Pang Dahai and Sincerity

"You need to be careful when choosing a sect. If you choose well, you may not fail to get what you desire." A voice suddenly came from beside them.

Lu Ye and Yu Xiaodie turned to look, only to discover in surprise that a fat man had appeared beside them at some unknown point. He was smiling at them, his tiny eyes nearly squeezed out of sight by the flesh on his face.

It was the very fat man who had registered the slaves and checked their identities earlier.

Lu Ye had not noticed at all when he had come over.

"Greetings, Senior Brother!" Yu Xiaodie hurriedly saluted him, her expression reserved. Though she had opened several acupoints, a cultivator like this fat man was still a lofty figure to her, and she could not help feeling nervous.

Lu Ye followed suit and saluted.

"I heard you two chatting so enthusiastically and couldn't resist coming over to take a look. You don't mind, do you?" The fat cultivator patted his huge belly with one hand, looking genial and approachable.

"Not at all." Yu Xiaodie hurriedly waved her hands. Though nervous, her thoughts remained crystal clear. Realizing this was an Opportunity, she asked, "May I ask, Senior Brother, what you meant by what you just said?"

Although she knew more about the Cultivation World than Lu Ye did, her knowledge was still limited. How could she compare to a proper Vast Sky Alliance cultivator like this fat man?

"Of course, I meant exactly what I said. Do you want to know?" The fat cultivator's smile grew even warmer. Though he was answering Yu Xiaodie, his eyes were fixed on Lu Ye.

Lu Ye had no idea why this fellow kept staring at him. He had the distinct feeling the man was up to no good, but since it concerned his future, he still said politely, "Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."

"If you want to know..." The fat cultivator warmly patted Lu Ye's shoulder. "That depends on whether you have enough sincerity."

Sincerity?

Lu Ye raised a brow, recalling the first time he had met this fat cultivator, when the man had stared at the Storage Bag at his waist.

No way? It couldn't be that, could it?

He was, after all, a cultivator of profound cultivation. Did he really need to set his sights on a nobody like him?

Yet the implication in the man's words was obvious. Anyone who was not an idiot could hear it.

After a moment of silence, Lu Ye tentatively raised his hand and reached into the Storage Bag at his waist. The fat cultivator's eyes, narrowed to slits, slowly opened a little wider, and his smile became even more cheerful.

Lu Ye lowered his hand, and the fat cultivator returned to how he had been before.

Lu Ye raised his hand again, and the fat cultivator's eyes opened a little wider...

After repeating this several times, Lu Ye finally confirmed that things were indeed exactly as he had suspected.

But the fat cultivator could no longer stand it. He had never seen anyone torment someone so openly as Lu Ye did. With an unhappy flick of his sleeve, he said, "Looks like you don't want to know."

He had barely turned around when his hand suddenly grew heavy. Looking down, the fat cultivator saw that someone had stuffed a bottle of Qi and Blood Pills into it. Lu Ye stood before him with the expression of someone who had just had several pounds of flesh cut off.

The fat cultivator could not help twitching at the corner of his mouth. "This is your sincerity?"

What kind of crap was this? He had come over on purpose—did Lu Ye think it was for a bottle of such trash?

"What does Senior Brother want, then?" Lu Ye asked.

The fat cultivator could not take it anymore and simply made it plain. "Ore!"

Lu Ye asked curiously, "Would someone as lofty as Senior Brother really take a liking to that ore?"

The fat cultivator said, "Then you don't know this. The ore produced from this mine in Evil Moon Valley is all top-grade stuff, rare indeed. Besides, if you want information, naturally you have to pay a price. I can't just tell you all sorts of things for free when we have no friendship between us."

"That makes sense." Lu Ye nodded in agreement, casually took out a piece of ore from his Storage Bag, and handed it to the fat cultivator.

The fat cultivator did not accept it right away. His eyes narrowed into slits as he slowly shook his head. "I can't see your sincerity."

"It's this big!" Lu Ye held up the washbasin-sized chunk of ore. It was the largest piece in the Storage Bag at his waist.

The fat cultivator hummed a little tune and ignored him.

Lu Ye clicked his tongue, looking pained as though flesh were being carved from him. He set the ore in his hand by his feet, then took another piece out of his Storage Bag.

He had mined for over a year, so he knew a little about ore. Though he did not know their precise values, the ones that were easy to find were certainly worth less. The two pieces he took out looked fairly large, but they had not been uncommon during his mining days and belonged to the easier-to-find variety.

There was not much ore in Zhou Cheng's Storage Bag, only five or six pieces, most of them common ores. Steward Yang's Storage Bag, on the other hand, held not only a larger quantity of ore, but also many rare items.

When the second piece of ore came out, the fat cultivator's face gained a trace of a smile. "Kid, don't think I'm taking advantage of you. I came specially to give you a few pointers because I find you agreeable. I, Pang Dahai of the Righteous Qi Sect, have some reputation in Soldier Province's Cultivation World. Others would beg for my guidance, and I still couldn't be bothered with them."

Watching these two act like this in broad daylight, while the fat cultivator kept claiming to be from the Righteous Qi Sect, Yu Xiaodie felt as though something inside her had shattered.

Lu Ye could not quite stomach it either. "You're from the Righteous Qi Sect?"

Where was that mighty righteous qi of yours?

As he spoke, he had already taken out a third piece of ore.

Pang Dahai's eyes remained narrowed into slits. Clearly, he still could not see enough sincerity.

Lu Ye's eyelids twitched. He dearly wished he could pry open the man's eyelids and make him look properly.

But he was definitely no match for him, so he took out a fourth piece. This time, he chose a valuable piece of Primordial Magnetic Ore.

Pang Dahai's brows twitched, though he maintained the smile on his face.

Lu Ye clapped his hands and pointed at the four pieces of ore on the ground. "Still not enough sincerity?"

Pang Dahai smiled without saying a word.

"Fine, then there's nothing to be done." Lu Ye sighed. Under Pang Dahai and Yu Xiaodie's stunned gazes, he squatted down, put the first piece of ore back into his Storage Bag, then looked up at Pang Dahai. "Is this enough?"

Pang Dahai's eyes flew fully open. He stared at Lu Ye in shock, his mind a complete mess.

Yu Xiaodie was likewise greatly startled by Lu Ye's outrageous move, unable to understand what Brother Lu was trying to do.

Lu Ye put away the second piece of ore as well, then looked up and asked Pang Dahai again, "Is this enough?"

"I..." Pang Dahai seemed about to curse, but swallowed the words back. He tried hard to preserve the bearing of an expert, but his expression had already turned somewhat exasperated.

Lu Ye's demonic claw was already reaching for the third piece of ore when a hand pressed down on his arm. Looking up, Lu Ye saw Pang Dahai glaring at him through gritted teeth. "Enough. More than enough!"