Chapter 77 - 75: A Huge Sum in the Thousands

Pledging oneself to another person was far more complex than the simple act of declaring allegiance.

Take Wang Tieniu and Duan Xiaolei, for instance.

If they were to truly enter Shen Changchuan’s service,

then for the rest of their lives, they would belong to Shen Changchuan, to work for him and be under his command.

It was like in the Three Kingdoms Era, after renowned officials and generals acknowledged a lord,

they were bound for life, unable to leave unless their lord was defeated and killed in battle.

Leaving without their lord’s permission was considered desertion. Their reputation would be instantly destroyed, and in an age that prized loyalty above all, it was tantamount to social suicide.

But in this Immortal Cultivation Realm,

due to the vast differences in power,

the bond was even tighter.

For example, if Wang Tieniu and Duan Xiaolei were to desert him in the future,

Shen Changchuan could personally hunt them down and kill them, even going so far as to slaughter their entire families to eradicate the problem at its root. No one would think anything of it.

It was simply the way things were.

Of course,

if the two pledged allegiance to Shen Changchuan, acknowledged him as their master, and worked for him,

he would also be obligated to provide them with a certain amount of Cultivation Resources, as well as Cultivation Techniques and Magic to aid their development.

In a way, it was like the relationship between an employee and a boss,

but far, far closer.

Shen Changchuan didn’t want to accept them into his service immediately.

His aim was to prevent anyone from accusing him in the future of taking advantage of two young, ignorant children by forcing them into his service.

After all, no matter how precocious, what could two children of eight or nine really understand?

Now, he had given them three days to go home and discuss it.

If, after three days, they still decided to join him, it would be a decision made after careful consideration by them and their families.

This would naturally close off that line of attack.

In the future, reason would be on his side.

"Changchuan, I was shortsighted. I was just excited about gaining two new Cultivators and didn’t consider that someone could use their age against us later."

After the two children were led away,

the joyful expression on Han Qinhu’s face faded. He gave a wry smile and apologized to Shen Changchuan.

As a man who had lived for decades, he had understood Shen Changchuan’s meaning the moment he spoke.

He couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.

’I’m really getting old and senile,’ he thought. ’I was so happy I didn’t even consider such a simple problem!’

"There’s no need for that, Grandfather."

"They are the descendants of villagers who gave their lives for Dawan Village’s development. It was also through me that they stepped onto the Immortal Cultivation Dao. Logically, they’ve belonged to my faction since the moment they started."

"Besides, you and Eldest Uncle still have to focus on Zhao Family Village. We are indeed short-staffed, and new Cultivators are exactly what we need."

"In any case, this is just me being overly cautious."

Shen Changchuan offered a simple explanation, telling Han Qinhu not to worry about it.

Then again,

the reason he had become so vigilant was that a past experience with a scam had taught him a harsh lesson.

It had made him realize that in the Immortal Cultivation World, you could never be too careful.

...

For now, the village was quiet.

Recalling the words Old Ghost Song had said during the ambush on the way back,

Shen Changchuan had Han Qinhu gather intelligence on the Wu Family Collection, hoping to get a better understanding of the current situation.

’Hopefully, nothing major has happened.’

After Han Qinhu took his leave,

Shen Changchuan let out a sigh of relief.

His entire body relaxed.

Come to think of it,

on the entire journey back,

during the five-day journey after Old Ghost Song’s ambush, Shen Changchuan’s Heart Spirit had been stretched taut; he hadn’t dared to relax for a second.

He was terrified of running into another ambush.

Although the rest of the journey was smooth and uneventful, without any of the accidents Shen Changchuan had anticipated,

the toll on his Heart Spirit during that time had been immense.

So much so that now, with everything handled and having finally relaxed completely,

he felt a strange light-headedness, as if he were walking on clouds.

It was the kind of feeling where you don’t want to do anything or think about anything.

You just want to lie there like a lump for a whole day.

It was like being completely burnt out after a writing binge,

utterly useless.

Fortunately, however,

Shen Changchuan was a Cultivator, after all, and his Dao Heart was resolute.

After a long moment,

he pulled himself together from his brief moment of relaxation.

He took two Storage Bags from his sleeve.

A trace of delight appeared on Shen Changchuan’s usually expressionless face.

There were two Storage Bags.

One belonged to the one-eyed bald man,

and the other to Old Ghost Song.

On the road, he had been too worried about further attacks to find time to check what was inside them.

Only now,

could he finally take a good look at his haul!

With the giddy anticipation of someone about to open a treasure chest, Shen Changchuan opened both Storage Bags.

There wasn’t much inside the Storage Bags.

It only took Shen Changchuan about ten minutes to inventory everything inside.

To Shen Changchuan’s immense delight, the two Storage Bags contained a combined fortune of over 1,400 Spirit Stones!

The majority of the Spirit Stones came from Old Ghost Song’s Storage Bag,

a total of 1,213!

The sheer number of Spirit Stones,

made Shen Changchuan’s breathing grow heavy.

In a sense, he had once possessed assets worth far more than a thousand-odd Spirit Stones.

For instance, the Cyan Essence Purifying Spirit Pill he had taken would have fetched several thousand Spirit Stones or more at auction.

But cash and assets were two completely different things!

It was like in his past life—a house in a big city might be worth millions, but the impact of seeing a million in cash piled up right before your eyes was on a whole other level.

That was exactly how Shen Changchuan felt right now.

’Over fourteen hundred Spirit Stones!’

’This means that after I use up the Top Grade Qi Introduction Pill and advance to the Qi Introduction Late Stage, I can go to the Workshop to buy more Elixirs to accelerate my Cultivation speed!’

Gazing at the small mountain of Spirit Stones before him,

At this moment, Shen Changchuan’s Heart Spirit surged.

He hadn’t forgotten how, not long ago, he had been so broke with only two or three hundred Spirit Stones to his name that he hadn’t dared to buy Elixirs for Cultivation, opting instead to purchase various Magic Skills.

If he hadn’t later met Si Houqing, who helped him defeat Shen Rongguang and resolve his business troubles,

he likely would have had to grind his way to the Qi Introduction Late Stage bit by bit on his own.

’It’s good to have money.’

’With this, maybe I can use Spirit Stones directly for my future Cultivation. That should speed things up even more.’

Shen Changchuan contentedly put all the Spirit Stones away.

Then, he turned his attention to the other items.