The four valleys and hall each had their own duties within the Qing-Yun Sect. In order to continue having access to the resources the sect provided, they had to contribute an equal amount in exchange. As such, aside from practicing Qi fluctuations and skills, those within the Duanzhen Valley were required to do smithing ch.o.r.es as their form of contribution.

There were two types of such contributions: one was an obligation for the entire valley to craft certain items to hand over to the sect for free, and the other was paid a.s.signments where they would be tasked with crafting or refining spirit tools from other disciples within the sect or even from those outside it. Disciples from the Duanzhen Valley would typically make use of the second method to earn resources.

The task Tie Rukuang a.s.signed to Fang Xing involved the first type of contribution. A set amount of Refined Iron—a common raw material used for smithing—was required to be handed in to the sect each month. By repeatedly refining ordinary iron a total of nine times, it then became what was known as "Refined Iron". Such a material was rarely seen in the mortal realm, and even a small amount would allow a blacksmith to create a weapon far more powerful than anything that could be made with ordinary iron. As for those within the Duanzhen Valley, the process of refining iron into Refined Iron was the most basic of its smithing specialization, and the task was usually only handed down to around twenty or so of the newest disciples.

Fang Xing picked out an empty cave estate to serve as his residence that very night. Early the next morning, a young daotong came over to hand him a jade scroll with twenty-one names. "I have been asked by our dear s.h.i.+fu to bring you the list of names. There is a total of twenty-one people, and each person is required to hand in three pounds of Refined Iron per month. This month"s total of sixty-three pounds is now up to you to retrieve. He will examine all of the Refined Iron you collect afterward; if even one pound is substandard, your resources for the month will be cut. Good luck, and do what you need to do," the daotong added.

As soon as the daotong had finished speaking, he stood at the entranceway and simply looked at Fang Xing without speaking another word. Fang Xing looked at the jade scroll and licked his gums, but spoke up when he realized the daotong had still not moved, "Alright, you can go now!"

"I"ve brought this to you after so much effort. Are you not going to show any grat.i.tude?" the daotong replied.

Fang Xing"s eyes widened at that. "Heh, are you trying to extort money from me now? Are you daring me to beat you?"

"Dear s.h.i.+fu said you"d just made a fortune! It"s only reasonable that you would give me a tip!"

This was the moment Fang Xing realized that Tie Rukuang had seen him picking out so many items of value and had sent this daotong here to intentionally take advantage of Fang Xing. Fang Xing begrudgingly took out a mid-grade Spirit Stone and casually threw it over. "You little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, get out of my sight!"

It was now the daotong"s turn to have his eyes open wide, and he grabbed ahold of the mid-grade Spirit Stone while s.h.i.+vering in excitement. "Thank you, thank you great s.h.i.+xiong! You are so very, very generous!" As it so happened, although the daotong had been told by Tie Rukuang he could directly ask for a tip, he had not been expecting it to be so big.

What the daotong didn"t know was that after the event from the night before, Fang Xing had collected a rather sizeable fortune. There were at least thirty, or even forty mid-grade Spirit Stones, so one less wasn"t going to be a huge deal. Additionally, after having been raised in a bandits" nest, he was used to drinking out of large bowls and distributing large sums of gold using grand scales, to the point it could even be said that he did not have a good grasp on the concept of "money". Fang Xing had always spent extravagantly until the very last cent, which was the only time he would realize—temporarily—just how important money actually was.

"Stop kissing up to me and get out of here! Now!" Fang Xing impatiently waved his hand before grabbing the jade scroll and heading back into his cave. However, the daotong seemed to have even more to say: "Since s.h.i.+xiong is so generous, I will let you in on a little secret. Dear s.h.i.+fu said that once you have the names, you will probably try to collect the Refined Iron through physical force, but it"s unlikely you will successfully complete the task if you really do that. You will probably be better off coming up with a clever plan instead. Yep, that"s what he said, so take care!" Then the daotong happily skipped away.

This actually left Fang Xing confused. There was something in the world that physical force couldn"t settle? Fang Xing could not wrap his mind around the daotong"s parting words and so decided to ignore it for now.

With the saber resting on his shoulder, Fang Xing arrived at the cave estate second closest to the valley"s entrance. It was the residence belonging to one of the people on the list, an inner court disciple that had just joined Duanzhen Valley half a year ago. The stone door was open, so Fang Xing walked straight inside and asked, "Is Liu Huazhang here?"

Inside the residence was a thirty-something man behind a stone bench. He looked up and smiled. "May I ask who you are?"

Whirling his [Saber of Azure Dragon] around to frighten the man, Fang Xing demanded, "You don"t know who I am? Listen, I—your grandfather—am the person who gave Murong Ying a good beating yesterday. My name is Fang Xing, and I am now a disciple of the Duanzhen Valley as well. Starting today, all of the Refined Iron that the sect requires of you will be examined and collected by me. If you are unable to commit to this quota by your deadline, I will kill you!"

Liu Huazhang was at first surprised, but soon he was all smiles. "Oh, this, of course. It"s my duty to fulfill the sect"s requirements each month, why would I dare to make a single mistake? I will definitely make sure it is all completed before the deadline!"

"Uhh…. As long as you are aware!" Fang Xing was also surprised. He hadn"t expected this to be so easy, and so he embarra.s.sedly placed his saber away. He had originally thought that the scene he"d caused the night just before would cause the Duanzhen Valley disciples to nurse some sort of grudge against him, and that they might take the opportunity to teach him a lesson. Fang Xing had thus chosen to start his collections through coercion so that everything would be more straightforward and nothing would keep him from completing his given task. Liu Huazhang"s actions were quite unexpected.

"In that case, I"m off. As long as you do what"s required, it"s good for all of us. I will definitely thank you later once this month"s collection is complete." Fang Xing then walked out with the saber on his shoulder.

"Please take care, Little s.h.i.+xiong…." Liu Huazhang followed close behind Fang Xing to see him off in such an eager manner that Fang Xing took a quick second glance in suspicion.

Once Fang Xing had departed from Liu Huazhang"s cave, he headed towards the second name on the list. "Oi, is w.a.n.g Datong here? I"m the new Duanzhen Valley disciple…."

"Oh oh oh, why if it isn"t Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang. Are you here for the Refined Irons? I heard you say it yesterday. I promise there"s not going to be any problem at all."

"Uh… as long as there"s not going to be a problem. Just make sure it"s on time…."

"Of course, of course. I would not hold up such an important thing. Please rest a.s.sured, Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang."

As he departed from the second cave, Fang Xing grew even more suspicious. Was everyone at the Duanzhen Valley really this easygoing and nice? If so, wouldn"t the difficulty of this task be too low?

As his suspicions grew, Fang Xing arrived at the third cave estate. The disciple who lived here was even easier to talk to than the two previous; as soon as Fang Xing arrived, not only did the disciple bring out some home-brewed spirit tea, but he even asked Fang Xing to take a seat. This had left Fang Xing too embarra.s.sed to even take out his saber, and he instead directly asked for the Refined Iron. Just like the two before him, the disciple lightly patted his own chest and promised Fang Xing that there was nothing to worry about.

Throughout the morning, Fang Xing visited no fewer than ten caves, and every single one of the disciples within made the same promise. It did appear that luck was perhaps on his side, yet Fang Xing only grew more and more skeptical about how smoothly things were going. "If collecting Refined Iron was really this easy, that old man wouldn"t have chosen to use it as a task to test my abilities. Besides, I just beat their s.h.i.+xiong yesterday; even if these guys really are this docile, it"s just not possible that they would be this nice to me even then." Still carrying his saber, Fang Xing squinted his eyes as he walked on in thought. "But if that"s not possible, there must be an ulterior motive behind all of this. Hmph, maybe a scheme against me…."

In certain aspects, Fang Xing never hesitated to think the worst of people. The more he thought on this matter, the more it sounded like a real possibility. "I wonder what kind of schemes these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are making against me."

Fang Xing considered this to himself again and thought up several different possibilities, then wondered about which one they would end up using. Finally, he hardened his heart and made a decision before walking back to the first cave he had visited.

Inside the cave, disciple Liu Huazhang saw that Fang Xing had returned and grew surprised. Fang Xing laughed out, "s.h.i.+xiong Liu Huazhang, our dear s.h.i.+fu gave me new instructions just now. He said that he would need this batch of Refined Iron ten days earlier than usual for emergency use, so it would be great if you are able to have them ready by the thirteenth of next month. Thank you for your trouble!"

Liu Huazhang was slightly startled by this. "Isn"t there over a thousand pounds of Refined Iron within the valley"s storage? Why would our dear s.h.i.+fu require my newly refined amount for an emergency?"

"How would I know? All I know is that the collection date has moved forward!"

Liu Huazhang smiled with bitterness. "Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang, I don"t think I"ll be able to have it ready within thirteen days. I still need to practice my cultivation."

Fang Xing widened his eyes before waving his saber in front of him. "I don"t give a sh*t about whether you need to practice your cultivation or not! All I care about is that you make sure you hand over all the required Refined Iron by the thirteenth of next month. If there are no problems, you"ll be rewarded handsomely; however, if there are any problems with it, you"ll just need to speak to my saber," he demanded.

This had really sent Liu Huazhang into a bit of a fright, and he began to consider how easy it had been to speak with the boy when he had left just moments ago. How did it turn around so quickly? Could it be that their plan from the night before had been leaked? Even as Liu Huazhang carefully thought it through, his facial expressions did not change. "Since Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang has let me know, I will make sure to do as you say."

"Good!" Fang Xing let out a cold grunt before heading towards the second cave he had visited. Once all of the twenty-one cave estates had been visited individually with the same conversation, Fang Xing now began to feel a little more relieved. To move the collection date of the Refined Iron to ten days earlier would leave himself a buffer zone; if his suspicions were correct and something happened, there would still be time to save the situation.