Chapter 165: Companion Dao Scrolls, Mutual Enhancement

“Tell Jiafang Yifang to adjust the medicine prices. Sell them to Green Emperor Alliance members at the lowest discount of 20% off, while keeping the normal price for others. Also, raise his status to a level just below you and Hengheng Haha. Have all alliance members go to Linshui Village to buy pills.”

“Also, send members to try tasks in the villages near Qingcheng. See if they can get a few more Village Chief positions. As long as someone gets a System-recognized Village Chief title, promote them one level and give them special treatment.”

Ye Rong had a vague feeling that this official position system might be a big help for a Faction’s growth.

Since Jiafang Yifang could become a Village Chief, other Players probably could too. The Green Emperor Alliance was ahead of others in Qingcheng in this area. He hadn’t heard of any Qingcheng Disciple getting an official position from the System yet.

The one-tenth share from pill sales didn’t seem like much now. But he had to consider that there were nearly a hundred villages within a thousand miles around Qingcheng. It would have been more if not for the completely empty Endless Forest Sea area where no villages could exist.

Not only would Qingcheng Disciples spend money, but when Levels got higher, the Endless Forest Sea would definitely attract lots of Players. So would other nearby leveling spots. If they could make all these villages fall under the Green Emperor Alliance’s control, just the daily share income would be quite impressive.

But Ye Rong himself wasn’t interested in exploring or spending lots of time to become a Village Chief. It was the same as long as someone under him could get the position.

Also, in the Green Emperor Alliance, he had now set up member Levels. Of course, this would only take effect after creating a formal Faction organization. Members of different Levels would have different rights.

Task priority, better Flying Swords, better Magic Treasures—all kinds of Faction resources would favor higher-Level members more. As for member Levels, those would depend on how much someone contributed to the Faction.

For now, it was temporarily divided into five Levels. Besides Ye Rong himself being the highest and only Level 5 member, there were only two Level 4 members: Hengheng Haha and Pecking Chicken. Level 3 members were like Trail-breaking Pony and Jiafang Yifang—either strong in power, like patrol team captains, or having important roles. There wouldn’t be too many of them either.

He threw that pile of bamboo swords he had, whether Fourth-Rank or Fifth-Rank Flying Swords, all to Pecking Chicken. He told him to put them in the Public Warehouse.

He set the Gang Contribution Points price at only half that of ordinary Fourth or Fifth-Rank Flying Swords. Any Green Emperor Alliance member who needed one could spend Gang Contribution Points to exchange for it. The Seven Avian Feather Fan and Mixed Gold Orb had already started being handled this way.

It was just that, since they weren’t a formal Faction yet, they couldn’t use this function. They could only have Pecking Chicken handle it for now.

As for Gang Contribution Points, each member got them based on different contributions. Joining team tasks, like those members who helped Jiafang Yifang with his task before, could earn some Points. Handing in alchemy materials, various herbs, donating equipment, sharing tasks, even providing important information—all could earn Points. Pecking Chicken specifically pulled in a few college students from the alliance who studied management in real life to help him handle these matters.

…

“Tell me, what good stuff did you find?”

At the Taibai Tower, Ye Rong showed no interest in the table full of dishes. He only sipped the tea in front of him lightly.

“Hehe, it’s related to your Chongxu True Scripture, you know?”

Lei Laohu laughed brightly, the fat on his face shaking in layers, like a laughing Buddha.

“Which volume? I already have the third and fourth scrolls of the Qian volume, no need to collect those. Don’t tell me you just happened to get me those two scrolls.”

“No, no, you’ll know when you see it.”

Lei Laohu pulled out a blue Dao Scroll. The title page had a seated image of a Daoist with blurred features, neither happy nor sad.

“Chongxu Zhide True Explanation”—it could resolve doubts, clarify ultimate principles, a companion Dao Scroll to the Chongxu True Scripture.

“Companion Dao Scroll, what’s this?”

Ye Rong flipped the Chongxu Zhide True Explanation back and forth in his hands a couple of times, then looked up and asked with confusion.

“Have you heard of companion Sword Art Forms?”

“Yes.”

In Far Shore, there were a few very strange Flying Swords that required companion Sword Art Forms to unleash their full power. If using a normal Sword Art Form only gave a Sixth-Rank Flying Sword effect, then using the companion Sword Art Form could achieve a Seventh-Rank Sword Art Form effect.

And companion Sword Art Forms only showed this effect when paired with the designated Flying Swords. Otherwise, at other times, they just provided normal attribute boosts.

“Right, this companion Dao Scroll has a similar function. It can raise your Chongxu True Scripture by one tier. That Dao Scroll was already remarkable. Paired with this True Explanation, it can even compare to those top-tier Dao Scrolls.”

Lei Laohu spoke eloquently and persuasively, praising this “Chongxu Zhide True Explanation” as if it were heavenly and unmatched on earth. He made it seem like if Ye Rong missed it, he would be making a huge mistake and would definitely regret it for life.

And with this companion Dao Scroll, the power of the Chongxu True Scripture could multiply several times, enough to look down on the whole world.

“Alright, stop boasting. This companion Dao Scroll is based on my Chongxu True Scripture as the main body. By itself, it’s completely useless. Other Players can’t even cultivate it. How could it be that you spent a huge sum to buy it from someone else?”

Ye Rong didn’t want to listen to Lei Laohu’s nonsense. These professional merchants always sought the highest profit. Even if this “Chongxu Zhide True Explanation” cost him one tael of silver, if he didn’t make a profit of several hundred times reselling it, it wouldn’t match his merchant identity.

“Just say it, how much do you want to sell it to me for?”

He held the “Chongxu Zhide True Explanation” in his hand, showing no intention of returning it, carefully examining and flipping through it.

This companion Dao Scroll, in a way, was even more precious than the remaining scrolls of the Chongxu True Scripture. Regardless of its effects, he couldn’t let it slip away. If the difficulty of obtaining the Chongxu True Scripture was ten thousand, then the difficulty of obtaining both the Chongxu True Scripture and its companion Dao Scroll was a million. He naturally understood this rare opportunity clearly.

“I, Lei Laohu, always do business by convincing others with virtue! Hmm, let’s say ten taels of gold. Cheap enough, right? But you have to remember me if you get any good stuff in the future, especially high-tier Flying Swords. They’re in short supply lately.”

Lei Laohu’s small eyes shifted, flashing a hint of cunning. He thought for a long time before quoting a price, for some reason holding back the originally intended sky-high price.

“Fine, ten taels of gold it is, as you say.”

Ye Rong knew Lei Laohu was making a big profit at this price. But who else had the connections to get such good items? And trying to make a professional merchant earn less was harder than killing him.

With the “Chongxu Zhide True Explanation” in hand, he directly clapped his hands together and learned this Dao Scroll.

A thought struck him. He checked the Chongxu True Scripture and sure enough, there were changes—

Chongxu True Scripture, Fourth Layer, Flying Sword attack power increased by 25%, comes with Chongxu Sword Qi, Void Spirit Evasion.

Chongxu Sword Qi, condenses Qi into finger swords, attack range 600 meters, attack power 350–420, certain chance to ignore defense spells;

Void Spirit Evasion, merges the body into the void, disappears in a flash, can appear anywhere within a hundred zhang range, cooldown time one hour.

“How is it? What’s the effect like?”

Lei Laohu stared nervously at Ye Rong, trying to see some reaction on his face about how the “Chongxu Zhide True Explanation” worked.

Yijian Kurong was a major client of his and one of the main sources of high-tier equipment. If this companion Dao Scroll had no effect at all and angered him, he would probably lose a stable source of high-quality goods in the future.

Also, the news about what changes would happen when the Chongxu True Scripture was paired with its companion Dao Scroll had great value in itself.

As a professional merchant, he could infer the specific value of companion Dao Scrolls from the slightest clues. This would help him decide whether to put great effort into collecting some companion Dao Scrolls for resale in the future.

“Not bad. I have other things to do. When you find what I want next time, notify me again.”

Ye Rong didn’t want to talk more with Lei Laohu. He was eager to test the changes in the Chongxu True Scripture after merging with the companion Dao Scroll.

At first glance, he thought it only added the Void Spirit Evasion. Although it was definitely worth the price, it seemed much less compared to the rumor that companion Dao Scrolls would cause earth-shaking changes once merged.

But looking more carefully, he noticed the difference.

The other attributes of Chongxu Sword Qi remained completely unchanged, but it actually lost the cooldown time restriction!

Ye Rong’s heart pounded fiercely, he was extremely shocked. What did it mean that Chongxu Sword Qi no longer had a cooldown time restriction?

It changed from an occasional surprise attack to a regular combat ability, usable continuously, equivalent to having another Flying Sword to use.

The killing power of Chongxu Sword Qi was even higher than a mere Fifth-Rank Flying Sword. Although it didn’t benefit from various mental method or Sword Art Form bonuses, it could level up continuously. Having such an extra method in fights meant another trump card.

And the property of having a certain chance to ignore defense spells remained. After becoming a permanent sword Qi, there were more opportunities to find weaknesses and kill opponents. Also, Chongxu Sword Qi itself was just a mass of sword Qi. Even if hit by a higher-tier Flying Sword, it would only scatter, never risking breakage or damage.

So now Ye Rong was eager to find a couple of monsters to test it out. After all, these were just guesses. Only by testing it personally could he know what Chongxu Sword Qi had really become, and what about that Void Spirit Evasion.