I Wish to Fulfill My Filial Duty to Senior!

Sect Market, Trade and Exchange Office.

"Grandmaster Uncle, after deducting the five-point exchange difference, I've exchanged a total of 589 Contribution Points for you. Please keep them safe."

The disciple on duty respectfully returned Chen Xian's token.

Taking the token, he swept it with his divine sense and saw the three-digit balance. The corners of Chen Xian's mouth curled up, barely containable.

He finally had money!

This should be enough to cover his cultivation pills for the Dao Disciple realm.

Next was to focus entirely on cultivation, striving to break through to the Dao Master Realm and resolve the pressing issue of his lifespan.

With only two and a half years of life left, he was genuinely panicked inside.

Walking out of the exchange office, the distant sound of "clang! clang!" bells echoed in his ears—the reminder that the sect market was closing.

His gaze shifted to Mystic Cloud Peak, faintly glowing in the distance.

Chen Xian suddenly realized a problem.

"How was he supposed to go to the Dining Hall for a meal, then return to Mystic Cloud Peak to sleep?"

He had come out late; most people had already left the market, with only a few disciples occasionally flying swiftly across the sky.

He could hitch a ride on a Tailwind Sword, but he couldn't exactly drag someone down from a hundred meters in the air, could he?

The Dining Hall was on the mountainside of Morning Sun Peak in the outer sect, while Sunset Valley was at the foot of the mountain. The uphill path took about an hour on foot.

"Sigh... let's go!"

Chen Xian suddenly regretted a little having recycled the Swift as Flying trait.

Just as he was about to start climbing the mountain, a shout came from behind him.

"Grandmaster Uncle, Grandmaster Uncle, wait for me!"

The voice sounded familiar. Chen Xian turned his head in confusion and saw Jian Shan and Duan Cui jogging toward him.

Chen Xian's heart stirred. Pill Peak and Sword Peak weren't far apart; he could have Jian Shan give him a ride along the way.

"Grandmaster Uncle, I finally found you."

Jian Shan wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking as if he had been chasing after Chen Xian the whole time.

"What do you seek This Old Man for?"

Chen Xian stroked his beard, a smile on his face.

If it weren't for this kid, he wouldn't have thought to increase the price of Blood Sugar Hawthorn tenfold!

He had made a good amount of money today, and even this sly little profiteer was starting to look agreeable.

Jian Shan and Duan Cui exchanged a glance, then knelt together before Chen Xian, shouting loudly: "We are willing to serve Grandmaster Uncle, to be at your beck and call!"

Chen Xian's hand paused. He narrowed his eyes and looked them over.

His murky gaze made the two feel a bit uneasy inside.

Duan Cui thought: "Can Grandmaster Uncle's eyes see through my and Jian Shan's hearts?"

Just as he thought this, Chen Xian spoke: "Speak. What's your real purpose?"

Jian Shan was taken aback for a moment, then put on his trademark smile: "Grandmaster Uncle is a senior of the sect. We two only wish to show our filial piety to you, with no other purpose!"

Duan Cui stared at his good brother Jian Shan, dumbfounded: "He knew Jian Shan was thick-skinned, but he didn't expect him to be this thick. 'Filial piety'—he could actually say that?"

He certainly couldn't.

Thinking this, his cheeks grew hot, but since his face was naturally dark and it was night, his blush wasn't visible.

"You're indeed a sly and deceitful brat. If you won't tell This Old Man the truth, then This Old Man will be on his way."

Chen Xian shook his head, his expression suddenly turning stern.

Seeing that the Grandmaster Uncle was really about to leave, Jian Shan hesitated for a split second before quickly speaking: "Grandmaster Uncle, we want to follow you..."

He paused, seeing Chen Xian still unmoved.

"Follow you and learn how to make money!"

After saying this, he elbowed the dazed Duan Cui beside him and whispered: "Junior Brother Duan, this is your only chance."

Duan Cui snapped back to reality and quickly added: "We beg Grandmaster Uncle to take us in. We will surely repay your kindness!"

Unlike Jian Shan, who was an inner sect disciple and a pill master, Duan Cui was an outer sect disciple. If he couldn't cultivate to the Dao Master Realm and enter the inner sect within three years of joining the sect, he would have to leave the sect and return to the mortal world as a rogue cultivator.

He knew he had little talent for cultivation and would need a massive amount of resources to push his cultivation to the Dao Master Realm.

But the problem was, he had no money.

Though he had the skill of forging a Forging Black Iron Hammer, the profit was meager, far from enough to support his cultivation.

Now, two of the three years had passed, and he was only at the second layer of the Dao Disciple realm.

He still had one layer and the bottleneck of breaking through ahead of him, with no hope in sight.

Although this senior uncle in front of him had lost his cultivation, his skill at making money was remarkable. If he could follow in his footsteps...

Then he thought of his parents, who had exhausted everything to send him onto the Ten Thousand Li Inquiry Road.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Duan Cui kowthed heavily three times, his forehead instantly turning bruised and purple. "This junior wishes to learn the senior uncle's method of making medicinal candied hawthorns. Please, senior, give this junior a chance."

"That's more like it! If you tell me the truth, I won't eat you."

Chen Xian finally nodded, his sharp gaze sweeping back and forth over the two of them. With just a few glances, he had a rough measure of both.

Jian Shan was cunning and clever, Duan Cui honest and steady. Each had their strengths and weaknesses, and their personalities happened to complement each other.

And he did, in fact, need one or two people to lend a hand.

Now that the candied hawthorns were proving popular and bringing in a good income, he certainly wouldn't give up this fat piece of meat anytime soon.

But he couldn't keep making the Blood Sugar Hawthorns and then personally come to the market to sell them every time.

That would cut into his cultivation time, putting the cart before the horse.

If he had two people to help with sales, it would save him a lot of trouble, and he'd only need to share a bit of the profit.

With that thought, he had already decided to take these two in.

He looked at them and said in a flat tone, "I can take you both in."

Jian Shan and Duan Cui's faces immediately lit up with smiles.

But before they could utter a word of thanks, Chen Xian shifted his tone:

"However, I cannot teach you the method for making Blood Sugar Hawthorns for now."

Jian Shan froze, his expression stiffening slightly. Duan Cui, on the other hand, simply nodded—such a profitable skill wouldn't be handed over to them so easily.

Jian Shan stayed silent, so Duan Cui spoke up first:

"This junior and Jian Shan will certainly perform well, striving to earn the senior uncle's recognition as soon as possible."

Jian Shan also realized he had been too hasty and quickly composed himself. "This disciple understands!"

The senior uncle said for now he wouldn't teach them, which meant he might later.

"Mm, I won't have you work for nothing. Help me sell the candied hawthorns, and each of you gets a twenty percent cut."

Chen Xian was fairly satisfied with their attitude, so he was naturally generous.

He gave away a full forty percent of the profit.

But he didn't mind. As long as he earned enough to buy cultivation resources, that was fine.

Jian Shan's eyes lit up. A twenty percent cut each was no small amount!

He had seen today how the Blood Sugar Hawthorns were snapped up in an instant—there was no worry about selling them.

It was practically like picking up money.

Duan Cui also jerked his head up, not expecting the senior uncle to be so magnanimous.

"Thank you, senior uncle!"

"Alright, get up."

Chen Xian nodded, stroking his beard with a smile.

"You two remember this: for now, you are only in a cooperative relationship with me, not a master-disciple one. Aside from selling the candied hawthorns, do not act in my name outside."

He added this patch to avoid causing himself unnecessary trouble.

"This disciple understands!" Jian Shan and Duan Cui quickly nodded.

They wouldn't dare use the senior uncle's name to do anything bad. If it came to light, even without the senior uncle acting, the Sect Master would slap them both dead.

The Sword Sect's rules held the utmost respect for elders.

"Come, let's go to the Dining Hall for dinner together. My treat."

Chen Xian took the initiative to invite them, patting the candied hawthorns he had kept in his bosom. He remembered he needed to give some to Wei An, the Dining Hall steward.

"Senior uncle, please!"

Jian Shan waved his hand in the air, and a speck of golden light rapidly expanded, instantly turning into a small flying boat that slowly landed on the ground.

The flying boat wasn't large, like a small fishing skiff, but it had plenty of room for two or three people.

"Mm." Chen Xian glanced at Jian Shan.

This kid was clearly loaded!

A flying boat cost at least a thousand Contribution Points. Sure enough, no alchemist was ever poor.

He wasn't envious of Jian Shan, though. He had the [Masterful Pill Crafting] trait. Once he broke through to the Sword Master Realm and solved his lifespan issue, he could start becoming an alchemist himself.

Others could only choose one path to cultivate, but he was different.

As long as he had enough replication points and space in his trait slots, he could cultivate whatever he wanted!