Senior Brother Xinghe's Magnanimity

The sect master and the grand elder burst out laughing together, making Qin Xiangqian's hair stand on end. Chu Xinghe also had an ominous feeling!

Soon... the grand elder opened the message from the spirit bird, revealing its contents to Chu Xinghe and Qin Xiangqian.

When Qin Xiangqian saw what it said, he was dumbstruck.

Chu Xinghe felt as if someone had stabbed him in the heart...

Damn it... that bad feeling came true.

The spirit bird's message was simple: something had gone wrong with the raw stones.

After the raw stones from the great mine had been sent to the Shi Clan, it was discovered that they contained no high-grade spirit stones at all. They were all the lowest grade.

Now things had really gone wrong. The ten great sects had paid a fortune for those raw stones, and the Shi Clan had surveyed them beforehand. They had only bought them after confirming that nothing was wrong.

With things turning out like this, would the sects accept it?

They had started fighting on the spot at the Shi Clan, beating its clan head until he spat blood. The sects had also declared that if the Shi Clan did not give them an explanation, they would not let the matter rest.

The people who had beaten the Shi Clan head until he sprayed blood were reportedly from the Listening Snow Pavilion. Someone named Jia Gui seemed to have fainted dead away.

Compared with the other sects, although everyone had suffered considerable losses, they had only lost the base price and failed to get ten times that price.

All told, they had lost money, but it was not a devastating loss.

The Listening Snow Pavilion was different. They had bought the dip at the very peak, paying five times the price for the Vast Heaven Sect's raw stones. The Vast Heaven Sect had had the most raw stones to begin with, so theirs was more than a devastating loss—it was a total bloodbath!

Reading the spirit bird's message, Chu Xinghe felt as if he was about to faint dead away on the spot, just like Jia Gui.

But just as Chu Xinghe was about to cough up blood, the Misfortune Compass started turning again.

What the hell?

While Chu Xinghe was still puzzled, the Misfortune Compass stopped at peak third-grade cultivation!

I... got a reward?

What the hell? Not only did I fail to make the sect suffer a loss, I made it a huge profit! Why am I getting a reward? But the moment he saw Qin Xiangqian's deathly pale face beside him, something occurred to Chu Xinghe.

"Good child... it seems you discovered the problem with these raw stones beforehand. The Medicine Saint Inheritance includes the art of identifying stones. Why didn't you tell Qin Xiangqian in advance? Then he wouldn't have had to come all the way here to lodge a complaint, and the sect master and I wouldn't have thought you were up to mischief again." The grand elder's face was full of affection.

When he first heard what Chu Xinghe had done, the grand elder had been genuinely shocked. After all, there was the previous incident with the Haotian Token. Although he had given his authorization this time, if Chu Xinghe had used the elder's token to do something that caused the sect a loss, the grand elder really would not have been able to protect him. A severe punishment would have been inevitable.

The grand elder had wondered why Chu Xinghe would do such a thing, but now everything was clear to him.

He even filled in the details himself: that good child Chu Xinghe had used the elder's token because he feared the sect would suffer a loss, and he had presumably refused to tell Qin Xiangqian beforehand because he was worried word would leak out.

"Hahaha... the Medicine Saint Inheritance truly is extraordinary. But the Medicine Saint chose the right person. This child... truly is a blessing heaven has bestowed upon Vast Heaven!"

"Qin Xiangqian, now that the matter is clear, you should thank Xinghe for cleaning up your mess. If Xinghe hadn't stepped in, do you know what would have become of you?" The sect master's voice grew stern again.

"Qin Xiangqian, this time you have found a blessing in disguise. As for your earlier complaint against Xinghe, I expect he is broad-minded enough not to hold it against you. The matter ends here."

"Yes..." Qin Xiangqian's face was deathly pale. He bowed to the sect master and the grand elder, then left.

"Good child... you should go and rest too." The grand elder waved Chu Xinghe away as well.

After walking out of Haotian Palace, Chu Xinghe saw Qin Xiangqian in the distance, looking utterly despondent. But Qin Xiangqian was not the only one despondent right now; Chu Xinghe was no better off.

Still, the Misfortune Compass's reward of peak third-grade cultivation was some consolation.

"Qin Xiangqian!"

"Senior... Senior Brother Xinghe..." Qin Xiangqian still looked utterly despondent, but he panicked again when he saw Chu Xinghe.

"How much did you keep?"

"Ah!" Qin Xiangqian's legs gave way at Chu Xinghe's question, and he nearly fell to his knees. Fortunately, Chu Xinghe was quick enough to catch him!

People said Ma Liang was a lucky general, but Chu Xinghe thought Qin Xiangqian was the real lucky general. If not for him, Chu Xinghe would have lost everything this time. Fortunately, Qin Xiangqian must have disobeyed him and secretly kept some raw stones, causing the sect a loss. Although it was indirect, Chu Xinghe was still connected to it, so he had received a reward. Chu Xinghe thought he had to keep someone so disobedient and reckless around.

In an age when everyone was out to trip him up, finding a lucky general like Qin Xiangqian was no easy feat!

"Senior... Senior Brother Xinghe... I deserve to die... I deserve to die..." Qin Xiangqian's face was as white as paper with fright.

"How much did you keep?"

"One tenth... Senior Brother Xinghe, I... I really didn't understand your painstaking intentions. I... I..." Qin Xiangqian was truly panicking now. He knew that once this came to light, no one could save him.

He had disobeyed an elder's order. For that alone, he, Qin Xiangqian, deserved to die a hundred times over!

"All right, I know about it now. Once you get back, plug the hole yourself, no matter what it takes. The matter ends here," Chu Xinghe said calmly.

Hearing this, Qin Xiangqian froze.

At that moment, he truly could not believe it. Senior Brother Xinghe was actually letting him off?

He had failed to understand Xinghe's painstaking intentions and had even come to the sect to complain about him, yet Senior Brother Xinghe had set aside their past grievances and refrained from telling the sect master that Qin Xiangqian had secretly kept the raw stones.

Now he was even giving him a chance... letting him go back and plug the hole!

At that moment, Qin Xiangqian was genuinely won over. On his first visit to Haotian Palace, he had seen so many people respect Senior Brother Xinghe, and even the elders of every palace liked him. Qin Xiangqian had not understood why.

But now he knew... he understood...

If he had called him Senior Brother Xinghe before simply because of Chu Xinghe's high status, now his use of the title had nothing to do with status... he was sincerely and utterly convinced, completely won over by Senior Brother Xinghe's magnanimity!

A man had been misunderstood and accused by another, yet he bore no grudge and even helped that person in the end. What a noble man he was!

Smack! Qin Xiangqian slapped himself hard across the face.

"Senior Brother Xinghe! I will remember what happened today in my heart. Thank you for being magnanimous enough to let me off!"

"All right, stop that. You've served the sect diligently for so many years. Even if you have no achievements to your name, you've still put in hard work. But remember this: there must not be a next time!"

"Rest assured, Senior Brother Xinghe. From today onward, if you tell me to go east, I'll never go west. If you tell me to chase dogs, I'll never chase chickens!"

Qin Xiangqian left the Vast Heaven Sect, his heart full of boundless reverence for Chu Xinghe.

Because Chu Xinghe had intervened in the raw stone incident, the Vast Heaven Sect had emerged as the sole winner...

Although Chu Xinghe felt miserable, the true lucky general Qin Xiangqian had at least given him a hand, so he had not come away entirely empty-handed.

Not long after Qin Xiangqian left, the Haotian Caravan's people finally arrived at the Vast Heaven Sect.

A crowd gathered to watch as a large number of carts entered the Vast Heaven Sect, carrying countless boxes stamped with the sect's cloud-pattern emblem.

"What are those?"

"I don't know... I heard Senior Brother Xinghe bought them!"

"Huh? What did Senior Brother Xinghe buy? There are so many!"

"No idea... how much must all that have cost?"

"Senior Brother Xinghe is a Spirit Crane Palace disciple. I heard the senior brothers there treat him like the pearl in their palms. Would the Spirit Crane Palace even consider that little bit of money worth mentioning?"

A large number of blind boxes were delivered to the Vast Heaven Sect, and while everyone was discussing what Chu Xinghe intended to do, the boxes were distributed.

"Elders... this was my first time going down the mountain, and I wanted to bring gifts back for all the elders and my fellow disciples. But I didn't know what everyone liked, so I decided to do it this way. The blind boxes contain all sorts of things. Whatever you open, it's a small token of my regard. Please don't laugh at me, elders."

Chu Xinghe handed the blind boxes to the elders of each palace.

The elders were taken aback at receiving this kind of gift for the first time, but soon they could not help smiling.

This child... In the past, disciples from the various palaces had gone down the mountain and brought back precious gifts, but those gifts had all been for people who had helped them or might help them improve.

There was nothing wrong with giving gifts, but those who received none still felt a little sour.

Chu Xinghe's approach, however, was interesting.

Everything was packed into blind boxes, so even he did not know what he was giving away!

From the sect master to the elders and every disciple, even the outer disciples, Chu Xinghe had treated them all equally and prepared a blind box for each of them.

An elder might open a box to find a useless cloth doll, while an outer disciple might find an extremely valuable treasure.

This approach not only felt novel to everyone; they also nodded inwardly at how equally Chu Xinghe treated them all.

This child... he truly put his heart into it!

The elders received blind boxes, and Gu Mingchao received one too. When he opened it and saw the grasshopper doll inside, he could not help but smile knowingly.

The grasshopper doll was inexpensive, but at that moment, Gu Mingchao considered it more precious than the various treasures the other disciples had brought back.

Because Chu Xinghe's approach was, first, fair, and second, it treated everyone equally!

How could Gu Mingchao not be fond of such a Chu Xinghe?

Gu Mingchao carefully placed the grasshopper doll in the most prominent position on his treasure shelf. Compared with the priceless treasures around it, the doll might not have been worth mentioning, but in his heart, it was far, far more precious than those treasures. Others gave gifts with ulterior motives, while Chu Xinghe had given his with a sincere heart.

Was there any gift in this world more precious than a sincere heart?