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"So that's what 'just in time' meant." They were shamelessly asking him to bring a gift...

Immortal Venerable Shen's throat tightened. He forced out a smile and reluctantly took his son Shen Xingyan and several Personal Disciples to the banquet, telling the other disciples to board the Flying Boat and wait.

At the banquet entrance, he dug through his Heaven-and-Earth Bag and pulled out 800 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones as his gift. "One hundred Spirit Stones per person. Eight people makes exactly 800—a lucky number," he calculated silently.

Just then, Ye Hongyue, the junior martial aunt from Cinnabar Glow Peak, eas

ily

presented 80,000 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones for the gift register. A crowd gathered to watch them give their gifts, chattering among themselves.

"Junior Martial Aunt is generous! She gave so many Spirit Stones."

"It's only 80,000 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, the equivalent of 800 Superior Spirit Stones. Immortal Venerable Shen, the supreme figure of the Cultivation World, is right here. That's probably not even one percent of what he'll give."

"Exactly! I heard the Kongtong School has Spirit Stones to spare. The two Stone Lions at its gate were carved from Superior Spirit Stones, and the dragon head on its Flying Boat was cast from Peerless Gold Spirit Stone. Heavenly treasures are everywhere in the school."

"Then Immortal Venerable Shen's gift must be incredible. Hurry, let me see it for myself."

Immortal Venerable Shen: ...

The hand holding his 800 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones abruptly drew back. He reached into his Heaven-and-Earth Bag again, and this time produced 100,000 Superior Spirit Stones.

The Superior Spirit Stones were flawless white, like pure, sacred pieces of white jade. Powerful, refined spiritual energy dwelled within them, making them irresistible to behold.

"I've never seen so many Superior Spirit Stones! Immortal Venerable Shen really is lavish."

Sect Leader Ye Ruheng had been obsessed with secluded cultivation for years, leaving the Cloudsky Sect cut off from information. News of Secret Realms and treasure hunts never reached them in time. Unlike other sects, they did not demand enormous fees for slaying demons and monsters. The entire sect was dirt-poor, without even a Flying Boat; to travel, they had to ride flying swords or Azure Luans.

It was the first time the sect's disciples had seen so many Superior Spirit Stones. They could not help looking over and exclaiming in admiration.

"Just a small token. It's nothing, nothing." Immortal Venerable Shen waved a hand, his expression easy and indifferent, as though those Spirit Stones were hardly worth mentioning. Inside, his heart was bleeding.

He regretted letting his pride drive him to produce so many Superior Spirit Stones. But there was no taking back a gift once given. He could only swallow the loss.

[Mother, Mother, take me to meet Immortal Venerable Shen!] Ye Zhenzhen squirmed in Xie Jingshu's arms, wishing her legs were long enough to run straight to Shen Zishan.

[We've finally lured him into the jar. We must take plenty from the rich to help the poor.]

Xie Jingshu smiled and carried her daughter toward Immortal Venerable Shen.

Watching the dense spiritual energy spill from the Superior Spirit Stones, Ye Zhenzhen's eyes seemed to shine just as brightly as the stones themselves.

[Hahahaha! This is going to make us rich! That old geezer has so much money and so many treasures. We must make him bleed a little more today.]

"Madam Ye, your daughter appears extraordinarily gifted. One day, she is sure to inherit Sect Leader Ye's mantle and become a sword cultivator of outstanding ability. The sight of her delights me." Immortal Venerable Shen considered himself still in his prime, and his eyes lit up at the sight of a beautiful woman like Xie Jingshu. He beamed, delivering one polished pleasantry after another.

[Extraordinarily gifted? Hahaha, I don't even have a spiritual root.]

"You flatter her, Immortal Venerable Shen. My daughter's aptitude is ordinary. I only wish her a life of peace and joy, free from hardship," Xie Jingshu said gently, voicing a mother's hopes for her daughter.

Ye Zhenzhen's eyes widened. Her attention was entirely captured by the string of beads around Immortal Venerable Shen's neck.

At first glance, the string looked like prayer beads. In truth, every bead was a superior-grade Heaven and Earth Pearl, a space Artifact tempered by a master refiner. Each held hundreds of times more space than an ordinary Heaven-and-Earth Bag and could even draw in spirit beasts, exotic beasts, whole tracts of land, and vast lakes. In the original book, before he destroyed the Cloudsky Sect, he had used this string of Heaven-and-Earth Pearls to seize all the sect's treasures, including several hundred Azure Luans.

As they passed Immortal Venerable Shen, she decisively stretched out an arm like a section of lotus root, grabbed the Heaven-and-Earth Pearls with her little hand, and refused to let go.

The string tightened around Immortal Venerable Shen's neck, making him cough.

What was Little Glutinous Rice Ball doing? Robbing him in broad daylight?

"Zhenzhen, let go." Xie Jingshu hurriedly gave Immortal Venerable Shen an apologetic look and tried to pry Ye Zhenzhen's restless little hand from the Heaven and Earth Pearl.

[Mother, I want this string of Heaven-and-Earth Pearls! Otherwise, he'll use it to steal every treasure in our Cloudsky Sect someday. He won't even spare the hundreds of Azure Luans!]

Xie Jingshu would ordinarily have scorned taking someone else's treasure. But after hearing of Immortal Venerable Shen's wolfish intentions, she secretly cast a minor spell that glued the string of beads to her daughter's hand. No matter how hard anyone pulled, they could not separate it from the hand of the baby girl who had just turned one month old.

"How could this be?"

"Could this string of prayer beads be fated for my daughter?"

"Your daughter truly is exceptional. Very well, I shall give her this string of Ninefold Heaven-and-Earth Pearls." Immortal Venerable Shen had already tried several times in secret to pull the little girl's hand off the pearls, but to no avail. The string had even left a deep mark on his aching neck. Unwilling to be laughed at for being weaker than a baby girl, he had no choice but to act generous before the crowd and offer it to her outright.

The moment he said it, he regretted it. He had only found this treasure at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion a few days ago for 180,000 Superior Spirit Stones. He had not even had a chance to use it. How could he give it away for nothing?

The hand he had raised to remove the Heaven-and-Earth Pearls hung in midair.

[Mother, my dear Mother, hurry and take the whole string of Heaven-and-Earth Pearls for me!] Ye Zhenzhen was beside herself with joy. All she wanted was to make the treasure hers as soon as possible.

Seeing Immortal Venerable Shen standing there in a daze without removing the beads, Xie Jingshu gave him an open bow. "I thank you on my daughter's behalf for your generous gift." Then her gaze settled on his hand.

Shen Zishan: ...