Immortality begins with the Swordsman.

Chapter 12 Opening the Middle Way

Brush brush!

Gu Changfeng picked up his pen and wrote a crooked annotation on a document, then signed his name and tossed the paper to Lin Qingxuan next to him.

Lin Qingxuan took the document, glanced at its contents, and then wrote at the end: "Execute according to Changfeng's opinion - Lin Qingxuan".

He looked relaxed, a smile playing on his lips, seemingly quite satisfied with Gu Changfeng's abilities.

But after taking a second look at Gu Changfeng's handwriting, she couldn't help but say with disdain, "Changfeng, your handwriting... you really should practice it. It looks like a dog's crawl."

Gu Changfeng replied listlessly, "Why don't you do it yourself?"

Lin Qingxuan stroked his beard and chuckled, saying, "Young man, you need to work harder. I have high hopes for you."

Gu Changfeng snorted coldly, rolled his eyes, and ignored him.

If Lin Qingxuan is the "general manager" of the Qi Sect, then he is a "secretary".

When there's work to be done, the secretary does it; when there's nothing to do, Lin Qingxuan drags him out to "practice" martial arts, giving him absolutely no time to breathe.

Gu Changfeng reached out and grabbed the next document, continuing to flip through it, his face etched with utter despair.

He never dreamed that he, a dignified 21st-century college student, who had finally transmigrated, would still be destined to be a beast of burden, working a menial job.

These past few days, he has been sitting in the Internal Affairs Hall all day, handling internal affairs with that old geezer Lin Qingxuan, such as the promotion, rewards and punishments of disciples within the sect, as well as the arrangement of training, and the purchase and distribution of daily necessities and medicinal materials.

Trivial matters pile up like mountains, causing frustration.

The sect only had a little over two hundred people, but he never expected there to be so many miscellaneous tasks; they were almost draining him dry.

"Mei Jian, come here and give me a back massage, I'm exhausted."

"Yes, young master."

Wang Xiaomei, now officially renamed "Mei Jian," serves him by his side.

"Lan Jian, tea."

Upon hearing this, the girl in blue immediately offered her tea.

The girl was about sixteen or seventeen years old. Although she wasn't particularly beautiful, she had a lovely, curvaceous figure.

Gu Changfeng enjoyed the service of the two women like a young master.

The four swordsmen, Plum Blossom, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum, finally had their wishes fulfilled, and their quality of life improved dramatically—if they didn't have to work regular hours, life would be so comfortable.

As for the two women, "Zhuju" and "Juju", they went to take care of Ning Zhongze.

……

On the other side, Zhou Suqing, the real "secretary," couldn't help but feel a bit disdainful when she saw his young master's demeanor. He was already so lazy and unwilling to work even before becoming the young sect leader. If he were to actually sit in that position, wouldn't he be indulging in a life of debauchery?

Lin Qingxuan stroked his beard and said to Zhou Suqing beside him, "Suqing, go and take this year's account books to Changfeng."

Gu Changfeng asked in surprise, "Why are you giving me the account book?"

Lin Qingxuan said calmly, "You should also learn about the business of our Qi Sect."

In fact, he had heard about the sect's business before.

When he first learned of it, he was truly shocked—the prestigious Huashan Sect had actually gotten involved in the salt trade?!

Of course, it was not smuggled salt.

It all started with a decree issued by the imperial court decades ago: the Open Market Law!

The so-called "Open Salt Law" was a decree issued by the imperial court to solve the problem of military provisions for border defense. It allowed merchants to transport grain and fodder to designated border areas in exchange for official salt permits, which could then be used to extract salt from salt fields for sale.

The Huashan Sect, as the largest landowner in Huayin, owns tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, producing countless grains every year, which they simply cannot consume. This is a perfect opportunity.

However, there was a problem: the main locations for transporting grain and fodder were in the Taiyuan and Datong areas.

The journey was long and difficult, time-consuming and laborious. By the time ten cartloads of grain reached the designated location, more than half of the grain had been consumed.

then.

To solve this problem, the Qi Sect united the four schools of Songshan, Taishan, Beiyue Hengshan, and Nanyue Hengshan to cultivate land and grow grain along the way, shortening the journey, greatly reducing costs, and thus increasing profits.

Today, the business is booming.

In Gu Changfeng's view.

The Five Mountains Sword Sects are like five companies operating together to sell salt, sharing profits.

This is why the Five Mountains Sword Sects are "of one mind and one branch".

The Huashan Sect, as the "leader" among them, became the leader of the Five Sacred Mountains Alliance.

When reading the original novel, Gu Changfeng didn't understand why the ambitious Zuo Lengchan and Yue Buqun insisted on merging the Five Mountains Sword Sects, which were located in the far south and far north of the country.

Now, he understands a little.

After all, a great man who made his fortune by selling salt has already set an example:

When autumn comes on September th, when my flowers bloom, a hundred flowers will be killed.

The fragrance of incense fills Chang'an, and the entire city is adorned with golden armor.

—Huang Chao.

……

……

Before long, Zhou Suqing brought over a thick stack of account books and neatly placed them in front of Gu Changfeng.

"Junior Brother Gu, these are this year's account books. Take a look at them first. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me," she said, her tone gentle but her eyes revealing a hint of disdain.

These account books were complex and difficult to understand, involving even arithmetic. It took her a long time to barely grasp their intricacies. She didn't believe that Gu Changfeng, who was only young and knew how to act like a spoiled young master, could understand even a few pages.

When Gu Changfeng is still confused, she can give him a good scolding.

However, to her surprise...

Gu Changfeng casually flipped open a book, frowned after just a couple of glances, then slammed it shut and tossed it onto the table: "Senior Sister Zhou, who did these accounts?"

Zhou Suqing was taken aback, her heart tightening: "W-what's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Gu Changfeng raised an eyebrow and said, "This is a huge problem. Go and call all the accountants over."

"Huh?" Zhou Suqing looked stunned, her surprise deepening. "But... these accounts were all handled by Martial Uncle Su, do we have to call her over too?"

With Zhou Suqing's exclamation, everyone in the room looked at Gu Changfeng.

Even Lin Qingxuan asked, "Changfeng, is there anything wrong with the ledger? Just circle it and have your Uncle Su check it again. Why make such a fuss?"

Gu Changfeng leaned back in his chair and said firmly, "This must be done this way. Senior Sister Zhou, hurry up and inform everyone, make sure no one on the mountain is left out. There's plenty of space here, we can talk face to face. What kind of crap is this? It's making my eyes go blind."

Upon hearing this, the room fell completely silent.

In less than half an incense stick's time, the news had spread throughout the mountain.

"What? Junior Brother Gu disapproves of Uncle Su's accounting?"

"Really? That's Aunt Su Qingxue! She's never made a mistake in all these years!"

"I heard that Junior Brother Gu has already sent someone to summon Martial Uncle Su. Is he going to publicly berate Martial Uncle Su?"

……

……

On the other side, there is Feng Buping, the eldest disciple of Cai Qingyan, the sect leader of the Sword Sect.

I had just returned to the mountain when I heard that Gu Changfeng had beaten up his junior brothers Cheng Buyou and Cong Buqi, as well as his junior sister Cai Lingshuang...

So, in a fit of rage, he dragged the three of them to Jade Maiden Peak to seek "revenge" against Gu Changfeng.

But as soon as they arrived at Jade Maiden Peak, they heard that Gu Changfeng was going to cause trouble for Su Qingxue because of a problem with the account book.

The four of them looked at each other in bewilderment, their expressions as if they had heard something insane.

That's Su Qingxue, the "Flying Snow Fairy," gentle and kind, with extremely high prestige, and her martial arts skills are second only to the three grandmasters Cai, Yue, and Feng on the mountain.