A Solemn Pledge

Chu Xinghe's confinement ended ahead of schedule.

No one thought there was anything wrong with Senior Brother Xinghe being released. After all, Senior Brother Xinghe could be said to have rendered a great service to the sect this time.

As for the Grand Elder's proposal to make Chu Xinghe the leader, the sect master nodded his agreement without another word.

The elders of the various palaces soon selected the hundred disciples who would go. Every one of them was among the finest disciples in their respective palaces.

Medicine King Palace was operating at full tilt, with all its disciples working harder to refine Stone-Breaking Pills in preparation for the trip to the spirit grotto.

All the preparations were proceeding to a furious drumbeat.

Wan Lin was among the hundred selected. Overjoyed, she ran to Medicine King Palace, only to see Chu Xinghe frowning as soon as she entered.

Senior Brother Xinghe must be under tremendous pressure as the leader this time. He must be worried that he won't be able to lead us to greater gains!

At that thought, Senior Brother Xinghe's standing in Wan Lin's heart rose even higher.

"Senior Brother Xinghe!" Wan Lin stepped forward to greet Chu Xinghe.

Chu Xinghe looked up at her chest... Hmm... Very big... No, that wasn't it... He looked at the Hill Forest Palace emblem on her chest and remembered that this girl was called Wan Lin!

"Hello, Junior Sister Wan Lin. Is there anything you need my help with?" Chu Xinghe tried to keep his eyes off things he shouldn't be looking at.

"Senior Brother Xinghe, I'm also one of the hundred going this time. I came especially to thank you for creating such an opportunity for everyone, but I just saw you frowning. You must be troubled because you're worried you won't be able to lead everyone to greater gains."

Wan Lin gazed at Chu Xinghe with admiration written all over her face.

Chu Xinghe nodded while thinking, Was I worried about not getting any benefits for you all?

I was trying to figure out how to screw every one of you over!

I'm troubled because I can't think of a way to screw you over, all right!

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Xinghe. Although our Vast Heaven Sect is the farthest away, I heard from the elders that we've already prepared a teleportation array, so it won't delay us from arriving on time. There are still several days until the spirit grotto opens, so we'll make it in time. Besides, we have all the Stone-Breaking Pills. There's no way the other three sects can get in early. If we can't get there, none of them can even think about entering the spirit grotto and getting any benefits!"

What?

Chu Xinghe froze for three seconds upon hearing Wan Lin's words!

Holy shit, what a peerless junior sister!

Chu Xinghe had been racking his brains over how to screw everyone over on this trip to the spirit grotto.

The Grand Elder had told him that there were dangers inside the spirit grotto too, and a single careless mistake could cost lives, so Chu Xinghe had to be extremely careful.

That made Chu Xinghe feel that, if he screwed everyone over and got them all killed in there, he really wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He wanted to ruin the Vast Heaven Sect, not slaughter everyone in it. His senior brothers and junior sisters were all good people.

So he had to screw them over without harming their lives. That was too difficult.

But Wan Lin's words opened another path of thought for Chu Xinghe.

The spirit grotto would only open for a limited time, at a particular moment. The three sects had calculated that it would be five days from now. Once that moment was missed, the spirit grotto would close automatically, and no one knew what year of the monkey or month of the horse it would open again.

The Vast Heaven Sect was farthest from the spirit grotto. Although the teleportation array could get everyone there quickly, there was always a chance something could go wrong...

What if we don't make it?

If they failed to arrive in time and missed the opening, it wouldn't just be the Vast Heaven Sect. The other three sects could forget about getting in too, because the Stone-Breaking Pills were in his hands.

Then he would screw over not only the Vast Heaven Sect, but the other three sects as well!

If a problem on the Vast Heaven Sect's end prevented the disciples of the other three sects from cleansing their marrow and reforging their bones, would those three sects let the matter rest?!

Good grief! Chu Xinghe was almost moved to tears.

What a peerless junior sister!

After seeing Wan Lin off, Chu Xinghe's excitement and delight swept away his gloom in an instant.

Today's a good day... Everything I wish for... Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo...

That song is unlucky! Last time I sang it, I did buy three million Shen Spirit Herbs, but a spirit grotto came out of it. Nothing can go wrong this time. I must never sing that song again!

Over the next few days, the Grand Elder showed Chu Xinghe just how terrifying Medicine King Palace was when it operated at full capacity.

Nearly two million Shen Spirit Herbs were used up, and large batches of Stone-Breaking Pills were refined at the same time.

The Grand Elder divided the pills into four portions, with the Vast Heaven Sect receiving the largest. Never mind curing the petrification poison—put it this way: even if they were trapped in the spirit grotto for ten days or half a month, they wouldn't need to bring provisions. They could stuff themselves to death in there on Stone-Breaking Pills alone.

In the Grand Elder's words, this was called being prepared.

The Grand Elder also stuffed a whole assortment of other pills into Chu Xinghe's hands. There were pills for healing injuries... pills for curing poison... and... Well, there was basically everything they might need.

Besides that, the Grand Elder took out his elder's token and gave it to Chu Xinghe.

"Don't behave recklessly when you're away. Take this elder's token, and if you encounter a situation where you think you need it, use it."

"Will I be punished like I was last time with the Haotian Token?" Chu Xinghe asked.

"Don't worry. I've already reported it to the sect master, and I'm giving you the elder's token myself. As long as you don't run wild and commit misdeeds, you won't be punished."

The Grand Elder's words left Chu Xinghe looking thoroughly disappointed...

Only after giving Chu Xinghe all sorts of instructions did the Grand Elder leave.

The Grand Elder had barely gone when Feng Fei arrived with a group of senior brothers from Spirit Crane Palace.

"Junior Brother Xinghe, these are the pills I prepared for you... Keep them safe. When you're away from home, don't try to save these pills when you can use them. Safety comes first!" Feng Fei said as he stuffed the pills into Chu Xinghe's hands.

"Junior Brother Xinghe, these are the pills I prepared for you..."

"And me... Me too..."

Good grief, they shoved all kinds of pills into Chu Xinghe's hands. Now, even if he really were trapped in the spirit grotto for half a year, these pills alone would be enough to fill his stomach.

"Junior Brother Xinghe, take these spirit stones. There are many things you'll need to spend money on when you're away. They aren't much, but they should be enough to help you out in a pinch."

Feng Fei took out a large chest packed full of high-grade spirit stones...

You call this not much?

Big brother... Do you really know what spirit stones are worth?

Chu Xinghe came from a poor family and knew a thing or two about money.

Ordinary people in the outside world used various gold, silver, and copper coins, but above them were spirit stones.

A single low-grade spirit stone, the lowest kind, could be exchanged for roughly a thousand gold, and even then, few people would trade spirit stones for gold.

It took a hundred low-grade spirit stones to exchange for one mid-grade spirit stone, and a hundred mid-grade spirit stones for one high-grade spirit stone...

Chu Xinghe vaguely remembered that, back in Kaoshan Village, about ten gold could support a family of three in comfort for a year.

As for the spirit stones Feng Fei had just given him, put it this way: they were more than enough to buy every last bit of Kaoshan Village fifty times over!

"Senior Brother Feng, how can you be so stingy? Junior Brother Xinghe is going away for the first time. He's bound to be short of money at some point. What can he do with so few spirit stones? Come, come... Junior Brother Xinghe, I have more here. Take them all; I have no use for them anyway!"

"Junior Brother Xinghe, I have some here too... Take them..."

Soon, chest after chest was lined up before Chu Xinghe. Each high-grade spirit stone shone with dazzling light. With so many spirit stones gathered together, Chu Xinghe realized his math skills really were terrible...

He couldn't even calculate how many Kaoshan Villages he could buy with the spirit stones before him...

After he saw one wave of senior brothers off, another arrived.

Some gave him pills, some gave him spirit stones, and a few had prepared various secret treasures for him. Unfortunately, those treasures were a little too high-level, and Chu Xinghe couldn't use them at all.

After all the senior brothers had left, Chu Xinghe looked at the things packed inside the spatial ring the Grand Elder had given him and was silently at a loss for words.

He had always heard stories of village youths defying the heavens and slapping the faces of various young masters from powerful families at the slightest disagreement.

But at this moment, Chu Xinghe only wanted to point at the village youth's face and ask... What gives you the right?! Just look at the stuff in my damn spatial ring... I wouldn't even have to lift a hand. I could take out my spirit stones and smash your entire village to death with them!

You tell me, what gives you the right to make a comeback against me?!

The wealth the Spirit Crane Palace senior brothers alone had given him was already beyond Chu Xinghe's ability to calculate.

It seemed he was destined not to take the path of swimming against the current. Not only did he not need to swim against it, the whole damn river was his!

After a night of pleasant dreams, Chu Xinghe and the disciples selected by the various palaces gathered at Haotian Palace early the next morning.

The sect master had actually come in person.

First, the Grand Elder gave a pre-departure address. It was all the usual: they must never behave recklessly, must not tarnish the Vast Heaven Sect's mighty reputation, and must take care of their own safety.

The sect master walked straight into their midst, swept his gaze over everyone, and finally looked at Chu Xinghe. "Xinghe, as the leader this time, remember to be cautious in your words and actions. On this trip to the spirit grotto, you must protect every one of your junior brothers and sisters, and bring back as many resources as possible for our Vast Heaven Sect."

"Rest assured, Sect Master! If we fail to obtain more than seventy percent of the resources this time, I am willing to accept expulsion from the sect as punishment!"

The sect master was dumbfounded...

Didn't you hear me say 'as many as possible'? I wasn't asking you to make a solemn pledge.

"Xinghe, I know you want to win honor for the sect, but if you were expelled over this, would the other disciples dare to lead a group in the future?" The sect master chuckled.

"You're right, Sect Master, but as the leader, I should act like one. If we fail to obtain more than seventy percent of the resources this time, please strip me of my status as a personal disciple!"

The sect master was at a loss. "Good child, I know you want to win honor for the sect, but there's no need to put so much pressure on yourself."

Hearing this, the other elders nodded in agreement.

Just look: whenever disciples went out in the past and something happened, they would point fingers at one another, terrified that the final punishment would fall on their own heads.

But look at Chu Xinghe. What a good child! As the leader, he took all the responsibility upon himself without shirking any of it. Where else could they find a leader like that?

The sect master looked at Chu Xinghe's solemn expression, then at the other elders nodding around him. Though he still felt Chu Xinghe's pledge was a little too severe, he nodded.

As the saying went, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, and the greater the responsibility, the greater the pressure. Gu Mingchao also wanted to see whether Chu Xinghe could still perform perfectly under such tremendous pressure.

As for stripping him of his status as a personal disciple... If it could be taken away, it could naturally be given back, couldn't it...