590: Chapter 590 Offering Unsolicited Favors

Su Ming did not waste words. He walked directly into the hall and, with a flick of his hand, placed the dark cyan command token, stamped with the Peak Revered Master's seal, onto Wang Defa's ledger.

"Take a look at this." Su Ming pulled over a tea chair, sat down, and said casually.

Wang Defa picked up the command token in confusion. When he saw the red seal upon it and the Divine Sense information contained within the token, he stood frozen, as if struck by lightning, completely stunned.

A full three breaths passed.

"Clang—" The abacus in Wang Defa's hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

"Hall... no, Department Head! Is... is this real? We... we..."

Wang Defa understood all too well what this leap meant. From a marginal hall of Menial Workers struggling to survive in the cracks between the various peaks, they had leaped to become the "Repair Department" directly under Formation Peak! This was equivalent to a mason suddenly becoming an official in the imperial Ministry of Works. Their status and position would undergo a heaven-turning, earth-flipping change, and they would no longer have to endure the cold faces of the Artifact Hall's deacons!

"Old Wang, get up and talk." Su Ming smiled and helped him up.

Old Li, Zhang Asheng, and the other core members outside the courtyard heard Wang Defa's exclamation and gathered around. When they understood the full story, the entire Repair Hall erupted into earth-shaking cheers!

Su Ming watched this scene quietly, waiting until everyone had vented their excitement before pressing his hand down.

The scene instantly quieted down, and everyone held their breath, gazing at their young Department Head who had created countless miracles.

"The Repair Hall is being restructured and relocated to Formation Peak." Su Ming's voice was not loud, but it reached the ears of everyone present clearly. "Although the name has changed, the rules by which we work cannot. Old Li, Asheng, starting next month, the benefits for all of you in the core team will be raised by one grade, in accordance with the standards of Formation Peak's Inner Sect Disciple."

Everyone gasped, their eyes shining.

"Not only that." Su Ming stood up and looked around at the brothers who had accompanied him since his humble beginnings. "In the future, in addition to completing the tasks assigned by the Sect, I have decided that thirty percent of the profits from all private custom business will be distributed as performance bonuses. Those who work more shall earn more; I will never treat anyone unfairly!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the breathing of Old Li and the others became heavy, and their motivation was instantly pushed to the limit.

In the Cultivation World, finding a boss willing to share profits was even rarer than finding a Heaven Rank Cultivation Technique.

"Alright, stop staring blankly." Su Ming patted Wang Defa on the shoulder. "I'll give you two days to finish counting the accounts and supplies. Three days from now, at the foot of Formation Peak, we hold our plaque hanging ceremony!"

...

Three days later.

At the foot of Formation Peak, a once-abandoned, secluded courtyard had been cleaned until it was spotless.

"Crackling and popping—"

Amidst the deafening sound of festive firecrackers, a plaque carved from century-old lightning-struck wood, bearing the five gold-leafed characters for "Formation Peak Repair Department," was steadily hung above the main gate.

Wang Defa had changed into a brand-new deacon's robe of Formation Peak. With his shiny, well-fed belly puffed out and a glowing, radiant face, he stood at the gate, smiling as he welcomed the managers from various peaks who had come to offer their congratulations upon hearing the news. The deacons of the Artifact Hall, who had previously ignored him, were now smiling obsequiously as they presented thick gifts.

On a hill not far away, Su Ming stood against the wind.

He stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the bustling, vibrant scene below the mountain. The breeze fluttered his purple Daoist robe, carrying the scent of firecracker smoke.

"Chirp!" Ying crouched on his shoulder, grooming its feathers with its beak, peering curiously at the crowd below.

Su Ming raised his hand and gently rubbed Ying's hard head. A long-lost sense of stability welled up in his heart.

The Menial Worker who had once carefully disguised himself in the Accounting Room, relying only on repairing scrap metal to earn a few Spirit Stones, had finally truly planted deep, immovable roots within the vast Cloud Hidden Sect.

The plaque of the Formation Peak Repair Department shone brilliantly in the midday sun, the gold-leafed characters exuding a sense of legitimate authority. After the lively hanging ceremony and the congratulatory crowds dispersed, the spacious courtyard at the foot of Formation Peak finally returned to the tranquility proper for cultivators.

Su Ming leaned back on a bluestone chair behind the Immortal Cave at Star Gazing Cliff, reaching up to rub his slightly throbbing temples.

Ying was perched on the stone table, rhythmically pecking at a piece of discarded crimson essence copper with its sharp beak, creating a "thud-thud" sound. Dark golden sparks occasionally sputtered from the tip of its beak, as if it were honing its newly awakened "Sharp" character mantra.

Su Ming's gaze swept over the mountain of Jade Slips piled on the desk; these were the remnants of the deductions he had left behind while attempting to break through the 751st basic rune. No matter how he used his Water Spiritual Energy to channel them, the Array Patterns representing earth and fire simply would not nest steadily, and the Spiritual Qi circuits in his Sea of Consciousness were as rigid as a stagnant pool of water.

He picked up the cold tea beside him, took a sip, and looked through the window frame toward the distant Trial Valley.

His own stubborn Third Senior Brother, Luo Feng, had been punished by their Revered Master, Master Xuan Heng, with a grim face, to be confined in the Trial Valley for three months because he had blown up the roof of the martial arts arena while testing a self-destructing Puppet. Counting the days, two months had already passed. It was time to go visit this Senior Brother who was going further and further down the path of explosions.

Su Ming's fingers tapped lightly on the bluestone armrest, and a trace of deep calculation flashed in his eyes.

Going to the Lantai Secret Garden must absolutely not be done alone.

That place was the national fortune formation vault of the previous Great Yan Dynasty. The stone doors were covered in undecipherable ancient seal script, and the core area contained self-destructing Restrictions like the "Nine-Lock Chain," capable of detonating the earth's veins.

If he went alone and got stuck at the entrance, caught in a dilemma, the worst-case scenario would be triggering the remnant formation and being buried deep underground.

Luo Feng was a once-in-a-century Genius of Formation Peak. Although his temper was explosive and he loved blowing up furnaces, in terms of intuition for deconstructing ancient Array Patterns, no one among his peers in the entire Cloud Hidden Sect could surpass him. If he could be brought in as a helper, the chances of breaking the formation would increase by at least forty percent.

His own natal formation plate was already complete, and he had mastered the seven-breath power of Void Realm formation deployment. If there really was danger, relying on the great teleportation talisman and Lin Yu's early warning, it would be enough to bring Luo Feng out safely; he would definitely not lose his life in there.

Having thought this through, Su Ming stood up, swept his long sleeves, and walked into the storage room deep within his Immortal Cave.

From the highest shelf, he retrieved two jars of Hundred Flower Brew sealed tightly with mud. This was a fine wine personally brewed by Immortal Master Xuan Ming of Danding Peak; it was said that the flower seeds were brought back from an ancient ruin, and its Spiritual Qi was extremely gentle. Afterward, he carefully picked out a box of high-grade thunder fire sand, which was of excellent quality and had faint purple electric arcs flickering on its surface, from a batch of high-tier waste materials that the Repair Department had just delivered.

For Luo Feng, who was focused on researching explosive Formation Plates, this stuff was more useful than any Spirit Pill that could bring the dead back to life.

"Why are you being so attentive today, kid?"

A faint, deep blue light shimmered on the surface of the xuantian ring, and Lin Yu's soul body manifested in mid-air. He rolled over, crossed his arms over his chest, and spoke lazily, "First good wine, now thunder fire sand. As the saying goes, offering courtesies without a reason implies something sinister or treacherous."

Su Ming carefully wrapped the thunder fire sand with a Spirit-Isolating Talisman and tucked it into his wide sleeve, his movements unhurried. He replied calmly in his Sea of Consciousness: "A Disciple visiting a punished Senior Brother is merely a gesture of camaraderie among fellow Disciples. Why does Master say that?"