Chapter 1067: Risk Assessment
“Buy insurance?” Fang Jin held up the letter, tilting his head as he stared at it for a long while, trying to discern some hidden meaning in it.
He found nothing.
“What does Senior Brother Dai mean? Is it some kind of code? That shouldn’t be the case, though. This isn’t some secret operation. Why would he use a code?”
Fang Jin resisted the urge to soak the letter in water or hold it over a flame. This is an ordinary letter. Senior Brother Dai probably hasn’t used any code.
“That means he’s really telling me to buy insurance for the sect?”
Fang Jin was still utterly befuddled. I was merely asking about the situation with Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, yet Dai Bufan replied to me with a one-liner—buying insurance.
This is such a big sheet of paper. Couldn’t you have written more? Do you charge by the character?
Although he didn’t understand the meaning, out of trust for Dai Bufan, Fang Jin dutifully went to the Jing Province branch of the Luodi Merchant Guild.
The Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect was a sect affiliated with the imperial court. Fang Jin’s position was comparable to that of an upper-third-rank official, and he represented the sect externally. Combined with his Basic Fusion cultivation, the branch chief of the Jing Province branch personally received him.
“Brother Fang, are you saying that you wish to purchase insurance for your esteemed sect?” The branch chief was surprised once he understood Fang Jin’s intention.
He hadn’t heard of any incidents happening to the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect. Why do they suddenly need to buy insurance?
“Brother Fang, what level of insurance coverage are you looking for? We have five tiers: A, B, C, D, and E. Generally, the C tier is sufficient—the compensation covers sixty percent. If you’re willing to invest, the B tier covers eighty percent. Very few people buy the A tier...”
“A tier. One year to start. How many spirit stones?”
Fang Jin’s decisiveness made the branch chief increasingly hesitant. He smiled ingratiatingly. “Brother Fang, you know the rules. The price is tied to risk. We need to assess your sect’s risk level for the coming year before we can determine the price. Don’t worry, brother. The results will be ready in two days.”
“That works.”
After Fang Jin left, the branch chief dispatched seven of his most professional assessment cultivators to the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect. These seven were veterans of the Jing Province branch and highly experienced. If not for their emotional attachment to the branch, they would have long since transferred to the headquarters. The branch chief’s decision to send these seven was a testament to his high regard for the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect.
Two days later, the risk assessment results were out.
The branch chief took the thick report and flipped directly to the conclusion on the last page.
“The Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect was founded twenty thousand years ago. When a certain founding ancestor of the Dao-Seeking Sect served as the governor of Qing Province, under the guise of a fight, he moved a prosperous neighboring city into Qing Province’s territory.
"Only then did the imperial court establish regulations for terrain restoration and set up the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect...
“During these twenty thousand years, the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect did not suffer from external invasions or internal strife...
“Recently, the most significant change at the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect is the arrival of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou from the Dao-Seeking Sect, who will be residing there for the time being.
“The jianghu is full of stories about Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, with over a hundred related pingshu versions. However, according to our investigation, most of these stories were fabricated by the Taciturn Daoist Priest, the sect leader of the Dao-Seeking Sect, for promotional purposes. The real Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou did not experience these tales.
“Lu Yang participated in the Sword-Seeking Grand Ceremony at the Sword Tower in Shu Province, during which the Sword Tower was attacked by the Heaven Mandate Immortal and reduced to ruins, leading to the Shu Province branch providing compensation.
"This became a classic case of failed insurance underwriting in the past century. However, Lu Yang’s presence had no connection to the attack whatsoever and was purely coincidental.
“Therefore, the presence of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou does not raise the risk profile of the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect.
“So the conclusion is...extremely low risk?”
The branch chief frowned. This doesn’t make sense. If there is no risk, why is Fang Jin buying insurance?
But the risk assessment report can’t be falsified. Since the seven veterans unanimously agree that the risk is extremely low, it has to be true.
Fang Jin successfully purchased the A-tier sect insurance policy at the lowest price.
~~~
These days, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou hardly had time to even take a seat. Every time they returned to the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect, they received a new mission and had to rush off again. They were unaware that risk assessment cultivators had visited the sect or that Fang Jin had taken the advice to buy insurance.
At first, the two enjoyed themselves immensely. But gradually, the nonstop work left them physically and mentally exhausted.
“This Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect is really busy.”
“The imperial court is so stingy. Why won’t they send more people here?”
Lu Yang shook his head, deeply disappointed in the management approach of the Xia Emperor, the chancellor of the Great Dou Dynasty. Fortunately, we’ve come for our compulsory labor. If we hadn’t, how busy would the sect have been?
“Forget it. I should look on the bright side. Maybe Great Xia is just as shorthanded as our Great Dou Dynasty,” Lu Yang consoled himself. His words clearly demonstrated his unwavering loyalty to the Great Dou Dynasty, witnessed by heaven and earth and attested by the sun and moon.
However, Lu Yang’s status was special—he held dual nationality. When the Everlasting Immortal Fairy was around, he belonged to the Great Dou Dynasty, and when Yun Zhi was around, he belonged to the Great Xia Dynasty.
At this moment, Lu Yang turned into a giant and bent over to plant seedlings, as if tending to a penjing.[1]
First, he used a single finger to poke a hole in the ground, then carefully pinched a sapling and planted it in the hole, filling the soil and watering it. The entire process required precise control of strength. One careless move, and all his work would go down the drain.
“Sect Leader Kong was right. Practice is more useful than any technique.”
Initially, Lu Yang had struggled with his control of strength, accidentally snapping saplings. Now, as long as he focused, the saplings remained unharmed.
But this wasn’t enough. He wanted to reach a level where he could plant trees as naturally as breathing, with effortless control of his force.
Meng Jingzhou’s progress was similar to Lu Yang’s. Both were at a stage where they were fine as long as they were cautious, but would fail if their attention drifted.
After planting the trees, the two also had to move mountains back to their original positions. This was another delicate task.
With their strength, simply pushing the mountains over would not be a problem. But that would cause irreversible damage to the mountains. Hence, they needed to control their force when moving them.
“Finally settled. Where’s the next stop, again?” Lu Yang wiped his sweat. Like air escaping from a leak, spirit energy seeped out, and his body gradually shrank, eventually returning to its original size.
Meng Jingzhou first had the dharma manifestation remove its clothes and fold them neatly. Only then did he retract the dharma manifestation and stow the clothes away.
“Why is dressing and undressing the dharma manifestation such a hassle?” Meng Jingzhou found it terribly inconvenient.
Lu Yang sighed. “What does this tell us? It shows that no matter how imposing those cultivators using Heaven-Earth Dharma Manifestation look when they fight, once they return to normal, they all have to secretly and obediently fold their clothes.”
This highlights the advantage of Cosmos in Sleeve. Clothes can be enlarged or shrunk directly.
“The next stop is quite far. Probably about twenty thousand li from here.”
As they spoke, a violent fluctuation of spirit energy came from above.
Looking up, they saw two Fusion cultivators fighting. It was unclear from which direction they had flown, but they ended up stopping here.
The commotion from the battle was so huge that mortals who witnessed it thought the apocalypse had arrived and trembled in fear.
These two Fusion cultivators were impressive in combat. Every one of their moves could rip space, shatter mountains, and evaporate lakes.
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou immediately grew frantic.
We put so much effort into restoring the terrain. If you two keep fighting, wouldn’t everything be ruined again?!
1. The Chinese art of penjing is where the Japanese bonsai was derived from. ☜
