“Junior Brother, don't listen to their bickering. Many people want to get into our Gold Vault but can't!” Wang Dahei started counting on his fingers.
“We don't want those disloyal to the sect, those bad at arithmetic, those who can't learn Formations, and those who aren't fast runners. Don't think I don't know, several of you are already Qi Condensation Level 3, but you keep suppressing your cultivation, unwilling to advance to Level 4 and become Outer Sect Disciples.”
“Why? Isn't it because we brothers here are carefree and at ease, with no scheming, and no need to be treated like donkeys or horses for others?”
Wang Dahei's plump fingers pointed at each Senior Brother one by one. Whoever he pointed at would chuckle and nod heavily.
After circling his fingers, Wang Dahei finally pointed at himself, “Speaking of others, why am I so fat? It's from suppressing my cultivation, turning Spiritual Qi into fat. If not for this, I, Wang Dahei, would also be a handsome youth capable of bringing disaster to the country and people, like a jade tree in the wind, and would have long found my other half, starting a blissful life of being a couple morning and night…”
As he spoke, Qian Duoduo seemed to see tears flash in Wang Dahei's eyes.
“Senior Brother, I just arrived. Could you tell me the rules here, so I can start working sooner?” Qian Duoduo quickly changed the subject.
Wang Dahei straightened his body, “Look at our Junior Brother, how eager he is to work!”
From the eight Senior Brothers, Qian Duoduo learned what the Gold Vault caretakers did.
The entire Gold Vault was cleaned daily and inventoried every ten days.
On the surface, these money-watching tasks seemed simple.
However, the Gold Vault was filled with Formations; the Formations on each floor's corridor and main gate were different, the Formations in each room varied, and the Formations in each gold storage cave and gold hiding hole were also different.
There were over two thousand Formations inside the Gold Vault and over a thousand outside.
The power of the Gold Vault's Formations was immense. According to Wang Dahei, even if a Grand Elder of the sect stepped on one, he would be severely injured.
Qian Duoduo asked with his mouth agape, “What if we accidentally forget or misremember and step on a Formation?”
“Whoosh!” Wang Dahei blew out a breath, “Turn into air, and disappear forever.”
With a “buzz,” Qian Duoduo's head swelled, “Senior Brother, are you joking?”
Qian Duoduo felt the pressure of being a caretaker.
Four thousand Formations, four thousand thunderclaps. Oh my heavens!
“No. Although we have the Gold Vault's token, we can only make three mistakes a day. On the fourth mistake, the Formation will show no mercy,” Wang Dahei said seriously. The other Senior Brothers also nodded in agreement.
Being allowed three mistakes a day brought a glimmer of light to Qian Duoduo, but it was far from enough, “Nearly four thousand Formations, who can remember them all?”
Wang Dahei proudly patted his chest, “So far, I, Wang Dahei, have done it, and over these years, with zero errors.”
“Wow,” in Qian Duoduo's eyes, the Great Master instantly shone with dazzling light.
The other Senior Brothers nodded one after another, saying, “That's why he's called Great Master.”
“It's nothing, nothing worth mentioning,” Wang Dahei said modestly, “I've divided the Gold Vault into several sections, and your other Senior Brothers are each responsible for one section—”
Qian Duoduo's eyes lit up, “This way, I only need to remember the Formations in my own section, not all of them! Great Master, you're really smart.”
“Everything for our brothers, everything for the Gold Vault,” Wang Dahei laughed heartily, ripples of flesh jiggling on his face.
“Great Master, since our work is so dangerous, shouldn't the sect give us more benefits?” In Qian Duoduo's view, the greater the danger, the greater the reward should be.
Wang Dahei's face immediately became calm. Although he praised the Gold Vault to the heavens, the reality that they were all miscellaneous Disciples remained. Those at the bottom received bottom-level income; thinking too much only tormented oneself.
Seeing the atmosphere turn sour, Qian Duoduo quickly pulled out the “Complete Guide to Gold Vault Formations,” “Great Master, please teach me Formations, so I can help alleviate the Senior Brothers' worries sooner.”
For several days in a row, Qian Duoduo went to the Gold Vault during the day, holding the “Complete Guide to Gold Vault Formations,” listening to the Great Master explain each Formation one by one, and watching the Senior Brothers run up and down the building with Jade Slips.
They carried Jade Slips because they also had to record the cleaning and inventory process and transmit it to the Elder.
Only then could they prove they had actually worked.
Trying to be lazy was impossible.
At night, Qian Duoduo swallowed the medicinal herbs Liu Bo had secretly gathered and cultivated desperately. The ten or so extra herbs in the Golden Toad were stolen by Liu Bo from Jin Buhuan's courtyard.
When he was so tired he felt like falling apart and wanted to lie down, Qian Duoduo would glance at the motionless youth in the Golden Toad.
Instantly, Qian Duoduo regained his strength.
If you are not hard on yourself, someone will want you dead.
Qian Duoduo sometimes thought, “No matter who I am, if possible, helping Jin Buhuan achieve his ideal and letting his mother live a good life would also be something that makes me very happy. Bearing his identity and having eaten these full meals, I should do something for him.”
On the third night, the last Acupoint of the second level of the Golden Light Technique was unblocked by him.
Spiritual Qi poured into his Dantian like a flood. Two small rivers of Spiritual Qi, originating from the same source but flowing through different meridians, surged within his body, making Qian Duoduo's Spiritual Awareness a few points more agile.
“Boom,” a loud noise echoed in his ears, and his spiritual power uncontrollably rushed in all directions, causing the Wood House to shake.
“A Breakthrough? Junior Brother.” Wang Dahei's voice came from outside the house.
Qian Duoduo opened the door and saw all eight Senior Brothers standing in the courtyard.
“Qi Condensation Level 2.” Qian Duoduo scratched his head, embarrassed, “I couldn't control my strength and made the Senior Brothers laugh.”
“Not bad. Junior Brother, how long have you been practicing?” Wang Dahei patted his shoulder.
Qian Duoduo was stunned, “Practicing—” He originally wanted to say about a month, but then he remembered he was Jin Buhuan and immediately changed his words, “Practicing for over two years.”
“Your progress isn't slow.” The Senior Brothers encouraged him a couple more times, then all returned to their houses.
Closing the door, Qian Duoduo could no longer pretend to be calm, and he shouted twice in his mind to Liu Boli: “I'm Level 2! I'm Level 2!”
Taking out two chicken feet from the Golden Toad, he pinched an incantation with his index and middle fingers and pointed at them. The two chicken feet obediently listened, rising into the air. With a flick of his fingers, the chicken feet danced gracefully in the air like two light butterflies.
After playing for a while, as the chicken feet flew, a faint wind sound gradually emerged. This made Qian Duoduo very proud.
Liu Bo said to him from inside the Golden Toad: “In the Immortal Cultivation World, people generally use Flying Swords. You can practice with the wooden sword issued by the sect, and in the future, you can even fly by controlling a sword.”
He thought it made sense, “How majestic my Palace Lord Dajiu is, stepping on a Flying Sword.” Qian Duoduo picked up the wooden sword and went to the courtyard.
The wooden sword was about the same weight as the two chicken feet, so controlling it was not difficult at all. Before long, the courtyard was filled with the sound of the wooden sword breaking through the air.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Qian Duoduo didn't know how long he had been playing when Lei Jiashu came out and slowly said, “Junior Brother, we still have work tomorrow, let people sleep for a while.”
From the other Wood Houses, muffled laughter also came.
Only then did Qian Duoduo realize that this was no longer the cave in the Jail, nor was he alone in confinement; eight Senior Brothers also lived in the courtyard.
He fled back to his Wood House, but he couldn't bear to sleep.
“Qi Condensation Level 2 is achieved, it's time to practice Level 3! The gap with Jin Buque is only seven levels!”
The next day, Qian Duoduo entered the Gold Vault to learn Formations from the Great Master.
Now that he was Qi Condensation Level 2, his learning speed had increased significantly. He felt that in another ten days or so, he would be able to help the Senior Brothers with their work and no longer be a freeloader.
“This is the Mingyi Formation. The upper three layers are bright, and the lower three layers are dark… Do you have any questions about this Formation? If not, shall we move on to the next?” The Great Master looked up and asked me.
Before Qian Duoduo could answer, he jumped off his chair.
“Palace Lord!” The Great Master's face was flushed with excitement.
“Swish,” cold sweat broke out on Qian Duoduo's back, and his body froze like ice.
Standing before them was none other than Tang Honggong, the Palace Lord of Mengyuan Mountain.
The Great Master whom Jin Buhuan, by his mother's command, addressed as “Dajiu.”