"Hey, has your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect finished tallying its stock yet?"
Yu Yuanzhen sprawled brazenly on a lounge chair on the mountaintop terrace, surrounded by all manner of precious fruits and vegetables.
Ning Fengzhi jogged over, still holding a ledger.
"Sect Master Yu, please forgive us. Our sect simply has too much whale rubber. It isn't easy to store it all in the sect's treasure vault, so we keep some at our facilities in various places. Gathering it from all those places inevitably takes time."
Tang Xiao was drinking tea nearby. At this, he nodded with a broad smile. "Sect Master Ning, don't blame us. You know the Upper Three Sects are branches of the same tree. When there's a benefit to be had, you can't keep it all to yourself. Even after we take some whale rubber, you'll still have at least thirty percent of your stock left. At current prices, you won't have suffered a loss, all things considered."
Ning Fengzhi inwardly gnashed his teeth with hatred, but still put on a happy expression. "You're right."
With less strength than the other party, anything he said would only invite humiliation.
Tang Hao continued, "Let your big brother teach you a good way to make money. Keep the good golden rubber for your own use, then inflate the market price of the slightly poorer-quality stuff and sell it straight to Spirit Hall. Won't that earn you a fortune?"
"Your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect can take the lion's share. Just give our Clear Sky Sect forty or fifty percent. After all, for such a good idea, charging you only fifty percent of the profits is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"
Ning Fengzhi's eyes had practically rolled into the heavens. What kind of bullshit idea was that? They would take the blame for swindling Spirit Hall, while the Clear Sky Sect pocketed the benefits.
"Hey, you over there. Yes, you. Have you written down the method for taking whale rubber from memory yet?"
Gu Rong looked up from the side. "These old eyes have gone blurry for a moment, gone blurry. Give me a little longer to think."
"You're all going too far! When my master comes back, he definitely won't let you off!"
"Pfft, hahahahahaha! Little girl, don't tell me you actually believe that yourself."
"A Titled Douluo at just twenty? Hahahahaha, and level ninety-nine at that! Do you really take us for children? Why not make it even more outrageous and just say he's become a god?"
Tang Xiao drained his cup of tea and set it heavily on the table. "All right, little niece, pour me another cup. Bring out your sect's best tea leaves to brew it. This batch is far too inferior. Clearly, you haven't brought out the good stuff."
Ning Rongrong pouted and reluctantly went to brew tea, muttering incessantly to herself.
Master, when will you come back? The moment you left, people came to bully us.
As for Wang Qiye, it wasn't that Tang Xiao and the others didn't believe it; the main issue was that becoming a Titled Douluo at twenty had never happened anywhere on the continent.
Besides, if he was a Titled Douluo, surely he would have left some trace of his activities.
Yet this Titled Douluo didn't even have a title.
This little girl didn't even know how to make up a convincing lie.
"Next time you make something up, say he's an ancestor of your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect who hasn't appeared in the world for years. That would be more believable."
"Yes, exactly." Yu Yuanzhen chimed in from the side.
Ning Rongrong trembled with anger, but still obediently fetched the tea leaves and brewed tea for them.
He tapped the cup on the table. "Little niece, hurry up and pour your uncle some tea. Your uncle's thirsty. Hurry, hurry!"
Watching Ning Rongrong run back and forth, her little bottom swaying, Yu Yuanzhen couldn't help chuckling. "Little Rongrong is growing up nicely. Sect Master Ning, how about joining our two families through marriage?"
Ning Fengzhi was instantly alarmed, and Chen Xin and Gu Rong sprang to their feet. In an instant, it became a standoff with swords drawn and bows bent.
Tang Xiao glanced helplessly at Yu Yuanzhen. "Rest assured, everyone. We came only for whale rubber today. What Yu Yuanzhen just said was nonsense."
Yu Yuanzhen, however, couldn't have cared less. "What? Would becoming my in-laws be beneath you?"
Chen Xin and Gu Rong's gazes grew increasingly dangerous, but Yu Yuanzhen didn't notice at all and continued boasting.
With the True Dragon Nine Crowns, although he fell short of a Limit Douluo, he was close.
If he sacrificed his life, he could even unleash the might of a demigod.
Chen Xin and Gu Rong were confident they could handle him on his own, but today, Yu Yuanzhen was relying on the Clear Sky Sect's might to bully them for being outnumbered.
In the end, Ning Fengzhi stepped forward with a smile despite the pressure. "Our Rongrong is still too young. We aren't considering betrothing her to anyone yet."
"What rotten fish or stinking shrimp deserves to be engaged to me? When my master comes back, not one of you will get away!"
"Marriage is decided by parents' orders and a matchmaker's word. What say do you have in it? Sect Master Ning, what do you have to say about this?"
Yu Yuanzhen was just about to keep pestering them when the Clear Sky Sect's third elder ran over. "I just saw the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's disciples gathered together cultivating. There were over two thousand of them! Where did your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect get so many Soul Masters?"
At those words, Sword Douluo, Ning Fengzhi, and the others exchanged glances. "How many disciples our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect recruits doesn't seem to have anything to do with you."
Tang Xiao thought about it and didn't say much more. "They're right. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect can recruit as many disciples as they please. But those commoner Soul Masters have poor innate soul power and low-quality martial souls. Be careful you don't end up making a losing investment, Sect Master Ning."
"Sect Master, their numbers aren't the issue. The main thing is that they're all in front of a stone stele, apparently comprehending something. I tried comprehending it myself just now, and my soul power cultivation speed actually nearly doubled."
"What?" Tang Xiao was instantly shocked. "Third Elder, is that true?"
"Of course it's true. I came to report to you as soon as I finished trying it."
Tang Xiao hadn't expected this. He had only intended to loot a burning house today and collect some whale rubber, but the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect seemed to harbor other secrets.
Chen Xin and Gu Rong also stood straight up. "We'll give you the whale rubber, but that stone stele holds our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's inheritance. Sect Master Tang, don't push us too far."
"Oh? Do you two still want to fight? Have your wounds stopped hurting?"
Despite the pressure from Tang Xiao, Chen Xin and Gu Rong didn't retreat a single step. This was the stone stele Wang Qiye had brought back. If they lost something like whale rubber, they could buy more, but if they lost this stone stele, their inherited cultivation method would be exposed.
Seeing how tense the two were, Tang Xiao immediately had a clear idea of the situation. "Third Elder, sorry for the trouble, but lead the way."
"Let's see who dares! Coveting our fundamental cultivation method-Sect Master Tang, do you intend to fight us to the death?!!!"
Tang Xiao gave a meaningful glance, and Ning Rongrong, who had seen things turning bad and was trying to escape, was immediately seized by the third elder.
After all, four people had come from the Clear Sky Sect. No matter how Ning Rongrong ran, she couldn't possibly escape.
"Damn you! Put our Rongrong down at once!"
Tang Xiao chuckled. "Now, are you willing to take us to see that stone stele?"
Gu Rong's expression turned cold. "It seems your Clear Sky Sect really does think it has our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect completely at its mercy."
Yu Yuanzhen, watching from the side and happy to add fuel to the fire, said, "Why not take me along to see this so-called stone stele too?"
The situation abruptly took a turn for the worse. Ning Rongrong was still struggling in the third elder's grasp. "Let go! Let go of me right now! When my master comes, he'll definitely tear you into ten thousand pieces!"
The third elder grinned, baring a mouthful of large yellow teeth. "Little girl, stop struggling. Never mind your master-what can even your father do? Once I've grabbed you, doesn't he have to just stand aside and watch? Even if that master of yours, who may not even be real, does come, this old man can make him eat shit right in front of you!"
Before his words had finished, the Clear Sky Sect's third elder shattered across the ground with a bang. Ning Rongrong fell into a sitting position on the ground, yet not even a drop of blood had touched her.
Before you continue