Facing everyone's apologies, Wang Xiu's smile remained on his face as he returned their gesture with a cupped-fist salute. "My fellow Senior Brothers, you are too kind! It was my fault for not explaining things clearly in advance, which led to this misunderstanding!"

Upon hearing his words, the faces of the crowd bore even deeper shades of guilt.

Look at Wang Xiu. How understanding and articulate is he? It was clearly our fault, yet he took all the blame on himself! What a good person! Why didn't we notice this before?

Suddenly, Wang Xiu spoke again, "However, there's one thing I need to make clear to everyone in advance!"

The crowd hurriedly said, "Junior Brother Wang Xiu, please speak freely!"

Wang Xiu offered a slightly embarrassed smile. "You all must be aware of the Divination Sect's situation. It's just my junior sister and me! So, regarding the mining... I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you all to do it yourselves. The amount you borrow will correspond to the amount you mine!"

Hearing this, everyone was momentarily stunned. Borrowing money and also having to mine it themselves was unheard of.

But soon, they understood the underlying logic.

"We're poor, and the Divination Sect was even poorer than us before. Mining requires hiring a lot of miners, and they definitely can't afford that!"

"Even if they could, we shouldn't let them, should we?"

"Exactly! The money Junior Brother Wang Xiu is lending us is already part of a profitless venture! He might even take a loss... Are we now supposed to expect him to pay people to mine for us?"

"If that were the case, Junior Brother Wang Xiu wouldn't even be able to break even. He'd suffer a devastating loss!"

"We can't do something like that!"

"Would we still be human if we did?"

"Besides, we're mining for ourselves. Borrowing as much as we mine means we don't lose out..."

Having figured it out, the disciples voiced their agreement one by one.

"No problem, we agree!"

"It's only right! Even if Junior Brother Wang Xiu doesn't want to make a profit, as his martial brothers, we can't let him suffer a total loss!"

"No need for you to worry, Junior Brother! We'll do the mining ourselves!"

"That's right!"

"..."

Hearing the crowd's response, Wang Xiu smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Senior Brothers, for your understanding!"

***

「Atop Dragon Head Peak.」

Inside a pavilion, Sect Leader Zhuo Canglang stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the scene before the Task Hall with a smile. "Interesting!"

Beside him, the head of the Formation Sect, Zhuge Yifang, pondered for a moment before speaking. "This method isn't bad. Taking everything into consideration, Spirit Turtle Peak's long-term gains might not be at a disadvantage! That disciple of Luo Binglan's is quite clever!"

The agreement Zhuo Canglang had made with Spirit Turtle Peak stipulated that all expenses for mining the Spirit Stone Veins were to be borne by Spirit Turtle Peak itself. Given the scale of the four veins within the Ghost Immortal Blessed Land, fully utilizing their production capacity would require at least a thousand miners. The wages alone would be an astronomical sum.

After deducting these excavation costs, the Divination Sect's actual cut would only be a little over thirty-five percent.

Moreover, with the Divination Sect's previous reputation, recruiting labor within the Sanqing Immortal Sect would be exceedingly difficult. Without offering wages at least fifty percent above the market rate, it would be hard to find enough workers. This was another extra expense. In the end, the Divination Sect's take would be closer to thirty percent.

Now, Wang Xiu had cleverly changed the nature of the miners. All the disciples were working for themselves, borrowing as much as they mined. This saved a significant amount in labor costs. And these funds were to be repaid. Ultimately, they would all return to Wang Xiu's hands.

With this arrangement, even after accounting for the usual attrition and incidental costs among the Sanqing disciples, Wang Xiu wouldn't lose much money.

The Formation Sect excelled at calculations. In just a short moment, Zhuge Yifang had mentally processed all these details to arrive at his conclusion.

Hearing this, Zhuo Canglang cracked a slight smile. "You've misjudged."

"Oh?" Zhuge Yifang's brow furrowed.

Zhuo Canglang's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze piercing through the sea of clouds to land on the youth speaking eloquently in the middle of the crowd. "Our dear nephew here has a vision and ambition far greater than a few mere Spirit Stones! His true interest lies in the hearts of the people!"

"The hearts of the people?" Zhuge Yifang paused for a moment, as if he realized something. "You mean...?"

Zhuo Canglang nodded. "Correct! The Divination Sect was once like a rat scurrying across the street, hated by all, its gates desolate. But after his maneuvering, the Divination Sect of the future is bound to become a bustling place!

"The hearts of the people are like water; they can carry a boat, but they can also capsize it! Whoever wins the hearts of the people will be naturally invincible, as if blessed by fate itself! The Divination Sect has been silent for eight hundred years. Perhaps under his leadership, it could truly return to its peak."

He seemed to recall something, his gaze growing distant for a long moment before he finally let out a sigh. "Junior Sister Luo has chosen her disciple well!"

Beside him, the head of the Formation Sect listened quietly to Zhuo Canglang's words, his own gaze fixed on Wang Xiu, saying nothing more.

***

「On the high platform.」

Wang Xiu was still making his introduction.

"...Furthermore, to provide all you Senior Brothers with an excellent borrowing experience, I have specially established the 'Borrowing' system!"

"Borrowing?"

"What does that mean?"

The crowd was completely baffled.

Wang Xiu explained, "The 'Borrowing' system is essentially your borrowing limit. It's tied to your credit rating. If you borrow money and repay it by the agreed-upon date, your credit rating will improve, and your 'Borrowing' limit will increase accordingly!

"For example, if a Senior Brother borrows three thousand Spirit Stones, agrees to repay them in three months, and does so successfully, the next time he will be able to borrow four thousand Spirit Stones!

"If he fails to do so and is slightly late, that limit will not increase. If there are too many late payments, the limit may even decrease... If the delinquency is too severe, such as not repaying for a long time, Spirit Turtle Peak will completely revoke that person's 'Borrowing' eligibility and no longer provide them with lending services!"

The crowd instantly understood.

Li Longhao raised his greatsword and declared, "A person is nothing without integrity! If one fails to honor their agreement, they deserve to be punished. Junior Brother Wang Xiu's approach is reasonable!"

Ji Jinglei also chimed in, "Those who can repay should borrow more, and those who can't should borrow less! Makes sense!"

"Indeed!"

"That's how it should be!"

"..."

Soon, Wang Xiu had explained all the important details about the loans, and all of them were met with the crowd's approval.

"Then, starting today, the Spirit Turtle Peak Immortal Sect Loan's borrowing channel is officially open! This afternoon, a loan registration point will be set up on Spirit Turtle Peak! Please bring your identity tokens and proceed in an orderly fashion to register!"

Wang Xiu looked out at the crowd, clasping his hands in a salute as he smiled. "Thank you for your trust, my fellow disciples! I wish you all success as you loan your way to a better life and the pinnacle of your journey!"

The moment his voice fell, thunderous applause erupted. Countless people clapped until their hands were red, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation.

The old saying "even a hero can be felled by a lack of coin" holds true in the Cultivation World as well.

How many opportunities had slipped past them simply because they lacked Spirit Stones? They would save for half a year, or even a full year, just to buy a single Magic Artifact, only to find it had already been sold! To learn one or two techniques from the Scripture Pavilion, they had to toil away at tasks for six months.

Their power grew at a snail's pace.

Now, with the Immortal Sect Loan, that damned vicious cycle would finally be broken

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.