Chapter 351: Offer a Reward
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Moreover, Mo Wen had actually been prepared to use all the wealth in the treasure trove to purchase medicinal herbs! Zhou Honglu was rendered speechless. Such a huge amount of wealth had probably been a result of many years of hoarding by the Jiang Clan. Furthermore, it had been attained completely from taking advantage of the Dafang Sect. Yet, he was prepared to use all of it to buy some useless medicinal herbs. Nobody would do that, even if their sect was in the medicine business.
However, if he used it all in purchasing pills that could raise Cultivation, and subsequently dedicated it all to be used on the disciples, the disciples in the sect would definitely improve by leaps and bounds.
“Buy as much as possible. I only want the precious medicinal herbs. Don’t even consider the usual ones.” Mo Wen nodded. It was such a good deal to be able to use the worthless gold to purchase rare and precious medicinal herbs. If he could concoct all of those medicinal herbs into pills, the value would double again. It was a transaction full of gains and devoid of losses.
Zhou Honglu’s lips trembled as he wanted to advise Mo Wen to stop. Although the wealth in the storage room was not related to their three aristocratic families at all, and they may not get a share of it, he still felt a little indignant at the way that they were being trampled upon. However, seeing as Mo Wen was already so decided, he sealed his mouth once again.
“I will convey the sect leader’s instructions to the disciples, and tell them to head over to the trade market in the ancient martial arts world to purchase the medicinal herbs.” Zhou Honglu laughed bitterly. Nobody dared to go against the wishes of such a powerful sect leader. The Jiang Clan’s corpses were piled to the height of the mountain and had not even been completely cleared yet. There the smell of blood was still in the air. Hence, they were all afraid to follow in the Jiang Clan’s footsteps.
He finally understood the situation. This youth did not even have a sense of belonging to the Dafang Sect. Even though he had now become the sect leader, the things that he did were based on his own wishes, and he did not consider things in regards to the benefit of the sect.
If it had been someone from the three aristocratic families who had become the sect leader, they would have prioritized the sect’s expansion and the sect’s greater good. However, this youth was different. He had casually dismissed all the Dafang Sect’s rules and regulations, and simply did not take into consideration their core values. Clearly, he had never respected the Dafang Sect’s successive generations.
It was very scary for someone without a sense of belonging to become a sect’s leader.
“Mm, serve me well, and I will treat you well.” Mo Wen nodded and patted Zhou Honglu’s shoulder in a satisfied manner.
“I am at your service, sect leader.” Zhou Honglu bowed slightly as he laughed bitterly yet again internally. Serve him well…! Why did it feel like the Dafang Sect had become a bandit’s den?
Mo Wen waved his hand and said with gusto, “The three of your families can each have a portion of those concocted pills. The others can be given to the sect’s diligent disciples as a reward. In the future, if any of you have an outstanding contribution, the things in my treasure trove will be given as a reward.”
Upon hearing that, Zhou Honglu was shocked and surprise was all over his face. Even his voice had become full of energy as he said, “Thank you, sect leader, for your generosity and grace!” The Jiang Clan had accumulated these pills over dozens of years. Even just a portion of that was abundant, and probably much more than any of the three aristocratic families had ever possessed.
Yet, Mo Wen had actually gifted it all to them with the wave of his hand. With those pills, the disciples of the three aristocratic families would probably be able to reach greater heights. To the three aristocratic families, this was a benefit that used to only be possible in their dreams.
Immediately, Zhou Honglu’s impression of Mo Wen changed drastically. At the very least, this sect leader was generous and seemed like he would treat the three aristocratic families well.
Mo Wen smiled. Those pills that had been concocted with poor workmanship were not of much use to him. Hence, he did not mind using them to win their hearts. It was commonly said that the emperor did not use hungry soldiers to fight. Thus, if his underlings were satiated, they would naturally be more motivated to do things. If he dealt out punishments and rewards well, the people beneath him would then be controlled effectively.
Beforehand, the people of the three aristocratic families were not in the same camp as he was. However, it did not pose a major problem. It was just that they had different opinions. In order to get them to do things for him like diligent little horses, he did not mind throwing in a little bribe to win them over.
Although he had never been a sect leader, and thus did not know the methods and tricks behind controlling his underlings, he knew that extraordinary capabilities and attractive benefits could act like an invisible lock, restricting the people under him.
In the next couple of days, almost all the Dafang Sect’s disciples were busy. Some of them were in the midst of rebuilding the main hall after the big battle, while some of them were busy running all over to other sects, buying their most precious medicinal herbs. That was because their sect leader had instructed them to buy the older medicinal herbs regardless of the price. The price should be especially disregarded in the face of those special medicinal herbs that could cause unusually amazing phenomena.
There was also a group of disciples who had started to venture deep into the mountains and forests, going all over to pick medicinal herbs. They had basically swept through all the large mountains in the surroundings, and some of them had even entered the areas belonging to other sects in the midst of their search.
However, even if people had noticed, nobody had dared to say anything. They simply turned a blind eye and let it slide. That was because all the ancient martial art powers in the three major mountain ranges knew that there was a scary young master in the Dafang Sect who could be said to be the most revered and respected youth in history. Hence, no one had dared to offend him.
Who would have dared to prevent the Dafang Sect’s disciples from going around to pick medicinal herbs according to that youth’s orders? If there were any clashes or disagreements, it would give that youth a reason to destroy their entire sect.
Although all the disciples had been busy ever since Mo Wen became the sect leader, basically not a single one of them had any complaints. This was because after they had contributed their labor, they would have rather good remunerations. Even the normal disciples had a chance of attaining the Immortal Cultivation pills that were usually only available to the main disciples. Hence, they all acted like they had been excited by something, going about their jobs with boundless energy and drive.
After the Jiang Clan’s elimination, there were still about 3,000 disciples remaining in the Dafang Sect. However, most of them were normal disciples whose Cultivation was not high. They made up an entire half of the sect. Those disciples were all recruited externally and did not have any direct relations to the three aristocratic families.
As for the people of the three aristocratic families, they were all flooding the administrative positions of the sect. Those who could make it were often all from the higher levels within the sect. That was because only people from the three aristocratic families could produce masters. The normal disciples did not have any additional resources to rely on, so it was difficult for them to train their Cultivation to very high levels. After all, not every single person was an ancient martial arts genius.
Out of the 60 plus sect elders in the Qi Nucleation realm, over 50 of them belonged to the three aristocratic families. From the people who had originated as normal disciples, only 11 of them had made it. Moreover, this was the number accounted for after the elimination of the Jiang Clan. The proportion that they had made up was just too small.
Naturally, Mo Wen would not have allowed the people of the three aristocratic families to hog all the important positions in the sect. To him, it was not good for the three aristocratic families to have too much power in their hands. Hence, he had put more emphasis into developing those 11 normal elders.
On top of that, he had begun to put a lot into developing the sect’s normal disciples, and had put a lot of emphasis on looking for someone with an exceptional talent to direct his attention to.
Just as Zhou Honglu had said, he needed to develop a group of his own trusted men. The Jiang Clan had been eliminated, and there was nobody else in the Wang Clan. There were only the three aristocratic families remaining. Moreover, there was nobody that he could trust by his side.
Hence, over the past few days, he had ordered the elders of normal origins to personally choose exceptional talents from the normal disciples they had recruited, so as to specially develop their talents. The elders would be personally in charge of their training, and they would also have the benefit of access to resources.
Furthermore, the Dafang Sect had also begun recruiting disciples on a larger scale. There were dozens of groups heading out into the world for recruitment in order to choose the most talented disciples.
When the Jiang Clan had dominated the Dafang Sect, they were not enthusiastic about recruiting people. That was due to the fact that the Dafang Sect had five aristocratic families, unlike other sects. Hence, they placed most of the emphasis on developing their own people. They did not realty care too much about the disciples recruited externally. The recruited disciples had been used for putting on a façade at most, displaying the fake exterior of the sect. However, in reality, they did not put any effort into teaching them.
Naturally, Mo Wen would not follow in the Dafang Sect’s footsteps. He was prepared to integrate this power into his future Ming Clan. He was laying the foundations for it now, so he was actually putting in quite a bit of thought and effort. However, he could not possibly spend all his time developing the sect. Hence, he had delegated all of it to his subordinates. He still continued to prioritize his own Cultivation.
Five days later, Mo Wen offered a reward in the three major mountain ranges. The reward was regarding the task of finding a stalk of medicinal herb called the Three Shades of Green Flower, and he was willing to exchange it for a ranked martial art. If anyone possessed the item, they could head over to the Dafang Sect for an exchange.
The moment he released news of the reward, the foundations of the entire three major mountain ranges were shaken. For a stalk of medicinal herb, the Dafang Sect was actually willing to exchange a ranked martial art. It was simply an exorbitant price to pay and was a very shocking news.
In the world of ancient martial arts, a ranked martial art was a very rare thing. Even the four major powers in the three major mountain ranges might not even be able to offer a ranked martial art, as they viewed it as a treasure of the sect. Those ancient martial art sects that were not as established might not even have a ranked martial art, not even one of the lowest ranked ones.
Moreover, to an ancient martial art practitioner, martial arts and techniques were iconic, as they represented the impartation of the sect, and were thus often kept a secret. If anyone outside of the sect had learned the technique, they would be chased down and killed upon discovery in order to maintain the secrecy of the sect’s martial art.
Yet, the Dafang Sect was actually willing to offer a ranked martial art as a reward. How could that not shock all the ancient martial art powers of the three major mountain ranges? Basically, every one of the ancient martial art powers was attracted, and they were all mobilized to find that Three Shades of Green Flower in hopes of getting their hands on the Dafang Sect’s martial art.
Those less established martial art powers were especially agitated. They did not have any ranked martial arts in their sects. If they managed to attain one as their sect’s martial art, their sect’s capability would definitely be greatly enhanced, and they would far surpass their previous opponents.
However, very few people actually knew what the Three Shades of Green Flower was. There were some ancient martial art powers who had not even heard of it before. Hence, even though they put a lot of effort in finding it, it was all futile.
At the moment, the Ghost Physicians Hu Clan that was situated at the border of the Kuochang Mountains and Yandang Mountains had its high-ranking people all gathered. Whether they were highly-ranked in seniority, Cultivation, or even those elders who barely revealed themselves, they were all seated in a meeting room. Each and every one of them had a solemn expression, as if they were engaging in a discussion.