NOVPUBBut he clearly saw that the Right Enforcer and Minister Qi did not know each other before.
Confusion filled his heart.
Yet, he still pricked up his ears and listened carefully.
"Naturally, there is."
Qi Rulian replied, "Many spirit mines cannot be planted within our Wanxiang Sect, some are planted outside, and there are also some within dungeons. After digging them up, transporting them back and forth is troublesome, so we built some warehouses on-site, and I’ll take you to see them shortly."
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba couldn’t help but frown slightly and said:
"In that case, it’s indeed somewhat unreasonable for Diwu Hall to require Martial Uncle Qi to submit the monthly usage and loss records."
"Who’s to say it isn’t!"
Qi Rulian’s face showed a hint of annoyance as he said:
"A spirit mine burns for over a decade; the consumption of kindling, spirit plants, and spirit oil is countless. Yet they want me to provide monthly inventory and loss records—how can I do that?"
"I understand Master Song Dong’s... I mean, Master Song’s thinking; he believes that by submitting records monthly, it prevents us from secretly skimming off the spirit mines. Heh, if I really wanted to take something, there are plenty of ways to do so. For instance, if I planted mineral marrow, and it doesn’t always grow successfully, I could just report a failed growth and then the entire mine would be mine."
Li Yingfu’s heart shuddered instantly.
There’s such a method?
A great discovery!
Is that how the Right Enforcer has been drawing out information?
Brilliant!
In that moment, his mind cleared, and he couldn’t help but admire this junior greatly.
He hurriedly looked at Wang Ba, but saw Wang Ba nodding in deep agreement, as if he found it completely reasonable:
"Martial Uncle Qi’s integrity and lofty character are unmatched by ordinary ministers."
Li Yingfu was momentarily stunned.
Hearing Wang Ba’s praise, Qi Rulian’s face turned red, and he glanced around before coughing lightly:
"Ahem, it’s not like that. Some of the transferred supplies happen to be useful for my body tempering, so, I just... casually used them... But I’ve never taken them out though."
Wang Ba’s face remained unchanged, and he sincerely said:
"Martial Uncle Qi’s unconventional actions, yet still abiding by the bottom line, isn’t that even more commendable?"
Li Yingfu’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Even that’s possible?
On hearing Wang Ba’s words, a smile couldn’t help but appear on Qi Rulian’s face:
"Hehe, look at you, what you’re saying... it’s not that rare; I’m just average, just average... Come, this way is the previous storage, you’ve arrived just in time to help with the inventory. Some of these spirit materials have been here so long I’ve forgotten how long."
He enthusiastically beckoned a cultivator in the distance:
"Old Zhang, go make a trip and bring over this month’s materials, everything, without missing anything."
He emphasized the word ’everything’ with particular weight.
The cultivator who was called upon showed a momentary look of astonishment, but realizing that Qi Rulian wasn’t joking, promptly acknowledged and hurriedly left.
Immediately after, Qi Rulian said to Wang Ba: "Nephew Apprentice, outside, there’s a Class IV spirit mine that needs refining..."
Wang Ba quickly showed a look of embarrassment: "I almost delayed Uncle Master, please go ahead with your work."
"Hmm hmm, alright, once I am done, let’s set another time."
Qi Rulian smiled and nodded, then without a glance at Li Yingfu or the others, he turned and left.
As soon as Qi Rulian was out of sight, Li Yingfu couldn’t contain his joy any longer and quickly stepped up to Wang Ba’s side, whispering, "Right Enforcer, have we succeeded?"
Wang Ba said politely:
"It seems so... Enforcer Li, I didn’t follow your suggestion earlier because the matter was urgent, I hope you understand."
Li Yingfu quickly waved his hand and said:
"No, Right Enforcer, your methods are impressive, and I greatly admire them."
"You are too modest, Enforcer Li. It’s only with you in charge that I feel assured."
Wang Ba smiled and looked at him, then nodded and said:
"Well then, let’s start, Enforcer Li. Please help us keep an eye on things."
"Please be at ease, Right Enforcer."
Li Yingfu nodded earnestly right away.
Although he still didn’t quite understand how Wang Ba managed to deal with Qi Rulian, it didn’t prevent him from recognizing that the junior cultivator in front of him, at the early stage of Golden Core, definitely had methods.
Wang Ba immediately began organizing Tao Ruyi and others to categorize the various spirit materials and ores in the entire storage.
Of course, Tao Ruyi and the others were all Foundation Establishment, with limited experience, so the help from the Spirit Mineral Department’s members was needed for guidance.
As Li Yingfu had been with Diwu Hall for many years, he was familiar with all kinds of spirit mines, which naturally appeared in Diwu Hall, hence he became the final auditor.
With the proactive cooperation of Qi Rulian, the cultivators of the Spirit Mineral Department also did their best to assist.
After only ten days.
Wang Ba successfully led everyone to complete the reorganization of the entire storage.
Besides that, they also managed to preliminarily sort out the data for the Spirit Mineral Department for the month.
Looking at the refreshingly organized storage, Qi Rulian initially thought he had entered the wrong place when he arrived.
"This... this is the storage of my Spirit Mineral Department?"
Qi Rulian looked at the divided storage area in disbelief.
One section of the shelves held blocks of rare, high-grade spirit materials.
Another section of the shelves was filled with various Storage Treasures.
And on a large open area, there were neatly arranged iron boxes, classified and containing different kinds of ores.
Each location among these spirit materials and ores had a label with the name and corresponding quantity noted.
Wang Ba said in an apologetic tone:
"I was just about to tell you, Uncle Master, after organizing the storage with the deacons, we ended up disrupting the original layout of the Spirit Mineral Department, and it was impossible to restore it. Then we had no choice but to hastily arrange them by category for now, and we’ll trouble Uncle Master and the fellow disciples from the Spirit Mineral Department to take the time to properly restore it later."
