The depressing atmosphere was always broken by other reasons.
For example, no money.
Chen Xia wanted to replace the big red lanterns in the cave with spirit qi pearls, and redecorate it to make it look nice and put him in a better mood.
It was said that these spirit qi pearls would emit colorful lights at night.
Chen Xia planned to get more of them, hang them up with ropes, and lower them at night to sway the lights.
Let's party!
If Chen Xia's creditors knew that he would rather buy these expensive spirit qi pearls instead of paying back his debts, they would probably curse him.
But who would be unlucky was unclear.
Chen Xia wouldn't anyway.
And now to get the spirit stones, the best choice was to collect protection fees from the reserve disciples.
After all, this was like money for nothing.
It was very tempting to Chen Xia indeed.
But he couldn't go knocking on doors to collect money directly, that would be robbing money instead of collecting fees.
Although there wasn't much difference, the name had to sound better.
For this reason, Chen Xia specifically called over Elder Pan Dadao, and asked him to spread Chen Xia's reputation.
"You just need to spread my reputation to the reserve disciples, then naturally someone will come to pay spirit stones. I'll give you 10% of the profit."
Elder Pan frowned deeply, and quickly advised.
"Let's forget about this. The water is too deep this time, completely different from the previous batch. I heard a Law Elder is controlling things behind the scenes."
"Don't be afraid," Chen Xia waved his big hand, "I also have someone behind me, it's just having a backer, I'm not lacking in that aspect."
The reputation of the Fisherman still had to be used when needed.
Pan Dadao knew this too, but still shook his head with a bitter smile, "But I don't have a backer. You'll be fine, but I'll be in big trouble."
The Law Elder didn't dare to touch Chen Xia, this Great Emperor seedling, but killing a Pan Dadao would be easy.
"Really, don't be afraid," Chen Xia reassured, "You'll be a good man again after 18 years of reincarnation."
"What's more, if you get reborn as the son of a Great Emperor, wouldn't you be able to easily kill this Law Elder?"
He clapped his hands again and explained,
"If you succeed you get spirit stones, if you die you can reincarnate, it's all benefits for you, what are you afraid of?"
It had to be said, Chen Xia was really good at persuading people, his crooked logic had always worked well.
Even Pan Dadao was a little moved, but thinking that he still had a few thousand years of lifespan left, he still wanted to politely decline.
He shook his head slightly, his tone full of bitterness, and didn't dare to talk back to Chen Xia, complaining,
"But I haven't lived enough in this life."
"Oh," Chen nodded, and didn't try to persuade him further. He would just spread the word himself, though it would be troublesome.
Pan Dadao lowered his head to one side, afraid that Chen Xia would get angry and didn't dare say another word.
"How old are you?" Chen Xia suddenly asked.
Pan Dadao thought carefully and replied, "Three thousand five hundred years old, I can't remember exactly."
Cultivators went into seclusion for decades at a time, so it really was hard to remember the exact age.
"Is there anything you can't bear to part with..." Chen Xia crossed his arms and thought for a moment before continuing, "Like family members and the like?"
Pan Dadao was stunned for a moment. He lowered his head even more and said hoarsely,
"My parents died long ago. I ascended from the mortal realm, and never had a dao companion or children. I guess I just have a few not-so-good friends in Blue Sky Sword Sea."
"I see," Chen Xia nodded plainly, his expression calm and inscrutable.
Pan Dadao sighed and bent his head, unable to help saying, "There's too big a gap between you and me."
Chen Xia was a rising star Great Emperor seedling, while he was just a lowly elder at the bottom rung. They weren't on the same level at all.
Chen Xia didn't reply, just waved his hand and turned to leave.
"You..." Pan Dadao suddenly spoke up, then hesitated. After letting out a breath, he boldly asked,
"Since you're similar to me, then what reason did you have to choose to continue living?"
With no family, no cultivation goal, Pan Dadao sometimes thought about voluntarily reincarnating.
Chen Xia's silhouette waved his hand, and his plain voice came,
"Didn't I say we're similar... I don't want to die, haven't lived enough."
It was that simple.
Pan Dadao was stunned for a moment. He fiercely gritted his teeth and shouted at Chen Xia's back,
"I'm willing to help spread your reputation!"
"Good, you get 10% of the profits," Chen Xia's silhouette paused and replied.
"Isn't it too much for you to eat it all at once? What if the Law Elder behind doesn't agree?"
Pan Dadao was a little worried again as he asked.
"Minimum 70-30 split," Chen Xia replied plainly. He was a reserve disciple, collecting from other reserve disciples, so of course he had to take the lion's share.
This made sense, right?
Then he left without waiting for Pan Dadao's reply.
In fact, whether Pan helped or not, Chen Xia could handle it himself. He just didn't want the hassle, which was why he wanted to ask Pan to do it.
Now that they had an agreement, he planned to just lay back in his cave and collect money.
Pan Dadao hurried to the inner disciple area. As long as he could reach an agreement with the Law Elder behind the scenes, there shouldn't be too much obstruction to collecting spirit stones from the reserve disciples.
Thinking of this, Pan Dadao couldn't help but lament Chen Xia's daring.
Usually this kind of business, the elders in the back took the lion's share, while the inner disciples only got a bit of profit.
A small elder like him didn't even have the qualifications to get a share.
Yet as a mere reserve disciple, Chen Xia actually wanted to take 70% of the business from the reserve disciples alone. Pan Dadao had to admire his guts.
But on further thought, this seemed to be the second time Chen Xia was doing this kind of business. He did it so well the first time that he was imprisoned for 500 years.
This also showed Chen Xia's formidable strength from the side.
After much winding around, Pan Dadao arrived at the inner disciple area and asked to meet the Law Elder in order to pass on a message from Chen Xia.
Chen Xia's reputation was still very useful in today's Blue Sky Sword Sea, so there wasn't much obstruction. Pan Dadao met with the Law Elder in half an hour.
There were a total of six Law Elders in Blue Sky Sword Sea, this was the fourth one, also called the Fourth Law Elder.
"What business does Chen Xia have?" The Fourth Law Elder sat tall on a thick, majestic chair engraved with prestige.
"Chen... Chen Xia wants to get some of the reserve disciples' spirit... spirit stones."
Facing such majesty, Pan Dadao's speech even turned stuttering.
The Fourth Law Elder frowned. He had expected that Chen Xia would want a share sooner or later, since he did have that qualification.
He just didn't expect it to come so fast.
He tapped his fingers lightly on the chair, calmly asking, "How much does Chen Xia want?"
"Sev... seventy-thirty split," Pan Dadao stammered out.
"Thirty percent?" The Fourth Law Elder's brows furrowed, his tone sinking, "Asking for 30% right off the bat, Chen Xia's appetite is not small!"
Hearing this, Pan Dadao fell silent, not daring to explain further.
"There are 800 reserve disciples right now, 10 spirit stones each makes 8,000 total. 30% of that is 2,400!"
"I'm the highest ranked yet don't even get 30% in the end. Does Chen Xia really have that much appetite?!" The Fourth Law Elder questioned angrily.
The inner disciples around them also started whispering.
"Chen Xia is really lion-mouthed, thinking he's invincible after killing Qiong Qi."
"Too presumptuous, he's somewhat unaware of his low status."
"..."
Pan Dadao gritted his teeth, fists clenched tightly, sweat already soaking his palms. He forcibly suppressed his nervousness and continued,
"It's... it's 30% for you, 70% for... for him."
Hearing this, the Fourth Law Elder and inner disciples fell silent.
After a long pause, the Fourth Law Elder slowly asked,
"My status is the highest, I put in the most effort, yet only get 30% in the end?!"
Pan Dadao steeled himself and replied, "That's what Chen Xia said."
"So am I just begging for food on my knees?!"
The Fourth Law Elder spoke furiously.
Pan Dadao's body trembled, still not daring to reply.
"Fuck him!" The Fourth Law Elder cursed again. Turning to look at the reserve disciples, he asked,
"Who will go teach this Chen Xia a lesson?!"
The official disciples below stared at each other, but no one took the initiative to speak.
The figure sitting quietly behind suddenly stood up, his golden yellow robe shining brightly. It was Emperor Capital, with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
"To fight the Great Emperor Seedling, it still has to be a Great Emperor Seedling to go."
"In my opinion..."
"Why don't we let Qiu Li go?"