After a good while of playful banter, Chu Huaian finally reined in his smile and began to address serious matters.
"I'm about to announce a few things."
"First, new players can claim construction quests from the Sect interface, mainly responsible for building the main hall and side halls.
Second, the Sect will expand outwards, and at that time, Zhao Shijie's team will be responsible for clearing out the outer demonic beasts.
Third, see that area? There, you can build your own houses.
Fourth, build outer walls and create a Sect barrier.
Fifth, there's a Spirit Stone mine in the back mountain; you can claim mining quests every day, and the Spirit Stones you mine can be handed over to Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Jiang Xiaoxiao is now appointed as the Spirit Vein Administrator."
Jiang Xiaoxiao, who was listening attentively, was slightly stunned, not expecting such sudden good fortune.
This was the Sect's first administrator; on the Sect information page, her position changed from ordinary disciple to Sect Council Member.
In other words, from now on, Jiang Xiaoxiao will enjoy the treatment of an inner disciple, receiving one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones and one thousand Sect Contribution Points each month.
Someone roughly calculated that if converted to soft currency, that would be 500,000!
"Hiss..."
Everyone gasped, their eyes glowing green.
Envy, jealousy, and hatred!
Jiang Xiaoxiao was bewildered, her eyes wide, staring blankly at Chu Huaian.
"What are you spacing out for? Hurry and accept the appointment!" Huo Sichun, beside her, urgently pushed her.
"Oh, oh..."
Jiang Xiaoxiao quickly ran forward, her body awkwardly twisting, trying to perform an ancient bow, but she didn't know which hand went in front and which went behind, drawing laughter from the other players.
"Xiao Xiao is so cute." Chen Shaocong's eyes curved into crescent moons, his lips unconsciously turning up.
Chu Huaian's mouth twitched slightly, and he waved his hand, saying, "Alright, our Sect doesn't follow that custom. Do well from now on, and if I find any Spirit Stones missing, I'll deduct your salary!"
"Hehe, I promise to do well, thank you, Xian Ge."
Jiang Xiaoxiao giggled, skipping back into the team.
"One last thing." Chu Huaian said halfway, his expression suddenly becoming serious, "One month from now, Hua Xia Sect will launch a Sect-destroying war against the Qingcheng Gang!"
"Players, this is Hua Xia Sect's first war. Life or death is in your hands."
As soon as he said this, everyone became highly enthusiastic, especially the few belligerent ones, who kept shouting things like "kill them all."
"I've explained everything that needed to be explained. Now, everyone, go do your quests."
With that, Chu Huaian soared into the air, disappearing from everyone's sight after a few leaps.
"Xian Ge's strength has grown again." Zhao Shijie muttered to himself.
The twenty new players were a bit lost at the moment. With the help of Jiang Xiaoxiao and Huo Sichun, they began to accept quests.
Wang Xiaojun and Li Yongxiao hit it off, and the two scurried into the forging room to tinker with their hot weapons.
Luo Xi did not take any quests; instead, she quietly went to the Scripture Pavilion alone and did not come out after entering.
Gongdi Xiao Wang led a dozen players into construction.
Zhao Shijie's four-person team formed a monster-slaying squad, collecting rewards according to the monster's level, and led Chen Shaocong, Huo Sichun, and several other high-level combatants towards the secret forest.
Originally, Qin Hao also wanted to go, but Fang Yuan dragged him away, and they ran into the Alchemy Room, tinkering with something unknown.
Two hours later, a sudden explosion sounded from the Alchemy Room, startling everyone. Then, two black figures ran out from inside.
Chu Huaian, fearing that the two might blow up the Sect, reluctantly advised them to go to the Scripture Pavilion to find relevant books to study before considering alchemy.
Fang Yuan and Qin Hao were both impatient. They found a few alchemy books in the Scripture Pavilion and then excitedly ran back to the Alchemy Room.
After some tinkering, there was another loud bang.
This time it was more severe than before; the roof of the Alchemy Room was blown open.
By the time Chu Huaian arrived, the two lay dying in the rubble.
Seeing Chu Huaian, the two tremblingly reached out to him, murmuring, "Help, help..."
Chu Huaian's face was covered in black lines. He fed them two Lesser Revitalizing Pills, then kicked them out of the Alchemy Room and posted a notice at the entrance of the Alchemy Room: Fang Yuan and Qin Hao are not allowed inside.
What angered Chu Huaian even more was that those alchemy books were all destroyed. Because of this, he found Luo Xi, who was reading in the Scripture Pavilion, and appointed her as the Scripture Pavilion Administrator.
There was only one task: all books must not be taken out of the Scripture Pavilion.
Luo Xi calmly accepted, stating that she would definitely complete the task.
Chu Huaian nodded with satisfaction; he had a very good impression of Luo Xi.
He thought the matter was over, but he hadn't been back to the back mountain for long when he heard another explosion.
Those thatched huts were all blown up!
And the culprits were Luo Xi, Fang Yuan, and Qin Hao!
Fang Yuan and Qin Hao knew they had caused trouble and scurried into the secret forest, leaving Luo Xi alone standing in the rubble, looking melancholic.
Chu Huaian looked at Luo Xi, who was bowing her head in apology, feeling a bit of a toothache. "What happened?"
"I... I..." Luo Xi spoke for a long time but couldn't explain herself, so she could only stand obediently, awaiting punishment.
"It's alright, just tell me. I know this wasn't your doing." Chu Huaian tried to keep his tone gentle and said patiently.
Luo Xi secretly raised her head, glanced at Chu Huaian, nervously rubbing her fingers, and weakly said:
"I just learned a move from a book, and then I wanted to try it out..."
"Originally, I was practicing it at the Arena, but then Senior Brother Fang and Senior Brother Qin saw it and wanted to see its power, so they brought me here, and then..."
At this point, Luo Xi's head lowered a few more inches.
Chu Huaian's eyes narrowed slightly, and he opened Luo Xi's panel, only then realizing that she had unknowingly advanced to the Smelting Body Realm.
To be able to cause such destructive power in the Smelting Body Realm, one can imagine how high Luo Xi's cultivation talent was.
"Your salary for this month will be deducted. Don't do this again next time."
"Mm... I know I was wrong." Luo Xi nodded slightly, her attitude extremely sincere.
"Go back."
Looking at the well-behaved and sensible Luo Xi, Chu Huaian showed a relieved smile.
"Okay..."
Luo Xi left, leaving with a sense of melancholy.
She decided that from now on, she would stay far away from Senior Brother Fang and Senior Brother Qin!
She wasn't the only one feeling melancholic; Chu Huaian was too.
For the next few days, he probably wouldn't have a place to sleep.
With two troublemakers gone from the Sect, peace returned once more.
But this peace did not last long. As evening approached, yet another deafening explosion echoed through the Sect.
Half of the Arena was completely destroyed.
"We succeeded, we succeeded!"
Wang Xiaojun and Li Yongxiao stood in the rubble, their faces beaming with excitement.
Before the two could celebrate for too long, a strong gust of wind appeared, knocking them out of the Sect, accompanied by an angry roar: "Get to the secret forest!"
...
Days passed like this, until the seventh day, when the Sect finally saw its first Qi Refining Stage player.
Unsurprisingly, this person was Zhao Shijie.
Once one enters the Qi Refining Stage, it means one can communicate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and cultivate Dao arts.
For this, Chu Huaian rewarded him with a Spirit Tool.
This made all the players incredibly envious.
They knew that what they used were only Mortal Weapons, and Spirit Tools in the mall were worth a thousand contribution points.
In the cultivation world, weapon grades are divided into: Mortal Weapon, Spirit Tool, Magic Treasure, Immortal Weapon, Dao Weapon, Emperor Tool, and Grandmist Spirit Treasure.
With the Spirit Tool's enhancement, Zhao Shijie's strength at least doubled.
On the same day, Zhao Shijie and his group encountered members of the Qingcheng Gang in the secret forest.
Seeing their enemies, the players' eyes immediately turned red, and without a word, they charged forward to fight.