Chapter 143: Withdrawing Money

"Have you heard? That Lord Ling came to see our master for treatment and pulled out a million gold coins right away. What a generous gesture!"

Just then, deliberately lowered murmurs sounded from within the courtyard.

It seemed to be the guards at the gate, whispering among themselves after seeing the master leave.

"A million? Really?" One guard clearly didn't believe it.

"Of course it's true. I saw it with my own eyes, absolutely true! A million gold coins—to us, that's an astronomical figure, but to a master like ours, it's nothing. I heard from Brother Sun that the master accepted it just to put the other at ease, not wanting to owe him a favor." The first guard laughed.

"Now that you mention it, I recall that Lord Ling knelt here all night. The master originally didn't want to see him, but he stuffed a lot of money to Brother Sun, who was soft-hearted and put in a good word, so he got in..." The second guard sighed.

Their voices were low, but separated from the street by only a single gate. Du Yuan, with his low cultivation, might not hear clearly, but Du Maoxuan caught every word.

"Yuan'er, stop kneeling. Go back to the clan and bring all my savings from these years..."

Du Maoxuan's eyes lit up.

He was experienced in the martial world, but that experience lay in duels, combat, judging people and objects. When it came to bribery and gift-giving, he was no match for merchants. He hadn't thought of using money before, but hearing the conversation, he suddenly saw the light.

That's right! The master, maintaining his dignity, might not want money, but the steward did!

The mansion, servants, food and drink—everything costs money!

Even seeing a doctor requires payment. Coming empty-handed, it would be strange if the master agreed to see him.

"Alright!"

Du Yuan didn't understand, but upon hearing his father's instruction, he immediately stood up.

"I heard Brother Sun got scolded by the master for that. It seems Lord Ling had offended the master before, questioning him. A master's dignity cannot be insulted. If a million gold coins could buy forgiveness, where would his authority be? The master said this is the last time, never again. To be honest, a million is heaven to us, but to the master, it's not even enough to plead for mercy!"

The first guard continued.

"Yeah! When I passed the front yard earlier, I heard people discussing this and thought it was fake..." The second guard added.

Outside.

"Wait!" Before Du Yuan could leave, his father's voice rang in his ear: "Go back and sell all the precious pills I bought recently, and also sell the accumulated beast hides. Bring all the money here..."

"Father..." Du Yuan was stunned.

What was wrong with his father?

First asking for money, now selling things?

"Nonsense, of course it's true. I specifically asked Brother Sun. He said that when Lord Ling gave the million, the master didn't even look at it. The only reason he treated him was that Lord Ling's wife was dying—saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. If the person who came to beg him was healthy, bouncing around, even able to use martial skills, he would never bother..."

The first guard's voice continued.

"Ah?" Du Maoxuan staggered, gritted his teeth, and continued instructing Du Yuan: "Go sell my sword too, and... Third Elder has always wanted those industries I control, hasn't he? Go tell him that as long as he pays, those industries are all his!"

"Father..."

These were his father's most important assets in the clan. Once sold off, what would they do in the future?

Du Yuan was bewildered.

"Hurry up!" Du Maoxuan urged again.

Seeing his father's stern face, Du Yuan dared not argue and turned to leave.

"Able to use martial skills means his body is fine. Someone like that dares to question a master—what an idiot!" The second guard sneered: "The master doesn't care about money, but if someone doesn't offer even a single coin, being stingy, and expects the master to waste his energy giving guidance, isn't that just a dream?" The second guard continued.

Du Maoxuan gritted his teeth: "Also, bring all your savings and your mother's savings too..."

"..."

Du Yuan stumbled, almost in tears.

It seemed his father had lost his mind, completely gone mad.

...

The two guards' conversation was exactly what Zhang Xuan had arranged earlier.

If he didn't give them a hint, when would they ever think to offer money?

After all, it was the guards talking, nothing to do with him, and they wouldn't dare accuse a master of wanting money.

"As expected of the master—he could sell someone and have them count the money for him..." Hearing what the master had arranged, Sun Qiang was also speechless.

Originally, if the master gave guidance out of gratitude, the other party would certainly offer a reward, but the amount was uncertain. Now, with the guards' conversation out in the open, who would dare to be stingy?

Without damaging his reputation, he could earn even more money. The master really cheated people to death without paying compensation... too ruthless.

Originally, like everyone else, he thought the master disdained money, but now it seemed... masters were human too, and they had expenses.

...

Leaving the mansion, Zhang Xuan found a secluded, empty street and washed off the disguise on his face.

Wearing all that for over a day was tiring enough.

"A day has passed. The guild should have the Warm Meridian Pill and Nourishing Body Liquid ready. I'll buy them first for Wang Ying, Liu Yang, and the others to use."

The purpose of disguising as a master here to earn money was exactly this. The Breaking Yin Pill and Giant Rhinoceros Blood wouldn't arrive for a while, but these two items should be easy to prepare.

Arriving at the guild, these two items were indeed ready. As for the remaining two, President Ouyang had already applied to transfer them from other guilds.

The Alchemist Guild spanned all major kingdoms. Some pills and treasures might not be available in Tianxuan Kingdom but were available in other kingdoms. As long as a request was made to the headquarters, they would be transported from the nearest kingdom that had them. This would speed things up. Otherwise, from the headquarters to here, the distance was unknown—how could they arrive in just ten days?

He first paid a deposit of one million gold coins and smoothly took out these two items.

"By the way, President Ouyang, do you have any Life-Gathering Pills here? Give me some too."

After storing the two items in his storage ring, Zhang Xuan asked.

Life-Gathering Pills were extremely helpful for the first stage of martial arts, the Qi-Gathering Realm. Wang Ying and the others taking them should speed up their cultivation considerably.

"I've refined quite a few of these myself and have some left. I can give them to you directly!" President Ouyang smiled and handed over two jade bottles.

Taking the bottles, Zhang Xuan saw there were dozens of pills inside. He knew the other was showing goodwill. Refusing would be impolite, so he nodded and accepted.

Life-Gathering Pills, though not high in quality, were still genuine first-grade pills, each worth tens of thousands of gold coins. Giving away dozens at once—this President Ouyang was truly generous.