"You went through all that trouble just to buy a few beads?!" Pan Dadao was shocked when he learned of Chen Xia's intentions.
"These aren't ordinary beads. They're glowing Spirit Qi Pearls," Chen Xia lazily replied, half-lying down.
Pan Dadao swallowed and still did not understand. "But as far as I know, these Spirit Qi Pearls are materials for artifact forging. Other than being expensive, they don't have many advantages and are more like playthings for wealthy families. Do you really need to buy them?"
Pan Dadao tried to dissuade Chen Xia in a reasonable manner.
Chen Xia was a typical lazybones. "Spirit Qi Pearls can emit dazzling rainbow lights. That's their biggest advantage."
"Their importance to me is like flying swords are to sword cultivators, pills are to alchemists, water is to fish, and shit is to dogs."
"You understand what I'm saying, right?"
Pan Dadao was stunned for a moment before slowly nodding his head in a seemingly comprehensible yet uncomprehending manner. "They do seem very important."
Just the example of shit being important to dogs was self-explanatory.
Pan Dadao didn't try to discourage Chen Xia any further. Now his relationship with Chen Xia was becoming better and their interactions more casual.
If Pan Dadao were to describe it himself, he would say he had been upgraded from a leg-hugger to a thigh-hugger. Overall, it was still a significant improvement that left Pan Dadao very satisfied.
Now he even dared to look Chen Xia in the eye when speaking to him. This made him feel awesome and he would stand with his hands on his hips when facing other junior elders.
He really did have something to be awesome about.
After all, the other junior elders didn't even dare look Chen Xia in the eye when speaking to him.
In the past couple of days, more and more preparatory disciples had come to deliver spirit stones. Some brought over a hundred disciples, all from prestigious sects.
The least brought ten spirit stones, which was still decent.
So far, no preparatory disciple had only contributed a few spirit stones, probably because they were afraid of angering Chen Xia.
In just the past few days, the income from spirit stones was already close to ten thousand. The spirit stones were all piled up in the cave like a small mountain.
When Pan Dadao first entered, he was so frightened by the sight of the mountain of spirit stones that he was speechless for a long time.
He had never seen so many spirit stones in his life before. Yet after just taking a stroll out, Chen Xia had earned this much in a few short days!
Chen Xia waved his hand casually and said, "I promised you 10%, so pick a few hundred jin for yourself."
In fact, what Pan Dadao did was very simple. He just helped spread the word. But Chen Xia wasn't petty. Since he had promised 10%, he would deliver.
It was only 10% of the spirit stones anyway, truly nothing.
But Pan Dadao didn't think the same way. His hands trembled as he held his lapel. He never imagined making money could be so easy.
All he had to do was casually spread the word?
And counting the spirit stones by the jin was really no problem?
Pan Dadao's lips quivered. He found it somewhat unbelievable and sought confirmation by asking again, "Can I really take that much? You won't be unhappy, right? I'm fine with taking less."
Chen Xia lazily replied, "It's only 10%. Take it if you want. What's the big deal? If you find it troublesome now and don't want to take it, you can come get your 10% share after all the spirit stones have been collected."
"No...no trouble at all!" Pan Dadao quickly waved his hand, grinning from ear to ear.
So this was the benefit of being a bootlicker?
10% of 10,000 spirit stones was 1,000. Though not a huge amount for great cultivators, for a junior elder at the Mountain Moving Realm like Pan Dadao, it was enough savings for hundreds of years.
Still, Pan Dadao didn't dare take too much. He took even less, only filling his storage treasure with 600 spirit stones before stopping with a smile.
"Thank you, thank you!"
Pan Dadao's mentality was quite broad, though his mind didn't work well sometimes.
Chen Xia didn't say much more. It was Pan Dadao's own choice to take less anyway.
He sauntered up and prepared to order the Spirit Qi Pearls since delivery would take several months.
Pan Dadao also happily returned to his own cave residence, planning to hide away the obtained spirit stones as money for his retirement.
The remaining preparatory disciples also gradually turned in spirit stones to Chen Xia.
There was no movement among the formal disciples. The Law Enforcement Elder seemed to have let the matter go with no oversight. No gossip seemed to be circulating either.
Chen Xia seemed to have become the local bully of the preparatory disciples' area, swallowing up the entire business without anyone daring to say no.
Until the third month.
Thirty formal disciples came swaggering over to Chen Xia's cave residence entrance without much preamble and issued a challenge.
Chen Xia lazily walked out from his cave and glanced over the thirty formal disciples, asking in puzzlement, "Free-for-all or one-on-one?"
Twenty-eight of the formal disciples moved back, leaving the two core disciples, Emperor Capital and Qiu Li.
Emperor Capital grandly flicked his golden-yellow sleeve and shouted, "Let's duel!"
Qiu Li said little and just gave a flat "Mm" in agreement.
Qiu Li was supposed to come alone, but he had forcibly dragged Emperor Capital along, unwilling to take the beating alone.
Their friendship ran deep enough that they never forgot to pull each other into a beating.
In fact, both harbored the desire to challenge Chen Xia since they were core disciples of the same batch. If you claimed there was no dissatisfaction, that would definitely be a lie.
Now after cultivating for another 500 years and reaching the Turning the Tide realm, they wanted to test their skills even more.
In short, their skin itched for a beating.
Otherwise, if they themselves weren't willing, the Law Enforcement Elder really couldn't make them come.
Chen Xia looked at them in puzzlement, seeming slightly bewildered. "You really want to duel?"
Emperor Capital heavily nodded. "Five hundred years have passed. Now that I have reached Turning the Tide, I want to test myself against you even more!"
"I still suggest you two come at me together," Chen Xia flatly said, his expression unmoving as he continued, "Because I have also reached Turning the Tide."
Emperor Capital and Qiu Li's eyes instantly froze over and their breathing grew heavy. For a moment, they even considered just leaving, but seeing the audience, they quickly steeled themselves and feigned calmness.
"Since we're both at Turning the Tide, naturally we should determine a winner."
"Alright, let's make it quick. I don't really want to waste time with you two," Chen Xia still spoke flatly.
"Good!" Emperor Capital loudly exclaimed. With one hand, he solemnly pulled up his golden sleeve robe. His expression was severe as he extended his hand outwards and sternly announced, "I will suppress this area, so Qiu Li, you attack first!"
Qiu Li was completely bewildered next to him. "You're making a big fuss just to blurt that out?"
Emperor Capital's expression remained unchanged as he continued speaking gravely, "You attack first, and I will suppress this area to guard against sneak attacks from others."
"I can also suppress the area," Qiu Li objected strongly.
Why did he have to go first to take the beating? That made no sense!
The two stared at each other without anything else to say except eye contact.
Chen Xia, leaning against the door frame, suddenly straightened up and took a step forward.
A tremendous aura instantly arrived, the pressure of Turning the Tide erupting in that moment. The ground shook and the clouds seemed to tilt.
"Come at me together."
He spoke this flatly.
Then in the next moment, he was in front of Emperor Capital.
By the time Emperor Capital reacted, he was already flying back over a kilometer away, crashing into the pits between hills.
Boom!
A deafening sound came from his side. He turned in puzzlement to look.
Qiu Li was also there.