Spending Money to Avert Disaster (Seeking Follow-up Reads!!)

Little Spirit Void Peak, main building, inside a room.

Han Yi sat upright, his expression somewhat tense.

Seated before him was a young man in his early forties.

The young man looked slightly weary, his eyes thick with bloodshot veins. He was clearly not in good condition.

Han Yi took a deep breath. Without beating around the bush, he came straight to the point. "Senior Brother Zhou, I came here for a quota."

The young man before him was surnamed Zhou, named Zhou Xiong. He was the final disciple of Fan Mo, Peak Master of Little Spirit Void Peak.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiong's expression eased.

"Let me make this clear first. There aren't many quotas, and the price has gone up. It's very expensive, so be prepared."

"Also, I can only guarantee that having a quota gives you a chance. It doesn't mean you can avoid it with absolute certainty."

"You need to understand that."

"Of course, don't worry. If you still can't avoid it and are truly selected, half the price will be refunded."

"Think it over."

Zhou Xiong was equally direct.

Han Yi had come here for the "quota" the two of them spoke of.

This so-called "quota" referred to a spot on Little Spirit Void Peak exempt from being selected to join the encirclement and suppression of the Heavenly Demons.

The news had been secretly revealed to him by a regular customer who came to buy pills from him.

After investigating through several channels, Han Yi had confirmed that such "quotas" did indeed exist.

Put simply.

Han Yi was here to "offer a bribe."

"Senior Brother Zhou, name your price. So long as it's within my means, I will spare no effort." Han Yi wore the expression of a man waiting to be butchered.

And that was indeed the case.

If he were selected to join the campaign against the Heavenly Demons, it might not be a nine-deaths-and-one-life situation, but the chances of dying would certainly be high.

If he could avoid being selected, he was willing to pay any price.

That was why he had come.

"Thirty Medium-grade Spirit Stones, or pills and Low-grade Spirit Stones of equivalent value."

"One price. No bargaining."

Han Yi's expression changed at once.

The price was simply too high—absurdly high.

Among the Qi Refining Middle Stage disciples of Little Spirit Void Peak, fewer than ten could afford such a price. Even then, only those senior brothers at Qi Refining Layer 6 who were highly skilled in pill refinement and had saved for more than a decade might be able to produce it.

"Thirty Medium-grade Spirit Stones is equivalent to three thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. My current Spirit Stone reserves fall a little short, but if I add my pills, it should be enough."

"But if I do that, more than three years of savings will vanish into thin air."

"I really can't help feeling unwilling."

Han Yi only hesitated inwardly for a moment before making his decision. He paid.

If the Spirit Stones were gone, if the pills were gone, he could earn more. But if his life was gone, then everything would be over.

Half an hour later.

Han Yi walked out of the main building. His gaze drifted over the sea of clouds, somewhat vacant. But after no more than a breath, his eyes regained their resolve.

This Heavenly Demon incident had only strengthened his determination to keep living cautiously.

A single Greater Heavenly Demon that had escaped from the Demon Cave had been able to invade the body of Gu Wuhen, the Foundation Establishment cultivator and Peak Master of Little Valley Sword Peak, while he was cultivating. It had then slaughtered the entirety of Little Valley Sword Peak before crashing into Little Spirit Void Peak with terrifying power, shattering its formation, forcing Little Spirit Void Peak's Peak Master Fan Mo to flee, and causing grievous casualties across the peak.

It was simply terrifying.

And this was only one Greater Heavenly Demon.

If he truly went to the Demon Cave, there would be countless Greater Heavenly Demons like that—let alone the even stronger Heavenly Demon Kings, Heavenly Demon Lords, and perhaps even Heavenly Demon Gods.

One glance from them might be enough to send him sprawling dead on the ground.

Dangerous.

Far too dangerous.

Therefore, Han Yi resolved to give everything he had to stay alive cautiously whenever he could. If he could not, then he would create the conditions to do so.

After leaving the main building, Han Yi stopped wandering around. Instead, he returned to his courtyard, activated its defenses, and began cultivating the Spirit Void Finger.

He had already done everything within his power to the utmost.

If he were still truly selected, then it would simply be fate. There was nothing else he could do.

As for running away, that would be seeking his own death. He was not that foolish.

Half a month later.

The results of the conscription were announced.

Han Yi was not on the list.

At last, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Zheng Hai was not on the list either. Just as Han Yi had guessed, of the three thousand cultivators at the Qi Refining Middle Stage conscripted this time, eighty percent were at Qi Refining Layer 5, with a small number at Qi Refining Layers 4 and 6.

"Wonderful, neither of us was picked."

"That calls for a drink."

Inside the Little Spirit Void Tower, Han Yi was treating this time. Two barrels of Spirit Fruit Wine were brought out, pleasantly sweet and fragrant.

Han Yi did not answer. He merely downed a large cup in one gulp before raising his head and letting out a sigh.

"I wonder how many people will make it back from this expedition."

Zheng Hai did not seem bothered. "Who knows? We can only leave it to fate."

"Oh, right. I heard that above the Demon Cave, a sword immortal of Great Qian fought a Heavenly Demon God and smashed the space above the Demon Cave to pieces. You could see the magnificent sights beyond the realm—it was truly terrifying beyond measure."

"If I can become a Divine Transformation sword immortal someday, that'd be fucking incredible."

Zheng Hai looked wistful, divine light gleaming in his eyes.

"Stop dreaming and focus on staying alive first." Han Yi tossed out the remark, then continued drinking.

Suddenly.

Several tables away, a few disciples wearing the same gray outer-sect robes were drinking as well.

"I heard the Peak Master has also joined the conscription force and will be going along to suppress the heavenly demons. Is that true?"

"How could it be false? The list is already out."

"Hmph, if he hadn't run so damn fast last time—if he'd held out a little longer—our Little Spirit Void Peak wouldn't have suffered such grievous losses."

"Hey, stop talking. When life and death are on the line, fleeing for one's life is instinct. There's no blaming him for it."

"Oh, right, you don't know about the Peak Master yet, do you? I heard the sect higher-ups reprimanded him and ordered him to redeem himself through merit this time. You think he joined willingly? Bullshit."

"Then will our Little Spirit Void Peak have a new peak master?"

"I think a new peak master will be selected soon enough."

Several tables away, Han Yi lowered the ears he had been straining to listen.

Yet in his heart, even more speculations arose.

The matter of spreading word about the selection slots had been handled by Fan Mo's disciple Zhou Xiong and the others, but the final decision had, in truth, remained in Fan Mo's hands.

Now that he thought about it.

Fan Mo had wanted to make one final haul for himself—or for his descendants, for his family.

Han Yi's hand holding the wine cup paused slightly.

He suddenly thought of the senior brother who had revealed the information about the "slots" to him.

Looking back now, that supposed "leak" had seemed rather deliberate.

It appeared that.

He had already been placed on Fan Mo's list at the time.

The so-called leaked information had merely been a way of picking out those with sufficiently deep pockets.

After all, Fan Mo knew of Han Yi's alchemy skills. Though he did not know how much money Han Yi had, he must have assumed Han Yi had saved up quite a bit. There was always something to squeeze out of him.

"Damn it, what a sly bastard," Han Yi muttered.

"What's wrong?" Zheng Hai asked.

"Nothing." Han Yi did not elaborate.

This matter could only rot in his stomach.

As for whether it was against the rules or not, if the people did not raise the matter, the authorities would not investigate. And even if it was against the rules, so what?

Besides.

From a certain perspective, Han Yi was one of the beneficiaries. Naturally, he would not make any unnecessary moves.

In any case.

He had spent money to avert disaster. That much, he had accomplished.

After they finished drinking, each went home.

Half a month later.

Led by a Supreme Elder of the Mystic Pill Sect, three Golden Core cultivators, twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators, four hundred cultivators at the Qi Refining Late Stage, and three thousand cultivators at the Qi Refining Middle Stage were transported aboard a Skyflying Warship, a large-scale sect artifact, straight toward northern Qian Prefecture—east of the Jade Capital Mountain Sacred Ground and west of the Void Sect.

That departure.

Lasted three years.