Inside the dim-lit cave, the youth sat stark naked cross-legged in a tub. His eyes were half-closed, his hands formed seals, and with every breath he seemed at one with nature.
Inside the tub, the blood-red Rootless Water boiled, making a sound that chilled the soul and made the scalp tingle.
Xiao Meng's chest rose and fell slightly, his breathing exceptionally rhythmic. Within his body, massive medicinal power ramped everywhere like an ox plowing a field, tearing his flesh and blood into a mangled mess, yet he felt no discomfort.
The boiling Rootless Water in the tub melted his flesh and vitality, while the immense medicinal strength within him resembled a wisp of primordial breath nurturing all things, allowing his body to regenerate its vitality.
The scorching high temperature refined every cell in his body until his vitality was nearly extinguished and reached its absolute limit, whereupon the medicinal bath washed over him and rekindled his life force. It was like the withered and thriving cycles of a tree or the life and death of all creation, repeating in an endless loop.
Just like that, the cycle continued unceasingly.
Yet with every cycle, his flesh and vitality grew a fraction stronger, leaving his body as pure as glazed glass, glowing with a crystalline luster carrying a hint of eternal indestructibility.
Over the past few days, Xiao Meng had constantly refined his physique, his Origin Force, and his vital blood. His chaotic Heavenly Abode maintained an endless, hazy, majestic, and grand stream of vitality, carrying a primeval aura.
At the center of the Heavenly Abode, above the Chaos Green Lotus, the Origin Force surged like a vast ocean, within which a deep vortex churned the seabed. Origin Force transformed into tempests that raised towering waves, crashing against the high skies.
At this moment, bizarre visions manifested incessantly within his body, resembling the precursors to an apocalyptic doom. Fierce winds howled, lightning flashed, Sky Flame descended, and the dual forces of yin and yang submerged the realm...
Xiao Meng felt a jolt of shock in his heart, finding it hard to remain calm.
Next, he circulated the chants recorded in the Eternal Undying Art, attempting to condense his Origin Core and break through his current realm, but he failed every time. He felt as though something was still missing.
He launched another charge, which once more ended in failure. Thus, he abandoned the thought of forcing a breakthrough in his realm and ended his days of arduous cultivation.
Body refining truly makes rapid advancement difficult. Every single breakthrough is fraught with countless obstacles... Xiao Meng felt a slight trace of regret; after attempting it a dozen times, he still could not condense an Origin Core.
After tidying up, he rose and left the cave, returning to his side hall. Calculating the time, he had been missing for four or five days and needed to go back and show his face.
Huh? What is Fourth Brother doing sitting in front of my door? Just as Xiao Meng was about to make a turn straight toward his side hall, he spotted Xiao Yan sitting on the stone steps outside the room, supporting his head with one hand.
He seemed to be waiting for him.
Could he be here to borrow money from me? Xiao Meng involuntarily recalled the plot. Calculating the timeline, Yao Lao had already awakened, and Xiao Yan's cultivation would soon step onto the right track. However, to accelerate his cultivation speed, he would still need Yao Lao to refine things like the Foundation Establishment Liquid.
Yet refining medicinal liquids required ingredients, and ingredients cost money—and not a small sum at that. So this bastard had set his sights on—him?
Xiao Meng instantly felt as though he had been struck by five bolts of heavenly lightning, his entire being turning sour.
Damn it all... This is driving me crazy.
Xiao Meng turned and left on the spot. With such a great deity guarding his door, there was no way in hell he was going back. He turned right around to head back to the back mountain, out of sight and out of mind.
"Third Brother... Where are you off to again?"
Yet before he had taken a few steps after turning around, Xiao Yan's surprised voice rang out from behind.
Xiao Meng nearly stumbled and fell flat on his face, his whole body trembling.
How could I slip away so carefully and still be noticed by Fourth Brother? Xiao Meng's expression darkened as he thought of Yao Chen.
"Fourth, is there something you need from me?" Xiao Meng turned around, looking at the approaching Xiao Yan, and forced a smile.
"Third Brother, where did you disappear to these past few days?" Xiao Yan asked.
Xiao Meng gave two dry coughs and spoke utter nonsense with a straight face, "I played a game of chess with a Dou Saint, fought a battle with a Dou Di, and took a trip for sightseeing in the heavens along the way."
Xiao Yan: "??? घेतला"
Kid, your third brother is treating you like an idiot. It's obvious he doesn't want to lend you money, Yao Lao's teasing voice sounded in Xiao Yan's mind.
"How does he know I'm going to borrow money from him?" Xiao Yan instinctively shot back.
Yao Lao: "..."
"Fourth, there are still a dozen Dou Dis outside waiting for me to discuss the Dao with them. Time is a bit tight, I'm off! Bye!" The moment he finished speaking, Xiao Meng turned and walked away. Damn it, if Xiao Yan said he was "borrowing," he certainly wouldn't return it. After all, things like this had happened many times before.
In the past, whenever the clan distributed monthly allowances to disciples, because he was frequently absent, Xiao Yan almost always collected them on his behalf. Yet for all these years, he hadn't seen a single copper coin; they had all been embezzled by Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er.
Xiao Yan finally lost his composure and shouted hurriedly, "Third Brother, don't leave yet, don't leave yet. I need a small favor, just a tiny favor."
Without a word, Xiao Meng quickly quickened his pace to get as far away from Xiao Yan as possible; he didn't want to look at this fellow.
The next second, however, he halted, because Xiao Yan had shamelessly grabbed his clothes and pulled with all his might, refusing to let him leave.
Xiao Meng tilted his head, his face dark.
"Third Brother, let those Dou Di outside wait a moment. Help me with a small favor first," Xiao Yan offered an awkward smile.
Xiao Meng maintained a deadpan expression. If I don't help, are you not going to let me leave?
Xiao Yan gave a sheepish grin. "How could that be? I'm not that kind of person."
"If you have something to say, spit it out; if you have a fart, release it quickly. My time is precious," Xiao Meng rolled his eyes.
Xiao Yan rubbed his hands together and smiled. "Third Brother, I'd like to borrow some money from you."
Xiao Meng wore a blank expression. "What did you say? Speak louder, I didn't hear you."
"Oh! Fourth, why did my ears suddenly stop working? Could they be broken? No, I need to go find a physician to take a look," Xiao Meng muttered as he turned to leave, but his clothes were still clutched tightly in Xiao Yan's death grip.
He wore the expression of someone who would not let you leave today unless you lent him money.
"I don't have any money on me, go borrow from someone else," Xiao Meng barked irritably.
Xiao Yan curled his lip. "The other day you snatched Ge Ye's Storage Ring. Given his status, there must be over a hundred thousand gold coins inside. Hurry up and lend me tens of thousands."
"Lend you tens of thousands? Fourth, you haven't seen me in a few days, and your appetite has certainly grown!"
Amused out of anger, Xiao Meng suddenly roared, "Why don't you borrow several tens of millions?! Why don't you bastards just go die! Over all these years, how little of my money have you and Xiao Xun'er spent shamelessly? Have you ever returned that monthly allowance to me?"
Xiao Yan stammered for a good while. "I didn't want to collect it in the first place, the elder handing out the money shoved it on me..."
Xiao Meng felt a sudden ache in his teeth, and with a heartbroken expression, he said, "Then why didn't you refuse to the bitter end?!"
Hearing Xiao Meng actually blame him for not refusing to the bitter end, Xiao Yan instantly felt deeply aggrieved. "I sternly refused every time and even tried to run away, but the elder would still hunt me down and forcefully shove the money at me."
"Even if he shoved it at you, didn't you know to return it to me? Just because he shoved it at you, does it become yours? Did you have fun spending my money?" Xiao Meng demanded irritably.
Xiao Yan was instantly rendered speechless.
Then his eyes lit up, and he looked at Xiao Meng with a strange expression. "Third Brother, do you know what the elder in charge of distributing the allowances says about you?"
"What did he say?" Xiao Meng blurted out, completely failing to realize that Xiao Yan was changing the subject.
"He said... when it comes to being shameless, you, Xiao Meng, are number one under heaven," Xiao Yan said weakly. Back then, Xiao Meng hadn't collected his monthly allowance for several months. Later, not only did he demand that the elder return the past allowances, but he also found all sorts of excuses to make the elder pay fifty percent interest.
Naturally, the elder in charge of allowances wouldn't pay any attention to this waste of space.
Thus, Xiao Meng visited that elder's home every single day as a "guest." Calling it a visit was more like openly bullying the man's grandson—either he snatched their food to eat, or he gave the kid a severe thrashing.
Facing a five- or six-year-old Xiao Meng, that elder was utterly exhausted in body and mind, fearing him like a wolf. He couldn't beat him—after all, aside from being young, Xiao Meng was the patriarch's son. As for scolding him, what use was scolding someone who had no sense of shame?
Ever since then, whenever Xiao Meng didn't collect his allowance, that elder would forcefully stuff the money into Xiao Yan's hands, telling him to bring it back to Xiao Meng.
"Damn it, that old bastard actually dared to slander me like this! Let go of me..." Xiao Meng flared up, feeling as though he had been screwed over by the heavens.
"Where are you going?" Xiao Yan felt a jolt of alarm, suddenly remembering that Xiao Meng's methods were formidable, but his petty grudges were not to be trifled with.
"I'm going to beat that old geezer up, let go right now!" Xiao Meng threatened fiercely.
Xiao Yan's face darkened. "Then lend me the money first."
"Fourth, you just take advantage of my good temper."
Xiao Meng took a deep breath. "How much are you planning to borrow?"
Xiao Yan shrank his neck back and stammered, "Fifty thousand!"
"Take it!"
Xiao Meng suddenly and decisively pulled out a purple card, handing it to Xiao Yan with a beaming smile. "There are a total of sixty thousand gold coins on here, take it and use it."
Xiao Meng's sudden change caught Xiao Yan off guard, and he didn't reach out to take the card for a long time.
"If you don't want it, I'm leaving!" Xiao Meng said cordially.
Xiao Yan suddenly felt a creeping sense of horror.
Yet in the end, he still took the purple card from Xiao Meng's hand with trembling hands.
"Thanks, Third Brother." Unsure of what Xiao Meng was plotting, Xiao Yan grinned softly.
Xiao Meng patted his shoulder. "Don't mention it, we're brothers!"
"Oh! Right, as the saying goes, even close brothers settle accounts clearly. I lent you sixty thousand today, so you better remember to pay me back!" Xiao Meng smiled.
"That's for sure!" Xiao Yan gave a start and offered a sheepish smile.
"Right! That's more like it!"
Xiao Meng coughed dryly. "As for the interest, five times the amount will do. I won't take any more than that."
"Oh right, ten days from now, I'll come looking for you."
With that, Xiao Meng strode away, leaving a dumbfounded Xiao Yan behind.
"Remember, until you can beat me in a fight, you'd better not think about welshing on your debt, or else I'll let you know just how fierce your big brother really is." Xiao Meng suddenly halted, turned back, and offered a faint smile.
Xiao Yan: "@%@%￥..."
"Creak!"
"Bang!"
Wasn't he going to discuss the Dao with the Dou Dis? How did he end up going back into his room instead? That thought suddenly popped into Xiao Yan's mind.
"Tsk tsk, kid, you're done for." Yao Lao suddenly chimed in.
Those words sprinkled yet another handful of salt onto Xiao Yan's wounds.
Before you continue