Forced Transaction (Seeking Follow-up Reads, Seeking Votes)

This was the foundation that allowed Wang Yu to operate. With one more sect certification, the benefits were plentiful. Especially when working with those in power within the system, it could play an even greater role.

Hearing this, Zhou Tao shook his head.

"I have credentials as a First Tier High-Grade Alchemist."

"Then wait for Huang Kai and Luo Ping Hu to secure theirs. At the beginning of the hour of the Snake three days from now, gather here again. By then, I'll bring out what you want."

"A deal."

"Naturally."

The three of them tacitly refrained from asking how much profit Wang Yu could gain in the process. After all, no one was a saint without desires, least of all in a demonic sect.

As long as the promised profits were guaranteed, however much Wang Yu earned was his own ability and had nothing to do with the three of them.

After they dispersed, Wang Yu headed to another Proud Snow Pill Shop. This was also the shop where he had first seen the Cold Blood Pill. Now that he had money in hand, he could finally buy a High-Grade Cold Blood Pill.

As for the Alchemist Society formed by their small group of four, it had actually been a spur-of-the-moment idea. He had realized that earning money through alchemy alone would not work. He had cultivated for too short a time—barely a year.

He had also started out as a Spirit Slave and possessed Useless Spiritual Roots. Let alone possessing outstanding alchemy skills, even his current cultivation was abnormal.

If someone investigated him carefully, it could very likely bring unexpected trouble. So, by changing his approach, he could still make money.

The Alchemist Society had been born from this very thought. As for the conditions he had promised, they were an idea that had occurred to him the first time he obtained the Law Enforcement Token.

That was the Ice Snow Tower!

Pills did not necessarily have to be sold to pill shops. Selling them to the Ice Snow Tower was actually more suitable. Zhao Shang was greedy and bold enough to secretly defy True Inheritor Su's wishes, but that did not mean he felt no fear.

The Law Enforcement Token would be Wang Yu's killing move to turn his fortunes around. Even if Zhao Shang was fearless, he would have to fear it!

The Ice Snow Tower was a private force under a True Inheritor. It did not merely contain ordinary disciples like Wang Yu; there would also be factions within the sect that favored True Inheritor Su and invested in him.

Thus, junior disciples from every side would be present.

Following that thread, it could involve a rather enormous force. Absorbing the output of three First Tier Alchemists would be effortless.

After buying the High-Grade Cold Blood Pill he had been yearning for from the Proud Snow Pill Shop, Wang Yu headed straight for the Ice Snow Tower. Since he had not been gone long, when he pushed the door open again—

Zhao Shang spoke in a surprised, faintly mocking tone.

"Well, well. Isn't this Junior Brother Wang, so highly favored by Esteemed True Inheritor? What's this... back after tattling?"

If Zhao Shang had carried even the slightest concern before, the moment he saw Wang Yu return, he instantly became utterly fearless.

"I think you've misunderstood, Brother Zhao."

Wang Yu glanced around. At the moment, several Inner Disciples sat behind the screens by the side platforms on the first floor, presumably drinking tea. Hearing the commotion, they all looked over.

"I think we need somewhere private so we can have a proper talk."

"A talk? You think you're worthy?!!

"You filthy beggar, I don't care how you deceived Esteemed True Inheritor. Keep talking big, and the Ice Snow Tower will become your burial ground."

Watching Zhao Shang impatiently try to pin the blame on him, attempting to define the matter and even showing signs of wanting to strike while he could, Wang Yu immediately understood his intentions.

He simply wanted to act first and report afterward, eliminating the hidden danger.

What a lunatic!

Bang—

A plaque with a gold base and blood-red characters reading "Law Enforcement" plunged into the countertop. Wang Yu said blandly,

"Crippling fellow disciples, embezzling sect interests, and misleading a True Inheritor Disciple—what do you think of those three crimes? Could they help you rise another step? The kind where you... ascend to heaven directly~"

Zhao Shang's expression changed. He knew Wang Yu's background. Had True Inheritor Su given it to him? No—if that were the case, he would already be dead rather than having this conversation.

In other words, another important figure had taken a liking to Wang Yu.

Damn lucky brat!

Zhao Shang had never envied a Spirit Slave so much!

Cold sweat dripped from his forehead. He dared to bully those beneath him while currying favor above because he had determined that True Inheritor Su was entangled in troubles and had no time to manage the Ice Snow Tower. So long as the profits delivered upward remained unchanged, he would not encounter trouble.

Most of the subordinates he oppressed were ordinary disciples without background or backing, people like Wang Yu and Su Qing Shan. But before those in the Ice Snow Tower who came from various Dharma Lineages, he was nothing but a dog.

Take Duan Ping, Fatty Duan, for example. The Duan Clan he came from was True Inheritor Su's maternal clan and held lofty status within the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect. Even as a bastard son of a collateral branch, he could still order Zhao Shang around.

If the Law Enforcement Hall became involved and the matter blew up, no matter the reason, he would be finished.

After swiftly thinking it through, Zhao Shang immediately put on a different face.

"Junior Brother Wang, honestly, Senior Brother was only joking with you.

"I'll have that person vacate the room for you right away. Just wait a moment."

"No need. Let's talk in private."

"That works too. We'll do as Junior Brother Wang says."

This time, things went much more smoothly. They moved to a private room on the third floor named High Mountain Flowing Water, and Wang Yu stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table.

"Zhao Shang, you oppressed me first. I have a solution for this matter. Hear me out."

Zhao Shang still smiled warmly.

"Speak freely."

"I need a batch of medicinal herbs at fair prices for alchemy. The pills I refine will also be purchased by the Ice Snow Tower through the official accounts, at a price higher than market value."

Making Zhao Shang compensate him with a sum of Spirit Stones privately was possible, but it was unstable. Zhao Shang would very likely retaliate afterward.

It would be better to use the name of cooperation and invite him to swallow Spirit Stones belonging to the Ice Snow Tower together. With this partnership, each of them would have leverage over the other. If either exposed it, both would die—they would become grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

Though Wang Yu hated Zhao Shang so much his teeth itched, he did not yet have the ability to remove him. He would still have to wait.

Hearing his demand, Zhao Shang instinctively refused.

"Impossible. The Ice Snow Tower is under my management, but I'm only responsible for the Essence Qi Chamber. The internal assignments, the pills, Spirit Stones, and other resources distributed to others—those are not under my control.

"Besides, your asking price is too high. Market prices are already inflated, yet you want even more. How could that be possible? Once the accounts are checked afterward, I'll be dead for sure."

Wang Yu shook his head.

"I'll sell them to you at market price. As for how much the Ice Snow Tower pays, I don't know."

The implication was that everything above market price would be Zhao Shang's. How much he made would depend on his own ability.

Zhao Shang immediately fell silent, calculating rapidly in his heart.

Anyone who cultivated to Qi Refining Late Stage and possessed even a little ambition would prepare to break through to Foundation Establishment, and saving Spirit Stones was the top priority.

With the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect at his back, ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills—such as the Inverse Blood Pill—could be bought for around four thousand Spirit Stones. But if one wanted a High-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, the pill alone cost Ten Thousand Spirit Stones. One would also need connections, and the expenses were far from small.

Part of the reason he was so greedy was because of this.

Through the internal channels provided by True Inheritor Su at the Ice Snow Tower, there were three Foundation Establishment Pills every year, clearly priced at thirty thousand Spirit Stones.

At that price, even a dog would fall silent after seeing it.

It was too expensive—so expensive that even Zhao Shang could not save enough. Thus, bullying those beneath him while currying favor above had become a Heaven-Reaching great path.

After a long silence—

Zhao Shang gritted his teeth and said,

"I agree, but you must have credentials from the Alchemy Hall. Otherwise, I can't explain it to the fellow disciple responsible for managing the tower's benefits."