Chapter 628 - 575: Storm Approaching
After the Inner Affairs Hall’s discussion, which had lasted more than twenty days, concluded, Jiang Yuebai finalized a fifty-year Guest Elder contract with Zhuge Shou and returned to the residence arranged for her by the Zhuge Family.
Zhuge Shou advised her to rest for half a month, explore around, and after getting familiar with various parts of the Zhuge Family, to begin her work.
The residence is located on a small island in the western lake within the inner city of the Zhuge Family. The island, artificially created, is small, with only a single courtyard.
There are other similar small islands around, all inhabited by the elders of the Zhuge Family.
The courtyard is well-equipped with facilities, with mechanisms and miniature armors visible everywhere to facilitate life and manage the chores throughout the courtyard.
Amusing herself with a line of Communication Wooden Birds on the windowsill, Jiang Yuebai sat at the table, gazing at the lush green bamboo outside the window, and began planning her forthcoming tasks.
Firstly, of course, is to accumulate Contribution Points from the Zhuge Family to exchange for their Refining God Cultivation Technique.
Regarding this, Zhuge Shou had already promised her that as long as she accumulated enough Contribution Points, she could exchange for any cultivation technique from the Zhuge Family, though they must not be passed on externally.
This generosity without any precaution truly surprised Jiang Yuebai.
However, the required Contribution Points seem astronomical to her right now, and she also needs to pay Contribution Points to learn the Yin Yang Family techniques within the Zhuge Family.
What they call Contribution Points, disciples like Bai Jiuyou refer to as academic credits.
Besides the fixed monthly salary, Guest Elders have three extra ways to earn Contribution Points: completing tasks issued by the Zhuge Family, researching new armors and secret techniques, and teaching classes.
She can delegate tasks to her clone; within the Lotus Platform Cave Heaven, there are also Little Demons and Yann Hongyu. With a little nurturing, they should be able to assist in making basic armor components.
Before coming, she roughly checked, and the task with the highest Contribution Points in the Inner Affairs Hall is supplying various armors to Ziwei and the Taiwei Star Alliance to resist the Demon Clan.
The Zhuge Family cleverly disassembled the various components, allowing disciples to take them, and later collected all the parts at the Armor Making Institute for unified assembly, greatly enhancing efficiency.
These tasks currently have no upper limit or deadline; the more, the better, paid per piece. Leaving a clone with Yann Hongyu and the Little Demon Spirit Beasts in the Lotus Platform Cave Heaven should suffice.
For cutting materials, find Jixiang and the Mouse, for forging, find Little Green. Once they become proficient, even that one clone won’t need to stay, and it can continue to do other things.
Researching new armors and secret techniques requires inspiration and can be set aside for now; she’ll consider it after finishing the million books in the Secret Academy.
Teaching, of course, needs preparation, and she also needs to attend classes herself.
The rules for earning Contribution Points through teaching are quite interesting. Even if she teaches every day for thirty days a month, she might not earn full Contribution Points, as students’ evaluations are also required.
A ten-point scale, passing with six points to get the set Contribution Points, and for each additional point, the Contribution Points double.
This method is reciprocal; disciples need elders’ scores to earn credits, and elders need disciples’ evaluations to earn Contribution Points.
Jiang Yuebai found this method excellent, as it enforces mutual restraint, allowing everyone to progress.
"I haven’t taught others for a long time; maybe I can bring back the teaching style from the Heavenly Interference Sect, where I tell adventure stories while lecturing! I also need to think of a few interesting methods, and when the clone has no tasks, it can attend classes too, aiming to earn the most Contribution Points in the shortest time."
She doesn’t need to worry about Bai Jiuyou at all; before joining the Zhuge Family, they agreed that Bai Jiuyou should earn everything she needs by herself and isn’t allowed to rely on her for money.
As children grow, they must learn independence, and only through proper training can they help with supporting the family in the future.
Jiang Yuebai released three clones; the four identical copies of herself sat around the table, each given tasks, and began working busily.
"Talisman, Array, and Artifact Refining can be taught together, just to Foundation Establishment Disciples, with a few Golden Core Masters, which should pose no difficulty."
"The classes I can take seem to be only those by Zhuge Ziyin and the Cicada Spirit True Monarch. The Zhuge Family has only the two of them as true Yin Yang Family experts, teaching related matters, and the rest requires self-study."
With the rise and fall of the sun, the four Jiang Yuebais busied themselves around the clock, finding joy in their tasks.
Jiang Yuebai also reorganized her insights gained from the Inner Affairs Hall discussion earlier, benefiting greatly and being inspired, finding directions for modifying the Puppet Avatar; she only needed to keep refining the core mechanism’s blueprint.
Supposedly, the Bronze Giant Puppet on the Inner Affairs Hall plaza is at the level of a Postnatal Spiritual Treasure, and she really wants to take it apart to study its internal structure.
She restrained herself!
Jiang Yuebai categorized and recorded new problems, preparing to consult books in the Secret Academy later and ask other elders for advice.
During breaks, Jiang Yuebai would still chat with the Dream Demon in the Lotus Platform Cave Heaven. Perhaps due to frequent conversations, the Dream Demon had become less agitated and resistant than before.
Taming it is just around the corner.
However, Anan still had not responded. Who knows what kept them busy, even having no time to enter the dream realm for cultivation.
After ten days, Jiang Yuebai finally arranged all miscellaneous matters properly.
In the Lotus Platform Cave Heaven, Yann Hongyu studied tearfully and laboriously. She couldn’t understand why, as a Ghost Cultivator with no lifespan limitation, she couldn’t just absorb Yin Qi there daily, but had to learn armor making.
However, under the pressure from Jiang Yuebai’s clone, and seeing that Jixiang and Little Green beside her were obedient without complaint, she could only comply.
Jiang Yuebai went alone to the Inner Affairs Hall, noticing several Zhuge Family disciples discussing how Fann Mingshan had voluntarily resigned as Guest Elder, leaving the Zhuge Family.
There was also talk of Zhuge Ziyin being punished by the Supreme Elder to face the wall at the bottom of the Trial Tower.
At the Inner Affairs Hall, Jiang Yuebai submitted her teaching schedule. The head steward of the Inner Affairs Hall was stunned, incredulous.
Is True Monarch Wangshu planning not to rest?
Teaching every day for thirty days in a month?
After repeatedly confirming with Jiang Yuebai, the Inner Affairs Hall’s head steward, with trembling hands, posted the schedule, waiting for disciples to choose their classes.
During a previous assessment at the Trial Tower, Jiang Yuebai had already revealed her two Divine Splits, so she simply no longer concealed them and, before the head steward of the Inner Affairs Hall, displayed two newly crafted humanoid Puppets.
The Puppets weren’t complex, identical to her in appearance, with basic functions and no special concealment of their Puppet identity.
Within the inner city, Jiang Yuebai’s Divine Sense was sufficient to control the two clones simultaneously.
The head steward of the Inner Affairs Hall was left gaping as three Jiang Yuebais left the hall, heading in three different directions.
One clone went to the Secret Academy to read, another prepared her first lecture as a teaching elder, while her main body sought out the Cicada Spirit True Monarch, instructor in the way of the Yin Yang Family, for learning and consultation.
Unknown to many, Jiang Yuebai had another clone secretly completing the Armor Making task, ready to give the head steward of the Inner Affairs Hall another big shock when she submitted the task.
The head steward of the Inner Affairs Hall tried to steady his trembling hands, remembering recently the nearly maddeningly talented young blind disciple, feeling an impending storm, sensing a change brewing in the Zhuge Family.