I Can Devour Spirits

Chapter 211: Great Success Realm

Duan Rong pushed the door open and walked in. Xu Shouxian was sitting on the Grandmaster’s Chair at the far end, fanning himself with a palm fan. The desk in front of him was piled with various account books and documents awaiting approval.

Diagonally opposite Xu Shouxian, sitting in front of a desk leaning against the wall, was another person. Duan Rong had visited this place twice before and already knew who this person was.

This person was named Li Jun, who, at just over twenty, was Xu Shouxian’s assistant. It was said that within the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, he was the best at mental calculations and had an excellent memory.

The room in the eastern courtyard was filled with all the ledger entries, and he knew them by heart. Whatever entry Xu Shouxian mentioned, he could immediately retrieve the corresponding account book and hand it to Xu Shouxian.

When Xu Shouxian saw that it was Duan Rong who entered, his previously calm and indifferent expression suddenly turned cold.

Duan Rong naturally noticed the change in Xu Shouxian’s expression, but those hundred taels were specially approved for him by Ruan Fengshan. He had come openly to collect the silver coins, yet Xu Shouxian’s attitude made it seem as if he were coming to borrow money.

Duan Rong walked up to the desk of Xu Shouxian, clasped his hands in salute, and said, "Chief Accountant Xu, the funds approved by the shopkeeper — when I came here last time, you mentioned that there was temporarily no money. I wonder if this time, there’s any leeway?"

Duan Rong’s words were already very courteous.

Xu Shouxian raised his eyelids slightly and said, "Oh, it’s Escort Master Duan Rong."

"The shopkeeper, he doesn’t understand the expenses when he’s not in charge. Such a large Escort Agency, money needs to be spent everywhere. I’m barely managing this accounting, doing my utmost to maintain. It’s indeed difficult in the books; Escort Master Duan might come back after some time."

Duan Rong looked at Xu Shouxian’s expressionless face.

The old man was clearly just messing with him.

Duan Rong said, "It’s not that I can’t come back later. But I wonder, Chief Accountant Xu, when you mentioned ’after some time,’ how long exactly would that be? There must be some certainty, right?"

Upon hearing Duan Rong’s question, Xu Shouxian didn’t even lift an eyelid, just silently shook the fan in his hand.

"Old Xu has already said to come back later. You are asking us for assurance, whom should we ask?" Li Jun, who was buried in paperwork on the adjacent desk, suddenly looked up and said.

Duan Rong simply stared at Xu Shouxian’s face, not even glancing at Li Jun. But Xu Shouxian merely drooped his eyelids, shaking the fan in his hand, completely ignoring Duan Rong.

Duan Rong stared at Xu Shouxian for a while, then suddenly turned around and walked out.

He actually didn’t care about that bit of money at all.

Moreover, he could determine that Xu Shouxian was playing him from the start, having already decided to only give him a month’s salary. Duan Rong was certain that Xu Shouxian wouldn’t give him a single cent beyond the hundred taels of silver coins.

What infuriated Duan Rong even more was Xu Shouxian’s attitude of having him completely figured out.

Duan Rong walked to the corridor, suddenly had a thought, and released his Divine Sense.

Under the cover of the Divine Sense, inside the eastern courtyard room, Li Jun looked at Xu Shouxian and said, "This kid really doesn’t know his place, daring to question us about how long ’after some time’ is. He actually thinks that a little merit with the shopkeeper means he can act so brazenly!"

Xu Shouxian heard this and smiled slightly, saying, "Even if he complains to the shopkeeper, I won’t be afraid. Such a big Escort Agency has no extra money for him."

Duan Rong retracted his Divine Sense and walked out of the accounting office in the backyard with a gloomy expression.

Duan Rong also knew that Xu Shouxian was more targeting Xiao Zongting behind him than himself. Some time ago, Xiao Zongting audited the mid-year inventory and seemed to have found some issues. The two storerooms in the Front Courtyard and Middle Courtyard were also managed daily by Xu Shouxian. Because of the discovered problems during the investigation, Ruan Fengshan called Xu Shouxian in and gave him a scolding.

Originally, Xu Shouxian already had some friction with Xiao Zongting, and after such an incident, he was even more at odds. Naturally, he was constantly against people on Xiao Zongting’s side, seizing every opportunity to exploit.

Although Duan Rong felt frustrated, he laid aside the matter after returning to Liu’s House.

The reason was simple. Xu Shouxian was deeply trusted by Ruan Fengshan and had been serving as an accountant at Yuan Shun Escort Agency for decades. As long as he still wanted to stay at Yuan Shun Escort Agency, he could only endure this.

This principle was the same as in his past life in the workplace.

Unless you don’t want to work any longer, you can make a fuss and leave. As long as you want to keep working, you have to endure. In the workplace of his past life, there were far more disgusting things than this, as long as you wanted to keep going, there was nothing you couldn’t endure.

Of course, Duan Rong still wanted to stay at Yuan Shun Escort Agency. His goal was the selection of Registered Disciples by the Taiyi Sect next March. All other matters were just minor details!

From then on, Duan Rong began his cultivation even more fervently.

Four months later, he achieved Great Success in the Fourth Level of the Inner Breath Realm!

During this time, he also undertook two escort tasks.

After achieving Great Success in the Fourth Level of Inner Breath, during subsequent escort tasks, he began to show signs of the Minor Success Realm in the Third Level of Inner Breath.

Being modest and getting along well with the escorts of the Second Escort Team, after several escort tasks, he became more familiar with Jianghu affairs and various escort operations. As a result, Sun Huang, the Leader of the Second Escort Team, valued him increasingly.

After returning from the third escort task of the latter half of the year, Sun Huang applied for an Award Order for Duan Rong!

This Award Order from Yuan Shun Escort Agency could only be applied for by a team leader and required the personal signature and approval of Ruan Fengshan to take effect.

The Award Order would be posted in the Martial Arts Arena, not only an honor but also a step up in the treatment of the escorts.

In the Second Escort Team, both Xiao Yu and Liu Ao had obtained two Award Orders each. None of the other escorts had ever received any.

Now that Duan Rong had received one, his presence in the team was gradually eclipsing Liu Ao.

When Ruan Fengshan saw the Award Order submitted by Sun Huang, he was delighted. The Second Escort Team, having lost Liu Ao, was somewhat weakened. Although Xiao Yu had achieved Minor Success, she was ultimately a woman. For the past few months, he was a bit worried, considering recruiting someone from the Jianghu to fill the void.

However, recently he was overwhelmed with some matters on that side and couldn’t attend to the Escort Agency here.

But unexpectedly, Duan Rong so quickly achieved the Third Level of Inner Breath, effectively filling the gap left by Liu Ao.

Ruan Fengshan picked up the Vermilion Brush on the desk and wrote the word ’Approved’ at the bottom of the application, then signed his name.

"It seems this kid has been cultivating well. That one thousand taels of silver wasn’t given in vain!" Ruan Fengshan said with a sigh, putting down the Vermilion Brush.

Little did he know that of the one thousand taels of silver coins he approved for Duan Rong, he only received one hundred taels, with the rest all withheld by Xu Shouxian.

Two months after achieving Great Success in the Fourth Level of Inner Breath Realm, Duan Rong also achieved the Micro Realm.

For most Martial Artists, achieving the Micro Realm was indeed a matter of water-grinding work.

One had to explore bit by bit, probing the subtle changes in the meridians and continuously testing adjustments.

However, this process was evidently much simpler for Duan Rong — by utilizing Divine Sense Projection, he could directly penetrate his body to detect the subtle changes in his meridians.

But for ordinary Martial Artists, Introspection often failed to detect the subtleties, requiring repeated explorations.