Rewards

Upon seeing Song Wen arrive, Hao Quan bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, senior."

Every time Song Wen traded with Hao Quan, he concealed his face with a cloak, so Hao Quan knew almost nothing about Song Wen.

The location for each transaction was also chosen by Song Wen on the spot and communicated to Hao Quan.

To be on the safe side, before each transaction, Song Wen would send a Sacred Beetle Gu to infiltrate Hao Quan's residence and monitor him for a day. If Song Wen found the other party's behavior suspicious, Song Wen would not show up as agreed.

To Song Wen's satisfaction, the transaction between the two has proceeded smoothly so far.

Hao Quan was also very satisfied with this deal.

He can buy fifteen to twenty Yellow Essence Fungus from Medicine Peak every month, and by reselling them, he can earn several hundred Spirit Stone.

For a cultivator in the Late Qi Refinement Refining, this is already a considerable income, and there is no risk involved. The other party is always very generous in paying Spirit Stone each time.

"Senior, you contacted me last time saying you were going out of town, but I never expected you to be gone for half a year. In these past six months, I've used all my savings to buy Yellow Essence Fungus. Senior hasn't returned yet, and I've been living in dire straits during this time."

Song Wen showed no reaction to Hao Quan's complaints, and said in a cold voice.

How many Yellow Essence Fungus plants were there in total this time?

"Reporting to Senior, there are thirty-four plants in total."

"Oh! So many this time? Well done." Song Wen's tone revealed a clear sense of satisfaction.

Song Wen raised his hand and tossed a Storage Bag to Hao Quan.

"Here are eight thousand Spirit Stone; the extra is your reward."

"Thank you, senior."

Hao Quan was somewhat excited. After catching the Storage Bag, he tossed another Storage Bag to Song Wen.

After Song Wen Divine Sense the Storage Bag and confirmed that there was no problem with the Yellow Essence Fungus inside, he disappeared from the spot.

For the next few days, Song Wen stayed in his cave abode, researching and developing the Bloodburst Pill.

Song Wen always felt that he was just one step away from successfully developing a new Bloodburst Pill, but he could never seem to take that final step.

Every attempt ended in failure.

On the eighth day, he received a message from Zhou Siyi, asking Song Wen to come to the Alchemy Chamber as soon as possible, saying that something good was waiting for him.

After quickly tidying up the cave abode, Song Wen got up and headed to the Alchemy Chamber.

Before even reaching the Profound-Class Pill Chamber, they saw Zhou Siyi gracefully suspended in mid-air, as if waiting for someone.

"Senior Sister Zhou, who are you waiting for?" Song Wen flew to Zhou Siyi's side on his sword and asked.

"I've been waiting for you, Junior Brother Wu."

She raised her right hand and tossed a Storage Bag to Song Wen.

Song Wen subconsciously took the Storage Bag and found that it contained a full 20,000 Spirit Stone.

"Senior Sister Zhou, what's going on?" Song Wen asked in surprise.

"You saved me that day, and I said I would find you a spirit beast as a way of repaying you, but you refused to accept one, so I can only thank you with Spirit Stone."

Song Wen wore a hesitant expression, as if he were struggling internally about whether or not to accept the 20,000 Spirit Stone.

He looked extremely conflicted. On the one hand, he wanted to obtain this huge amount of Spirit Stone; on the other hand, he felt that accepting a gift from someone else would be a loss of face.

"I only did a small favor, it's not worth such a generous reward. I can't accept these Spirit Stones, Senior Sister Zhou, please take them back."

Zhou Siyi smiled faintly, confident that she had seen through Song Wen's thoughts.

"Junior Brother Wu, please accept this. The sect's reward for successfully completing this mission will far exceed 20,000 Spirit Stone."

With a conflicted expression, Song Wen awkwardly tucked the Storage Bag into his pocket.

"Thank you so much, Senior Sister."

For Song Wen, these 20,000 Spirit Stone were truly an unexpected windfall.

Although Zhou Siyi viewed human life as worthless, she was clear about her gratitude and grievances.

She gave Song Wen 20,000 Spirit Stone, obviously because Song Wen always seemed to be short of money.

"Junior Brother Wu, let's go. The sect still has rewards!"

Zhou Siyi greeted Song Wen with great interest.

The two soon arrived at the main hall of the Profound-Class Pill Chamber), where they waited at Zhou Siyi's instruction.

Song Wen was quite puzzled and asked Zhou Siyi why she chose to wait in the main hall.

However, Zhou Siyi simply smiled faintly and did not answer.

Song Wen sighed and could only wait with her.

About two quarters of an hour later, Wei Ding, Zuo Shuiyun, and Huo Ding arrived at the main hall.

A moment later, a male cultivator who looked to be in his forties also entered. He had a deep and composed face and exuded an air of authority. He was Fang Pengyi, the peak master of Danfeng.

"Greetings, Peak Master." Song Wen, Wei Ding, Zuo Shuiyun clasped their hands in a salute.

"Greetings, Master." Huo Ding bowed respectfully.

Fang Pengyi said, "In view of Zhou Siyi's contributions to the Spirit-Nurturing Workshop in the Great Yan Kingdom, he is promoted to Elder of Pill Peak, and awarded 100,000 Spirit Stone and a mid-grade Spirit Artifact Pill Furnace to recognize his achievements."

"Wu Sheng has rendered meritorious service to Zhou Siyi and is hereby awarded 10,000 Spirit Stone and a low-grade Spirit Artifact Pill Furnace."

The words were finished.

Zhou Siyi was naturally overjoyed.

Song Wen also pretended to be overjoyed.

Zuo Shuiyun and Huo Ding looked surprised and glanced at Song Wen and Zhou Siyi.

After Song Wen and Zhou Siyi returned from the Great Yan Kingdom, they didn't mention a word about what had happened there. Zuo Shuiyun and Huo Ding, naturally, knew nothing about the Great Yan Kingdom's Spirit-Nurturing Workshop.

Only Wei Ding felt a bad premonition rising in his heart.

Zhou Siyi from Honorary Elder to Deacon Elder, skipping the position and going directly to Offering Elder, must have been due to her great achievements.

The task of Spirit-Nurturing Workshop in the Great Yan Kingdom was originally supposed to be Wei Ding's, but he refused to go and instead pushed the task onto Zhou Siyi and Song Wen.

At this moment, Song Wen and Zhou Siyi have both been rewarded, and his unauthorized transfer of the mission has certainly been exposed.

Sure enough, Fang Pengyi's gaze, sharp as a knife, fell upon Wei Ding.

Wei Ding suddenly felt as if he were carrying a huge boulder weighing a thousand pounds, the weight pressing on his heart, making it difficult to breathe.

Wei Ding trembled with fear, his expression panicked, "Peak Master, your subordinate..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fang Pengyi interrupted him.

"Wei Ding has illegally transferred a mission, violating the sect rules. He is hereby removed from his position as a steward elder and demoted to honorary elder. Wei Ding, do you accept this punishment?"

This punishment was neither severe nor lenient on Wei Ding's part.

For Wei Ding, the biggest loss from being demoted to an honorary elder was undoubtedly the loss of Spirit Stone.

First, his monthly salary will be drastically reduced;

Secondly, as a former elder, his daily task was to teach Song Wen and the others alchemy. The task was easy, and he could even exploit Song Wen and the others to Alchemy for him and earn Spirit Stone. Now that he has been demoted to an honorary elder, it is unlikely that he can exploit Song Wen and the others again.

Wei Ding said, "Thank you very much Peak Master, for showing leniency."

Although Wei Ding was dissatisfied, he dared not show it in the slightest.

After dealing with Wei Ding, Fang Pengyi turned his attention to his apprentice Huo Ding.

"In the next few years, I will be in seclusion and will not have time to personally teach you. You will stay in the Profound-Class Pill Chamber and learn the art of Alchemy from Alchemy Chamber elders there."

"Yes, Master."

Fang Pengyi's gaze swept over Song Wen and the others, finally settling on Zhou Siyi.

"Elder Zhou, although you are a respected elder, you know very little about Alchemy. I will arrange for another steward elder to teach you alchemy."

"Thank you, Peak Master."