Wonderful, I can't read

And all of this was Xie Xiyi's doing. He was clearly only at the Golden Core Realm, yet he was so... Yan Tongchen refused to admit that he inspired fear.

He, a Nascent Soul cultivator, felt afraid of a Golden Core Realm cultivator from the depths of his heart.

Yan Tongchen headed back to his cave abode in a daze, only to encounter a familiar face on the way. Surprise and astonishment appeared on his handsome face. "Junior Brother Chen, you're not dead?"

It was none other than the Golden Core Realm disciple Xie Xiyi had captured alive.

The Golden Core Realm disciple smiled slightly, his lips opening and closing. "You were taking too long to fetch people, so I came myself."

Yan Tongchen froze. A chill rose from beneath his feet, and he abruptly drew his spirit sword and beheaded him with lightning speed.

"Senior Brother Yan-Senior Brother Yan, what are you doing?"

Unfortunately, other disciples caught him red-handed slaughtering a fellow disciple. He had only just left the Discipline Hall, and now he was going right back in.

At the same time, Immortal Lord Qingxuan received the Discipline Hall elder's report. He said indifferently, "Handle this according to sect rules. Show no leniency."

The elder was astonished. "But that was merely a Golden Core disciple, and he had been captured alive by that demon. He slipped through the mountain-protecting formation unnoticed. I'm afraid..."

Before the elder could finish, Immortal Lord Qingxuan interrupted him. "Even if something was wrong with that disciple, Yan Tongchen had already compromised his position by beheading him in public. I can decide this on the sect master's behalf. Handle it according to sect rules. See to it immediately."

Understanding dawned on the elder, and he silently withdrew.

As soon as he left, a message from Taixuzi arrived. "Xie Xiyi has reached Wangxian Continent. That rather caught us off guard."

Immortal Lord Qingxuan said, "Senior Brother, our five-hundred-year dream is about to come true. The closer we get, the more cautious we must be. We mustn't underestimate our enemy."

Taixuzi said disdainfully, "Junior Brother, I am now at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, only one step away from ascending to the immortal realm. Perhaps Xie Xiyi has had some fortuitous encounters, but he is still only at the Golden Core Realm. He can kill eight Nascent Soul cultivators, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can handle a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator."

Seeing that Taixuzi had made up his mind, Immortal Lord Qingxuan did not try to persuade him. He merely said, "Jinyuanzi...?"

Taixuzi said, "The cycle he calculated is half a month."

Immortal Lord Qingxuan said, "Shorter than we expected."

Taixuzi laughed. "He's only at the Golden Core Realm, after all. For a mere insect, having half a month's memory is already extraordinarily lucky. I'll go meet him."

Chi Yu finally managed to reach Wangxian Continent, only to be stopped by a squad of cultivators in matching uniforms. "Senior Brother, please pay the landing fee."

Chi Yu was baffled. "What?"

The cultivator explained patiently, "The landing fee. This is your first time in Wangxian Continent, isn't it? There is a charge for entering Wangxian Continent's territory. How long do you plan to stay?"

Chi Yu said, "...A few days, maybe?"

The cultivator said, "We'll count that as three days. You need to pay three middle-grade spirit stones."

Chi Yu: "??"

Thirty thousand yuan for a three-day visit??

He said incredulously, "Three middle-grade spirit stones? Staying at an inn only costs me two low-grade spirit stones! This is robbery!"

The cultivator remained good-tempered. "Those are the rules. Sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother, but please pay the landing fee. Otherwise, you'll be considered an illegal entrant, and our Immortal Alliance has the right to expel you."

Chi Yu agonized for a second before finally saying, "Fine, I'll stay one day! I'm leaving tomorrow!"

The cultivator said, "That will be one middle-grade spirit stone."

Chi Yu: "..."

That was still 10,000 yuan!

Fuming, Chi Yu paid and received a pass marked with the time. Once the squad of cultivators had left, he asked Ling Hezhou, "This is your Wangxian Continent?? They're robbing people!"

Ling Hezhou said, "Uh, those have always been the rules under the Immortal Alliance's rule. But haven't you noticed? The spiritual energy in Wangxian Continent is much denser than in Eastern Mirror Continent."

Chi Yu: "..."

Hello, we charge for air.jpg

Chi Yu was utterly bewildered. "But spiritual energy belongs to everyone, doesn't it? What gives the Immortal Alliance the right to charge for it?"

Ling Hezhou found the question baffling. "Because the Immortal Alliance rules the three continents. It's always been this way."

Chi Yu: "."

Whoever had butchered Divine Path had better come out. He would beat them to death!

Ling Tian soothed him. "Young friend, there's no need to be angry. My junior brother's assets are more than enough for you to squander."

Chi Yu ignored him, muttering under his breath, "Capital comes into the world dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and filth."

"Hang them from the lampposts. Hurry up and hang them from the lampposts!"

"Watch me launch a socialist blitzkrieg on the cultivation world!"

"Socialism is the fucking best!"

Ling Hezhou: "..."

Ling Tian: "..."

What was he muttering about? They couldn't understand a word.

Author's note:

Baby Fish, you're a capitalist's kid too.

Little Puppy Fish: It's fine. I'm also a successor to socialism.

Chapter 20: Wonderful, I can't read

Chi Yu babbled on for ages, still unable to get over being fleeced out of ten thousand yuan.

Ling Hezhou hurriedly changed the subject to distract him. "Well, since you've come to Wangxian Continent, why not try some Thousand Mountains Brew? It's a specialty of our Wangxian Continent. The lower a cultivator's cultivation, the more pronounced its effects on their aptitude and innate constitution. You won't find anything this good in Eastern Mirror Continent."

Ling Tian agreed. "Although the Immortal Alliance has always had its eyes on spirit stones, it has indeed done quite a few useful things. Thousand Mountains Brew, for example, is a spirit wine developed by the Immortal Alliance that improves a cultivator's innate constitution. Ordinary spirit wines merely restore spiritual energy, but Thousand Mountains Brew not only restores it as quickly as possible, it also improves aptitude and innate constitution. What's even more valuable is that it's inexpensive. One middle-grade spirit stone buys a small flask."

Chi Yu: "..."

Ten thousand yuan for a little bottle of wine, and you're telling me it's inexpensive?

I'll fight you rich people.jpg

Seeing his silence, Ling Tian seemed to guess what he was thinking and explained, "This is a spirit wine that can slightly improve a cultivator's aptitude and innate constitution. You must understand, before Thousand Mountains Brew appeared, only certain special spiritual treasures had this effect. They were hard to obtain even with a fortune, and most could only be seen at auctions. Now you can buy this easily. Although its effects aren't obvious for Golden Core cultivators, the cumulative effect over time absolutely cannot be underestimated."

Ling Hezhou said, "I've already drunk so much that it hardly does anything for me anymore. But this is your first time, so the effects will definitely be excellent. You're still young, too, so it's just right for you. Go on, go on, buy a flask and try it. It tastes good as well, a little sweet. Even children like drinking it."

Persuaded, Chi Yu went and bought a bottle.

Every inn in Wangxian Continent sold the stuff, and plenty of people bought it, so Chi Yu believed it was something good.

However, he did not drink it after buying it, putting it in his Sumeru Ring instead. Naturally, something good deserved a good moment to savor it slowly. Besides, he had proper business to attend to now.

Although the villain had no particular requirements for the video footage, Chi Yu, who always strove for perfection, could not stand editing the same footage to different songs, so he was very proactive about recording new material.

Unfortunately, diligent as he was, he received no wages.

He couldn't even replace the Forbidden Curse that rebounded on him.

He hoped no clueless cannon fodder would come blundering into him and raise his cultivation.

Chi Yu knew he probably possessed some degree of domineering aura, and his luck wasn't bad either. He was most likely a potential Long Aotian-although the male lead was still alive and well, nobody had said this world couldn't have two Long Aotians.

And Long Aotians naturally attracted hatred. Take Yang Min in Divine Path: he did nothing at all, yet people hated him for all sorts of reasons. This gave rise to a great many classic scenarios-

Cannon fodder tried to humiliate someone, only to give the Long Aotian protagonist an opportunity to demonstrate his virtue, conduct, and combat prowess. At best, they lost face; at worst, they lost their lives. Meanwhile, everyone saw the protagonist in a new light, and he gained their respect and awe.

Chi Yu could never get enough of these face-slapping plots!

Since he had entered the game himself, Chi Yu felt he ought to show some awareness of his role as a Long Aotian. Thus, he took out a black cloak, covered himself thoroughly, and crept like a thief toward Xie Xiyi.

Whether anyone truly hated him wasn't all that important.

He was a high school student, after all. They were all this excessively self-conscious.

Chi Yu finally managed to sneak to a spot not far from Xie Xiyi, but he did not dare approach, because hundreds of cultivators with profound cultivation had surrounded Xie Xiyi.

Of course, the ubiquitous helpful onlookers were present as well. When Chi Yu boldly tugged one aside, the person eagerly started talking. "They're from the Immortal Alliance. The alliance leader is here too, though it's clearly an avatar. Still, it has Spirit Transformation strength. Why are they here? To arrest that vicious archdemon, of course. You're from elsewhere, aren't you? Eastern Mirror Continent? Wow, what a coincidence! Rumor has it this demon is from Eastern Mirror Continent too. Wearing a demon mask, Golden Core cultivation, wielding a white jade bone sword-that's the archdemon who's risen to fame lately. He killed eight Nascent Soul cultivators from the Xuanxiao Immortal Sect!"

"He's in for it now. A mere Golden Core Realm cultivator, daring to come to Wangxian Continent. The Immortal Alliance's headquarters is right here. He's dead for sure!"

"A shame we're too far away to tell what they're saying."

"Perhaps they're offering him amnesty and recruitment? That demon killed eight Nascent Soul cultivators, so he must have some ability. If he joined the Immortal Alliance, he'd be a powerful asset."

"You're mistaken there. The Immortal Alliance doesn't accept just any trash."

"If they aren't recruiting him, why would even the alliance leader come? Could a mere Golden Core cultivator have that kind of clout?"

"That's true. The alliance leader has always kept to himself and hardly appears in public anymore. Now he's actually emerged from seclusion for a Golden Core Realm cultivator. There must be something fishy going on."

After hearing all this gossip, Chi Yu couldn't help looking toward Xie Xiyi's location. He had not moved this whole time. Had he really started chatting with the Immortal Alliance's leader?

Immortal Alliance leader, please don't let the big villain off! Kill him now, and I'll forgive you for charging for air!

Chi Yu clenched his fists, inwardly elated, and gazed at the encirclement with shining eyes.