There’s No Difficult Work, Only Brave Handymen
Junior Uncle?
Zhang Shun was not the only one taken aback. Xiao Ran was stunned too.
It was only then that he recalled the knowledge he had discovered by probing around and sorted through seriously, thinking he would never get to use it. It was knowledge regarding seniority.
The cultivation world was all about levels and ranks and survival of the fittest. If strangers met, they usually sorted themselves seniority-wise according to their ability.
In a cultivation sect, however, seniority did not depend on the level of cultivation base but on one's identity.
Usually, there were three levels of seniority in a sect.
The Sect Leader and Elders were all the way at the top of the sect, the Direct Disciples of the Sect Leader and Elders, along with the common trainers, were at the middle level of the sect, while Inner Disciples, Outer Disciples, and Outer Sect Trainers occupied the lowest level in terms of seniority.
In other words, Xiao Ran, who was an Elder's Direct Disciple, was… senior to common Outer Disciple Zhang Shun and even Outer Sect Trainer Lin Yunzi.
Outer Disciples were, to be frank, handymen. Very few of them could refine Qi throughout their whole life. Even Lin Yunzi, who had entered Qi Refining in his old age and had the honorable title of an Outer Sect Trainer, did not qualify to enter the Inner Sect.
Although he had been selected as a Direct Disciple and had yet to go into Qi Refining, it was certain that Xiao Ran would have a lot of chances to interact with the Outer Sect.
How could Lin Yunzi give up on this rare and precious opportunity?
Slap!
Dragging his shriveled arm, which was not unlike a dried branch, Lin Yunzi clapped a palm on the back of Zhang Shun's head. His movement was so sharp that it did not feel like the movement of an old man.
"Why have you frozen? Greet Junior Uncle quickly!"
There was nothing like a slap that felt like an awakening call…
Zhang Shun recovered from his trance and suddenly realized that—Holy sh*t, he was not even a senior brother, but a junior uncle!
The old trainer had already called Xiao Ran Junior Uncle. What else could Zhang Shun do?
"Junior… Un—Uncle."
Lin Yunzi gave him another slap.
"Use your name!"
Zhang Shun was ashen-faced as he said in a spiritless voice, "Disciple Zhang Shun… greets Junior Uncle Xiao."
Xiao Ran gave him a curt nod, not planning to continue face-slapping him. He knew that it was not just the freedom of the sect rules that emboldened Zhang Shun to not bow down to him. The latter knew that he would not be petty since his status was much higher than his.
It would be embarrassing and hilarious for a Direct Disciple to stoop down to a handyman disciple's level!
At the peak of swordsmanship, one could look down at the world in pride. Heaven was as far as a Sword Immortal could reach. Cultivators like Zhang Shun paid no heed to ghosts and deities and did not kneel down before heaven… but he would give in anytime in front of his trainer.
Heaven would not hold a grudge, but his trainer could actually make him kneel.
One could donate one million to the country but be unwilling to donate a cow. This was because one did not have a million but was in actual possession of a cow.
Now, Outer Sect Trainer Lin Yunzi, who could subdue Zhang Shun anytime, was bowing low to Xiao Ran.
There was no way Zhang Shun could remain obstinate.
Xiao Ran was able to see that Lin Yunzi intended to support and protect the Overseer. After all, he was asking him to admit his mistake instantly lest it affected his future.
If it were someone else, the old man would probably stay as far away as he could from a fool who disrespected a Direct Disciple.
"Do you have any orders for us while descending here, Junior Uncle?"
Xiao Ran glanced at the tall, lean, and lively old man.
"This is not necessarily an order. I want to build a disciple room on the Sword-Wielding Mountain. It would be best if I could build it with high-quality bamboo and wood…"
Before he could finish, Lin Yunzi replied promptly, "Understood. This disciple will make arrangements now and send wood and bamboo up the Sword-Wielding Mountain in a while for the handymen to build it."
Xiao Ran shook his head.
"No, Master's resting. I'm thinking of building the house here in advance and then moving it to the peak to fix the base."
Lin Yunzi wet his tongue. "Elder must be fond of you given your filial devotion, Junior Uncle."
Xiao Ran did not reply. Instead, he opened the system store by focusing his attention and found the Maximum Level Construction Skill.
"Life Skill: Maximum Level Construction. This skill will deplete 3 DP. Do you want to purchase it?"
'Yes.'
"Congratulations, you've obtained life skill Maximum Level Construction!"
There was a buzz in Xiao Ran's mind before it was upgraded with new knowledge. Fengshui and spiritual veins, materials made of rock and wood, load-bearing and structure, and more professional construction concepts converged as they manifested in the best form.
Xiao Ran's mind was as clear as the starry sky.
Instinctively, he took a glance at the towers covered in vines.
This place was at the end of Zongzhi Mountain's spiritual vein and the materials of the stone tower were excellent. However, the structure of the design was subpar, thus failing to absorb abundant spiritual energy into itself.
Meanwhile, his master's straw hut seemed shabby but its location was amazing. In addition to the specific arrays, it was basically the best of the best. It was no wonder his master wanted him to build the disciple room based on the straw hut…
There was still space for improvement when it came to his master's straw hut, however, especially in terms of comfort and convenience.
This was part of Xiao Ran's motivation to build the disciple room.
Meanwhile, Lin Yunzi had found the 12 strongest handymen swiftly and assigned them to chop some wood, asking them to have all construction materials ready in two hours.
Zhang Shun was included in the group of working men too.
He was unhappy about it, but when Xiao Ran did not act all high and pompous in front of him or take revenge, he suddenly thought that it was boring and he looked like the petty one now.
He resentfully accepted the instruction and turned to lead the rest of the men into the deeper part of the forest.
Xiao Ran reached the foyer of the Outer Sect Management and asked Lin Yunzi to fetch him some paper and brush so he could begin sketching the blueprint of the disciple room.
It was going to have two floors with two rooms and two living areas, a kitchen, a bathroom, and some furniture…
Xiao Ran's brush moved quickly over the paper as though he was scribbling, yet what he drew was as neat and clean as if the plan was printed. The design looked like it had a complicated structure but felt like the simplest way to the great Dao.
Lin Yunzi alternated between stopping to stare at Xiao Ran working from the side and falling into deep thought as he paced around. He was rather knowledgeable construction-wise, as he had led the handymen disciples into building quite a number of buildings in the sect.
Upon scrutinizing Xiao Ran's design, he was impressed by the general structure yet thought the details were not as fine. After long contemplation, however, it felt like a gong was hit within him when he was enlightened.
Lin Yunzi was so thoroughly immersed in the shock that he had even forgotten something as important as taking advantage of this opportunity to suck up to Xiao Ran.
Then, he stared at Xiao Ran for a long moment before coming to a conclusion: It must not have been a coincidence that the Sword-Wielding Elder had picked him as her Direct Disciple!
Before too long—to be precise, in less than two hours—the logging team came back victorious.
Incredible amounts of rosewood, ebony, purple elm, and Zongzhi Mountain's specialty, blue bamboo, were piled on the square in front of the stone tower. These materials were unranked earthly items but were all precious and expensive.
In addition, they were much larger than their kind in the mortal realm and of better quality. It would have cost no less than millions if Xiao Ran had bought them on earth in his previous life.
Xiao Ran cupped a palm over his fist.
"Thank you, everyone."
The construction was next.
After expending too much strength on his master, Xiao Ran was unable to build the structure personally and had to ask these handymen disciples for a favor. He then retrieved his sketched blueprint.
"This is the plan for the disciple room. All the details are specified. We'll build the house here first and then transfer it to the mountain before the sun sets. Can you guys do it?"
Zhang Shun was riled by his words and urged the rest of the men to answer, "Yes, Junior Uncle!"
Under Lin Yunzi's command, the team removed the branches, shaved the bark, sawed the trunks, evened the wood, and dug channels… Their speed was extremely fast and orderly and looked completely professional.
After all, most buildings in the sect had been made by these people.
Xiao Ran could not help exclaiming about how dynamic and conscientious these handymen disciples were. It was like there was no difficult work, only brave handymen at work!
By evening, the setting sun stained the mountains red.
A beautiful two-story disciple house had been erected on the square.
It was wooden and not painted but it gave off an exquisite sense, as though it was already painted and had sculpted pillars. At the same time, it felt majestic and uplifting, like a work of heaven, and gave off the crushing impact of the ultimate truth! Especially when the sunset hue caressed the roof, it was completely mesmerizing.
All the handymen disciples were so awestruck that they were wondering if they had really partaken in building it. When they looked at Xiao Ran again, their gazes were different.
A Direct Disciple was truly never a stroke of serendipity!
Xiao Ran did not plan to take advantage of the disciples' labor. He thus retrieved a spirit stone from the system storage.
When he'd completed the procedure and joined the sect, he had specifically asked the attending Senior Brother to retrieve his spirit stones from the interspatial ring and held on to them in case he needed to use them.
After the system had been awakened, he had kept the spirit stones and interspatial ring in the storage space.
Xiao Ran tossed the spirit stone to the handymen disciples and said, "Thank you all. This spirit stone is a token for your labor."
Spirit stones were incredibly valuable in the Dao-Ending Period.
Even a famous school like Zongzhi Mountain provided its Inner Disciples with one spirit stone as their monthly stipend, while the handymen disciples had only silver taels.
The handymen rarely saw a whole spirit stone, so their eyes shone. All they could think of was how they would split it among them. They did not intend to turn down Xiao Ran.
"Thank you, Junior Uncle!"
Lin Yunzi did not even want to look at them as he cried, "Nonsense!"
Xiao Ran stopped him. After all, the foundation of a long-lasting collaboration was based on both parties benefiting from each other. He then retrieved two more spirit stones from his system storage.
"These are for you."
Lin Yunzi had done nothing that required payment, so he dared not accept them.
"This disciple has done nothing…"
Xiao Ran smiled. "Well, I still need you to take the house to the Sword-Wielding Mountain for me."
"That doesn't justify a grand gift like this."
"I also need some time to cultivate, and it's inconvenient to leave and return to the mountain, so…"
Before Xiao Ran could finish, Lin Yunzi retrieved 10 yellow papers with complex spiritual patterns that were glowing faint green because of his interspatial ring.
"Here are 10 Flying Talismans. They're low-tier but they have faint spiritual energy. Dripping blood on them will activate them. Junior Uncle can use them without worrying."
A talisman for domestic use?
Xiao Ran nodded.
He could see that the value of these 10 Flying Talismans was greater than that of two spirit stones.
The old man was full of tact.
Before Xiao Ran could respond, Lin Yunzi retrieved a black-iron button.
"Junior Uncle, you may need this too."
Feeling a little surprised, Xiao Ran thought he had seen similar items in Western movies.
"What's this?"
Lin Yunzi answered, "This is a blood-drop button that can open the interspatial ring, but the spiritual energy will be expended in a handful of uses. You will have to time your usage, Junior Uncle."
Despite Xiao Ran's surprise, he thought that he could now shift things such as his sword from the ring to the system storage for immediate use.
"Your effort is appreciated."
Lin Yunzi's eyes were crescent-shaped as he smiled. "It's what I should do."
Following Lin Yunzi's steps, Xiao Ran held a talisman and bit the pad of his finger to drip a droplet of blood onto the spiritual pattern.
In a flash, the talisman expanded upon coming into contact with the blood and grew into a huge yellow paper kite. Immediately, 12 handymen in the Body Tempering stage with bulging muscles moved the house onto the paper kite in unison.
The spirit stone was really a massive encouragement to the handymen disciples' strength.
Lin Yunzi cupped a palm over his fist to see Xiao Ran off while saying, "Since Elder Lingzhou is resting, this disciple will not be disturbing her."
"…"
'Is he not accompanying me?'
Xiao Ran panicked a little. He hesitated for a while before he braced himself, stepped on the paper kite, and sat in front of the house in the lotus position. Sensing the paper kite with his bloodline, he controlled it and made it fly.
There was a squeak before the paper kite took off shakily, flying toward the Sword-Wielding Mountain. In the background were the mountains and the setting sun.