Shockwaves on All Sides

At that moment, every miner's eyes grew wet. What Senior Brother Xinghe had given them wasn't a cultivation technique or resources, but the chance for each and every one of them to pursue their dreams!

Rustle... An untold number of miners around them dropped to their knees of their own accord. In an instant, they were all kowtowing frantically toward the notice behind Ma Liang.

Ma Liang, Wan Lin, and all the Vast Heaven Sect disciples were stunned.

They were all heaven's favored children, raised on the praise of others from the day they were born. Even after joining the Vast Heaven Sect, they had been chosen from the best of the best.

They were the pride of their lineages, the pride of their sect.

They had never imagined that there were so many people in the world pursuing their dreams.

Earlier, when Qin Xiangqian had stopped Chu Xinghe and said that giving out so many resources might cost the sect, Wan Lin had hesitated too.

Should I try to talk Senior Brother Xinghe out of it?

But at that moment, Wan Lin knew... she had been narrow-minded...

Her realm was too low!

The gap between her and Senior Brother Xinghe hadn't narrowed at all. It was getting bigger and bigger, damn it!

What had she seen?

A drop in the sect's supply of spirit stones, a loss to the sect.

But what Senior Brother Xinghe saw were countless dreams and the sect's future!

You could say these miner disciples lacked talent, but you couldn't snuff out their dreams. You couldn't say they were destined to be trash for the rest of their lives!

The first-generation Great Emperor Haotian of the Vast Heaven Sect hadn't possessed any unparalleled talent either, yet he had founded the Vast Heaven Sect through hard work.

Who could say that the next Great Emperor Haotian, the next Martial Emperor-level existence, wouldn't emerge from among these miner disciples?

Losing half their spirit stones sounded terrifying, but how deep were the Vast Heaven Sect's foundations? It wasn't as though the Vast Heaven Sect couldn't afford that loss. Wasn't it worth trading those spirit stones for a chance for everyone to pursue their dreams?

Senior Brother Xinghe's realm had truly reached a height everyone could only look up to!

Ma Liang was deeply shaken too. He swore that from this moment on, his dream had changed.

Once, his dream had been to become someone like Senior Brother Xinghe, but only today had he realized he was wrong... utterly, completely wrong!

Become someone like Senior Brother Xinghe?

As if I fucking deserve that!

If he could just become someone who followed Senior Brother Xinghe, that would be his ancestral graves sending up green smoke.

The other junior brothers and sisters understood now why Senior Brother Xinghe had brought them along this time.

He had meant to use this to teach them a lesson!

Thinking of how they had run wild in the sect before, even bullying their fellow junior brothers and sisters, every one of them flushed bright red!

How shameful! Too shameful!

Faced with their outrageous behavior, Senior Brother Xinghe had neither punished nor scolded them. Instead, without saying a word, he had used something this earthshaking to show them.

Just look. They were still at the level of bullying their junior brothers and sisters, while Senior Brother Xinghe had reached the point where he treated even a miner disciple like family!

Everyone silently swore that they would follow Senior Brother Xinghe for the rest of their lives!

Even if they couldn't become someone like Senior Brother Xinghe, they would surely follow him unto death!

The Vast Heaven Sect's spirit mine had existed for who knew how many years, but today it rang with laughter and cheers.

The miner disciples who had been like walking corpses threw back their heads and howled one after another!

The wait was over. They had finally waited long enough!

They had gained the chance to pursue their dreams, the chance to defy the heavens and change their fates!

Wang Tieniu stared blankly at every word on the notice. Five bloody finger marks still stood out on his face, left when he had slapped himself hard earlier because he suspected he was dreaming.

He thought of what Senior Brother Xinghe had said when he first came here.

"From today on, if anyone dares to withhold their resources, not even the heavenly king himself can save him!"

For a time, Wang Tieniu had thought those were just words for show.

Everyone said Tieniu was stupid, that he was dogged by bad luck.

Many people even kept their distance from him.

But Senior Brother Xinghe hadn't.

Senior Brother Xinghe's smile had been like a spring breeze, and for the first time Wang Tieniu had wondered if there really could be such a good person in the world.

Ever since Senior Brother Xinghe arrived yesterday, many people had been talking in private, saying that Chu Xinghe was the kind of person who said one thing and did another. His words sounded nice, but they were only words, and no one should take them to heart.

Who knew how many people had slandered Senior Brother Xinghe behind his back?

Even Wang Tieniu himself had thought the others were right.

But now...

"Smack!"

Wang Tieniu gave himself another resounding slap.

He wasn't testing whether he was dreaming. Wang Tieniu was filled with remorse.

I, Wang Tieniu, am no human being! I actually slandered Senior Brother Xinghe like that!

I'm no human being at all!

Tears poured down Wang Tieniu's face. From today on, he would be a man with a dream, a man Senior Brother Xinghe considered useful, and work hard to become someone like Senior Brother Xinghe!

The Vast Heaven Sect's spirit mine was shaken, and all its miner disciples were reborn from the ashes!

But when the news spread from the Vast Heaven Sect's spirit mine, the shock it caused elsewhere far surpassed that at the mine itself!

"What the hell? Thirty percent of the output is being given to the miner disciples as resources?"

"Higher-grade cultivation techniques?"

"And they get a few days off every month?"

"Has the Vast Heaven Sect fucking gone mad?!"

"What the hell is that Chu Xinghe? Didn't the Vast Heaven Sect punish him for buying the Tianyi Spirit Mine?"

"If a disciple of our sect had run wild and bought the Tianyi Spirit Mine, the grass on his grave would be half a meter tall by now!"

"Is this guy really not afraid of death? Buying the Tianyi Spirit Mine was one thing, but he even dares to make such a mess of the miner disciples' affairs?"

"Could this guy be Gu Mingchao's illegitimate son?"

"Even if he were Gu Mingchao's illegitimate son, Gu Mingchao would have him cut to pieces for doing this!"

"The Vast Heaven Sect is the number one sect under heaven. How dare it act so recklessly?"

Everyone who heard the news was shaken, but they weren't the only ones. Miner disciples everywhere were shaken too.

The news spread to spirit mines on all sides, and everyone who heard about the treatment Chu Xinghe had arranged for the Vast Heaven Sect's miner disciples was stunned.

Before, they had all been at the very bottom. Big brother had no business laughing at second brother.

But now, how were the Vast Heaven Sect's miner disciples big brothers? They were getting the fucking treatment of grand masters!

Wasn't this about as good as what many sects' inner disciples got?

Being a miner disciple was a little hard, but they had poor talent to begin with, so a little hardship and exhaustion were nothing. What mattered was that hope was now right in front of them!

So, in a very short time, the miner disciples of the major sects refused to work!

Why did the Vast Heaven Sect get that kind of treatment while they got this? They wanted the same treatment as the Vast Heaven Sect. If they didn't get it, they fucking quit! They wouldn't stay here; they would go to the Vast Heaven Sect and become miner disciples there!

The various powers had naturally anticipated such an upheaval, so a piece of news quickly began to spread.

"Chu Xinghe has been running wild, and the Vast Heaven Sect already knows. It has sent someone to punish him, and he'll probably be killed on the spot. Things at the Vast Heaven Sect will soon return to the way they were!"

Once this news came out, the various sides quieted down for the time being. Everyone waited for the Vast Heaven Sect elder who was coming to kill Chu Xinghe.

In the Haotian Grand Hall of the Vast Heaven Sect.

This time, there had been no need for the Vast Heaven Sect's spirit birds to bring news from Spirit Vein Mountain. The other sects had already helped deliver it.

In the grand hall, the sect master and the heads of the various halls were all seated together.

When the great elder heard the news, he felt miserable... agonized... and pulled out his hair by the handful!

Xinghe, Xinghe!

Are you trying to poke a hole in the heavens?

The news that the Tianyi Spirit Mine had been bought had already made the Vast Heaven Sect a laughingstock. Right now, everyone under heaven was waiting to laugh at the Vast Heaven Sect.

But before they had even finished laughing, he had gone and caused a commotion this huge?

"What are you all sitting there for? Speak," the sect master said first.

"Sect master, the various sects are reacting strongly. They're demanding severe punishment for Xinghe, and several sects have even suspended their cooperation with the Vast Heaven Sect."

"Not just those sects. The Shi Clan has made its position clear too. If Chu Xinghe of the Vast Heaven Sect runs wild like this and goes unpunished, the Shi Clan will no longer cooperate with the Vast Heaven Sect."

"That's not all. I just made some calculations. If we really follow Xinghe's approach, the sect will lose more than half its annual supply of spirit stones at minimum. Although the remaining half would barely be enough to support us, but..."

The elders spoke one after another, sharing the news from all sides.

"Sect master, let me make the trip myself. I'll find a way to handle this," the great elder said, stepping forward.

"Sit down, sit down!" The sect master waved at the great elder, motioning for him to sit.

But this time, the great elder remained standing.

"Sect master... Xinghe really has gone a little too far this time. I'm afraid the various sects will strike one after another, and the boy may not be able to handle them."

The elders nodded at the great elder's words.

Chu Xinghe's series of actions was tantamount to flipping the table outright.

And it wasn't just the Vast Heaven Sect's table he had flipped, but everyone's.

The Vast Heaven Sect could withstand losing half its spirit stones, but others couldn't!

With things as they were, the various sects would certainly strike one after another for the sake of those spirit stones, curbing Chu Xinghe and forcing the Vast Heaven Sect to return to the way things were.

A flurry of combination punches was bound to follow.

The great elder feared Chu Xinghe wouldn't be able to take them.

How to punish Chu Xinghe was the Vast Heaven Sect's own business behind closed doors, but the other sects' attacks wouldn't be so easy to deal with.

So the great elder felt it necessary to rush over. With his methods, it wasn't impossible to suppress the matter when the time came.

Everyone turned to look at the sect master.

"If the great elder rushes over now, he can suppress this matter. But have you considered where that would leave Xinghe's face?"

The moment the sect master said this, every elder's expression changed.

Was the sect master already considering Xinghe's face? Or rather, had Chu Xinghe long since been placed in that position in the sect master's heart?

Even with Chu Xinghe's baffling actions, the sect master had never wavered in the slightest.

"I'll say it again. We watched Xinghe grow up. If you told me someone else was running wild, I'd believe it, but Xinghe's original intention in doing this must have come from benevolence and righteousness. He couldn't bear the treatment the miner disciples received, but he's different from us. We knew about it and chose to endure it. He didn't. He's done what we didn't dare to do, what we didn't dare to undertake!"

When the sect master finished, everyone fell silent.

Who didn't know how the miner disciples were treated? But who had truly stood up and spoken a single word for them?

Yet today, Chu Xinghe had dared to brave the condemnation of all under heaven!

"Don't just look at the bad side of this matter. Look at the good side. Xinghe is benevolent and righteous, that much is true. Everything he has done will surely win the hearts of the miner disciples and even all benevolent and righteous people under heaven. From that standpoint, the boy has done nothing wrong!"

This time, even the great elder was shocked.

After all, if an ordinary person tried to buy people's hearts, that would be an act of utter rebellion. The sect master was still here, after all, and you were fucking buying people's hearts. What, were you trying to seize power and usurp his position? Were you more benevolent and righteous than the sect master?

Yet Chu Xinghe was buying people's hearts, and not only was the sect master not angry at all, he was happy... That was absurd!