Chronicles of Celestial Origins

Tang Ning asked about some specific matters in detail, and went out of the peak with Jiang Xinquan and came to the guard hall.

Huang Qiansheng, the disciple in charge of guard affairs, came with a few people to greet him and led him into a stone room inside.

In the slightly dim room, a huge black cone stood in the center, projecting a dazzling light on the black stone wall.

There were pictures on it.

There were pictures of the storage hall.

There were pictures of the mining area.

There were pictures of the south gate of the city.

There were pictures of recruiting disciples for accommodation.

"There are pictures in the stone chamber." Huang Qiansheng explained, "This is the area where the Eye of Heaven and Earth is projected. There are five places in total. We can directly observe every move of these locations in the background." "Is there someone on duty in this room every twelve hours?" "Yes, there are at least two people on duty to monitor these areas." "Why is the Eye of Heaven and Earth only installed in the south of the city wall? What about the east, west, and north?" "Uncle Master, the entire mountain range of 2,000 miles is surrounded by city walls, and only the south is open. All personnel must enter and exit from the south city wall. Therefore, the Eye of Heaven and Earth is only installed in the south of the city, and two monks are sent to guard it." "How many people are there in your guard team?" "Including the disciples, there are a total of fifteen people. The other fourteen are recruited casual cultivators, including two Jindan cultivators. Uncle Master has seen them in the meeting hall before." Tang Ning nodded, and then left the guard hall with Jiang Xinquan and came to the finance hall. Yang Qiushui, the disciple in charge of the team's finances, led the two into the stone chamber on the second floor of the attic. "I'll bring Junior Brother Tang to learn about the financial situation of our team. Qiushui, please introduce it to Junior Brother Tang!" Jiang Xinquan said.

"Yes." Yang Qiushui replied, taking out a stack of files from under the desk and presenting them to Tang Ning with both hands: "Uncle Tang, this is all the financial income and expenditure of our team this year, please take a look."

"This year, the total funding of our team is 22.5 million Lingshi. So far, 21 million Lingshi have been spent, including the salaries of 100 recruited disciples totaling 13 million Lingshi, and other miscellaneous expenses of more than 5 million."

Tang Ning took the file and read it page by page. The account details on it were very clear, and the source of each item was signed and sealed by the corresponding personnel. There were hundreds of expenses in total.

After a while, Tang Ning closed the file and returned it to Yang Qiushui.

The real financial situation cannot be seen from the file report, which is just a piece of waste paper to perfunctorily deal with the people above.

Only Jiang Xinquan really knows the team's expenditure and income.

"Does everyone's expenses in this team come from you?"

"Yes, small expenses are collected from me, but large expenses of more than 500,000 spiritual stones must be reported to Uncle Jiang and approved by him."

"Do you personally approve every expense of the team?"

"I have four recruited monks to help manage financial affairs. Expenses below 10,000 spiritual stones can be withdrawn after they are approved by me. Expenses above 10,000 spiritual stones or expenses of the brothers in this team must be approved by me."

Tang Ning casually asked a few questions about the financial expenditure and left the hall. At that time, the setting sun had already set in the west.

Jiang Xinquan said: "Brother Tang, you know about all the affairs of our spiritual mine. I think we should stop here today! There is a long way to go, so there is no need to rush. I will take you to the resting place first!"

"Okay."

The two of them flew up, and after walking for a while, they came to a towering cave.

The entire cave covers an area of ​​about five or six miles in radius, which is extremely magnificent.

Jiang Xinquan smiled and said, "Knowing that you are about to take up your post, I have specially ordered people to build this cave. You can live here for now. If you don't like it, you can change to another one later."

Tang Ning did not expect Jiang Xinquan to be so enthusiastic. He was surprised and alert. As the saying goes, if you are too kind to others, you are either a traitor or a thief.

He is a dying disciple of the sect who has retired voluntarily. He has never had any contact with me and has no relatives or friends. Why is he so enthusiastic?

Tang Ning was puzzled, but his face remained calm: "Thank you, Senior Brother Jiang, for your trouble."

"It's just a small matter, not worth mentioning. It's what we should do. Let's go! Let's go in and take a look."

The two entered the inner room. The inside is connected in all directions, with crisscrossing roads and many courtyards.

There are pavilions, gardens, waterside pavilions, lakes, peach forests, palaces and palaces.

"How is it? Junior Brother Tang, are you satisfied with this cave?" The two sat opposite each other under the pavilion next to the lake, and Jiang Xinquan spoke.

The entire lake is about two hundred feet in size, with willows on both sides of the lake. Above the lake, the water is shimmering, egrets are flying, and fish are seen jumping.

To the east of the lake is a birch forest, and to the west is a maple forest. The golden maple leaves and the frosty birch complement each other, which is pleasing to the eye.

The breeze blows, blowing the willows swaying, making people feel relaxed and happy.

"To be honest with Brother Jiang, I have never enjoyed such a spacious and magnificent residence since I started practicing. This time, I am a little uncomfortable."

Jiang Xinquan smiled and said, "It's just a cave house. There is no enjoyment. This is not a scarce practice resource. If you want, you can build ten or eight buildings at any time. Brother Tang must have been devoted to practice before and had no time to care about these trivial matters."

"But then again, you are not as free and unrestrained as before.

"Now that I have been promoted to the position of captain, I will be stationed in this pavilion city on behalf of our sect. At least I will be a well-known figure in this pavilion. This kind of communication is inevitable. There must be a place to welcome guests!"

"Otherwise, when other sect leaders and chamber of commerce presidents come to your place, there won't even be a reception hall. Wouldn't it be too shaky?"

Tang Ning said, "That's true. Thank you Senior Brother Jiang for taking the trouble."

"I'll find some people for you later to give you instructions. This cave is so big that it won't work if there's no one to take care of it. There must be guards and guards!"

"How dare you bother Senior Brother Jiang again? I'll just find a few people myself in a few days." Since Tang Ning was suspicious of Jiang Xinquan's motives, she naturally didn't want to use the people he sent.

The two chatted for a while, and Jiang Xinquan left.

At night, Tang Ning sat cross-legged in the room and closed her eyes to meditate. The stone room was five or six feet in size. It was decorated with carved beams, painted pillars, gold railings and jade, and was very luxurious.

The entire house is made of divine stone on the outside and soundproof stone on the inside, which can isolate the inner and outer spiritual consciousness and sound.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Although soundproof stone can isolate internal and external sounds, the sound acting on the stone itself cannot be cut off, so the sound can be heard.

Tang Ning opened her eyes, reached out and twisted the raised stone on the left side of the desk. The stone door opened with a bang, and she saw a graceful woman entering from the outside. It was Yang Qiushui. She bowed and saluted. : "Disciple pays homage to Master."

"What's up?"

"Uncle Jiang, please come and have a chat with me."

"Okay." The two of them left the room and came to Jiang Xinquan's cave.

In the splendid hall, many young and beautiful women stand on both sides with their hands hanging down. They are all female cultivators who have practiced Qi. There is a banquet table in the hall, with various delicacies and edible jade plates. The colors of red peaches and green willows are bright and the fragrance is fragrant. .

Tangning walked in from the outside, and the women on both sides saluted together: "Greetings, senior."

"Junior Brother Tang is here, please take a seat." Jiang Xinquan stood up with a smile on his face and greeted him.

Tang Ning took her seat as instructed, and the beautiful Xiu beside her immediately poured some spiritual wine for the two of them.

"On behalf of our team, I welcome Junior Brother Tang." Jiang Xinquan picked up the wine glass and drank it down in one gulp.

"Senior Brother Jiang is so polite. I'm new here and I don't understand many things. Please give me some advice," Tang Ning said, drinking with him.

"You go ahead!" Jiang Xinquan waved his hand, and the women filed away.

"Senior Brother Jiang, aren't all these female nuns your concubines?"

Jiang Xinquan smiled: "They are all sent by others. They usually do some cleaning work. In such a big cave, if there is no popularity, it will be a bit lonely.

"This man! As he gets older, he is afraid of being alone. To tell you the truth, Junior Brother Tang, in my early years, I was just like you, focusing on cultivation and disdainful of these external things."

"But since my cultivation has stagnated, I have gotten older, and I have known that the avenue is hopeless, so I have gradually accepted these things, and others naturally like me. These female cultivators just now were all sent by other forces in this pavilion."

"After I leave, if Junior Brother Tang doesn't give up, just keep them in your cave!"

Tang Ning waved her hand: "Senior Brother Jiang, this is really embarrassing for me. I always like to be pure. Besides, I'm already married. I'm afraid these female cultivators won't be able to enjoy it."

"Since they are not blessed to serve Junior Brother Tang, let them return to their respective families when the time comes!"

Jiang Xinquan drank a cup and said, "Junior brother Tang, I invite you here today because I want to have a frank and heart-to-heart talk with you. I wonder if you are willing to listen to my nagging."