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 chores 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 assignments 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 assigned 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 Shifu 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 gratitude?" 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 Shifu 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 bastard, 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 shivering in excitement. "Thank you, thank you great Shixiong! 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 Shixiong is so generous, I will let you in on a little secret. Dear Shifu 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!"
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