Immortal Reincarnation Tribulation

Chapter 103 Qixia Monthly Salary

The three people standing outside the counter were two elderly men and a middle-aged woman. Their attire and demeanor were extraordinary, while the young man in green robes inside the counter lacked a certain presence.

Du Fan's sudden appearance naturally attracted the attention of these people, who immediately turned their gazes to him and swept his face with their divine senses. After a moment, a look of surprise appeared on their faces.

"You look quite different from me. I don't think I've seen you before. Who are you?" An elderly man in a gray robe standing outside the counter asked, his eyes flashing.

This hall was clearly not a place that disciples in the Qi Refining stage could come to at will, and the other party's composed demeanor made him hesitate.

Du Fan also saw the group of people ahead. He assumed they were mostly Golden Core elders from the Qixia Sect. Since someone had spoken to him, he quickly walked over and greeted them with a smile, saying:

"Junior Du Fan greets you seniors."

"Du Fan? Could it be that you are the newly promoted honorary elder of our sect?" A beautiful young woman dressed in white palace attire was taken aback at first, then her heart stirred, and she blinked her beautiful eyes as she tentatively asked.

"It is indeed this junior," Du Fan nodded, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Upon hearing this, another elderly man in a black robe frowned. Although his expression wasn't exactly gloomy, it certainly wasn't pleasant.

"It really is Elder Du. Hehe, I am Lu Ziqing, a Golden Core Elder of Qixia Sect. You and I are both elders of our sect, so there is no need for us to act like juniors."

"We have other important matters to attend to and cannot linger here any longer. If Elder Du has time in the future, we would be happy to meet at the Lotus Pavilion on South Peak. The three of us will be staying here for the next few months."

The young woman in white smiled gently and spoke words of goodwill.

"Please do as you wish, elders. I will certainly pay you a visit in the future." Du Fan smiled slightly, cupped his hands to the three of them, and returned the greeting very politely.

"Alright, it's a deal. We'll take our leave now." Lu Ziqing nodded and smiled as he said goodbye to Du Fan.

The gray-robed elder nodded with a smile, while the black-robed elder remained expressionless. The three then left the South Peak Elder Hall.

As the three walked out of the main hall, the black-robed elder's face immediately darkened. He frowned and said, "Elder Lu, this person is just a junior in the Qi Refining stage. Why are you being so polite to him?"

I don't know what the sect leader and senior brothers were thinking. They insisted on creating an honorary elder position for this kid in the Qixia Sect. Our sect has always had strict rules and regulations. How could they let a junior from outside the Qi Refining stage serve as an elder? Isn't this ridiculous?

This is utterly absurd! Humph!

Upon hearing this, the gray-robed elder's expression immediately turned strange, but he did not say anything.

"It seems Elder Wei really doesn't know about that matter. No wonder, you've been in seclusion all day, rarely paying attention to outside affairs. Your lack of information is why you have this attitude now," Lu Ziqing sighed.

"Oh? Could there be some hidden story behind this?" Elder Wei's heart stirred upon hearing this, and his eyes flashed with a sharp light.

"Among all the Golden Core elders in our sect, you are probably the only one who doesn't know the reason behind it. Before Elder Du came to Qixia Sect, he was already a retainer of the Seven Star Merchant Alliance. It seems that he received special favor from Senior Xiao Yan, who personally arranged for him to come to our Qixia Sect to cultivate and sent Fellow Daoist Qiao Jiangnan to escort him all the way."

The person who is valued by Senior Xiao Yan must have an extraordinary status. Even the elders and ancestors of this sect have to take this matter seriously, which is why they bestowed such a position upon him. Otherwise, how could the sect leader dare to do such a thing?

I also heard that the rumors circulating yesterday about Elder Du's romantic affairs were deliberately spread by Elder Ouyang and his group.

The fact that Du Fan has become an elder of this sect will inevitably bring him some pressure, and what they did was to minimize this pressure for Elder Du.

All of the above clearly demonstrates the importance that the sect's higher-ups place on this person. Therefore, Elder Wei would be best advised to refrain from speaking recklessly in the future, lest he bring trouble upon himself.

Lu Ziqing's expression turned serious as he spoke to the old man in black robes.

"So that's how it is. Thank you for reminding me, Elder Lu." Elder Wei's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. After a long while, he let out a long breath and cupped his hands in greeting to Lu Ziqing.

……

"Elder Du, I am Chen Zhijian, one of the stewards of the South Peak Elder Hall. Is there anything Elder Du may require of me?"

The green-robed youth behind the counter turned out to be an extremely ugly, dark-faced man. He had already learned of Du Fan's identity from the previous conversation. At this moment, he clasped his hands in greeting, his expression not exactly respectful, but rather quite polite.

"So it's Steward Chen. I've come here to collect my monthly salary." Du Fan nodded to him and stated his purpose directly.

"Elder Du came here for this matter?" The green-robed youth was taken aback upon hearing this, looking utterly astonished.

"What? Is there something wrong with this? Perhaps I don't have the authority to do so?" Du Fan frowned and asked.

"Elder Du, please don't misunderstand. That's not what I meant. Elder Du has all the authority of an elder of this sect. It's just that you can easily ask the inner sect servants to do such a small thing as receiving your monthly salary."

"There are plenty of servants in our sect. Even inner disciples have the right to command servants, let alone someone of Elder Du's status." Upon hearing this, Chen Zhijian immediately waved his hand and explained to Du Fan with a smile.

"Oh? Is that so? I wonder what I should do to summon the servants?" Du Fan was slightly taken aback and asked in surprise. If he could command the servants, it would be much more convenient for him in the future.

"It seems Elder Du is unaware of this matter. May I ask if there is a handprint on the wall of your room?" Chen Zhijian's eyes flashed, and he suddenly realized, asking.

"There is indeed a yellow handprint engraved on the wall of my living room. Could it be that this handprint has some significance?" Du Fan thought for a moment and then remembered that he had thought it was just for decoration, but now it seemed that it had a hidden meaning.

"That's right, that palm print is used to summon servants. As long as Elder Du places his palm on it and injects a little magic power into it, the servants will know who needs to serve them."

"Before long, an inner sect servant will arrive at Elder Du's place, ready to be at his beck and call." The green-robed youth smiled slightly and explained to Du Fan in this way.

"Thank you for informing me, Deacon Chen. This will make things much more convenient for me in the future." Du Fan cupped his hands in thanks, though his expression remained calm, he was inwardly marveling.

"This is nothing to mention, but since Elder Du is here, I will fetch your monthly salary." Chen Zhijian waved his hand and turned to leave.

A short while later, Chen Zhijian took out a storage bag, placed it on the counter, and said, "The monthly salary of an elder of this sect is 1,200 spirit stones, plus a teleportation subsidy of 200 spirit stones, and a Golden Life Pill. It's all here. Elder Du, please take a look."

"One thousand two hundred, plus two hundred, it seems that the treatment of the elders of Qixia Sect is not much worse than that of the Seven Star Merchant Alliance. It's just that the so-called Golden Life Pill should be less valuable than the Bright Moon Pill." Du Fan thought to himself upon hearing this.

He immediately scanned the storage bag with his divine sense and found that it contained fourteen mid-grade spirit stones and a small golden bottle. He immediately showed a satisfied expression and said, "No problem, thank you for your trouble, Deacon Chen. I have some other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

"Elder Du, please feel free to do as you please. If you need anything in the future, you can come to me at any time," Chen Zhijian said with a smile, cupping his fists in greeting to Du Fan.

Du Fan smiled and nodded, then put away the storage bag on the counter and left the South Peak Elder Hall.

During the descent, Du Fan naturally relied on the power of the Swiftness Talisman to run back the way he came.

When he passed through the area at the foot of the mountain, he encountered many inner disciples. These inner disciples were generally young, with very few being over twenty years old.

Some disciples recognized Du Fan and immediately stepped forward to pay their respects. Due to their youth, both men and women had clear and bright voices.

Their expressions showed only curiosity and interest, not the disdain and accusations that Du Fan had expected towards nouveau riche or second-generation rich kids. This made him secretly relieved, and he couldn't help but admire the good family tradition of Qixia Sect.

Although the Qixia Sect does not mandate specific clothing for its disciples, female disciples mostly wear yellow robes, while male disciples wear sky-blue robes.

Du Fan, who was quite knowledgeable about science, naturally knew that blue plus yellow equals green, especially since the sky-blue clothes worn by the male disciples and the yellow clothes worn by the female disciples complemented each other, revealing a faint glimmer of emerald green.

The emerald green color gives people a sense of vitality, making this place full of the vitality of nature. Coupled with the innocent smiles on the faces of the young disciples, Du Fan couldn't help but like Qixia Sect from the bottom of his heart, and it also swept away some of the melancholy he felt about the past of Kongsang Sect.

Du Fan returned the greetings to each of the disciples who came forward to pay their respects with a gentle smile, which took up a lot of time. By the time he arrived at the teleportation array at the foot of South Peak, the sun was about to set.

It wasn't until nightfall that Du Fan, feeling utterly exhausted, returned to his villa.

Stepping into the attic living room, Du Fan subconsciously glanced at the palm print on the wall, revealing a thoughtful expression. After a while, he walked straight into the cultivation room.

He has missed a lot of cultivation time recently, and he plans to focus on cultivation using the cultivation technique jade slip given to him by Elder Peony before the new equipment arrives.

As for the Soul Devouring Technique, Elder Peony made it very clear that he should master it in a short period of time, no matter what. Therefore, he would no longer do things like sleeping that would delay his own progress.

After taking a drop of the Mind-Concentrating Essential Oil, Du Fan began to circulate his internal energy to refine it.