Fifteen Percent Wasn't Enough!

It's already early December.

The main hall of the Black Tortoise Hall was full of people, from those who had reached the Meridian Opening stage to several disciples in the Qi Condensation Initial Stage. Zhou Zhong sat in the front row, and Ye An was present, which was rare.

Shi Jian sat above, his aged voice neither too loud nor too soft, but like a leaf rustling in the wind, hanging gently on a branch.

Shi Jian spoke slowly and deliberately about the key points of cultivation, explaining each step in great detail, from the details that are easily overlooked when circulating True Essence to the mindset when breaking through bottlenecks.

Shi Jian would occasionally stop to glance at his disciples below, to make sure they understood.

Ye An sat in the back row. He had been dealing with too many things lately, including practicing Martial Arts from other halls, the Song Family incident, the Secret Cache, and so on.

Ye An hadn't sat down to listen to Shi Jian's lectures in a long time; now he simply listened quietly.

Zhou Zhong, who was originally sitting in the front row, suddenly got up and walked to the back, slowly sitting down next to Ye An.

Zhou Zhong's tone carried a hint of joking teasing. "A rare guest indeed! I thought you'd forgotten where Black Tortoise Hall was."

"Please stop teasing me, Chief Disciple Brother."

Zhou Zhong laughed heartily, without making a loud sound.

Zhou Zhong spoke again, his tone much more serious than before.

"To be honest, I've heard your story so many times lately that I'm practically sick of it. You single-handedly stormed the Hanging Sword Sect, defeated Zhao Yuanling, intercepted and killed Song Yuanshan, and even took down two protectors of the Heaven Overturning Cult along the way."

"I'm qualified to be the Chief Disciple..."

Zhou Zhong didn't finish his last sentence, but the meaning was already clear: he felt he was unworthy of the Chief Disciple.

Ye An glanced at Zhou Zhong's profile and noticed that Zhou Zhong no longer dared to look anyone in the eye. "Only you think so, nobody in the Black Tortoise Hall thinks so."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhong shook his head slightly and smiled faintly, then did not continue the topic.

The eyes of the surrounding disciples kept falling on Ye An.

"That's Senior Brother Ye?"

"I heard he single-handedly stormed the Hanging Sword Sect and defeated Zhao Yuanling!"

The group spoke in hushed tones, but their excitement was still palpable.

Shi Jian continued speaking, ignoring the disciples' misbehavior and urging them to concentrate, while continuing to discuss the details of cultivation.

Not long after, a disciple walked in quietly, first bowing to Shi Jian, and then said, "Hall Master, today is the day for the Four Halls to distribute resources."

Shi Jian gave a deep "hmm" and looked at Zhou Zhong.

Just as I was about to ask Zhou Zhong to go over, I noticed that Zhou Zhong's eyes were slightly closed and his breathing was even and deep.

At this moment, Zhou Zhong was immersed in a state of focused concentration, his attention entirely focused on his inner self, and his perception of the outside world had been reduced to a minimum.

This is... Sudden Enlightenment!

Shi Jian declared that no one was allowed to disturb Zhou Zhong.

Then Shi Jian's aged voice slowly rang out in the hall. "Which disciple will go to the Resource Hall on Zhou Zhong's behalf?"

The hall fell silent for a moment. The disciples looked at each other, their gazes meeting several times, but no one stood up.

Zhou Zhong has always been the one to go to the Resource Hall to collect resource vouchers. As the Chief Disciple the Black Tortoise Hall, Zhou Zhong is the face of the Black Tortoise Hall.

A figure stood up. "Master, I'll go."

The Resource Hall within the Sect.

There were already four people waiting inside the hall.

The elder in charge of resource allocation stood behind a desk, holding a booklet and meticulously calculating something.

Shen Jingfeng of the White Tiger Hall leaned against one of the pillars in the hall, his arms crossed, holding his beloved sword. He was only here to obtain the resources belonging to the White Tiger Hall, and he had no interest in talking to the others.

Jiang Tingxue of the Vermilion Bird Hall sat upright in a chair, her gaze fixed on the doorway, wondering when the people from the Black Tortoise Hall would arrive.

Song Qinglin of the Azure Dragon Hall stood slightly forward, his gaze level with the main entrance.

The door was pushed open.

Ye An strode in.

Three pairs of eyes fell on him at the same time.

Shen Jingfeng didn't open his eyes, but when he realized that the person who came wasn't Zhou Zhong, his slightly closed eyelids twitched.

Jiang Tingxue's gaze was on Ye An, but in her heart she thought, "Is this Ye An from the list a year ago?" Jiang Tingxue recalled the name.

Ye An met their gazes and nodded in response to each one. He didn't say anything, but simply walked to the center of the hall, stood there, and bowed to the elder in charge of resource allocation.

With his usual arrogant tone, Song Qinglin asked, "Where's Zhou Zhong? Why is it you who came?"

Ye An said calmly, "Since the Chief Disciple senior brother has some insights, I can handle such a small matter as receiving resources."

Song Qinglin snorted, "Receiving resources is a small matter?"

His gaze swept over Ye An, his tone laced with mockery as he questioned Ye An.

"Ye An, do you know that even half a tenth of a tenth of a resource is enough to elevate a second-tier Lineage to the first tier? And you call that a trivial matter?"

Ye An did not argue with Song Qinglin, but simply stood there quietly.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the elder in charge of resource allocation opened the booklet and said, "As per usual practice, the White Tiger Hall will receive 30%, the Vermilion Bird Hall 30%, the Azure Dragon Hall 25%, and the Black Tortoise Hall 15%. Any objections?"

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Jingfeng had already walked towards the table and taken away the White Tiger Hall's 30% certificate.

Jiang Tingxue also stood up and walked to the table.

Song Qinglin followed closely behind, reaching out to take the 25% resource voucher of the Azure Dragon Hall.

But at that moment, Ye An's voice rang out in the hall. "Wait a minute, I have an objection."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Shen Jingfeng, who was about to leave the Main Hall, stopped and looked back.

After picking up the resource certificate belonging to the Vermilion Bird Hall, Jiang Tingxue turned her head to look at Ye An, her eyes showing a hint of surprise.

Song Qinglin's hand froze in mid-air; he had not yet obtained the resource certificate belonging to the Azure Dragon Hall.

Song Qinglin turned around and looked at Ye An with a scrutinizing gaze.

The resource allocation elder turned his gaze to Ye An: "Please state your opinion."

Ye An's voice was neither loud nor soft. "The resources of the Four Halls have always been allocated based on strength."

Upon hearing this, everyone finally understood what Ye An wanted to do.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The elder in charge of resource allocation scrutinized Ye An closely.

Song Qinglin's gaze towards Ye An darkened at that moment.

Jiang Tingxue secretly withdrew her gaze, not because she didn't want to pay attention, but rather because she was somewhat expectant.

Shen Jingfeng also became interested; he wanted to see how this would end.

The atmosphere inside the hall seemed to be weighed down by something, freezing for a moment.

The resource allocation elder closed the booklet and looked at Ye An: "Have you come today to collect resources, or to discuss resource allocation?"

"Yes, we have both." Ye An's tone remained calm.

Ye An stood in the hall, meeting several gazes without the slightest fear.

Ye An's gaze swept across the faces of the Chief Disciple in the hall, finally landing on the resource booklet that read "Black Tortoise Hall One and a Half".

"One and a half percent is not enough."