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Chapter 39: Friendly merit system
Meng Zhang concealed these books not out of selfishness but because they would be harmful rather than beneficial for disciples whose Cultivation Base was not yet sufficient. Additionally, certain techniques couldn't be casually imparted. Some introductory techniques could be directly taught to disciples, but to gain access to more advanced techniques, these disciples needed to contribute to the sect, demonstrating their loyalty and willingness to integrate with it.
The original merit system of Taiyi Sect was already relatively complete, and Meng Zhang and his group made only some minor adjustments. They also established a corresponding task system to complement the merit system. As the Sect Master, Meng Zhang, Tian Zhen, and Daoist Clear Spirit, both of whom held the positions of elders, received a fixed amount of merit each month. Additionally, they could obtain merit by contributing to the sect, such as by taking care of the spirit fields or patrolling the mountain gate.
With these systems in place, issuing tasks, granting merit, and exchanging merits for items in the sect's treasury were all handled by Tian Zhen, the General Affairs Elder. Although it appeared that there was more work to be done, the number of disciples in Taiyi Sect was not large, so Tian Zhen managed to handle it all.
Meng Zhang entrusted the medicinal plant seeds he bought in Singing Sand City to Daoist Clear Spirit and asked him to try planting them after the autumn harvest in the spirit field.
After handling internal matters, Meng Zhang had no time to rest. He called Tian Zhen and Daoist Clear Spirit, rode wind-chasing horses, and left Taiyi Sect. They arrived at the place where Meng Zhang encountered the sandworms previously.
When leaving last time, Meng Zhang carefully erased the surface traces but left the marks of the sandworms' underground passages. While asking Tian Zhen and Daoist Clear Spirit to wait, Meng Zhang used the purchased earth-escape talisman.
The First Rank top-grade earth-escape talisman allowed Meng Zhang to travel underground to a depth of fewer than ten zhang and within a distance of ten li.
Soon, Meng Zhang discovered the marks left by the sandworms' underground passage. Following these traces, he traveled while using four earth-escape talismans and found a sandworm nest not far from the surface.
Meng Zhang returned to the surface and gathered Tian Zhen and Daoist Clear Spirit. Utilizing his experience in hunting sandworms, he lured the sandworms to the surface using the Earthshaking Technique. Five sandworms, divided into two waves, emerged on the surface. The three of them worked together and expended considerable effort to eliminate all three sandworms.
With no time to clean the battlefield, Meng Zhang used the earth-escape talisman again to enter the sandworm nest. However, there was no harvest inside the nest, only a large number of sandworm eggs, all of which Meng Zhang destroyed without leaving a single one.
Before the ten earth-escape talismans were depleted, Meng Zhang finally discovered a scarlet copper vein less than ten li away from the sandworm nest.
Meng Zhang roughly estimated that there should be a considerable quantity of scarlet copper ore in this vein. Currently, Taiyi Sect lacked the ability to mine the underground scarlet copper ore and didn't have the capability to conduct a comprehensive survey of the vein. Meng Zhang could only remember the location of the vein and then returned to the surface.
The bellies of the five sandworms contained, unsurprisingly, a large number of undigested scarlet copper ores. After cleaning all the ore and collecting them, Meng Zhang stored them in his storage bag. He then destroyed all the traces of the battle on the surface and the sandworm corpses, making sure not to leave any evidence.
Lastly, just to be cautious, Meng Zhang repeatedly used the Earthshaking Technique to destroy the underground sand structure where the sandworms had passed, completely erasing the traces.
Having done everything that could be done, the three of them returned to Taiyi Sect. In their hearts, they silently prayed that the news of the scarlet copper vein would remain secret until Taiyi Sect had the ability to mine it.
Meng Zhang decided that after refining the harvested scarlet copper ore, he would sell it in Singing Sand City several times. Half of the proceeds would go to the sect's treasury, and the other half would be divided among the three of them, with Meng Zhang receiving the most significant share.
In the following days, Meng Zhang focused on his personal cultivation. He not only diligently practiced the Lesser Yang Qi Art but also studied many new spells. Among the spells obtained from the Trial Ground, many were highly practical and had significant cultivation value.
The hired Wang family father and son quickly adapted to life in Taiyi Sect. Although they hadn't received systematic teachings, they had considerable knowledge of Spirit Plants. Years of experience enabled them to handle various tasks in the spirit fields.
With the Wang family father and son around, Daoist Clear Spirit also found himself with more free time to study new Spirit Plant knowledge. The Wang family father and son were quite satisfied with their life in Taiyi Sect. The sect was not overly demanding and was, in fact, quite generous. They received their remuneration promptly according to the employment agreement, and Daoist Clear Spirit even occasionally offered guidance on Spirit Plant Technique to the two of them.
Although Taiyi Sect had been in decline for a long time, it still had some foundation. Daoist Clear Spirit's Spirit Plant Technique had a systematic inheritance and was well-established.
Especially after obtaining knowledge from Meng Zhang in the Trial Ground, Daoist Clear Spirit made significant progress in his Spirit Plant Technique, showing a new look. Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, autumn arrived, and it was time to harvest the spirit fields.
This time, they harvested the Spirit Grain planted in the spirit fields. Taiyi Sect had a dedicated fifteen mu of spirit fields where they grew First Rank Spirit Grain Snow Fragrant Rice. Snow Fragrant Rice was as white as snow and exuded a unique fragrance. Its spiritual power was also gentle and easy to absorb, making it the most widely consumed spirit rice in the Endless Sea of Sand.
If it were in the mundane world, fifteen mu of land could easily be harvested by a few strong laborers. However, Spirit Grain was different; it was not only challenging to grow but also difficult to harvest. The stems of Spirit Grain were as tough as iron, and ordinary people couldn't cut them. Only Cultivators wielding specially made scythes infused with True Qi could easily sever them.
All the members of Taiyi Sect, including Meng Zhang, had to work tirelessly for several days to finish harvesting the Spirit Grain. After the harvest, there were still many chores to attend to. If it weren't for Meng Zhang hiring the Wang family father and son, Taiyi Sect's original workforce would have been overwhelmed.
After completing the Spirit Grain harvest, Daoist Clear Spirit didn't find himself idle either. The remaining low-level medicinal herbs planted in the remaining spirit fields were harvested one by one.
After finishing these tasks, there were still new medicinal herb seeds to be planted at a selected time.
Taiyi Sect couldn't sustain itself without Daoist Clear Spirit's hard work. According to the usual practice, most of the Spirit Grain harvested by Taiyi Sect each year would be transported to Singing Sand City for sale in exchange for spirit stones to maintain the sect's operation.
However, Meng Zhang decided not to continue doing this. He chose to keep the harvested Spirit Grain within Taiyi Sect for the disciples' consumption. As for the sect's expenses, the spirit stones in the treasury could still sustain it for the time being.
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