"The Fuijing Xie Clan: one hundred pieces of Spirit Jade, one set of cloud-patterned brocade robes, one bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills..."
"The Zhoushan Wang Clan: one low-grade Gray Wolf, two bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills, two pairs of Arrow Boots, two sets of brocade robes..."
"The Yi Clan of Shun Mountain Academy: two bottles of high-grade Spirit Essence Pills, two jars of fine wine, eight curios, one Universal Trade Association voucher... wow, worth one hundred pieces of Spirit Jade!"
"And there's the Feng Clan of Pinggong Academy, the Taiyang Li Clan, the Shangtong Hu Clan..."
After the well-wishers left, everyone from the academy helped tally the gifts. They discovered that these powerful local clans had been lavish with their offerings, readily giving treasures worth a hundred pieces of Spirit Jade or more, along with spirit creatures, clothing and hats, curios, fine wine, brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and more.
All told, the assortment was worth at least six or seven hundred pieces of Spirit Jade.
"Junior Brother Fang, you really struck it rich! All this will keep you fed and supplied for ages!" the disciples said enviously.
"Elder Gong, should I accept these things or not?" Fang Qianyuan was rather troubled. He had no experience handling such matters and could only ask Elder Gong for guidance.
Elder Gong said, "Keep them. These are tokens of their goodwill. Refusing them out of hand would offend people, unless you return everyone's gifts and publicly declare that you won't accept any."
Ning Yuerong also advised him, "These things aren't merely gifts. They're stones those aristocratic clans are tossing out to test the road ahead. More contact will follow, but don't feel burdened. You're now one of the outstanding talents among our Azure Cloud Sect's hundred thousand disciples. The mere distinction of reaching the final eight