zheng, my master sent me to find you. He has some questions and wants you to be completely honest, without any concealment."
"Martial Uncle Zhang?"
"Yes."
"Martial Uncle Xiao, can you tell me what it's about?"
"Good news, your son has taken over your position, right?"
"Yes, our other brothers have also retired. It's all about our children succeeding us."
"That's right, my master knows. He intends to do something on the spiritual land to benefit us, the disciples from outside. Just tell the truth."
Lin Jiang reminded him. He knew Zhang Wanjing's personality very well. Even if he was demoted, he wouldn't get angry or give up. He would work hard and contribute to the sect. He had already made up his mind to achieve something in the spiritual land.
Afterwards, Lin Jiang led them into Cold Crow Mountain and came in front of Zhang Wanjing. Zhang Wanjing was a humble person. He served Lin Jiang some spiritual tea and then asked about farming matters.
Zheng Yi was more professional in this field. He had been cultivating for decades. They had worked on every small and large piece of spiritual land in the Five Elements Sect.
When Zhang Wanjing asked about the farming difficulties in the Five Elements Sect, Zheng Yi had a million complaints. He could talk about it for three days and nights and still not finish.
"Martial Uncle Zhang, there are too many farming problems. Let me explain. The first one is about water facilities. Even common people know about digging ditches and building canals, storing water during rain and releasing water when there's too much. But the sect says that cultivators can control the weather, which is true. When there's no water, we can use Rain Talismans. But what if there's heavy rain? Do we have so many magical tools to absorb water? We can only activate formations to resist the floods, which consumes a lot of energy. But the rain won't disappear. Those who can't activate formations will suffer."
"And the farming tools, the sect still distributes the same hoes from hundreds of years ago. Most of the plowing oxen are old and weak. In total, the sect only has a hundred of them. The sect has millions of mu of cultivated land..."
"And the fertilizer. According to the old rules, the spiritual beast manure needs to be piled up for more than half a year. But now..."
"And, the spiritual paddy seeds. We're still using the ones from hundreds of years ago, and also..."
Zheng Yi sprayed the Five Elements Sect spiritual paddy from seed to harvest. Lin Jiang realized that he wasn't qualified as a sprayer. Looking at others, they had much stronger fighting power than him.
Zhang Wanjing furrowed his brow, almost twisting it into a knot. He didn't expect the basic spiritual paddy to have so many problems. And the sect hadn't responded to him yet. Otherwise, he would have certainly made improvements earlier.
"Martial Uncle, it's not our business. We've all reported it and got scolded."
The several disciples on the side quickly distanced themselves, saying that they just arrived recently. It has nothing to do with them.
"What did they scold about?"
"They said we were meddling in others' business. Isn't the spiritual paddy paid every year? Why bother causing trouble?"
"A group of useless people."
Zhang Wanjing clenched his teeth and said, in his opinion, these things weren't difficult. Just spend a little money, it wouldn't take much effort to accomplish many things. He just didn't want to do it.
After one day, Zhang Wanjing and his group appeared in the fields of the Five Elements Sect. Zhang Wanjing had lots of work experience and was not easily influenced. He wanted to personally inspect the site before making any decisions.
"Martial Uncle, look at this ditch and the places where people are farming. They fix it themselves, but they don't care about the places where no one is farming. It has been blocked for a long time."
"Martial Uncle, look at this fertilizer. It's clear that it hasn't been given enough time. If we just spread it like this, it might even burn the spiritual paddy."
"Martial Uncle, look over here..."
Zheng Yi and his son also came along, showing Zhang Wanjing each question to prove that they were not lying and that every question was true.
"Xiao Yi, Shuhua, you two go to the Internal Affairs Hall and request funds from Vice Hall Master Jin. I will go to the Spiritual Herb Garden to have a look around."
Zhang Wanjing then said that repairing water facilities and updating farming tools required funds, so they needed to submit a request. He, on the other hand, had to go to the Spiritual Herb Garden to talk to the advanced Spiritual Farmers and ask them to cultivate new spiritual paddy seeds.
Lin Jiang and Zhang Shuhua followed orders and returned to the Internal Affairs Hall. They waited for a whole day but didn't even get to see Vice Hall Master Jin. He didn't show up for work at all. When they asked other stewards, they were told they had no authority to handle the matter and went home empty-handed.
This continued for several days, and when Zhang Wanjing found out, he became very angry. He personally went to Vice Hall Master Jin's residence and confronted him. Although Zhang Wanjing blocked him off, Vice Hall Master Jin shrugged and told Zhang Wanjing they had no money.
Zhang Wanjing got angry and wanted to hit someone. Vice Hall Master Jin immediately escaped and ran back to his residence. Then he hurriedly called the people from the Law Enforcement Hall to persuade Zhang Wanjing to leave.
"When people leave, the tea goes cold, sigh."
Zhang Wanjing sighed. How long has it been since he left the Internal Affairs Hall? He knew whether they had money or not, but they were intentionally ignoring him.
Zhang Wanjing had no choice but to gather his courage and went to see the Sect Master. He managed to get some money, but it still wasn't enough. He had to discuss with his disciples and son.
"We can order them to improve the fertilizer issue. It's within our authority, no need to discuss. As for the water facilities and tools, leave it to me, I'll take care of it."
Lin Jiang directly took charge of the matter. He knew how to achieve big results with little money, and he thought it was a good idea.
"Xiao Yi, I'm not joking about this. I really want to help these disciples and our sect."
"Master, I'm not joking either. Just trust me, Master. Sort out the issue with the spiritual land seeds first."
"I've already sorted it out. The steward of the Spiritual Herb Garden has agreed to give us new spiritual seeds next year, with higher yield and less vulnerability to pests."
Zhang Wanjing said, his old face still has some use, the matter has been resolved.
"That's fine, Master, you go ahead and busy yourself. Senior brother and I will go and prepare."
Lin Jiang laughed and pulled Zhang Shuhua away.
"Junior brother, are you really confident? I looked at the money allocated by the sect, not even a hundred thousand spirit stones. This amount of money is not enough to even repair a water channel. Do you know how valuable spiritual land is?"
"I know the data better than you, senior brother. I ask you, seeing your father being humiliated, are you not angry?"
"I now cultivate for fourteen hours every day."
Zhang Shuhua said calmly, if he didn't have to work during the day, he could cultivate for twenty-four hours. He has been holding in his anger for a long time, he just doesn't express it well, but he will use his actions to show it later.
"Alright, let's work hard together, brothers, and let Master take charge."
"Easier said than done."
(Translated by Gravity Tales 😦)
"We need to take things step by step. It's not about our master gaining power right away. We need to store food, build high walls, and slowly establish his authority."
"No."
"Uh, well, if not, then forget it. Just remember what I said earlier. First, urge your father to cultivate well and achieve Nascent Soul stage as soon as possible. We'll help him build influence, gather connections, and form a reliable team, gradually expanding our power."
"What does that have to do with now?"
"Of course it matters! Our master has done so much, but how many people are standing up for him now? Why is that? It's because our master hasn't gained fame for his good deeds. He doesn't know how to promote himself. So now, it's up to us to promote him, spread the word. We need to make sure all the lower-level disciples of the Five Elements Sect know that by following our master, they can have a good life and advance in their cultivation."
"Didn't you understand?"
"Never mind. Just do as I say. Tomorrow, go to the area with many outer disciple workers and recruit people. Ask Da HuEr Hu to accompany you. The compensation is one meal a day, ten hours of work, and one spirit stone. In addition, there will be lectures from Building Foundation Period Martial Uncles on cultivating techniques and teachings on talisman making from a second-tier Talisman Maker. We only need three hundred people, no more, no less."
"I can handle the lectures on cultivating techniques, but I don't know about talisman making."
"If you don't know, I do."
"Junior Brother, when did you learn the second level talisman technique?"
"If you train at night, can't I learn to draw symbols at night? Don't worry, I won't make any mistakes."
"Will this attract people?"
"Don't worry, it will definitely attract people."
Lin Jiang made a promise that outer disciples could attend classes at Chuangong Hall as many times as they wanted, but they had to compete for seats. The seats in the classroom were fixed, while menial disciples could only attend one class per month and often struggled to find a seat. Just the lecture by a Martial Uncle during the Building Foundation Period was already enticing enough.
Lin Jiang couldn't be idle either. He had to mobilize the outer disciples, stimulate their enthusiasm for farming, and work together. Otherwise, what good would those spirit stones do?
If the sect doesn't provide assistance, then they have to rely on themselves. This is called mutual help and support. If they want to advance, they have to form alliances. They have to endure for a few years until these people who have received Zhang Wanjing's grace grow up, and then Zhang Wanjing will have a solid team.

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