NOVPUBHe was not unfamiliar with this name.
Decades ago, when he was still at the East Saint Sect, he had specifically studied the other four sects of Chen State.
At that time, he had thought about leaving the East Saint Sect to join another sect.
On some travelogues from the East Saint Sect, the name of Master Shi had been mentioned.
However, what he hadn’t expected was that, decades later, as time flew by, the existence that once seemed out of reach to him was now bowing deeply before him, not daring to raise his head...
Years truly were a mysterious thing.
With a silent sigh in his heart, he didn’t reveal his identity to indulge in the other party’s surprised gaze—it was a tasteless amusement.
He went straight to the point:
"You said you could provide me with twenty million stones of grain and a large quantity of high-quality charcoal, is that true?"
"It’s true! Absolutely true!"
Shi Taihe hurriedly put on a smile that was somewhat constrained and fearful, trying to please:
"In recent years, there have been disasters in various places, and the Jiuling Sect has taken in many disaster victims out of compassion, so we’ve stored quite a bit, of course, that’s definitely not enough, but our sect excels at breeding spirit beasts and often trades with neighboring sects, so we can exchange for quite a bit of grain."
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba’s eyes immediately lit up.
But then he frowned and said:
"You’re not planning to forcibly take it from the mortals here, are you?"
"Master Wang, please don’t misunderstand, our sect knows very well that Jin has always valued mortals, how could we dare to act so rashly? Please rest assured."
Shi Taihe promptly assured him, patting her chest.
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba pondered for a moment before directly asking:
"Why are you helping me like this? What do you want?"
Shi Taihe was clearly unprepared for Wang Ba’s directness, but after all, she was a Master of a Sect and quickly calmed herself, bowing respectfully once more:
"We wouldn’t dare; our Jiuling Sect has admired the Upper Sect for many years, and today we finally have the fortune of seeing your esteemed self. How could we ask for anything? We simply wish to be of some little use to the Upper Sect; everyone in the Jiuling Sect would be overjoyed."
Listening to Shi Taihe’s unchanging expression whilst delivering flattery to the extreme, even though Wang Ba knew she did it entirely for his backing sect, he still couldn’t help feeling a bit smug.
However, he immediately became vigilant and steadied his mind.
He said in a deep voice:
"I don’t like owing favors. Just say it; what do you want?"
"So much grain isn’t easy to come by even for cultivators, so you can set your request high."
Seeing that Wang Ba was in no way charmed by her flattery, a trace of disappointment flashed in Shi Taihe’s eyes. She then hesitantly said:
"This… Your generosity is vast, Upper Sect, and I won’t hide it from you—our sect truly does have some issues... Our sect has been established for over two hundred years, but we haven’t been able to find a Dharma for breaking through the Golden Core and achieving the Nascent Soul... so..."
"A Dharma for achieving the Nascent Soul?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba instantly frowned.
Being a shrewd person, Shi Taihe immediately noticed the subtle change in Wang Ba’s facial expression and hastily added:
"If Master Wang finds this difficult, then it’s as though the Jiuling Sect never asked..."
Wang Ba, however, gestured her to stop.
It wasn’t that he thought the food for thirty million people was worth less than the Nascent Soul Art.
Rather, he didn’t actually have any Nascent Soul Arts at hand—they were all for the Transforming Spirit Realm.
But after giving it some thought, he quickly remembered the pile of Cultivation Methods he had acquired in the Scroll Dungeon.
"Wait a moment."
Wang Ba’s Spiritual Sense probed into his Storage Treasure, and soon he indeed found a Beast Control Dharma related to beast taming.
This Cultivation Method could at most reach the middle-stage of Nascent Soul.
It more than surpassed Shi Taihe’s mere requirement of breaking through to Nascent Soul.
After scanning it with his Spiritual Sense, he then directly tossed it to her.
This Cultivation Method had no special features; it wasn’t something he valued.
Watching Wang Ba toss it so casually, Shi Taihe initially thought Wang Ba was reluctant to give a true Nascent Soul Art and was just fobbing her off with something to silence her. She couldn’t help feeling a bit let down.
However, when her Spiritual Sense scanned the content, she was instantly taken aback and her aged face began to shake violently, unable to contain her emotions.
She looked up at Wang Ba, her expression firm, saying:
"Master Wang’s great kindness, the Jiuling Sect from top to bottom, cannot repay! Should you have any requests in the future, we are at your behest!"
As Wang Ba saw her so solemn, he was slightly taken aback and was reminded of the times when had desperately sought Cultivation Methods to no avail.
He felt a bit of pathos in his heart.
If he hadn’t been with the Wanxiang Sect, he probably wouldn’t have fared much better than her.
While thinking this, he waved his hand, "Remember, the most urgent matter is to get the grain here as soon as possible."
"Rest assured, Master Wang!"
Shi Taihe replied with utmost sincerity.
Two days passed.
The last bit of grain was about to run out, and just as Wang Ba was about to urge Shi Taihe, the new grain finally arrived smoothly.
Since everyone was either out searching for food or busy inventorying supplies, unable to free up their hands,
Wang Ba didn’t delay and personally took the Storage Treasure filled with grain, charcoal, and cooking utensils to the dungeon.
He then distributed the grain and charcoal to each village using his Mana.
"What is this...?"
Wang Ba looked somewhat astonished at a somewhat familiar wooden statue erected at the entrance of the village.
"The villagers are grateful for the immortal’s generous aid in their time of suffering, so they made a statue for you..."
The village chief knelt down reverently.
Wang Ba glanced at the statues, noticing they did indeed resemble him.
He didn’t pay too much attention and continued distributing the remaining supplies to everyone.
Even with his fine control over Mana and robust foundations, he still felt somewhat drained after this flurry of activity.
However, carrying out good deeds indeed brought a sense of comfort and an unblocked mind.
Even Wang Ba, a Golden Core Craftsman like himself, felt the same way.
Standing above the dungeon, overlooking all beings within,
At that moment, he saw an invisible force slowly congregating above the masses.
This force then descended directly into his body.
The next moment, he was astonished to notice that this energy flowed into the Spiritual Government at his eyebrow center and into the Yin God Temple within.
Suddenly, the Yin Shen Statue glowed faintly!
