Zhang Yu suppressed his wildly beating heart, immediately dragged his unsteady body close to Zhang Lingyun, put on a "pure and harmless" smile, and asked in a low voice:
"Um... Master, how much revenue did our Crimson Flame Peak typically generate each year?"
Given their current relationship, he could only address Zhang Lingyun as "Master," otherwise the brother-sister relationship would be difficult to explain and would only invite endless suspicion.
This question stumped Zhang Lingyun.
She's always been a hands-off manager, leaving all the affairs of Crimson Flame Peak to the head Steward, Qing Mu, while she focuses on cultivation, killing, and treasure hunting. How could she possibly remember these trivial accounts?
"Cough cough..."
The weakened Qing Mu drifted over slowly, its Soul Body dim, yet its voice remained steady:
"Reporting to Peak Master, Crimson Flame Peak has thirteen Mortal Kingdoms that pay tribute, one mid-grade Spirit Stone Veins, and three Marketplaces that take a cut. In addition, there are the Spirit Herb Garden and Alchemy Room within the peak... All these sources of income add up to a stable five thousand Spirit Stone per year."
Five thousand Spirit Stone every year!
Zhang Yu's mind raced with calculations...
A thousand years is five million Spirit Stone!
Even if only half is returned, it would still be a full 2.5 million!
He suppressed his excitement and continued calculating the system rewards.
The Greedy for Money persona: For every Spirit Stone embezzled/accepted, one day's Cultivation.
If all 2.5 million High-Grade Spirit Stone were "embezzled," that would Cultivation.
Converted to years: Approximately 6849 years of Cultivation.
Even if only one million Spirit Stone are "withheld," it would still amount to 2739 years of Cultivation.
This is only the portion returned by Zhu Wuwang; it does not yet include the future normal profits of Crimson Flame Peak...
Zhang Yu's breathing quickened slightly, and his fingers trembled involuntarily.
It should be understood that even with exceptional talent and abundant resources, it takes hundreds of years of hard work for an ordinary cultivator to progress from Great Grandmaster to Land Immortal.
He only needs to "manipulate" a small portion of this resource to gain over a thousand years of Cultivation!
What a terrifying "shortcut"!
"Fart!
Where can there be so many?
Upon hearing that it would cost five thousand Spirit Stone annually, Zhu Wuwang became extremely anxious. Ignoring his severe injuries and disheveled state, he shouted hoarsely:
"In all the years I've managed Crimson Flame Peak, even in the most profitable year, my income was only a little over three thousand."
Where did the five thousand come from?
"Oh?"
Qing Mu's Soul Body flickered, yet his tone remained calm, a barely perceptible glint of cunning flashing in his eyes:
"That might be... I remembered it wrong."
It's probably around three thousand.
Damn it!
We've been tricked!
Zhu Wuwang reacted instantly.
Qing Mu's mention of "five thousand" was clearly a trick.
He couldn't contain himself and actually revealed his secret.
Zhang Yu silently gave Qing Mu a thumbs up, secretly praising him: What a brilliant move of feigning indifference!
"That's bullshit, three thousand is probably only two thousand seven or eight at most, and in some years it's even less than two thousand."
Zhu Wuwang, his face flushed red, resorted to unreasonable and sophistry:
"Moreover, most of it was used for the daily maintenance of Crimson Flame Peak, the construction of various subordinate states, and reinvestment. The actual profit I received was less than one tenth!"
This statement is half true and half false. Daily expenses do exist, but the claim of "one-tenth" is pure fabrication.
However, the specific details of the accounts are unknown to outsiders, and with the dead unable to provide evidence, no one can say for sure.
Helian Jue frowned slightly and turned his gaze to Xing Tian.
Although he was the Vice Sect Master, Xing Tian still had a reclusive Grand Elder behind him, so he had to give him some face.
"Xing Tian, come up with a plan for this matter."
He kicked the ball over, both as a gesture and as a way to save face.
Zhu Wuwang looked at Xing Tian pitifully, his eyes full of pleading.
Over the years, he has generously given a considerable amount of the profits from Crimson Flame Peak to his powerful backer.
Xing Tian's face was gloomy, and he was furious.
But he also understood that with Helian Jue present today, he couldn't get through this without expending some resources.
He hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice:
"A thousand years have passed, and many old scores have long been unresolved."
In my opinion... we should compensate Crimson Flame Peak with 100,000 Spirit Stone to settle this matter.
100,000?
Zhang Yu's eyelids twitched—this was a broken bone!
It's still a comminuted fracture!
According to Qing Mu, even if there are only three thousand each year, that's three million over a thousand years, and half of that would be one million five hundred thousand. But Xing Tian just said he'd cut it down to one hundred thousand.
He immediately wanted to argue, but Zhang Lingyun gently tugged at his sleeve.
Zhang Lingyun shook her head slightly at him, her eyes calm, the meaning clear—
Crimson Flame Peak was weak, and it was already a stroke of luck that it was able to recapture the Main Peak today and force Xing Tian to give in.
It's not the right time to argue; it's time to stop while you're ahead.
She stepped forward and bowed to Helian Jue:
"Everything is up to the Vice Sect Master to decide."
His tone was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger.
Zhang Yu also realized that the situation was beyond his control; getting back 100,000 yuan was better than getting nothing at all.
He suppressed his dissatisfaction and bowed his head, saying, "This disciple... has no objection."
Helian Jue's gaze swept over the group, and he finally nodded slowly.
Two hundred thousand.
That's settled then.
He made the final decision, doubling the amount from Xing Tian's 100,000, thus giving Crimson Flame Peak some real benefit while maintaining a semblance of "fairness."
Xing Tian's lips twitched, but he could only grit his teeth and agree, "... Yes."
Zhu Wuwang slumped to the ground, his face ashen.
Two hundred thousand Spirit Stone, though far less than "half the profit" he had expected, was still a real loss, enough to make him feel the pain for years to come.
Zhang Yu, meanwhile, had already begun to silently plan—
Two hundred thousand Spirit Stone, if all of them were taken... that would amount to two hundred thousand days of Cultivation, approximately 548 years.
It seems... not bad?
He lowered his head, concealing the fleeting glint of shrewdness in his eyes.
"But,"
Xing Tian spoke again, his voice cold and hard:
Two hundred thousand Spirit Stone is no small sum, Zhu Wuwang cannot come up with that much at once.
I'll pay 20,000 upfront, and the rest I'll repay gradually later.
That reason is quite reasonable.
Even though Zhu Wuwang was the master of a peak, 200,000 High-Grade Spirit Stone was a huge sum of money for any Land Immortal.
It's impossible to produce it all at once.
Zhu Wuwang a sense of relief.
Now that we've gotten through this hurdle, whether the remaining 180,000 will be repaid, when it will be repaid, and how much will be repaid are all questions that will need to be answered.
Helian Jue did not say anything more about this, which can be regarded as tacit approval.
Zhang Lingyun and Zhang Yu exchanged a glance and could only accept the outcome—getting 20,000 yuan back immediately was already considered good.
"Master, please rest here for now. I'll keep these Spirit Stones for you."
After saying this, Zhang Yu walked straight up to Zhu Wuwang, stretched out his hand, and said confidently, "Give me twenty thousand Spirit Stone."
Zhu Wuwang gritted his teeth and painfully took out 20,000 Spirit Stone on the ground.
Zhang Yu moved swiftly, stuffing everything into the Spatial Bag Wu Siyuan had given him, filling it to the brim.
After carefully putting away the Spirit Stone, he hefted the bulging bag, turned around, and quickly walked back to Zhang Lingyun, his tone "sincere" with a perfectly appropriate hint of "helplessness":
"Master, look, this Spatial Bag of mine seems... not quite right."
He opened the bag and probed inside with his Divine Sense, then was immediately horrified:
"I clearly put 20,000 Spirit Stone in just now, but now... how come there's only 1,000 left?"
He raised his head, his eyes filled with innocence, his voice clear and resonant, carrying throughout the entire hall:
"Could this bag be stealing Spirit Stone?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Lingyun looked at Zhang Yu blankly, not understanding what he meant.
Qing Mu was also surprised, and even naively wanted to check Zhang Yu's Spatial Bag, but Zhang Yu dodged it.
At that moment, one word flashed through Qing Mu's mind—embezzlement.
Could it be that this Peak Master's disciple wanted to embezzle those 19,000 Spirit Stone, which is why he claimed there was a problem with the Spatial Bag?
But as soon as the idea crossed his mind, he realized it was absurd.
Even the most foolish person wouldn't be so blatantly greedy, would they?
And in front of the Vice Sect Master, Elder Xing Tian, and so many Peak Masters and disciples of the entire sect?
This isn't greed, this is madness!
The others exchanged bewildered glances, their expressions extremely strange.
"Good heavens... Where did Jiang Ling find this 'weird' disciple?"
"Even if you're going to be greedy, at least come up with a decent reason and do it discreetly, right?"
"Does he really not treat his master like a human being?"
A barrage of gazes—some surprised, some mocking, some disdainful, some intrigued—all fell upon Zhang Yu, then turned to Zhang Lingyun, eager to see her reaction.
Zhang Lingyun remained silent.
She just stared at Zhang Yu silently, momentarily bewildered.
She remembered Zhang Yu's earlier words, "A man's business is something he has to earn himself," the self-righteous look on his face when he accepted Wu Siyuan's bribe, and the sly glint in his eyes when he offered to help her "manage her business"...
So, this is what you mean by 'earning it yourself'?
Relying on... embezzling to one's face?
Zhang Lingyun's chest heaved slightly as an indescribable emotion welled up inside her—anger, absurdity, helplessness, and even a slight... urge to laugh.
But you should at least tone it down a bit, be a little more subtle!
She took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
Finally, under everyone's gaze, she merely glanced at Zhang Yu indifferently, her tone so calm it revealed no emotion:
"Oh well, what's done is done."
"..."
The entire hall fell silent once more.
Everyone, including Xing Tian, Zhu Wuwang, and even the Pink Skull who had just been laughing, was stunned.
Lost it, so what?
So you two, master and disciple, are just putting on an act?
The Pink Skull's eyes held an even stronger allure. She clicked her tongue softly, her gaze shifting back and forth between Zhang Lingyun and Zhang Yu, her voice as gentle as if it could drip water:
"Sister Jiang, you really spoil your little apprentice... it's truly enviable!"
Zhang Lingyun ignored her and turned around to say:
"They're gone."
Zhang Yu immediately dropped his innocent expression and followed her eagerly, the bulging Spatial Bag at his waist swaying back and forth, its spiritual light flowing, as if silently announcing:
So what if I embezzled?
My master hasn't said anything, so what's it to you?