Jun Changxiao had gone up the mountain and now brought his disciples down.
The bandits on the mountain, along with their chiefs and Black Wind Stronghold itself, had all turned to ash in the great fire, becoming thoroughly a thing of the past.
This trip had yielded abundant rewards.
Not only had he unexpectedly completed a hidden mission and obtained 50 Contribution Points, but the gold, silver, and jewels in his spatial ring had piled up into a small mountain.
Though Jun Changxiao didn’t understand Xingyun Continent’s currency system well, he could roughly estimate that if everything were converted to silver taels, it would be worth at least ten thousand taels.
“Now we have the money to renovate the inner courtyard.”
Walking on the road back, Sect Leader Jun wore a broad smile, though his eyes gradually turned cold and severe.
Lingquan Sect.
Hiring bandits to kidnap my disciples—very well.
When he first arrived at Black Wind Stronghold and Zhou Tianba called him by name directly, Jun Changxiao had been somewhat suspicious. Who knew that upon questioning, there really was something fishy going on!
“Kidnapping disciples to demand ransom—if I didn’t go, it would dishearten the other disciples and damage the sect’s prestige if word got out. If I did go, even if I paid the ransom, I’d still die.”
“Quite the clever scheme.” Jun Changxiao shook his head. “Too bad the Great Chief and Lingquan Sect could never have dreamed I possessed the Difficulty Retracting Blade that could easily destroy Black Wind Stronghold.”
“Sigh.”
He rubbed his temples, irritably saying, “I just want to develop quietly on Xingyun Continent, complete the main mission, and stay alive. Why must they provoke me?”
“Lingquan Sect.”
He stretched lazily. “This seat will come to settle accounts with you sooner or later.”
Why “sooner or later” instead of “now”? Because the Difficulty Retracting Blade was sealed again, and going to Lingquan Sect to settle accounts with his current cultivation level would definitely be somewhat troublesome.
“Does the Shop have Unsealing Talismans?”
Jun Changxiao opened the data panel, entered the Shop, and searched around, but found no Unsealing Talismans.
The System said, “Unsealing Talismans are non-purchasable items. The Host can only obtain them with a probability upon completing specific missions.”
“Specific missions, probability of obtaining?”
Jun Changxiao shrugged. “You mean I need luck to get Unsealing Talismans?”
“Correct.”
“That’s harder than winning the lottery…”
Grand Sect Leader Jun muttered to himself. He’d always considered himself unlucky, convinced that when it came to matters of luck, he’d definitely be cursed all the way.
—
“Big Senior Sister, Second Senior Brother!”
“The Sect Leader has returned with our senior brothers and junior disciples!”
At Ironbone Sect’s outer courtyard, a disciple ran over excitedly, shouting loudly.
Li Qingyang hurriedly emerged from the great hall. Seeing the Sect Leader returning safe and sound, bringing back over thirty disciples, the stone weighing on his heart finally fell.
Though he’d joined the sect not long ago, this Qingyang City’s number one genius had already come to fully acknowledge Jun Changxiao.
First Disciple Lu Qianqian was different. She leaned against the doorway at the front of the hall, glanced at Jun Changxiao, and said coolly, “How come you don’t have a single injury on you?”
With the Sect Leader’s return, Ironbone Sect suddenly became lively.
“What?”
“Black Wind Stronghold on Black Mountain was destroyed by the Sect Leader?”
The disciples who hadn’t witnessed that ground covered in corpses were all dumbstruck upon learning this.
Li Qingyang asked in disbelief, “Sect Leader, you really eliminated the bandit leaders on Black Mountain?”
Jun Changxiao said, “Mm.”
Li Qingyang cupped his fists respectfully. “The bandits on Black Mountain have plagued the local area for years. By eliminating them, Sect Leader has undoubtedly rid the people of a scourge!”
“Just a small matter, not worth mentioning.”
Jun Changxiao said.
The authorities and various major sects had repeatedly gone up the mountain, repeatedly suffering defeat, yet the Sect Leader had destroyed them—and he called this just a small matter? What would count as a major matter!
Li Qingyang asked doubtfully, “Sect Leader, thirty-two disciples were abducted, but one is missing?”
Jun Changxiao said, “That coward who feared death was killed by the bandit chief.”
The disciple who had begged for mercy before Zhou Tianba and been killed had greatly disappointed him, making him realize that while disciples could be recruited freely, backbone and loyalty were major issues.
A coward who feared death?
Li Qingyang understood and asked no further questions.
Lu Qianqian still leaned against the great hall entrance. “Sect Leader, since you destroyed Black Wind Stronghold, you must have had a decent haul, right?”
Jun Changxiao said, “A little bit.”
Learning the bandits were destroyed, Li Qingyang thought of ridding the people of evil—showing he had a chivalrous heart.
Lu Qianqian’s focus was on the gains, clearly having no interest in anything except money.
My first and second disciples have such completely different personalities.
“Sect Leader.”
Li Qingyang asked, “Are we still renovating the inner courtyard?”
“Renovating, of course we’re renovating.”
Now that Jun Changxiao had money, he generously tossed him several gold bricks. “Is this enough?”
“Enough… more than enough!”
Though Li Qingyang came from a prestigious family, he’d always focused single-mindedly on cultivation and had never seen such hefty gold bricks before.
“Have all the other disciples reported to the sect?”
“Reporting to Sect Leader, they’ve all arrived!”
“Pass down the order—everyone gather at the martial arts training ground tomorrow morning.”
“Yes!”
—
The next day, Jun Changxiao wore a rather clean robe and stood on the great hall’s steps.
In the martial arts training ground, ninety-eight disciples stood in neat formation. Since no unified sect attire had been issued, their clothes were all different, making them look quite incongruous standing together.
He still needed to find a tailor quickly to make a batch of sect uniforms.
“Ahem!”
Jun Changxiao cleared his throat twice, hands clasped behind his back. “Since you have all come to Ironbone Clang Sect, you must remember the sect’s first principle: Be people of ironbone integrity, do deeds of ironbone righteousness!”
“So what makes an ironbone person of integrity, what makes an ironbone righteous deed?”
Jun Changxiao paused briefly. “Internally, sharing honor and disgrace with the sect, advancing and retreating together; externally, walking righteously and sitting properly—this makes one a person of ironbone integrity!”
The disciples chorused in unison, “Share honor and disgrace, advance and retreat together, walk righteously, sit properly!”
Jun Changxiao continued, “When facing others’ bullying and provocation, within your capabilities, you must retaliate in kind. Even when facing mortal danger, keep your spine straight, never be a coward who fears death—this is doing ironbone righteous deeds!”
“Yes!”
The disciples shouted in unison.
“Okay, dismissed.” Jun Changxiao waved his sleeves grandly and departed gracefully.
The disciples in the martial arts training ground looked at each other with blank faces, thinking: What did that “oh-kay” thing the Sect Leader said mean?
—
Having gathered all the disciples for the first time and held a sect-wide meeting, Jun Changxiao didn’t give a long-winded speech about too much, but rather simply highlighted the most important principle—that was enough.
Of course, the sect couldn’t have just one principle. There needed to be more comprehensive sect rules, so he called Li Qingyang over to discuss.
“Sect Leader, sect rules should be established by you and the sect’s high-ranking members. This disciple has no qualifications to participate.”
Li Qingyang said humbly.
“If this seat says you’re qualified, then you’re qualified.” Jun Changxiao handed him the sect rules he’d written. “Quick, quick, see if there’s anything that needs to be modified or supplemented.”
“Well…”
Li Qingyang felt rather awkward, but still reviewed the rules on the paper, offered appropriate corrections, and added some necessary regulations, such as disciples not being allowed to leave the sect without permission, much less kill each other.
After some discussion, Ironbone Sect’s rules were preliminarily completed.
They weren’t much different from other sects’ rules, but placed stronger emphasis on being people of ironbone integrity and doing ironbone righteous deeds.
Jun Changxiao handed over another sheet of rough paper. “Go to town and find a tailor shop with decent craftsmanship. According to the blueprint specifications and the sect’s male-to-female disciple ratio, have them make two sets of uniforms for each.”
“Uniforms?”
Li Qingyang was a bit confused.
Jun Changxiao said, “The standardized attire the sect wears.”
“Oh.”
Li Qingyang took it and looked at the different male and female attire drawn on the rough paper. His eyes immediately widened in shock. “Sect… Sect Leader… isn’t this attire a bit…”
“Go quickly!”
“Yes!”