Just as Old Ancestor Taichu was considering how to offer up the scrap, Zhou Xuan changed tack.
Zhou Xuan shifted the conversation.
"However, it no longer matters how much scrap you've stockpiled."
Old Ancestor Taichu froze, instinctively raising his head.
Zhou Xuan looked at him, his tone utterly flat.
"The Purifier is about to shut down."
Those words struck like an explosion inside Old Ancestor Taichu's head, leaving him reeling.
The Purifier is about to shut down?
How is that possible!
Zhou Xuan ignored his shock and continued.
"We've exchanged too many crystal stones recently. The Immortal-Burying Abyss's reserves have already run dry."
"On top of that, the Purifier has been operating beyond capacity, severely damaging its core formation patterns."
"Starting today, the Immortal-Burying Abyss is suspending exchanges indefinitely."
"As for all that scrap your Demon-Slaying Alliance has stockpiled, I won't give you a single crystal stone for it."
Old Ancestor Taichu was completely dumbfounded.
He knelt blankly in the muddy water, his mind utterly empty.
To monopolize the scrap, the Demon-Slaying Alliance had poured vast amounts of manpower and resources into the effort over the past fortnight.
The major sects had even brought out their last reserves of spirit stones to purchase scraps from independent cultivators.
They had staked everything on this scrap, waiting to exchange it for top-grade crystal stones at the Immortal-Burying Abyss and raise their sects' strength to new heights.
Now, with a few casually spoken words, Zhou Xuan had turned all the scrap in their hands into garbage.
Not a single crystal stone!
Wouldn't that mean all their painstaking efforts over the past fortnight had been poured down the drain?
The distribution of profits within the Demon-Slaying Alliance had already been settled.
If those old fellows Hun Yuan and Wu Ji learned that the scrap