589: Chapter 589 Now that we have the money, let's start expanding our military!

The Spirit Stones that Xu Ruyu had extorted from the various Righteous Path Sects filled three whole warehouses.

The Grand Elder held the ledger, checking them room by room, from morning until dark, and from dark until dawn.

High-Grade Spirit Stones were stacked into walls, Mid-Grade Spirit Stones were piled into mountains, and Low-Grade Spirit Stones covered the floor in a thick layer, crunching underfoot.

Magical Artifacts, Medicinal Pills, Materials, and Cultivation Technique manuals—the Grand Elder categorized and registered them one by one.

It took two days just for classification, and another three for registration.

In the hundreds of years since the Hehuan Sect was founded, its warehouses had never been this full.

Inside Ningyin Hall, Xu Ruyu sat at a table flipping through the ledger, page by page, reading very slowly.

The corners of his mouth remained curled upward from the first page to the last.

Fifty million High-Grade Spirit Stones, twenty-eight million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, and over thirty million Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Four hundred and thirty-seven Magical Artifacts: sixty-eight High Grade artifacts, over two hundred Medium Grade artifacts, and over a hundred Low Grade artifacts.

Countless Medicinal Pills and various Artifact Refining Materials filled two other warehouses.

Cultivation Technique manuals filled several large crates, ranging from Foundation Establishment to Undergoing Tribulation.

"Enough." Xu Ruyu closed the ledger and called the Grand Elder over. "Grand Elder, from today on, these things cannot be left to gather dust in the warehouse. They must be put to use."

The Grand Elder was stunned for a moment.

"Sect Master, what do you mean?"

"Build things."

Xu Ruyu stood up, walked to the table, and spread out a new sheet of beast skin paper.

He picked up a charcoal pencil and drew a square object with a long tube and thick wheels.

It wasn't a qi-breaking gun or a Thunder Roar Cannon; it was the tank he had drawn before.

But this time, the drawing was much more detailed: the Turret, Tracks, Armor, and Engine—every component was clearly depicted, with dimensions and data densely annotated alongside. There were over twenty annotations for the Tracks alone.

"Sect Master, what is this?"

Zhao Yan leaned in to take a look, his head nearly bumping into Xu Ruyu's shoulder.

"A tank."

"What's a tank?"

"A mobile cannon."

Xu Ruyu didn't even look up as he continued drawing.

Zhao Yan's mouth hung open.

A cannon that can run? He had seen the Thunder Roar Cannon; that thing was powerful, but far too cumbersome. It took two people just to lift it with great effort, half a day to set it up, and another half day to move it.

If it could run, wouldn't that be incredible? Wouldn't that mean he could blast wherever he wanted, and then run away after firing so no one could catch him?

Images began to surface in Zhao Yan's mind of him sitting on the barrel as a Spirit Beast pulled the tank, crashing through everything in its path, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

Li Ergou also leaned in, squatting nearby to watch for a while before pointing at a small square on the blueprint and asking, "Sect Master, what's this?"

Xu Ruyu glanced at it.

"The Ammunition compartment. The place where the shells are kept."

Li Ergou nodded, though he only half-understood.

Even though he had never seen a tank, he knew that nothing the Sect Master drew was useless.

It was true for the qi-breaking gun, the Chuanyang Gun, and the Thunder Roar Cannon.

When those things were first brought out, no one understood them, but once they were in use, everyone scrambled to get one.

So this time, he didn't ask any more questions and just squatted there, watching the Sect Master draw in peace.

After finishing the tank, Xu Ruyu drew an even larger cannon.

This one wasn't meant to be carried on the shoulder; it was mounted on wheels to be pulled by Spirit Beasts.

The barrel was thick and long, nearly twice the length of the Thunder Roar Cannon, and the muzzle was large enough to fit a person's head inside.

The body of the cannon didn't just have simple Array Pattern; it featured layers of composite Array Pattern for acceleration, stability, range, and precision, as well as one specifically for buffering recoil.

He drew slowly, each stroke deliberate, as if he were extracting the contents of his mind bit by bit.

Sometimes he would stop mid-drawing, staring at the blueprint for a long time before using his finger to smudge out a line he had just drawn and redraw it.

The Grand Elder couldn't understand those complex structural diagrams, but he understood the expression on Xu Ruyu's face.

It wasn't the first time he had seen that expression—Xu Ruyu had looked the same way when he was drawing the qi-breaking gun.

His brow was slightly furrowed, his gaze fixed, and he was muttering to himself as if arguing with the blueprint.

That time, he had drawn for three days and three nights, and the qi-breaking gun was created as soon as he finished.

This time, he was even more immersed, even eating his meals at the table while drawing.

He would bring his chopsticks to his mouth and then put them down; the food went cold after only a few bites, and the hot tea the Grand Elder brought remained untouched.

"Grand Elder, I need Materials."

Xu Ruyu put down his charcoal pencil and handed a list filled with writing to the Grand Elder.

The Grand Elder took it and saw several pages densely packed with items.

Profound Iron, Cold Iron, Scarlet Copper, Wind Copper, piglets Star-patterned steel, Taiyi Refined Gold, Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade, Star Sand, Lightning-Struck Wood, Phoenix Feather, Flood Dragon Scale... every item had its quantity and quality requirements specified.

At the end of the list, it also said: "Need to purchase a large amount of ordinary refined iron and Copper Ingots, regardless of quality, the more the better."

Beside it was a line of small characters: "If top-quality Materials are encountered, buy them at any cost."

The Grand Elder's hand trembled slightly, not from the weight, but because a quick mental calculation of the cost of these Materials exceeded thirty million Spirit Stones.

He had lived most of his life and had never seen anyone spend so many Spirit Stones on Materials.

In the hundreds of years since the Hehuan Sect was founded, all its assets combined were not as large as the figure on this list.

"Sect Master, all these Materials combined... how much will they cost?"

The Grand Elder's voice trembled, and his throat felt dry.

Xu Ruyu did a quick calculation and wrote a number on the paper.

"Around thirty million. If it's not enough, we'll add more, but get these first.

Some Materials are for strategic reserves; we must buy them even if we don't need them for now.

Once this opportunity passes, it won't come again.

We have Spirit Stones now; what's the point of keeping them if not to spend them? Spirit Stones in a warehouse won't give birth to little Spirit Stones; they only become useful when exchanged for Materials."

The Grand Elder's hand shook.

Thirty million.

In the hundreds of years since the Hehuan Sect was founded, they had never spent so many Spirit Stones.

With one word, the Sect Master was asking for thirty million.

But the Grand Elder didn't say "it's too expensive," nor did he ask "can we save a bit."

Having followed Xu Ruyu for so long, he had learned one thing—not a single cent should be spared on necessary expenses, and the Sect Master wouldn't spend a single coin on unnecessary ones.

Recalling the time at Tianyin Mountain when the Sect Master built qi-breaking guns and Chuanyang Guns for the Disciples, the Materials used were all from the Taihao Clan's collection, and not a single Spirit Stone was spent.

Now that the Sect Master was willing to spend a fortune on Materials, it meant that the things he was going to build this time were far more powerful than the qi-breaking gun.

"This old man will see to it immediately. It's just, Sect Master, who should accompany me? With so many Spirit Stones, the Materials brought back will surely be vast in quantity. We must have reliable people for the escort, in case..."

The Grand Elder was somewhat worried.

Xu Ruyu glanced at Xiao Nianyin, who was sitting nearby reading a book.

"You go. With you there, no one will dare to have any ill intentions.

You've fought all the way from Taiyin Mountain; who in the Cultivation World doesn't know the great name of Xiao Nianyin? With a True Immortal Realm powerhouse personally escorting, those petty thieves won't even dare to approach, let alone try to rob us."

Xiao Nianyin put down her book and nodded.

She didn't object; after all, she had nothing else to do.

Although the people from the Righteous Path Sects were behaving on the surface, who knew what they were plotting in secret.

By going along, she could keep an eye on things during the journey.

The Grand Elder thought for a moment and added, "Sect Master, how many Disciples should I take? We can't have the two of us old folks moving the Materials ourselves."

Xu Ruyu thought about it.

"Take Chen Ping; he understands Materials and knows his stuff. Take Zhou Daniu as well; he's strong and can move things. Li Ergou should go too; he's fast and can deliver messages if anything happens."

The Grand Elder nodded in agreement and turned to make the arrangements.

Early the next morning, the Grand Elder and Xiao Nianyin took Chen Ping, Zhou Daniu, and Li Ergou and left the Hehuan Sect on a Spirit Boat.

The Spirit Boat wasn't large and couldn't carry much cargo. Xu Ruyu's intention was for them to first purchase a batch of urgently needed items, and he would send more Spirit Boats later to pull the bulk goods.