Jacking Up the Price

The Cangyun Sect was peaceful, without any commotion for several days in a row.

Lu Changsheng had also emerged from the Alchemy Chamber. The Scarlet Spirit Pill was ready; all that remained was to gather enough Spirit Stones and break through to Nascent Soul.

After that, he could cultivate as much as he pleased, without ever worrying about being tormented again. With no limit on the number of times, his cultivation would surely progress faster.

The thought of Spirit Stones gave him a headache. Three hundred thousand Spirit Stones to break through to Nascent Soul-the sums kept growing.

He only had forty thousand on hand, and he had no idea when Ning Yuxin's hundred thousand would arrive. Even combined, that was only a hundred and forty thousand. Where would he get the rest?

After thinking it over and over, Ning Yuxin seemed to be the only wealthy person he knew.

But he had already gotten quite a lot out of her. He couldn't keep grabbing the same sheep to fleece!

Not only that, he noticed that Ning Yuxin hadn't gone to see Zhou Qingyu lately. Aside from cultivating, she spent her days sitting at the stone table in a daze.

For a moment, worry rose in Lu Changsheng's heart.

Ning Yuxin had come for Zhou Qingyu. She wanted to win him over, which was why she cultivated so hard and sought sudden enlightenment in Sword Intent, creating a business opportunity in the process.

If she gave up, wouldn't his business go under?

Fortunately, his roundabout inquiries revealed that the Ning Household's Spirit Stone courier was already on the way. By the looks of it, this payment was still secure.

"Junior Sister Ning, why haven't you been visiting Eldest Senior Brother lately? Is he busy?" Lu Changsheng approached and asked.

Ning Yuxin shook her head. "Not really. I just don't want to disturb him anymore!"

"What do you mean?"

Lu Changsheng froze. It had only been a few days, and she had already had a change of heart?

Was she playing things that fast and loose?

The two fell silent for a moment before Ning Yuxin suddenly said, "Senior Brother Lu, I've been here so long, but it seems I've never discussed cultivation with you!"

"Haven't we been discussing it all along?"

"That was you teaching me how to cultivate. That's different!"

Lu Changsheng paused. "Those were all my master's and that senior's experiences. I couldn't possibly teach you!"

"Then what insights do you have on cultivation, Senior Brother?"

"Follow your heart and nature!"

Ning Yuxin asked, "What does that mean?"

"Cultivate when you want to, and don't when you don't. If you have a goal, work toward it. If you don't, go by your mood. Cultivating aimlessly won't accomplish much. Everyone says obsession leads people astray, but sometimes, obsession can actually steady your Dao heart for a while!"

"So are you not in the mood right now, Senior Brother, or do you have no goal?"

"I'm..." Lu Changsheng opened his mouth, unsure how to put it. He had everything except money.

"Ah!"

At that thought, he let out a long sigh and said wistfully, "Junior Sister, I really envy you. If only I'd been born into the Ning Household!"

Ning Yuxin froze. Who knew what had crossed her mind, but an inexplicable blush rose to her cheeks.

Just then, a disturbance arose within the Cangyun Sect. Before they could investigate, several figures streaked across the sky, heading straight for Qingyun Peak.

When they came into view, Lin Po arrived alongside an unfamiliar middle-aged man, with Luo Xianling accompanying them.

"Martial Uncle Lin Po, are you here to see Eldest Senior Brother?" Lu Changsheng rose and asked.

Lin Po said, "Someone's here to see you. I'm just showing the way!"

"Me?"

Lu Changsheng looked at the man.

The man immediately stepped forward. "You must be young friend Changsheng!"

"That's me. And you are?"

"I am Meng Lang, from the Divine Firmament Sect. I've come specifically to apologize to you for what happened before, young friend!" the man said in an even tone.

Lu Changsheng was surprised once again.

After things had escalated this far, it would have been fortunate enough if the Divine Firmament Sect hadn't sent troops. Yet they were actually apologizing to him!

Meng Lang continued, "The recklessness of our Divine Firmament Sect members nearly brought harm upon you, young friend. I am deeply sorry for that!"

After he finished, Lu Changsheng couldn't help staring at the visitor.

A long while passed, until even Qingyun Peak had fallen silent.

"That's it? Just an apology?" Lu Changsheng asked.

Lin Po chuckled. Of all the people they could have provoked, they had chosen Lu Changsheng. Could this possibly end without them bleeding a little?

Meng Lang took the hint as well. He produced a cloth pouch and handed it over.

"This is compensation from the Divine Firmament Sect. Please forgive us, young friend!"

A smile curled at Lu Changsheng's lips as he accepted it. "How thoughtful of the Divine Firmament Sect... Only two thousand Spirit Stones?"

"Hm?"

They had thought he was about to relent, only for his words to take a sudden turn.

Meng Lang froze.

Lin Po frowned. What did he mean, only two thousand?

He thought two thousand wasn't enough?

A direct disciple received only ten Spirit Stones a month, and a Peak Master a little over a hundred. Two thousand was almost twenty years' worth for him, yet Lu Changsheng still wasn't satisfied?

"Are you dissatisfied with the compensation, young friend?" Meng Lang asked.

Lu Changsheng was speechless. How could he be satisfied with this pittance? Were they tossing alms to a beggar?

He had endured such danger in the Sword Cave. Was his life worth only two thousand?

Still, he said softly, "Well, Senior, it's not that I think it's too little. It's just that Wang Ming didn't only harm me back then, but my junior sister here as well. Both of us nearly died there, so..."

He absolutely thought it was too little!

Lin Po was speechless, but said nothing more. It was the Divine Firmament Sect's fault for throwing its weight around.

Ning Yuxin looked utterly at a loss, having no idea what was going on.

Meng Lang immediately understood and offered another cloth pouch containing a thousand Spirit Stones.

"Please forgive us, young friend!" Meng Lang said once more.

This made Lu Changsheng frown again. They were only offering this much, and there was nothing he could do. If he asked for more, it would make him look terribly greedy.

He could only wave his hand and say indifferently, "Fine, this will have to do!"

Lin Po smiled. He had pocketed three thousand for nothing. What more did he want?

Meng Lang said, "Thank you for your understanding, young friend. Then..."

"There's one more thing!"

"What is it?"

Lu Changsheng looked somewhat troubled.

Watching him, Luo Xianling couldn't help saying, "Senior Brother Changsheng, just say whatever's on your mind. No matter what, we'll make sure you're satisfied today. You can't have suffered for nothing!"

She spoke with righteous indignation, glaring fiercely at Meng Lang. Her manner caught everyone off guard.

Even more surprising was how exceptionally respectful Meng Lang was toward her, going along with everything she said.

Seeing this, Lu Changsheng spoke as well. "Senior, you see, although we didn't suffer any actual injuries, we paid a great price to survive. Could we be compensated for the things that were damaged? The Divine Firmament Sect has vast holdings. It's nothing to you, but to us, those things are our entire livelihood!"

"Of course!" Meng Lang nodded, finding it reasonable as well. After all, he had heard how great the disturbance had been that day. Their survival surely wasn't just a matter of luck.

Presumably, they had possessed some means of protecting themselves.

Lin Po smiled without speaking. He had already guessed as much. If Lu Changsheng let matters drop so easily, he wouldn't be Lu Changsheng.

Meng Lang continued, "Tell me what you lost!"

"There wasn't really much. Just a spatial ring!"

"All right!" Meng Lang nodded.

Lu Changsheng continued, "And inside the spatial ring was a Mystic-grade Law Artifact, the only thing my master left me. There was also a piece of Mystic Crystal Stone that my eldest senior brother won at the Immortal Ascension Assembly, a dozen or so stalks of Ice Spirit Grass, several dozen bottles of pills..."

At first, it seemed like nothing much.

But as he went on, Meng Lang was stunned. A Mystic-grade Law Artifact was one thing, and the Mystic Crystal Stone was still acceptable, but the rest grew increasingly outrageous.

A cultivator at the Fourth Layer of Spirit Gathering carrying Qingyun Peak's entire fortune on his person-that was going a bit too far.

Lin Po had guessed the beginning, but not the ending. Ultimately, he had still underestimated him.

However, Lu Changsheng had indeed managed Qingyun Peak's accounts before. Including everything he had taken more than his share of over the years, it seemed he really might have possessed this much.

Adding up everything he had named, it came to at least ten thousand Spirit Stones.

Meng Lang froze. Originally, that would have been the end of it.

But Lu Changsheng glanced at Ning Yuxin beside him and said, "And there's my junior sister. Her father is the richest man in Cang Province, so the things she carried were worth more than mine. How about this? I won't ask for much. Give us thirty thousand Spirit Stones, Senior, and we'll forget about the rest!"

Meng Lang: "???"

At the mention of thirty thousand, even Lin Po couldn't sit still. That was the sect's income for an entire year. This was simply jacking up the price on the spot...