Inside the main hall, several thousand taels of silver appeared together, gleaming so brightly that some people couldn't open their eyes.
"Disciples, what does this mean?"
Su Bai was stunned, unsure of what to say for a moment. After a long while, he came to his senses and asked in confusion.
"Master, when you recruited disciples, the signboard said that the basic monthly salary was thirty taels of silver. This is our salary for this month."
Zhuge Feng stepped forward and answered respectfully.
"Salary? This basic monthly allowance, is that what you give me???" Su Bai asked again, puzzled.
Something's not right, is it?
Even the most ruthless entrepreneurs in their past lives still paid monthly salaries!
Besides, weren't disciples in those novels from my previous life always given Cultivation Resources every month?
How can I cultivate in peace without resources?
How can we improve the sect's strength if we can't focus on cultivation?
"Reporting to Master, the basic monthly allowance for each major sect is paid by the disciples to the sect; even the menial disciples are required to pay," Zhuge Feng continued in reply.
"Other sects have to submit their monthly payments at the beginning of each month, and if they're even a day late, they'll get a beating and a scolding!"
"That's not all. Joining the sect requires a huge sum of money, including kickbacks and referral fees. You also have to do menial tasks for half a year, and they can send you home with any excuse after the assessment. What bad luck!"
"It makes me so angry just thinking about it. I worked as a handyman at the Yellow Sand Sect for half a year. On the day of the assessment, that damned Elder Huang said I entered with my left foot first, which was disrespectful to my teacher, and kicked me out before I even took the test!"
" The Heavenly Dao Sect is still the best! Entry is free, the examinations are open, fair, and Justice, and even the most precious Immortal Method are free!"
"If my family weren't so poor, I would even think that thirty taels of silver a month was too cheap!"
"Yes, although I don't know what level this Immortal Method is, I think even ten thousand taels of silver wouldn't be enough to buy a complete Qi Refining manual!"
"Sect Master, we are willingly paying these thirty taels of silver. If the sect is short of money, adding a little more is no problem!"
Then, the disciples all spoke up, each expressing their true thoughts.
"Well..."
Su Bai was immediately dumbfounded.
Listening to his disciples' words, he finally confirmed a fact.
In this world, the amounts of silver displayed on those signs are not distributed by the sect to its disciples, but rather are funds that the disciples are required to hand over.
Even so, why are so many people still begging to join?
Su Bai had seen plenty of heartless families who exploited their employees, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone exploit someone and then pay them to work. It was an eye-opener.
Is this the allure of Immortal Method?
It's one thing to pay, but it's so expensive!
Based on the prices in this world, the 107 disciples together amount to more than 3,000 taels of silver, which is equivalent to more than 3 million!
And this is just the money for about a hundred people for a month!
What if there are a thousand people?
What about 10,000 people?
What about the Lingxiao Sect, which boasts 100,000 disciples?
This is only for one month; what if it were for a year?
What about ten years?
These major sects are incredibly wealthy!
No wonder those sect elders have mountains of gold and silver in their Storage Ring, looking like nouveau riche; it turns out they all made their fortunes through such means!
Su Bai took a deep breath and sighed.
Unfortunately, he's not interested in money anymore!
Because even with money, you need strength to protect it, and what he values most now is strength!
Disciples can improve their strength faster if they have money to buy resources!
If the disciple's strength improves rapidly, then his own strength will naturally increase like a rocket.
Seeing the expectant looks in his disciples' eyes, Su Bai immediately waved his hand and said, "Everyone, put the silver away!"
His words only made things worse, as they caused the entire room to erupt in cheers.
"Huh? The sect leader doesn't accept silver? He wants gold?"
"Or is it that we haven't done well enough, and they're going to expel us from the sect?"
"No! We'll correct anything we didn't do well enough, we just want to stay in the Heavenly Dao Sect!"
"Is it because we don't have enough money? Then let's raise some more. I don't want to leave!"
For a moment, the hall was in chaos, and everyone wore an anxious expression.
After all, who would want to leave? The treatment offered by the Heavenly Dao Sect is far superior to that of other sects!
Even Zhuge Feng, Xiao Lingxi, and the others were momentarily stunned.
Why isn't the sect leader accepting money?
What's going on?
"Cough cough!"
Seeing this, Su Bai coughed lightly, signaling everyone to calm down, which drew everyone's attention back to him.
"What I mean is, that monthly basic allowance isn't something you hand over to the sect; it's distributed by the sect to all the disciples."
"The reason I've summoned you all here today is to distribute money, not to collect it. Do you understand?"
Su Bai offered an explanation.
The room fell silent upon hearing this.
"The sect is... is giving out silver?"
A voice rang out, clearly indicating that the listener hadn't yet reacted.
In this world, when a sect distributes silver, it's like the Solar Yang rising in the west—it would leave everyone stunned.
"That's right, it's about handing out silver!"
Su Bai spoke again, and then with a wave of his hand, a huge pile of silver appeared in the hall, forming a small mountain.
Even someone who has no sense of quantity would immediately understand the sheer amount of silver at a glance!
Wow, so much silver!
The sheer amount of silver piled together gleamed brilliantly, causing many people to gasp for breath.
For a moment, all the disciples present were stunned.
"Hiss!"
A series of gasps rang out as the disciples stared wide-eyed at the scene, their mouths agape, unable to close them for a long time.
"This... Master, what is this...?"
Even Zhuge Feng was so surprised by the huge pile of silver that his mouth dropped open, staring at Su Bai in disbelief.
Send... send silver?
"Dude, hit me, am I dreaming?"
One disciple looked at the other disciple beside him and spoke up.
"Smack!"
After being slapped, the disciple immediately cried out in pain.
"Wow, this isn't a dream, I really am... I'm rolling in money!"
"Hiss... hiss... hiss... hiss..."
A series of gasps rippled through the crowd as many rubbed their eyes, unable to believe it was real!
"Now begin distributing the silver, starting with a basic amount of thirty taels per person."
Seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, Su Bai smiled slightly, waved his hand, and a portion of the silver flew up, dividing into 107 equal parts, floating in front of each disciple.
A disciple took the silver, first scanning it from top to bottom, then sniffing it, and finally biting it to confirm.
"Holy crap, it's real money!"
Only after a moment of realization did the disciples come to their senses and truly believe that what they were seeing was neither an illusion nor a dream!
This completely caused an uproar!
The disciples were so excited that their faces flushed red, their breathing became rapid, and they wished they could hug the silver in front of them and cry their hearts out.