Chapter 4
The Investment Begins
The main hall of the Falling Lotus Sect was a shadow of its former glory. Dust danced in the shafts of sunlight piercing through the holes in the thatched roof, and the floorboards groaned underfoot with every step. Lin Tian sat across from Mu Rongxue, his gaze scanning the crumbling pillars and the faded banners that fluttered in the draft.
"Rongxue," Lin Tian began, his voice calm yet carrying an weight that seemed to settle the restless air. "I have a question. With your cultivation at the **9th Level of Core Formation**, you could have wiped those Iron-Fist thugs out with a flick of your sleeve. Even suppressed, your aura would have been enough to make them kneel. Why did you let them insult you? Why didn't you just knock them out?"
Mu Rongxue looked down at her tea, her fingers tracing the chipped rim of the porcelain cup. A faint, bittersweet smile touched her lips—a look of dignified sorrow.
"Because, Lin Tian, a cultivator should have a bottom line," she whispered. "Our sect was desperate for medicine for the younger disciples last winter. I took a loan of spirit stones from them. Even if they are bullies, I was the one who signed the contract. If I use my power to erase my debts or harm my creditors just because they are beneath me, how am I any different from the demonic cultivators we fight against? My father taught me that the Dao is not just about power; it is about the heart."
Lin Tian looked at her with genuine surprise. In his fifty years at the Azure Cloud Sect, he had seen people kill over a single blade of spirit grass. Xia Ning would have crushed those thugs without a second thought, justifying it as "protecting the sect's dignity."
She had long ago traded her conscience for the cold pursuit of rank. But Rongxue... she had a "Righteous Character" that was a rare, shimmering gem in this dog-eat-dog world.
*This,* Lin Tian thought, a cold spark of ambition lighting up in his chest, *is a leader worth building a throne for. Unlike Xia Ning, this woman won't bite the hand that feeds her.*
"Tell me about the sect's actual situation," he said, leaning forward. "No sugar-coating. Give me the raw numbers."
Rongxue sighed, her shoulders slumping.
"We have barely a hundred disciples left. Most are orphans I picked up from the streets. We have no spirit veins, our alchemy stores are empty, and our reputation is so low that even the local merchants overcharge us. But the biggest problem is..." she hesitated, her hand moving to her chest, where a faint, dark pulse flickered under her skin. "It's me."
"Your cultivation is damaged, isn't it?" Lin Tian asked directly.
Her eyes widened, her breath hitching. "How did you... yes. Two years ago, while attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, I was ambushed. I survived, but my foundation was fractured. I'm stuck at the peak of Core Formation, but I can't use more than thirty percent of my power without my meridians screaming in pain."
Lin Tian stood up abruptly. "Show me your alchemy room."
"Our alchemy room? Lin Tian, we don't even have a decent cauldron. Only a few rusted pots and—"
"Just show me," he interrupted gently. "As your new Grand Elder, it's my job to fix what's broken."
The "alchemy room" was little more than a stone shed with a cold hearth and a thick layer of soot on the walls. It was pathetic compared to the grand laboratories he had built for Xia Ning.
"Rongxue, wait outside. Don't let anyone in, no matter what you hear," Lin Tian commanded. Once she was gone, he closed the door and turned to the void. "System, I need to refine a **Rank 5 Lotus-Root Foundation Repair Pill**. Provide the materials from the storage."
*[Ding! Deducting 5,000 System Points. Materials provided. Warning: Host's current physical realm is low. Use of Primordial Qi will cause temporary fatigue.]*
Lin Tian didn't care. His hands moved with a speed that would have made the Azure Cloud elders' heads spin. He didn't need a fancy cauldron; he used the **Primordial Chaos Qi** to form a swirling sphere of golden heat in mid-air. He tossed in the Rare Snow Lotus, the Dragon-Bone Grass, and the Spirit-Severing Root.
In his previous life as a businessman, he knew that the quality of the product was everything. In this life, he was the secret Alchemist who had made Azure Cloud the third strongest sect. Refining a Rank 5 pill was as natural to him as breathing. After thirty minutes, the room was filled with a fragrance so pure it caused the weeds outside the shed to bloom instantly.
He walked back into the hall, sweat beading on his forehead, and handed a glowing, emerald-green pill to Rongxue.
"Eat this," he commanded.
"Is this... a Rank 5 pill?" she whispered, her voice trembling. The pill was perfect, with three cloud-veins on its surface. "Lin Tian, a pill of this quality costs at least 500,000 spirit stones at auction! Where did you—"
"I told you I knew a little alchemy," he smiled, though he looked pale. "Eat. I'll guard you."
Rongxue didn't hesitate. She sat in a meditative posture and swallowed the pill. Almost instantly, a soft white light erupted from her body. The fractured cracks in her foundation began to knit together. The "knives" in her meridians were washed away by a cooling, spring-like energy. Her breath became steady, and her skin began to glow with a celestial vitality.
When she opened her eyes, they were clear and powerful, radiating the pressure of a true Core Formation master. In a moment of pure, unbridled emotion, she leapt up and threw her arms around Lin Tian, hugging him tightly. Her soft, **curvaceous body** pressed against him, her **ample bosom** heaving against his chest as she sobbed with relief.
"Thank you," she whispered against his shoulder, her scent of wild lotuses filling his senses. "I haven't felt this much strength in years. I thought my life was over."
Lin Tian gently patted her back, feeling the warmth of her gratitude. "Don't thank me yet. This is just the beginning. In one month, the **Great Sky-Capital Yearly Auction** will be held in the **Imperial City of Wu**. It's the biggest event of the year. We're going there, Rongxue. We're going to make some investments and put the Falling Lotus back on the map."
The Azure Cloud
While the Falling Lotus Sect was experiencing a quiet rebirth, the Azure Cloud Sect was drowning in a suffocating silence.
It had been a week since Lin Tian was kicked out. The "Hidden Master" had still not appeared. The inner disciples were starting to whisper in the training grounds, their faces pale with anxiety. Without the Heaven-Cleansing Pills, three geniuses had already failed their breakthroughs, causing their cultivation to regress.
Xia Ning sat in the Council Hall, her face a mask of cold stone. "Still no sign of him?"
"Nothing, Sect Leader," Elder Han said, his voice clipped and cold. He didn't hide his resentment anymore. "The disciples are restless. They are starting to say that the 'Hidden Master' only worked with us because of Lin Tian. They say we have lost the favor of the Heavens."
Ye Fan, who was lounging on a side chair, picked his teeth with a splinter of spirit wood. "Why are you all so stressed? So the old man is late. Big deal. If the master isn't coming, we'll just buy the pills at the market. Everything has a price. You're acting like the world is ending."
Xia Ning's eyes lit up. "Buy them? Ye Fan, do you have that many spirit stones? A month's supply of Rank 4 and 5 pills would cost a fortune."
Ye Fan laughed, a hollow, arrogant sound. "Me? I'm a wanderer, Xia. I carry my sword and my pride. Why would I carry bags of rocks? You are the leader of the great Azure Cloud Sect. You have millions of people under you. Surely your treasury is overflowing. Use those!"
For the first time, Xia Ning looked at Ye Fan and didn't see a "free spirit" or a "shining hero." She saw a **liability**. He consumed the sect's best resources, insulted her most loyal elders, and expected her to pay for his lifestyle while offering nothing but smooth words.
She turned to Elder Han, her voice sharp. "Elder Han, give me a full report. How much do we have in the sect treasury? What is our actual financial status?"
Elder Han pulled out a heavy gold-leaf ledger. "Sect Leader, thanks to the 'conservative' management of the previous Grand Elder, we have a total of **150 million spirit stones** in the vault. Our yearly consumption for disciple stipends and maintenance is **5 million**. Our yearly earning from trade and protection is **20 million**."
Xia Ning exhaled, her confidence returning. 150 million! That was a massive fortune.
"See?" she said, throwing a triumphant look at the elders. "We don't need to beg a mysterious alchemist. 150 million is enough to buy any pill we want. We have plenty of breathing room. Lin Tian made it sound like we were on the verge of ruin, but it seems he was just hoarding wealth."
She didn't realize that the 20 million in earnings was only possible because Lin Tian had negotiated the trade contracts personally. She didn't realize that the 5 million in consumption was only that low because Lin Tian repaired the sect's formations and buildings himself for free.
"Elder Han, prepare **20 million spirit stones** for me," Xia Ning commanded, her eyes flashing with a cold, desperate pride. "The Great Sky-Capital Auction is next month. I will go there personally and buy enough pills to last us a year. I'll show the world—and that Master—that the Azure Cloud Sect doesn't depend on any one man!"
She looked at Ye Fan, expecting him to praise her brilliance, but he was already busy checking his reflection in a spirit-mirror, adjusting his hair.
Xia Ning pushed down the bitter taste in her mouth. *Twenty million should be more than enough to buy our way out of this,* she thought. *What could a 3rd Level Foundation trash like Lin Tian possibly do against the raw wealth of a Great Sect?*
She had no idea that while she was planning to spend her savings, Lin Tian was already planning to own the market.