Chapter 9: Arrangement

"Enough with the attempt to curry favor from me, Brother Yi," Jiang Sheng chuckled. To teach that scholar-like fellow a lesson, Jiang Sheng flicked the pebble in his grasp at him, forcing Yi Xuanming to respond.

"Have mercy, big brother!" Yi Xuanming retaliated by hitting the pebble with the folded paper fan. His movement seemed clumsy but accurate and precise in reality. There were hardly any wasteful movements added in between.

The exchange in between made the other three shake their head speechlessly.

"Be warned, Brother Yi. You will be the busiest person out of us all. You better tell me now if you're not up to the workload, as there won't be a chance later on." Jiang Sheng added.

"I naturally know what that implies. Trust me, I can do this better than hitting the stone wall with the pickaxe." Yi Xuanming replied confidently. As a matter of fact, he could already guess what Jiang Sheng thought before he opened his mouth.

Furthermore, it is obvious that Yi Xuanming was the most suitable person for the job Jiang Sheng had in mind.

Out of the five, Hu Lingfei is blunt and honest. Pang Tong is quiet and anti-social, and Mang She is free and unrestrained. These kinds of individual qualities were all unsuitable to assume the position of the group's bookkeeper, as well as socializing with others for more information.

While in between Jiang Sheng and Yi Xuanmind, the latter is naturally the perfect candidate for that task.

Jiang Sheng's ability might be keeping up with Yi Xuanming. Yet, he's more fitting to be a leading figure, not somebody who runs everything from behind. Additionally, he was a better miner than the latter.

Unsure if luck plays a part in this, Yi Xuanming can be considered one of the most unlucky miners among a thousand people. And talking about luck, Hu Lingfei was the luckiest among them.

For the past whole week, Hu Lingfei had collected eleven Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals, followed by Mang She with nine Qi Crystals, thanks to his innate sensitivity to the treasure.

But even with that, Mang She only got nine.

Jiang Sheng had eight thanks to his proficiency in the simplified High Heaven Immortal Foundation Technique. That was made possible because his understanding of the technique made him last longer than the others and more compatible with him with little side effects.

Meanwhile, Pang Tong and Yi Xuanming only found six Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals each. To Pang Tong, his terrible result can be accredited to his laziness and unwillingness to sacrifice his meditation time for the Qi Crystals. But to Yi Xuanming...

He's simply unlucky. Even if he were to dig a wall with two other people, the possibility of him getting nothing was above the two.

Since Yi Xuanming was not fitted to mine for Immortal Spirit Qi Crystal, why should Jiang Sheng force it on him? It would be purely underutilizing Yi Xuanming and his true ability.

Even Jiang Sheng would be unable to show his worth if he was placed somewhere he couldn't put his deciphering technique to good use. And currently, the chances for Yi Xuanming to display his worth are here.

Considering his habits and social nature, Yi Xuanming is undoubtedly the perfect bookkeeper for the group. Furthermore, paving this road for Yi Xuanming has been part of Jiang Sheng's plan.

After all, Yi Xuanming was the first person to approach Jiang Sheng with the position of a junior. If comparing both of them on their age and cultivation, the two were actually equals. Even then, Yi Xuanming willingly assumes a junior position to show Jiang Sheng his sincerity.

No matter how realistic and emotionless Jiang Sheng might be, his heart was not made of iron, nor his intestines were made out of stones.

The rest of the group shared the same sentiment as Jiang Sheng about Yi Xuanming. And without him pulling the strings between them, this group definitely wouldn't exist.

"Everyone. I would like Brother Yi to represent us in this Western Spirit Vein. In addition, I also wish to appoint him as our bookkeeper to handle our group's account." Jiang Sheng said. "Do any of you have anything to say about my decision?" he continued.

The trio looked at one another. To everyone's surprise, Pang Tong became the first to respond to Jiang Sheng's suggestion.

"I agree..." Pang Tong's harsh voice escaped his lips to support Jiang Sheng's decision and Yi Xuanming's appointment. It was hard to believe that Pang Tong was the first to respond.

"I support this idea as well. Having Brother Yi would likely be good for us." Hu Lingfei went beside Yi Xuanming and patted on his shoulder twice to show his support. Mang She also followed and agreed to the suggestion.

With everyone showing their full support for Yi Xuanming, there's naturally no objection to him becoming their representative.

"In that case... Your order, please, Big Brother Jiang," Yi Xuanming said. He also cupped his fists together to express his gratitude for their support and trust. Not a hint of pretense was needed at this moment.

"Since this is our first income after so many days, let us put these Contribution Points into great use and seek what we desire." Jiang Sheng said, withdrawing the Heaven Tokens from his Devil's Mark.

"We will divide this evenly between us. But only this part of the Contribution Points will be divided for now." said Jiang Sheng. At the end of his sentence, he splits the 30 Heaven Tokens into five parts, one for each member.

"For the following four payments that we'll get from delivering the Qi Crystals, they'll be set aside as our group's starting capital." Jiang Sheng continued.

"Does anyone have a suggestion or objection to this idea so far?" Jiang Sheng then asked a question to see if everyone accepted his suggestion agreeably. And with nobody voicing out their thoughts, he continued.

"Naturally, the group's profit will be evenly divided between us. For now, mining is our sole income. But that will change when we have more capital to invest elsewhere. I don't need to explain to you of what you'll have to do for now, right, Brother Yi?" the meeting continued.

"Of course, Big brother." Yi Xuanming smiled. He might be excused from the tedious job of mining for Immortal Spirit Qi Crystal, but that doesn't mean he can take things leisurely. It simply meant he'd have more time to prepare, listen to everything around him, and buy information.

"Alright. Since we're done with the part on the collective account, let's talk about the individual one." Jiang Sheng drove the discussion to the next part, which would be related to their personal interest.

"All of us obviously have our own needs. And this is where the individual account came to good use. I don't need to emphasize how important the Contribution Points to us, correct?" Jiang Sheng asked. In return, he received a nod from everyone.

"Think about it. Both the group and ourselves need Contribution Points to operate or cultivate. But we only have one income source: mining for Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals."

"Regardless of how carefully we move our funds around, there will be a day that we're at the juncture of not having enough to use. And this is where the two account books come in handy."

"The income we get from accomplishing the task given by the Contribution Pavilion will be evenly distributed from the Collective Account when it reaches a certain amount. As for the Individual Account, that will be up to ourselves how much you like to contribute." Jiang Sheng shared.

"So... That's somewhat like the banking system the mortal used... Did the mortals in your Lesser World uses this idea in their daily life?" Yi Xuanming patted his chin with the paper fan in hand while asking.

"I merely improvise it." Jiang Sheng answered Yi Xuanming's question. "Nevertheless, the Individual and Collective Account's sole purpose is to help us earn more Contribution Points. And that task naturally belongs to Brother Yi." he added.

"To simplify it, the four of us will work in the mines while Brother Yi trades and does business here. Whatever profit we get from reaching the quota and business venture will be evenly divided. As for our individual investment, the more you put in, the more you'll gain from it."

"Any questions?" Jiang Sheng asked again.

"No!" the four collectively replied Jiang Sheng firmly.

"Good. Now, each of you, take six Heaven Tokens from my hand and shop around or do whatever you like. Also, leave all the Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals to me and Brother Yi. We'll have to look for accommodation for him to be based here." said Jiang Sheng.

They did what Jiang Sheng asked without further ado, and the trio left, leaving only Jiang Sheng and Yi Xuanming beside the willow tree.

"Big brother... You do this on purpose to accommodate the part I'm lacking, correct?" Yi Xuanming speaks with a teasing tone.

"I admit I'm a little tilt in making that choice... But do you think I am really that dense? You calculative bastard..." Jiang Sheng replied and gently punched Yi Xuanming's chest with his hand full of Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals.

"There are twenty crystals here. Added to the one you got, that's a total of twenty-five. Keep some aside to be used for tomorrow's quota for Hu Lingfei, and the rest, it's your starting capital to get a place here." 

"I won't help you any further, brother..." Jiang Sheng said and left quietly.