The Procurement List

Everyone else had gone to the Technique Repository Tower to study cultivation techniques, but Chu Xinghe hadn't had the chance. At one point, he'd been so angry he wanted to curse someone's mother.

That was the Technique Repository Tower!

One of the most important places in the Vast Heaven Sect!

If he could set the place on fire... man, wouldn't he take off on the spot?

Unfortunately, he couldn't go to the Technique Repository Tower, so he could only come to Haotian Palace and learn the Haotian Battle Intent from the sect master. As appealing as the Haotian Battle Intent was, it was nowhere near as exciting as burning down the Technique Repository Tower.

"Xinghe, listen carefully. The Haotian Battle Intent is the strongest inheritance of our Vast Heaven Sect, but you must never pass this technique to outsiders without my permission. Otherwise..."

Chu Xinghe was excited... Here was his chance... Otherwise what? Would his cultivation be crippled and he be expelled from the sect?

"Otherwise, you shall be sentenced to death by a thousand cuts!"

Chu Xinghe: "..."

Damn it, that blocked off every escape route he had.

"This disciple will remember."

"Good. Next, I'll personally teach you the Haotian Battle Intent." Gu Mingchao nodded in satisfaction. Without another word, he began teaching Chu Xinghe the Haotian Battle Intent, bit by bit.

It had to be said that the Haotian Battle Intent really was a supreme technique. It contained all kinds of body-tempering methods, spirit cultivation methods, and combat arts. Any one of them would have been absolutely top-tier on its own.

The ordinary techniques in the Technique Repository Tower could never compare.

That was because ordinary techniques were generally more specialized. Cultivation techniques were cultivation techniques, while martial skills for combat existed separately.

So when choosing techniques in the Technique Repository Tower, one had to pick not only a cultivation technique but also suitable martial skills. Make the slightest wrong choice, and congratulations—even if you didn't have to start over, you'd at least get half the results for twice the effort.

But there was no such concern with the Haotian Battle Intent. It contained not only a cultivation method but also combinations of various martial skills, all drawn from the accumulated experience of countless ancestors and passed down through generations of the Vast Heaven Sect.

Which martial skill went with which circulation route had all been worked out for the best. The Haotian Battle Intent was essentially a one-click perfect match.

What Chu Xinghe found even more unbelievable was that, with a technique as insanely awesome as the Haotian Battle Intent, you would expect it to be the most complicated to cultivate.

But the exact opposite was true!

The technique was far simpler than ordinary ones. In Gu Mingchao's words, the ancestors' great wisdom had reduced the complex to the simple.

Gu Mingchao spent the entire day teaching Chu Xinghe the Haotian Battle Intent. Although his head was buzzing from the lesson, Chu Xinghe still memorized everything perfectly.

This might have had something to do with the Medicine Saint's inheritance. Ever since obtaining it, Chu Xinghe had discovered that he could remember anything after seeing it once, so he learned all kinds of things much faster.

"From now on, you must cultivate diligently. If there's anything you don't understand, you can come to Haotian Palace and ask me at any time." Gu Mingchao was extremely pleased with Chu Xinghe.

He had originally thought it would take Chu Xinghe at least three days to learn the Haotian Battle Intent, but he had never expected the boy to be so gifted. He had understood it in a single day, doing considerably better than Gu Mingchao himself had back then.

Faced with such an outstanding Chu Xinghe, Gu Mingchao had resolved to nurture him well, even though he hadn't been able to take him as a personal disciple. After all, being a personal disciple was just a title.

After bidding Gu Mingchao farewell, Chu Xinghe returned to the Spirit Crane Palace. The main structure of the Medicine King Palace had been completed, and the decorating was mostly finished as well. Now it was time for a massive procurement drive: pill furnaces, medicinal ingredients, and all sorts of necessary consumables were being purchased in astronomical quantities every day.

Every day, Chu Xinghe could see people from chambers of commerce all over coming and going from the Medicine King Palace. Landing an order from the Vast Heaven Sect was a tremendous stroke of good fortune.

The Vast Heaven Sect was known for its deep pockets. As long as your goods were good enough, the Vast Heaven Sect would pay a high enough price.

When he returned to his room, Feng Fei lay sprawled over the table, looking exhausted as he worked on the accounts. He didn't even notice Chu Xinghe's return.

Only when Chu Xinghe walked up beside him did Feng Fei notice him.

"Junior Brother Xinghe, how did a whole day of studying go?"

"I finished learning it. The sect master said I was quite talented. It took him three days to learn it back then, but I learned it in one."

Hearing this, Feng Fei couldn't help marveling. Junior Brother Xinghe truly defied the heavens. What kind of figure was the sect master? To earn such praise from him showed just how outstanding Chu Xinghe was.

"What are you working on, Senior Brother Feng?"

"Sigh... procurement lists for all sorts of things..." Feng Fei didn't hide anything. He put them straight in front of Chu Xinghe for him to see.

One look was enough. Good grief, no wonder Feng Fei had a headache. There were far too many things to buy.

"Junior Brother Xinghe, you don't know how enormous the Medicine King Palace's purchases are this time. Even the slightest mistake could cause unimaginable losses to the sect. I don't dare slack off in the slightest!"

What was that?

Hearing Feng Fei's words, Chu Xinghe was wide awake on the spot!

Even the slightest mistake could cause unimaginable losses to the sect?

There was such a good thing?

Senior Brother Feng, why didn't you say so sooner? For something like this, your junior brother wouldn't fear hardship or exhaustion in the slightest—he'd face the challenge head-on!

"I really can't bear to watch you work so hard, Senior Brother Feng. How about this? If you trust me, let me help you with it." Little stars were practically shining in Chu Xinghe's eyes.

He had only just made a breakthrough a few days ago, and between consolidating his realm and learning the Haotian Battle Intent, Chu Xinghe hadn't been able to find a chance to make a mess of things. Now that this opportunity was right in front of him, there was no way he would let it go.

"Junior Brother Xinghe, what are you saying? How could I not trust you? But these are all trivial matters. If I let you get involved, I'm afraid they'll interfere with your cultivation."

"Senior Brother, I'll be angry if you say that. As a disciple of the Vast Heaven Sect, isn't it my duty to do everything I can for the sect? If everyone ignored the sect's trivial affairs for the sake of cultivation, how could it remain a sect?"

Chu Xinghe looked utterly righteous.

Feng Fei nodded inwardly. Just listen... as expected of Junior Brother Xinghe! When he'd tried to find others to help before, every one of them had made excuses. With Junior Brother Xinghe showing such awareness, wouldn't those fellows hang their heads in shame if they heard him?

Without further ado, Feng Fei handed Chu Xinghe a procurement list.

It was a list of medicinal ingredients, marked with the various ingredients needed and their quantities. There were enough types and numbers on it to make one's head spin at a glance.

"Junior Brother Xinghe, all the medicinal ingredients we need are on here. Sort them out, and tomorrow the president of the Daxing Chamber of Commerce will come in person. Then you can just have him prepare the goods according to this list. As for the prices, use this reference book."

"Okay!"

Chu Xinghe picked up the procurement list and price book, ran off to the side, and began studying them.

There were over a thousand types of goods to buy, basically all medicinal ingredients used up in daily operations. The price book listed the price of every single one.

When the Vast Heaven Sect bought things, it never asked how much you were selling them for. It told you how much it wanted to pay. Even the Daxing Chamber of Commerce, reputed to be the greatest chamber of commerce under heaven, wasn't qualified to haggle with the Vast Heaven Sect over prices.

That was the absolute confidence of the number one sect under heaven.

Of course, the prices the Vast Heaven Sect offered would never cheat anyone. They were all in line with market rates, leaving sellers a profit. But trying to fleece the sect was out of the question!

Looking at the price book, Chu Xinghe was troubled. The prices were all marked down already, so what the hell was there to negotiate? Didn't that make him nothing more than an errand boy?

What happened to one careless mistake causing the sect heavy losses? How was he supposed to cause any losses like this?

This wouldn't do! When there were difficulties, he had to press on. When there were none, he had to create them himself and press on anyway!

He couldn't change the prices, right? Then surely he could make a little change to the medicinal ingredients!

Soon, Chu Xinghe found what he wanted.

Purchase three million stalks of Middle Spirit Herb!

Middle Spirit Herb was an ingredient used to refine Middle Spirit Pills. It was a very common medicinal herb and among the cheapest, too. But... if someone accidentally added a stroke to the character for Middle and turned it into Shen Spirit Herb, that would be a completely different story.

What the hell was Shen Spirit Herb? Chu Xinghe had to search his entire memory to find it. There was only one pill it could be used to refine, called the Stone-Breaking Pill.

Just listen to that name: Stone-Breaking Pill?

It sounded like it was only good for breaking rocks, and in fact, that was about all it was good for. It only neutralized and granted immunity to certain petrification poisons, but those were truly the rarest of all poisons. Even if you brought Shennong back and had him taste the hundred herbs all over again, he probably wouldn't be struck by a petrification poison.

The Stone-Breaking Pill might be useless as hell, but Shen Spirit Herb was quite extraordinary.

How should he put it? In Chu Xinghe's words, it met the three criteria for a rip-off.

Rare... expensive... and not worth a damn!

But an herb like that was the herb of his dreams.

How much could three million stalks of Middle Spirit Herb cost? But three million stalks of Shen Spirit Herb... the price would go through the roof.

It was their bounden duty to cause losses for the sect!

Chu Xinghe grinned until drool ran down his chin, as though he could already imagine the first elder's expression when three million stalks of Shen Spirit Herb were laid out in front of him.

Perfect!

After putting everything in order, Chu Xinghe had a wonderful night's sleep.

Early the next morning, after washing up and eating breakfast, Chu Xinghe saw the Daxing Chamber of Commerce badge that had long been waiting over at the Medicine King Palace.

There was a fat man who looked to weigh around three hundred jin, a broad smile plastered across his pig-like head.

"I am Wei Deqian of the Daxing Chamber of Commerce. Greetings, Young Hero Xinghe."

Although Wei Deqian was the president of the Daxing Chamber of Commerce, it might have been impressive out in the world, but it was nothing before a behemoth like the Vast Heaven Sect. So he was very humble.

Chu Xinghe led Wei Deqian into a lounge in the Medicine King Palace. Without much talk, he casually tossed him the procurement list.

Wei Deqian's eyes lit up as soon as he took the list. He knew the Vast Heaven Sect needed a great many medicinal ingredients, but he was still shocked when he actually saw it.

Chu Xinghe then casually tossed him the price book as well. The man clearly knew how the Vast Heaven Sect did things. He picked up the price book and, without wasting another word on Chu Xinghe, immediately nodded to show there was no problem and began copying the prices onto the procurement list.

But Wei Deqian's expression soon changed.

"Young Hero Xinghe, please take a look. This Shen Spirit Herb... is there a mistake?"

Pointing at the procurement list, where three million stalks of Shen Spirit Herb were marked down, Wei Deqian looked utterly bewildered. Had the Vast Heaven Sect gone mad? What did it want with three million stalks of Shen Spirit Herb?

For such a quantity, even the Daxing Chamber of Commerce would probably have to spend enormous manpower and resources gathering it from all over the world. It was no exaggeration to say that the Vast Heaven Sect was buying up the entire world's output of Shen Spirit Herb in one go!

The Vast Heaven Sect had deep pockets, but no matter how deep they were, what use did it have for so much Shen Spirit Herb?

So Wei Deqian's first thought was that it had been written down wrong!

If anyone else had made such a mistake, he would have dared to pull a fast one, but the Vast Heaven Sect? Sorry, Wei Deqian didn't have the guts. So he carefully presented the list to Chu Xinghe for confirmation.

But just as Wei Deqian thought Chu Xinghe would surely agree it was a mistake, Chu Xinghe nodded slightly and said, "The list is correct. Prepare everything as written!"

Wei Deqian: "Huh?"