Si Ma Ye's Storage Ring

Ye Lingfei noticed the manager's stiff unease and realized things might not be so simple. She asked doubtfully, "Sister Wang, what exactly did they buy downstairs?"

Sister Wang replied, "The two Honored Guests selected a total of twenty-five different types of longswords, and each type..."

Before she could finish, Si Ma Ye interrupted her. "Sister Wang, are you sure they bought that many?"

He scrutinized Lu Feng and Tang Yuan with deep suspicion, then fixed his gaze on Xiao Yixue at the side. "With just a newcomer like her, could she really sell that many treasured swords?"

Mu Rong Yu was equally skeptical. "Sister Wang, could it be that you conspired with them to scheme against us? Who in their right mind would buy twenty-five longswords?"

Ye Lingfei said timidly, "Though the longswords downstairs may not all be of the finest quality, quite a few are Earth Grade. Those are priced in Jade Soul Coins. If they truly selected twenty-five Earth Grade longswords, their value would be no small sum..."

Si Ma Ye and Mu Rong Yu's expressions grew even uglier.

Although they had some source stones on them, they truly did not have many soul coins. There was no way they could produce tens of thousands at once.

Once a Soul Master reached the Earth Soul Realm, the focus of their wealth would unconsciously shift from ordinary soul coins to source stone resources. Soul coins of the mundane world often had little use by then.

Even descendants of the Four Great Families, or people like Jun Zi Shuo and Jun Ziya, would not carry that many soul coins with them. If it were tens of thousands' worth of source stone resources, that would be more plausible.

Manager Sister Wang's face darkened somewhat. Deeply displeased by Mu Rong Yu's words, she said with a black expression, "If you question how our Carefree Pavilion conducts its business, you may go downstairs and investigate for yourselves. There are so many customers below; they all witnessed the two Honored Guests' purchase."

After a pause, Sister Wang emphasized her correction. "Also, the two Honored Guests did not buy twenty-five longswords. They bought out the entire stock of all twenty-five types of longswords!"

Si Ma Ye and Mu Rong Yu's pupils suddenly widened severalfold.

Ye Lingfei and Lin Yuhan both sucked in a breath, an indescribable sense of regret welling up from within.

What did buying out the entire stock even mean?!

Even in large-scale procurement, such a thing was rarely seen.

It was truly hard to believe that they had missed out on such an enormous deal.

Qian Meng's expression was no longer so calm either. He had not thought much of twenty-five longswords, but clearing out the stock of twenty-five kinds of longswords... even for the Qian Tian Sect, that would be no small expenditure.

Thinking of the various reports that had just spread concerning Lu Feng, Qian Meng found it increasingly likely. With the foundation gained from destroying the Limitless Sect, casually spending tens of millions of soul coins truly amounted to nothing.

Moreover, Lu Feng himself was the Sect Leader of a sword sect. Procuring more longswords was perfectly reasonable.

Tang Yuan coldly watched Si Ma Ye, Ye Lingfei, and the others wear expressions as ugly as if they had eaten shit. The pent-up resentment in his heart was finally completely vented.

Yet Manager Sister Wang still seemed dissatisfied. She continued, dropping words shocking enough to kill, "Among these twenty-five types of longswords, the type with the fewest in stock had thirty-two swords in total: the Five Elements Grade Sea Spirit Sword."

"The type with the most in stock had one hundred and twenty swords in total: the Awakening of Insects Sword, forged from Cold Crystal Thunder Stone, a specialty of Hai Mountain."

"All twenty-five types of treasured swords combined came to one thousand five hundred and seventy-nine swords, with a total value of twenty million two hundred and forty thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Mu Rong Yu sucked in a breath, his eyes filled with terror. "H-how much!?"

Even if the Mu Rong Family's foundation was wealthy, it only amounted to the ten-million level. Even if they smashed their pots and sold their iron, they would likely only barely manage to scrape together that sum.

Si Ma Ye's face darkened as he leaned back slightly, like a thief covering his ears while stealing a bell, as though trying to avoid everyone's gaze and escape this responsibility.

Ye Lingfei regretted it until her intestines turned green, her hands trembling. She worked herself to the bone for an entire year, and if she did not exchange her earnings for cultivation resources, she would probably only make two or three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Even with rewards added in, it would absolutely never exceed one million Gold Soul Coins.

That was only because she worked for a major, well-connected shop like the Carefree Pavilion. For ordinary people in the mundane world, they would likely earn at most one or two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins in a year. Most might only have several tens of thousands in income to sustain their daily lives.

She did not even dare imagine more than twenty million Gold Soul Coins. Even if she worked without food or drink, she likely could not accumulate that much wealth.

Suddenly, Ye Lingfei thought of something, and her venomous gaze instantly shot toward Xiao Yixue at the side.

This order belonged to Xiao Yixue. When the rewards were calculated afterward...

Even if the reward was only five percent, that would still be more than one million Gold Soul Coins!

Missing this order due to one stray thought was practically the same as working for nothing for one or two years!

Ye Lingfei was furious to the extreme. She could endure missing out on so many rewards herself, but she absolutely could not tolerate watching Xiao Yixue, a newcomer, receive those rewards right before her eyes.

This was simply the greatest humiliation under heaven!

Lin Yuhan's mood was much the same as Ye Lingfei's. Other than her dissatisfaction with Xiao Yixue, she even began secretly hating Ye Lingfei as well.

In her view, if Ye Lingfei had not first spotted Si Ma Ye and the others appearing earlier, making her fear that Ye Lingfei would go over to fawn upon them, she would never have rushed to leave.

And if she had not left, this order would originally have been hers!

Thinking of how she had instantly lost more than a million soul coins in earnings, Lin Yuhan felt as sick as if she had swallowed a huge handful of roundworms—still only half of them.

Suppressing her nausea, Lin Yuhan unwillingly asked the manager, "Sister Wang, did they pay all those soul coins in full?"

Sister Wang gave a cold snort. "Not only did they pay in full, the remaining soul coins would be enough to clear out several more shelves."

Her words were heavy, carrying a trace of rebuke for the two women's inability to recognize what stood before their eyes.

That only made Lin Yuhan and Ye Lingfei feel worse.

Seeing everyone's bereaved expressions, Tang Yuan smiled teasingly. "Well? Have you figured out how you'll pay yet?"

Mu Rong Yu clenched his fists. The embarrassment and humiliation in his heart left him unable to utter a single word.

After hesitating, Si Ma Ye said, "You two, this could be considered a case of no fight, no acquaintance. How about we make friends and let this matter go? Given how generously you spend, I presume you will not haggle with us over this."

Tang Yuan's face immediately hardened. "We may not haggle, but if we had lost, would you have let us off so easily?"

"Exactly!" Xiao Yixue chimed in indignantly. "Earlier, you were shouting that if the two Young Masters lost and could not pay, you would make them suffer."

Si Ma Ye and Mu Rong Yu's expressions stiffened at once, and they glared viciously at Xiao Yixue.

Ye Lingfei spoke out in indignation, scolding her directly. "Xiaoxue, your wings have really hardened! Don't think that taking one order means you can act lawlessly. They may protect you for a moment, but they cannot protect you for a lifetime. You still have to work in this pavilion afterward!"

The threat in her words was completely undisguised.

Lu Feng had just been about to speak when the manager's voice came first. "Ye Lingfei! Since when is it your place to point fingers in the Carefree Pavilion? Xiaoxue performed far better than you two today! Her standing in this pavilion will only be higher than yours in the future!"

As she spoke, she turned toward Xiao Yixue with a gentle look and promised, "Don't worry. Sister Wang is here."

Seeing this, Ye Lingfei and Lin Yuhan's faces darkened like stones in a gutter.

Seeing that the situation could not be eased, Mu Rong Yu could only shamelessly kneel before Qian Meng again in his embarrassment. "Martial Uncle, please help us."

After a slight hesitation, Si Ma Ye knelt as well. "Martial Uncle, they set us up. We had no idea they had bought so much downstairs beforehand. Otherwise, we definitely would not have agreed to such a wager."

Tang Yuan said urgently, "Hey, that's no way to talk. We reminded you before that we had bought quite a lot. You were the one acting high and mighty and refusing to take it seriously."

Si Ma Ye thought back and realized that this had indeed happened. His face could not help turning incomparably awkward.

Qian Meng's expression hardened as he glared gloomily at Mu Rong Yu. "I am merely your Martial Uncle. I have no authority to interfere in such matters. You should go beg your master instead."

Mu Rong Yu's face stiffened. He understood that Qian Meng was still angry over what had happened earlier. He immediately gritted his teeth and slapped himself several times, then pleaded with a pitiful expression, "Martial Uncle, please be magnanimous and do not hold a petty man's faults against him. Forgive this junior just once. If my master finds out, he will surely break my legs and throw me out of the mountain gate."

"Martial Uncle, I am the Mu Rong Family's only heir. My father exerted tremendous effort just to secure me a place in the Qian Tian Sect. If I am expelled, I will have no face to return home. There will be nothing left for me but death."

As he spoke, he removed the Storage Ring from his hand. "Everything I own—my money and resources—is in here. This is all I can offer. If you keep forcing me, then death is my only option."

Qian Meng could not quite bear it and sighed inwardly. He then turned to Si Ma Ye. "What about you!?"

Si Ma Ye's face darkened. Looking at his Storage Ring, he hesitated before saying, "I... I cannot bear that many soul coins, but I can write an IOU. I will do everything possible to repay it within three years."

He secretly calculated that, so long as he was given enough time, with his strength, he could return to the mundane world and plunder hundreds or thousands of ordinary merchants. He should barely be able to gather the money.

Tang Yuan said unhappily, "We do not have the leisure to waste three years with you. How about this? Like him, hand over the Storage Ring on your hand, and today's matter will be settled."

"That is absolutely impossible!" Si Ma Ye refused firmly.

Mu Rong Yu frowned and lowered his voice. "We have already reached this point. What is there to be unwilling about? Hurry up and hand it over. We lost today! Don't keep dragging this out—it is humiliating enough already. If you are unwilling to accept it, find a chance to take revenge later."

Si Ma Ye's gaze remained resolute.

Tang Yuan noticed something and asked suspiciously, "With that attitude, could it be that there is some treasure in this Storage Ring? Something enough to offset those soul coins?"

An imperceptible flash of panic crossed Si Ma Ye's eyes. He steadied himself and said with a grief-stricken expression, "This ring was passed down by my late father. It absolutely cannot be handed to an outsider."

Xiao Yixue laughed without hesitation. "That's easy. The pavilion has specially made storage pouches. Just move the things inside out, then leave the Storage Ring to you afterward."

Si Ma Ye's face suddenly stiffened.

Catching that embarrassed expression, Tang Yuan became even more suspicious. "Looking at you, I'm afraid it is not merely that, is it? Could there really be some huge secret hidden inside? A secret even more valuable than those twenty million Gold Soul Coins?"

Si Ma Ye's face darkened. Seeing Tang Yuan's resolute attitude, he had no choice but to whisper a few words to Qian Meng.

Tang Yuan had originally wanted to listen in, but under Qian Meng's Soul Consciousness interference, he only vaguely heard the words Jiang Nan and could not determine exactly what Si Ma Ye had said.

However, judging from the shock on Qian Meng's face, it was certainly no simple matter.

After a long while.

Qian Meng spoke to Lu Feng with slight awkwardness. "Little friend, could you give this old man some face and take a step back? Let the matter of those soul coins go. In exchange, within the scope of my authority, I can allow you to choose ten Earth Grade Soul Plates."

Lu Feng smiled calmly. Seeing that the purpose of teaching them a lesson had been achieved, he had not intended to keep pressing them. Just as he was about to go along with Qian Meng and give him a way out, Tang Yuan's indignant voice suddenly rang out.

"More than twenty million Gold Soul Coins, and you just brush it aside vaguely as 'those soul coins'? That makes this deal far too easy, doesn't it?"

"Also, you should know the value of the Soul Plates here. Let alone ten more, even twenty more would not be enough to offset that many soul coins."

Qian Meng's expression became somewhat ugly, but he was not angry with Tang Yuan. The favor he was asking was based only on his relationship with Lu Feng; he was not familiar with Tang Yuan. Tang Yuan might not even know that he and Lu Feng knew each other, so it was perfectly understandable for him to speak so indignantly.

At that moment, Qian Meng could only look helplessly toward Lu Feng for aid.

Unexpectedly, Tang Yuan cut in again. "Senior, don't look at my brother so pitifully. It's useless."

"At the root of it, today's matter was caused by the people of your sect looking down on others with dog eyes and acting far too arrogantly. All things considered, they have received their lesson now, and we do not wish to make things overly difficult for them."

"However, since the wager was made, simply erasing it would not be proper either. How about this? Let us choose twenty Soul Plates from here, plus three treasures from the third floor..."

Qian Meng interrupted with a grim face. "The matter of the Soul Plates can still be discussed, but every item displayed on the third floor is a rare treasure, each one exceedingly valuable. This pavilion truly cannot afford three treasures."

Tang Yuan had anticipated Qian Meng's response, so he deliberately yielded. "Then two."

Qian Meng was still somewhat troubled. He looked at Lu Feng and said hesitantly, "Very well, but those two items must be related to the array path."

Seeing Tang Yuan agree, Qian Meng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and did not feel too much pain over it.

Just as when the Three Talents Creation Array had been selected earlier, he thought that even if such an array fell into Lu Feng's hands, he could later have Qian Xin go over, curry favor with him, and learn it back.

If it ultimately returned to the Qian Tian Sect after making its rounds, it would not count as a loss. On the contrary, it could even be called a fortunate opportunity.

After all, even if a damaged array plate sat there for another hundred years, it would still remain damaged. How could that compare to restoring it and passing it down?

With that thought, Qian Meng's mood suddenly improved considerably.