Chapter 178 - 37: Finally Able to Idle

With just a thought from Zhang Deming, a vine sprouted from the palm of his hand.

No hand seals, no incantations, not even the slightest pre-casting motion—it was just like a technique condensed by a Rune Core.

Right now, aside from his Cultivation level, he was no different from a Tai Chi Cultivator who had just entered the Tai Chi Stage.

He even had two techniques he could cast without hand seals.

Zhang Deming closed the panel and walked directly to the edge of the pool outside his courtyard. With a thought, the surrounding plants began to grow wildly.

One by one, their leaves transformed into jade-green vines that swayed in the breeze.

Zhang Deming began experimenting with various techniques. When he combined the Enhancement Skill and the Growth Technique, he discovered that in terms of both power and form, he was completely on par with a Tai Chi Cultivator.

It wasn’t some kind of explosive burst. Even his most ordinary power now had the might of the Tai Chi Stage.

After testing for a long time, Zhang Deming finally suppressed his excitement and dispelled the technique.

The surrounding jade-like vines instantly turned into specks of light and vanished into the air.

Zhang Deming composed himself and went back inside to sleep.

Early the next morning, Zhang Deming contacted Fatty Shao Jiefeng. After a moment of thought, he also contacted Ma Songhai, whom he had just met the day before.

Unlike his relationship with someone like Qin Shizhong, which began in their humble days, Fatty Shao Jiefeng, although very proactive and clearly trying to curry favor with him, was purely a businessman. Theirs wasn’t a friendship forged in obscurity, and without Zhang Deming as a channel, the man’s status wouldn’t be threatened.

Therefore, if he only did business with this one person, Zhang Deming couldn’t guarantee he’d receive sufficient discounts or be given enough importance.

Without a deep enough friendship, maintaining his options was the best choice for Zhang Deming.

...

Fatty Shao Jiefeng and the middle-aged Ma Songhai were both Outer Disciples who worked shifts at the headquarters’ Contribution Office.

In terms of status, they were more or less the same.

Both were overjoyed to receive Zhang Deming’s message.

Ma Songhai was happy because if he handled the half-jin of Blood Emotion Wine from yesterday well, Zhang Deming would likely continue to sell through him.

Yesterday, he had seen two fruits, which probably weighed eight or nine jin, close to ten jin in total.

This was no small sum of Spirit Stones, and he could take a hefty commission from it.

Shao Jiefeng was happy because this big spender was likely contacting him about the supplementary materials for his promotion.

Outside Qingyou Pool, Fatty Shao Jiefeng and the middle-aged Ma Songhai arrived at almost the exact same time.

They were both startled to see each other. Ma Songhai frowned at Shao Jiefeng and said, "Fatty Shao, what are you doing here?"

Shao Jiefeng’s expression darkened as he looked at Ma Songhai. "What am I doing here? This is my high-value client, alright? Didn’t you see that I was the one who raised his encryption clearance?

I haven’t even asked you yet. What are *you* doing here?

What, are petty deals not enough for you anymore? Bending the rules doesn’t satisfy you, so now you’re going after my priority client?

Aren’t you taking this a bit too far?

If this gets brought to the Steward, I’ll be the one in the right."

Ma Songhai froze. He hadn’t actually noticed that. After all, Zhang Deming was just an Intermediate Apprentice and hadn’t shown any unusual behavior yesterday.

He had just thought he was an ordinary, lucky junior brother and had even planned to squeeze some extra profit out of him.

’Looks like there’s more to this than meets the eye.’

In the Resources Department’s internal system, clearance wasn’t granted casually.

Each of them only had a few opportunities to maintain such clearance. This type of designated client was internally called a "priority client."

Normally, poaching them was not allowed.

But with this sort of thing, everyone knew how it really was.

So there was no effective way to stop it. Besides, if things really blew up, Ma Songhai wouldn’t be in any real trouble. It was, after all, a chance encounter, so Zhang Deming could be considered a client he had discovered himself.

"Heh. My apologies, but he is my high-end client as well.

You can go ahead and check yesterday’s work logs on this. Even if you take it to the Steward, I’m still in the right," Ma Songhai replied with a smile.

"You..."

Before Shao Jiefeng could finish, the array fluctuated.

Both men’s expressions changed in a flash. They turned, smiling, toward Zhang Deming as he walked out.

"You’re both here. That was quick. Come on in and we’ll talk," Zhang Deming said.

Shao Jiefeng smiled. "How could I dare to be slow for a big-spending client like Junior Brother Zhang?"

Not to be outdone, Ma Songhai also smiled. "We agreed to do business. I couldn’t let my junior brother down, now could I? So I had to hurry."

Zhang Deming looked at the two smiling men. ’They’re already competing?’

’And I haven’t even done anything yet!’

’Hmm, not bad.’

’At least, not bad for me.’

"Please, let’s go inside and talk," Zhang Deming said with a smile.

Zhang Deming led the two men into the small courtyard of the Qingyou Jade Pavilion. The tea was already brewed.

He gestured, and the three of them sat down.

Zhang Deming first looked at Shao Jiefeng and said, "Senior Brother Shao, it’s been about half a month, right? Are the materials I requested ready?"

Shao Jiefeng smiled, took out two Jade Boxes, and opened them gently.

Inside one was a transparent bottle, and inside the other was an exquisite crystal stone.

"One jin of Refined Crystal Stone and one standard bottle of Primordial Spirit Liquid. Fortunately, I managed to gather them all. That will be one hundred and thirty-five Spirit Stones."

Zhang Deming now had nearly three hundred Spirit Stones. This was just from the payment he’d received before his last trip into the back mountains.

After so many days, the Spirit Nurturing Beads he had made before were probably almost sold out.

There should be another payment of Spirit Stones waiting for him.

Zhang Deming pushed a small chest forward and placed it in front of Shao Jiefeng. "Senior Brother, you can count them."

With that, he opened the chest.

Over a hundred Spirit Stones were laid out right before them.

For the two men, who were used to using Spirit Cards, the sight was quite impactful.

Shao Jiefeng chuckled. "Junior Brother still likes using physical Spirit Stones so much. There’s no need for me to count; I trust you."

Zhang Deming laughed. "It’s not that I like Spirit Stones, it’s just that I was so poor before. I enjoy the feeling of holding them. The numbers on a Spirit Card just feel too detached."

Of course, Zhang Deming wouldn’t tell him it was because he didn’t even have a Sect Spirit Card and didn’t want the Sect monitoring his wealth at all times.

Ma Songhai looked at the materials, feeling very puzzled. ’If I’m not mistaken, these are promotion materials, right?’

He glanced at Zhang Deming’s Cultivation. He was indeed an Intermediate Apprentice.

’He’s already preparing supplementary materials? What’s that supposed to mean?’

Although he was very confused, no one offered him an explanation.

Shao Jiefeng wished the guy would hurry up and leave so he wouldn’t steal his business.

"So now, the only supplementary material I’m missing is the Soul-Nourishing Fruit. Senior Brother Shao, besides exchanging Contribution Points, do you really have no other channels?" Zhang Deming asked.

Shao Jiefeng shook his head helplessly. Before he could speak, Ma Songhai cut in.

"Soul-Nourishing Fruit? That’s a general-purpose supplementary material for the Summoning Class, right? I happen to have some channels. Getting two or three of them shouldn’t be a problem."

Hearing this, Shao Jiefeng’s expression stiffened.

Zhang Deming was pleasantly surprised—this was the benefit of having multiple options. He looked at Ma Songhai and said, "Really?"

Ma Songhai replied, "Would I joke about something like this?

However, the Soul-Nourishing Fruit is an advanced supplementary material. The reason it can be exchanged for Contribution Points is that its original value is around fifty points.

Within the Sect, if you want to trade it for Spirit Stones, it costs eighty or ninety Spirit Stones.

I see the prices that Fatty Shao... er, Senior Brother Shao, has been giving you, Junior Brother, are quite low, so I won’t inflate my numbers either.

I should be able to get a Soul-Nourishing Fruit for eighty-five Spirit Stones at the lowest. Do you need one, Junior Brother?"

Zhang Deming nodded. "Yes. Senior Brother Ma, you can arrange for the delivery right now."

Ma Songhai paused for a moment. "Junior Brother is quite the impatient one. Alright, then."

With that, he glanced at Shao Jiefeng and tapped a Light Screen, operating it for a moment.

Seeing this, Zhang Deming realized all his materials were now gathered. His need for Contribution Points and the like was no longer so urgent, which meant there were some things he wouldn’t have to bring out.

He then looked at the two men, who were secretly competing, and said, "I called you both here today for something else besides buying materials."

Hearing this, Ma Songhai’s face lit up with joy. He looked at Zhang Deming, waiting for him to continue.

Shao Jiefeng shot a confused glance at Ma Songhai and also waited for Zhang Deming to continue.

Zhang Deming reached down by his feet, picked up two fruits, and said, "This second matter is that I’d like to ask you two to help me handle these. I don’t have the channels for this sort of thing."