Chapter 45: The Forty-Fifth Day as Cult Leader (Part 1)

Leaving aside Yang Xu, who was deeply shaken, Qin Ming felt helpless under the strange, curious gazes of his subordinates.

Why did he want to make movable type printing public?

Of course it was because making a technique like movable type printing public would earn him more merit points!

What other reason could there be?

It could be said that from the very beginning, when Qin Ming had sent people to research movable type printing, he had done so with the intention of making it public. He just never expected that because the Jianghu Morning Post was so profitable, the entire Demonic Cult would end up opposing the matter!

He really wanted to explain. First, movable type printing had been researched by the Qingyue Sect. Their Demonic Cult had only lent them a site.

Second, even if the secret of movable type printing became known, making something like the Jianghu Morning Post still required gathering a massive amount of firsthand intelligence. There were very few people who could imitate it, so there was no need to worry so much.

But as the Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, saying too much would be useless. On the contrary, it would only cause even more doubts. Having suffered losses before, Qin Ming cut his losses in time. With practiced ease, he put on an Unfathomable air and spoke from above: “This matter is already within this Venerable One’s plans. There is no need to say more.”

One simple sentence sealed everyone’s mouths, because at this moment, everyone in the Demonic Cult had an extremely thick filter over Qin Ming: anything the Cult Leader did must have its reasons! If they could not figure it out, it only meant their wisdom was insufficient!

Under Shen Fubai’s repeated influence and instruction, the disciples of the Demonic Cult firmly believed that Qin Ming’s decision must have enormous benefits. Thus, with little obstruction, they directly published the technique of movable type printing in the next issue of the newspaper.

Mission Objective: Promote movable type printing throughout the world. Completed.

Mission Reward: Received one hundred thousand merit points. Distributed.

Sure enough, once this news came out, the entire country was stunned.

What? Movable type printing? Using clay to make square “characters,” arranging them into pages, and then printing them onto paper? Brilliant! Brilliant! No wonder the font sizes were completely uniform. So this was how it was done!

Who on earth had come up with this method? Their brain was far too useful!

All kinds of merchants and bookstores had their eyes shining, certain that there was profit to be made. Most importantly, while the production steps for movable type printing were a little troublesome, the materials were not difficult to find. As long as one had patience, it could be made. When the time came, they would be able to print books in large quantities and earn money!

As for scholars all across the land, they grew even more excited. Originally, those from poor backgrounds who wanted to study had to borrow books everywhere, then copy them down stroke by stroke through night and day. It was truly exhausting and wasted lamp oil. But if there were more books, the price of books would naturally fall. They would also be able to afford large numbers of books. Would the success rate in the imperial examinations not rise by quite a bit as well?

Seeing that the Sacred Cult had actually published this technique without taking a single tael of silver, an old Confucian scholar could not help weeping with joy, tears streaming down his aged face. “This old man finally understands why they call themselves the Sacred Cult!”

“Because they are precisely the ones sent down by the sages to educate the people and help us scholars rise… No, they are the sages themselves! They take no gold or silver and ask for no repayment. This is something only sages could do!”

This view immediately spread throughout the entire academy, and everyone agreed one after another.

“Exactly, exactly. That is the truth. Does the title Sacred Cult not perfectly match their actions?”

“The Jianghu Morning Post was always promoting grievances in the jianghu, so I originally felt that this Sacred Cult was nothing good. Thinking about it now, I was too narrow-minded!”

“From the matter of them explaining the classics of The Three Character Classic alone, one can tell that the Sacred Cult’s original intention is to educate and nurture people. Now they have done an even greater good deed for us scholars. We ought to support them!”

Suddenly, someone brought up another matter. “Speaking of The Three Character Classic, this issue of the Sacred Paper seems to mention that they will be establishing a bookstore, where they will sell the complete version of The Three Character Classic at a low price! In addition, it seems they will continue to release all kinds of new books!”

“Is this true?” When everyone heard this, they were greatly shocked, then showed delight. “The person capable of composing The Three Character Classic can also be regarded as a sage of the present age. With this one book alone, he can become famous throughout the world. If he is able to create more works, this old man will definitely buy them all and read them with reverence!”

“Exactly. What is the name of that bookstore? I will go and investigate right now!”

…

The disciples of the Demonic Cult had never expected that simply publishing movable type printing would cause their “Sacred Cult” to gain a reputation overnight that stood above even the Five Great Sects!

Not only did everyone in the jianghu praise their noble character, they were also fanatically supported by scholars!

Even the bookstore Qin Ming had founded in order to complete the mission of spreading The Three Character Classic throughout the world became, in the blink of an eye, a place pursued by everyone. People vied to purchase The Three Character Classic, and even if they did not buy it to read, they still bought a copy out of gratitude toward the Sacred Cult.

Thus, not only did the Demonic Cult not lose money, it gained both reputation and silver in abundance!

“We became famous… just like that?” The disciples of the Demonic Cult looked at one another, still unable to react to this enormous pie that had fallen from the heavens.

As for Shen Fubai, he cried out in a sonorous voice, “The Cult Leader is truly both wise and courageous. This subordinate admires you!”

“All of this was within the Cult Leader’s expectations!”

Thinking of the meaningful line Qin Ming had once spoken, everyone admired the Cult Leader’s foresight even more. They could not help shouting, “The Cult Leader is wise!”

Qin Ming, who in reality had not thought that far at all: “…”

He had not expected things to be… rounded back after all. Sure enough, good deeds really did bring returns!

Side Mission Objective: Develop movable type printing. Completed.

Mission Reward: After successfully printing one book, receive fifty thousand merit points. Distributed.

Not only had one hundred fifty thousand merit points landed in his hands, he had also earned pots full of silver. There were even people beginning to support the Sacred Cult. All these things made Qin Ming so delighted that he could not close his mouth, and once again he sighed emotionally over how clever he truly was.

In addition, because that group of Qingyue Sect disciples had gotten to make a name for themselves, they were smug and pleased. After this incident, quite a few of their prejudices toward the Demonic Cult seemed to have been eliminated as well. After researching movable type printing, they were no longer in a hurry to leave. In any case, they had good food, good lodging, and silver to spend here, so they all decided to stay and research carpentry for a while longer. What if they gained some other inspiration?

Naturally, Qin Ming welcomed this very much.

Seeing that people of the jianghu had more or less accepted the Jianghu Morning Post, he also began to inject some of the Demonic Cult’s good deeds into it little by little, such as the things he had done since taking over the position.

Of course, these matters were all true. There was not even any exaggeration. After all, the Jianghu Morning Post was checked by that stubborn old man Xu Sheng. If they wrote anything untrue, would they not have been scolded bloody long ago?

Even so, the Demonic Cult’s many good deeds were astonishingly numerous. Some people who did not understand the matter read this intelligence through the Jianghu Morning Post and all changed their view of the Demonic Cult to some degree.

“I knew the destruction of the Blood Blade Sect was done by the Demonic Cult, but no one said that the Wan Family Village case that shocked the imperial court was originally dug up by the Demonic Cult and reported to the authorities!”

“And the Sword Pavilion matter too. So it was their disciples pretending to be members of the Demonic Cult to extort merchants in the surrounding area… In that case, the various evil deeds of the Demonic Cult that we have always heard about may not actually have been done by them, right?”

“Those are all one-sided claims written by the Jianghu Morning Post. Who knows if they are true or not?”

“Bullshit. This is the Sacred Cult. The intelligence on the Sacred Paper absolutely cannot be false. I dare to guarantee it with my life!”

…

Precisely because the Sacred Cult had built up its reputation, people of the jianghu began to undergo no small change in their view of the Demonic Cult. At the same time, they also gained a deeper understanding of the various wicked acts of the so-called orthodox sects. When they had nothing to do, they could not help criticizing them.

Congratulations. People of the jianghu’s view of the Demonic Cult has greatly improved!

Because the mission was completed beyond expectations, an additional reward of thirty thousand merit points is hereby granted.

With this sizable income, Qin Ming decisively exchanged his current, and only, purple inner art mental cultivation method for a golden inner art mental cultivation method.

As for what kind of mental cultivation method to choose, the first thought that appeared in Qin Ming’s mind was… first pick one that could preserve his life!

The kind where, as long as he still had one breath left, the inner art could heal him back up. After all, he was not like other people of the jianghu, who casually put death on their lips at every turn. In these times, preserving one’s life was the most important thing!

As the Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, Qin Ming vaguely had a feeling that over these days, he had overturned the hidden foundations of the orthodox sects completely. Perhaps he had long since provoked their dissatisfaction. He could only cultivate faster and master a golden-quality martial art mental cultivation method as quickly as possible. Only then could he guarantee his own safety.

Thus, he quickly decided to spend one hundred fifty thousand merit points to exchange for the rare golden cultivation method Sunlight Scripture. Its inner power, burning hot like the sun, could ignite his own meridians and blood, rapidly treating his injuries to a certain degree and allowing him to move as usual within only a few breaths. At the same time, its powerful inner strength could also be used against enemies.

Qin Ming did not think that much. As long as he could suddenly recover when an enemy thought he was heavily injured, then use his lightness skill to escape, he would be perfectly satisfied.

This was his grand method for clinging to life!

And after he had exchanged all his martial arts for golden quality, with even his lightness skill at the higher red quality, Qin Ming’s expression abruptly changed as his dantian surged and roiled. He immediately focused and entered seclusion to cultivate.

After he circulated his inner art for an entire night, he opened his eyes again and was pleasantly surprised to discover that his martial arts had actually broken through the Circulating Heaven Realm with ease and advanced to the Dantian Realm!

The Dantian Realm was the realm of most disciples of the Demonic Cult. One level higher was the Inner Sea Realm, the realm where Zhou Ji and Fang Zheng, whose martial arts were the highest in the cult, currently stood.

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