Chapter 427 - 234: Honored Guest Elder (2)
Chapter 427: Chapter 234: Honored Guest Elder (2)
Tao Hujin puffed out his chest slightly. "Our Honored Guest Elders at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion receive an annual stipend of fifty thousand silver. You can take it as cash, or you can opt for Elixirs, Weapons, or even Spirit Medicine.
"In addition to the fifty thousand silver stipend, you’ll also receive a ten percent discount on all purchases at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. You’ll have an annual quota of five Spirit Medicines. If there’s a Spirit Medicine you can’t find, all our branches can help search for it, and you’ll also have access to certain intelligence reports."
Xu Yang’s pupils contracted slightly. Fifty thousand silver... he couldn’t quite grasp the true value of that sum.
After all, once you reach a certain amount of wealth, money is just a number.
But he had a very clear understanding of what a quota of five Spirit Medicines meant. Many people didn’t lack money; they lacked the channels to purchase Spirit Medicine.
As his Cultivation advanced, he would become increasingly reliant on Spirit Medicine. He absolutely needed a stable source for them.
As for the Purple Sun Sect, his current source, he’d only been lucky this time, earning a massive number of contribution points from just four months of missions. Many people toiled for an entire year and still might not earn as many points as he had.
Most importantly, you couldn’t buy Spirit Medicine with silver in the Purple Sun Sect, but you could at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
"How much does a Spirit Medicine usually sell for?" Xu Yang asked.
He didn’t have a good feel for what fifty thousand silver was worth, but if he converted it to Spirit Medicine, he would understand the true value of the stipend.
Tao Hujin smiled. "The value of a Spirit Medicine depends on its age and potency. However, even the least valuable ones are worth over ten thousand silver."
’So, fifty thousand silver was roughly equivalent to five Spirit Medicines.’
The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion’s generosity was a bit stunning.
’Selling my life for a mere fifty thousand silver? My life is worth far more than that.’
He knew he only thought the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was being generous because he was used to slaving away for the Purple Sun Sect like a beast of burden. For a genius capable of a Secondary Dragon Ascension, fifty thousand silver was by no means a large sum.
Disciples from the Purple Sun Sect on Garrison missions received a baseline of one hundred contribution points a month. This meant that even if you spent an entire year guarding the Sect’s assets in the outer regions, without performing any meritorious deeds, you would only earn twelve hundred contribution points—enough to exchange for two Spirit Medicines.
But Martial Artists also had to cultivate, making it impossible to be stationed outside for an entire year. As a result, they couldn’t even obtain two Spirit Medicines annually.
’Compared to the five Spirit Medicines from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, the Sect really does treat its disciples like beasts of burden.’
Of course, on the other hand, without the training provided by a Sect, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion wouldn’t spend so much money to recruit you. That was why people still joined Sects instead of going directly to places like the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
"So what would I need to do for the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion in return?" Xu Yang asked.
’The benefits are significant. Now, for the drawbacks.’
He wanted to remain independent, but how could anyone truly stay uninvolved in a world like this?
Most importantly, without this status, he wouldn’t be able to buy any of the rare ingredients from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
Tao Hujin said, "The duties of an Honored Guest Elder are actually minimal. The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion is primarily a business; we don’t get involved in the feuds of the Jianghu. The main responsibility is to occasionally help escort valuable goods.
"Of course, you won’t be required to do that; other Honored Guest Elders handle such tasks. The Pavilion doesn’t recruit promising young people like you because we’re short-staffed, but rather as a long-term investment.
"If you succeed in your Secondary Dragon Ascension, you’ll become a disciple of the Celestial Strategy Academy. You’ll just need to focus on your Cultivation. As long as you don’t leave the academy, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion won’t assign you any tasks.
"It may sound arrogant, but we value your potential, not your current strength. For the next eight to ten years, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion will have basically no need for you to risk your life for us.
"All of this can be stipulated in a contract. If you’re undecided, you can go back and ask Elder Huoyun.
"He himself was once on the verge of becoming one of our Honored Guest Elders, but his Secondary Dragon Ascension ultimately failed."
Xu Yang mostly understood. The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was betting on his future potential to become a powerful expert, so they were recruiting him before his Secondary Dragon Ascension. They had no use for him right now; for the next seven or eight years, his strength would be of no help to them.
Hearing this, Xu Yang asked curiously, "And what happens if my Dragon Ascension fails?"
Tao Hujin smiled. "If your Dragon Ascension fails, I’ll probably be docked a few years’ salary. As for you, you would simply lose your Honored Guest Elder privileges. There would be no other trouble for you.
"Of course, if you succeed, I’ll be rewarded as well."
Xu Yang then asked, "And what if, one day, I no longer wish to be an Honored Guest Elder for the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion?"
Tao Hujin replied, "Honored Guest Elders aren’t considered official members of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion to begin with. If you no longer wish to serve as one, you are, of course, free to leave at any time.
"However, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion is a business. In cases like yours, where we make an upfront investment, if you do not complete ten years of service, you will be required to repay double the value of that investment."
After a moment of thought, Xu Yang nodded. "I agree to these terms."
’I need a faction to support me, and I need a channel for resources,’ he thought. ’I’m immortal and will forever be at my peak, so I can take my time cultivating, but Xu Qing can’t.’
’Besides, in eight or ten years, I might just have the strength to contend with the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion on equal footing. What the world knows is not my true talent.’
’Of course, if the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion is truly just a business and doesn’t pull any shenanigans, I probably wouldn’t leave anyway.’
The two of them discussed the details further, after which Tao Hujin actually produced a contract for him to review. Its terms were more or less what Tao Hujin had described.
Honored Guest Elders were not simply hired muscle for the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion; they had the right to refuse assignments.
Of course, they couldn’t refuse indiscriminately. The right to refuse was granted only after completing two assignments for the Pavilion per year, or if an assignment was deemed a suicide mission. Each mission came with its own compensation; the fifty-thousand-silver stipend was just the base retainer.
Xu Yang read through it carefully and confirmed that the contract itself presented no problems.
’He wasn’t actually opposed to finding a patron, a faction that would invest in him.’
’It was just that the family factions that had approached him in the past always wanted to tie him down completely with marriage alliances and heirs, which was why he had refused.’
He didn’t sign the contract then and there. He wasn’t yet qualified to be an Honored Guest Elder. Only after succeeding in his Secondary Dragon Ascension would he be eligible to sign this contract with the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
To be precise, what he had agreed to was to be a "candidate" for the position of Honored Guest Elder, not to become one immediately. Everything still depended on him succeeding in his Secondary Dragon Ascension.
Therefore, he wouldn’t receive the fifty-thousand-silver stipend or any other benefits just yet. The immediate advantage of agreeing to be a "candidate" was that he could now make purchases at the Pavilion using the status of an Honored Guest Elder.
"There’s more to it than that!"
Tao Hujin shook his head. "If the only benefit was being able to shop here as an Honored Guest Elder, I wouldn’t be facing punishment if you were to fail your Dragon Ascension. Now that you’ve agreed to be a ’candidate,’ the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion will provide you with a set of Dragon Ascension Resources. That is what’s truly valuable."
’So they’re providing resources too,’ Xu Yang thought. ’It’s not a case of them getting something for nothing.’
’That made sense. If the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion didn’t invest in him now, why would he bother joining them after he had already succeeded in his Secondary Dragon Ascension?’
Xu Yang asked, "What do these Dragon Ascension Resources include?"
Tao Hujin shook his head. "I don’t know yet. The Pavilion recruits promising candidates for Honored Guest Elder each term, and the Dragon Ascension Resources are determined by our headquarters. We’ll only know the specific contents when they arrive.
"However, it will undoubtedly be things like Spirit Medicine, Cultivation Techniques, or Weapons—all items beneficial for increasing one’s Cultivation."
The two emerged from the private room, both smiling. Upon learning that Xu Yang had agreed to become a "candidate" for Honored Guest Elder, Zhou Yong quickly gathered the medicinal ingredients from the list Xu Yang had provided.
Xu Yang hadn’t planned on refining any more Gathering Essence Pills, but now that he could buy the ingredients freely and at a discount, he added more to his order to refine a batch for Xu Qing as well.
This would probably be the last batch of Gathering Essence Pills he’d make. Once Xu Qing broke through to the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, the pills would be of little use to her.
This was one of the reasons he had agreed.
The resources he could acquire on his own weren’t even enough for his own Cultivation, let alone enough to support Xu Qing. With the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion’s channels, at least he wouldn’t have to run around collecting ingredients himself. He just had to worry about having the money.
Making money wasn’t difficult for him, and once Xu Qing became a Pill Master, she would be able to earn her own as well.
An hour later, with the ingredients packed by Zhou Yong in hand, Xu Yang left the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.