Chapter 39: Friendly merit system

Chapter 39: Friendly merit system

Meng Zhang concealed these books not out of selfishness but because they would be harmful rather than beneficial for disciples whose Cultivation Base was not yet sufficient. Additionally, certain techniques couldn't be casually imparted. Some introductory techniques could be directly taught to disciples, but to gain access to more advanced techniques, these disciples needed to contribute to the sect, demonstrating their loyalty and willingness to integrate with it.

The original merit system of Taiyi Sect was already relatively complete, and Meng Zhang and his group made only some minor adjustments. They also established a corresponding task system to complement the merit system. As the Sect Master, Meng Zhang, Tian Zhen, and Daoist Clear Spirit, both of whom held the positions of elders, received a fixed amount of merit each month. Additionally, they could obtain merit by contributing to the sect, such as by taking care of the spirit fields or patrolling the mountain gate.

With these systems in place, issuing tasks, granting merit, and exchanging merits for items in the sect's treasury were all handled by Tian Zhen, the General Affairs Elder. Although it appeared that there was more work to be done, the number of disciples in Taiyi Sect was not large, so Tian Zhen managed to handle it all.

Meng Zhang entrusted the medicinal plant seeds he bought in Singing Sand City to Daoist Clear Spirit and asked him to try planting them after the autumn harvest in the spirit field.

After handling internal matters, Meng Zhang had no time to rest. He called Tian Zhen and Daoist Clear Spirit, rode wind-chasing horses, and left Taiyi Sect. They arrived at the place where Meng Zhang encountered the sandworms previously.

When leaving last time, Meng Zhang carefully erased the surface traces but left the marks of the sandworms' underground passages. While asking Tian Zhen and Daoist Clear Spirit to wait, Meng Zhang used the purchased earth-escape talisman.

The First Rank top-grade earth-escape talisman allowed Meng Zhang to travel underground to a depth of fewer than ten zhang and within a distance of ten li.

Soon, Meng Zhang discovered the marks left by the sandworms' underground passage. Following these traces, he traveled while using four earth-escape talismans and found a sandworm nest not far from the surface.

Meng Zhang returned to the surface and gathered Tian Zhen and Daoist Clear Spirit. Utilizing his experience in hunting sandworms, he lured the sandworms to the surface using the Earthshaking Technique. Five sandworms, divided into two waves, emerged on the surface. The three of them worked together and expended considerable effort to eliminate all three sandworms.

Although Taiyi Sect had been in decline for a long time, it still had some foundation. Daoist Clear Spirit's Spirit Plant Technique had a systematic inheritance and was well-established.

Especially after obtaining knowledge from Meng Zhang in the Trial Ground, Daoist Clear Spirit made significant progress in his Spirit Plant Technique, showing a new look. Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, autumn arrived, and it was time to harvest the spirit fields.

This time, they harvested the Spirit Grain planted in the spirit fields. Taiyi Sect had a dedicated fifteen mu of spirit fields where they grew First Rank Spirit Grain Snow Fragrant Rice. Snow Fragrant Rice was as white as snow and exuded a unique fragrance. Its spiritual power was also gentle and easy to absorb, making it the most widely consumed spirit rice in the Endless Sea of Sand.

If it were in the mundane world, fifteen mu of land could easily be harvested by a few strong laborers. However, Spirit Grain was different; it was not only challenging to grow but also difficult to harvest. The stems of Spirit Grain were as tough as iron, and ordinary people couldn't cut them. Only Cultivators wielding specially made scythes infused with True Qi could easily sever them.

All the members of Taiyi Sect, including Meng Zhang, had to work tirelessly for several days to finish harvesting the Spirit Grain. After the harvest, there were still many chores to attend to. If it weren't for Meng Zhang hiring the Wang family father and son, Taiyi Sect's original workforce would have been overwhelmed.

After completing the Spirit Grain harvest, Daoist Clear Spirit didn't find himself idle either. The remaining low-level medicinal herbs planted in the remaining spirit fields were harvested one by one.

After finishing these tasks, there were still new medicinal herb seeds to be planted at a selected time.

Taiyi Sect couldn't sustain itself without Daoist Clear Spirit's hard work. According to the usual practice, most of the Spirit Grain harvested by Taiyi Sect each year would be transported to Singing Sand City for sale in exchange for spirit stones to maintain the sect's operation.

However, Meng Zhang decided not to continue doing this. He chose to keep the harvested Spirit Grain within Taiyi Sect for the disciples' consumption. As for the sect's expenses, the spirit stones in the treasury could still sustain it for the time being.

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