Chapter 118: Loan
The decisive battle had determined the victor, and the onlookers who hadn't had enough of the excitement gradually dispersed.
Some daring individuals still muttered curses in secret, claiming that Zhao Family was too timid; they surrendered without shedding a drop of blood, leaving the audience dissatisfied. They believed that Zhao Family and Taiyi Sect should have suffered heavy casualties, with blood flowing everywhere, for it to be truly thrilling.
As the crowd dispersed, the disciples of Taiyi Sect began to celebrate. It was the first time since Meng Zhang took over as Taiyi Sect's Sect Master that they organized an external battle. This low-intensity fight served to train the disciples without causing any casualties.
If it were possible, Meng Zhang would have wanted to engage in such battles every once in a while.
However, even though Taiyi Sect emerged victorious, they suffered considerable losses in terms of spirit stones. Apart from the expenses for witnesses, the cost of purchasing the array formation was not insignificant.
At this moment, Jin Qigu and Ruan Yuan, who had previously left on their crane, had somehow made a big circle and returned to Morning Sun Hillside.
Meng Zhang was still savoring the battle outside when the two of them landed in front of him on their crane.
"Do you two have any business with me?" Meng Zhang asked without courtesy.
Ruan Yuan almost lost her temper when she heard Meng Zhang refer to himself as ben zuo, which was an honorific term used by a superior or a high-ranking person. She couldn't believe this young man, who hadn't even grown a full beard, dared to call himself ben zuo.
When Meng Zhang addressed them earlier as seniors and himself as a junior, it was because they were on Zhao Family's side. However, now that the battle was over, Meng Zhang was no longer willing to be polite with them.
Jin Qigu's skin was thicker, seemingly forgetting that he had sided with Zhao Family and paid no attention to Meng Zhang's form of address. Instead, he continued to chat amiably with Meng Zhang.
After listening to them for a while, Meng Zhang understood the purpose of their return. They wanted to inquire about his relationship with Zhou Shengkao, how he had connected with Elder Shan Ying, and why Elder Shan Ying had intervened in the conflict between Taiyi Sect and Zhao Family.
Meng Zhang was not foolish enough to reveal the truth in front of these two.
He obfuscated the matter with vague words, neither confirming nor denying anything. He spoke of visiting Elder Shan Ying and receiving encouragement, as well as ancestral connections between Twin Success Valley and Taiyi Sect.
Jin Qigu chatted with Meng Zhang for a long time but didn't get any useful information. However, he had a faint feeling that Meng Zhang must have some connection with Elder Shan Ying.
With this thought in mind, Jin Qigu became more polite towards Meng Zhang. Even Ruan Yuan, who had been looking coldly at Meng Zhang, softened her expression.
After entertaining the two old women for a while, Meng Zhang finally managed to get rid of them.
He found this kind of scheming and maneuvering more exhausting than battling powerful foes. He would rather fight a strong opponent than deal with these two old women
After this battle, the ownership of the spirit vein at Morning Sun Hillside was no longer disputed, and Taiyi Sect had firmly established its position there.
With three First Rank spirit veins under its control, Taiyi Sect needed to plan its future development carefully.
The spirit fields within the sect were mature and had been cultivated for many years. After being nourished by the black oil spiritual soil during this period, their power had continuously increased. Among the First Rank spirit fields, they were already considered rare high-quality ones.
Meng Zhang planned to use all of these spirit fields to cultivate spirit flowers and herbs, preferably high-tier ones that could bring substantial profits.
The newly opened spirit fields at Sweetwater Oasis would be dedicated solely to cultivating spirit grains.
As for Morning Sun Hillside, they were preparing to begin cultivating spirit fields as well.
The newly opened spirit fields there would also be used for cultivating spirit grains. Once the fields stabilized, they would be strengthened with black oil spiritual soil.
After discussing with Daoist Clear Spirit, Meng Zhang decided on the crops to be planted in the spirit fields.
He sent most of the disciples back to the sect and personally went to Singing Sand City to begin purchasing the necessary materials for cultivating the spirit fields. This required a significant amount of spirit stones.
He also needed to quickly gather 3,500 lower-grade spirit stones to repay Zhou Shengkao. He couldn't afford to delay the debt.
Meng Zhang suddenly realized that Taiyi Sect was facing a shortage of spirit stones.
Of course, it was only a temporary lack of cash. The assets within the sect had long surpassed their external debts. Besides the piled-up scarlet copper ore, even the Second Rank lion puppet could be sold for a substantial amount of spirit stones if Meng Zhang decided to part with it.
Now, lacking spirit stones, Meng Zhang turned to his old friend Shi Weiming, seeking a loan to resolve the issue.
He informed Shi Weiming that Taiyi Sect had discovered new spirit veins and needed a large amount of spirit stones to cultivate the new spirit fields for growing spirit flowers and herbs.
Meng Zhang estimated that there must be more than one wild Alchemist supporting Shi Weiming, given his insatiable demand for various spirit flowers and herbs.
Taiyi Sect could supply as much as Shi Weiming required.
After some hesitation, Shi Weiming finally agreed to lend Meng Zhang 8,000 lower-grade spirit stones at a very low interest rate. The only condition was that the spirit flowers and herbs cultivated by Taiyi Sect would be prioritized for supply to Shi Weiming in the future.
Meng Zhang agreed, and they reached an agreement.
He first repaid the owed spirit stones to Zhou Shengkao, seizing the opportunity to establish a relationship with him. Then, he went on a shopping spree in Singing Sand City.
He purchased various seeds of spirit flowers and herbs, horned oxen for farming, and six-legged camels for transportation.
After the purchased items were brought back to Taiyi Sect, they immediately started the process of cultivating the spirit fields. The sect became busy, and even Meng Zhang, as the Sect Master, had to temporarily set aside his cultivation to help out with his half-baked Spirit Plant Technique in the spirit fields.
Of course, Meng Zhang didn't stop his secret mining of scarlet copper ore.
After the appearance of the spirit vein at Morning Sun Hillside, the surrounding environment began to undergo significant changes. A lush oasis was gradually taking shape.
With the oasis, it meant that ordinary people could live there.
Taiyi Sect began to move some mortals in small numbers to the An Family's area in Morning Sun Hillside.
As time passed, three years flew by in the blink of an eye. Zhao Yanbei, the head of Zhao Family, and the experts who had been serving hard labor in Singing Sand Mountain had completed their sentence and returned to their family with a rather bleak demeanor.
Upon receiving this news, Meng Zhang felt a bit nervous.
Zhao Yanbei's return meant that Zhao Family's strength had increased significantly. In their last confrontation, Zhao Family had shown signs of discontent, and if they decided to target Taiyi Sect covertly, it could become a big problem.
Meng Zhang temporarily put aside internal affairs and began to keep an eye on Zhao Family's movements, ready to respond at any time. [Read at /maxnkoga , without ads and support the work.]
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